When the Doctor returned to our screens, it was, make no mistake, a very drastic reformatting of the programme. For now, the programme was in colour with a brand new star. There was no travelling through time and space- the TARDIS interior was not seen at all in the new season. In fact, the only things anchoring it with the series broadcast six months previously were the police box and the familiar theme tune.
In fact, Spearhead from Space stands out from Doctor Who as a whole. Until the 1996 TV Movie, this was the only story to be made entirely on film. What’s more, the story is shot very cinematically- scenes with the Brigadier facing reporters are shot hand-held and there is a sublime tracking shot when the Brig and Captain Munro are walking down a corridor. Derek Martinus’s accomplished direction makes this one of the most visually striking Doctor Who stories of all time. Robert Holmes’s script has to deal, not only with an alien menace, but with introducing a new version of the main character. The story is very simple and very economically done, due to having to deal with both these requirements in less than 100 minutes, which means that there is hardly any padding in the story at all. The Nestene and the Autons are a bit similar to the Great Intelligence and the Yeti, especially as both seem to like using spheres to contain intelligence. However, the Autons have an iconic look of their own and shop window dummies coming to life is clearly the stuff of nightmares. The very subtle, but extremely effective touch of giving the facsimile Autons slightly glistening faces is inspired. The ending is a bit rushed, but manages to just about work.
However, this is also the debut for Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and he instantly pulls the viewer in. The introduction of the character is far more non verbal than with Patrick Troughton with many of Pertwee’s early scenes being physical in nature, very appropriate for this more action orientated Doctor. Caroline John makes an instant impression as Liz Shaw, probably the most ‘adult’ female companion since Barbara. One minor irritation is that she is constantly called ‘Miss Shaw’ as opposed to ‘Dr. Shaw’ but there is no real sexism in the character- probably because the producers were not consciously trying to deal with it. The Brigadier is back, played excellently by Nicholas Courtney as usual. There is a very interesting dynamic between the Brigadier and Liz in this story- at first, Liz is a sceptic and the Brigadier has to convince her. The supporting cast is sound, in general, with a stand-out performance by Hugh Burden as the facsimile Channing, a very spooky performance.
This is an iconic and exciting story and a great introduction for the new Doctor.
NEXT: Doctor Who and the Silurians
Showing posts with label derek martinus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label derek martinus. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
The Ice Warriors
‘Computer says no…’
There is a ‘Second Ice Age’ (although there have actually been about six, and we are actually living in one at the moment!) and Britain has been engulfed by the Arctic Ice Cap. The Britannicus Base uses its ‘ioniser’ to help hold it back and refers to the base computer for all actions. Scientist Arden finds a huge body encased in ice and brings it back, believing it to be a prehistoric man. But the reality is more dangerous than they imagine.
The Ice Warriors introduces one of Doctor Who’s most famous adversaries. The titular Martians look fantastic, towering over the humans and speaking with their eerie sibilant rasp. The fact that the movement of their lips do not match the dialogue is deliberate and adds to their alien-ness. The costumes are first rate and actually make each of them look slightly different. Although they are a bit lumbering, they definitely deserve their iconic status.
Apart from the monster threat, a major concern of the script is an over reliance on computers. The base personnel trust their computer completely, as do most of humanity. There are those who reject this and are in exile (maybe self-imposed) from society. They believe that mankind is losing its intuition and problem-solving ability in the face of automation. This techno-fear is a charming relic of the 60s. Nowadays, no-one trusts computers implicitly because they are prone to viruses and breaking down- the vast majority of computers aren’t even used to compute any more! The neo-Luddites (or ‘scavengers’)are portrayed somewhat simplistically. Storr has a distrust of all technology, even considering helping the Ice Warriors purely because they pit themselves against the base. He dies, of course. There are also environmental concerns. Earth's plant life has largely been destroyed to make way for housing, which results in an Ice Age, rather than global warming(!)
