Story 2.05
Written by Bill Strutton
Transmitted 13 February 1965 to 20 March 1965
Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction TV series. A cult phenomenon today, it was transmitted to over 80 countries back in the 1960’s and revered as a unique program combining the elements of fantasy, high adventure and sci-fi. In comparison to the series as it stands today, Doctor Who was geared as an educational program for children back when it first aired with entertainment a secondary concern or means to an end.
Sydney Newman’s team of writers performed extensive research before the first script was even commissioned. But in its second year, Doctor Who was a runaway hit (thanks in large part to the popularity of the Daleks).
Celebrating its 52nd anniversary this week, I decided to take an in-depth look at an often-forgotten adventure, the ‘one with the giant insects.’ Not just overlooked, the Web Planet was believed to be lost until prints were discovered in the 70’s.
Phew!
Bill Strutton’s script came at a time when Doctor Who was very experimental and looking to stretch its creative muscles. Some say that The Web Planet was too ambitious and given the thrown together nature of some episodes (such as an entire race of grubs introduced to extend the story some more) in comparison to the inspired brilliance of others, I am inclined to agree.
Director Richard Martin, who had previously worked with the Daleks in their first televised appearance, excels at crafting bizarre captivating alien worlds. The costumes designed by Daphne Dare who worked on over 87 episodes of Doctor Who are outstanding. Additionally, the music (performed on glass tubes) is otherworldly and the camera effects make the studio filming unique. All of these creative factors combine to produce an adventure that stupefies the viewer and demands to be watched. This is a classic that does indeed push the boundaries of what Doctor Who can accomplish.
However… it’s all a bit of a mess.
The TARDIS crew arrive on Vortis after a fun romp in ancient Rome. The Doctor and Ian don what appear to be designer atmosphere suits and explore the planet while the TARDIS is hijacked by an unknown force and dragged across the lunar-like terrain.
They are soon drawn into a battle between the butterfly people called Menoptera and the ant people called Zarbi. Things get weird when it is revealed that the Zarbi are only operating under the control of a disembodied evil consciousness called ‘the Animus,’ represented by a tangled mass of tendrils and a creepy voice.
The plot stumbles along through SIX episodes with some truly hilarious (though unintentionally so) moments such as William Russell struggling to act with William Hartnell who is at a loss for his lines (bless the man, I know he wasn’t well but this occasion is a side-ripper in which Russell just stares at the elder actor saying “Hmm?” several times), a rogue Zarbi who rams headlong into a camera and a giggling crew member who interrupts a dramatic cave-in. I can just imagine the cast wondering aloud ‘What are we doing??!!’ Having lost his patience, Hartnell even calls out the absurdity of the situation, referring to a communication device as a ‘hair dryer.’
All that accepted, I have to admit that I have a great fondness for the Web Planet. It explores the fantastical side of children’s entertainment and sure, the giant ants are goofy but the Animus is spine-tingling. The cast is (with some exceptions) in fine form and the Menoptera are just awe-inspiring. Hardly as graceful as a butterfly, but fascinating.
To make matters more interesting, the Animus is one of many disembodied evil entities called the Great Old Ones who survived the death of a previous universe. The pantheon of Great Old Ones include the Great Intelligence, the Fendhal, Fenric, the Nestene Consciousness and the Celestial Toymaker (check out this amazing resource for more in-depth information). See what you can do with a presumably silly idea and some imagination? Make it akin to HP Lovecraft’s mythology.
In case you’re wondering why anyone would be even remotely interested in this story, keep in mind that it had the highest viewing figures of the program in the 60’s with 13.5 million tuning in. Yes, the Zarbi gave the Daleks a run for their money back in the day. Writers were so enamored by the killer ants that the Doctor returned to Vortis six more times in other guises.
Given current leading man Peter Capaldi’s fondness for the classics, don’t be surprised if you see a return trip to Vortis in the near future. And after reading this, you’ll be in the more-informed cool kid club.
The Fifth Doctor Who returned to the Web Planet in this Big Finish audio adventure.
The Zarbi and Menoptera appear in the Dr Who comic strip
Doctor Who and the Web Planet book cover for Portuguese release
Story 121
Written by Eric Saward, directed by Peter Grimwade
Transmitted: 8 – 16 March 1982
The TARDIS has become far too uncomfortable and the Doctor needs space to think. Adric has impertinently insisted on charting a path home through the CVE to the dimension of his origin, something that could rip the craft apart, and he refuses to listen to reason. Finding solace in a cave rife with dinosaur bones, the Doctor attempts to find some peace, but becomes a suspect in the grisly murder of an archaeological survey team. Trapped by investigating military, the Doctor tries to explain himself, but is interrupted by a pair of faceless androids firing death rays from their palms. There is much more to the strange situation that the Doctor can guess, and he will soon realize that the planet Earth is the target of a deadly attack from a very familiar foe from his past.
The nineteenth season of Doctor Who was a reinvention of the program, a much needed jab in the arm from the seven year stretch of Tom Baker. Yet the year to date was riddled with production problems regarding scripts, rotating script editors and more. John Nathan-Turner had lost Christopher H. Bidmead and Antony Read in short order, but gained Eric Saward who was massaging the script ‘The Enemy Within’ by Christopher Priest which would have involved the Doctor facing off against a weird creature that lived in the heart of the TARDIS. It would have also seen the departure of Adric, a character intended as an Artful Dodger-type who had fallen rather flat. Yet the script failed to come together and with nothing else planned, Saward swooped in with ‘Sentinel,’ a story that would eventually morph into Earthshock, the story that brought sufficient impact to the nineteenth season for new fans and old and brought a beloved monster out of cold storage.
The opening episode is among the best in the program’s history as it starts off normal as you like with the TARDIS bicker fest and the Doctor landing in an unknown situation. But the supporting cast of characters searching through the caves adds tension. The Doctor has inadvertently wandered into a crime scene, one in which the killers are still in residence. As he approaches the danger, so does the rescue party who are being systematically picked off as they descend deeper into the labyrinth.
The innocuous title of the story leaves the identity of the killers a mystery to the viewer as well as the Doctor. So determined was John Nathan-Turner to keep the reveal of the Cybermen a secret that he refused a Radio Times cover featuring the newly redesigned Cybermen and blocked off the viewing gallery. He was also determined to keep Matthew Waterhouse’s departure a secret by including him in the following story as a flashback.
What a cunning guy!
Peter Davison’s first year was very unusual. The opening conclusion to Logopolis, Castrovalva, was a mind-bender, and Christopher Bailey’s Kinda too far ahead of its time for some. The more traditional Four to Doomsday and the Visitation served as steadier ground, but there was something missing from the program that had been absent for some time. In many ways, Doctor Who goes through periods of introspection and reinvention, looking to its past for inspiration. In this case, Earthshock was not just a return of the Cybermen, but a hearkening back to the Troughton era when monsters lurked in shadows and lumbered toward the viewer, hands out-stretched in horrifying deadly purpose. Likewise the Doctor himself had become more flawed, not at all the flippant Superman Tom Baker had portrayed who laughed in the face of danger and offered sweets to glowing skulls.
In his first year as the Doctor. Davison was given little direction on how to portray the character other than ‘not Tom Baker.’ His performance can often come off as overwhelmed and breathless, but if you look deeper there is a lot going on there. This Doctor is a somewhat reluctant adventurer who inherited the laundry of his past. He seems more drawn toward tranquil pass times such as cricket and drinking tea than fighting evil. Yet when he encounters evil forces or insidious plots, he is more likely to assimilate the situation and only comes to the rescue in the eleventh hour. This was Davison’s justification behind the all beige costume with red piping that visually subdued his presence rather than popping out as Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee had.
At only 30, Davison was a celebrated TV actor at the time and looked at the role of the Doctor as too good of an opportunity to pass up. More attuned to playing roles that are informed by background, it is impressive to see an unusual version of the Doctor that is both charming and socially awkward all at once. Surrounded by companions, he continually disappoints them in the face of adversity! It’s no wonder that the phrase ‘Brave heart, Tegan,’ was coined by this incarnation to plead for courage and optimism when facing insurmountable odds (a line improvised by Davison on the spot).
Peter Davison’s Doctor was a genius (evidenced is in the fact that he defuses the Cyber-bomb and turns the hatch leading to the bridge into an unstable substance trapping the invading Cybermen), yet his mind is frazzled. He can be seen calculating and plotting outcomes at several points through the story, but in the end he is just a man who is unusually adept with mechanics. It is his technical skill and nerves of steel that lead to the destruction of the androids and the defusing of the bomb they are guarding. But the mystery remains, what was the bomb for and who put it there?
In deep space, an old enemy has been battling him at every move, frustrated by this stranger’s intelligence. The Cybermen have yet to show their hand, but are unmasked to the viewer in a truly shocking climax.
