"Deep Breath"

When speaking of ways of instantly grabbing the viewer, there are probably few more effective than an episode immediately starting with a Godzilla-sized T. rex thundering along the bank of the Thames in Victorian London and then spitting out the TARDIS. It is from here that a reasonably straightforward plot about robots harvesting human organs is taken into weird and wonderful territory in a story that has to deal with the most radical reformatting of the title role since the Ninth Doctor nine years ago. Although a bit frayed around the edges, Moffat’s script is as scary, intriguing and funny as ever, the story feels different - slower, with longer scenes and a lot of sitting down and talking. All this is done in a script that is still full to the brim with great lines and gags.

I was initially a bit apprehensive about both David Tennant and Matt Smith – they were pretty much unknown to me before their announcement, although they won me round pretty quickly. The same cannot be said of Peter Capaldi. As I said when he appeared in "The Fires of Pompeii", the man’s range is formidable and he has charisma oozing out of every pore. My expectations were high and he had no problem in exceeding them, whether squeaking ‘You’ve got a dinosaur too!’, or mumbling the creature’s thoughts in his sleep, whether calmly asking his adversary to join him in a Scotch or baring his teeth in fury when giving his adversary in ultimatum, this new face with old features and attack eyebrows is, without doubt, the face of our favourite Time Lord. The Doctor’s associates carry more of the story than ever before – if you ever wondered what a Paternoster Gang spin-off series would be like, this episode would give you a pretty good idea and our favourite multi-species Victorian gang is on fine form as support. However, it is Clara who helps us truly love this new Doctor. Clara here is portrayed, for the first time, in terms of her life and reactions as a normal human being, rather than as a plot device and Jenna Coleman shines in showing Clara coming to terms with an unfamiliar face on her best friend.

We have a very familiar group of monsters for the story, and the viewer needs no prompting to recall "The Girl in the Fireplace" but with clear differences. The clockwork droids from the SS Marie Antoinette have been trying to repair their ship for tens of millions of years longer than those from SS Madame de Pompadour and they have developed some odd beliefs – perhaps the fact that Marie Antionette’s head became readily available was not the panacea that they were hoping for. The lead droid, the ‘half-face man’ is menacingly portrayed by Peter Ferdinando, who also brings out the desperation and sadness in the character.

The story is directed by Ben Wheatley, one of the most promising new British film directors – I can highly recommend the genuinely unsettling Kill List, in particular (if you have the stomach for it!) Wheatley gets very nuanced performers from all the actors and makes the slower scenes contemplative or tense or menacing as required. However, he is out of his comfort zone when it comes to the fight between the Paternoster gang and the droids, which is a disappointment after the wonderful scenes of Clara holding her breath trying to escape. The whole production is very assured, with a real Talons of Weng-Chiang feel to it (although there is a whopping continuity issue when the Doctor drops out of a tree onto a horse – that is in a courtyard with no trees in sight!) The effects are great throughout, with the outsize T. rex an obvious highlight and it has the depth of a feature film and would work well in a cinema.

Although it is my least favourite debut for a Doctor this century, Peter Capaldi makes the role his own with little effort – whilst it was wonderful to see Matt Smith again, there was no need for him to validate a new Doctor that needed no help to gain our attention. We are left, therefore, with the unexpected revelation that the half-face man found his Promised Land –the maitrêsse d’ of which, ‘Missy’ (sparkily portrayed by the inimitable Michelle Gomez) is a bit too familiar with the Doctor for comfort...

NEXT: "Inside the Dalek"

"The Name of the Doctor"

There is sometimes a great danger in teasing the audience too much. The revelations promised usually turn out to be disappointing. However, as this episode shows early on, the words in a question can have more than one meaning, which means that the actual answer could be something completely unexpected. No episode of Doctor Who has left me slack-jawed more often than "The Name of the Doctor", an episode that arguably does more to intelligently redefine our view of the Doctor than any other story produced in colour.

