Millions of years in the future, in what is called the 57th segment of time, the TARDIS lands on a vast ship on a voyage from Earth to the planet Refusis II. On board are the last humans and a race called the Monoids who act as servants, whole generations of which are born and die in the 700 year journey. Much has changed in the 57th segment of time and Dodo’s cold starts an epidemic that has far-reaching consequences.
The structure of this four part story is very interesting as it is really a pair of closely linked two-parters. "The Steel Sky" and "The Plague" deal with the deadly effect of Dodo’s cold on the Monoids and humans and, not surprisingly, the Doctor finds a cure and leaves. However, the TARDIS takes them back to the same ship only to find that the Monoids are now the masters- apparently the cure was merely a palliative, and the virus mutated and caused the humans to become weaker willed, allowing the Monoids to take over. They are now orbiting Refusis II, which is not as uninhabited as it appears.
The ‘world-building’ by writer Paul Erickson is very ambitious. We are so far in the future that calendars that measure in centuries no longer have meaning. Millions of Humans and Monoids are kept ‘miniaturised’ on slides and, critically, the split in the story actually shows how this world develops in 700 years. The conclusion is not based on one species defeating and exterminating the other and it is obvious that a good deal of thought has gone into the concepts. Steven wonders if they have been spreading diseases throughout time and space, and his subsequent illness shows that mankind lost their immunity millions of years before the Ark set out.
This is helped by the fact that this is the most visually stunning story since the first one. Michael Imison creates some very interesting both with montage and mise-en-scène (for the lack of a less pretentious term) that really stretch the boundaries of what was possible in a 1960s studio set. The first shot is an unbroken tracking shot that gradually reveals a Monoid walking towards where the TARDIS is materialising. When the Doctor states that they are in a vast space ship, it cuts to a high shot that pulls sharply back. The scenes where the Doctor is talking to the Guardians via monitors is expertly edited. The design work is utterly astonishing, with effective use of model shots and painted backdrops. I must also mention the special effect for the Earth’s destruction, which is not done using pyrotechnics, but by filming an effervescent ball in a tank and is very effective. The statue that is being build by the humans is a constant factor throughout the story. Originally meant to be a human, by the time the TARDIS crew return, it has a Monoid’s head. This is not only a striking image in itself, but effectively tells the story of the intervening 700 years. The Monoids themselves are brought to life reasonably convincingly, with their single eye being realised by having the actors hold a fake eye in their mouth that they can roll. a nice touch is that, in the first two episodes, the Monoids are mutes who communicate by sign language. In the concluding half, they have developed artificial voice boxes, but still gesticulate extensively when they speak.
Unfortunately, the performances of the guest cast are merely adequate, which comes as a bit of a disappointment after the excellent guest performances we have seen in this particular season so far. It is good, however, to see Michael Sheard’s first appearance in Doctor Who, looking very young (he was in his mid-twenties). Also, whilst Imison does come up with some fantastic shots, there is some clumsy editing elsewhere. Scenes virtually crash into each other and a key montage, where the Doctor creates the treatment for the virus could have been cut better.
Hartnell puts in another virtuoso performance, curing a plague, helping to build bridges between races and preventing disasters. Peter Purves is more of stock hero here, but it has been for some time that he has a very good idea of what Steven’s personality was, and he puts in another stellar performance. Jackie Lane’s Dodo is fine here, but her performance is nothing like as good as the other two regulars. Still, she manages not to be annoying, which is the main thing.
Overall, a very rewarding story- and I didn’t even mention that there is a real live elephant in it!
NEXT: The Celestial Toymaker
Showing posts with label John Wiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Wiles. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
The Massacre
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
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
Monday, 29 September 2008
The Daleks' Master Plan
Terry Nation had many faults as a writer, many of which were embarrassingly displayed in The Chase. At first glance, The Daleks’ Master Plan seems to have many of the same qualities. Both stories feature the Doctor being pursued by the Daleks throughout time and space. Both are filled with B-movie threats- in this story, we have invisible monsters, man-eating plants and prisoners taking over a ship, amongst other things. However, this story is so superior to The Chase that it makes one wonder how it could have come from the same mind. If any two stories prove ‘it’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it’ it’s these two.