After the Cybermen are revealed as the main threat, Saward wisely reminds the audience just who they are. This is clever as the Cybermen had not been seen since 1974 and before that not since 1968!
A beloved monster second only to the Daleks in popularity, the Cybermen were mostly a 1960’s craze along with the Yeti and Ice Warriors. But through the use of rarely seen flashback footage, we are reminded that these creeps have fought the Doctor many times before. This is a big deal in an age when repeats were rare, the internet non-existent and most of the episodes lost.
As some fans put it, this short sequence in which the Cyber Leader recounts the identity of the Doctor and his race’s many encounters with him in the past creates a connection all the way back to the beginning of Doctor Who, making it feel like one ongoing story (for the first time in easily ten years).
The Doctor tracks the signal to the bomb to a freighter in deep space where another mystery waits. Again, the Doctor wanders around and is again a prime suspect for murder as he is found next to a pair of corpses in the freighter’s hold. But there is more going on than anyone suspects. The captain is more concerned with her pay for delivering the cargo and her twitchy security officer Ringway is making her life miserable. Power failures run rampant through the ship and a heightened level of security surrounding Earth means more delays. Little does she know that she is carrying an army of Cybermen to Earth to attack a special meeting of Earth forces. It’s an impressive twist on a contemporary plot idea in which terrorists commandeer a plane for safe passage to their target.
Whereas in previous stories the Cybermen are shown as cunning and cruel creatures ruled by logic, they are downright ruthless here, even stating that the Doctor must ‘suffer’ for his past actions. Saward has come under for for giving emotions to an emotionless race, but I think that is a misunderstanding of the Cybermen. They do not possess a full spectrum of emotions, but they are driven toward their goal, much like a predator is compelled to kill out of instinct. The Cyber Leader toys with the Doctor by threatening to kill his companions not because he enjoys watching the Doctor squirm but to remind his enemy of the weakness of emotion and attachment.
The actual first meeting between the Doctor and the Cyber Leader is very impressive. Actor David Banks towers over Davison and clad as he is in a modified flight suit, appears strangely alien and bizarre. The Doctor attempts to find some kind of emotional connection with the Cybermen which is laughable since they are so INhuman, yet he tries out of sheer desperation. All of this heightens the drama as he is no longer the man with all the answers, just a man determined to fight the good fight as best as he can. From this moment on, the Doctor is clutching at straws and his options are rapidly slipping away. When he must finally surrender his TARDIS to the Cybermen and leave Adric behind on the freighter, he is overcome with anxiety, dumbfounded with impotence.
Again, portraying the Doctor as being this powerless (without later saving the day) would never happen today.
So desperate is the Doctor that he at one point raises a gun at a Cyberman (an image that was weirdly reproduced for posters that year). Saward’s script shows just how remarkably smart and resourceful the Doctor is, but in the end, the Cybermen have prepared for every eventuality, through the use of the androids, the bomb, the mole on the freighter and finally by taking control of the ship’s computer with technology that cannot be hacked without sufficient time. The Doctor has lost. This is such an important moment that it carries over into Davison’s final year when he chooses to kill Davros and later the Master! He finally realizes the stakes of the game he has been playing and how lucky he had been up to Adric’s death.
Earthshock is full of amazing images and while the cast complained that director Peter Grimwade was a taskmaster one cannot argue with the final result, a spine-tingling thriller that would be remembered for generations. It brought back the Cybermen in a big way in much the same way that Resurrection of the Daleks brought menace back to the Daleks two years later. Sadly, the Cybermen would become rather boring and lose their impact in subsequent outings, but Earthshock saw them at their menacing best!
The soundtrack by Malcolm Clarke of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop is nothing short of stunning. Yes, the same madman behind the atmospheric and odd Sea Devils soundtrack provided the moody audio landscape for this one. After some of the strange incidental music by Paddy Kingsland which was mainly evocative of synthesized flutes, it was something else entirely to hear throbbing beats, metallic clangs and strained warbling mechanical wailing. The alien atmosphere and sense of dread is evident through all four parts from the dark and mysterious caves to the claustrophobic confines of the star freighter. Topping this all off is a signature tune of the Cybermen, an eerily threatening march that clearly announced a classic monster had returned.
Of course one of the main impacts of Earthshock is the loss of Adric which was played incredibly well all things considered. Given that the companions of modern Who are constantly portrayed as the most special people who have ever lived, it is an interesting choice to have the Doctor and Adric at odds with each other throughout their relationship rather than have Adric raised to some kind of near-mythical importance. In fact, most fans despised Adric and still do. It’s the age old case of a too clever audience refusing to take the bait of accepting a smart kid as being ‘just like them.’
Throughout Earthshock, it becomes clear that the stakes are higher than usual and that the Doctor is out of his depths, wandering into a mystery beginning with a slaughtering of innocents to a devastating bomb to an entire space craft full of kill crazy robots. THEN things get really bad when the Cybermen turn the craft into a time traveling explosive aimed at the planet Earth! As became the usual trend in later Eric Saward scripts, the death toll is rather high. However, in difference to his later work such as Resurrection of the Daleks and Revelation of the Daleks, the sacrifice by Adric in Earthshock is a noble one. Granted, Adric was hamstrung by fate, but he bravely faces his fate rather than pleading for rescue. It’s quite touching (and something we would not see today, I wager). Tegan and Nyssa plead with the Doctor to save him, but sadly, this is one point in which he cannot intervene. The Web of Time is resolute and irrefutable, making Adric’s death part of a landmark in history.
As a return to form for a classic baddie, Earthshock gets top marks. The Cybermen are creepy, lurk in the shadows and attack en masse. They cause high levels of destruction, but humanity survives by a hair’s breadth. What strikes me as particularly chilling is the mocking laughter of the Cyberman as he fires his rifle at the ship computer Adric had been working on.
The first death of a companion since the 1960’s, Earthshock was unnerving and rattled viewers who suddenly wrote in to defend the previously unloved character. The ratings soared which is unfortunate due to the lackluster finale of the season, Timeflight.
To celebrate the return of the Cybermen and continue the exploration of the classic series, Earthshock will be shown this Sunday, May 26th, at 8:00 pm ET/PT as part of the Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited – The Fifth Doctor on BBC America.
I have been paying some attention to BBC America scheduling of these classic stories and am pleased with the choices they have made (though personally I would not have gone for the Aztecs for Hartnell). This weekend is a special thrill as the Cybermen will be returning in Nightmare in Silver.
Doctor Who Cybermen Masterpiece bust is available exclusively from Forbidden Planet
The Doctor Who Davison Masterpiece statue is available for pre-order from Forbidden Planet
Story 119
By Eric Saward
Transmitted from 15-23 February, 1982
‘War is honourable, Doctor. Even on this planet it is considered so.’
‘Oh, I know. But, by your admission these people are still primitive. What’s your excuse?’
The Doctor is anxious to return his traveling companion Tegan Jovanka to Heathrow Airport (and who can blame him?). However, his attempt to land the TARDIS in 20th Century London goes astray and instead he finds that while the location may be correct, the time period is off by almost 300 years! The nation is suffering from the pangs of bubonic plague, but is also prey to the manipulations of a malevolent alien race… one which the Doctor must deal with in order to protect humanity once again.
This was the third story that the Fifth Doctor appeared in on screen, but it was actually the second to go into production. Script editor Christopher H Bidmead who had made such a strong impact in Tom Baker’s final season was ready to leave. John Nathan-Turner’s transition into the role of producer was not a smooth one and put a hefty amount of pressure on Bidmead who found himself struggling to get the scripts lined up for the 19th series which would introduce a new Doctor. The premier story was abandoned. Project Zeta-Sigma by the writing duo John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch who had already contributed Meglos was found to be unworkable, throwing the production schedule into disarray.
This led to Davison recording Four to Doomsday, Kinda and The Visitation before his first story, the mind-boggling Castrovalva. John Nathan-Turner felt that this was a wise decision as it would allow Davison time to settlle into the role of the Doctor. It also meant that The Visitation was not written for the Fifth Doctor at all. In fact, it was developed during Tom Baker’s reign when Bidmead approached Saward for a script based on his success in radio. Never mind the fact that an undecided new Doctor would be featured in The Visitation, it would also include three companions, requiring extensive rewrites by Anthony Root after Bidmead’s departure. Surprisingly, this is one of the few adventures that puts good use of the larger supporting cast.
Crowded House: Adric, Tegan, Nyssa and the Doctor
To that end, I should note that only Janet Fielding comes off favorably in this story. Poor Sarah Sutton is incredibly wooden and the less said about Matthew Waterhouse, the better. It is still amusing to me that Waterhouse was apparently ‘giving pointers’ to experienced actor Richard Todd during the filming of Kinda. Portrayed as he was originally envisioned, a sci-fi version of the Artful Dodger, Adric works quite well. But when he starts spewing out technobabble to Nyssa or whinging on, he is insufferable. Luckily, Davison makes the most of the situation and manages some friction between the Doctor and Adric that translates well. The Doctor clearly resents Adric’s intelligence, but is frustrated by the young man’s emotionally erratic moods and reacts to them in kind. Even so, the Doctor tries to mend bridges and remind Adric that he is fond him, if only in an awkward way. It’s very touching and adds to Davison’s performance.