In a very bold move for the 50th anniversary year, the main action takes place on Trenzalore, a world revealed to be the last resting place of the Doctor. Death is a major theme in this episode - of the regulars and semi-regulars, it is only Madam Vastra who has not died and been resurrected. Indeed, the River Song we see is the Data Ghost from the library. Moffat is confident enough to allude to the Doctor’s travels finally coming to an end and, as usual, his inventiveness suffuses the entire script, from the conference call on the astral plane, to the true nature of what is within a Time Lord’s grave. Instead of the body, we have a swirling vortex of light that is a gateway to every moment of the Doctor's life. There have been intimations of the Doctor erasing himself from history and, it turns out, this is for a good reason – if one has the information, one can find the path the Doctor takes from birth to death and, as we find out, the Great Intelligence is information. Richard E Grant is back in fine fettle as an enemy thwarted, but determined to utterly destroy his enemy in death, for the Doctor will now die at every point in his existence – unless someone can save him. The true nature of the Impossible Girl has finally been unveiled and, as many suspected, Clara has been Scarothed throughout the Doctor’s existence. Although I still believe that the season could have been improved considerably by fleshing out Clara’s character a bit more, Jenna-Louise Coleman has been a delight throughout and it is testament to her skill that her sacrifice is as poignant as it is – however it would have worked far better had the audience been as emotionally invested in her as they had with Rose or Amy.

Saul Metzstein again puts in great work behind the camera and there is inspired work from the production team, from the Great Intelligence tearing off Dr Simeon's face to the sepulchral vistas of Trenzalore. Perhaps the Whisper Men could have been a bit more different to the Trickster from The Sarah Jane Adventures, but this is a small nitpick. Metzstein makes sure that the story is full of scenes and images that will stick in our minds and this is key to the success of the story.

The title of the story suggests that we are going to get to know something huge about the Doctor's past and, indeed, the story begins with the first ever scene in Doctor Who set before "An Unearthly Child", followed by re-jigged footage of the first seven Doctors interacting with Clara. As for the current incarnation, our leading man has never been better – in tears as he girds his loins to go to Trenzalore, being hoodwinked into playing blind-man's buff by Angie and Artie whilst they sneak off to the cinema and showing the deep love he has for River, a love which is perhaps not best expressed when the other party is a mental projection that only he can see. The title of the story is one that makes the audience think they want a sound or a collection of letters or symbols. However, this would ultimately be as inconsequential as the words Giovanni Battista Fidanza or Phillip Pirrip – we would still call them Nostromo and Pip and that is what they would always be. The Doctor may not be the name he was born with, but it is who he is and it is what he does – except once. There have been eleven Doctors, but the body which the Eleventh Doctor inhabits is his twelfth. Once, the Doctor did something so horrific that his subsequent avatars denied that incarnation the right to call himself 'Doctor' - and this is what the Doctor and Clara find at the centre of the path of the Doctor's life. Even before he turns around, one of the most recognisable voices in the world indicates that one of the finest actors in the world will play a character that redefines what we know about our hero. We will find out more in November, but what we are left with is an almost unbearably heady, yet utterly intoxicating brew that will be talked about for years.

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"The Crimson Horror"

Many of the recent writers on Doctor Who grew up as fans of the programme and this is reflected in the work they do, paying tribute to the show that they loved as a child and, if there has ever been an attempt to do a 21st century version of The Talons of Weng-Chiang, "The Crimson Horror" is it. The story sets out almost immediately to be a grotesque Victorian pastiche, an ideal which is fully realised by the time we reach Sweetville, a vision of what Bournville would have been like had the Cadburys been evil. The plot is a simple one of cleansing the world’s population using a Mesozoic plague, so that the privileged few can inherit the Earth, but it is the details that give the story its shine – the vivid period dialogue, the tent-show evangelism of Mrs Gillyflower’s recruitment drive, the almost relentless Yorkshire-ness, the optograms, the intimations of the rotten extremities of late-Victorian society. However, this is no mere rehashing of past glories. The structure is unusual, with the Doctor only appearing a third of the way through, seemingly already defeated, with his initial involvement told in flashback. As one might expect from the pen of Mark Gatiss, there are jokes aplenty, although whether the fainting man and the name of the helpful urchin are a bit too over the top is a matter of opinion.