The first thing that strikes the viewer about this story is its length. This is a colossal 12-episode epic, nearly 5 hours of television. This obviously begs the question of whether or not the story is padded or not and indeed, I could easily reduce this story to a 3-parter: The taranium is an obvious McGuffin, with most of the story being centred round it. If the Doctor doesn’t steal the taranium, there is no need for episodes 2-10. However, this story is well named, as this story has a sense of scale that dwarfs the stories that come before it. The Doctor is, for the first time, battling a threat to the whole universe, with the fates of whole galaxies at stake. Such a story is epic in nature and demands an epic length. The threats confronted transcend B-movie cliché- the Varga plants make sense plotwise and are a genuinely horrific threat and the Visians are also brought to life very effectively through very simple special visual and audio effects. The detour to Desperus might seem a bit pointless, but it ends in the most shocking scene in Doctor Who yet, the death of Katarina. This scene is excellently scripted, acted and directed and the story is all the better for it. The detour to ancient Egypt is very well acted and directed and contains the very welcome return of Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk. Unlike in The Chase, although the story takes us to many locations in time and space, it is rooted in one place- the nightmarish planet of Kembel.
Apart from the TARDIS crew and the Daleks, the other main player in the story is Mavic Chen, brought to life in a powerhouse performance by Kevin Stoney. Chen is a man who is already the most powerful human being ever and yet wants more. He is depicted as a man of wit, intelligence and charisma, but with an egotism that increases as the story goes on and eventually drives him to madness, believing himself to be a god who rules the Daleks. The only issue I have is with Chen’s make-up. He is meant to be ‘part-Oriental’, which the make-up team interpreted by darkening Stoney’s skin and taping back his eyes. This makes him look like a grotesque, caricatured ‘Chinaman’ which is unfortunate, as Chen’s ethnicity is not mentioned at all in the story, and he is not a Fu Manchu takeoff.
The guest cast is, perhaps, the strongest the programme has had since Marco Polo, and I cannot think of a single poor performance. Nicholas Courtney is memorable as Bret Vyon and it is easy to see why he returned to the programme a couple of times. Even a minor character like Karlton is well brought to life by Maurice Browning It is clear that good deal of thought has gone into characterisation and, importantly, character interplay. For example, Steven is a character from our future, but Sara Kingdom’s past, so that something that Steven would consider contemporary would seem futuristic to us and antediluvian to Sara. This is something which is actually a factor in the way these two characters interact.
The Daleks are totally rehabilitated from the fiasco of The Chase. Here they are scheming, ruthless and efficient. Their voices are brilliant here, after the limp vocal stylings of the previous two stories. As in The Chase Nation throws other monsters against them, but here the Daleks triumph. Their plan is a truly diabolical one and they would not come up with a plan as masterful until 2008.
Hartnell puts in one of his finest performances in this story. The Doctor rages against those who hurt his friends and takes no nonsense from the Daleks, dictating terms to them even when he is at a disadvantage. He also joyfully wraps the Monk up in bandages and whacks Visians with his stick. The length of the story is ably matched by Hartnell’s range. Purves continues to work wonders as Steven- it is mainly due to his performance that Katarina’s death works as well as it does. Adrienne Hill, it must be said, is no more than adequate as Katarina and it is, perhaps, good that the character died before she got too annoying. Jean Marsh as Sara puts in an excellent performance making the character both as tough as nails without making her unsympathetic.
Even though only a quarter of the episodes exist, it is clear that this is where Douglas Camfield got his reputation as one of the programme’s finest directors. As said before, the performances from the guest cast are strong across the board, and Camfield’s choice of camera angles and movement are sublime as is his supervision of editing- there is a great cut from an image of the sun in sky to a glint on the dome of a Dalek.
The Daleks’ Master Plan was the first story to have an episode broadcast on Christmas Day, "The Feast of Steven" and this episode takes a break from the Daleks to give us some light relief for the festive season. The first setting is a charming skit where the doctor is arrested by a policeman after being seen coming out of the TARDIS and the second is set in Hollywood in the Mack Sennet era. It is less successful, but still worthwhile. Then there is the famous scene where the Doctor toasts the viewer at home, which I found to be very well done- as the Doctor says, the TARDIS crew rarely get a chance to celebrate. The inclusion of this interlude is not as random as it looks, as it occurs in a natural break in the story and, although it is business as usual in the next episode, there is still a hilarious interlude at the Oval cricket ground to ease the transition back.
I must also make special mention of the last episode. The previous Dalek stories were resolved with a battle or an explosion. Here we are treated to something truly spectacular. The Time Destructor is turned on and it causes the surface of the Kembel to age. Unfortunately, it has the same effect on Sara and the Doctor and Sara ages to death and decays. Steven manages to turn the machine into reverse, rejuvenating the Doctor and eventually destroying the pursuing Daleks by regressing them into embryos. Kembel is reduced to a desert planet by the time the machine is exhausted. In the midst of this, Steven and the Doctor are left alone to ponder the cost of their victory. It is a truly epic ending to an epic story.
