Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke The Extended Silver Nemesis. I would genuinely liked to have written nice things about Silver Nemesis . Not only does it feature my favourite 'monsters' in Doctor Who , the Cybermen, it also serves as the series' 25th year anniversary tale. In addition Silver Nemesis holds the distinction of being the story New Zealanders got to see ahead of the rest of the world (episodes 2-3 at least). I had hoped the addition of nearly twelve minutes of extra footage might help to ameliorate some of the faults with the story as I saw them back 1988. Unfortunately this was not to be the case, and looking over my review of the story back then these faults are not only still there, if anything seem worse and they tend to grate even more than they did in 1988. The Cybermen deserved better, the programme deserved better, certainly for an anniversary story. What went wrong? The two words which probably best sum up Silver Nemesis to me are 'vacuous' and 'shallow'. It is a triumph of style over substance, of stagy set pieces over good drama. A mildly entertaining romp perhaps, if viewed in an undemanding way, but overall lacking in any depth. A story searching for its raison d'etre amidst an uncompelling and disjointed narrative. On the positive side I suppose the additional scenes did give the story a more rounded feel, and did manage to tie up a few of the loose ends, although there are several left unresolved. (However, I am at a loss to explain one new scene in episode three where Karl (De Flores right hand man) appears to casually knock/push over a , thereby allowing him and De Flores to escape!) For the most part the new scenes did improve things, but frankly did nothing to redress the more fundamental problems with the story. One of the most annoying things about this Silver Nemesis is that it seems cluttered, an aspect which also annoyed me in 1988. We have De Flores and his Nazis, Lady Peinforte and Richard, the Cybermen and and , all after the Nemesis statue. Maybe a combination of two or three of these could have almost worked but when lumped together the plot, such that there is, seems messy. While fewer characters could have helped, I think the real problem is actually a lack of plot. Without more work being done on the plot, reducing the number of characters would probably have just resulted in more padding. Essentially, the Nazis, Lady Peinforte and the Cybermen want to acquire control of the Nemesis statue because it has great destructive power, which they want to utilize for their own ends. The Doctor wants to stop them gaining control of the statue. That is basically it. There is little of what could be called serious plot development - for the most part we simply have different combinations of the above protagonists in a series of situations where they attempt to bring this about. The requirement that in order to gain control of the Nemesis the bow and arrow (forged from the same material as the statue) must also be possessed is little more than a plot device whereby writer Kevin Clarke can spin out their activities over the three episodes. A simple plot premise does not necessarily present an insurmountable problem. The central plots of a number of Doctor Who stories could probably be summed up very succinctly. But in such stories plotlines still tend to unfold, situations flow from the narrative, characters develop. In Silver Nemesis events tend to just 'happen'. Ace suddenly becomes 'really, really scared' for about twenty seconds. Lady Peinforte loses what remains of her sanity over the course of a scene. A good example, and one which brings me onto the subject of the Cybermen, is at the end of episode one when the Cybermen land their spaceship. There is no build up in the plot, there is no reason for them or anyone else to suddenly appear. The point of the Cyber controlled snipers is so obscure that their presence raises more questions than answers - as such they are best ignored. The arrival of the Cybermen - not helped by the overly glitzy way that the scene is shot - is therefore lacking in any plot derived impact. [1] If their arrival was able to engender any reaction in the viewer it would need to have been as a response to the impressiveness of the Cybermens' visual appearance in conjunction with expectations based on the viewers' familiarity of the Cybermen through earlier encounters. The visual factor is important in helping to generate excitement, suspense, etc. in the viewer but it should not be the only thing. The weakness of the Cybermens' sudden arrival and the incongruity of their continued presence in the story could have been easily overlooked had they managed to display even a modicum of their predecessor's menace. Or if they had been able to inject a little tension or put some meat on an otherwise threadbare plot. But as it turned out Silver Nemesis is about as much a Cyber story as was . There is simply no point in them being in the story. One could almost believe Clarke's preposterous suggestion that they were put into the Silver Anniversary special because they happened to be silver! Apparently in 'early drafts' of Silver Nemesis the Cybermen wanted the validium so they could use it to create the ultimate Cyberman. [2] Such an idea, preferably minus De Flores and/or Lady Peinforte, could have created a vastly more interesting plot premise than that which eventuated. To cap it all off, the portrayal of the Cybermen in this story is pitiful. For all their bluster they are plainly emotional, laughably incompetent and naive, absurdly vulnerable creatures who can't shoot straight. They are consequently devoid of any of the qualities which previously made them such credible foes. Why is it that 1980s writers seem incapable of writing a good Cyber story? Barring (which is by no means flawless) their stories exhibit a complete lack of understanding as to what made the Cybermen such powerful adversaries in early stories. Nor is there any appreciation of how the Cybermen ought to be presented for best dramatic effect. It is a mystery to me that the Cybermen continue to be thought of as the second most popular Doctor Who monster when, again barring Earthshock , their treatment by writers has been so abysmal over the 80s. Silver Nemesis may not quite plumb the depths of Attack of the Cybermen , in terms of its presentation of the Cybermen, but in my view it's not too far off. Unfortunately characters did little to lift the story. De Flores and his neo-Nazis were about as cardboard as the worst versions of their war comic counterparts. Yet apart from a few mumblings about the Fourth Reich and the Fuehrer there is very little to identify them with Nazism at all. They were simply the stock bad guys, put under the banner of Nazism by Clarke for, I suspect, cheap emotional effect. Lady Peinforte was possibly the weakest character of all. Played with great gusto by Fiona Walker, to the point of overacting, the most overriding impression I had was that she wasn't really taking the part seriously (perhaps little wonder given the script). Lady Peinforte claimed to be evil but this was not really evident in the portrayal: eccentric, yes; insane in a mostly harmless sort of way, maybe. In fact the character seemed designed more for humorous relief than as a serious villain. And as for 17th Century magic potions which are able to act as a catalyst to time travel, such an idea is difficult to accept even in the Doctor Who universe. I confess I've never found Sylvester McCoy's Doctor to be thoroughly convincing, especially when called upon to display emotions such as anger/fury or indignation, or when called upon to appear commanding. Silver Nemesis contains a number of such unconvincing, verging on embarrassing, moments. Yet overall, perhaps because I was subconsciously looking for something to like in this story, I did quite enjoy McCoy's portrayal. Though I suspect a fair part of this was due to the fact that and McCoy work so well together, such that you can almost forgive some of the deficiencies. What about the darker, more mysterious Doctor introduced in season 25 and highlighted in this story? Best ignored really. Well I'd like to ignore this aspect, but I guess that's become more difficult in light of other stories in seasons 25-26 and now in the New Adventures. Viewed in isolation the comments in this story are so vague and obscure ignoring them might be possible. Comments linking the Doctor to and are so ridiculous, so at variance with established Who-lore they could be put down to the Doctor either having apparently recently developed an over- exaggerated sense of his own self importance, or that he is simply teasing, as he perhaps used to occasionally do when retelling anecdotes of meetings with famous figures in Earth's history. Inferences by Lady Peinforte that the Doctor is 'more' than a Time-Lord could be discounted as the ranting of a madwoman. But if or Kevin Clarke is to be taken seriously (and the stories of Season 25 and 26 suggest this is the intention) then the character of the Doctor becomes a figure fundamentally different from that of the first 24 seasons. As just one example, it could be argued that this new 'darker' Doctor has a lower regard for life than was the norm previously, perhaps inevitable if the Doctor is now some semi-omnipotent galactic chess player. In Silver Nemesis I found this to be most apparent in the way the Doctor dealt with the Nemesis statue. The Doctor stated that validium was a form of living metal. In addition the statue gave every indication of being sentient. It was not inherently evil or destructive, yet the Doctor was effectively using its destructive power to do his dirty work (and it is suggested he has used it for such purposes in the past). Yet the Doctor treated it quite contemptuously, and what is more appeared to still have a hold over it which enabled him to deny the statue the 'freedom' it desired. Hopefully I'm missing something in my interpretation of these scenes, because this did not seem to be the Doctor I knew. The fact that the Doctor's personality can change significantly when he regenerates is indisputable. But I don't feel a relatively recent regeneration can explain away some of the features of the Doctor's new personality, and certainly not the associated implications of the Doctor's role in universal affairs. And even if Silver Nemesis had been a fantastic story I would still not be convinced such changes were either warranted or beneficial. In light of the hard work of the many people involved in the production of this story, as demonstrated in the documentary, I would like to think that with a decent script Silver Nemesis could have been more than halfway good, even if the script editing had remained rather dodgy and the direction mostly uninspiring. It is amazing that Cartmel and John Nathan-Turner would enlist Kevin Clarke to write an anniversary tale for a show which, by his own admission he had only ever seen twice before (his father didn't used to let him watch it!), and who had 'never read any science fiction.' [3] Doctor Who 's format can successfully encompass many different styles of story. And Season 25 and 26 contain some enjoyable stories. But in my opinion, by almost any standard, Silver Nemesis is, simply not good Who . Footnotes [1] I'm loathe to read too much into ratings as an indicator of a programme's quality, but I think the fact that nearly a million fewer Britons tuned into Part Two to an extent supports the point I am making here. [2] DWB 65: Season 25 retrospective by Craig Hinton [3] Celestial Toyroom Dec. 1988: 'Exercising the Imagination', interview with Kevin Clarke. Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke. Script Editor Andrew Cartmel. Designer John Asbridge. Sylvester McCoy ( The Doctor ), Sophie Aldred ( Ace ), Anton Diffring ( De Flores ), Fiona Walker ( Lady Peinforte ), Gerard Murphy ( Richard ), Leslie French ( Mathematician ) [1], Metin Yenal ( Karl ), Martyn Read ( Security Guard ) [1], ( Cyber Leader ); Courtney Pine, Adrian Read, Ernest Mothle, Frank Tontoh ( Jazz Quartet ) [1]; Mark Hardy ( Cyber Lieutenant ) [2-3]; Chris Chering, Symond Lawes ( Skinheads ) [2]; Brian Orrell ( Cyberman ) [2-3], Dolores Gray ( Mrs Remington ) [3]. The link between the three? The statue Nemesis, fashioned from validium - the living metal first made by Rassilon on and capable of bestowing the power of life and death on any individual. Can the Doctor and Ace prevent its awesome power from falling into any of their evil hands? Released on video in episodic format as an extended edition. [+/-] U.K. Release: April 1993 / U.S. Release: August 1994 PAL - BBC video BBCV4888 NTSC - CBS/FOX video 8146 NTSC - Warner Video E1269. Novelised as Doctor Who - Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke. [+/-] Number 143 in the Doctor Who Library. Archive: #244. South America, 1988. Herr de Flores' second-in-command Karl completes his calculations, and they and their neo-Nazi mercenaries prepare to set off for Windsor, England, for the dawning of the Fourth Reich. They take with them a silver bow in a carrying case. Three hundred and fifty years earlier, Lady Peinforte and her servant Richard wait for an aged mathematician to finish his calculations; once complete, the Lady kills the mathematician and uses his blood to complete a potion which enables her and Richard to travel forward in time to await the return of the Nemesis. They take a silver arrow with them. 23 November 1988: the Doctor and Ace are enjoying the sounds of a jazz quartet when the Doctor's watch alarm goes off, necessitating a return to the TARDIS to find out what he was trying to remind himself about. On their way back they are shot at by two figures wearing what appear to be large stereo headphones, but evade the attack and reach the TARDIS safely. There, the Doctor uses Ace's new super-hi-tech ghetto blaster -- which he built to replace her old one, destroyed by the Daleks -- to track down the appointment he made, and discovers that the Earth is in danger of annihilation, which he'd completely forgotten. A meteor is approaching the Earth, and it's got something inside. The TARDIS materializes in the cellars of Windsor Castle, where the Doctor tells Ace to search for a silver bow. The castle shakes to its foundation as the meteor