DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Peter Grimwade (Kinda), Fiona Cumming (Snakedance)
Starring Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse
Release date Out now

Two encounters between the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and the evil mind parasite, the Mara…

Sometimes on Doctor Who almost everything — writing, directing, performance, design and special effects — come together to produce great stories. Kinda is one of those — almost.

As transmitted in 1982, Kinda was all but ruined by an awful rubber snake at the story’s climax representing the physical manifestation of the evil Mara. For those who could appreciate it, the cleverness of the overall story overcame this disastrously naff effect, but for many casual viewers the giant rubber snake spoiled everything that came before. Now, an option on this new DVD allows the serial to be viewed with the snake replaced by fantastic, up-to-date CGI trickery — problem solved, after almost 30 years.

Kinda is a script of ideas, fought out between first-time Doctor Who writer Christopher Bailey and a trio of confused script editors, as revealed in the in-depth extra, Dream Time. That so many of Bailey’s Buddhist-inspired ideas made it to the screen is something of a miracle, given the obstacles he and the production team faced.

Kinda boasts a genuinely amazing cast, featuring veteran movie star Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes, Mary Morris and Simon Rouse. All give superb performances (perhaps rising to the quality of the challenging script), especially Rouse as the mad-as-a-hatter Hindle. The story also provides an opportunity for Janet Fielding to flex her thespian muscles and get quite sultry as the possessed Tegan. The less said about Matthew Waterhouse’s sorry Adric, the better.

Kinda was imaginatively directed by Peter Grimwade, with the fantasy sequences boasting some excellent 1980s pop video-inspired visuals. An extra, hosted by Turlough actor Mark Strickson, recounts Grimwade’s writing and directing history on Doctor Who, including a rather unfortunate, but silly, falling out with producer John Nathan-Turner.

Just as Kinda was infamous for the snake, so the following year’s sequel Snakedance is now infamous for featuring a young Martin Clunes thanks to endless repeats of the clip in Before They Were Famous. Again, this story deals in big ideas, including the commodification of history and the danger of repeating past mistakes.

Although everyone had learned from Kinda, including Bailey who tried this time to write to the production possibilities of the show in the 1980s, Snakedance is something of a lesser tale. It’s also supported by fewer worthwhile extras than Kinda, although the 'making of' manages a decent focus on the design challenges of the series in the 1980s. Brian J. Robb

VERDICT: 8/10
A pair of imaginative and challenging Doctor Who stories undermined (but not fatally so) by their ‘special’ effects.