Next: The Massacre
The first thing that strikes the viewer about this story is its length. This is a colossal 12-episode epic, nearly 5 hours of television. This obviously begs the question of whether or not the story is padded or not and indeed, I could easily reduce this story to a 3-parter: The taranium is an obvious McGuffin, with most of the story being centred round it. If the Doctor doesn’t steal the taranium, there is no need for episodes 2-10. However, this story is well named, as this story has a sense of scale that dwarfs the stories that come before it. The Doctor is, for the first time, battling a threat to the whole universe, with the fates of whole galaxies at stake. Such a story is epic in nature and demands an epic length. The threats confronted transcend B-movie cliché- the Varga plants make sense plotwise and are a genuinely horrific threat and the Visians are also brought to life very effectively through very simple special visual and audio effects. The detour to Desperus might seem a bit pointless, but it ends in the most shocking scene in Doctor Who yet, the death of Katarina. This scene is excellently scripted, acted and directed and the story is all the better for it. The detour to ancient Egypt is very well acted and directed and contains the very welcome return of Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk. Unlike in The Chase, although the story takes us to many locations in time and space, it is rooted in one place- the nightmarish planet of Kembel.
Apart from the TARDIS crew and the Daleks, the other main player in the story is Mavic Chen, brought to life in a powerhouse performance by Kevin Stoney. Chen is a man who is already the most powerful human being ever and yet wants more. He is depicted as a man of wit, intelligence and charisma, but with an egotism that increases as the story goes on and eventually drives him to madness, believing himself to be a god who rules the Daleks. The only issue I have is with Chen’s make-up. He is meant to be ‘part-Oriental’, which the make-up team interpreted by darkening Stoney’s skin and taping back his eyes. This makes him look like a grotesque, caricatured ‘Chinaman’ which is unfortunate, as Chen’s ethnicity is not mentioned at all in the story, and he is not a Fu Manchu takeoff.
The guest cast is, perhaps, the strongest the programme has had since Marco Polo, and I cannot think of a single poor performance. Nicholas Courtney is memorable as Bret Vyon and it is easy to see why he returned to the programme a couple of times. Even a minor character like Karlton is well brought to life by Maurice Browning It is clear that good deal of thought has gone into characterisation and, importantly, character interplay. For example, Steven is a character from our future, but Sara Kingdom’s past, so that something that Steven would consider contemporary would seem futuristic to us and antediluvian to Sara. This is something which is actually a factor in the way these two characters interact.
The Daleks are totally rehabilitated from the fiasco of The Chase. Here they are scheming, ruthless and efficient. Their voices are brilliant here, after the limp vocal stylings of the previous two stories. As in The Chase Nation throws other monsters against them, but here the Daleks triumph. Their plan is a truly diabolical one and they would not come up with a plan as masterful until 2008.
Hartnell puts in one of his finest performances in this story. The Doctor rages against those who hurt his friends and takes no nonsense from the Daleks, dictating terms to them even when he is at a disadvantage. He also joyfully wraps the Monk up in bandages and whacks Visians with his stick. The length of the story is ably matched by Hartnell’s range. Purves continues to work wonders as Steven- it is mainly due to his performance that Katarina’s death works as well as it does. Adrienne Hill, it must be said, is no more than adequate as Katarina and it is, perhaps, good that the character died before she got too annoying. Jean Marsh as Sara puts in an excellent performance making the character both as tough as nails without making her unsympathetic.
Even though only a quarter of the episodes exist, it is clear that this is where Douglas Camfield got his reputation as one of the programme’s finest directors. As said before, the performances from the guest cast are strong across the board, and Camfield’s choice of camera angles and movement are sublime as is his supervision of editing- there is a great cut from an image of the sun in sky to a glint on the dome of a Dalek.
The Daleks’ Master Plan was the first story to have an episode broadcast on Christmas Day, "The Feast of Steven" and this episode takes a break from the Daleks to give us some light relief for the festive season. The first setting is a charming skit where the doctor is arrested by a policeman after being seen coming out of the TARDIS and the second is set in Hollywood in the Mack Sennet era. It is less successful, but still worthwhile. Then there is the famous scene where the Doctor toasts the viewer at home, which I found to be very well done- as the Doctor says, the TARDIS crew rarely get a chance to celebrate. The inclusion of this interlude is not as random as it looks, as it occurs in a natural break in the story and, although it is business as usual in the next episode, there is still a hilarious interlude at the Oval cricket ground to ease the transition back.
I must also make special mention of the last episode. The previous Dalek stories were resolved with a battle or an explosion. Here we are treated to something truly spectacular. The Time Destructor is turned on and it causes the surface of the Kembel to age. Unfortunately, it has the same effect on Sara and the Doctor and Sara ages to death and decays. Steven manages to turn the machine into reverse, rejuvenating the Doctor and eventually destroying the pursuing Daleks by regressing them into embryos. Kembel is reduced to a desert planet by the time the machine is exhausted. In the midst of this, Steven and the Doctor are left alone to ponder the cost of their victory. It is a truly epic ending to an epic story.