lands outside the city, and the Doctor realizes that Nemesis, the comet he launched into space 350 years ago, has finally returned. Ace finds the empty case where the bow was kept and a plaque indicating that if a place is not kept for the bow, the entire silver statue will return to destroy the world. The Doctor, who seems more worried by the flickering electrical power in the cellars, tells her that legend is correct. Richard and Lady Peinforte watch from a distance as a police squad car arrives at the crash site and police emerge to protect the meteor. Peinforte is upset that the statue is now under guard, but Richard points out that it's useless without the arrow and they simply have to wait their chance to seize it. The Nazi mercenaries also arrive, but de Flores advises them to wait; the British government is unaware of the statue and its power, and the mercenaries can rely on the police to guard it until it's cooled down enough for them to return and collect it. The TARDIS materializes in Lady Peinforte's study in 1638, where the Doctor finds the mathematician's body and his calculations. The Doctor explains to Ace that Lady Peinforte created a statue of herself out of the living metal validium, which fell from the sky near her home. He studies a nearby chess set while explaining that Lady Peinforte used the statue's arrow and a rudimentary knowledge of time travel -- mostly black magic -- to travel forward in time to await its return to Earth; for validium is a dangerous force capable of terrible things. Ace is confused, but the Doctor promises to explain later. The police guarding the Nemesis find that their car's battery has gone dead, and then pipes rise from the ground and release a powdery gas which knocks them unconscious. The two men who attacked the Doctor and Ace arrive to ensure the police have been taken care of, and something reprogrammes them via their headphones. Meanwhile, Richard whimpers in confusion at this strange new world with its noise and foul air, while Peinforte dreams of what she will do with the Nemesis -- particularly the revenge she will seek upon the Doctor, whose secret she has discovered. The TARDIS returns to present-day Windsor Castle, where the Doctor and Ace break into the royal apartments and seek the Queen, hoping to get the army mobilised. Unfortunately they only find the Queen's bodyguards, who aren't convinced by their allegations that the entire Earth is in danger. The Doctor hypnotises the guards just long enough for him and Ace to escape and return to the TARDIS, and on the way back they pass a painting of Ace from 200 years ago, a souvenir of an adventure they haven't had yet. The neo-Nazis arrive at the Nemesis, and, although confused by the fact that the policemen have already been taken care of, de Flores and Karl place the silver bow on the comet. The bow and the statue begin to glow and hum with power, but de Flores realizes that the arrow is missing. The Doctor and Ace arrive, trying to stop things from getting out of control, and the Doctor explains to Ace that the statue is useless without the bow and arrow, which will cause it to reach critical mass and activate. He tries to warn de Flores that there are greater dangers present -- the creatures which overcame the police guard and have been draining electricity from the local supply for their own use -- but de Flores doesn't listen, and threatens to shoot Ace unless the Doctor tells him where to find the arrow. Before he can do so a spaceship lands nearby, but the occupants didn't arrive to rescue Ace. they're the Cybermen. Part Two (drn: 24'12"; VT drn: 25'49") The Cybermen recognize the Doctor despite his changed appearance, but before they can do anything, the neo-Nazis open fire on the Cybermen and a pitched battle breaks out. The Doctor and Ace shelter in the crater left by the meteor, as the Doctor explains that the very same thing happened last time -- only that time it was a battle between the Roundheads and Lady Peinforte's soldiers. Peinforte opens fire on the Cybermen with gold arrows dipped in poison, and when a dead Cyberman with a gold arrow sticking out of its chest falls into the crater, the Doctor realizes that she's nearby. After firing a few more arrows Peinforte waits for the mercenaries and Cybermen to wipe each other out so she can seize the Nemesis. The Doctor and Ace decide it's too dangerous to remain here and flee for the TARDIS, taking the bow with them; Karl and de Flores also decide to retreat, and take the case, unaware that it's now empty. Peinforte sees the Doctor fleeing, recognizes him, and fires a gold arrow which misses the Doctor and sticks in the TARDIS door. The Cybermen slaughter the remaining mercenaries, seize the statue, cut it free of the rocket sleds and take it to a place of safety. de Flores, having witnessed the Cybermen's death, gets out a pouch of gold dust from storage; meanwhile, Richard and Lady Peinforte, searching for the statue and the bow, are followed through the outskirts of Windsor by two skinheads who accost them in a deserted street and demand money. The Doctor and Ace return to 1638, where Ace sees that the mathematician's body has been moved. The Doctor destroys a scrap of paper which contained hints that set the mathematician on the right track, and, noticing that the pieces on the chess board have been moved, he makes another move and then leaves, followed by a very confused Ace. The TARDIS materializes in the forest, where the Doctor uses the bow to track the location of the statue; the bow begins glowing more brightly as it approaches a concentration of validium. Validium was originally created in the Old Time as a defense for Gallifrey, but some of it got away to Earth; the Doctor, however, launched the statue into space, separating it from the arrow and bow to prevent anyone from gaining control of it. The Cybermen land their ship in the forest and take the statue to Lady Peinforte's tomb, where the statue begins to glow as the bow approaches. The Cyber Leader intends to call for reinforcements, believing that the complete Nemesis will soon be in his possession, but the Doctor and Ace use her ghetto blaster and a jazz tape to jam the transmissions. As they continue towards the crypt, they notice the two skinheads who tried to mug Richard and Lady Peinforte, stripped and hung upside-down from a tree. Richard is confused to find llamas grazing in the grounds of Lady Peinforte's estate, which has been turned into a safari park. Lady Peinforte takes a ghoulish delight in pointing out Richard's own grave, near her own -- and the glowing arrow indicates the presence of the statue inside. The Cybermen watch as Lady Peinforte enters the crypt, believing that recognizance of her own death will drive her mad, but their plan backfires; Richard and Lady Peinforte barricade themselves in the crypt and drive the Cybermen off by firing gold arrows at them. The Doctor and Ace find the two headphone-wearing men guarding the Cybermen's ship, and while the Doctor lures them into the woods, Ace flings some nitro-9 into the ship, destroying it. When the Cybermen return they accuse their guards of betrayal and kill them, but