Tegan gets possessed by the Mara again
Tegan’s only been back aboard the TARDIS for a heartbeat and already she’s getting possessed by the Mara again! Yes, the Mara, the serpentine entity from Season 19’s Kinda, is the returning element in Snakedance, one of Doctor Who’s most overlooked stories.
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We begin our newest adventure with Nyssa trying to flirt with Dr Who. Everybody thinks that companions having crushes on the Doctor is a 21st century thing, but here it’s heavily suggested that Nyssa is desperate for the Doctor’s attentions. “Well?” she demands, showing off her latest – and truly awful – outfit.
The Doctor doesn’t notice her apparel at all, in perfectly Doctorish fashion, and completely misses the fact she’s literally pushing herself in front of him, squeezing between him and his TARDIS controls.
Who knew that Nyssa had a thing for the Doctor? It’s not surprising though, and actually quite refreshing, although I do realise that no such thing was intended by the production team at the time.
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It’s supposed to be a humorous but innocent scene in which Nyssa tries to get the Doctor to notice her new clothes (and nothing more), but with these 21st century eyes, you can read a lot more into it. Nyssa luvs the Doctor! Meanwhile, Tegan is sleeping in her room with all the lights on.
The TARDIS probably has an amazing lighting set-up, with all sorts of snazzy dimmer switches, shades and fades, but Tegan decides to sleep floodlit.
In her dream she encounters a cave entrance shaped like the mouth of a snake, and accompanied by that sinister screechy whistle on Peter Howell’s soundtrack, we know straight away that the Mara’s about.