LBs Time Team

[Fitz Kreiner]

Spearhead from Space:

Episode 1:
And we’re off onto DVD, a colourful new look to the opening titles, and a new Doctor! I can’t deny, I’m rather looking forward to this new era of Who.
We’re given a good start of Earth in space and a strange signal sounding before we come into some mysterious goings on at a radar station. The woman in charge has a UNIT logo on her tie. Interesting.
And these “meteorites” they’re tracking don’t look quite right, crashing down near a chap laying a snare. It’s a good and mysterious start, as these “meteorites” were flying in formation and have landed instead of burning up.
And the radar station mentions UNIT HQ. We do have UNIT.
The TARDIS has landed in the woods, and a stranger crashes to the door and falls face first into the undergrowth. The new Doctor?
We see a young woman being chauffeured from a London street to an underground car park; Liz Shaw. And a familiar face! Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart! It seems that he’s called Liz in because of these “Meteors”. Liz seems rather disbelieving about alien invaders when the Brig tells her. And it seems these meteors are the second lot, a smaller shower landing some six months previous, at incredible odds of it happening.
UNIT have found the Doctor and taken him to a hospital.
The Brig tells Liz that there have been two alien attacks since UNIT were formed, and mentions the Doctor having helped them. Cue Cpt. Monroe to call to tell the Brig about the Police Box and “unconscious civvie”. The Brig is on his way and orders the police box be put under guard.
We’re given a glimpse of the Doctors Time Lord x-ray, he seems to have two hearts, which Doctor Henderson thinks is a prank on behalf of someone from the x-ray dept. Not only that, but he gets a phone call from the path lab, it wasn’t human blood that he sent, which he took from the Doctor. Well, I’m assuming it to be the Doctor.
Mullins, the porter, has overheard Henderson’s conversation and is now calling the local paper trying to sell the story.
Seeley, the man who’s out rabbiting, has unearthed one of the meteors and is now avoiding a UNIT patrol who seem to be out searching.
The Doctor seems to be waking up, intent on finding his shoes. Great line from him when the nurse tries to get him back to bed; “Unhand me madam!” It makes me chuckle every time.
Meanwhile the Brig and Liz have arrived to be hounded by the press, who are already hounding Monroe. And there’s a rather sinister chap lurking with the press, out of the way though.
The Brig seems pleased at Henderson’s description of the Doctor’s medical record but the man in the bed is a complete stranger to him. But he recognises the Brigadier! He also seems rather downtrodden that the Brig doesn’t recognise him and asks for a mirror. He doesn’t seem happy. Well, at first, he soon warms to it.
That strange chap doesn’t seem to be involved with the press. And he seems to be acting rather strange, stood in the phone booth not saying or doing anything.
The Doctor is almost desperate to find his shoes, and his pulse has settled; 10 a minute. He’s certainly acting rather strangely. Now we know why he wanted his shoes, the TARDIS key was in one of them.
And now two strange men seem to be kidnapping the Doctor, dressed as medical orderlies. There’s some terrific incidental music accompanying them. There’s something about them that’s not normal. And the strange man from the press is there again! And we have a rather interesting chase scene, the Doctor in a wheel chair and the would-be kidnappers in an ambulance.
And we get a great cliff hanger as the Doctor seems to be making back to the TARDIS and gets shot by one of the UNIT guards.
Episode 2:
Well, the Doctor has been shot and is unconscious again. The bullet grazed his scalp. And Doctor Henderson is perplexed by the Doctors EEG, as there doesn’t seem to be much going on. He thinks the coma is self induced. Henderson also gives the Brig the key, saying the Doctor was really holding onto it.
UNIT have uncovered part of a meteor, it seems to be some form of plastic. And Monroe has a picture of the strange chap who led the raid on the hospital saying that the others had something odd about their faces.
We’re in a plastics factory, which is making dolls. Interesting setting. That strange sinister man is there as well, following Ransome, just out of sight. It seems Ransome has been in America for six months, and in that time there have been a lot of changes in the factory and Hibbert, his boss, has let him go. Things seem to be rather strange here; the man who tried to kidnap the Doctor, his having some kind of hold over Hibbert, and the changes in the six months Ransome has been gone, the same time between the two meteor showers. Could there be a link?
Liz Shaw has determined that what the Brig brought back isn’t a meteor, and he’s still asking her if she’s sceptical. He seems almost annoyed with her, saying she can be very aggravating.
Channing, the strange chap, is talking of the energy units, what we can assume are the strange meteors that pulse with light and that strange signal we heard at the start of the story.
Seeley has got one of them home, and a strange creature is in the woods, seemingly homing on the signal. Looks like a parody of humanity, almost like a mannequin...
But I do love the interaction between Seeley and his wife, a good bit of inter-marriage bickering, and the way he always seems to call her “woman”; “Go get me some grub woman, I’m hungry” and “What you starin’ at woman?” Great stuff.
The Brig has got the TARDIS into the lab, and has also got a visitor; Major-General Scobie, the liaison with the regular army. Scobie seems rather the old fashioned sort of soldier.
The UNIT chaps have discovered a meteor and the Doctor is up and at it again, in a rather amusing manner, having a shower in the doctors changing room. He sings in the shower we now know, and he has a snake tattoo on his arm.
That strange man-thing is off again, seemingly attracted by the signal from the energy unit.
The Doctor has found himself some clothes, taken from the “Hospital bigwig” who arrived to oversee his case. They rather suit him. And he’s pinched the man’s hat as well! Not only that, he’s now making his getaway in the fellow’s car! This Doctor is a bit of a thief!
It seems that the key the Brig has for the TARDIS doesn’t work. And Liz is still rather cynical and flippant about the whole thing.
Gha, one of the more chilling moments as the auton steps into the road causing the jeep to crash off the road. We get an image of the driver dead against the splintered window, with blood on the inside as the auton coldly takes the crate with the energy unit.
And we now have a great scene with the Doctor and a bemused security guard who stands dumbfounded as the Doctor fires off sentence after sentence at him, not allowing him the chance to reply. The Doctor reveals he’s lost his memory, and the TARDIS has a metabolism detector. Good security thing there. I do like Pertwee’s flitting from topic to topic as he moves around the lab before finding the fragments of the energy unit. He seems to integrate himself there and start with helping the Brig.
Scobie has made a visit to the plastics factory, and they’re making a replica of him to go to Madame Tussaudes. Interesting, I thought they were meant to be wax?!
Ransome, meanwhile, has snuck into the factory to try to get a look at the security area. There are loads of the auton figures stood in a line, like dummies, and some strange machines, that we saw earlier, now we know where that area is. It’s quite creepy, and the incidental music helps this wonderfully. It’s almost terrifying as one of the figures starts to move and Ransomes realisation of it. It’s actually a genuinely terrifying moment. And a corker of a cliffy.
Episode 3:
The Auton starts chasing Ransome out of the security area, the front of its hand dropping away and revealing a weapon. Interestingly it seems to have an unspoken link with Channing, skulking away when he spots in.
Channing says he saw Ransome, and is sending an Auton after the man. The sound the autons make is just fantastic
Seeley seems a bit troubled by what his wife says to him about the UNIT soldier killed in the jeep.
Ransome has come across the UNIT chaps and is gibbering, in a great sense of fear and shock.
I like the Doctors discussions with Liz about the TARDIS, and it being Dimensionally Transcendental. It means it’s bigger on the inside. He manages to persuade Liz to get the key from the Brig, but he’s giving the vibe that he doesn’t want it for the reason he’s making out.
Seeley has gone to the UNIT HQ in the woods, a tent, and blusters about reward for a “thunderbolt”. Monroe isn’t having any messing about from the man, and gets rather angry with him. It’s a good bit of character interaction.
Ransome is now talking to the Brig, and making more sense. He tells him about the auton and that it was made in the factory. The Brig seems to dismiss Liz when she comes in, continuing to talk to Ransome, which allows Liz to pinch the key for the Doctor. But the Brig does notice after she’s gone.