the Doctor assures the shocked Ace that the two men were as good as dead already. de Flores and Karl, having witnessed the ship's explosion, arrive and offer to make an alliance with the Cybermen; in return for taking care of Lady Peinforte, the Cybermen agree to share the Nemesis and divide the planet between them. In fact, the Cybermen intend to dispose of de Flores and Karl once they have the statue, and de Flores intends to betray them as well. Lady Peinforte realizes that the statue has been sealed inside her grave, and forces Richard to help her open it. Inside they find the Nemesis, but before Peinforte can do anything with it, de Flores and Karl arrive and take them prisoner. Richard panics, flings the arrow into the tomb and drags the protesting Peinforte out while Karl and de Flores are blinded by the blaze of light. The Nazis allow them to go, intending to use the Nemesis to dispose of the Cybermen. but as the Cybermen enter the tomb, they finally realize that they don't have the bow after all. The Doctor and Ace retreat to a safe distance and use the ghetto blaster to find out where the Cybermen were transmitting to. Ace still doesn't understand the full danger until the Doctor explains that the Nemesis' orbit has brought it to Earth every 25 years -- and every 25 years it has generated destruction; the eve of the First World War, the annexation of Poland by Hitler, JFK's assassination. and now 1988. The space where the Cybermen's transmissions are being received is empty, and the Doctor doesn't understand until he realizes that the ships there are shrouded. He operates controls on the ghetto blaster, pierces the shroud and reveals a fleet of thousands of Cyber-warships hiding behind the moon. Part Three (drn: 24'36"; VT drn: 29'12") The Doctor prepares to go to the crypt, unarmed, with the bow, in order to place it in the statue's hands and activate the validium. Ace seems nervous but refuses the Doctor's offer to let her return to the TARDIS. Ace later confesses she's frightened but is determined to see it through. As the Doctor approaches with the bow, the statue begins to stir, and while the Cybermen are distracted de Flores flings gold dust into the Leader's face and attempts to escape. But as the Cybermen set off in pursuit, Karl surrenders and turns de Flores over to them, asking to be made one of them; they agree, and take de Flores and Karl back into the crypt to begin their conversion. Meanwhile, Lady Peinforte wonders why Richard saved her life when she has always treated him badly, and acknowledges that he is a good man while she is evil. But she is not yet ready to give up. She has one weapon left -- her knowledge. As the Doctor and Ace approach the crypt, Ace's jazz tape stops, freeing the Cybermen to call for reinforcements. But as they are about to do so the Doctor and Ace arrive, manoeuvre around them and get the bow into the statue's hands, bringing it to life. The Doctor takes the bow back and flees, knowing the statue will follow him. Lady Peinforte and Richard hear the cry of the Nemesis coming to life, and Peinforte begins to go mad as her dreams of power overwhelm her. The Doctor and Ace stop off back in 1638 to pick up the mathematician's calculations, which the Doctor doesn't want falling into the wrong hands, yet. Ace demands to know if the person who eventually steals the calculations is the same person who stole the bow in 1788. Who brought validium to Earth in the first place? What's *really* going on? The Doctor simply moves a few more pieces on the chessboard and tells Ace to take the bag of gold coins which were to be the mathematician's fee; the Cybermen will attempt to stop him from launching the Nemesis back into space, and Ace must hold them off with the coins and her slingshot while the Doctor recalculates the launch trajectory. The Cybermen head back to the warehouse to stop the Doctor from bringing the statue to the rocket sleds, and as soon as they've gone, Karl overpowers the remaining Cybermen and rescues de Flores; he was simply lulling them into a false sense of security so he and de Flores could escape when it was safe. Karl and de Flores escape. Richard and Lady Peinforte are also trying to return to the warehouse, and Richard tries hitch-hiking; it doesn't work until Lady Peinforte stands in front of a large limousine, and the rich American tourist inside offers them a lift. Mrs Remington is visiting Windsor to trace her roots, as her family once lived in the area, and she's very intrigued by the two eccentrics she's giving a lift to. The Nemesis arrives in the warehouse, and Ace watches in awe as it settles into place in the rocket sleds. As the Doctor prepares to launch the Nemesis at the Cyber-fleet, the statue tells Ace that since Peinforte named it Nemesis, that it what it now is; the spirit of retribution. The Cybermen arrive, and Ace leads them on a chase through the warehouse, picking them off one by one with her slingshot and gold coins; eventually she's trapped with three Cybermen and only one coin, but she manoeuvres around them such that two Cybermen shoot each other and she shoots the Leader. The Doctor checks on the Cyber-fleet's location, trying to ignore the Nemesis' plaintive pleas for freedom; "things are still imperfect," he tells it. He uses the rocket sleds to destroy the last two Cybermen who are threatening Ace's life, but then de Flores and Karl arrive and demand the bow. The Cyber Leader, however, has not been destroyed after all, and it now kills de Flores and Karl and demands the bow as well. And then Peinforte arrives, still obsessing over the power soon to become hers. If the Doctor does not hand the bow over to her, she will reveal all his secrets; the truth about the Old Time, the Time of Chaos. But the Doctor hands the bow over to the Cyber Leader, who ignores Peinforte as she desperately tries to call the Doctor's bluff and reveal the truth. Peinforte was a pawn in the Doctor's game all along, and when she realizes the truth she flings herself onto the statue and is absorbed into it. The Cyber Leader crushes Ace's jazz tape, demonstrating how all such foolishness will be dealt with when the Cyber-fleet turns Earth into the new Mondas. The Doctor asks the Nemesis if it understands the Cyber Leader's instructions and then launches it while Mrs Remington stands outside, taking photographs . The Doctor and his companions watch on the ghetto blaster as the Nemesis travels to the heart of the Cyber-fleet. and destroys it. The Doctor only asked if the Nemesis understood the Cyber Leader's instructions -- he didn't tell it to obey them. The Cyber Leader is about to kill the Doctor when Richard grabs the gold arrow which is still sticking in the TARDIS' door and stabs the Cyber Leader in the chest unit, destroying it. Richard wonders how he will live, stranded in this strange time, but the Doctor and Ace offer to give him a lift home to 1638. While they relax at Lady Peinforte's former home, the Doctor and Ace play chess and Ace finally works out that the Doctor deliberately launched the Nemesis to lure the Cybermen to Earth and finish them off. But there's still one question the Doctor hasn't answered. Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke. In the year 1638, the Doctor sent a statue called Nemesis -- made out of deadly living validium, which was once Gallifrey's last line of defense -- into orbit around the Earth. In 1988, the Nemesis statue's orbit decays and it returns to Earth, where it is pursued by three factions: the Cybermen, a Neo-Nazi named De Flores, and the mad, time-travelling Lady Peinforte, who nearly gained possession of the statue in 1738 and who knows the darkest secrets of the Doctor's past. Production. In early 1987, Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel made it known across the BBC that he was actively recruiting new writers to the programme. Amongst those who kept an eye out for writers who might be suitable for Doctor Who was his colleague Caroline Oulton; having steered Ben Aaronovitch in Cartmel's direction (eventually resulting in Remembrance Of The Daleks ), she provided the same advice to Kevin Clarke. Clarke had been invited to participate in the BBC writer's training course on the basis of a stage play he had also directed, and had been commissioned to write an episode of Wish Me Luck . Clarke was not a fan of science-fiction, and only reluctantly met with Cartmel in March. Nothing came of this discussion, but when Clarke had little success securing work elsewhere, he made contact with Cartmel again in September. His original idea was a standard Doctor Who adventure, whereas the script editor was eager for his writers to blaze new territory. However, Clarke impressed Cartmel enough that, later the same month, he was offered a three-part adventure. This would be made entirely on location, and would serve as a celebration of Doctor Who 's twenty-fifth anniversary on November 23rd, 1988. Kevin Clarke wanted to reveal that the Doctor was God, but John Nathan-Turner balked at the religious connotations. At the time, Cartmel was working on ideas to reintroduce an element of mystery into Doctor Who ; this gibed with Clarke's interest in making the question of the Doctor's identity a key point of his serial. At one point, Clarke wanted to reveal that the Doctor was God -- or, at least, a god-like figure who walked amongst mortals and possessed tremendous powers, but sometimes let events run away from him. However, producer John Nathan-Turner balked at introducing such religious connotations into the series. Clarke also devised the concept of a meteor with a baleful effect on the Earth's history; with Cartmel's input, this developed into a weapon-bearing silver figure named Nemesis, after the Greek goddess of retribution. It was Nathan-Turner who added the final key element to Clarke's tale, when he observed that the obvious monsters to include in a silver anniversary adventure were the silver giants themselves: the Cybermen. For his part, Clarke had hoped to use the Daleks, but these had already been earmarked for Aaronovitch's serial. The first episode of Clarke's adventure was commissioned on November 17th as “The Harbinger”. The writer incorporated several of his own interests, including jazz music and Jacobean drama (Clarke having been a student of the history of the English theatre). The latter inspired Lady Peinforte, whose name came from the seventeen-century torture peine forte et dure (literally “long and hard trauma”) in which increasingly heavy weights were placed on the body. The Nemesis statue had in part drawn upon Adolf Hitler's obsession with the Spear of Destiny, the lance which the Bible describes as having pierced the side of the crucified Jesus, and which was now reputed to be a relic bestowing great powers upon its bearer. This suggested the inclusion of the Nazi faction in “The Harbinger”, while De Flores' name was a reference to a murderous servant in 1622 tragedy The Changeling by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. The formal commission for episodes two and three on January 20th, 1988 still described the serial as “The Harbinger”, but it was around this time that it was retitled “Nemesis”. Late changes saw the living element “makarianite” renamed “validium”, as well a the introduction of Ace's ghetto blaster, which took the place of the TARDIS scanner and eliminated the need for any studio recording. The American tourist was conceived as the male Milton P Remington, and Nathan-Turner hoped to interest Larry Hagman, who starred as tycoon JR Ewing in the American Dallas ; Nathan-Turner had been put in touch with Hagman's representatives by Kate O'Mara, who played the Rani. When this didn't pan out, the role was rewritten as the female Miss Hackensack, and offered to Tony Award-winning actress Dolores Gray. Gray agreed to appear in Doctor Who , but objected to the character's name. John Nathan-Turner hoped that a cameo role in Doctor Who might appeal to Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex. Another individual whom Nathan-Turner hoped to attract to “Nemesis” was none other than Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and third son of Queen Elizabeth. Edward was a fan of the entertainment industry and was working as a production assistant for Andrew Lloyd Webber; Nathan- Turner hoped that a cameo role in Doctor Who might appeal to him, especially given the Windsor Castle setting of “Nemesis”. However, Edward's duties with Webber's company precluded his involvement in the serial, and he was replaced in the script by his mother, who would be portrayed by an imitator. Nathan-Turner was also disappointed to learn that his request to film at Windsor Castle was denied, as permission to do so was only granted to documentary projects. Yet another frustration for the producer came when his proposal for additional funding for “Nemesis”, in view of its celebratory status, was rejected by BBC1 Controller Jonathan Powell. By the middle of May, Clarke's adventure bore the expanded title Silver Nemesis . It would be made as Serial 7K, with director Chris Clough handling it alongside the studio-only , much as he had helmed the tandem of Delta And The Bannermen and Dragonfire the year before. Cast as De Flores was Anton Diffring. The German film star found the scripts confusing, but took the role because it meant he could watch coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, which was unavailable where he lived in the south of France. Pre-production on Silver Nemesis was complicated when the discovery of asbestos at BBC Television Centre forced the rearrangement of the recording dates for the preceding story, The Greatest Show In The Galaxy . As a result, neither Sylvester McCoy nor Sophie Aldred was available for rehearsals for Serial 7K. This was one of several factors which helped to set Clough and his team badly behind at their first location, Greenwich Gas Works in London. Filming there took place from June 22nd to 24th for material at the Nemesis statue's landing site and in the hangar. The slow progress played havoc with the schedule, causing some shots to be abandoned, while others were rewritten on the spot. For instance, although the extras playing the Cybermen's servitors (referred to as the Walkmen) were unavailable on the 24th, Clough was left with no