Next: The Massacre
Saturday, 27 September 2008
The Myth Makers
Doctor Who travels to the time of the Trojan War in Donald Cotton’s first story for the programme. It is usually labelled as being a historical, yet is based on a myth. The events, if they did happen, were probably very different to what was recorded in the Iliad by Homer (who himself may not have existed!) However, this is neither a faithful depiction of the myth, nor an attempt to portray what may have actually happened. The tone is set from the start. Achilles and Hector are having their legendary duel to the death, but it is clear that this is not the Achilles of legend and that it is, in fact, Hector who is the greater warrior. It is only the materialisation of the TARDIS that enables Achilles to kill Hector. The fight is set to a trombone-led score, an instrument that is inherently funny (I have the greatest respect for trombonists, by the way).
Some of the characters are purely comedic. Paris is played as being a cowardly upper-class twit, a combination of Percy from Blackadder and Bertie Wooster. Menelaus is Agamemnon’s thick brother who needs the concept of the Trojan Horse explained to him several times. The supporting cast put in fantastic comedic performances. Barrie Ingham is hilarious as Paris and Max Adrian is great as the world-weary Priam. Odysseus is portrayed as being far more fierce than is usual, although it is clear that he is still, by far, the cleverest of the Greeks.
The script is out and out comedy, with some lines worthy of Up Pompeii!:- Cassandra: ‘Woe to the House of Priam! Woe to the Trojans! Paris: ‘I think it’s a bit late to say “Whoah” to the horse!’ However, the last episode depicts the sacking of Troy which is, thankfully, not treated comedically, although it does clash a bit with the humour of the rest of the story.
Hartnell is his usual brilliant self in this story, accepting his initial role as Zeus on earth, and then trying to think up any plan of entry that doesn’t involve a large wooden horse. Purves continues to impress as the wry Steven- there is some great interplay between Steven and Vicki. This is Vicki’s last story and I am sorry to see her go. Maureen O’Brien brought a real sense of innocent delight to the role and was a joy to watch. Her romance with Troilus is well done- for once, both characters fancy one another from the start, rather than the gradual falling in love that is usual.
This is the first instance of the Doctor actually being the direct cause of a historical event (although it’s more writing than re-writing history) and I love the fact that the Doctor refuses to believe in the historicity of the horse and then actually inspiring its creation. It is touches such as this that stop the first three episodes being merely pastiches. We are told that the Trojans worshipped the ‘Great Horse’ which is why they fell for the Trojan Horse.
This is a hilarious and sometimes poignant look at one of the most famous stories in history.
Next: The Daleks' Master Plan
Some of the characters are purely comedic. Paris is played as being a cowardly upper-class twit, a combination of Percy from Blackadder and Bertie Wooster. Menelaus is Agamemnon’s thick brother who needs the concept of the Trojan Horse explained to him several times. The supporting cast put in fantastic comedic performances. Barrie Ingham is hilarious as Paris and Max Adrian is great as the world-weary Priam. Odysseus is portrayed as being far more fierce than is usual, although it is clear that he is still, by far, the cleverest of the Greeks.
The script is out and out comedy, with some lines worthy of Up Pompeii!:- Cassandra: ‘Woe to the House of Priam! Woe to the Trojans! Paris: ‘I think it’s a bit late to say “Whoah” to the horse!’ However, the last episode depicts the sacking of Troy which is, thankfully, not treated comedically, although it does clash a bit with the humour of the rest of the story.
Hartnell is his usual brilliant self in this story, accepting his initial role as Zeus on earth, and then trying to think up any plan of entry that doesn’t involve a large wooden horse. Purves continues to impress as the wry Steven- there is some great interplay between Steven and Vicki. This is Vicki’s last story and I am sorry to see her go. Maureen O’Brien brought a real sense of innocent delight to the role and was a joy to watch. Her romance with Troilus is well done- for once, both characters fancy one another from the start, rather than the gradual falling in love that is usual.
This is the first instance of the Doctor actually being the direct cause of a historical event (although it’s more writing than re-writing history) and I love the fact that the Doctor refuses to believe in the historicity of the horse and then actually inspiring its creation. It is touches such as this that stop the first three episodes being merely pastiches. We are told that the Trojans worshipped the ‘Great Horse’ which is why they fell for the Trojan Horse.
This is a hilarious and sometimes poignant look at one of the most famous stories in history.
Next: The Daleks' Master Plan
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