The Brig arrives in the Lab, just after the Doctor disappears into the TARDIS, believing the Doctor to be doing a bunk, which he tries. Although the TARDIS dematerialisation doesn’t seem to be working, and the Doctor rather sheepishly re-emerges, saying he was just testing. The Doctor seems to have almost forgot about his trial, not seemingly remembering that he’s been exiled, but does mutter on about the Time Lords, although not using their name.
Mrs Seeley has found her hubby’s trunk where he concealed the energy unit.
Ransome is now telling his story to the Doctor as well as the Brig, the Doctor deciding to investigating the plastics factory.
It’s all go at the moment, Monroe is rather peeved at Seeley; Mrs Seeley has discovered the Energy Unit, the Brig and Doctor are on their way to the plastics factory and an Auton is heady to Seeleys farmhouse after the energy unit.
There’s some horrific goings on at the Seeley place as the dog starts barking before whimpering into silence. What happened to it, we don’t know. An auton has started to wreck the place in search for the energy unit. It really does look so spooky. And it survives two shotgun blasts to the chest. We cut away to Channing and Hibbert as it closes in on Mrs Seeley, se we don’t know if she’s dead.
The Incidental music is just fantastic, really adds to the feel and atmosphere of the place.
The Brig, Monroe, the Doctor and Liz have arrived just as the auton finds the energy unit, causing the auton to run away (at Channing’s bequest). These buggers run. They don’t lumber like the monsters we’ve seen a lot of in the past.
Mrs Seeley is still alive, just fainted.
The Auton has cut its way into the tent where Ransome is and shoots him down, it seems to be able to disintegrate him with the weapon in its hand.
There are a lot of very short scenes in this story, that seem to quicken the pace and help to move the plot along, such as the Doctor and Brigs discovery that Ransome is gone before going to the Plastics factory. The Brig spots Channing through some distorted glass, which is quite a sinister little moment.
The Doctor has discovered that there’s some mental energy inside the energy unit and is working on a way to communicate with it.
Another fantastic and terrifying cliff hanger as General Scobie hangs up the phone to the Brig after a knock on the door to discover his replica stood there. Again, there’s a fantastic use of the incidental music, by Dudley Simpson, to really add to the fear and horror of the moment. It seems so much more realistically terrifying than some of the stuff we’ve seen in recent stories.
Episode 4:
The deliberate movements of the Scobie replica and the plastic sheen to his face really are spooky stuff.
The Doctor thinks that the units are part of a collective intelligence, sending signals to all other of the globes, and that once it is on Earth it can create a physical form for it. With Liz’s realisation about the plastics factory, it’s a terrifying thought. And then the Brig gets a call from Scobie, saying that the plastics factory is off limits. He’s rather annoyed about that, blaming it on Scobies ego because of his replica, which leads to a shocked reaction from the Doctor.
Liz and the Doctor are now at Madame Tussaudes, and there’s a replica of Scobie there, and the Doctor is curious, even going up to it and nosing about the model, suspicious about the watch being wound up to the correct time.
Hibbert seems to be having some troubles with Channing, almost struggling against his control. Channing really is rather a sinister figure. There’s something about him that sets you on edge. He’s sending Scobie to collect the energy unit from UNIT, saying that the replica is exact, even in memory prints.
And the replica has done so, threatening Monroe with arrest for mutiny, saying he’s still in the army and should obey orders.
The Doctor and Liz have hidden in MT’s and it’s now closed. I don’t think I’d want to be in there after dark all alone! The incidental music really adds to the atmosphere, especially with the Doctors comment; “Don’t worry, they’re only dummies... I think.” And then Channing and Hibbert arrive, Channing sensing “an alien life form nearby”. Apparently, Scobies model is the real Scobie, and then the figures start to move. It’s really creepy, public servants and government officials. A real down to Earth terror, of inanimate figures coming to life.
The Doctor manages to talk to Hibbert, trying to break through the conditioning that Channing has inflicted on him. The man certainly seems troubled.
Channing has the Swarm Leader energy unit and places it in one of the machines in the security area. There seems to be a maturation tank there and something is forming. Not only that, but the Autons are to be activated at dawn.
Liz and the Doctor are now working on a device that the Doctor has thought up, presumably to deal with the autons.
We’re given a wonderful shot of a London street, with some wonderfully creepy and atmospheric music to lead to one of Doctor Who’s most iconic images, the Shop Window dummies coming to life and breaking out and shooting civilians down. It’s a wonderfully scary and horrific series of scenes. And these buggers shoot people in the back! The first Doctor Who monster to do that, shooting unarmed, innocent civilians in the back at a bus stop. This is Doctor Who at its finest, what it’s all about.
The Doctor and the Brig are leading the UNIT HQ personnel, all the Brig can muster, to an attack on the plastics factory.
Hibbert has finally broken through Channings conditioning and asks Channing who he is; they’re the Nestene’s and they’ve been colonising other planets for 1,000,000,000 years. That’s a long time! Channing orders Hibberts death and an Auton fires on him from a gantry.
And UNIT have arrived. I love the Doctor’s pleased reaction to his little firework opening the gate. Scobie and the regular army arrive to hinder the UNIT team, but the Doctor uses his machine on Scobie and the General collapses, his face a mess of molten plastic revealing the features of a blank auton underneath.
The sound of the autons and plastics factory are just fantastic. Really creepy.
Here comes trouble; a squad of autons bursts out of a door (that looks remarkably similar to the door Cybermen burst from in The Invasion) and engages the UNIT and army forces. Another fantastically futile, yet wonderful fire fight erupts.
The Doctor is now confronting Channing; the Autons and Nestenes are a group consciousness, and the Doctor realises that if he can destroy the consciousness, then the Autons will be destroyed also.
I do love the wonderful shots of the battle between UNIT and the Autons. The latter are a wonderfully realised creature, blank faced, remorseless, unstoppable.
Channing opens the maturation chamber and large green tentacles emerge and start to strangle and attack the Doctor, who gives his best gurning! They look rather creepy, like an octopus.
With a few last minute tweaks on the machine by Liz it manages to destroy the Nestene creature.
With it all over, Liz explains about the machine and the Brig asks the Doctor if the Nestene’s will try again. He asks the Doctor if they can count on his help if the Nestenes attack again, and the two discuss terms. There’s a wonderful Doctor moment, where the Brig mentions salary and the Doctor responds; “Money? Good lord, I don’t want money. Got no use for the stuff.” Just a wonderfully Doctor thing to say. He’s more interested in help from Liz, a lab and facilities to repair the TARDIS. It’s a lovely end scene as he realises that he borrowed the clothes from the hospital and the car, which he rather “took to”. The Brig realises that he doesn’t quite know the Doctor’s name, to which the Doctor gives; “Smith; Doctor John Smith.” With a rather knowing smile at the end.
What a wonderful story. Fully engaging, wonderfully fast paced and just downright terrifying. The Autons are probably by far the scariest thing we’ve seen so far in the series and wonderfully realised. The scene where they come to life in the shop windows and start massacring the civilians is just terrifying and again possibly the scariest moment in Who we’ve had so far.
Jon Pertwee is already fantastic in the role, I realised at the end that I’d almost forgotten Troughton’s Doctor. And it’s great to see the Brig back, as good as he’s ever been and wonderfully played by Nick Courtney
What a fantastic start to a new era in Doctor Who, now in colour with an almost completely new cast, the only link to the series before being the title and the Brig. But it pulls it off wonderfully. A strong and scary story, firmly bringing Doctor Who into the seventies and ensuring its survival after the entire regular cast left at the end of the previous story. Not having watched the story in a while, it’s refreshing to watch it again, and realise just why it’s such a classic and wonderful story.