The techno-fear and environmentalist aspect forms a background to what is essentially another ‘base under-siege’ story. Rather disappointingly, plot outlines for season 5 have returned to this story type a bit too often and if a story is to be saved, it is through other means. Apart from the instant impact the Ice Warriors themselves have, the main asset of the story is the superlative cast. The base leader whose obstinacy impedes the Doctor is a character who pops up time and time again. In this story, that character (Leader Clent) is played by the extremely talented and underrated Peter Barkworth. He makes this very clichéd type worth watching at all times, and we see Clent as a character making believable decisions according to his personality and situation, rather than a plot-derived construct to push the story along. Peter Sallis puts in a strong performance as Penley, the brilliant scientist who has become a scavenger.
Derek Martinus again directs excellently, getting good performances from the whole cast and making interesting shot choices. The design work is exemplary- the decision to locate Britannicus Base in a listed building is very interesting visually and conceptually intelligent. The base personnel are costumed in simple blacks and whites in the white control room, which makes anyone who does not belong (the TARDIS crew, the Warriors and the scavengers) stick out visually. Troughton is as superlative as always, though the fact that Jamie is incapacitated for so long makes one miss the rapport between Hines and Troughton. There is, however that flirtatious scene with Victoria and Jamie, which is delightfully played and Victoria is cheeky enough to stop her crying becoming irritating.
All in all, well worth a look.
NEXT: The Enemy of the World
There is a ‘Second Ice Age’ (although there have actually been about six, and we are actually living in one at the moment!) and Britain has been engulfed by the Arctic Ice Cap. The Britannicus Base uses its ‘ioniser’ to help hold it back and refers to the base computer for all actions. Scientist Arden finds a huge body encased in ice and brings it back, believing it to be a prehistoric man. But the reality is more dangerous than they imagine.
The Ice Warriors introduces one of Doctor Who’s most famous adversaries. The titular Martians look fantastic, towering over the humans and speaking with their eerie sibilant rasp. The fact that the movement of their lips do not match the dialogue is deliberate and adds to their alien-ness. The costumes are first rate and actually make each of them look slightly different. Although they are a bit lumbering, they definitely deserve their iconic status.
Apart from the monster threat, a major concern of the script is an over reliance on computers. The base personnel trust their computer completely, as do most of humanity. There are those who reject this and are in exile (maybe self-imposed) from society. They believe that mankind is losing its intuition and problem-solving ability in the face of automation. This techno-fear is a charming relic of the 60s. Nowadays, no-one trusts computers implicitly because they are prone to viruses and breaking down- the vast majority of computers aren’t even used to compute any more! The neo-Luddites (or ‘scavengers’)are portrayed somewhat simplistically. Storr has a distrust of all technology, even considering helping the Ice Warriors purely because they pit themselves against the base. He dies, of course. There are also environmental concerns. Earth's plant life has largely been destroyed to make way for housing, which results in an Ice Age, rather than global warming(!)
The techno-fear and environmentalist aspect forms a background to what is essentially another ‘base under-siege’ story. Rather disappointingly, plot outlines for season 5 have returned to this story type a bit too often and if a story is to be saved, it is through other means. Apart from the instant impact the Ice Warriors themselves have, the main asset of the story is the superlative cast. The base leader whose obstinacy impedes the Doctor is a character who pops up time and time again. In this story, that character (Leader Clent) is played by the extremely talented and underrated Peter Barkworth. He makes this very clichéd type worth watching at all times, and we see Clent as a character making believable decisions according to his personality and situation, rather than a plot-derived construct to push the story along. Peter Sallis puts in a strong performance as Penley, the brilliant scientist who has become a scavenger.
Derek Martinus again directs excellently, getting good performances from the whole cast and making interesting shot choices. The design work is exemplary- the decision to locate Britannicus Base in a listed building is very interesting visually and conceptually intelligent. The base personnel are costumed in simple blacks and whites in the white control room, which makes anyone who does not belong (the TARDIS crew, the Warriors and the scavengers) stick out visually. Troughton is as superlative as always, though the fact that Jamie is incapacitated for so long makes one miss the rapport between Hines and Troughton. There is, however that flirtatious scene with Victoria and Jamie, which is delightfully played and Victoria is cheeky enough to stop her crying becoming irritating.
All in all, well worth a look.
