The Awakening

The Awakening is similar to The Dæmons, in that it has an ancient alien menace lying dormant in an English village that has given rise to superstition and legends. However, The Awakening is totally dissimilar to The Dæmons, in that it is not badly acted and sloppily written. Eric Pringle paints a delightful little tale of a (English) Civil War re-enactment that has awakened the Malus, a demon that was feared in Civil War times. The Malus is, in fact, a war machine from the planet Hakol that is using the psychic energy from the re-enactments to rebuild itself and is bringing actual 17th century people forward in time. Pringle keeps the plot simple enough to work as a 50 minute story and has time to create some good characters and some wonderful dialogue.

Michael Owen Morris directs with great energy- the opening sequence is edited to highlight the contrast between Roundhead horsemen and Jane Hampden in modern dress. Morris creates some wonderful scenes and images- The Malus slowly manifesting on the TARDIS wall is memorably creepy, as is the horrific decapitation of the roundhead re-enactor by the memorably spectral genuine roundheads. The location filming is exquisite and the studio scenes are atmospherically shot and lit. The costumes are, as expected, fantastic. The Malus is, arguably, conceptually very similar to the Mara but, fortunately, the production is strong enough to give the Malus its own identity. The monster is simply realised, but Morris’s skill as a director makes all the Malus’s manifestations memorable and give it its own identity.

There are some great guest performances from Polly James and the wonderful Dennis Lill, who makes Sir George Hutchinson a very vivid character. However, the most impressive guest is Keith Jayne as Will Chandler. Jayne disappeared from the screen in the 80s, which is a real pity as he was an excellent child actor and his studied, but unfettered portrayal of Will showed his talent was only increasing. I am not surprised that there were many who wanted him to become a companion.

Peter Davison is clearly enjoying himself and gives his usual excellent performance. Turlough is rather underwritten here, but Mark Strickson easily fills in the gaps. Tegan, although in the position of being a damsel in distress, does not act like one, in another very good performance by Janet Fielding.

The Awakening is utterly charming and well worth checking out.

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