Next Time - Doctor Who and the Silurians

[Claire Voyant]

Wonderful description LB.

[Fitz Kreiner]

Thanks Claire!

[John Darnacan]

Feb 3, 2009 23:35:22 GMT Fitz Kreiner said:

Channing opens the maturation chamber and large green tentacles emerge and start to strangle and attack the Doctor, who gives his best gurning! They look rather creepy, like an octopus.

I always think of that gurning scene when I think of this story. So OTT. ;D

[Fitz Kreiner]

You're not the first to say that, Duncan mentioned it over on TFF. The way I see it though is, if you're being throttled by alien tentacles, you're not gonna be keeping a straight face. It's nowhere near as bad as it could have been, it's a very minor thin in an otherwise fantastic story.
It's towards the top in my favourite Pertwee stories, just behind Silurians and before Inferno, in the top spots.

[Fitz Kreiner]

Doctor Who and the Silurians:

Episode 1:
We’re given a wonderfully interesting start as two potholers climb down into a cave, and there’s a strange growling and roaring echoing round the rock. The incidental music is fantastically atmospheric and it’s a wonderful build up to what looks like a Dinosaur attacking the two cavers.
And now we have the Doctor, working on the underside of a car, looks like he got the one he wanted after the end of Spearhead. I love his reaction to the Brig’s summons “I never report myself anywhere, particularly not ‘forthwith’!” And his car is called Bessie! A wonderful Doctor moment, especially when he pats the bonnet and it sputters to life.
We’re now in an atomic research centre built into some caves. The Doc and Liz are met by the Brig who takes them into a meeting, which was lead by Dr Lawrence, the director. We’re given a good insight into the purpose of the centre and the power they are generating, with a wonderful moment of the Doctor, simply asking “Why?” after Lawrence says what they do in the centre. There are some wonderful moments, especially the Doctor’s inability to find his sonic screwdriver.
Major Baker doesn’t see the need for UNIT, but the disturbances have been going on for three months, which the Brig tells him necessitates UNITs involvement.
The Doctor and Liz investigate the Cyclotron room with Dr Quinn. He tells them about an incident in the caves, one man was killed, another badly hurt. These must be the two chaps we saw at the beginning. While Liz goes to see the personnel and medical side the Doctor has spotted something amiss with the logbook. Dr Quinn suggests it’s because the log was kept by Spencer, who was hurt in the caves. The Doctor doesn’t think so; some of the pages have been torn out.
I’m loving Pertwee’s Doctor here, especially when Dr Meredith asks if he’s another member of the UNIT team and the Doctor replies “Yes, depressing, isn’t it?”. It seems as though Spencer has had a complete nervous breakdown and is drawing strange images on the walls. It’s rather perplexing, some of them look rather alien and some are almost cave drawings. He even goes to try to throttle the Doctor when he asks about them. The Doctor thinks the man is frightened, and the fear has thrown his mind back millions of years.
There’s a bit of intrigue going on with Quinn and Miss Dawson, they seem to know something about what’s going on, especially as Miss Dawson tells Quinn to “tell them to stop.” It really makes you wonder who they are.
There’s certainly something going on, especially as the Doctor tells the Brig that he’s found enough to make him very, very worried.
There’s another bit of intrigue going on in the cyclotron, as Roberts seems to be rather aloof and not quite with his work.
The Brig seems to be dismissing all that the Doctor has found, including the cave drawings by Spencer, as a post traumatic stress reaction. The Doctor seems rather miffed with him constantly shooting down his ideas. They’re soon interrupted by a power failure and rush to the cyclotron room. And it seems Roberts is having an episode, unable to carry out his task and even attacking Miss Dawson. Cue the Doctor and the Brig to the rescue.
Liz things that these affairs could be something to do with the cyclotron room, saying she felt something there, almost oppression and terror. The Doctor starts to muse that everything seems to lead back to the caves. The Doctor seems interested in the abrasions resembling “claw marks” on the police report on Davies, the man who was killed, and does to the caves to investigate.
The strange growling and roaring is heard again. And the incidental music is just great. Really adds to the atmosphere. The roaring seems to really be rather spooky, probably helped by the claustrophobic caves setting. And we see that the roaring does come from what looks like a Dinosaur, bearing down on the Doctor.
Episode 2:
The Dinosaur seems to be called away by a strange noise, completely abandoning the Doctor, but leaving a footprint nonetheless.
The Brig seems concerned about the Doctors intent to explore the caves, arranging a search party. There’s a nice ending to the scene when the Brig has apologised for the trouble the Doctor is caused when he appears at the door claiming that it all looks exciting and asking if he can come along too.
Lawrence tells Quinn about the Doctors getting lost in the caves before turning up. Miss Dawson seems rather shocked by this, having another conspiratorial chat with Quinn after Lawrence has gone.
The Doctor has told his caves adventure story, seemingly believing that it was a Dinosaur that went to attack him, but none that he’d ever seen before. Looked a bit like an Allosaurus to me. The Brig suggests an expedition into the caves, with armed men, but no Liz. She seems rather miffed by this. But there’s a lovely Doctor moment, “Typical of the military mind, present them with a new problem and they start shooting at it.”
In the caves, the footprint has dried up. And Avon is part of the UNIT team! Paul Darrow playing Captain Hawkins. There’s a strange thumping sound, almost like heavy footprints and Baker rushes off to investigate, spotting a figure in the distance and fires a warning shot, hitting him with the ricochet. The Dinosaur manages to sweep Baker down before being recalled by the strange noise again. Something has bent Bakers rifle. Hawkins has found traces of blood leading deeper into the caves and the Brig and UNIT head off in search, the Doctor taking Baker and blood samples back.
We’re given a tantalising glimpse of the creature in moorland, climbing out of a cave opening, silhouetted against the sun. It is man shaped, certainly.
The Doctor thinks the blood sample has resemblances to larger reptiles and the Brig lost the creature in the caves. The Doctor notes that the Dinosaur was called off the attack on him and Baker before any hard was done, speculating that there are two creatures in the caves, one large and ferocious, the other, smaller and more intelligent, maybe controlling the first.
The POV shots from the Silurian are just fantastic, sectioned into three different parts but really well done. The creature has found its way to a farm and seems to be seeking refuge in a barn.
The Doctor is looking for Quinn, and discovers Lawrence is doing the same. Miss Dawson says that he may have gone potholing. The Doctor talks to her saying he wants to talk to Quinn about the power losses. This seems to worry Miss Dawson.
It seems that Quinn certainly is in the caves, following a route on a map. There’s another tantalising glimpse of a Silurian, I never spotted before, an arm moving just out of shot as Quinn walks round a corner. He seems to be taken over by a strange red light that leads him into a concealed base in the rocks and into a room. We hear the Silurian voices, they’re rather impressive. Deep and almost warbling, quite harsh. They send Quinn to find the Silurian Baker wounded.
A farmer has found the Silurian in his barn, moving some hay and seeing the clawed hand move. Strangely, when the Creature confronts him, he starts to collapse before it lashes out, but he’s clearly terrified. As is his wife who enters the barn just after. But we still haven’t seen a Silurian fully.
Lawrence really comes across as a pompous ass. Rather an unlikeable fellow, out for his own needs. The Police call to inform the Brig that a farmer has been found dead in his barn, with claw marks on his body.
In the barn, the Doctor says that Squire, the farmer, most probably tried to attack the Silurian with the pitchfork. And the claw marks weren’t the cause of death; he died of heart failure “You might say he died of fear.” He and the Brig go to question Squires wife at the hospital. Drawing an image on a chart, he shows it to the woman who reacts with terror, saying that the creature is still in the barn. The Brig realises Liz is still there and the two men rush out.
We get some more tantalising glimpses of the Silurian as it moves through the Barn and ultimately attacks Liz, swiping at her with a clawed hand.
Episode 3:
Quinn seems rather pleased with the device that the Silurians gave him, proudly showing it to Miss Dawson when she arrives at his cottage. It seems as though he’s after the Silurian knowledge and technology. He seems rather excitable when she tells him that the UNIT lot think there’s a Silurian at Squires farm.
There’s a hole in the back of the Barn, where the Silurian seems to have escaped. The Brig organises a search of the area. I like Liz’s description of the Silurian and the keeping it out of sight, it’s really teasing keeping the creatures hidden.