An already accomplished television actor, Davison settled into the role of the Doctor very well. His dry wit and tetchy, nervous behavior marked him as an ‘old man in a young man’s body.’ He positively shines in The Visitation, showing a youthful exuberance and sharp deductive mind joined by frazzled anxious nerves. Unsettled by Tegan and Adric, the Doctor is shown to be flawed at the opening of this story, unable to control his TARDIS or, it would seem, his emotions. As the story unfolds, this new Doctor exhibits brilliance and bravery in equal parts.
The Doctor converses with a Terileptil
Finding themselves in a sylvan glade, the Doctor urges Tegan to make the most of the opportunity to experience history. After encountering some violent locals, the adventure proves to be more dangerous, but luckily they are rescued by an extravagant actor-turned-highwayman, Richard Mace. Mace leads the Doctor to a nearby deserted manor house formerly inhabited by the local miller. The house is vacant, but the Doctor discovers an alien presence in the cellar, one which is busy manipulating human history for its own ends. Backed by an army of mind-controlled villagers and an android, the stranded Terileptils seek to exterminate the human race by taking advantage of the plague. The Doctor attempts to stop them, but in the course of his actions puts his companions, and himself in terrible danger.
Branded a ‘traditional’ Doctor Who story, The Visitation is often overlooked which I view as an error. Saward’s first outing win Doctor Who (he would go on to become the script editor through the remainder of the Davison era and into Colin Baker’s reign), the plot and concept are inspired. The combination of a period setting and a new alien race is ingenious and plays to the strengths of the program. I often find that Doctor Who works very well when it is set in the past as it allows the various departments to utilize previously used concepts and material. In this case, that extends to wonderful location filming in Buckinghamshire, despite the interference of air traffic.
The Visitation is also a visually impressive story with great camera work and the first use of animatronics in the program’s history. Fans of the current series are all too used to seeing Cybermen, Weeping Angels and Daleks marched before the screen to imagine a time when Doctor Who aspired to create new ‘monsters.’ The Terileptils are a noble attempt at introducing a new alien race, one that is both technologically advanced and culturally different from anything that had been seen before. Saward’s script efficiently develops the Terilptils on screen as sophisticated, skilled and deadly while refraining from transforming them into a stock monster.
The Doctor discharges a power pack
Actor Peter Davison was intent on making his Doctor less of a magician by utilizing household items to accomplish his goals, such as the length of string used to identify the false holographic door. This of course led to the landmark destruction of the sonic screwdriver, the device created on the spot by Patrick Troughton in 1969 during Fury From the Deep. The Doctor, in the opinion of many members of the production crew, had become far too powerful, aided by his mind, robot dog, genius assistant and multipurpose universal tool that not only opened doors but solved nearly any problem he encountered. The ‘new’ Doctor would be flawed and forced to work harder at solutions than before, so the sonic screwdriver was destroyed and struck from Doctor Who until a brief re-appearance in the 1996 TV Movie.
Davison’s muted beige uniform of the Doctor fit with his notion of the character remaining in the background, appearing benign until the eleventh hour when he would snap into action. The Visitation also sees the nature of the compassionate side of the Doctor, eager to find a peaceful solution with the Terilptils rather than destroying them outright. In many ways, this hearkens back to the Doctor’s insistence of co-existence with the Siluriuans in his Third incarnation. But in this case, the Terileptils are already working toward the genocide of the human race, using rats to spread the bubonic plague throughout the civilized world, leaving them with the spoils. Even so, the Doctor can empathize with the aliens, being an alien himself, and attempts to appeal to the Terileptils’ better nature in embracing what may appear as a lesser race of beings as equals. But it is obviously far too late for that.
The Doctor, Nyssa and Richard Mace explore the alien craft
Finding his companions trapped by the Terileptils and himself nearly executed as a witch, the Doctor is forced into action. He destroys the Terileptil’s crashed space craft, disables the mind control devices and his companion Nyssa makes quick work of the android. Rescuing Tegan and Adric from the Terileptil base, he tracks the stranded Terileptils to their hideout in London where he witnesses their master plan in motion. Desperate to talk sense into the aliens, the Doctor attempts to talk reason into the creatures but has little luck. Far too proud for their own good, the Terileptils are immune to the Doctor’s charms and a conflagration erupts. Disgusted at the unnecessary loss of life, the Doctor finds to his pleasure, that he has participated in an historic event, the beginning of The Great Fire of London which was key in the eradication of the plague in England.
The Doctor confronts the stranded Terileptils
One of the earliest stories of the Fifth Doctor, the Visitation is a solid story with a strong script and high production values. It also has plenty of activity for the over-crowded TARDIS (at least until the third part) and introduces a new alien race, one that is not merely a dastardly world-destroying race of baddies but members of a complex and truly alien culture. This was a period when Doctor Who was looking to reinvent itself, stretching away from the realm of fantasy and high comedy and back into sci-fi adventure. For all that, it is a marvelous success.
The Visitation is available on DVD and can also be found streaming on Netflix. It comes highly recommended for a Saturday afternoon accompanied by a dry white wine, fresh fruit and flat bread (or a crusty local loaf).
Available on Amazon:
Buy Doctor Who: The Visitation from Amazon
Doctor Who the Handbook: The Fifth Doctor
Doctor Who: A Celebration; Two Decades Through Time and Space
Dr. Who: The Best Of Doctor Who, Volume 1: The Five Doctors
Story 010
By Terry Nation (and David Whitaker)
Transmitted from 21 November to 26 December, 1964
“I have been to many planets in several solar systems. Always as an impartial observer. I shall put myself against you and defeat you.”
The Doctor has finally managed to return his two companions Ian and Barbara to their home. The TARDIS has landed just next to the Thames on what appears to be a lazy Sunday afternoon. There’s no sound of traffic, no sign of people at all. When the travelers realize they are not in peaceful London of the 1960’s, it is far too late. The Daleks, the dreaded menaces of the far off planet Skaro, have come to Earth and conquered it completely… or so it may seem. Defiantly, the Doctor instructs the Daleks not to underestimate the humans. While one free human lives, the Daleks have not succeeded in their invasion. Against impossible odds, the human race makes a final stand against the alien invaders with the entire universe hanging in the balance.
Terry Nation’s epic introduction of the Daleks in 1963’s ‘The Dead Planet’ is a brilliant piece of television that still stands up today. It launched a thousand spin-offs, sequels, and plenty of merchandise. But while their first appearance is iconic in the history of Doctor Who, the first sequel raised the bar for the Daleks and set the high standard for every subsequent appearance. The Dalek Invasion of Earth was bigger, bolder and more lavish than the first Dalek story and brought the monsters to Earth for the first time.
After displaying how strange and terrifying the creatures were on Skaro, it was terrifying to see them roaming around Trafalgar Square. This is a tactic that the current BBC Wales program has attempted to do straight away and frankly it missed the mark each time. Rather than establish and tell the story of a monster’s threat, they simply appear in a contemporary setting and fall flat. But that is not the case here. In the Dalek Invasion of Earth, the monsters are seen to be just as powerful and deadly as they were before, if not moreso. Not only have they overcome their restriction of movement but they have increased in numbers and also have a massive flying craft.
Around the same time that The Dalek Invasion of Earth was on the screen, the comic strip was impressing young readers with out of this world adventure, unhindered by budget-related constraints or the inevitable failure ever week against the forces of good. Until The Daleks’ Master Plan aired in 1965, this was the most impressive and innovative adventure that the program had attempted with the Daleks. It cemented their reputation with the viewing public with images that would burn into the retinas of every viewer as it pushed the phenomenon known as Dalekmania into the fore. Ranking among the most watched programs on TV at the time, the Dalek Invasion of Earth raked in over 12 million viewers during its run, a figure rarely topped in its long history.
But never mind the importance of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, is it a good Doctor Who story?
In a word, yes, it’s a classic.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth was an invasion story told over six episodes, which usually means that there are slow points and that the story appears strained. Not so here. Nation takes his time in setting up the situation, layering exposition with tension as the Doctor and Ian investigate an abandoned warehouse only to find a corpse smuggled into a cardboard box, an alien mind-control helmet strapped yo his head. When they attempt to return to Susan and Barbara by the TARDIS, they are ambushed by a squad of similar men, blank-faced robotic slaves holding whips and truncheons. The revelation of the Dalek presence, a Dalek rising from the Thames to block the Doctor and Ian’s escape, is one of the most amazing images in Doctor Who and explains the why of the situation while wetting the audience’s appetite for more.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a vast adventure that separates the TARDIS crew into their own stories, Susan and Barbara get involved with Dortmun and the resistance, Ian and the Doctor get captured by the Daleks and are nearly transformed into robotic slaves.
