The Savages

The Doctor and his companions arrive on planet where the seemingly idyllic city of the Elders has one of the most advanced civilisations in the Universe. Outside the city is the realm of the Savages, people who live in Stone Age conditions. The Doctor is known to the Elders and he is invited to join their number, but the Doctor has questions he wants to answer…

As with Galaxy 4, this story is based on a simple idea. Here, one group of people treat another group as being little more than animals, despite them being the same species. Whereas the message of Galaxy 4 was ‘Beauty is only skin deep’ the message here is ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ the Elders’ utopian state has a terrible cost- Savages are captured and placed in a machine which drains their ‘life essence’ and they are then thrown back into the wilderness to recuperate so that they can he harvested again. This is a story that is clearly about slavery, particularly the brutal slavery of the Atlantic, where human beings were, indeed treated like livestock. Interestingly several of the Elders have dark skin and the Savages are all white, presumably to drive the message home to the average 60s viewer, although it did not go as far as the ground-breaking 1965 BBC play Fable and actually cast black actors.

Worthy as these sentiments are, more is required for a drama to actually connect with the viewer and Ian Stuart Black is more than up to the task. A lesser writer would have had the Doctor and his friends helping the Savages launch an attack on the evil Elders and destroy them. Black, very sensibly, does something different. While the Elders’ treatment of the Savages is utterly reprehensible, they are not presented as evil. Their glorified vampirism is part of their way of life and has been for a long time, just as many ‘respectable businessmen’ in the past made a profit out of the horror of traffic in human flesh, yet genuinely saw nothing wrong with it.

The dénouement of the story is truly masterful. The Doctor is left drained after he has been subjected to the energy transfer process, so it seems like we are back to the storylines of Season One, where the Doctor is rescued by his companions. However, when the Doctor’s essence is transferred to the ruling Elder Jano, he starts to exhibit ‘Doctorish’ mannerisms and , more importantly, the reason for the Doctor’s opposition to the treatment of the Savages. The diabolical device of the adversary has been subverted and been used to fulfil the Doctor’s purpose- to make people better. Therefore, the climax is not a battle but the wrecking of the laboratories that have caused so much suffering to the Savages. Both groups must now build a new world together- a revolution must have a period of reconstruction afterwards.

Guest performances are solid throughout, with special mention going to Frederick Jaeger as Jano. Jaeger’s performance when Jano exhibits some of the Doctor’s mannerisms is excellent and very funny, rather than the dismal impressionism I was expecting. From looking at the telesnaps, the production seems to be of a high standard- good quarry work!

This is Peter Purves’s final story as Steven, and I am very sorry to see him go. Steven was often written similar to the way Ian was, but Purves always made Steven fresh, and when the writers did give him some good material, he attacked it with gusto, be it the comedy of The Gunfighters or the horror of The Daleks’ Masterplan or The Massacre. His decision to become the new leader of both the Elders and Savages is very much in character- he had seen more war and destruction than any other companion before, and had never lost his essential goodness. At first, it seems that the Doctor shows little sadness (although great pride) in Steven’s departure, but his last words of ‘Don’t look back’ to Dodo speak volumes, as does his final pained look.

A very thoughtful story from Ian Stuart Black and a great send-off for one of my favourite companions.

NEXT: The War Machines