However, beneath the shine, there has to be substance and this is certainly provided by the wonderful characters in the story. There is the always welcome return of the Paternoster Gang, although Madame Vastra surrenders her spotlight somewhat to her assistants, with Strax providing some excellent comic relief and Jenny kicking ass in leather (a bit like another TV heroine I could mention). Gatiss enjoys his ripe supporting characters – the coroner could have come straight out of The Talons of Weng-Chiang. However, it is the key characters of Mrs Gillyflower and her daughter Ada that are the true gems and the casting of the legendary Diana Rigg and her talented daughter Rachael Stirling is a true gift. Mrs Gillyflower is a gleefully sadistic super-villain and bluff Yorkshire matriarch in one and Ada, despite being a victim all her life, is allowed real reserves of strength – refusing to forgive her mother and summarily dealing with Mr Sweet. Despite his apparent defeat, the Doctor is soon up and running with Matt in fine fettle – his Yorkshire accent is hilarious. Clara (at least until the final scene) is somewhat in the background, however.

Saul Metzstein concocts an intoxicating brew from Gatiss’s recipe with increasing confidence in getting memorable shots, from little things like the scrape of Ada’s stick on the ground to the presentation of the flashback, where you can almost hear the projector whirring. As expected, the production is top notch, with the period detail impeccable. A special mention must be made of Mr Sweet, without doubt the vilest monster to appear in the series this century – in fact his demise is very nasty, and the closest a family show can get to an early Sam Raimi/Peter Jackson splatter scene.

Gatiss has really returned to form this year and this hugely enjoyable story is a welcome addition to the Who canon.

NEXT: "Nightmare in Silver"

"Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"

If I had been given the opportunity to write for Doctor Who between 1980 and 1989, the story I would have written would have also been called "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", combining two things which I was (and, lets be honest, still am) obsessed with. Which is why I felt a tang of rage when I found out who the writer would be. The only time Chris Chibnall has not provided the absolute worst script of the seasons that he contributed to, was when he was beaten to it by Helen Raynor writing the worst story of the revived programme by a clear margin- and she, at least, redeemed herself with her next offering. However, whilst "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" contains some of the ill-thought-out woolliness and cuniculae ex cappelum that his other scripts have displayed, I must say that it is, nevertheless, a joy to watch and tremendous fun, from beginning to end.

The story itself in simple but this is a relief, as Chibnall's other efforts have been blatant rewrites of older Doctor Who stories. I was afraid that this would be a rewrite of Snakes on a Plane, or an attempt to do a Doctor Who version of the enjoyable, but thoroughly second-rate, ITV/Watch drama Primeval, but, thankfully, neither is the case. The dinosaurs do not take up as much of the plot as in the average Primeval episode, which is initially a slight disappointment- we see only a sleeping juvenile T.rex, which is barely more mobile than the one in The Mark of the Rani (although far more realistic!) when what we want, of course, is a rampaging adult. In the long term, this is to the episode's advantage, as more time is spent on the actual human drama than creature peril- one of the reasons why Doctor Who is a far better programme than Primeval. The jokes are great- "Only my balls!" is very nearly inappropriate- but not quite, and therefore hilarious! Chibnall's plotting is a bit sloppy, but some of it actually works in the story's favour- he doesn't bother to explain how the hydro-powered engine room works, but this adds to the bold sense of the unknown: "It's a big universe; stars can burn cold, sofas can read." Some of the sloppiness isn't pulled off- if the Silurian ship has already entered the atmosphere, destroying it would be very little better than just letting it crash. I am always happy when we see that the future isn't full of just British, Americans and Russians, but I have to point out that India actually already has a space agency called the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) not the ISA. Still, the name could have changed...

However, the real reason for this success is the appealing array of supporting characters that populate the story- the big-game hunter Riddell is played by the always watchable Rupert Graves, who gives him a perfect balance of Allan Quatermain and Lord John Roxton to make him a thoroughly dashing rogue. Riann Steele is well up to portraying one of the most iconic figures in history and Nefertiti's disappearance from the historical record means that the programme can play fast and loose with the fate of the Lady of The Two Lands. Mark Williams is absolutely perfect as Rory's dad Brian, with his natural likeability being a great asset. Physically, he doesn't look much like Arthur Darvill, but the look of befuddlement on both their faces is uncannily similar, as is the shared body language. Solomon is a thoroughly odious villain, played by the brilliant David Bradley. Dispassionately killing all the Silurians on the spaceship, calmly ordering his robots to injure Brian and his horrible threats to 'break' Nefertiti, mean that his eventual fate is well deserved (and certainly not unprecedented or out-of-character for the Doctor). Speaking of those robots, the voices of Mitchell and Webb are perfect and they are a great comic creation by Chibnall, although the 'Daisy...Daisy' bit is, perhaps, a bit too arch. Rory is the heroic super-nurse and Amy finds her inner huntress in a set of performances by Darvill and Gillan that shows they were clearly having a plesiosaur of a time (sorry!) Whether calmly leaving Solomon to his fate or planting one on Rory's lips, the Doctor is as mercurial as he has ever been and Matt continues to impress.