There are some fantastic shots of UNIT searching the area; troops with dogs, helicopters and jeeps. Shows a great side to UNIT that we’ve not really seen before. Maybe some glimpses in The Invasion, but shows some of the resources they have to call on. It feels like a real military operation.
Quinn is out trying to find the Silurian, using the summoning device and is spotted by the helicopter, and the device is heard and recognised as the noise from the caves. Another great POV shot from the Silurian as it approaches Quinn, appearing right behind him. The Doctor and the Brig arrive soon after, spotting the Silurians footprints in the road.
The Doctor arrives at Quinns cottage, and the latter certainly seems to be acting rather oddly. Especially when the Doctor almost forces his way into the house, examining everything, even down to the temperature of the central heating. Quinn says that it’s broken and he’s waiting on the people who installed it to fix it. It seems rather clear that neither man quite trusts the other, the Doctor clearly suspecting Quinn of being the one who was looking for the Silurian.
Back at the centre, the Doctor has broken into Quinns office and cabinet. It seems Quinn has a globe of Pangea, before the continental drift, and calculations involving the Silurian era. Miss Dawson catches the Doctor and Liz and almost seems on the verge of telling them about everything before the Brig arrives and she rushes away.
It seems she’s gone to Quinn’s cottage. He’s got the Silurian locked up in his cottage. He’s after getting knowledge from it, saying he won’t take it back to the caves until it tells him what he wants to know.
There’s another conference going on, where the Doctor tells that he believes the problems to come from the caves. The Brig intends to mount a full scale armed search of the caves much to the Doctor’s anger.
Arriving at Quinn’s cottage to try to persuade him to help, the Doctor finds him dead. And we get a great cliff hanger with the reveal of a Silurian, and what an impressive looking creature it really is. Fantastic.
Episode 4:
The Silurian seems rather docile with the Doctor, understanding him and almost communicating before being spooked by a passing car and fleeing the cottage.
Baker manages to organise a little escape, tricking Sergeant Hart to help him with his jacket and knocking the man down. The Brig, understandably gives the Sergeant a ticking off.
In the caves, Baker stumbles into a strange liquid that bubbles and traps him, before several Silurians emerge and using their third eyes knock him unconscious.
The Doctor tells Liz about the Silurian and Quinn’s death. He states that they’re not animals; they’re an alien life form, highly intelligent. It only attacked to survive, acting in a very similar way to humanity.
In the caves again, the Doctor spots the empty cartridges that Baker fired, and the strange pool, before Liz spots a doorway in the rock, the one that Quinn went to earlier. We’re also seeing a lot more of the Silurians now. They really do look fantastic creatures. Using the device he got from Quinn, the Doctor and Liz manage to get into the Silurian base. The sets for it are fantastic, all green and rocky. And Baker is in there, locked in a cage.
There’s a fascinating scene as several Silurians seem to try to revive a Silurian from a state of hibernation. The Doctor hypothesises that this could be the cause of the power losses at the research station. The Silurians siphoning off the power.
There has indeed been a power loss at the research station. Quinn and Miss Dawson are nowhere in sight, which angers Lawrence. And the Permanent Undersecretary, Masters, has arrived from the ministry, at Lawrence’s bequest. He’s wonderfully played, even straight off, by Geoffrey Palmer, a clamer and more rational person. Unlike Lawrence, who’s very self centred and brash. It seems as though Masters isn’t going to return to the ministry with a story about “Monsters in caves” and the brig isn’t going to get his reinforcements.
The Silurians are interrogating Baker about the planets weaponry and troops. And it seems as though there’s dissent in the Silurian ranks, one seems to think that Humanity needs studying, another that the species is violent and aggressive and needs wiping out.
The Doctor has told the story so far to Masters, Lawrence and the Brig and seems to be on the verge of convincing them that they should tread carefully with the Silurians and they’re not hostile, until Miss Dawson arrives saying that they’ve killed Dr Quinn. The Brig says he’s going to continue with his original plan, and Miss Dawson says that they should be destroyed before they destroy them. Talking to Liz, the Doctor decides to go into the caves to warn them
Back in the Silurian base, the Silurians aren’t best pleased that the Doctor has gotten into their base and haul him away to the cages. Maybe the Doctor was wrong and they don’t want to listen. The Silurians still question him though, now he’s in the cage. The Doctor is trying desperately to get a peaceful solution, although the Silurians are rather wary, saying that the planet is theirs and always has been.
The Brig and co have run into trouble in the caves, running into a dead end before turning back and seeing a rock wall having appeared from nowhere.
A Silurian comes up to the cages, and the Doctor asks if they’ve spoken to the humans. The Silurian replies that it’s destroyed them and will now destroy him. It’s a good cliff hanger as its third eye starts to glow and twist the Doctors mind. It’s another great aspect to the Silurians as a race.
Episode 5:
A second Silurian runs in stopping the younger one from killing the Doctor. It’s again the pair who were arguing over the fate of humanity earlier.
There’s certainly a lot going on, with Masters being told that the UNIT patrol have been lost, and the Brig being told that they’re trapped by solid rock and can’t break out. The Doctor meanwhile is being taken out by the elder Silurian for what could be a bit of a pow-wow.
Liz has slipped up, almost giving away the Doctor’s plan before Masters and Lawrence realise that he’s missing, and ask her where he is.
The Silurians conversation is interesting, as the younger Silurian talks to a scientist and they discuss the paths open to them about Humanity and their concern over their leaders views.
We’re given some background into the Silurians now, they went underground when the Moon approached the Earth and entered hibernation to wait out a catastrophe that never happened. Their plight is almost tragic. The Doctor thinks that there’s a peaceful solution to be found, the Silurians building cities in parts of the world uninhabitable to humanity and the two species co-existing.
One of the Brigs men has succumbed to the strange fear that affected Spencer, and is using a stone to scratch images onto the rock walls. Luckily for UNIT, the Doctor has persuaded the old Silurian who opens up the way for them to escape.
It seems this action hasn’t pleased the young Silurian though, who runs in telling the old Silurian that humanity must be destroyed. This younger Silurian seems to be rather a loose wire, and even the scientist says to him that he has no right to disobey their leader. He still agrees to help the young Silurian though, and shows him a virus they used long ago when the “apes used to raid [their] crops”. It seems they’re going to conduct an experiment on Baker.
Lawrence is fast becoming a character to dislike saying that nothing is being done about his problems and Liz tells him that the Brig and the Doctor are risking their lives to help his problems, to which the man replies; “That’s a matter of opinion.” He also seems disbelieving of the Brigs stories as well, now he’s back.
The Silurians are able to generate force fields with their third eye so it seems, as the older Silurian agrees to let the Doctor return to broker a peace between them and humanity. Although it seems the other Silurians have released Baker for some reason. They look rather sinister lurking in the dark of the caves.
The older Silurian is furious with the young Silurian for infecting Baker with the disease, saying he will destroy him if he defies again. He seems rather appalled by it as well, bringing the disease to the Doctor in the hope he can find a cure and tells him about it and that there are some who do not wish to share the planet.
Baker has arrived back at the centre suggesting that they blow up the cave entrances. The Doctor has arrived and warns Baker of the disease, who thinks it’s a ruse to get out of his “betrayal”. He soon changes his mind when he sees the welts forming on his arm. It’s quite a nasty little moment when we see that the disease has taken effect and we know it will spread like a violent and aggressive plague.
We’ve another excellent Silurian scene as the young Silurian defies the leader for the last time, killing him and taking over. It’s quite an interesting scene as the last hope on the Silurian side for a reasonable outcome is destroyed.
The Doctor still thinks that there’s a peaceful solution to be found, and is rather urgent when he discovers that Baker has been taken to hospital by Meredith. Especially as the centre should be quarantined due to the alien disease. He and the Brig rush off to retrieve Baker and Masters suggests the centre be closed down. He seems a bit weary now, hinting he may be succumbing to the disease.
