In seasons 2 and 3, we have seen the historical become more comedic, but the master, John Lucarotti , returns for a final story. Although story editor Donald Tosh rewrote most of the script, many of the qualities that made Marco Polo and The Aztecs so fantastic are again very much evident but unlike those stories, this one depicts an actual historical event. The St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre was one of the key events of the French Wars of Religion. Henri IV, the Protestant king of Navarre in Spain, married Marguerite de Valois (‘La Reine Margot’) sister of King Charles IX of France. At a time of huge tension between the Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots) this was thought to be an attempt to bring peace to France. However, leading Catholics took advantage of the fact that Huguenots would be gathering for the wedding to incite their massacre. Several thousand Protestants were killed in Paris and thousands more throughout the country.
Although this event is not familiar to the majority of people in Britain, it has been dealt with twice on screen. D W Griffith included it as part of his 1916 epic Intolerance and in 1994 it was brought to bloody life in Patrice Chereau’s adaptation of Dumas’s La Reine Margot. I have seen both of these and it is to the credit of The Massacre that its impact was not diminished. The undercurrent of fear and suspicion is excellently brought out- the scene in the tavern with the Huguenots drinking Henry’s health brilliantly portrays their pride and defiance in the midst of their fear. Death dominates this story more than any other so far and the sheer scale of it overwhelms. Marshal Tavannes loathes the Huguenots, but even he is appalled when it turns out that all of them must die.
The Doctor barely appears in this story. After a charming scene where he chats to the apothecary Charles Preslin, he takes no further part in events and does not appear again until episode 4. This means that it is Steven who carries most of the story. With no knowledge of the events, Steven reacts to situations naturally, helping his Huguenot friends even when they believe him to be a traitor. Purves is more than equal to the challenge in the portrayal of a man lost in a situation he doesn’t understand, but still determined to do the right thing. However, while the Doctor is absent, Hartnell is very much present in his portrayal of the sinister Abbot of Amboise. The abbot’s speech patterns are very different to the Doctor’s- slower and more precise, without laughing, going ‘hmmm?’ or even fluffing his lines. This proves that people who think that Hartnell was just playing himself as the Doctor are talking out of their proverbial. The fact that the Abbot is a double of the Doctor is not just a stunt- it results in Steven being mistaken for the servant of the Abbot and makes for a stunning end to episode 3 with the mob clustered round what appears to be the Doctor’s dead body.
The guest cast is one of the finest seen in the programme. Andre Morell (the third and best Quatermass) makes Tavannes utterly ruthless but still very human. Leonard Sachs makes Coligny a truly selfless, yet charismatic character. Barry Justice makes Charles IX very believable as a man who in unready for power and is dominated by his mother. Catherine de Medici (as usual) is blamed for being the mastermind behind the Massacre and Joan Young portrays her as willing to do anything to protect the power of her family.
The research that was made for this story is obviously extensive- for example, although the Abbot of Amboise is a fictional character, the name is obviously taken from the Huguenot attempt to kidnap Charles’s predecessor Francis II at the Chateau de Amboise. The use of history in this story is interesting. Steven tries to intervene in events without knowing the history, but fails to change anything- despite knowing of the plot to assassinate Coligny, he cannot warn the Admiral in time, and Coligny is wounded, as the history books say. Steven’s powerlessness in the face of the Massacre leads to the justly famous scene where he temporarily leaves the Doctor in disgust. This scene is brilliantly acted by Hartnell and Purves, with a beautiful soliloquy from the Doctor and is one of the finest the series has ever had. It is good to see Steven return though, although the introduction of Dodo at the end seems forced.
However, this does not detract from a brilliant quartet of episodes that tells the programme’s most serious and harrowing story ever.
Next: The Ark
Showing posts with label John Lucarotti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Lucarotti. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
The Aztecs
Lucarotti returns with another top flight historical. Here, he takes us to Mexico in the 15th century for a look at one of the most fascinating cultures the world has produced. Barbara is mistaken for the reincarnation of the priest Yetaxa and she tries to use that power to stop the practice that is a stain on the culture of the Aztecs- the practice of human sacrifice. Ian must fight for his life against the warrior Ixta and the Doctor… but we’ll come back to that!
The dichotomy of Aztec culture is shown in the two figures of Autloc, High Priest of Knowledge and Tlotoxtl, High Priest of Sacrifice, but neither is painted in broad strokes. Autloc is wise and open minded, but he was born to a culture where the sunrise must be paid for in blood. Tlotoxtl comes off as a Mesoamerican Richard III at first and he realises that it is the sacrifice which gives him his power, but he is nevertheless sincere. He truly believes in the blood sacrifice in an attitude which combines self-deception and pragmatism. Lucarotti and the production team deserve credit for being as fair as they can be to Aztec culture. They are shown to be skilled artisans and engineers. They show respect for their elderly. The victims of sacrifice are rightly shown to be willing, and treated with great honour.