Saul Metzstein makes an impressive début in the directors chair, making the excellent cast work wonders and creating some wonderful scenes- riding Tricey, the Pteranodons on the beach and, most wonderful of all Brian looking down at the Earth in space, whilst having a cup of tea. The production is excellent (apart from some dodgy CGI when the missiles finally hit their target) and, of course, finally, finally, the programme finally has some dinosaurs it can be proud of- angry ankylosaurs, demonic dromeosaurs and, of course, the doomed, but lovely Tricey the Triceratops. The young-to-teenage me would have been in heaven.

It may not be deep, nor particularly clever, but "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" is wonderful entertainment and Chris Chibnall finally has a story he can be proud of!

NEXT: "A Town Called Mercy"

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"A Good Man Goes to War"

This series of Doctor Who has decided to do something different so, for the first time, we have a mid-series cliffhanger. As we have come to expect from Steven Moffat, the story starts with a dizzying sequence of scenes where the Doctor destroys a cyber-fleet just to make a point. We also have vignettes that range in location from Victorian London to the planet Zarathustra in what looks like a 41st century version of War and Peace. The Doctor is calling in some of his debts and all hell will break loose...

The quest of the Family Pond is a staggeringly exciting one, and contains the usual funny and moving dialogue we have come to expect. However, although heart of "A Good Man Goes to War" is the hunt for Amy and her daughter, the mind of the story is somewhat different. In all the far-flung and exotic locations that we see throughout the episode, we do not see the Doctor himself for the first twenty minutes of the episode. But we hear about him and we see what he leaves behind him so when he finally appears, nearly half-way through the episode, we know why an army has been raised against him, not to attack, but to defend. If "The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" was about the Doctor as story, then "A Good Man Goes to War" is about the Doctor as a legend and how legends change. Angels become demons and demons, angels and the word Doctor has come to mean 'great warrior' in some parts of the universe. Of course, the Doctor has been many things, from determined idealist to detached manipulator. He is the Lonely God and a madman with a box. However, Moffat has a very clear idea of what the Doctor should not be and the Doctor has been heading that way for some time. He has trailed devastation in his wake and it is not only the evil that see that as a threat. The entire realisation of the army is excellent- in their spare time, the clerics train themselves to recognise the psychic paper, a random sign at the start has a picture of the sonic screwdriver with the warning ‘1. It’s not sonic 2. It’s not a screwdriver’.

The fact that all of this is told in a hugely entertaining adventure proves how masterful Moffat is. Lest we forget, the story also contains contains two of the most endearingly bonkers, yet irresistibly ingenious characters the programme has ever had- a Sontaran nurse (gene spliced to cope with...er...every nursing need) and a Victorian Sapphic Samurai Silurian swordswoman (played with smouldering saurian sexiness by Neve McIntosh) fighting crime with her trusty maidservant. We also have the Headless Monks, serving the Papal Mainframe herself, chanting attack prayers armed with lightsabres from Hell.

Matt Smith is astonishing yet again. The Doctor's rage almost seems to embarrass him, yet its effect is potent. Arthur Darvill is masterful as an ordinary man who has reluctantly become a legend himself and Karen Gillan's portrayal of a defiant mother is utterly convincing. Frances Barber relishes her role as the chief villain in the story and there is great support from the entire cast, including Danny Sapani as Colonel ‘Runaway’ Manton and Christina Chong as Lorna Bucket, who joined the Church/Army just to meet the Doctor again.

Peter Hoar has a hell of a lot to visualise and a large cast to manage, but he copes with the challenge magnificently constructing scene after memorable scene. The whole production is fantastic, from Demon's Run, with its Death Star like bays to Zarathustra’s utterly convincing battle field, realised for less than two minutes. Everyone behind the scenes deserves a big hand.

