Conventional wisdom says Arc of Infinity is a dud. Dull, padded and burdened by Gallifreyan ploddery, it gets Davison’s middle season off to a seriously underwhelming start. Well, conventional wisdom can go hang out in a Dutch crypt with its bug-eyed backpacker mates and hit on an Aryan boy during a music show.

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Sure, it’s got a convoluted plot and more phoned-in performances than an 80s telethon, but for us it’s an entertaining escapade that’s well-paced and sufficiently different to Davison’s other stodgy servings (from what we’ve seen at this point anyway: we’re probably basking in the blissful ignorance of not having viewed many other lore-heavy stories yet) to rank among his better serials. Though we also accept this story is effectively a rehearsal for the Five Doctors.

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Crucially, it’s refreshing to see Davison’s Doctor as the main character in one of his own stories. Not only is he the principal focus of the plot thanks to being the subject of – spoiler – Omega’s resurrection bonding attempt, he gets to play a second role as Bad Doctor when the weird body-possession plan goes south (though Troughton’s sublime dual Enemy of the World performance this is not).​​​​​​​​​​

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Here, Doc Five only has one companion (albeit briefly), which is precisely what this version of the character needs. The ensuing relative calm means the Doctor can breathe (ironic, given Davison’s laden sinuses). For once he’s not drowned out by bickering companions and can finally get a word in.

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Sadly, this glimmer of a more Doctor-centric future only lasts one episode until the massive contrivance of Tegan stumbling into the Amsterdam subplot while on her holibobs. Though, while this imminent crowding out of Davison once more is a shame (the closing shot gives a remarkably unsubtle message about his views on her return), Nyssa is too stiff to fly solo as a companion so the sudden return of Tegan’s energy and bold attitude is not wholly unwelcome.

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As a result of the extra room he’s given, Davison puts in a performance in this story that borders on the impressive. He displays a couple of quirks we’ve not seen from his characterisation before: he’s short-tempered at times, snapping at Nyssa to fetch his tools on one occasion, and actually shoots someone (WTF, we hear the kids on their socials screaming).

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On the lighter side, in Episode Four he even – wait for it – smiles, and we enjoy his playful indecision on which direction to go in a corridor, neatly channelling Baker (Tom, we hasten to add…).

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Indeed, as the show enters its 20th season, this story is littered with nice little callbacks that are handled well – managing to come across as heartwarming nods rather than crowbarred nostalgia, as will occur later (The Two Doctors, anyone?). The obvious Omega-related parallels with Pertwee aside, we have references to Leela, Romana and Morbius, while even touches like Tegan’s Black Orchid garden pixie outfit hanging in the TARDIS feel like carefully-considered world-building.

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We know that most fans roll their eyes at Time Lord High Council scenes but they justify their place in this story. Also – and we can hear the fandom guffawing through their sped-up voice machines as we admit this – we found the twists genuinely surprising.

 

Alright, in hindsight they weren’t exactly Sixth Sense levels of wool-pulling and we were probably scrolling through the football scores rather than giving Pete D our undivided attention, but we didn’t foresee that the traitor would turn out to be Bruce Wayne’s butler. Nor did we expect the Big Bad to be Omega. We were just relieved it wasn’t the sodding Master (we know, we know…he’s lurking round the corner in this season).

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Of course, we don’t want to be unduly positive and there is plenty wrong with Arc of Infinity which, in the interests of a brevity not afforded to the Amsterdam chase finale, we are pleased to present in bullet point form:

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• The interesting premise about the Doc being set up and put to death is interspersed with scenes featuring a sprout-chicken-dude.

• The score is distinctly terrible, the kind of noise parents endure from their kid on Boxing Day jabbing pudgy fingers at his new electronic keyboard.

• Curiously, the location shoot manages to make Amsterdam look a bit of a craphole, certainly in the early scenes before the city gives way to the Slowest. Chase. In. History. It makes Don’t Look Now resemble the Fast and the Furious.

• Way too many male characters refer to female characters as ‘girl’.

• Has there ever been a more disturbing smirk than Davison in a polo neck with that blond boy, and have we gone mad or are the final shots of the disintegrating Omega (for ‘disintegrating’ read ‘smeared with green face pack’) not actually Peter Davison? Did the boy wonder refuse to get his splendid jumper mucky?

• The President of the High Council stumbling over the word ‘permit’ at the end of episode three. We demand to know what pressing production deadline prevented them from reshooting that line.

• An Australian lad named Colin.

• And did a Dutch woman let out a blood-curdling scream in the street in broad daylight because she saw a man who was a little disfigured? EDI was not a priority in 1983.

 

But overall, these niggles are outweighed by a pretty decent story that we thoroughly enjoyed. So there, conventional wisdom.

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​​​​​​​​Speaking of which, one final observation:

 

Like every single other viewer, we watched this story and instantly clocked the guy playing the stoic, emotional guard as an absolute superstar for the future. His charisma shone through this one-dimensional role with such Hallelujah levels of vigour that it was nothing short of sinful to see his talents wasted on such a grouchy, emotionally stunted character. It was clear to anyone with eyes (or a face made of jelly – sorry, Omega) that he represented the future of this beloved show. We were not alone. No sooner had we tried to launch a petition calling for the actor’s immediate appointment as Davison’s replacement than news arrived that not only had we been beaten to it, but that the threshold of signatures had been reached in record time, compelling the matter to be debated in Parliament. If that’s not justice (“I’m sorry Doctor, but we must deal with the situation as it exists now,” as President Borusa says), we don’t know what is.

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