NEXT: The Enemy of the World
Thursday, 30 October 2008
The Evil of the Daleks
The Doctor and Jamie pursue the stolen TARDIS and end up being transported back a century to the house of Theodore Maxtible, where the scientist Edward Waterfield’s daughter Victoria is being held captive by the Daleks, who plan to use the Doctor in order to spread mayhem throughout history.
The Evil of the Daleks has a fair few things wrong with it, any one of which would be enough to derail a story. I say this at the very start, because, miraculously, this story not only avoids being derailed, but manages to be one of the most moving, evocative and exciting Doctor Who stories of all time. It has everything that a good Doctor Who story should have. It has other things in it as well, but we’ll come to them later.
The story is based in three times and locations: London in 1966, Maxtible’s house in 1866 and Skaro. The main part of the story occurs in 1866, during the Victorian age. There are few of the tropes of Victorian fiction- no hansom cabs, no foggy streets of London, no street urchins etc. However, we are never in doubt that we are in 1866, because the events in the story reflect one important aspect of Victorian thinking- people believed in both science and magic. This was an age when practical science was becoming more than the experimental side of industry and navigation, and it was beginning to join with natural philosophy and specialised hobbies, such as geology. There was real scientific progress, but it had still not shaken off its associations with mysticism. In this story, we have Maxtible and Waterfield’s ‘time mirrors’. Maxtible’s theory (based on the findings of Faraday and others) is utterly ridiculous, but it is the type of theoretical wrong-turn that could have occurred in the Victorian era. Maxtible is driven by the alchemist’s quest to turn base metals into gold, one of the types of mysticism that formed the root of Western chemistry. Victoriana is not just an exotic backdrop- it forms a basis for the story itself.
The Daleks are brilliant here- their voices are very forceful and they are totally ruthless- even when they keep people alive for their own purposes, it is very clear that the prisoners are one wrong word away from extermination. The Dalek Emperor is a brilliant creation- the design is very impressive and the voice, although more expressive than a regular Dalek, has infinite malevolence. Then, there is the Daleks’ quest for the Human Factor- an idea that is very simplistic on paper, but used well, as it is here, it becomes a meditation of the nature of the Daleks themselves. The Daleks are devious enough to actually fool the Doctor for most of the story.
The guest performances are excellent across the board. John Bailey is thoroughly convincing as the troubled Waterfield, a man who, though he is in an unbearably desperate situation, never allows himself to lose his sense of decency and respect for human life. Marius Goring is great as Maxtible, the ‘man of property’ who is consumed by avarice. New regular Deborah Watling makes Victoria instantly appealing. However, the regulars are not to be outdone and Troughton and Hines give their most impressive performances yet. There is an all-too-rare instance of development of the interaction between the Doctor and his companion. The Doctor is more manipulative than he has ever been before and Jamie at first feels betrayed, and then feels disgusted with the Doctor- until the Doctor proves exactly what his priorities were all along.
So what’s wrong with it? Like The Faceless Ones, it shows signs of having been padded out to increase the number of episodes. The part where the Doctor follows clues to lead him to Waterfield is nonsense- the clues are ridiculous and the fact that Perry shows up to tell the Doctor where to meet Waterfield makes the clues redundant in the first place. There are some redundant characters- there is no reason at all for Toby to be in the story- he coshes Jamie and takes him to Terrall, only for Jamie to return to the house. Indeed, it is never made clear what significance Terrall has to the story, if at all. Episode 5, in particular has little in it that is necessary to the story and is not interesting enough to justify its inclusion. There are also problems with the plotting, most tellingly, why are the humanised Daleks not destroyed as soon as the Doctor has finished- indeed, why is the positronic brain holding the Human Factor not destroyed as soon as it is used to discover the Dalek Factor? The dénouement relies on this, which is very problematic. The only existing episode, Episode 2 is excellent and telesnaps indicate that that quality was maintained throughout. Surviving footage of the final battle, however, shows that it was not 100% convincing (it used the Marx toy Daleks which, for some reason, were a different shape to the real ones) but not so much to drag the viewer out of the experience. Derek Martinus directs with style and the design work is exemplary.
A major factor in this story’s success is David Whitaker’s script. Full of wonderful dialogue and characterisation, its strength more than makes up for its many flaws in plotting. Even the redundant characters are well written (and performed) making this a very easy story to listen to.
