DOCTOR WHO STORY GUIDE
Regular site contributor Chad Moore has begun his own personal journey through the entire series of Doctor Who, starting at the very beginning. Alan Siler watches shows sporadically and reviews in no particular order. Together they will chronicle the entire run of Doctor Who. Use the menu at the left to select a particular story, and the menu to the right to jump to a different page.
"Spearhead From Space" (4 episodes, 03 Jan 70 - 24 Jan 70)
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Derek Martinus
Jon Pertwee - The Doctor
Caroline John - Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
After a seven month gap Doctor Who returned in a blaze of color, with a new actor in the lead role, companion, title sequence and exiled-to-Earth format. Things were so jarringly different to what came before, in fact, that any viewers thinking that they might have tuned into the wrong program could easily be forgiven! As the first story of this brave new era for the show, "Spearhead from Space" really needed to be good. Happily, for the most part it is, getting the Third Doctor's reign off to an impressive and stylish start, and featuring some of the most famous and chilling moments in the series' history.
Derek Martinus' direction is superb, and he brings a very real feeling of terror to such scenes as the car crash caused by the Auton—complete with a soldier's head smashed against a bloody windscreen—and the iconic moment when the store window mannequins come to life and start gunning down innocent pedestrians on the streets of London. The special effects are also good, particularly the Auton's vaporization of Ransome's corpse, and also the smoke that appears from their hand guns after shots are fired.
The Autons and the Nestene Consciousness are excellent villains; there is something very unnerving about the notion of dummies coming to life, of being duplicated by living plastic, and of course the whole idea of mind control is also quite disturbing, and pretty well used with the influence exerted by Channing over Hibbert. Hugh Burden excels as the marvelously creepy Channing, with his vacant staring eyes signifying both his evil intentions and alien nature; the shot Derek Martinus included of Channing's face behind the glass window in the factory, while the Brigadier looks at him, really emphasizes his otherworldliness and creepiness. The rest of the guest cast also turn in good performances, notably Derek Smee as the convincingly terrified Ransome.
Succeeding on almost every level is the introduction of the Third Doctor, who is either unconscious or unstable for most of the first two episodes. It helps to keep the viewer guessing about what he might be like. When he does finally escape from his hospital bed, we discover that he's much more of a dandy than Patrick Troughton's Doctor, that he likes fancy cars, that he can be bad-tempered, and that he has not lost either his intelligence or his mischievous streak, as demonstrated by his failed attempt to sneak away in the grounded TARDIS.
Jon Pertwee's debut performance is wonderful, showing a real enthusiasm for the role, with his skills as a comic actor coming to the fore—notably when he looks at himself in the mirror and pulls funny faces; from the beginning, he looks right at home in the part. Caroline John is also very good as Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, playing off both Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney very well, and does a great job of portraying Liz's growing acceptance of the existence of extraterrestrial life, after her initial haughty skepticism. By the end, she has formed an excellent rapport with the Doctor, and like Zoe before her, it is good to see a companion who is capable and intelligent, and not just a screamer. Nicholas Courtney is very impressive as the Brigadier, re-establishing his character with a real no-nonsense authority, while also making him capable and quick-witted. There is a pleasing tension in his relationship with the new Doctor, even when he has been convinced of his identity, and he also enjoys some good confrontations early on with Liz.
In a production that inspires much admiration, there are only a few nit-picking quibbles. This mainly concerns the anti-climactic ending, and the rather poor tentacled Nestene creature. Pertwee does an admirable job keeping a straight face during the Doctor's struggle with it. Also, after the elaborate build-up, the Doctor's solution for destroying the Nestene is a bit of a let-down. Apart from these minor flaws, however, "Spearhead from Space" is a high-quality Doctor Who adventure, and manages to promise much for the new Earth-bound and exiled Doctor.
"The Silurians" (7 episodes, 31 Jan 70 - 14 Mar 70)
Written by Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Timothy Combe
Jon Pertwee - The Doctor
Caroline John - Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
Season Seven continues on a considerable high note with the sublime "Doctor Who and the Silurians", a strong morality tale that shines in virtually every aspect. Malcolm Hulke's scripts were always full of genuine shades of gray for all sides involved in the central conflict. The finest example of Hulke's technique is most probably seen here.