There is some great material for the regulars. Susan is sidelined somewhat but although Ian continues in the action man role, Lucarotti manages to make this role interesting- he bests Ixta with his thumb, using his brain, not his fists. However, it is the Doctor and Barbara who are at their best here. The Doctor’s ‘romance’ with Cameca is beautifully handled- the look on Hartnell’s face when the doctor realises he’s engaged is priceless, but the story treats Cameca with the respect she deserves. However, this is very much Barbara’s story, and Hill is captivating throughout.
The attitude of Barbara is very interesting- she is not only motivated by her disgust of human sacrifice, but out of a desire to save the Aztecs. Maybe if they stop the sacrifices, Cortés will not destroy them (which of course assumes that Cortés really was a far better person than, say, Pizarro. It also ignores the smallpox aspect, but I digress). The characters, and the script never treat the Aztecs as mere savages, but as people. Lucarotti again manages to blend beautiful dialogue and great characterisation. Very importantly, the rule of not changing history is established, and, while we feel Barbara’s anger, we understand why things must be as they are, and why the sacrifice goes on, even as the TARDIS dematerialises.
Barry Newberry’s design work is excellent- although the backdrops never really convince us that we are on the top of a tall pyramid, the sets themselves are fantastic. The direction is very good, but the fight scenes are a bit lacking- perhaps if Waris Hussein had directed, he could have worked the same magic as he did on 100,000 B.C.
None of this distracted me when I was watching it, however. One of the things that grabbed me about this and Marco Polo is that they work as good historical drama full stop, not just as a Doctor Who story. Everything comes together in yet another gem from the Hartnell era.
NEXT: The Sensorites
The dichotomy of Aztec culture is shown in the two figures of Autloc, High Priest of Knowledge and Tlotoxtl, High Priest of Sacrifice, but neither is painted in broad strokes. Autloc is wise and open minded, but he was born to a culture where the sunrise must be paid for in blood. Tlotoxtl comes off as a Mesoamerican Richard III at first and he realises that it is the sacrifice which gives him his power, but he is nevertheless sincere. He truly believes in the blood sacrifice in an attitude which combines self-deception and pragmatism. Lucarotti and the production team deserve credit for being as fair as they can be to Aztec culture. They are shown to be skilled artisans and engineers. They show respect for their elderly. The victims of sacrifice are rightly shown to be willing, and treated with great honour.
There is some great material for the regulars. Susan is sidelined somewhat but although Ian continues in the action man role, Lucarotti manages to make this role interesting- he bests Ixta with his thumb, using his brain, not his fists. However, it is the Doctor and Barbara who are at their best here. The Doctor’s ‘romance’ with Cameca is beautifully handled- the look on Hartnell’s face when the doctor realises he’s engaged is priceless, but the story treats Cameca with the respect she deserves. However, this is very much Barbara’s story, and Hill is captivating throughout.
The attitude of Barbara is very interesting- she is not only motivated by her disgust of human sacrifice, but out of a desire to save the Aztecs. Maybe if they stop the sacrifices, Cortés will not destroy them (which of course assumes that Cortés really was a far better person than, say, Pizarro. It also ignores the smallpox aspect, but I digress). The characters, and the script never treat the Aztecs as mere savages, but as people. Lucarotti again manages to blend beautiful dialogue and great characterisation. Very importantly, the rule of not changing history is established, and, while we feel Barbara’s anger, we understand why things must be as they are, and why the sacrifice goes on, even as the TARDIS dematerialises.
Barry Newberry’s design work is excellent- although the backdrops never really convince us that we are on the top of a tall pyramid, the sets themselves are fantastic. The direction is very good, but the fight scenes are a bit lacking- perhaps if Waris Hussein had directed, he could have worked the same magic as he did on 100,000 B.C.
None of this distracted me when I was watching it, however. One of the things that grabbed me about this and Marco Polo is that they work as good historical drama full stop, not just as a Doctor Who story. Everything comes together in yet another gem from the Hartnell era.
NEXT: The Sensorites
Friday, 15 August 2008
Marco Polo
So, sadly, it’s off with the DVD player and on with the iPod for Marco Polo (legally converted for my own personal use from the CD version I paid money for, back off BPI!!!) I had never listened to this story before, originally intending to spread it over a few days. Three hours later, the battery on my iPod was nearly empty, but I was left there looking into the middle distance with Marco. This story has had near universal acclaim, but there must be people who like Doctor Who, but aren’t willing to listen to an audio only historical. Believe the hype. You may not love it for the same reasons that others will, but fall in love with it you will. From the Roof of the World to the Khan’s palace, this story will keep you gripped from beginning to end, an epic that covers the span of several weeks. With the visuals missing, the primary credit for this has to be John Lucarotti, one of the finest writers the programme ever had. Although he takes us on what is basically a travelogue of 13th Century Cathay, the story is anchored by Lucarotti’s use of character. It would be useful to compare it with the other 7 episode story of the season, The Daleks. Both use the incapacitation and subsequent inaccessibility of the TARDIS, to justify the regulars not just taking off again. Both have times when they are ready to depart, but are stopped at the last minute. However, we accept these in Marco Polo, because they are consequences of character interaction- when Susan stops to say goodbye to Ping-Cho, the viewer doesn’t mentally wish her to forget it and leave, as we have seen a beautifully written and performed friendship develop between the two girls, and we feel Susan’s need to say farewell to her new friend, in spite of the urgency.
