Down in Whoville: Doctor Who Retrospective Reviews:Episode: City of Death (1979)



If The Seeds of Doom was Tom Baker’s Gothic peak, then City of Death is his Champagne toast. Written (in disguise) by Douglas Adams, this is Doctor Who as high comedy caper: Paris in the fall, stolen Mona Lisas, splintered time experiments, and a villain with too many faces. It’s the only Doctor Who story where the Eiffel Tower and café culture get equal billing with alien technology, and somehow it works.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana II stroll through the streets of Paris like they’re on holiday, but every sidelong glance, every scarf flourish, spins into conspiracy. Julian Glover’s Count Scarlioni/Scaroth is one of the great Who villains: urbane, witty, and just enough menace under the charm. Catherine Schell nearly steals the show as Countess Scarlioni—her sly smiles and eventual disillusionment make her one of the most memorable “villain’s wives” the series ever gave us.

Yes, the plot is nonsense (a fragmented alien mind financing time experiments by commissioning Da Vinci to paint multiple Mona Lisas?)—but it’s glorious nonsense, stitched together with wit, pace, and the kind of dialogue you can only get from Douglas Adams:

  • “What a wonderful butler, he’s so violent!”

  • “My dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems.”

The location shooting in Paris is a revelation: Doctor Who suddenly feels cosmopolitan, alive, a little less bound to quarries and corridors. Tom Baker is in full roguish glory here, paired beautifully with Lalla Ward’s calm brilliance. Their chemistry elevates the whole affair.

If Doctor Who is often about mood—Gothic horror one week, space opera the next—then City of Death is its champagne comedy: witty, urbane, briskly plotted, and stylish. It’s often voted one of the best Baker stories, and for once the consensus is right.

Verdict: A time-fractured art heist served with French wine and Douglas Adams quips. Pure joy, pure Paris, pure Who.


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