choice but to record some scenes in which they were intended to appear. For the sequence in which the policemen were gassed, visual effects assistant Mike Tucker suggested that the Cybermats (not seen since 1975's Revenge Of The Cybermen ) could be used. He went as far as building a new Cybermat prop, but Cartmel disliked the creatures and the idea was dropped. For the sequence in which the policemen were gassed, Mike Tucker suggested that the Cybermats could be used. Standing in for Windsor Castle was Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, where production resumed from June 26th to 29th. On the 27th, a number of familiar faces returned to Doctor Who to play some of the tourists. This was intended as a salute to Nathan-Turner: the producer believed that he would be leaving Doctor Who at the end of the season, and at this point Silver Nemesis was planned to be its final story. The lone actor in the group was , who had played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart since the Sixties; this was his first Doctor Who appearance since The Five Doctors a half-decade earlier. Others in the crowd included directors Andrew Morgan, Peter Moffatt and (with her husband, production manager Ian Fraser), writer Graeme Curry, and production unit manager Kathleen Bidmead. Anthony Ainley (the Master) and writer Stephen Wyatt had hoped to appear, but were ultimately unable to participate. Also appearing was Clarke himself; in other scenes, he played a pedestrian while Lady Peinforte and Richard wandered the streets of Windsor, and a motorist who passed by the hitchhiking Peinforte. Cast and crew remained in Arundel on June 30th to film various street scenes, including all those involving Mrs Remington (as Miss Hackensack had now been renamed). Early in the day, Dolores Gray was badly upset when she discovered that she had left behind a bag containing expensive jewellery on the street where she had been collected. Happily, the bag and jewels were found and couriered to her at Arundel. On July 1st, material in Lady Peinforte's garden and study, as well as the tea room, was taped at St Mary's House and Gardens in Bramber, West Sussex. The next day, another West Sussex location was a private residence called Casa Del Mar in Goring-by-Sea, which served as De Flores' South American retreat. Finally, on July 5th, Black Jack's Mill Restaurant in Harefield, Middlesex provided the garden where the Doctor and Ace listen to the jazz concert, as well as the riverbank into which they dive to make their escape. Clarke was delighted that Courtney Pine had agreed to appear in Silver Nemesis , as he was an admirer of the musician's work. Indeed, he had written these scenes with Pine in mind, in that hope that he might get the chance to meet him. As it happened, Pine -- who had risen to prominence with his 1986 debut album Journey To The Urge Within -- was a fan of Doctor Who , and convinced his bandmates to participate. In a deleted scene, Ace passed by an 18th-century portrait of herself from a future adventure. In part because of the limited rehearsals, the original edit of Silver Nemesis proved to be much too long. Various elements were lost or truncated, most notably a subplot in which Karl appears to betray De Flores to the Cybermen, who plan to convert both men. As written, De Flores' attempt to get away by using gold dust was foiled by this ruse, and Karl later freed him once the Cybermen were lulled into a false sense of security and had left them almost unguarded. All that survived of this was the gold dust escape (now successful) and some brief glimpses of De Flores wearing the Cyber-headphones. Another omission was a Windsor Castle scene in which Ace passed by a portrait of herself (originally, a statue) which she did not recognise; this was painted by the design team in the style of Thomas Gainsborough, implying that an 18th-century adventure awaited in her future. As it transpired, Silver Nemesis was not the final story of Season Twenty-Five. Nathan-Turner was firm that part one should be broadcast on November 23rd, but a four-week delay to the start of the season meant that The Greatest Show In The Galaxy would now follow it in transmission order. Unusually, episodes two and three aired in New Zealand on November 25th, as part of a screening of the entire adventure. This marked just the second occasion (after The Five Doctors ) on which a Doctor Who episode had its premiere broadcast outside the UK. Meanwhile, Silver Nemesis proved to be Kevin Clarke's only Doctor Who serial. He continued to work in television, with credits including , The Last Detective and Casualty . His novelisation of Silver Nemesis was published by in 1989. Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke. This story had the ambition to try to become the main event for the 25th Anniversary of Doctor Who's beginning, and indeed its first episode holds up quite well while cashing in on the precise timing of its November 23rd, 1988 broadcast slot. But though the central idea easily sells itself as something that should turn out to be exciting, this tale has great trouble figuring out how to make the interaction between its various competing forces of characters believable and compelling, and ends up reusing too many ideas we've seen elsewhere recently, feeling like a re-run at half- proficiency. The first episode is largely fueled by the calculated anticipation of all the various characters meeting and coming into conflict with each other, which for the most part means that they will all be introduced separately and kept apart for most of the episode. This kind of tension is made to work well during this episode, while it remains immune from most of the interaction believability problems that later crop up. Once more we see the Doctor having deviously set-up a complicated trap for his enemies, but we also get to see how he remembers it and realizes that now is the time to see exactly who he has caught in it, and how to go about tidying up all the related affairs. Nice. Though the TARDIS is once more treated as just a background detail of the Doctor's existence, it's a particularly busy one in this adventure, as we see far more satisfying movement of the vehicle in these three episodes than we usually would in an entire season of Doctor Who. Only after the materialization effect has been done many times do they start skimping on it here and there, and at that stage, one doesn't mind so much. Sadly, the interior does not feature at all - with its most important scenes being rewritten for outdoor gatherings around Ace's ghettoblaster. Not very nostalgic or Anniversary-like in my book. When the characters finally do come together, we get bizarre flip-flops between all-out battles to the death, and friendly discussion and truce, and trying to follow the logic behind all these changes of tactics is a struggle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's ridiculous as written, sometimes it needs far more careful blocking of character movements and cameras than the director and crew could find time for. The bottom line may well be that these characters are all too self-centered and violently antagonistic