City of Death was the first episode of the Doctor Who to
ever be partially filmed on location outside of the UK and the BBC wasted no
time in showing us the sights of Paris as the Doctor saw them on his trip with
Romana. Much of the episode consists of scenes of them running through the
streets of France, the Doctor’s scarf flapping in the wind and Romana nearly
losing her hat.
The Doctor and his companion visit the Louvre where they
discover that someone is out to steal the Mona Lisa and begin a hunt for an
alien who is disguised as a rich baron named Scarlioni who wants to use the
money he can get from the painting to fund his experiments in Time Travel. Scarlioni
is actually Scaroth the last of the Jagaroth who was stranded on Earth and
fragmented through its time line when his space ship explodes.
The Jagaroth are a race of aliens who have humanoid bodies
but their heads are covered in green tentacles and they have one eye which protrudes
from their face on a stalk. Despite his slightly silly appearance, Scaroth’s
plan is pretty sinister and he will go to any lengths necessary to get what he
wants including aging a man to death.
There are a lot of comedic elements to this episode which is
something that Tom Baker is always very good at bringing to his episodes.
Romana, as a fellow time lord is a really interesting and exciting companion
because she can hold her own alongside the Doctor’s intelligence and in some
instances he actually defers to her for ideas. Something you don’t see much of from
some of his other less independent companions.
All in all, this episode was a solid 4/5 and
would definitely be worth a second watch.
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