The story ends, of course, with the ‘final end’ of the Daleks. They would, of course, return, but that barely dulls the power of the story. This story is the first ‘event’ finale in Doctor Who and packs a similar punch as the finales of Doctor Who in the 21st century. This is a wonderful story- flawed in many ways, but having so many wonderful scenes, concepts, characters, images and dialogue that it is easy to forgive its shortcomings.
NEXT: The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Evil of the Daleks has a fair few things wrong with it, any one of which would be enough to derail a story. I say this at the very start, because, miraculously, this story not only avoids being derailed, but manages to be one of the most moving, evocative and exciting Doctor Who stories of all time. It has everything that a good Doctor Who story should have. It has other things in it as well, but we’ll come to them later.
The story is based in three times and locations: London in 1966, Maxtible’s house in 1866 and Skaro. The main part of the story occurs in 1866, during the Victorian age. There are few of the tropes of Victorian fiction- no hansom cabs, no foggy streets of London, no street urchins etc. However, we are never in doubt that we are in 1866, because the events in the story reflect one important aspect of Victorian thinking- people believed in both science and magic. This was an age when practical science was becoming more than the experimental side of industry and navigation, and it was beginning to join with natural philosophy and specialised hobbies, such as geology. There was real scientific progress, but it had still not shaken off its associations with mysticism. In this story, we have Maxtible and Waterfield’s ‘time mirrors’. Maxtible’s theory (based on the findings of Faraday and others) is utterly ridiculous, but it is the type of theoretical wrong-turn that could have occurred in the Victorian era. Maxtible is driven by the alchemist’s quest to turn base metals into gold, one of the types of mysticism that formed the root of Western chemistry. Victoriana is not just an exotic backdrop- it forms a basis for the story itself.
The Daleks are brilliant here- their voices are very forceful and they are totally ruthless- even when they keep people alive for their own purposes, it is very clear that the prisoners are one wrong word away from extermination. The Dalek Emperor is a brilliant creation- the design is very impressive and the voice, although more expressive than a regular Dalek, has infinite malevolence. Then, there is the Daleks’ quest for the Human Factor- an idea that is very simplistic on paper, but used well, as it is here, it becomes a meditation of the nature of the Daleks themselves. The Daleks are devious enough to actually fool the Doctor for most of the story.
The guest performances are excellent across the board. John Bailey is thoroughly convincing as the troubled Waterfield, a man who, though he is in an unbearably desperate situation, never allows himself to lose his sense of decency and respect for human life. Marius Goring is great as Maxtible, the ‘man of property’ who is consumed by avarice. New regular Deborah Watling makes Victoria instantly appealing. However, the regulars are not to be outdone and Troughton and Hines give their most impressive performances yet. There is an all-too-rare instance of development of the interaction between the Doctor and his companion. The Doctor is more manipulative than he has ever been before and Jamie at first feels betrayed, and then feels disgusted with the Doctor- until the Doctor proves exactly what his priorities were all along.
So what’s wrong with it? Like The Faceless Ones, it shows signs of having been padded out to increase the number of episodes. The part where the Doctor follows clues to lead him to Waterfield is nonsense- the clues are ridiculous and the fact that Perry shows up to tell the Doctor where to meet Waterfield makes the clues redundant in the first place. There are some redundant characters- there is no reason at all for Toby to be in the story- he coshes Jamie and takes him to Terrall, only for Jamie to return to the house. Indeed, it is never made clear what significance Terrall has to the story, if at all. Episode 5, in particular has little in it that is necessary to the story and is not interesting enough to justify its inclusion. There are also problems with the plotting, most tellingly, why are the humanised Daleks not destroyed as soon as the Doctor has finished- indeed, why is the positronic brain holding the Human Factor not destroyed as soon as it is used to discover the Dalek Factor? The dénouement relies on this, which is very problematic. The only existing episode, Episode 2 is excellent and telesnaps indicate that that quality was maintained throughout. Surviving footage of the final battle, however, shows that it was not 100% convincing (it used the Marx toy Daleks which, for some reason, were a different shape to the real ones) but not so much to drag the viewer out of the experience. Derek Martinus directs with style and the design work is exemplary.
