The Primeval Design

Fourth Doctor Adventures #10.4

Released: 10 February 2021

Listened: 3/21/22

Leela and the Doctor have seen a handful of dinosaurs recently, so the Doctor takes her to meet Mary Anning, an English pioneer in the field of paleontology. Unfortunately, as a woman in the early 19th century, her work has gone unrecognized for over 100 years after her death. The Doctor is in full bluster mode, plowing into Mary’s life and getting himself involved in an investigation into an unusual death. Leela, of course, is a source of inspiration to Mary, as she fails to abide by any suggestions that she should “know her place.” Unfortunately, the story has an absurd amount of shouting and shrieking, which is kind of tough to listen to. I have to ascribe that to director Nick Briggs, rather than writer Helen Goldwyn or any of the actors. Still, these are the loudest exhausted, drowning people I’ve ever heard, especially since one of them has literally just given birth. Obviously, in this kind of a story, you can expect dinosaurs for monsters, but the theory posited is that the alien creatures designed to be the “ultimate killing machines” are not dinosaurs, but dinosaur skeletons. Which is kinda strange no matter how you slice it. But the Mary Anning parts are pretty cool.