The action rarely stops (again, unusual for a 1960’s Doctor Who story) with several outside location scenes cleverly filmed to appear as chase sequences as Susan, Dortmun and Jenny evade capture. While Dortmun is stubbornly confident that his specialized bombs can destroy their foes, others have appear to have lost their will to fight. Supporting characters can be seen cowering in shock while others such as Jenny are just emotionally dead inside. It’s not that odd that Jenny (initially an young girl of Indian descent named Saida) was intended as the new companion as she bears much of the story and serves as an ersatz fourth companion in places. Even the heroic fighter Tyler (played by Bernard Kay who would become a regular guest actor on Doctor Who) is brave yet only in it for himself.
After a successful raid on the saucer releasing the Doctor and Ian from the Daleks, the resistance is ferreted out. The wheelchair-bound Dortmun’s carefully laid plans come to nothing and the entirety of London is nearly destroyed in a fiery blaze when the Daleks activate a fire bomb. The reasons behind the Dalek invasion lie in the mines of Bedfordshire where slave labor toils underground. It’s a horrifying and chilling sight for the audience who narrowly escaped destruction during WWII not long before this story was screened. It seems that the Daleks are commonly tied to WWII-era iconography and it crops up here as the Daleks seem to perform the Nazi salute around the conquered city.
William Hartnell’s Doctor is usually described as an anti-hero and a crotchety old man uninterested in the plight of others. That may be true for his first appearance and for parts of his second story, but here we see a man who challenges the forces of darkness and tyranny, his hands grasping his lapels in a declaration of importance. The Doctor in this story triumphs against the Daleks, but faces a rather crippling blow as he chooses to let his granddaughter Susan go. He knows that she will not be a little girl any longer and while it is painful for her to be deposited in a post-apocalyptic world… she needs to be her own person.
Behind the scenes, Carole Ann Ford had been attempted get released from her contract as she felt the character of Susan had become a dead end for her as an actress. The other three regulars were chafing as well as their contracts were due for renewal, making this a very tenuous time for Doctor Who.
This story also displayed a grander scale of studio recordings as seen in the Dalek saucer interiors, the rebel base, subterranean tunnels and other locations, all thanks to the much larger facilities at Riverside. Four refurbished models were brought on screen along with two new models built by Shawcraft, making this one of the largest assemblage of Daleks on TV. It also introduced the first of many variations on Dalek livery with the ‘Black Dalek’ who commanded the others. A partially painted Black Dalek can be seen briefly in an earlier episode, donning a zebra stripe of black and white and being mistaken as the Saucer Commander.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth was not without its flaws, which often happened when the program attempted to stretch beyond its standard limitations. One particular example is the worrisome ‘Slyther,’ what was intended as a blood-churning and fearsome monstrosity but resulted in a rather strange cousin to Sigmund the Sea Monster, quivering with delirium tremens. So embarrassing was the Slyther that Verity Lambert insisted that Shawcraft give it another go for the following week… without much better results.
Personally even knowing that the Slyther was a man in a massive rubber suit with deely bobbers stuck to his head didn’t make its awkward launch after Ian onto the mine car any less scary and shocking. It was a very weird effect in any case.
Script writer David Whitaker, one of the few members of the production staff to have been involved with Doctor Who nearly since its beginning, departed at the conclusion of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It can be argued that Whitaker, who would later contribute two of the finest Dalek scripts for the series to date (Power of the Daleks and Evil of the Daleks) was instrumental in the success of the first two Dalek adventures.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth is one of my personal favorite Doctor Who stories as it functions on several levels narratively, tells a gripping adventure and features some of the best production values (aside from the hub cap flying saucer) seen at that time. A sterling entry into the annals of Doctor Who.
One of the most chilling opening sequences in Doctor Who history
The Doctor faces the Daleks and dares them
The Daleks have conquered London
A Roboman
Barbara, Jenny and Dortmun race through a deserted London
The Black Dalek administers orders
Dortmun explains his plan to Tyler
William Hartnell and Bernard Kay
The fearsome Slyther, enjoying a tea break
A new life ahead of her, Susan listens to the TARDIS depart
Story 030
Written by David Whitaker (with additions from Dennis Spooner)
Directed by Christopher Barry
Transmitted 5 November – 10 December 1966 “Why do human beings kill human beings?”
On the distant planet Vulcan, civil unrest threatens the peace of the Earth colony. While the Governor struggles to maintain control amidst rumors of rebel factions , Professor Lesterson has made an amazing discovery. After cheating death through a kind of renewal, the Doctor encounters his deadliest of enemies, but he is as unsure of his capabilities as his companions are. Can he realize his personality in time to put a stop to the Daleks setting a foothold on Vulcan in their quest to universal conquest?
After three successful years as the leading actor in Doctor Who, William Hartnell was ushered from his post and replaced. There were many sore feelings from Hartnell who had grown proud of his part in developing the program, but we can take some solace in the fact that he cited Patrick Troughton as the only person capable of taking over from him. Sydney Newman took some convincing, however, and even Troughton was unsure of taking on such a high profile role.
After several talks with Innes Lloyd, Troughton had many outlandish ideas on how he should play the Doctor. Being a character actor, he approached the challenge by offering up one weird concept after another (a wind jammer or an Arab… if his later statement was not in jest which I suspect it was). Being the first major change in the character that we now take for granted, it was a decision rapidly becoming muddled by committee-style discussions. In the end, Lloyd and Troughton crafted the identity between the two of them as a Charlie Chaplin-like cosmic hobo.
Much to Troughton’s reluctance, large parts of his characterization came from his own personality (something that became more common in later actors who were cast as The Doctor). A deeply private man, he preferred to keep his professional and home life separate, but in this case they become closely related as his acting as the Doctor was less of a performance and his cast members became like a second family.
The pain and confusion of the Doctor’s first ‘regeneration’
The first regeneration was traumatic for the viewers as well as the characters of the Doctor and his companions. Ben and Polly had seen their friend deteriorate before their eyes, even admitting to them that ‘this old body of mine is wearing a bit thin.’ In his place was a stranger, experiencing intense pain and confusion as thoughts flooded through his newly made brain.
The concept of regeneration was more fully explained as we understand it now much much later in the program’s history. In this instance, the Doctor implies that it is a renewal and that it was accomplished with the help of the TARDIS. The Doctor’s personality is not the only that had changed. His body had changed and his abilities had grown, including a kind of telepathy. This is where many of the Doctor’s later abilities were born and his alien physicality developed.
Previously, the Doctor was more or less a human-like being with alien origins. He required food, rest and even had one heart (as established in the Sensorites). The second Doctor is a whole new kettle of fish and a more fantastical character than his predecessor, adding the ‘pixie’ qualities of a children’s literature hero to the Doctor as he had been known.
While Ben and Polly look on, the Doctor consults his 500 year diary
The Doctor doesn’t even seem to have retained the knowledge of his previous self, referring to himself in the third person, often needing to reference his diary to check his memory. This was a very clever way of mirroring the audience’s reluctance to accept Troughton by making him off-center and apparently deranged. The refined dress of the First Doctor was replaced with a battered parody two sizes too big. The Doctor’s signet ring fell from his fingers and the new Doctor took up a recorder, much to the chagrin of his companions.
Who was this Doctor? Even he didn’t know.
Donning the infamous ‘stovepipe hat,’ the Doctor takes a walk through the mercury swamp of Vulcan
Traipsing along the planet surface, the Doctor attempts a few hops and jumps and soon meets another person who seems overjoyed to see a friendly face, then he is shot in the back and promptly dies. Looking for clues, the Doctor finds a forgotten button torn from someone’s clothing and a badge declaring the victim as ‘Chief Examiner’ affording him ‘every access.’ Thus does the Doctor becomes involved in the conspiracy for control in the colony. Taking on the identity of Chief Examiner, someone no one was expecting and someone no one can identify, the Doctor is allowed the run of the place and treated with near immunity and respect.
Soon, the Doctor meets Lesterson who is greedily examining a strange capsule found embedded in the planet’s crust. Aided by the beautiful but cunning Janley, Lesterson has tunnel vision regarding his discovery of the Dalek capsule. He cannot accept the warnings of the Doctor or the manipulations of Janley and her rebel faction friends.
Lesterson and Janley conduct experiments with a Dalek
The script for Power of the Daleks was written by David Whitaker without any understanding of who the new Doctor was going to be and what he would act like. Terry Nation was busy with other projects including the beginnings of ‘The Destroyers,’ a spin-off using the Daleks outside of Doctor Who. As the production proceeded, it became clear that much revision was needed, but script editor Gerry Davis was unable to take on the work on Whitaker’s scripts. Dennis Spooner (who had worked on many previous stories including parts of The Daleks’ Master Plan) was called in to polish it up, fleshing out the Doctor, supporting characters and adding lots of humor.