Arriving at the hospital, the Doctor and the Brig pull up as Baker runs across the grounds and collapses. The Brig asks if he’s dead and the Doctor sombrely replies in the affirmative; “The first one.” It’s the tone that the Doctor uses that hints at the possible implications this can have, that we’re dealing with the first stages of an alien plague outbreak. It’s not rushed or over the top, it’s done simply and effectively making for a great episode ending.
Episode 6:
A doctor and nurse soon arrive, and the Brig warns them back inside, getting the place quarantined as the Doctor returns to the centre. It’s time for him to get to work on finding a cure. Liz has been going round injecting people with anti-biotics to act as a preventer. It seems everyone has been inoculated bar Lawrence and Masters. There’s a rather surprising moment as the Doctor admits he’d be happy to lose the former. Discovering Masters has left; the Brig and Liz seem to have quite a job on their hands, as he could spread the disease throughout the country.
Indeed, he doesn’t look too well as he walks from the station. He gets a taxi just as a police car arrives.
The Doctor suspects that the Silurians will lie low for a while waiting for the disease to really grip the world. Although he has just got a scanning microscope to help him study it and develop a cure.
The body of the old Silurian is taken away, and the Young Silurian and scientist discuss the disease and whether the Doctor can find a cure.
Lawrence is being even more annoying than ever, denying all possibility of a disease and suggesting Baker has been ill for some time, much to Liz’s frustration. The Brig realises how much of a task they have in store as he’s told the police have just missed Masters.
It seems there is some action in the caves as the Brig has men stationed all over and a Silurian kills one of the sentries. Hawkins and Hart go to investigate and Hart is killed. The Silurians in their base see this and realise that the humans may actually develop a cure and they set out to capture the Doctor so he cannot find a cure.
We’ve not got a rather horrific glimpse of an emergency situation in London as people are starting to drop like flies around the rail station from the Silurian disease. It’s a rather chilling scene, as it’s inter-spliced with images of the Brig on the phone, the Doctor working on a cure and Liz taking samples in the medical bay. It ends with Masters running through the streets and eventually collapsing against some railings, dead.
The shots of the scanner microscope images of the disease in the blood are rather interesting. Although it’s highlighted what a difficult and painstaking task it is by the Doctors admission that he’s starting to lose confidence. And it seems that the anti-biotics are wearing off Liz as she almost faints on the Doctor.
The Brig is told of Masters’ death and that there are outbreaks of the disease all over London as Liz arrives. The incidental music again really adds to the scene, making for a really heavy moment. It’s made all the more gruesome as Dr Lawrence bursts in with large scabby welts all over his face. The makeup job is superb and it’s really rather horrific as he finally loses it and knocks all the Brigs stuff off his desk before launching himself at the Brig, trying to throttle him before the disease claims his life.
There’s a wonderful juxtapositioning as the Doctor realises that he’s just discovered the antidote and the Brig gets a phone call stating the first case has been reported abroad, in Paris.
The Silurians, however, are cutting their way through the rock with their third eyes to get to the centre and kidnap the Doctor. They’ve also broken out of their base and are engaged in battles with the UNIT forces in the caves, as Hawkins arrives to tell the Brig.
The Doctor is writing up the antidote formula, having successfully tested it unaware of the young Silurian and the scientist entering the centre behind him and using their third eyes to knock him out.
Episode 7:
The Brig receives a report that all contact has been lost from Cave mouth two, and he sends the private to get Captain Hawkins. Unfortunately for the poor chap he comes across the Silurians’ carrying out the Doctor and the young Silurian kills him. Just too late, Hawkins arrives and discovers the body of Upton and the scorch mark left on the wall by the Silurian raid. Liz manages to find the antidote that the Doctor had made and calls Dr Crawford to pass it on.
There are pitched battles going on in the caves and gun fire can be heard in the Silurian base where the young Silurian tells the Doctor that he killed the leader and now leads, after the Doctor reveals that he has an antidote and their plan will fail. The Silurians decide to take control of the centre and make power to revive all of their people and use a machine called a “disperser”.
The Brig and Liz try to make their way to the surface to make contact with London after the Silurians cut the communication off and break into the centre. Hawkins is killed in the raid but the Doctor says there will be no more killing or he won’t help them anymore. It’s raising another question about the Doctor and what his plans are as he leads the Silurians to the Cyclotron room and it seems as though he’s helping them. The Disperser’s aim is to destroy the protective layers in the atmosphere and render the planet uninhabitable to humanity. Has the Doctor switched sides or does he have a plan to outwit the Silurians?
With power coming through, the Silurians in their base try to start reviving their people, but the power isn’t high enough yet.
Yep, the Doctor does have a plan, as he tells Liz to lower all Uranium rods into the reactor when he gives the word. The Doctor’s plan causes the Disperser to overload and pushes the reactor into overload, meaning a nuclear explosion. The Silurians retreat back to their base to enter hibernation to wait out the radioactive period, leaving the humans to “die of the radiation.” Admitting that he’s pushed the reactor too far, the Doctor says they should leave at once, but the Brig tells him they’re trapped.
The Silurian hibernation units are set to revive in fifty years and the young Silurian tells the scientist that he will be the leader when their people revive and to make sure the humans are destroyed.
The Doctor’s plan to defuse the reactor problem is to fuse the neutron flow. A classic Pertwee Doctor line but it allows him to close down the reactor.
We obviously skip ahead a bit of time as the Doctor enters the Silurian base and is confronted by the young Silurian who goes to kill him. Bursting in, the Brig shoots the Young Silurian and asks the Doctor why he’s there. The Doctor’s plan is to revive the Silurian’s, one at a time so that they can be reasoned with.
Another little jump as the Doctor heads off to London to bring back a research team to investigate the Silurian base. Although the Brig’s farewell raises the Doctors suspicions a little. After he’s gone, we learn why, explosives have been placed around the Silurian base and he plans to seal it permanently by blowing it up.
Bessie has broken down out on the moors and just as the Doctor gets the engine going, explosions tear up the ground in the distance and the Doctor realises that the Brigadier has blown up the Silurian base. Liz believes him to have had orders from the Ministry, but the Doctor is rather angry at the Brigadiers murder of the alien race.
The Silurians represents a bit of a change in pace for Doctor Who to me, for a start we have a foe in the form of both Silurians and even the humans. It raises a huge moral dilemma in that the Silurians are not an invading alien menace, they are rightful inhabitants of Earth. You have to wonder how humanity would cope if we went underground and into hibernation to escape a catastrophe and emerged to find a highly evolved Dog offshoot running about the surface. You can see from the Silurians point of view that their world is over run by what they consider vermin and if we came home to find ants everywhere we’d call in the exterminator.
The Silurians themselves are a wonderful creation by Malc Hulke and they look absolutely superb. Their creation with a third eye to channel mental energy is a good addition to highlight that they really are an advanced race who have harnessed the full potential of their minds.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about how this story would fare with modern standards and the new series and its rushed elements. In relation, this is a very slow story, but it doesn’t drag. Each episode has elements showing work to the plot. Somehow, the Doctors statement that Baker was the first death at the end of episode five really implies great tragedy and that they’re facing something rather formidable. A new series approach and speedily running through it would have lessened the effect in my opinion.
The story has a certain feel to it that is one of scale and it has a wonderfully grounded feel. It has the feel that it could occur, after all, we don’t know what happened in the past, and as the Doctor says in Bloodtide, only stupid animals wander into tar pits and get preserved. In an aeons time, what will stand of Humanities endeavours, our oldest buildings are really young in comparison to the worlds history. Maybe sentient reptiles could have survived the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs and become a dominant life form.
Fiction aside, this story just oozes brilliance and makes a change from the alien invasion stories of the early seventies to one where Humanity are seen as the invading and hostile alien by those who believe the planet theirs, as they were there millions of years previously.

