Doctor Who: Kinda (1982) - Review

I've seen 'Kinda' listed among many of the Doctor Who "Classics" - those being stories regarded by fans as the series' best - so to sit down and finally watch this story...I found myself a bit underwhelmed. Part of the issue here is more than likely the weight of expectations getting to me. I was really intrigued to see a Tegan-centric story, as well as exploring the Mara as the embodiment of pure evil. I'd heard about the more surrealist dream sequences, and a giant snake was just icing on the cake as far as I was concerned. The issue I had with the story though was that it's not nearly as tight as that. In fact, Tegan has very little bearing on the plot, while Nyssa's surprise faint at the end of 'Four to Doomsday' is brushed-off with a "oh, she just needs some rest". Based on the Behind the Sofa installment on this disc, I doubt we'll ever get to see that properly resolved.

Most of 'Kinda' instead follows the Doctor and Adric as they explore a group of presumably human colonists who have based themselves on the planet Deva Loka, which is home to the Kinda - the less-advanced local inhabitants with psychic abilities; only the women can physically speak. There's some interesting concepts throughout the story, and the whole idea of the Mara is an interesting one, but it just feels a little unfocused for my liking. The character Todd (whose name I just had to look up) feels a little disposable, and I couldn't help but wonder why Nyssa couldn't fulfill her role (considering her bizarre absence from the story). Todd's fine as a character, but ends up being a companion as opposed to being able to deliver any important exposition or drama to the serial.

Adric spends a good section of 'Kinda' trapped with the male crew-members of the human colony ship, and while these scenes are spectacularly well-acted, there's never a sense of tension to the proceedings. It also means that Adric has very little to do in 'Kinda' as well, while the Doctor is left trying to piece it all together. He does, but its all executed in quite a strange and confusing way. The Mara possesses Aris, one of the Kinda who wants to rescue his friends from the humans (who have been captured, and then later become soldiers), but Aris doesn't seem to have any conflict with the Mara - unlike Tegan. The story finally clicks into place with Part Four, but by this time no real sense of atmosphere has been created. It has the old "studio lights" issue that a lot of 80's Doctor Who has. Turning up the lights mostly kills the atmosphere, whilst if the production team were to turn them down you'd be able to create more tension for the viewers. It just reminds us that it's actors on a set, something that a lot of Tom Baker's tenure managed to avoid.

Saying all of that, the dream sequences with Tegan are great - as much as I would've liked more of them - and the final reveal of the Mara in its true snakelike form is very well-executed. On this release, a new CGI snake is an option, which looks fantastic and blends very well with the footage. I also really like the themes of colonialism, and I found the whole approach this story had towards gender roles to be quite interesting. Men on Deva Loka either go mad or aren't able to speak, while the women are the ones in control, with both the ability to speak and possessing a clear head, and the Doctor is left out of either. I imagine if this story were to be broadcast today, it wouldn't be favoured well amongst certain Doctor Who fans, but it was interesting to see. I think that had 'Kinda' been primarily focused on Tegan's conflict with the Mara, it might have been more interesting - and perhaps the surrealism could've been explored a bit further.

Perhaps 'Kinda' requires a re-watch at some point, because I really like the ideas at play, but the execution just feels a bit muddled. Maybe it's just not quite my cup of tea, but I am intrigued to see 'Snakedance' at some point (do I buy the DVD or wait for the Blu-ray though?).