It’s difficult to tell what parts of the produced story are from Whitaker’s pen and what is from Spooner’s, but it’s a marvelous tale. Because of the importance of Power of the Daleks as the ‘first regeneration story,’ it is often over-looked for any other qualities. The fact that almost all material remains lost of this six parter (only short sequences are viewable at this time) only makes the story more obscure. John Peel novelized the story but that book has gone out of print. An audio CD with linking narration by Aneke Wills is also hard to find at a reasonable price. All that said, there is an incredibly small group of fans who have had a chance to experience this story in any way.
The Doctor is recognized by a Dalek, Ben (and the audience?) is finally convinced that the ‘impostor’ is the genuine article
When it becomes clear that the capsule is a Dalek escape craft, the Doctor starts to worry, but is not sure how to proceed. He is reluctant to act directly, but knows that he must stop anyone from attempting to harness their power and that is surely just what Lesterson plans to do.
The Doctor witnesses the revival of the Daleks
There are several angles to this story that strike me as interesting, including the anarchist forces of the rebel faction and the threat that even a peaceful Dalek poses to the laborers. I’m not sure how much was included on purpose and how much seeped its way into the script, but it strikes me as one of the only poignant Dalek stories with something to say in addition to entertain and scare the pants off of the viewers at home.
The Doctor leads Ben and Polly into the Dalek capsule
Security chief Bragen is making a bid for power and with Janley’s help, hopes to use Lesterson to mobilize and arm the Daleks as weapons in their acts of violence. Overworked and paranoid, Lesterson is easily manipulated, but the Daleks are shown at their most manipulative and devious. Playing the role of eager servant, they wait for the key moment to act. There is a wonderful moment as a Dalek watches the rebels firing on the other colonists as they move against the Governor’s forces and asks why humans would kill other humans.
The Daleks were chosen to accompany the arrival of a new Doctor to reassure the audience that while Hartnell had left, the program was still the same. There are several iconic moments in this story, starting with the Dalek identifying the Doctor as he screams to warn the colonists. Troughton’s horrified expression in the Dalek’s tunnel point of view was frozen in the viewers’ minds for quite some time, as was another scene in which the Daleks are seen working an assembly line, dropping weird alien beings into the Dalek casings.
Troughton is absolutely stunning in this premier story, earning his place as the finest actor to play the role to date. His performance runs the gamut from playful child to courageous hero and brilliant scientist as well as a truly weird and alien being. Confined to a room, the Doctor wonders if he can get Lesterson to listen then gleefully realizes that ‘Lesterson listen’ is a great tongue-twister. To Ben’s anguish, Polly joins in and the pair become giddy. The introduction of the recorder, a musical instrument that the Doctor seems to rely on to focus his thoughts while causing frustration for everyone else, is another nice touch. In a short amount of time, Troughton has the new Doctor’s many facets explored on screen, showing the audience that there is so much more to the Doctor than had previously been thought possible.
The Doctor toots on his recorder (at Ben’s annoyance)
Power of the Daleks is a very intelligent and gripping adventure that touches on the deviousness of the human mind and the mistrust in society. By the time the Daleks start firing on the humans, there’s hardly anyone left that could be viewed as acceptably appealing. There are a few things that are confusing continuity-wise, such as how or why the Daleks have become forgotten by humans or what time period this story is meant to be set in. The fact that the Dalek identifies the Doctor on sight without any prior knowledge is also interesting and means that the Daleks are viewing their subjects in more ways than just visually.
There are several missing stories from Doctor Who in the 1960’s and everyone has their own choice for which story they’d like to see in its entirety; the grandeur of Marco Polo? The creepiness of The Web of Fear or the simple massive wealth of the Daleks’ Master Plan? It really doesn’t matter what you choose, but personally I’d love to see this story as it deserves more attention and respect than just being the first story of the second Doctor.
Power of the Daleks is an examination of the human soul and the evil inherent in modern society. For that reason alone it is one of the best Dalek stories ever made and remains lost in so many ways that very few fans can possibly know this.
Fan-made prequel animation using Nicholas Briggs’ The Dalek Conquests
Recommended:
Doctor Who, the Power of the Daleks Audio CD
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks – download
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks – John Peel novelization
Doctor Who – the Scripts: “The Power of the Daleks”
Doctor Who – Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes DVD
By William Emms
Story 18
Transmitted: 11 September – 2 October 1965
The third series of Doctor Who is a strange time for the program as it branched away from the somewhat traditional science fantasy into absurd space drama. This period was rife with changes in front of and behind the camera as Vicki was unceremoniously written out and Adrienne Hill (Katarina), Jean Marsh (Sara Kingdom) and Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet) arrived as the replacement companions. Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) shared the anxiety and frustration exhibited by William Hartnell at the frantic nature of these changes in addition to the revolving door that seemed to from the producer’s officer after the departure of Verity Lambert. Both John Wiles and Innes Lloyd served as producers and the script editing duties were split between Donald Tosh and Gerry Davis (co-creator of the Cybermen).
Hartnell was growing increasingly frustrated by the quality of the scripts and the level of violence. The fact that he viewed himself as intrinsic to the program’s future no doubt gave fuel to his fury and aided his reputation as being short-tempered and crotchety at times. Nevertheless, he was the longest lasting regular on the program and felt that his opinion carried some weight.
Bearing all that in mind, a story like Galaxy 4 makes perfect sense. It’s a science fiction opera with a morality tale, rocket ships, robots, bug-eyed creatures and beautiful lady warriors set on a planet about to explode, yet it seems to be missing some element. This could be on account of the changes around the production team, but in the end Galaxy 4 feels like it could have benefited from other characters, plot complications… anything.
Even so, Galaxy 4 is a charming story with an astounding musical score by Les Structures Sonorés (the same glass-tube music that graced The Web Planet), some inspired design and a talented guest cast. It’s even hauntingly close to having at least one, if not two, classic-worthy monsters.
Steven, Vicki and the Doctor encounter a robot nicknamed 'Chumblie'
After giving Steven a much-needed hair-cut (?), the TARDIS crew emerge on a blasted heath of a planetary terrain. The Doctor is unsure if it’s a planet that he had previously visited, but no dice. The first encounter with any intelligent life comes in the shape of roving robotic creations making an incessant humming mechanical noise. The weirdest part of Galaxy 4 is these robotic creatures nicknamed ‘Chumblies’ by Vicki. I know that the BBC were anxious to replicate the success of the Daleks with something similar, but… really? These creatures are just bizarre, roll about like inflated beehives then expand to make bleeping noises. The sound effects are haunting and very intriguing, but… they don’t really do much in the end.
Before the Doctor can investigate one of the Chumblies, it is attacked a band of Amazonian-like soldiers who use a sophisticated array of weaponry designed specifically to destroy it. Of course the attack proves useless and the indomitable Chumbly rolls away. The Doctor, Vicki and Steven are taken by their rescuers back to a damaged spacecraft. Inside is the leader of these woman warriors called Drahavins, the cold and conniving Maaga. She unravels a story of space-combat with the Rills who are using the Chumblies as mechanized muscle. The Rills and Drahvins are stranded on a planet that is due to explode in just ‘fourteen dawns.’ The Doctor and Steven are anxious to check Maaga’s story with the Rills, agreeing to leave Vicki behind as security.
The Drahvins that had attempted to subdue the Chumbly are actually vat-grown soldiers, designed only to kill in the unending wars that the Drahvins are engaged in. It’s surprising that they seem rather childish and emotional rather than cold and robotic as their handler, Maaga behaves. It’s unclear exactly what Emms was trying to say here aside from not judging a book by its cover, but there seems to be some kind of anti-war statement nestled within the nature of the Drahvins that I can’t manage to unwrap.
The Drahvins of Galaxy Four
The Doctor and Steven discover that the planet has far less than ‘fourteen dawns’ after realizing that the planet has multiple suns orbiting it, leaving them only two days. Strangely, their return to the Drahvin ship results in a change of hostages and Steven is left behind while the Doctor and Vicki venture forth to contact the Rills. They discover that the truth behind the Rills/Drahvins conflict is far more complex than they imagined. The reclusive Rills, described by Maaga as hideous murderous creatures, claim that they were attacked when aiding one of the Drahvins. Maaga not only attacked the Rill, but also killed her own soldier, later blaming the death on her foes.