Next time - Ambassadors of Death.

[Fitz Kreiner]

The Ambassadors of Death:

Episode 1:
Right, here we are, back in the land of LB, with the good old VHS set up once again, and a nice cuppa! Shame there aren’t any biccies to hand.
Already we’re off to a slightly different start, as we’re given a teaser before the title and writer are given. An astronaut is going up to find Mars Probe 7, with whom there hasn’t been any contact for 7 months. There’s a great little bit with Charlie, the astronaut, saying “Something took off from Mars”. So the UK has got to Mars! We’re clearly better than NASA!
Then we get the title; Ambassadors... OF DEATH! A rather dramatic way of introducing the story.
Ooh, now that is rather impressive, the shot of the mission control room. It seems rather large and cavernous. They do seem to be pulling out all the stops for this season so far. There seems to be a much grander scale of everything that we’ve seen so far. And this mission seems to be public knowledge. There’s even a news team there reporting on things. And the Brig, of course!
The Doctor seems able to take the console out of the TARDIS here, unless of course, he’s had a rather drastic redecoration. And we’re given a small bit of comedy with the Doctor and Liz as they’re both projected slightly into the future by the console. And the Doctor is still talking about the Silurians being blown up by the Brig. Obviously it has affected him and seems to have caused a small rift between the two. It’s an interesting little moment showing their relationship.
The recovery capsule is approaching Mars Probe 7, and the Brig makes Cornish, the chap in charge, to ask the astronaut that it definitely is Mars Probe. He’s clearly suspicious of something.
Ooh, time for some funky music here as the two space ships link up. The model shots of these two capsules are fantastic. Not overly futuristic, but clearly based on the NASA space craft. It’s rather a tense moment as Recovery 7 links up and Charlie goes into Mars Probe. It’s wonderfully shot and cleverly done really giving a good sense of excitement.
Now that is fascinating. Charlie enters the link up tube and seems to scream silently as an alien sound permeates through to earth. The Doctor seems to remember hearing it, but can’t remember why. There’s certainly something going on with Mars Probe and there’s something strange in there.
Now we have an interesting character; Doctor Taltalian; he looks a bit like Pavarotti and has one hell of a weird accent.
And a rather interesting shot of the outside of the space centre. It’s a large tunnel that seems to disappear into a cliff face. It looks rather like the tunnel that appeared in Stargate for their base. Inside, Cornish is still trying to contact Recovery 7. The Doctor and Liz arrive, the Doctor shouting at someone as he arrives in a lift. It’s a lovely Doctor moment, rather reminiscent of when he arrives at UNIT HQ in Spearhead. He certainly seems to know a fair bit about what’s going on, especially when he confronts Cornish. It’s a lovely little scene.
The message is repeated, only for a reply to be sent, but not from the space centre. The Doctor is determined to find out where it’s coming from. There’s something else at work somewhere, but what and where?
This centre is rather impressive and it’s good to see the Doctor, Liz and the Brig all working together to triangulate the reply signal; an abandoned warehouse in London, seven miles from the centre. And we’re given a shot of it and two men working. And cue the Brig and the UNIT chaps, arriving in jeeps to some great incidental music. They’re storming the warehouse, time for action.
The chap in charge seems to think that their being found will be hard, so, in comes someone saying UNIT are outside. Famous last words methinks. However, they’re told not to kill unless necessary. And this chap is called a Sergeant. Some military group?
The Brig is valiantly leading the attack! Go Brig! We’re being treated to some great action shots of UNIT fighting these men. Gunfights and punch-ups galore! And there’s an interesting part at the end of the action where the Brig is at the mercy of one of the men in the warehouse, who has a gun trained on him. Strangely the man drops the weapon and raises his hands. And the chap in charge at the warehouse manages to get away just before the Brig arrives, destroying his equipment in the process.
The Doctor and Liz are after computer time with Doctor Taltalian but arriving in his lab, the man pulls a gun on them.
Episode 2:
The Doctor realises that Taltalian understood the message, and manages to spirit away the tape with the message when the crazed scientist asks for it. Taltalian clearly is a bit loopy! Fortunately the Brig arrives in time, but Taltalian runs off.
The Doctor and Brig go to talk to one of the prisoners UNIT took. The man doesn’t seem to be wanting to talk and isn’t in fact. There’s another great Doctor moment when the Doctor turns from being his nice calm self and turns on the man ordering him to stand to attention when talking to him and to call him “Sir”. He’s deduced that the man is a sergeant and working under orders. The mystery is deepening.
The capsule seems to have unlocked from Mars Probe 7 and is returning to Earth. And not only that, someone has attacked the guard outside the prisoner’s cell and seems to have released him. And to further add insult to injury, Taltalian has sabotaged his own computer to stop anyone analysing the message.
The capsule is now approaching landing, somewhere in the south of England. Thankfully we have the news team who seem to be providing a narration over certain parts of the story, letting us know the ins and outs that wouldn’t get told through narrative.
The Capsule is down and the Brig, Doctor and Cornish with a team have arrived to cordon off the area. There’s still no word from the astronauts within, and what’s worse, they seem to be being watched from the bushes by the chap who was in charge at the warehouse. Someone seems to be one step ahead of them.
We’ve got the UNIT incidental music again, signalling another action sequence as the Brig and the UNIT convoy take the recovery capsule back to the space centre. The Doctor seems to have been held up by technical problems on Bessie.
They don’t seem to have spared any expense for the action scenes; we’ve helicopters, motorcyclists, explosions, stuntmen, smokescreens, the lot. It’s certainly keeping the excitement up. And the men taking the raid have strange masks and hair-dryer guns that knock out the UNIT troops. And we’ve one brave UNIT lad who tries to tackle the helicopter pilot as he’s taking off.
The Doctor has spotted the recovery capsule being driven the wrong was and adopts “Doddering old motorist #24” voice to trick the men into helping him move Bessie and uses an anti-theft device to attach them to the car. He does manage to get Recovery 7 back to the space centre, ahead of the Brig; much to the latter’s confusion.
Liz has been working on the message and deduced that it’s pictographic communication, having transferred the message to digital. The Doctor believes it to be from an alien race so different that it is the only way they can communicate. After the Doctor and Liz leave, Taltalians’ assistant picks up the phone and tells someone they’re starting to crack the code.
And the Doctor and Brig go to see Sir James, the “top man” and let them know of their findings. Even he seems to be acting rather suspiciously, hiding Bruno Taltalian. This mystery is getting deeper and there seems to be trouble even from higher above.
Liz has managed to get through to the capsule, yet the astronauts seem to be saying the same things over and over again, in a rather mysterious way. The Doctor seems highly worried and orders the capsule cut open.
Episode 3:
The capsule is cut open, only to reveal that it’s empty. There is no trace of the astronauts, just a tape recorder that is triggered by their communication. Someone has removed the astronauts, most probably during a security check by UNIT, which the Brigadier is confused to hear about. It seems as though someone is going to extreme lengths to get hold of the astronauts.
We now see the chap who led the raid on the capsule and who was at the warehouse in a military uniform; General Carrington. He seems to know a bit about the astronauts, more than the scientists who seem to be working for him.
The Doctor and Brig are now confronting Sir James, who brings out General Carrington to explain about what’s going on. The Doctor and Liz are rather suspicious of him, the Doctor more so. Carrington seems to be spinning a story to the Doctor and co, about the capsule passing through a strange radiation belt. The Doctor still seems unsure and demands to see the astronauts.
But things seem to be getting deeper and deeper; someone is stealing the astronauts from where Carrington had them secured. Speak of the devil; he’s just arrived with the Doctor, Brig and Liz to find the scientists dead and the astronauts gone. And things get even more mysterious when the van which has driven off with the astronauts pulls into a quarry and the driver drags out the two other men from the back and buries them under gravel, planting weapons and papers on them. Not only that, the van has changeable number plates and sides.
A security team is examining the “secured area” where the astronauts were stolen from. The Doctor reveals that the actual astronauts are still in space, whatever came down in recovery 7 wasn’t human.
Cornish is preparing another capsule to go up to Mars Probe 7, but Sir James and Carrington seem adamant he must be stopped.
The alien astronauts are being watched over by a chap called Reegan and “doctor” Lennox. It seems as though the astronauts need more radiation, rather than less.
The Brig has gone down to Hertfordshire after the two bodies were found in the gravel pit, and Liz receives a message asking her to join him. Although it seems the brig didn’t send that message when he returns to the space centre. Liz, meanwhile, is being chased by a couple of thugs in a car. I think we have one of the first car chases in Doctor Who here as Liz is pursued in Bessie. One thing you have to admit, we’ve had a good action scene in every episode so far as Liz is chase over a weir and during the struggle with the two heavies, is flipped over the edge.
Episode 4:
The two heavies have pulled Liz up from where she was dangling over the fast running water and taken her to where the astronauts are being held. Liz recognises Lennox; clearly the two have a history.
Carrington has brought the items found on the bodies in the gravel pit, clearly convinced they were foreign agents, as they have newspaper cuttings and combs, each in the same language. The Doctor doesn’t seem hugely convinced.
The Doctor has received a phone call from someone threatening to kill Liz if he doesn’t stop “interfering”. It doesn’t seem to put him off however, as he goes straight back to work, albeit a little perplexed.
Liz and Lennox are working together to keep the alien astronauts alive, and a quick escape attempt by Liz is hindered by a locked door. It seems that Lennox is rather bitter about being underpaid in the past. Is he doing all this for greed? But he does seem to be willing to help Liz escape.
The Doctor meanwhile has discovered that the impulses that the astronauts were sending out are blueprints to build an electronic device, but what, he doesn’t know. But he still suspects Taltalian of something. The Pavarotti-alike is rather an unlikeable character. Even as the Doctor offers him a deal.
Liz seems to be making a good escape, getting as far as a road and managing to thumb a lift from a car. Unluckily for her, it contains Taltalian and he pulls a gun on her and takes her back to Reegan. Taltalian tells Reegan to put the Doctor out of the way permanently; clearly meaning to kill him.