It ends with, seemingly, everything lost. But Melody has returned grown up- for that is who River Song is. I am slightly disappointed that I guessed this (although I did think that Jackson Lake and Adelaide Brooke were involved!) but not very much so. Questions remain, of course- is she part Time Lord, and was the little girl in "The Impossible Astronaut"/"Day of the Moon" her? If so, did Madame Kovarian succeed in creating the ultimate weapon? It's going to be a long summer...

NEXT: "Let's Kill Hitler"

"The Hungry Earth"/ "Cold Blood"

As you can imagine, I was not looking forward to a Chris Chibnall two-parter. His previous effort, "42", was a thoroughly lazy script, rescued only by Graeme Harper’s phenomenal direction. However, Chibnall is physically capable of writing good scripts- his Life on Mars episodes are very good and, although his showrunning and episodes for Torchwood were terrible in series 1, he improved in series 2. In any case, "The Hungry Earth"/ "Cold Blood" had the added attraction of featuring the return of the Silurians, one of my favourite ‘monsters’ on the programme.

Reading the basic storyline did not fill me with hope. Just as "42" was a basic rewrite of Planet of Evil, "The Hungry Earth"/ "Cold Blood" takes most of its plot elements from previous stories- it’s Doctor Who and the Silurians meets Inferno, meets The Green Death, meets Frontios! On watching it, the way the plot unfolds would be entirely predictable, even if it wasn’t following the story progression of Doctor Who and the Silurians almost to the letter and ending not so much with a deus ex machina, but with a literal pneuma ex machina! It must be said, however, that Chibnall writes with more sincerity than he did last time, which means that we buy into the plotting a bit more, even though the only parts that aren’t hackneyed are by Malcolm Hulke. This is helped by a very strong cast- Eliot, the dyslexic boy who won’t let his disability get in his way, so clumsily worthy on paper, is made into a real person through the endearing performance of Lady Sovereign lookalike Samuel Davies. Robert Pugh is an awesome actor, who puts meat on the very bare bones of his underwritten character and Meera Syal is an absolute delight as Nasreen, a very poorly written character- I am sure I was not alone in secretly hoping for her to join the TARDIS crew.

The Silurians are suitably revamped for the 21st century with a fantastic make-up and prosthetic applications. Although very different from their forebears, I instantly recognised them- although making the eyes and teeth more saurian would not have been unwelcome. However, the revamps work, because the designers remembered something they should have remembered when doing "Victory of the Daleks"- if you’re going to redesign a popular monster, make it look cool. The Silurians are all excellently performed, with all the actors remaining very recognisable, despite the excellent make-up, from Neve McIntosh’s impassioned dual performance as Alaya/ Restac to Stephen Moore’s dignified Eldane. These performances compensate for the fact that the character types are very similar to the original Silurians- we even have the bellicose Silurian killing the peacemaker The only disappointment is that Chibnall seems to be just as clueless about palaeontology as Malcolm Hulke- but Hulke did not have the Internet as a research tool, so Chibnall has no excuse. Chibnall has the Doctor state that they are ‘300 million years out of their comfort zone’, which would make them Carboniferous, on the cusp of Permian- not as unlikely as the Silurian, but still pretty far-fetched and only adding to the confusion. As I said many moons ago, if there is one area of science that the average child will know a lot about, it’s prehistoric life.

Ashley Way gives the story the epic feel it needs and the action scenes are shot with the necessary energy to make them effective and he marshals the great cast with aplomb. The special effects are flawless, with the jaw-dropping shots of the vistas of the Silurian city and the hibernating army, with the entire production team giving their all. Matt Smith is astonishing, yet again, with his kindly, yet somewhat threatening warning to Ambrose about weapons to his grief over Amy’s apparent death. Karen Gillan has to react to the death of her fiancée again and it is to her considerable credit that she makes it look just as convincing as in "Amy’s Choice" yet very different, something which can also be said for Arthur Darvill. I really hope this is not the final end for Rory.

This is a very well made, very enjoyable Doctor Who story. However, again we have a Homo reptilia story (technically it should be something like Anthroposaurus sapiens, but I digress) that covers pretty much the same ground as the original story. Chibnall’s script, although not in the same league as others this year, is far better than his previous one. It is odd to think that the only Silurian story to build on the original is Warriors of the Deep!