The lack of time to resolve any of the conflict and the problem of Steven being held hostage raises some difficult choices for the Doctor. Luckily, Steven is far from helpless and manages to manipulate the Drahvins to get out of his cell… and into an airlock. Oh well. Ian Chesterton, he’s not. Actor Peter Purves retains a bitterness about this story and how it treated him as rather useless while the Doctor and Vicki wandered off and had a grand adventure. But… turn about is fair play, mate. It’s about time the male companion was shuttered away for an episode while the female took on the bulk of the leg work.
Of course, much later another male companion would receive far worse treatment when Turlough was locked in a closet of left wandering around a Dalek spaceship. Maybe male companions just aren’t as easy to write for?
The Doctor and the devilish Drahvins
Maaga is a real piece of work, wonderfully played by actress Stephanie Bidmead (no relation to the future author/script editor). Her every movement and delivery of dialog is calculated and frosty yet backed with a kind of practical manner that makes her seem trustworthy. After all, she’s the first person that the Doctor meets who has all the answers. Nevertheless, her mistreatment of her soldiers and fierce distaste of the Rills shows her horns, as it were.
By contrast, the Chumblies are downright adorable. Even though they are armed with flamethrowers and such, the Doctor and Vicki erupt into a fit of giggles every time they meet one. It’s only at the conclusion of part two when a Rill is glimpsed (if only for a moment) that the real danger becomes clear. The Doctor is always putting his nose into other people’s business, despite his claim that he ‘seldom interferes,’ but in this case he is so much in the dark and there is so much to lose. His time is limited and he is cornered by two armies determined to zap each other until the planet itself is destroyed.
Hartnell is in fine form in this story, acting every part the gentleman scientist and adventurer, standing the higher moral ground when dealing with the Rills, yet content to let the Drahvins expire in a cataclysm if their own making. I do enjoy his interactions with the pixie-like Vicki who simply sparkles on screen. Maybe it is on account of her undeniable cuteness that everyone else in the program refers to the Chumblies after she has coined the nickname?
So little is known about this story due to the almost total lack of surviving material. The lack of enthusiasm from the fan community doesn’t help, so when part three emerged last week there was a roar of confused excitement online. Fans are of course overjoyed at new material from the 1960’s, but did the finds have to be from Galaxy 4 and the Underwater Menace? No dice on Evil of the Daleks, Marco Polo or the Macra Terror? Ah well.
One of the dreaded Rills from Galaxy Four
Galaxy 4 ended rather unusually with the Doctor yearning for a rest and Vicki wondering about the events taking place on a nearby planet. The point of view then shifted to the planet Kembel where a deranged soldier mutters to himself ‘I must kill… kill!’ and stalks through the strange alien jungle.
A fan-made short film depicts this ending to the final installment of Galaxy 4 “The Exploding Planet,” bridging to “Mission to the Unknown:”
It’s worth noting that while this story stirs little to no reaction to fans today, it was ratings stunner back when it was screened, earning the highest figures between The Web Planet (yes, I know) and The Three Doctors (again… I know). You never can tell what kind of reception these episodes had when they were shown versus their reputation in the fan community today.
When Tomb of the Cybermen, previously regarded as a lost classic, was unveiled as a complete story, it was judged as a disappointment (though I still adore it). Maybe the discovery of these missing episodes will alter the reputation of Galaxy 4 and the Underwater Menace?
After establishing his new persona, the Doctor takes his companion Mel to a tower block in space on the verge of collapse. A killer is at large, dragging victims to the basement to eat them up whole yet no one is interested in doing anything to stop the deaths. Fighting against impossible odds, the Doctor must put Paradise Towers to rights or it will collapse upon itself.
Each period of Doctor Who is marked by change, be it a change in production team or in the lead actor. In 1986, replacing the leading actor of Doctor Who was not the only task set before John Nathan-Turner and incoming script editor Andrew Cartmell. Frustrated with the lack of communication and his relationship (or lack thereof) with JNT, script editor Eric Saward walked off the set of the second part of Trial Of a Time Lord, leaving everyone in a fine mess. The ratings that had fallen so sharply for the 22nd series rose slightly for the 23rd, but BBC controller Michael Grade felt that more change needed to be introduced starting with the Doctor himself.
Theatrical actor Sylvester McCoy was the favorite choice due to his diminutive stature (in sharp opposition to Colin Baker’s sturdy frame) and his impish behavior mixed with an otherworldly kind of intensity. Paradise Towers was the first story to be written for McCoy but it was commissioned and written with no knowledge of the 7th incarnation. The script by Stephen Wyatt was heavily influenced by the novel High Rise by JG Ballard, a brutally violent fiction set in a scientific marvel of an apartment block where the inhabitants are trapped and devolve into primitive social castes. Both Cartmell and Wyatt were on the same page regarding their excitement to develop such a story through the strange lens of Doctor Who… and the results are mixed.
The Doctor and Mel are looking for a holiday spot, something that the time traveling nomad finds wasteful. In any case, the Doctor compromises by taking the TARDIS to a state of the art masterpiece Paradise Towers. They arrive to find the structure to be a trash-ridden haven for hoodlums, patrolled by bureaucratic slobs acting as caretakers. Something has happened that has reduced the population of Paradise Towers into craven cowards scavenging for existence while an unknown menace kills off any of the unlucky ones. The Doctor must not only discover the source of this threat but unite the people of Paradise Towers in the face of a common foe.
Mel and the Doctor meet the Red Kang leader Fire Escape
There are many influences on the modern BBC Wales version of Doctor Who that can be found in the 24th series. Specifically, the fairy tale look and style of the program is very strong in Paradise Towers, something that was most recently picked up by the last two series. The drama and acting are so strained and obvious that it all comes off as children’s entertainment. The Kangs look like harmless escapees from an off-Broadway play and the camp Caretakers are a joke. The sets are inspired but the lighting keeps them from achieving any real sense of danger or dread. Many fans point to these things as drawbacks but personally I think that they are part of the success of Paradise Towers and series 24 as a whole.
After several years of space opera and action/adventure, Doctor Who morphed into a kind of experimental program that posed as one thing but was actually another. I challenge any viewer to find a more saccharine sweet and innocent looking era than the 24th and 25th years of Doctor Who yet they contained some of the most horrific concepts in the programs history nested inside of a colorful kid’s show. The clearest example of this is when Mel is captured by the two Rezzies Tabby and Tilda who trap her in a crochet net and threaten to cook and eat her. Not only that, they reveal that they have been sustaining their rotund figures by luring and eating teenage girls!
Paradise Towers is a bit of a failure, to be sure, but it also achieved so many fantastic moments and attempted to transform what had been a safe and predictable program into something entirely new. The characters of Tilda and Tabby and admittedly the only real pieces of evidence for this, but the cliffhanger featuring Mel screaming as they advance on her is completely terrific in its terror.
A deadly cleaner patrols the alleys of Paradise Towers
At the insistence of JNT, a monster was called for and the result was ‘the Cleaners,’ by far the most useless robot threat ever seen in Doctor Who. Apparently Cartmel and Wyatt imagined an organic beast pulling people down the waste chutes via tentacles, but this was nixed.
Armed with a dull slowly rotating cardboard blade, drill and pincer claw it is not only unclear how they could harm anyone it’s also a mystery to me how they could clean anything! Exactly how does a drill or saw blade remove graffiti? It’s no wonder the towers are so dirty. These things make the War Machines look downright menacing.
The Doctor is arrested by the Caretakers only to meet a ‘deadly’ cleaning robot
Celebrity guest stars may seem like a new thing to Doctor Who, but they littered the 1980’s and this story is no exception. Known for his comedic work, Richard Briers is actually quite good as the Chief Caretaker. A bizarre micro-managing Hitler, he never really appears all that dangerous but he is clearly mad and a direct opponent to the Doctor’s mission to fix the problems of Paradise Towers. When he is transformed into a weird robot-zombie, he not only gains a silver sheen and a silly voice but somehow grows a full mustache! What was that all about?
The Doctor (McCoy) is threatened by the Chief Caretaker (Richard Briers)
I have to admit that when I first saw Paradise Towers I really liked it. I was a fan of the 70’s and 80’s material (I still had no knowledge of the 60’s) but this was so different that I felt some kind of ownership to it. This would certainly not appeal to the average fan of Pyramids of Mars or even Caves of Androzani. The 24th series was so absurd that it made the final Graham Williams efforts such as Nightmare of Eden and Horns of Nimon look sensible. There was a kind of darkly twisted situation comedy element as actors portrayed character types that were very familiar to viewers then took them in a different direction.
Mel is fattened up by a pair of 'Rezzies'
Bonnie Langford gets a lot of stick for her portrayal of Melanie Bush and I can’t say it is entirely undeserved. While her more recent audio dramas vindicate her entirely, on screen she was a perky sprite with a squeaky voice who stumbled into trouble every week. Given that this was a more innocent era of Doctor Who, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect companion to include. Her exchanges of dialog with the Kangs are laughable as she insists that she is a good girl who would never want to be in a gang. Likewise when Pex attempts to impress her with feats of strength his advances bounce right off of her androgynous figure. In the right story, Mel works very well, but one has to remember that she is a simpler character than Leela or Sarah Jane Smith. She is simply a know-it-all who can’t seem to stay out of trouble and is completely incapable of helping herself.