For a seven-episode story, it is a taut one, engagingly told and always delivering new and fresh twists as it marches briskly to its conclusion. The length allows the basic storyline to expand, taking in the spread of the plague (an incredibly effective and horrific sequence) from the London railway station, and properly develop the conflict between the young and old Silurians. The characters also have time to breathe, to become more real, and the performances of the main guest cast are nothing short of fantastic. Fulton Mackay as the tragically misguided Dr Quinn is superb, as are Geoffrey Palmer as the conscientious Masters, Peter Miles as the ineffective, promoted-beyond-his-abilities, Dr. Lawrence, and Norman Jones as the bitter Major Baker.
The regular cast also gets a nice slice of the action. Jon Pertwee is absolutely marvelous as the Doctor—although I am as much a fan of his later performance, he is perhaps never better than in his first year. His impatience at the narrow-minded view of both humans and Silurians, and his ultimately fruitless attempts to play mediator between the two, are great. Caroline John continues to impress, with Liz being just as formidable as the Doctor, particularly when she uses his notes to synthesize an antidote to the Silurian virus. And Nicholas Courtney is at the height of his powers as the Brigadier as well—the military man as always, but here blessed with the ability to think constructively and he comes across as being just as skilled as the Doctor at his own craft.
The Silurian creatures themselves are also given personalities and moral conflicts, making the story much more than just an 'us-versus-them' battle as so many later Pertwee stories would. Despite obviously being men in rubber suits, the Silurians are strikingly designed, with their red third eye weapon being particularly memorable. They look their best in the shadowy caves—you can honestly believe they are real creatures, living their lives down there. The dinosaur roaming throughout said caves is slightly less effective, but it isn't that bad and doesn't really detract from the story.
Director Timothy Combe does an excellent job, and it's a great pity he directed only a few stories. The search on the moors makes for some stunning location work, as do the aforementioned plague scenes in London, involving the dying Masters. Combe creates some truly memorable and wonderful moments: the injured Silurian stepping out onto the moor, silhouetted by the sun, and the commuters collapsing at the railway station as the virus spreads. Carey Blyton's brass-oriented incidental score is quite good—including that weird and wonderful kazoo noise—and lends the story a unique atmosphere. Also of note is Barry Newbery's excellent design work, particularly the realistic caves—which is quite an achievement considering the set was accidentally demolished and had to be hurriedly re-built!
Few end on as downbeat a note as this one, with the Brigadier employing the ultimate solution by sealing the Silurians in the caves forever. The Doctor's disgust is excellently portrayed by Pertwee, even if the viewer can't help sympathizing with the Brigadier's methods. UNIT is arguably shown at its peak here—efficient and ruthless—and it's sad to think how the organization would later degenerate into little more than clichéd soldiers made up of bumbling twits.
Overall, "Doctor Who and the Silurians" is a superb epic, with a brilliant set of thought-provoking scripts complemented by solid direction, some astute and well-judged performances and good design work. It truly is one of the best Doctor Who adventures ever, and easily my all-time favorite Third Doctor story.
"The Ambassadors of Death" (7 episodes, 21 March 70 - 2 May 70)
Written by Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Timothy Combe
Jon Pertwee - The Doctor
Caroline John - Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
Although often seen as the weakest story of the seventh season, "The Ambassadors of Death" has a great deal going for it, with a truly ambitious narrative detailing humanity's first official contact with alien life. The story, which started out as a tale for Patrick Troughton's Doctor, went through numerous script revisions, which many tend to blame for it not working quite as well as it might have done. This could not be further from the truth as the story gels together incredibly well and is quite clever. Admittedly, it does sag a bit in the middle episodes, but it picks up again as soon as the Doctor goes up in the space capsule. Its seven-episode length allows it to indulge in a bit of everything—action sequences, model work, character development and fine dialog.