The Doctor has told the Brig about his suspicions about Taltalian. He hasn’t believed a word that Sir James and Taltalian and even Carrington have told him. He gives the brig a list of the equipment he needs to build the device, which he hopes will give him answers. What he doesn’t know is the device is a communications device and Taltalian has already given a fully constructed one to Reegan.
Speaking of whom, Reegan has just given Taltalian a bomb in a brief case. How clichéd!
The Doctor is now offering to go back up in Recovery 7 to find out what happened to the real astronauts. And Taltalian is back, saying he agrees to the deal the Doctor set up with him earlier. He seems rather edgy, clearly unsure about killing the Doctor. The incidental music is building nicely adding a great suspense to the scene as Taltalian activates the bomb. It seems it’s been set to kill him as well.
Reegan has the device working now, thanks to Liz figuring it out for him. He now has complete control over the alien astronauts.
The Doctor is now sporting a plaster on his cheek. He’s survived the bomb blast easily. But he’s discovered a device that was what he was going to build among Taltalians personal artifacts.
Reegan has got one of the astronauts out of the containment room and seems to have a mission for it. He marches rather ominously down to the space centre, killing a UNIT soldier en route and two technicians. And typically, bullets don’t seem to be stopping it.
The Doctor seems to be finally convincing the Brig about his theories and suspicions. Whilst there, he gets a phone call from Sir James who says he’ll tell him the whole truth. But that’s not going to happen, as the astronaut enters Sir James’ office and kills him, and then destroys the contents of his safe. The Doctor soon enters and discovers his body, but the astronaut is still there and closes in on him, its hand outstretched for the kill.
Episode 5:
Here comes the Brig, in the nick of time, and shoots at the astronaut, stopping it from killing the Doctor. Another UNIT troop meets his untimely end courtesy of the astronaut, but the Doc and Brig escape unharmed.
Liz is plotting another escape attempt, this time sending Lennox instead of herself.
The bullets have been flattened by the astronaut, the Doctor suspects a force-field surrounding it. A UNIT sergeant arrives to give the Brig a report, and wahey! It’s Benton, from The Invasion! He’s had a promotion. Good on him.
The Doctor and Cornish are preparing the rocket for the Doctor to head up into space again. There’s a lovely scene between the two as Cornish looks over the results of the Doctor’s medical tests, to the latter’s seemingly embarrassment.
Carrington is rather convinced that the alien attack on the space centre is part of an alien invasion with help from a foreign power. He seems to be determined to stop the launch. There’s certainly something about him that doesn’t sit right.
Liz seems to have managed to persuade Lennox to escape, by talking his way out; saying that he needs to get more isotopes to keep the astronauts alive.
Cornish and the Doctor have managed to advance the launch time, due to Carrington’s constant blocking of the launch.
Lennox has made it to the space centre, and the Brig tells Benton to put him in a cell until he can get down there.
Reegan is rather annoyed to find out that Lennox has escaped. He threatens Liz until she eventually admits that Lennox has gone to see the Brig and gets on the phone to someone to “take care” of Lennox whilst he takes care of the Doctor. We find out what he’s up to when he gets into the fuelling area of the space centre and messes with the fuel injection, changing the percentages of the fuel that the Doctor is receiving in an attempt to sabotage the rocket.
In his cell, Lennox is brought a tray of “food” by a unit soldier, whose face we never see. Taking the metal covering off the tray it reveals a radioactive isotope.
The rocket lifts off, just too late when the Brig calls for an abort having discovered the sabotage. The flame aperture for liftoff is too great and putting the capsule in danger of being plunged into the sun.
The Doctor manages to get space control to remotely abort stage one and he reaches orbit and the Mars Probe and heads to link up. A large UFO starts to approach his position.
Episode 6:
The UFO is a large spaceship that seems to have taken the capsule and Mars Probe aboard. An alien voice talks to the Doctor, telling him to open the hatch and exit the capsule and that an environment has been prepared for him.
The shots of the inside of the alien ship are really impressive. They’re CSO but very good CSO, giving a very alien feel. The three astronauts are being kept in a waiting room, believing they’re on earth and in quarantine. An alien appears on a screen and tells the Doctor that the three astronauts are ambassadors and demands to know why they haven’t been returned.
Carrington seems adamant that the large object is an alien ship and should be destroyed. The Brigadier seems suspicious of him and for once doesn’t seem to want to attack the alien ship. Maybe he learnt something from the Silurian encounter?
The Doctor is outraged at what he hears about the ambassadors. The alien captain seems to be allowing him to leave and find the ambassadors. He seems a benevolent alien for once. It makes quite a change.
The Brig seems to be doing a good job so far, finding out the identities of the two bodies found in the gravel pit and getting forensics to examine the mud on Lennox’s shoes to try to narrow down where he has been. He seems rather convinced that Carrington is keeping something hidden now. And this is further added to when the Doctor comes through on the radio and tells just enough to be tantalising before saying he won’t say anything else until he’s landed.
One of the alien ambassadors removes its helmet in the radiation room in which he’s being kept. It’s rather creepy, especially as we merely get a brief glimpse of its face.
The UNIT soldier killed by the alien ambassador in episode four seems to be alive and well again, back at work! He even waves Reegan through into the restricted area. It seems the villainous chap is affixing a gas canister to the decontamination room.
I like the Doctor’s dressing gown. Striped and rather seventies. The gas seems to knock the Doctor out, and Reegan manages to get in and kidnap him.
The Brig goes down to see if the Doctor is alright and discovers the decontamination room empty and full of gas. Carrington is now trying to throw blame onto the Doctor, saying that the trouble only started when he arrived. He now seems to be showing some rather disturbing signs by shouting that blowing the alien ship up is their “Moral Duty”. And even Cornish seems to think he’s insane.
The Doctor has been taken to the same place Liz and the Ambassadors are being held and is made to make a communications device by Reegan, so he can talk to the aliens. The Doctor says that if they can’t get out, then they will have to bring the Brig to them. Liz seems rather surprised to see Carrington enter, thinking that he’s rescuing them. However, the Doctor is far from surprised as it transpires that he is the one behind everything, and levels a gun at the Doctor, again going on about his “Moral Duty”. The LB verdict; xenophobic, paranoid obsessive, i.e. Whack-job.
Episode 7:
Surprisingly Reegan stops the General shooting the Doctor, saying he can help them build a communications device. Carrington seems to accept this and holsters his pistol. Carrington reveals that the aliens were on Mars “before we were” and they killed one of his colleagues with a touch. Carrington seems to believe that he’s on a crusade to save the world from hostile alien invaders, again using the term “moral duty”. The Doctor agrees to build the machine for him, seemingly humouring him in a rather convincing way. Things are starting to get rather tense as Carrington seems to have a plan underway.
At the space centre the Brig is surprised to get a communication from Carrington saying he’s captured an alien astronaut and is bringing it to the centre.
Reegan is bringing the ambassadors to raid an isotope store. The incidental music that accompanies them is just stunning.
Carrington has got an alien ambassador sealed in a protective cage in the space centre, and has the reporter, Wakefield, to train the cameras on him for a worldwide telefeed to show the alien.
The Brig tells Carrington of the raid on the isotope store, fuelling his rant about the alien “invasion”, saying that the men seen with them were traitors and collaborators.
The Doctor has completed his machine; an advanced telegraph and broadcasts an S.O.S, which gets picked up by police, and everyone, including the UNIT personnel and Sergeant Benton. It also can be used to communicate with the aliens, who demand to know why they are being kept prisoner and made to kill.
A message is sent from the alien mother ship to the space centre, saying that they will attack if the ambassadors aren’t returned. Carrington uses this to help fuel his argument that the aliens are hostile and then orders the Brigadier to be arrested. That’s the second time he’s been arrested by a superior officer in three stories. Carrington seems to have imposed his martial law over the centre.
Go Brig, go! He manages to overpower his guards and escape and makes it back to HQ. It seems that he’s only got a few men left and the only transport is the Doctor’s car. It makes for quite a sight, several armed soldiers driving around in Bessie! Still they’ve arrived where the Doctor is being held to mount a rescue. We get another great order from the Brig as well; “Right, get ‘em!”. We’ve had quite a few good punch-ups in this story!
Another great Doctor line when the Brig finally shows up; “What kept you?” delivered as though he was tired of waiting. Now, how to get back to the space centre and stop Carrington with only a handful of men; the alien ambassadors.
Carrington has definitely flipped. Ranting about “Moral Duty” all over the place and ordering Cornish to be arrested. UNIT arriving just before Carrington manages to make his broadcast. It was a rather close call. Carrington’s acceptance that he has lost is almost touching, giving the impression that he has been driven mad by his experiences in space and had a mental breakdown.
It’s a good ending, everything being tied up and the Ambassadors being sent to their ship in exchange for the human astronauts, Liz remaining at the space centre to help Cornish communicate with the aliens.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this and I forgot how enjoyable it is. As with the first two stories of the season, it’s got elements that seem much grounded in reality and elements of the story do seem real. With the villains of the piece being human, it makes it a very human story, with very little alien activity, and the aliens involved in the story being benevolent and non hostile. It does certainly raise some very good questions as to what would humanity do if they were exposed to alien beings? Would we assume they were here to attack us? Looking at it as outsiders, we can say that Carringtons motives were wrong and that he was being xenophobic, but as a whole, isn’t that what humanity is like?
Ambassadors is a very underrated story, and a nice twist to the Doctor Who world, having benevolent aliens and humanity and human fears as the enemy. It’s a very hard thing to see clearly in black and white, with one side seeing themselves as a moral crusader and seeing the negative side of the alien’s messages, their threats to destroy if their ambassadors are not returned. It’s possibly an overreaction from the aliens to threaten to destroy, but what would we do in a similar situation.
It’s a great story, not the best of the season in my opinion, but certainly a good story with lots of deep running themes and questions. It’s certainly a change in pace for Doctor Who, especially after the historicals of the Hartnell Era and the Monster years of Troughton, we’re now given a very grounded and much more realistic setting for Pertwee, and this has been shown in the three episodes so far.