This of course allows for the Doctor to be a tactical genius.
Mel is threatened by a pool cleaning robot
The Seventh Doctor was still a work in progress for Paradise Towers, but you’d never know it to watch the story. McCoy makes the part his own almost immediately with his physical mannerisms and infectious enthusiasm. One can see the influence of Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and other early film stars in his behavior but all of that melts away in key moments where he interrogates the Chief Caretaker or argues with the inhabitants of the towers to defend themselves. I imagine that the actor was given very little to work with and he certainly filled up the blanks wonderfully. Paradise Towers may not be your kind of thing, but it does feature a very strong performance from McCoy.
I do disagree with the Doctor’s ‘brilliant plan’ of asking the monster to come out of his home and then blowing him up. Surely there would have been a better resolution to the situation. Given that the Chief Caretaker was possessed by a great evil and the Doctor had just united the residents, kangs and caretakers in a spirit of peaceful coexistence it seems odd to limit that philosophy and just kill the villain. The BBC Wales program starring David Tennant had a similar view on good and evil and it just never washed with me. If the Doctor is so smart and heroic why doesn’t he at least attempt to save the day without violence instead of formulating a scheme that revolves around explosives?
Stephen Wyatt would thankfully return in the following year with the Greatest Show in the Galaxy, an adventure that is still praised by fans as one of the finest Seventh Doctor stories. Featuring quirky characters, an unusual setting and bizarre threats it builds on what was evident here and produces a much more polished end product. Still, I have a soft spot for Paradise Towers.
The DVD just released has plenty of extras including a documentary shedding light on the production and even the aborted music score by David Snell. I highly recommend the secondary music track in favor of the naff one by Keff McCulloch that was used on transmission. Neither is perfect, but at least Snell’s is evocative of a mood and doesn’t include synthesized clapping sounds (what was that all about?).
If you are a fan of the McCoy era, this DVD belongs in your collection. If you are a devotee of the Tom Baker or Pertwee stories, I’d recommend skipping this one. But if you are a brave soul, you may want to give this one a try and see what Doctor Who was like when it was wild and fearless.
Story 109
Written by David Fisher
Transmitted 30 August – 20 September 1980 “Searching for a break from their adventurous lifestyle, the Doctor and Romana travel to the Leisure Hive on the planet Argolis. Promoted as a peaceful habitat of galactic co-existence, the Leisure Hive is an offering from the formerly war-mongering race of Argolins. A home to some of the most impressive technological feats directed at recreation, the hive is unfortunately the focus of a revival of the Argolins war-like past. When the Doctor interferes, he pays the price and is his body is aged into senility. With the Doctor incapacitated, who can stop the rise to power of the Argolins?”
When series 18 is talked about, the central point is change. Incoming producer John Nathan-Turner introduced the most change that Doctor Who had seen in 12 year’s time. So many changes were introduced that the long-standing star of the program decided that it was time for him to depart. Assisted by former producer Barry Letts and script editor Christopher H. Bidmead, the final year of the Fourth Doctor is a knock-out. Stylish, slick and modern, this is what it looks like when the right amount of attention and care is given to the program. A new signature tune and opening titles (complete with the revamped neon logo) make it plain that this is a new era for Doctor Who and it is finally coming back into its own. After a lackluster series featuring camp villains and the silliest monsters ever to haunt a sound stage, Doctor Who was about to regain some of its dignity. Tighter scripts, a restrained lead actor and more innovative special effects contributed to the success of series 18. It has its flaws, but all in all, it is one of my favorite eras.
In preparing for the departure of the most beloved of the actors to play the Doctor JNT planned a process of diluting the flair and humor that had been associated with Tom Baker. Accompanied by a muted redesigned costume and synthesized incidental music, there was a feeling of time having passed for the Doctor, who seemed far older and perhaps a bit senile. Visiting reader Zeno has commented on the drastic shifts in Tom Baker’s performance from series 15 to 16 where the Doctor became far zanier and mad. That change is even more drastic here as the manic Doctor is replaced with a kind of tired old man. Intentional or not, it’s a marvelous touch that has only been seen in the character in one other occasion with Sylvester McCoy as the ‘older’ Seventh Doctor in the 1996 TV Movie.
Along with a more retiring leading man was a shift in Lalla Ward’s performance who had previously been shown to be just as silly as the Doctor. Her more sensible traits are played up in this series as she appears to be humoring a madman while also looking out for his well being. Traveling to Brighton Beach. the Doctor purposefully bypasses the randomizer (a device introduced two years back) that prevents the Black Guardian from tracking down the TARDIS to exact his revenge on the Doctor for thwarting his attempts to assemble the Key to Time. It’s a very strange act on the Doctor’s part and finally bears fruit two years later when the Black Guardian finally makes his move against his foe. But here it’s a bit of a flaw in logic. Certainly, de-activating the device is a very very very bad idea and hints at a kind of mental instability on the Doctor’s part. It’s as if the zany madcap character that we had fallen in love with has grown crazier, but the appeal has worn off and what we are left with is a worrisome personality that is a danger to himself… and the universe.
No worries, though. This story proves that the Doctor is still the genius that we know him to be, even if he waits until the last moment to show it.
The Leisure Hive has a fantastic cast with Laurence Payne (familiar to Whovians for his earlier appearance in the Gunfighters and later as Dastari in the Two Doctors) as the aged Morix, Adrienne Corri as the fiery Mena and David Haig starring as the young and caustic Pangol. The Argolins are presented as a culture on the verge of collapse. Sterile and dying, their only concern is to be remembered for their scientific genius instead of their dreadful atomic war. For many Whovians they are remembered as the weird green-skinned aliens who drop seeds from their heads as they die.
Stylishly realized with very simple costuming by June Hudson (who also redesigned the look of the Fourth Doctor), the Argolins make for a believable, if slightly ‘Star Trek’ alien race – in which an entire people are defined by a specific trait.
It must have come as quite a shock in 1980 to see the new Doctor Who so modernized. For Americans, it was startling and roused interest from a younger audience, eager for science fiction to accompany Star Wars and the recently reborn Star Trek films. In the UK, there was a great fear of competition from the program Buck Rogers… which still makes me shudder to this day. Honestly, just try watching the series and ask yourself why anyone would be afraid of it stealing Doctor Who’s audience. In any case, it was a drastically altered look that welcomed audiences in the Summer of 1980.
Vintage trailer
The Leisure Hive is author David Fisher’s fourth offering to Doctor Who (preceded by the Stones of Blood, the Androids of Tara and the Creature and the Pit). Of the five total, I have to say that I prefer this one. It lacks a lot of the charm and humor seen in his other works, but it is so polished and well-structured that I am more impressed with each viewing. It is certainly helped by Bidmead’s insistence on a reliance on ‘real science,’ specifically the tachyonics, but it is the story of Pangol and the Argolins that make this a real success for me.
The dreaded Famosi
Surviving a deadly war with the Fomasi, the Argolins have attempted to embrace a lifestyle of peace and understanding, but there is the awkward truth of doing business with financial backers to support the Leisure Hive and its many endeavors. In the opening sequence, the aged leader of the Argolins meets with a pair of representatives Brock and Stimson who wish to buy out the Argolins completely, something that the young Pangol is directly opposed to. Ironically, the desolate atmosphere of Argolis is only useful to the former enemy of Argolis, the Fomasi. During the proceedings Chairman Morix dies, demanding that a replacement be found.
Involved in deep research concerning the tachyonics technology pioneered by the Argolins, incoming Chairwoman Mena arrives with new hope for her people. An Earth scientist promises that the tachyonic generator can be used to remove the impurities from the Argolins, giving them a new lease on life. However, the proposal is a sham. While investigating the device, the Doctor is aged several hundred years, reduced to a fragile old man. Mena is of course understanding to the Doctor’s plight as she herself is near death (as are all Argolins). The Doctor and Romana are determined to discover if the tachyon generator could indeed work as mysterious murders begin to occur and unseen forces move through the corridors of the Leisure Hive. It appears that the Fomasi are enacting their revenge, but is that really what is going on?
When the Doctor is suspected of murder and Earth scientist Hardin is imprisoned, it seems that all is lost. Then Mena begins to die, giving the cue to Brock to more aggressively make his play for power. In the confusion, Pangol makes his move. Revealed to be a child created by the generator itself, he is the viceroy of a new violent era. Rejecting any move toward compromise or defeat, Pangol uses the generator to clone a massive army and once more raise Argolis to its place as a galactic super power.