The style of the story is unique, yet vaguely reminiscent of The Avengers and inhabiting a similar world to that of the James Bond movies, more so than any of its predecessors or successors, and contains a number of the same flaws (such as the unclear motivation of characters like Heldorf and Taltalian) and the same sort of charm. The atmosphere of menace generated by the alien Ambassadors, whose power to kill is abused by a misguided human, is especially effective, as is the build-up to their appearance. There are several classic and memorable scenes of the massive and eerie space-suited Ambassadors towering over the characters, their hands outstretched, and of course, the sun behind the Ambassador as it marches onward, oblivious to bullets.
Characterizations are mostly strong, particularly General Carrington, an ex-astronaut driven to the edge of sanity (and beyond) by his fateful encounter with the aliens. A man who very nearly starts a war that Earth cannot possibly win because he believes that it is his 'moral duty'. In many ways this story is still frighteningly relevant today. We live in a world of fanatics, doing the things that they do because they believe it is right. Deep rooted beliefs leading to terrible actions and even worse consequences. Racism and xenophobia are essentially Carrington's motivation. And as usual, they are completely unfounded and irrational.
The ending of the story features a famous scene for Jon Pertwee's Doctor. He tells Carrington that he understands the reasons why he has done what he has done. As far as he is concerned, the General has been stopped and war averted, it isn't necessary to humiliate him further. He seems to recognize that he is a decent man whose irrational hatred has led him astray. He accepts this and allows the General to keep his dignity. A very unusual ending and all the better for it.
And then there's Reegan, Carrington's sadistic henchman. Has there ever been (or since) a bad guy so capable? Always in control, and absolutely ruthless. By no means is Reegan a cookie-cutter thug; he adapts his plans according to the situation, even making helpful suggestions at the end in the hope of leniency. He is unrelentingly evil, killing without thought, and you get the impression his pulse doesn't increase a beat while he's doing it. He is so uncaring about everything—emphasized by the casual way in which he buries the bodies of the Ambassadors' victims in a quarry—making him one of Doctor Who's most frightening villains ever.
Along with the well-written characterizations, there is also an abundance of outstanding performances in "The Ambassadors of Death"—particularly from the regular cast. Jon Pertwee is on superb form here, with the Doctor veering from being charming to downright rude, while acting as a mediator—and not so much as a 'man of action,' which is surprising considering the high action content in this adventure. Caroline John again shows why dropping Liz after this season was a real mistake; she's brave, clever, feisty, helpful and resourceful. Nicholas Courtney is at the height of his powers here. These were the glory days of the Brigadier and UNIT. Compare this Brigadier with the buffoon of later Third Doctor stories (e.g. "The Three Doctors" or "Planet of the Spiders"). Are they really the same character? Here he gets into shootouts and brawls. In later stories he's reduced to fighting with the UNIT budget.
The guest cast are also very good; Ronald Allen as Space Center boss Ralph Cornish (who sadly doesn't have much to do in the closing episodes), Dallas Cavell as the ambitious and misguided civil servant Quinlan, Cyril Shaps as the nervous, twitchy, disgraced scientist Lennox, William Dysart as the thuggish Reegan (I love his 'make yourself at home!' after UNIT blast their way into his hideout), and of course John Abineri as Carrington, who goes convincingly over the edge as the climax nears. Even Robert Cawdron as Taltalian is good, despite his outrageous—and inconsistent—accent.
Dudley Simpson contributes one of his finest incidental music scores, ranging from the strident UNIT theme, to the suspenseful drum motif used in several sequences, to the haunting flute theme for the alien astronauts. The production is extremely competent given the elements the story requires, with all the spaceship scenes coming across as particular effective. Michael Ferguson's direction is top notch, inventive and gritty, imbuing the story with a real sense of tension throughout.
With its sophisticated themes of betrayal, moral duty and trust, "The Ambassadors of Death" is overall a very good story that only has a few weaknesses in its script but is otherwise a strong tale that deserves much praise and repeated viewings.
"The Inferno" (7 episodes, 21 March 70 - 2 May 70)
Written by Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Timothy Combe
Jon Pertwee - The Doctor
Caroline John - Dr. Elizabeth Shaw
Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