towards each other to be able to sustain a satisfying drama when put together. Even the one-dimensional "you can't shoot me because I'm holding the Tarranium" gag, initiated in "The Dalek Masterplan" (story no. 21) and copied half a dozen times in later stories, might offer an improvement in clarity and believability over the much more complicated face-to-face tactics attempted here, even if it still isn't the greatest idea. The Cybermen are the most famous draw amongst the story's villains, and with their entrance held back for the first cliffhanger, and with this being a short 3-parter, that leaves them with only two episodes of screen time, which they have to share with the other villains. As a result, this isn't one of their greatest showings, probably competing with "The Wheel in Space" (story no. 43) for the honour of their lightest, least effective story. However, we find out that they have had much off-screen influence in the first episode anyway, and they do make a spectacular entrance. Ideas like cyber-controlled humans are thrown casually into the mix here, without any hint of the atmosphere that such ideas should be at the center of, like we had in "" (story no. 33). However, watch for some VERY exciting, energetic, atmospheric Ace vs Cybermen beats in the last episode - which I think show where talented director Chris Clough's efforts went before the production ran out of time. The South American neo-nazis led by Anton Diffring's character are really never interesting at any point. They're not really a great idea as written, and none of them receive very inspired performances from the actors. Lady Peinforte and her sidekick Richard drip with the atmosphere of a British medieval theatre production, which I suppose is the "romantically correct" modern interpretation of life in the 1600's. There's quite a bit of rich "fish out of water" drama sprinkled throughout the story for these two, alternating between comedic and dark creepy moments, but sadly this is often at odds with the plot, not finding a place where it complements action and motivation. Fiona Walker and Gerard Murphy milk the roles for as much of a sense of classical drama as they can, until these two easily become the most compelling guest stars that the story has. Still, the Peinforte character goes a bit too far when reveling in an interpretation of herself as evil - perhaps the character would remain more interesting had lines with such references been amongst those on the cutting room floor. It's also hard to know how to take the Peinforte character seriously, and with her the story's tactics, when she starts out by apparently using magic to travel through time. At least magic seems to have nothing to do with the rest of her time on screen, but she could probably have worked much better had her backstory revealed more human motivations, and more believable time-travel details. At least the arrow she carries with her ensures that there's no chance of the statue becoming complete between 1638 and 1988. This pair's hitchhiking encounter with the woman from southern U.S.A. produces interesting scenes, but they feel out of place at that late point in the narrative, slowing down the final movements of story. By contrast, they really needed this kind of interaction when they first landed in this time zone loudly screaming, yet get inexplicably ignored by a whole café full of bystanders. Again, the arbitrary decision to continue to shoot a story all on location while the same team does a completely different story all in the studio seems to have been disadvantageous with the pairing of "Silver Nemesis" and "The Happiness Patrol" (the previous story), and I'm not at all sure why they continued to do it. If it's about saving money by not having to book the same members of the cast for both location and studio sessions, maybe they should have just written stories with smaller casts in the first place, as these three-parters seem to be filled with more characters than one can properly appreciate, and many of them inevitably get short-changed in development and/or have their scenes cut for time. "Silver Nemesis" probably would have worked better with some studio work - the scenes in Lady Peinforte's crypt in 1988 probably would have been more spacious and received better camera blocking (in fact, ditto for Peinforte's 1638 study), the Cybermen would have been more clearly audible whenever they're inside buildings, and scenes inside the Cyber spaceships and the Doctor's TARDIS would have helped keep the science fiction background of these characters more pronounced and powerful. Special effects are a bit disappointing, and my disappointment has quite a specific arc this time around - though I'd already seen Ace's debut story "Dragonfire" (story no. 151), the New Jersey Network's "Making of Doctor Who Silver Nemesis" 50-minute special aired here in North America before I saw anything of season 25, and it helped shape my expectations of this story. Specifically, long time video effects man Dave Chapman gives an interview where he justifies his presence on location, saying how he is ensuring that the footage will be ideal for easily superimposing laser effects on top, and indicating that the new cyber weapons will show the energy rings actually moving from weapon to target. I was over the moon upon hearing that, believing we would finally be getting what we'd always deserved in laser effects. If only Chapman had been on the floor of "Warriors of the Deep" (story no. 131) and "Resurrection of the Daleks" (story no. 134), maybe they would've turned out better as well. Then I saw the amazing work Chapman did for "Remembrance of the Daleks" (story no. 152), and I felt sure that the cyber weapons would finally be truly awesome and cool. Finally, "Silver Nemesis" came along. and revealed that Chapman had added nothing to the picture at all. What the hell. I don't know why so many British people working in science-fiction settle so easily for spark-charges going off all by themselves. It's definitely sillier that way. The effects Chapman does work on are not always so great either, particularly the kind of time-storm animation that surrounds Peinforte and Richard early on, or later the statue as it floats about. Some of the work with the Cybership and the meteor looks good, but other bits are far too 2-dimensional, particularly the Cyber fleet near the end. Thankfully, the Doctor and Ace are a highly enjoyable and entertaining pair as usual, providing a great deal of the story's draw. Sophie Aldred seems as fluid in the role as she was in "The Happiness Patrol", although the writing is largely much better for her here. Still, one scene in particular sticks out sorely, where Ace stops everything to tell the Doctor that she's really scared, and then promptly shrugs it all off to go tackle the devious trap-setting of the day. This doesn't seem to actually do anything for plot, or character arcs, nor does it fit Ace's character, particularly as she has no idea she'll be ending up in a mini cyber-war of her own soon. Although many of the ideas for this story feel unique at first, the closer we get to the end, the more everything seems