Doctor Who: Warzone / Conversion

Two more stories featuring the Doctor travelling with former Roman slave Marcus in addition to regular companions Tegan and Nyssa.

Warzone - One of the main tropes of Doctor Who is that it involves a lot of running, so there's something almost tongue-in-cheek in the fact that this story sees the Doctor and his companions taking part in a marathon run on an alien planet. Obviously, there's more to the story than just the running or even the deadly obstacles that are strewn along the route but, even so, it's a major element and there's an underlying theme of taking a swipe at some people's obsession with athletics and physical improvement.

Things really get going in the second half, however, as a more sinister side of the race becomes apparent. Companion Marcus (or Marc, as he seems to be known now) proved rather uninteresting in the previous release, but here we finally get a pay-off. The story builds on what we saw of him in his debut to place him at the centre of events in a way that wouldn't be possible for most other companions. Tegan also shines, being the one who is interacting with him most but, considering it's only an hour long, there is still room for Nyssa to get some good scenes as well. 4 stars.

Conversion - The Cybermen promised on the cover make their appearance in the second story of the set and it's a good one for fans of these particular monsters. The mournful alien doctor who can't quite get the hang of human interaction is a bit tiresome at times, as are the characters that the Doctor and Tegan bump into in their part of the story. But this isn't the strength of it, which is looking back at the events of Earthshock and examining the characters' reactions to it now that the bad memories are being brought back by the return of the Cybermen.

Nyssa gets to help save the day in the Doctor's absence and we also see a softer side of Tegan as she begins to question some of her life decisions travelling with the Doctor. Marcus has rather less to do, but he remains pivotal to the story, which makes us care about what happens to him through his interaction with the regulars. There's great acting all around, with Davison being particularly strong as the Doctor struggles to prevent history being repeated.

The story ends on a minor cliffhanger, which has no direct connection to the main plot but nonetheless feels like a logical extrapolation of it... all to be followed up, presumably, in the next Fifth Doctor release. 5 stars.