Kinda (TV story)

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Synopsis

The TARDIS visits the planet Deva Loka, where Nyssa remains behind in the ship to recover from a mild mental disorientation while the Doctor, Tegan and Adric explore. Tegan falls asleep under some wind chimes and becomes possessed by an evil force, a Mara.

Also on Deva Loka is a survey team assessing the planet for colonisation, but three of their number have disappeared and the remainder - Sanders, his deputy Hindle and the scientist Todd - are encountering difficulties in their dealings with the outwardly primitive but telepathically gifted native people, the Kinda. Hindle becomes mentally unstable, but his mind is eventually cleared by a Kinda device called the Box of Jhana.

Aided by the Kinda, the Doctor ultimately succeeds in banishing the Mara - which manifests itself in the form of a giant snake - by trapping it in a circle of mirrors.

Plot

Episode One

A small human expedition has established a domed base on the tranquil jungle planet of Deva Loka to determine its suitability for colonization, but all is not well. Four members of the team have disappeared, leaving only the overbearing commander Sanders, his second Hindle, and the scientist Todd. Todd's warning to Sanders that he's pushing Hindle to the point of a nervous breakdown go unheeded. Hindle suspects that the native humanoid population, the apparently peaceful and primitive Kinda, are responsible for the disappearances, and is holding two males as hostages.

The TARDIS arrives on Deva Loka. Nyssa is still unsteady after recent events aboard the Urbankan ship (in DW: Four to Doomsday), and the Doctor builds her a delta wave augmenter to help her relax. He, Adric and Tegan explore the jungle and discover a clearing lined with crystalline wind chimes. The Doctor is quite surprised; the chimes are set up in harmonics, suggesting the presence of intelligent life. While Tegan rests under the wind chimes, Adric and the Doctor find an empty Total Survival Suit (TSS) nearby, a machine built for a standing human to travel. The door to the machine is open but its operator is nowhere to be found. When Adric impulsively closes the machine's door, it activates and marches the Doctor and Adric to the dome.

Tegan, meanwhile, falls into a deep sleep as the chimes appear to have a hypnotic effect. Her consciousness is transported to a black void. She encounters an elderly couple playing a board game who refuse to acknowledge that she exists. She then encounters Dukkha, who appears to be the spokesman for a sinister entity. All three have the same mark of a snake on their forearms. He confronts her with paradoxes of existence; he splits her into two beings and orders them to argue which one is real.

At the Dome, the Doctor and Adric are treated with suspicion. Todd brings the Doctor to see the two Kinda hostages. The males are mute, but while Sanders and Hindle see this as evidence of primitive minds, Todd sees evidence of deeper intelligence. She muses that the Kinda are telepathic, and the ornaments they wear around their necks resemble a DNA double-helix. Outside the window, a lone Kinda male, Aris, watches.

Hindle, left alone with the two Kinda, holds up a mirror. Seeing their own faces in the reflection, they appear to believe that he has captured their souls and submit to his will.

Todd is appalled when Sanders announces his intention to explore the jungle in the TSS, leaving Hindle in command. Not only does she believe that Hindle is unstable, but all four of the missing expedition members disappeared the same way. Her fears about Hindle are immediately confirmed once Sanders leaves; flanked by his two armed Kinda servants, Hindle announces that he has the power of life and death over all of them.

Episode Two

Sanders, in his TSS, draws near to the Kinda village. Panna, the female shaman of the tribe, hears his approach and directs her acolyte Karuna to give him a small box she is holding - the male Kinda are mute but females can speak. Before Sanders comes near, Aris returns to his village in anguish. Panna instructs Karuna to read him telepathically. She senses great pain and anger in Aris, as one of the captured Kinda is his brother.

The Doctor, Adric, and Todd are locked in a cell while Hindle dresses his Kinda hostages in colonial uniforms. Meanwhile, Sanders draws nearer to Panna and Karuna. Karuna protests that it is dangerous for a male to take the box, but Panna is resolute. Karuna presents him with the box; Sanders takes it and is overcome by a psychic force.

Hindle, now even more unhinged, announces his intention to sterilize an area of 50 miles around the dome, using fire and acid, believing the plant life of Deva Loka to be an enemy. Adric manages to persuade Hindle he's on his side, then swipes the cell key. Unfortunately, his attempt to smuggle the key to the Doctor in the cell fails.

Tegan, still trapped in the void, is arguing with herself, quite literally. Dukkha returns to taunt her, adding dozens more Tegans. Dukkha makes it clear what he wants: her physical form. When Tegan demands that he leave her alone, he grants her wish: she is left completely alone. Tegan submits to his will. Taking his hand, the mark of the snake moves from his forearm to hers. She wakes in the clearing with a malevolent grin, now possessed by the Mara.

Hindle's plan to punish Adric's treason is interrupted when Sanders returns to the Dome in the TSS. His demeanor is entirely changed, playful and childlike. He offers the box to Hindle, who is terrified at what may lurk inside.

Tegan encounters Aris in the jungle. She senses his anguish and taunts him with promises of power. On taking her arm, he receives the mark of the snake and becomes the new host of the Mara.

Hindle imprisons the Doctor, Todd, and Sanders in the cell, and orders them to open the box or else he'll have them shot. The Doctor opens it; Todd screams...

Episode Three

...and a jester's puppet pops out. The tension is broken with laughter; the Doctor observes that the Kinda have a sense of humor. Hindle is unamused. However, staring into the box, the Doctor and Todd have a shared psychic experience in which they receive a summons from Panna and Karuna. The dome's power flickers out and the door to the cell opens. Todd and the Doctor take their cue to exit, seeking out the Kinda.