to copy "Remembrance of the Daleks" far too closely, until the ending leaves you feeling like you've seen the whole thing done better before. Even some of the more unique bits have their equivalent in deleted scenes from "Remembrance". But there is a lot to enjoy here, and even the repeated bits work well to cement into place McCoy's take on the long-running character. This is a fun story. A good part of the fun is undoubtedly NJN's documentary on the story's production. (See the commercially available VHS videos, if you haven't yet had occasion to tape it off of TV.) Unlike a lot of other contemporary TV interviews and appearances from the time, there is a great deal of energy, enthusiasm, and candor among this cast and crew behind the scenes, as they tackle adversity to accomplish their project. Undoubtedly this spills over in front of the camera as well. In many ways, this tale manages to encapsulate most of the pros and cons of McCoy's era, and to become one of the most nostalgic of his installments. Even though it doesn't quite manage to be one of his best, it remains enjoyable and is a lot of fun. International Titles: Deutsch: "Das Vermächtnis der Nemesis" Magyar: "Ezüst végzet" Français: (Nemesis argentée) Русский: "Серебряная Немезида" This story has become available on DVD and VHS video. Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you for pricing and availability: DVD NTSC Region 1 for the North American market: in the U.S. in Canada DVD PAL Region 2 Box Set for the U.K. VHS Video NTSC A in the U.S. NTSC B in the U.S. NTSC A in Canada NTSC B in Canada PAL for the U.K. Comments on this article are welcome. You may contact the author from this page: LYRATEK.COM. Read the In-depth Analysis Review for the next story: "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" Doctor Who: Silver Nemesis by Kevin Clarke. In 1988, Kevin Clarke’s Doctor Who script, Silver Nemesis was brought to the small screen. Envisioned by John Nathan-Turner as a story to celebrate the show’s silver anniversary, Clarke had to submit a storyline which included a number of different elements, most notable of which was the return of the Cybermen to face off against the . It proved to be their final appearance in the classic series before their triumphant return in 2006. Clarke has never kept it a real secret that he wasn’t too happy with how Silver Nemesis turned out and I think it is fairly safe to say that faults were made during both the scripting stage and the production itself. It’s similarly fair to say that Silver Nemesis will never set the world on fire – but I don’t think it’s all that bad. We’ve got some great location work at Arundel Castle and the surrounding area, the Cybermen look great, and I’ve always enjoyed the explosive side of the Seventh Doctor’s era! But many didn’t know that Clarke has actually given up screenwriting. In a recent article written by Clarke himself for the Royal Literary Fund, he goes in depth about the problems with writing scripts and how badly writers can be treated by producers and other staff. He talks about how much time he has spent writing and how much he loves it; like many of his friends, he would go on writing until he dropped. He is quick to explain that he hasn’t fallen out-of-love with writing – just the powers that be within the writing community. As a fledgling writer myself, I fully understand his next statement: “There is still nothing like that thrill of the unknown that writers face each day: what’s going to happen next? You may have planned your next project, but when did a project ever go according to plan? Characters start speaking for themselves, suddenly they do something unexpected, the weather changes and you, the writer, are no longer in charge, you are simply noting down the actions and words of others…” Clarke goes on to comment on how, at a young age, he and every other writer believes that success will be permanent before commenting on how ironic the series he wrote first and last for were: Wish Me Luck and The Last Detective . He then goes on to comment on some of the more unsavoury aspects of the job: “At some point, the producer would go and discuss the project with a broadcaster; the broadcaster would be keen. There would be meetings and rewrites, rewrites and meetings. The broadcaster would be even more keen. Then the producer would formally submit it to the broadcaster. After that, one of two possibilities happened, both usually taking many months. The first was nothing: the broadcaster would simply not respond to the producer’s (or my) email(s). The second was that it was rejected, often because the broadcaster was developing something suspiciously similar with someone else. Either way a year or eighteen months of work was gone, and for nothing except that I had been able to continue paying the mortgage. Of course, being a script-writer isn’t a straight job, it doesn’t come with shares, health insurance, and a preset retirement age. As my early mentor Alan Plater once gently reminded my younger self: ‘Nobody said you had to be a writer’. But I could live with that. I knew the risks when I started.” He also goes on to recount a time when a producer loved a script for a motion picture, picked it up, and then handed it around to different production companies. She said that the script needed ‘a little sprinkle of fairy dust’ and then proceeded to turn it into something completely different to his original idea and then rendered it unusable. Clarke seems to be particularly unenthused with the state of British television companies, stating that many people passed over his ideas and one even asked a friend to tell him they didn’t want to use his scripts because they clearly didn’t have the guts to tell him himself! Luckily though, for a while he seemed to have more success in the US. Even if they didn’t pick up a script or an idea, there was a genuine air of interest and goodwill about the whole thing. American producers are much more likely to take a chance on something and invest the money than their British counterparts. But he has experienced so much negativity in the television community that, for the time at least, he has opted to put down the quill. So what is he up to now? Well, he goes on to state that he has taken up a great interest in history, particularly the political intrigue around the Tudor and Stuart Courts, claiming that there is a connection between them and the state of the writing community today. There is plenty of back- stabbing, faux friendships, jockeying for power, murderous ambitions, lies, thefts, and ruthless betrayals. He is currently studying for his third degree. At the beginning of this article I stated that there were issues with Silver Nemesis that extended to both the script and the production team. With a little look into Clarke’s writing life, maybe the problem was that the production team just couldn’t realise what Clarke had written? There are certainly some interesting concepts there. Will this be the last we hear from him on the television scene? It seems so for now; hopefully though, he’ll come back to the Doctor Who scene in the future – maybe submitting something for Big Finish?