NEXT: "Vincent and the Doctor"

Warriors of the Deep

Warriors of the Deep saw the return of the Silurians and the Sea Devils to Doctor Who. It is, perhaps, unfortunate that Johnny Byrne wrote this story having never even seen the two Pertwee stories, but his script is reasonably good. The plot is reminiscent of the Troughton era monster stories, but Warriors of the Deep has the advantage of not having been broadcast between stories with exactly the same 'base-under-siege' plot. The very early introduction of the hexachromite gas makes the outcome extremely predictable and, indeed, the plot is a bit too straightforward. However, there are some nice concepts, such as the need to link to a human brain to launch nuclear missiles (Byrne is considerably more skilful in using technobabble than in the interminably dull Arc of Infinity) and there is some great dialogue for the regulars and, incidentally, the first fart gag in Doctor Who.

However, the story's visualisation is close to catastrophic. Pennant Roberts has never been the most skilful of directors, but his work here shows a fundamental lack of understanding of how to use visual images to tell a story. The Silurians are revealed by a simple cut, like they were a recurring adversary on Stingray. The camera work is incredibly lazy with any scene not requiring basic composition just being shot statically. This all comes to a head in the storming of the sea base. This takes up a good deal of the story, but, thanks to Roberts's ineptitude, what we get are lumbering Sea Devils moving against humans inching carefully backwards- not very exciting! The lighting has been criticised as being excessive, which is not quite the case- it is uniform and does not create atmosphere, as well as not conforming to expectations of what a sea base should look like. The realisation of the Silurians and Sea Devils are considerably less successful than the originals. They do not move their lips when speaking (which the originals did) and they move very slowly- a far cry from the fast moving Sea Devils of the Pertwee era. There is the nice touch of having blinking eyelids for Sauvix, but this is, incredibly, only utilised twice! Roberts has conversations between the reptiles take ages, with huge pauses between the speakers, almost as if it were a satellite link. Then there is the Myrka, one of the most pathetic looking monsters to ever appear in the programme. The sterile lighting only amplifies the problems in the realisation of the saurians. On the good side, although it is overlit, the set for the base is actually quite good and the music is wonderfully atmospheric. The production was rushed, by all accounts, but that does not excuse things like the Silurians' costumes not being fitted properly.

The guest performances are rather lacklustre, with some being downright dreadful. Ingrid Pitt has great screen presence, but she is not a very good actress, but Ian McCulloch as Nilson and Nitza Saul as Karina are far worse. Tom Adams is good as Vorshak, but he succumbs to Roberts's poor direction- Vorshak does not even react when he is shot. However, if there is one great thing about this story it is, again, Peter Davison. The Doctor is brilliantly characterised in the script, his handing over of his gun being a great touch and Davison attacks the part with gusto, giving one of his finest performances. Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson also work very well with the material they are given.

The end of the story is superlative- both the reptiles and the humans are dead and the Doctor, with a tremor in his voice, says 'There should have been another way'. This could easily be applied to the story as a whole, a story that could easily have been so much better.

NEXT: The Awakening

Doctor Who and the Silurians

The Doctor, Liz and UNIT investigate power losses at the Wenley Moor research station, where it found that ancient reptilian humanoids have been awoken from hibernation and intend to reclaim their planet from its human usurpers. The Doctor has to help the humans, but things are not as cut and dried as they usually are…

Spearhead from Space dealt with an alien invasion and the reintroduction of the Doctor and the story whizzed past as a result. Doctor Who and the Silurians presents a more complex tale and it is only at the end that we find out who the ‘bad guys’ really are. The reptiles, unlike any other adversary the Doctor has faced, have a right to live on the Earth and merely defeating an invading force will not be enough. Hulke uses the near three-hour length of this story to expertly examine the issues brought up by this story. The reptiles are not seen clearly until the end of episode 3. We see the fear they instil in those who have encountered them, and the fact that they control a large carnivorous dinosaur. Yet when Quinn speaks to them, they do not threaten him, but merely expect him to help them in exchange for information. The Doctor points out that the dinosaur is called off before it can inflict any real damage. Even when they harm humans, it is only in self-defence. It is Quinn’s imprisonment of the lone Silurian (who was rashly wounded by Major Baker) which sets off the reptiles’ desire to pursue a more aggressive route. The Silurians are clearly not just ‘monsters’.