A major factor in this story’s success is David Whitaker’s script. Full of wonderful dialogue and characterisation, its strength more than makes up for its many flaws in plotting. Even the redundant characters are well written (and performed) making this a very easy story to listen to.
The story ends, of course, with the ‘final end’ of the Daleks. They would, of course, return, but that barely dulls the power of the story. This story is the first ‘event’ finale in Doctor Who and packs a similar punch as the finales of Doctor Who in the 21st century. This is a wonderful story- flawed in many ways, but having so many wonderful scenes, concepts, characters, images and dialogue that it is easy to forgive its shortcomings.
NEXT: The Tomb of the Cybermen
Saturday, 18 October 2008
The Tenth Planet
There are very few Doctor Who stories that are as important as The Tenth Planet. It introduced one of the programme’s most enduring adversaries, the Cybermen and it introduced the very concept that enabled the programme to become the longest-running science-fiction show in television history.
The Cybermen are a brilliantly realised race, with excellent costume designs by Sandra Reid and there is the genius touch of having the Cybermen not move their ‘lips’ when they speak with their eerie voices. Derek Martinus manages to come up with some very effective shots and his revelation of the Cybermen at the end of episode one is excellent. We see eerie figures in the snow, who knock out the men outside the base. The camera then focuses on a human hand, which is attached to a grotesque robotic parody of a human body.
Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler try and show a future where racial barriers no longer exist- not only is one of the astronauts in the Zeus IV capsule black, he is the commanding officer. However , the script itself is at best unpolished and at worst, downright terrible. The Cybermen’s plan doesn’t make much sense- if Mondas is the Earth’s twin, why not simply move operations there instead of risking both planets? There is real stupidity in some of the finer plot points. We are asked to believe that it never occurred to Barclay to sabotage the Z-Bomb missile. We are asked to believe that General Cutler would sacrifice millions of lives for the mere possibility of saving his son. Scientific accuracy completely goes out of the window in a story that was co-written by Kit Pedler, who was meant to be the programme’s scientific adviser. I won’t go into his complete ignorance of astrophysics and just point out one thing that demonstrates the lack of care in plotting and scientific accuracy- the radiation chamber has a ventilation shaft that leads to other rooms in the Snowcap base!
There are some truly dreadful performances in episode one and it is a real relief that the two main offenders (Tito and the American Sergeant) are killed by the Cybermen at the end of episode one. Of the remaining cast, only Robert Beatty is really better than adequate which is strange, considering the quality of the cast, such as the wonderful Earl Cameron, who had been touted as the ‘British Sidney Poitier’ since the 1950s. The blame for this must be shared by Derek Martinus- whilst he is excellent visually, he is less successful in directing performances.
It is truly astonishing how little the Doctor contributes to the story and it is a real pity that Hartnell is effectively playing second-fiddle in his own swan song- Ben essentially fulfils the Doctor’s function in this story, and it is Michael Craze who comes out best in this story, playing Ben as being resourceful, intelligent and being the prime motivator of events. However, the focus is on the Doctor again in the last third of the final episode. He is obviously weakened by events and needs to be helped into the TARDIS. There then follows one of the most striking scenes in the history of the programme. It seems that the TARDIS is in as unpredictable a state as the Doctor, with the light flickering and levers on the console moving of their own accord. The weakened Doctor manages to open the doors to let Ben and Polly in, before collapsing. Alarmed, they see the Doctor’s body glow in an unearthly light- and when it fades, there is a stranger lying on the TARDIS floor.
This scene is still hugely effective now, but the impact it must have had on audiences in 1966 must have been staggering. It is one of the iconic movements that make this hugely flawed story a must-see for anyone interested in Doctor Who.
Next: The Power of the Daleks
The Cybermen are a brilliantly realised race, with excellent costume designs by Sandra Reid and there is the genius touch of having the Cybermen not move their ‘lips’ when they speak with their eerie voices. Derek Martinus manages to come up with some very effective shots and his revelation of the Cybermen at the end of episode one is excellent. We see eerie figures in the snow, who knock out the men outside the base. The camera then focuses on a human hand, which is attached to a grotesque robotic parody of a human body.
Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler try and show a future where racial barriers no longer exist- not only is one of the astronauts in the Zeus IV capsule black, he is the commanding officer. However , the script itself is at best unpolished and at worst, downright terrible. The Cybermen’s plan doesn’t make much sense- if Mondas is the Earth’s twin, why not simply move operations there instead of risking both planets? There is real stupidity in some of the finer plot points. We are asked to believe that it never occurred to Barclay to sabotage the Z-Bomb missile. We are asked to believe that General Cutler would sacrifice millions of lives for the mere possibility of saving his son. Scientific accuracy completely goes out of the window in a story that was co-written by Kit Pedler, who was meant to be the programme’s scientific adviser. I won’t go into his complete ignorance of astrophysics and just point out one thing that demonstrates the lack of care in plotting and scientific accuracy- the radiation chamber has a ventilation shaft that leads to other rooms in the Snowcap base!
There are some truly dreadful performances in episode one and it is a real relief that the two main offenders (Tito and the American Sergeant) are killed by the Cybermen at the end of episode one. Of the remaining cast, only Robert Beatty is really better than adequate which is strange, considering the quality of the cast, such as the wonderful Earl Cameron, who had been touted as the ‘British Sidney Poitier’ since the 1950s. The blame for this must be shared by Derek Martinus- whilst he is excellent visually, he is less successful in directing performances.
It is truly astonishing how little the Doctor contributes to the story and it is a real pity that Hartnell is effectively playing second-fiddle in his own swan song- Ben essentially fulfils the Doctor’s function in this story, and it is Michael Craze who comes out best in this story, playing Ben as being resourceful, intelligent and being the prime motivator of events. However, the focus is on the Doctor again in the last third of the final episode. He is obviously weakened by events and needs to be helped into the TARDIS. There then follows one of the most striking scenes in the history of the programme. It seems that the TARDIS is in as unpredictable a state as the Doctor, with the light flickering and levers on the console moving of their own accord. The weakened Doctor manages to open the doors to let Ben and Polly in, before collapsing. Alarmed, they see the Doctor’s body glow in an unearthly light- and when it fades, there is a stranger lying on the TARDIS floor.
This scene is still hugely effective now, but the impact it must have had on audiences in 1966 must have been staggering. It is one of the iconic movements that make this hugely flawed story a must-see for anyone interested in Doctor Who.
Next: The Power of the Daleks
Thursday, 25 September 2008
"Mission to the Unknown"
Space Security Agent Marc Cory has discovered that the Daleks are planning the conquest of the Milky Way with the help of other hostile extra-galactic powers. They are on the nightmarish planet of Kembel where they have arranged a conference. Meanwhile, Cory and Gordon Lowery must send a message warning of the attack to the Solar System before they are killed by the Daleks or the horrors they have brought with them.
This is the hors d'œuvre to the epic that is to come, and is extremely satisfying. The absence of the TARDIS crew means that we do not have their reassuring presence and the outcome is by no means certain. Indeed, the sheer urgency of the episode wipes all memories of the clumsy farce of The Chase from the mind. The Daleks’ sense of menace is very much restored the stakes are much higher- it is no longer the fate of mere planets that are in question, but galaxies. Edward de Souza plays Marc Cory very well and Jeremy Young puts real humanity into Gordon Lowery, and there is a fascinating array of aliens at the conference. The Varga plants are truly terrifying monsters and the appetite is piqued for the main course…
Next: The Myth Makers
This is the hors d'œuvre to the epic that is to come, and is extremely satisfying. The absence of the TARDIS crew means that we do not have their reassuring presence and the outcome is by no means certain. Indeed, the sheer urgency of the episode wipes all memories of the clumsy farce of The Chase from the mind. The Daleks’ sense of menace is very much restored the stakes are much higher- it is no longer the fate of mere planets that are in question, but galaxies. Edward de Souza plays Marc Cory very well and Jeremy Young puts real humanity into Gordon Lowery, and there is a fascinating array of aliens at the conference. The Varga plants are truly terrifying monsters and the appetite is piqued for the main course…
Next: The Myth Makers
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
Galaxy 4
Galaxy 4 starts a long line of episodes that, sadly, must be enjoyed by sound alone. In this adventure, the Doctor and his companions arrive on a desolate planet with two crashed spaceships on it. One belongs to the Drahvins, beautiful humanoid women. The other belongs to the Rills, whom the Drahvins describe as ‘disgusting’. However, beauty turns out to be only skin deep….