The supporting characters all appear to be excellently realised. Marco himself is fascinating, a man who is essentially decent and likeable and yet, in spite of the plotting around him, he himself is the greatest obstacle to the Doctor and his companions. The use of Marco Polo’s diary as a narrative device is inspired- he, in effect, is the audience for those events which are too routine to be dramatised and, like the audience, he puts his own colour on proceedings. Derren Nesbitt makes a superbly laconic and frightening Tegana. Zienia Merton’s Ping-Cho is delightful, an innocent girl uprooted who finds a kindred spirit in Susan. Kublai Khan himself is a wonderful character; we totally accept him as a likable old man and the as the most powerful man on Earth.
Tristram Cary’s approach to the music is brilliant. A lesser composer would have made an ‘Oriental’ pastiche, but Cary creates an ambient score that gives more of a sense of setting than situation. A gong is used effectively for scene changes.
There are so many wonderful locations- the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, the Summer Palace, Lop and the Gobi Desert (if there’s one place on land that could have been transported from another planet, it’s the Gobi). But we will never see them. Not one second of footage escaped the junking. To attempt to compensate for that, I watched the telesnap reconstruction on the Edge of Destruction DVD. The set and costume design appears to have been fantastic, making this story’s loss seem even worse.
There are no reasonable criticisms that can be made- there are flaws, but you would have to be actually looking for them, as only a couple stick out. There are very few historical and geographical inaccuracies (Lucarotti’s scripts were very well researched). I found Marco’s comment about the TARDIS making Kublai Khan greater than Hannibal and Alexander odd, considering that he ruled an empire several times larger than the Macedonian and Carthaginian empires combined. The only conqueror who would have fitted the bill would have been Kublai’s grandfather Genghis. There is also the inevitable question of white actors playing non-white characters. This is sensitively done on the whole and even the accents which are sometimes used are not offensively caricatured. Interestingly, some actors affect an accent and others don’t, but as the Mongol Empire was vast and free of racial prejudice by all accounts, a variety of accents might actually be appropriate. Ironically, the only non-white actor playing a major role is Zienia Merton and, as Ping-Cho came from Samarkand, one of the most cosmopolitan regions in the Empire, she could safely have been played by a white actress!
Marco Polo is exciting, haunting, frightening, funny, educational, beautiful. It is everything one could ask for in a Doctor Who story- with not a spaceship, monster or alien planet in sight!
NEXT: The Keys of Marinus
The supporting characters all appear to be excellently realised. Marco himself is fascinating, a man who is essentially decent and likeable and yet, in spite of the plotting around him, he himself is the greatest obstacle to the Doctor and his companions. The use of Marco Polo’s diary as a narrative device is inspired- he, in effect, is the audience for those events which are too routine to be dramatised and, like the audience, he puts his own colour on proceedings. Derren Nesbitt makes a superbly laconic and frightening Tegana. Zienia Merton’s Ping-Cho is delightful, an innocent girl uprooted who finds a kindred spirit in Susan. Kublai Khan himself is a wonderful character; we totally accept him as a likable old man and the as the most powerful man on Earth.
Tristram Cary’s approach to the music is brilliant. A lesser composer would have made an ‘Oriental’ pastiche, but Cary creates an ambient score that gives more of a sense of setting than situation. A gong is used effectively for scene changes.
There are so many wonderful locations- the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, the Summer Palace, Lop and the Gobi Desert (if there’s one place on land that could have been transported from another planet, it’s the Gobi). But we will never see them. Not one second of footage escaped the junking. To attempt to compensate for that, I watched the telesnap reconstruction on the Edge of Destruction DVD. The set and costume design appears to have been fantastic, making this story’s loss seem even worse.
There are no reasonable criticisms that can be made- there are flaws, but you would have to be actually looking for them, as only a couple stick out. There are very few historical and geographical inaccuracies (Lucarotti’s scripts were very well researched). I found Marco’s comment about the TARDIS making Kublai Khan greater than Hannibal and Alexander odd, considering that he ruled an empire several times larger than the Macedonian and Carthaginian empires combined. The only conqueror who would have fitted the bill would have been Kublai’s grandfather Genghis. There is also the inevitable question of white actors playing non-white characters. This is sensitively done on the whole and even the accents which are sometimes used are not offensively caricatured. Interestingly, some actors affect an accent and others don’t, but as the Mongol Empire was vast and free of racial prejudice by all accounts, a variety of accents might actually be appropriate. Ironically, the only non-white actor playing a major role is Zienia Merton and, as Ping-Cho came from Samarkand, one of the most cosmopolitan regions in the Empire, she could safely have been played by a white actress!
Marco Polo is exciting, haunting, frightening, funny, educational, beautiful. It is everything one could ask for in a Doctor Who story- with not a spaceship, monster or alien planet in sight!
NEXT: The Keys of Marinus
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