Characterisation is expertly utilised by Malcolm Hulke in driving this story. Dr Lawrence is adamant that the research station not be closed down, in the face of overwhelming evidence that it should be. He is portrayed as a man desperate to protect his career at all costs, in a masterful performance by Peter Miles. There is also the very interesting relationship between Dr Quinn and Miss Dawson. Miss Dawson clearly holds a torch for Quinn and her reaction to his death is to give an inaccurate account of Quinn’s dealings with the Silurians, which plays a part in deciding the course of action to take. The great Fulton Mackay is great as Quinn, a man who is by no means bad, but lets his ego lead him to his doom. Thomasina Heiner makes for a sympathetic Miss Dawson. Then, there is the welcome fact that the Silurians are given different personalities as well. There is the headstrong young Silurian who wants to have the ‘apes’ exterminated, and the old Silurian leader who is willing to consider peace with the humans. This leads to a power struggle that results in the young Silurian authorising the release of a plague to destroy the humans. These strands are woven expertly to make full use of seven episodes.

Visually, this story was the start of ‘Classic 70s Doctor Who’- colour videotape for the studio, colour 16mm film for location. It is a good time to point out something important here- PAL videotape looks a lot better than NTSC videotape, not just because of its higher resolution, but because of its superior colour bandwidth (Ironically, as the PAL masters are lost, we have to rely on the colours from an NTSC conversion). Even so, colour videotape is less ‘cinematographic’ than black and white videotape, but there is some excellent use of lighting in the cave sets. The location scenes are very exciting, with helicopter shots (and the helicopter used to shoot them!) and scenes of a large scale search party. The scenes where the plague takes London is shot with cinematic slickness and helps make part 6 a very exciting episode. Timothy Combe directs with great energy (despite a couple of gratuitous zooms) throughout. Barry Newbery’s set design is exemplary as usual, with special mention for the aforementioned cave sets and the cyclotron room, with the cyclotron itself being a simple, yet visually interesting design. The Silurians themselves, although a bit wobbly headed, have moving lips and actually look different from each other. The voices, by Peter Halliday, are also very effective. The less said about the dinosaur, the better, but it’s only in a couple of shots, as is the (soon to be ubiquitous) use of CSO.

The main quibble I have does not really relate to the story, but the science. If there is one area of science that the average child knows a lot about, it’s prehistoric life and I could have told you at the age of four that amphibians had not evolved in the Silurian, let alone intelligent reptiles. Still, I don’t think that Doctor Who and the Maastrichtians would have been anything like as effective a title. There are also problems with the nuclear physics and a misunderstanding of protective layers of the atmosphere. The story is, however, good enough to make me forget these inaccuracies. There is also the question of the music. It is mostly fine apart from, unfortunately, the ‘Silurian theme’ for which Carey Blyton, for some reason decided to use a crumhorn, an instrument famously described by Terry Pratchett as having ‘a sound like the ghost of a refried bean’. It sounds bizarre at the best of times and does threaten to undermine the action.

Jon Pertwee is captivating throughout as the Doctor. He is given a problem that is different from any other he has faced- save the humans, but attempt to make peace with the Silurians, and Pertwee performs marvellously with this in mind. Caroline John continues to make Liz an interesting and strong character- when she awakes after being knocked out by the fugitive Silurian, she doesn’t scream, she merely states ‘I saw one.’ Nicholas Courtney presents the Brigadier as a strong, intelligent man of action and his interplay with Pertwee is very interesting. The Doctor and the Brigadier clearly like each other, but they are still a long way from being friends.

This leads me to the ending. The Silurian plan has been thwarted and they remain in hibernation. As we prepare for the expected conclusion, we see the Doctor and Liz going to drive away in Bessie, after the Doctor has been assured the Silurians will be revived slowly, in order to negotiate peace. Then, we see the caves being blown up. The Government cannot take the responsibility of an intelligent race joining the humans on earth, so the Brigadier has been ordered to take drastic action. The Doctor is disgusted, a feeling we share. It is a shocking twist, ending a truly first rate story.

NEXT: The Ambassadors of Death