The story is a very simple one, and there are no prizes for guessing the outcome. There is only one real character in the story, that of Maaga, leader of the Drahvins and a limited number of locations. Yet this story works, and works very well. Stephanie Bidmead’s performance as Maaga is masterful. She commands her troops mercilessly, but introduces a hint of perverted maternalism which makes for a very interesting dynamic between Maaga and her troops. Although they are killers, they whimper like scolded children when faced with Maaga’s wrath. Her description of what it would be like to watch her enemies die is genuinely chilling. It is not surprising that she harbours an extreme xenophobic hatred towards the Rills.
Of course, it is the Rills who are truly the noble creatures and their realisation is very striking, with the tanks of ammonia that they dwell in and the Chumblies which are their voices and charming servants. It is a real pity that we are denied the shock cliff-hanger at the end of "Trap of Steel" where the Rill is finally seen by Vicki. By this point, even through the soundtrack alone, we realise that it’s the Drahvins who are the monsters. They are said to be ‘inferior products’ bred for war, and are incapable of abstract thought. However, they seem to crave Maaga’s approval, an approval they will never get. There is something simply ‘wrong’ with them, and there are times that I really pitied them, like one pities all the archetypal monsters.
Again, the regulars put in great work, with Vicki still managing to be lively and humorous without being annoying. Peter Purves shows in this story that, although Steven fills the same role as Ian, he does it in a completely different way. Hartnell manages to convey joy at new things with a stern morality that guides his actions throughout.
What is left of the story, visually, is excellent. The realisation of the Chumblies manages to be cute without being impractical. The sets and costumes also seem to be first rate. William Emms works in some gorgeous dialogue, such as when the Doctor describes the vapourisation of the planet as being ‘like silver’.
A summary of this story would make it look like a dumbed down version of The Sensorites. In reality it is so much more.
NEXT: "Mission to the Unknown"
The story is a very simple one, and there are no prizes for guessing the outcome. There is only one real character in the story, that of Maaga, leader of the Drahvins and a limited number of locations. Yet this story works, and works very well. Stephanie Bidmead’s performance as Maaga is masterful. She commands her troops mercilessly, but introduces a hint of perverted maternalism which makes for a very interesting dynamic between Maaga and her troops. Although they are killers, they whimper like scolded children when faced with Maaga’s wrath. Her description of what it would be like to watch her enemies die is genuinely chilling. It is not surprising that she harbours an extreme xenophobic hatred towards the Rills.
Of course, it is the Rills who are truly the noble creatures and their realisation is very striking, with the tanks of ammonia that they dwell in and the Chumblies which are their voices and charming servants. It is a real pity that we are denied the shock cliff-hanger at the end of "Trap of Steel" where the Rill is finally seen by Vicki. By this point, even through the soundtrack alone, we realise that it’s the Drahvins who are the monsters. They are said to be ‘inferior products’ bred for war, and are incapable of abstract thought. However, they seem to crave Maaga’s approval, an approval they will never get. There is something simply ‘wrong’ with them, and there are times that I really pitied them, like one pities all the archetypal monsters.
Again, the regulars put in great work, with Vicki still managing to be lively and humorous without being annoying. Peter Purves shows in this story that, although Steven fills the same role as Ian, he does it in a completely different way. Hartnell manages to convey joy at new things with a stern morality that guides his actions throughout.
What is left of the story, visually, is excellent. The realisation of the Chumblies manages to be cute without being impractical. The sets and costumes also seem to be first rate. William Emms works in some gorgeous dialogue, such as when the Doctor describes the vapourisation of the planet as being ‘like silver’.
A summary of this story would make it look like a dumbed down version of The Sensorites. In reality it is so much more.
NEXT: "Mission to the Unknown"
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