While Hindle decides that the only recourse is to destroy the dome with explosives, the Doctor and Todd encounter the Kinda, led by a jester. The Doctor builds a rapport with the jester with slight of hand, only to be interrupted by Aris bellowing, "Seize the Not-We!"

With the mark of the snake on his arm hidden, Aris invokes a Kinda prophecy that when the tribe is confronted with outsiders (the "Not-We") a male "with voice" would become the tribe's leader. In the confusion, Karuna leads the Doctor and Todd away from the stunned Kinda.

Hindle has rigged the dome to blow, taking a chunk of the jungle with it, ensuring their perpetual safety through death. Adric attempts to play along with the unhinged Sanders and Hindle who are constructing an elaborate model city out of cardboard boxes.

The Doctor and Todd meet Panna and Karuna in their mountaintop cave; Aris follows and confronts them. Despite Panna's protests, the Kinda submit themselves to Aris' will, and Karuna joins them to attack the Not-We in the Dome.

The Doctor notices the mark of the Mara on Aris' arm; despite her blindness, Panna is aware of it as well. She insists that they must understand. Together they have a shared psychic vision of the Kinda, in a circle of timekeeping devices. As the timepieces count down, the jester dances in the circle, until they the clocks stop; the end of the cycle. Emerging from the trance, they find that Panna is dead.

Episode Four

Karuna recieves Panna's spirit, and is snapped out of her obedience to Aris. She returns to the cave and takes Panna's staff. They realize that the Mara entered Tegan's mind from the Dark Places of the Inside, and is now present on Deva Loka in Aris.

Adric seeks shelter from Sanders and Hindle in the TSS, but it activates and he can't control it. At the same time, Aris and the Kinda launch a futile attack on the Dome. Adric in the TSS accidentally opens fire, wounding Aris and making the others flee. The Doctor arrives and calms Adric, freeing him from the machine.

Todd and the Doctor confront Hindle and Sanders. Hindle reveals how he is controlling the Kinda hostages; they believe the mirror he held to their faces captured their souls. When the Doctor accidentally steps on one of the cardboard people in Hindle's city, Hindle becomes violent and attempts to detonate the dome. The Doctor restrains him, and in the ensuing struggle the mirror is shattered. Todd persuades Hindle to open the Box, and his sanity is restored.

The Doctor realizes that the Mara may be repelled by its own reflection. They trap Aris in a circle of reflective solar panels, and the Mara separates itself from him. The Mara enlarges itself into a giant snake, but its power is reflected back on itself by the mirrors and it dissipates. Aris is free, the Mara is expelled back to the Dark Places of the Inside, and Hindle and Sanders are restored to mental stability. The expedition members all agree that Deva Loka will be reported as unsuitable for colonization. Adric, Tegan and the Doctor return to the TARDIS, find Nyssa well-rested and recovered, and they depart.

Cast

Crew

References

The Doctor

  • The Doctor refers to K9.

Foods and beverages

  • When Tegan was 3 years old she didn't like ice cream.

Galactic empires

Supposed deities

  • The Mara can only cross into reality through the dreaming of a solitary mind.

Story notes

  • Kinda is reportedly based on Buddhist concepts, with Buddhist names and themes throughout the story.
  • In addition, the Biblical references (an arboreal paradise, a serpent, and apples) should be obvious.
  • The textbook REF: Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text features section on the making of Kinda.
  • Well known British film star Richard Todd plays Sanders.
  • Mary Morris, who plays Pana, appeared in the groundbreaking sci-fi miniseries "A For Andromeda"
  • Nerys Hughes, better known for her starring roles in the BBC's The Liver Birds and The District Nurse, plays Todd. She also guest starred in TW: Something Borrowed as Brenda Williams mother of Rhys Williams.
  • Adrian Mills plays Aris - he later became a television presenter, including on the BBC's consumer programme That's Life.
  • Both Simon Rouse and Jeff Stewart went on to star in The Bill.
  • Nyssa does not appear in parts two and three.
  • While the exact date this story is set in is not made clear, Todd does mention that their homeworld is vastly overpopulated. This could indicate that it takes place around the same era as DW: Colony in Space.

Ratings

  • Part 1 - 8.4 million viewers
  • Part 2 - 9.4 million viewers
  • Part 3 - 8.5 million viewers
  • Part 4 - 8.9 million viewers

Myths

  • Kate Bush wrote Kinda under a pseudonym. (She didn't)
  • Playwright Tom Stoppard wrote this story under a pseudonym. (He didn't)

Filming locations

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • Adric and Nyssa's draughts board is the wrong way round.
  • The camera wobbles often throughout the serial.
  • It is quite obvious that the jungle "floor" in most cases is merely a studio floor with some leaves scattered over it.
  • When the Kinda surround Aris with mirrors, there is an obvious gap at the lower left for the camera to dolly in and out.

Continuity

Timeline

Home video and audio releases

DVD releases

A DVD boxset with Snakedance, entitled Mara Tales, is planned for release in 2011, as indicated in a trailer uploaded by Dan Hall, the commissioning editor of the classic Doctor Who DVD range.[1]

Video releases

Released on VHS in October 1994 in the United Kingdom, February 1995 in Australia and June 1996 in the US.

  • VHS UK cover

    VHS UK cover

  • VHS Australian cover

    VHS Australian cover

  • VHS US cover

    VHS US cover

Novelisation and its audiobook

Kinda novel.jpg
Main article: Kinda (novelisation)

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ TwitVid - Mara Tales trailer

Template:Season 19

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