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[[File:master_leer_1246.jpg|frame]]
{{quote| '''The Master:''' I am the Master!<br />
'''Peri:''' So what? I'm Perpugilliam Brown, and I can shout just as loud as you can! }}
 
Our story begins by focusing on a random group of desert dwellers on the planet of Sarn. There isn't a whole lot to know about these guys, outside the fact that they worship a god named Logar and they have a Chosen One, named Malkon, who is declared so because of a special double-triangle symbol burned into his flesh. A lot of the opening of this episode, and indeed a lot of the serial, generally contains two groups of these people bickering on if their god really exists or not... and it generally goes nowhere, seeing how it's a 'C' plot in a ''Doctor Who'' story that's already got a rather busy 'A' and 'B' plot running.
 
Off in the TARDIS, the Doctor hasn't taken [[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S21 E4/E04 Resurrection of the Daleks|Tegan's decision to leave]] all that well. He curses the Daleks for a bit before Turlough tells him to snap out of it. However, before either of them can get any more lines in, a random scream pierces the TARDIS control room. Why, that must be Kamelion, and he's in danger! You remember Kamelion, right? He showed up at [[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S20 E6/E06 The Kings Demons|the tail end]] of the last season and vowed he'd be a loyal companion of the Doctor! And then he never bothered to show up again until this episode! Boy, what a <s>useless character</s> great friend that guy is.
 
Well, it turns out that Kamelion has somehow tired of <s>the wild and awesome adventures he's been having with the Doctor</s> sitting around doing jack shit and decided to off himself. Or he's accidentally plugged himself into the wrong part of the TARDIS. Or something. All it looks like is that the Kamelion prop is laying on the ground sparking as a cable stretches into a wall of the TARDIS set. But the Doctor isn't especially worried, as ''he just leaves the guy laying there on the ground to, apparently, die.''
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Things generally hit the fan, as it turns out that Sarn is an old colonization attempt by Turlough's people, and it just so happened to be a prison world. Turlough is also a criminal-by-relation, his father having led a failed coup d'etat. Seriously. Meanwhile, Peri is taken to the Master's TARDIS by Kamelion and she's forced into labor. Looking inside the Master's "control box," she quickly sees why the Master needed Kamelion... he's now doll-sized. So he runs around his TARDIS while Peri tries to crush him like one would an errant cockroach for the next 10 minutes.
 
Ok, so the Master finally reveals his supreme plan. Apparently, he [[Villain Ball|accidentally]] [[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|shot himself]] with an advanced Tissue Compression Eliminator and needs some special regenerating gasses from the planet Sarn in order to return to normal. However, the gasses are stored in the core of the planet, and the Master's dinking around has caused the place to become geologically unstable. Turlough swallows what little pride he has left and calls his people with the wreckage of a crashed spaceship, where his brother also happened to come from. They agree to send a ship to recover those who remain on the planet. Meanwhile, Peri and the Doctor try to stop the Master's super awesome plan... but not before the Doctor decides to use the regenerating gasses to heal up a few of the sick and wounded ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|by setting them on fire]].''
 
However, Peri and the Doctor aren't really able to stop the Master. Instead, the Doctor is just barely able to [[Mercy Kill|short-circuit]] Kamelion, giving the robot what the Doctor calls "an electronic heart attack." Kamelion then, in what amounts to Hulk-speak, begs for the Doctor to kill him off. Using the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator, the Doctor ends Kamelion's life, reducing him to a silver action figure. Meanwhile, the Mini-Master is finally absorbing the regenerative gasses of the planet, and grows back to size...
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=== Tropes ===
 
* [[Abusive Parents]]: While sleeping in the TARDIS, Peri has a [[Bad Dreams|nightmare]] about her stepfather, begging him "I-I'm sorry Howard. I didn't mean it. No Howard, p-please don't leave me alone! Do-don't turn out the lights! HOWWAAAARD!".
** It goes further in the [[Expanded Universe]]. Peri's step father molested her as a child.
* [[Beach Episode]]: (at least at the start) providing an excuse for high levels of [[Fan Service]] from Nicola Bryant and [[Shirtless Scene|Mark]] [[Show Some Leg|Strickson]]. Actor [[David Tennant]] and producer Phil Collinson reminisce fondly about this episode in the hidden commentary on "[[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/20th AS the Five Doctors/Recap|The Five Doctors]]". Even [[Peter Davison]]'s usual cover-all outfits are somewhat relaxed.
* [[Big Little Man]]: Done as a [[Cliff Hanger]] reveal when it turns out the Master has accidentally shrunk himself to a small size, and has been directing the shapeshifter robot that everyone thinks is him from a control box.
* [[Birthmark of Destiny]]: Malkon's brand is interpreted as one of these by the people of Sarn.
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* [[Deadly Gas]]: Inverted - the numismeton gas is healthsome and good.
* [[Distress Call]]
* [[Dropped a Bridge Onon Him]]
* [[Dull Surprise]]: The Doctor's slack-jawed blank expression as the Master supposedly burns alive.
* [[Fake American]]: Nicola Bryant's "American" accent is... unfortunate, to say the least.
* [[Fan Service]]: This episode is pretty much the apotheosis of John Nathan-Turner's "something for the dads" policy. Although the costumes of some of the male characters are more revealing than usual, making it more equal opportunity.
* [[Ham -to -Ham Combat]]: This adventure features a particularly hammy [[Peter Davison]] taking on an even hammier Anthony Ainley. And it is ''glorious.''
** Peter Davison notes on the DVD's "making of" documentary that Ainley originally tried to underplay the role much more than he does in the finished product. However, the serial's director, Fiona Cumming was known to favour very hammy, over-the-top performances from her actors, and made Ainley turn his performance [[Up to Eleven]].
* [[Home, Sweet Home]]: Turlough's motive for leaving is that he has a chance to go home, and as a hero no less.
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Peri's stepfather.
** Becomes significantly less hot when you find out what kind of person he was
* [[I Just Shot Marvin in Thethe Face|I Just Shot Myself In The Face]]: strongly implied that this is at the root of the Master's problems
* [[Long Lost Sibling]]: Malkon
* [[Male Gaze]]: This is the ''very first shot'' of Peri, setting the stage for pretty much her entire tenure on the show.
* [[Mark of Shame]]: The Turlough brothers.
* [[The Master (trope)|The Master]]
* [[Mercy Kill]]
* [[Moral Dissonance]]: ''Burning the Master alive''. For a guy who's supposed to be fixated on saving people, he pretty much kicks back, lets the Master burn, shrugs, and walks away.
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[[Category:Doctor Who (TV)/Recap]]
[[Category:Doctor Who S 21 E 5 Planet Of Fire]]
[[Category:Recap]]
[[Category:Doctor Who/Recap]]
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