The story of the Leisure Hive seems steeped in the politics of the time as well as being obsessed with the rising importance of leisure technology and imperialism. A people sedated by convenience and bright shiny entertainment are hardly likely to question the aiming of nuclear arms at other countries or the invasion of other nations in the name of world peace. It’s also interesting that young Pangol wishes to reignite the flames of war and conquest rather than the elders of Argolis, something that would come to pass in popular society when the drum of patriotic pride was hammered to draw in new recruits for the armed forces. I may be delving too deep into this aspect of the story, but as Barry Letts was involved and his previous stories in the Pertwee era were so heavily influenced by political and social concerns, I wonder if any of this was intentional or if it’s just something that I bring to it as a teen of the 80’s.
The revamped and remodeled Doctor Who took time in gaining support from its audience. Already suffering a drop in viewing figures from previous years, the opening story only garnered just over 5 million viewers. However, there was a massive shift in the target demographic from this point onward. While the program had relied on fantasy, humor and monsters, the new program was more intelligent and stylish. It was a smarter, more refined program that took time to grow on the British public. It can be said that both the 18th and 19th series are among the more adult of Doctor Who’s 26 year run before it mutated again into something very different. At the time, it was a call to arms for High School nerds all over the planet and they answered in kind.
The new opening sequence is still controversial as it jars so much with the previous model. It took me a while to appreciate it, but this documentary really sheds some light on the hard work that went into its creation.
The story behind the new opening credits by Peter Howell and Sid Sutton
A brilliant and inspired story, The Leisure Hive isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Slow moving in pace, it also attempts drastically new direction using hand-held camera angels by director Lovett Bickford, some of which are less successful than others. The incidental music, inspired by Holst’s ‘The Planets,’ paired with very long shots of models may also put you to sleep. The plot is also quite convoluted with business deals involving masquerading large reptiles and several scenes set in a board room.
There are several stand-out moments in this story including the Doctor being torn apart and then aged as well. Off the rails in the previous series, Tom Baker is in fine form here, even though he was bristling with frustration at the time.
One of the more impressive adventures of the 1980’s, The Leisure Hive is often forgotten as an actual story as it is remembered instead as the beginning of so many changes. That’s a shame because for the beginning of something new, it was a very bold first step.
Sandwiched between two fantastic historical adventures (The Aztecs and Reign of Terror), the Sensorites has a reputation for being dull and uninteresting. However, there are a number of remarkable aspects to this six-parter that are worth noting. Written by Peter R. Newman, this story reads like a proto-Star Trek script more than Doctor Who with cardboard astronauts and aliens to match. Expositionary dialog is all over the place as characters are more than happy to act as walking encyclopedias, giving whole swathes of data with a smile.
Nevertheless, this story does feature an unusual opening sequence in which the TARDIS crew recount their previous adventures (as if bringing the audience up to speed), a strange decision given that only script editor David Whitaker would have thought to have included this little touch. It also acknowledges that all four characters have changed somewhat from the people they were in the opening episode. Ian and Barbara are no longer whinging prisoners and are now willing companions on the Doctor’s craft while the Doctor himself has warmed to his new passengers and softened from his crotchety and shifty persona into a more heroic figure. The only character who has remained more or less static is Susan, whom neither the writers nor actress Carol Anne Ford can seem to get a handle on.
Following this opening dialog, the Doctor and his companions exit the TARDIS, but rather than simple cutting to the other side of the Police Box prop, this time the cameras follow the actors through the interior doors. It’s a little thing, but it makes a big impact as a visual shift.
Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor is stunned to find that they are not only in a space craft but that the crew are dead. After a thorough examination, the travelers decide to depart from the grim scene but are startled when the astronauts suddenly come back to life. They soon discover that the craft is an expeditionary mission to investigate a planet called ‘the Sense-Sphere’ which is populated by a xenophobic race of telepaths. Once in orbit, the Earth craft has been frozen in its path, trapped by the Sensorites on the planet below. The two crew members, Maitlaind and Carol have been living a nightmarish existence, dropping in and out of consciousness while the Sensortites hold them in a powerful mental trap. But their biggest problem is a third member of the crew, John, who has been driven insane by the Sensorites’ attacks and sealed in the aft of the ship. Barbara and Susan make contact with him and make a kind of peace with him, but it’s clear that John is lost.
The Doctor soon becomes involved in a very complicated affair between the humans and the Senorites. It appears that after John discovered that the Sense Sphere contained a valuable mineral molybdenum, his greed was like a wild yell to the telepathic race who, in seeking to quiet him, drove him insane. Perfectly understandable… I guess. When a pair of Sensorites arrive to perform a periodical check-up of the astronauts, they find the TARDIS and remove its lock to prevent it from being a threat. This has to be the weirdest plot contrivance to keep the Doctor and his companions in the story and it also flies in the face of previous and forthcoming stories that present the Doctor’s ship as impenetrable. But this is still the early days of the program and analysis of the stories 40 years on was certainly not a possibility that the production team had anticipated.
The Sensorites establish a psychic rapport with Susan, who promptly rebels against her grandfather and attempts to offer herself up as a trade so that the others can be free from harm. Ian and Barbara stand by the Doctor who is furious at Susan’s behavior. Given that Hartnell had a unique perspective of Carol Anne Ford as being a young child, the performance is very strong and convincing! After discussing the matter further, a compromise is made. One of the Sensorites will remain on the spaceship with Barbara and Maitlaind while the rest go down to the planet. It’s not an arbitrary decision that leads to the Doctor travelling to the Sense-Sphere. The Sensorites have been dying off by a mysterious illness that they hope the Doctor can cure. The stolen lock hints at a technology and intelligence far beyond what the alien race can fathom.
The Sensorites are eager to gloss over their mistakes and make peace with the humans so that they can benefit from the Doctor’s superior intellect, but there a lot of internal politics that make this very difficult. The Elders of the Sensorite race are very philosophical, but the City Administrator is driven by what appears to be a strong sense of duty to defend his people. It’s up to the Doctor to make a case for the humans as being misunderstood and harmless and cure their illness while one of the aliens plots a violent revolution during all of the confusion.
When Ian comes down with the mysterious illness that has been killing off the Sensorites, the drama is heightened. The Doctor has to not only find out what is causing the illness, but also avoid the City Administrator’s steadily increasing moves toward power. Beset by problems at every side, it takes all of the Doctor’s wits to solve this problem without ending up as a casualty in a violent coup for power.
The Doctor and Ian confront the Sensorites
The Sensorites themselves are quite impressive costumes for the 60’s and the mouths are cleverly hidden by strange ‘old man hair’ that seems to grow in all the wrong places. The race is very soft spoken and terribly sensitive to light, a weakness that Ian seizes early on to keep them from taking Susan captive. One of the many plot points involves the fact that all of the Sensorites look alike aside from sashes or collars on their uniforms. Quite why a telepathic race would rely on their eyes to recognize each other is a mystery to me, but it allows the wily revolutionary Sensorite administrator the perfect opportunity to strike.
Trailer
As a six part adventure, it’s far too long. In fact, there is a lot of time spent on the spacecraft orbiting the planet that could have easily been cut. The first cliffhanger of a Sensorite creepily hovering by the main view screen must have sent many a child scurrying to his/her bedroom in fear but aside from that there isn’t all that much of visual interest. The character of John the mineralogist is interesting and all, but the poor actor is plagued by endless scenes demanding that he froth at the mouth and stare off to convey madness. I quite like the explanation that his extreme emotion left his mind open and overly susceptible to influence, but it goes on a bit and looks silly in the end.
The Doctor is depicted as a very heroic and brilliant character in this story which I like. Depicting both otherworldly knowledge and common wisdom, this is exactly the kind of Doctor that I like to see; just as likely to rewire alien technology as he is to use a cricket ball to escape a tight spot. Hartnell is in rare form and while he does fluff a few lines, he still exhibits a commanding air of authority that cannot be denied.
He also looks quite dashing in that long black robe, doesn’t he?
Strangely, the Sensorites are closely related to the Ood of the new Doctor Who series. Writer Russell T Davies stated that he wanted to evoke the classic monsters with the Ood (something lost on me though I enjoyed the creatures in their first appearance).
The Sensorites has not been released on DVD as yet, but as 2 Entertain is nearing the end of their license, I expect that we will be hearing something soon. It will no doubt be a shame to see the Sensorite masks in a cleaned up image as every tiny flaw will be made all the more clear (a complaint made by Peter Purves regarding the Ark DVD). It’s strange to remember that these stories were initially seen on very tiny grainy black and white televisions, without commentary, documentaries or the like.
Hardly one of the best stories from the 60’s, the Sensorites was the first step toward what would later develop into the ‘hard sci fi’ approach in Doctor Who. There are problems involving the acting, costumes and effects but the inspiration to take what was still considered a children’s program into the realm of a more sophisticated story is worth recognizing.
Story 2.05
Story 121
Doctor Who and the Sensorites
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