Next Time – Inferno.

[Fitz Kreiner]

Inferno:

Episode 1:
And we’re off to an explosive start, the story title, writer and episode number laid over images of exploding volcanoes and lava. Interesting.
And now we have the Doctor merrily singing as he drives Bessie round.
We’re at a drilling operation, that much is clear so far, and something seems to be amiss with number two output pipe. And we’re introduced to Professor Stahlman, who seems a bit of a pompous ass and very up himself.
There’s a strange green discharge coming from one of the pipes and the repairman foolishly touches it, and it seems to burn him. He seems to be acting rather strangely and attacks a scientist outside the drilling area.
UNIT seem to have been called in, and Benton is back again. And there’s a lovely scene when the Doctor arrives and spots an old picture of the Brig; “If it’s true, I can see why you grew that moustache!” It’s a nice scene between the two.
The drill head engineer, Harry Slocum, has murdered another engineer, and his wrench has been found, it’s strangely still warm, and was red hot when found.
Drilling engineer Greg Sutton has been called by Sir Keith, and we’re told that the drill head is 20 miles deep. And the technicians have nicknamed the operations centre; Inferno. So that’s where the title comes from. Sir Keith gives us a bit of background as to what’s going on here, they’re drilling for a new source of energy; “Stahlman gas”.
Stahlman isn’t too impressed of Sutton’s presence, leading to a lovely and amusing scene as Stahlman moans about “Advisors on everything” as the Doctor appears and asks if “our liver playing us up again?”. The Doctor clearly doesn’t have a lot of respect for Stahlman, and it’s cause for some rather amusing scenes between the two as the Doctor is rather sarcastic and flippant towards him.
The Doctor seems to have brought the TARDIS console down to the project, and is running his own “little project” in one of the huts onsite. It seems he’s trying to make a trip using the console.
We see Slocum again, and he seems to be mutating into some hairy creature. And there’s some fantastic incidental music, really chilling and atmospheric as Slocum does something to the reactor which causes the Doctor to vanish and enter a strange void.
Hmm, I like Liz’s short mini dress, which we finally get a good look at as she tries to get the Doctor back! Nice legs! She succeeds though, and the Doctor comes back, albeit on his head. He says he’s been in some “some sort of limbo, there’s a barrier [he] couldn’t break through”. He wants to try again because of it.
There’s an emergency at the Drill-head and Stahlman doesn’t seem to want to stop the drill or have the protective shields down. He’s rather a stubborn and single minded man it seems. We’re really not warming to him. We get another wonderful put down of Stahlman from the Doctor. And the drill-head is really going for it, belching steam and smoke.
The Doc and Brig arrive at the main switch room and find the technician unconscious as Slocum jumps out at them, mutating into a strange growling creature.
Episode 2:
One of the UNIT chaps sneaks round on Slocum and shoots him several times, but he is still alive, if not a little sluggish. When he finally dies, he leaves a strange scorch mark on the wall. And we have another great Doctor moment when he answers the phone from Stahlman and hangs up on the man. You get the feeling he really doesn’t like him.
Sutton is believing Stahlman to be “a complete nut”. He’s a much more likeable character than Stahlman, and he can keep his head in a crisis.
The Brig and Doctor are concerned about Private Wyatt and the technician who seem to be in some form of shock. There’s a nice scene between the Doctor and Brig up on a gantry as the Brig tells the Doctor he needs some answers. It’s a great scene between the two. The Doctor suspects there are links to Krakatau and the noises that Slocum was making, due to his hearing those noises at that event. Benton runs up and with news that Wyatt and the technician have run off.
The Doc spots Wyatt when the Brig has gone off with Benton, and the man is starting to mutate as Slocum did, and comes for the Doctor using his rifle as a club, but overbalances and falls from the gantry.
In central control, Sir Keith has got a jar of the strange green ooze from number 2 output pipe. Apparently it’s too hot to be analysed and the Doctor doubts it will cool down. The Doctor tells Liz he wishes he could hear it, which is strange to begin with, but Liz is more concerned about something “downright frightening” that the computer is telling.
Another great moment from the Doctor; “Yes, well I’ll tell you something that should be of vital use to you... That you sir, are a nitwit!” Stahlman picks up the jar of green and places it back in the metal container, against the Doctors warnings. He may have been contaminated by it as he wipes his hand down and then orders the power be cut off from the Doctors project. The Doctor sneakily switches the power back on to his hut when no one is looking, the cheeky devil. And Stahlman seems to be sabotaging his own computer, taking a microcircuit and going to smash it before being stopped by the Doctor.
We see a rather interesting form of martial arts from the Doctor; Venusian Karate. And it seems that just two fingers can temporarily paralyze a man. Stahlman manages to smash the microcircuit, putting it on the floor and stamping on it, shattering it.
The Doctor seems to be spinning Liz a line, asking her to go and use the computer to work out some Epsilon Coordinates and not saying he’s reconnected the nuclear power. After she’s gone he starts setting the console for something. It seems he’s going to try to take off again.
Liz arrives at the control room and realises what’s happening when the Brig tells her she’s been sent on a wild goose chase. Stahlman realises that the Doctor is using the power and cuts it off as Liz and the Brig arrive at the hut to see the Doctor, console and Bessie disappear.
Episode 3:
Liz tries to bring the Doctor back the way she did before but to no avail. The Brig demands that she tell him what’s going on. Together they try to get Stahlman to reconnect the power, but the twonk is having none of it. He’s really becoming rather a detestable character, one that you just want to smack round the face.
Sir Keith is off to London to see if he can get anything done about Stahlman. It seems as though there are a lot of people there who don’t like him, but there’s little they can do about it.
Speak of the devil, Stahlmans hand is stained green from where he picked up the jar of green goop. And the Brig admits to Liz that he’s rather worried.
The Doctor comes round in his hut, only it’s a little different. His equipment has gone and his “door handle” doesn’t work. Also, there’s a strange poster of a man staring out and the slogan “Unity is strength” underneath. And there’s a strange three arrowed symbol on the door which the Doctor notices when he pulls out in Bessie, and then gets shot at by the UNIT soldiers.
Action sequence time as the Doc drives round the project being shot at and chased by the soldiers and one even jumps into Bessie before being unceremoniously dumped out by the Doctor. There’s a good bit where the Doctor evades capture by balancing a dustbin lid on his head and crouches down among the bins. One of the technicians who was infected by Slocum goes for the Doctor on the gantries but is seemingly incapacitated by a fire extinguisher of all things.
Even Benton is shooting at the Doctor, it seems we’re in some sort of parallel universe as the troops are bearing a badge on their shoulders reading “RSF” rather than the UNIT insignia.
We’re now following a dark haired woman in the same uniform, and it seems to be Liz Shaw! The Doctor calls out her name which results in his arrest. And now we see the Brigadier! He doesn’t have a moustache and has a scar down the left side of his face through his eye and an eye-patch. The Doctor says that he seems to see what’s going on, saying he comes from a parallel space-time continuum when asked where he came from. The alternate Brigadier says that he’s trying to convince them he’s mad, but “it’s not going to work”.
Now we see the alternate Stahlman, beardless and wearing a white tunic and sunglasses. Sunglasses indoors? Maybe he’s on a mission from God? But he reveals that the Sir Keith of this universe is dead. The poor old Doc is suspected of being a spy and saboteur.
And now the alternate Greg Sutton. It seems that nearly everyone is copied here. Stahlman is still rather impossible but other than him, everyone else seems different, even Sutton seems more subdued.
The Brigade-Leader reveals that the Royal family were executed after the Defence of the Republic Act, 1943. Clearly things went badly awry during WWII. There’s a great bit of dialogue between the Doctor and Brigade-leader as the Doctor is told that his identity is being checked at central records and says that he doesn’t exist in this world. The Brigade-leader replies; “Then you won’t feel the bullets when we shoot you.”
The Doctor seems adamant that they all have “very little time left”, as the computer would confirm if it were working properly. It seems that penetrating the Earth’s crust could be potentially disastrous.
An alarm at the drill-head gives the Doc a chance to escape, using his Venusian karate on Benton, and he sets about trying to repair the computer rather than running only for Stahlman to spot him and raise the alarm. The Doc gets caught by Benton who asks if he’s going to accompany him out to a firing squad or get shot here and now.
Episode 4:
Liz seems to come to the Doctors rescue, only in concern for the correct procedure rather than saving him. The Doctor still manages to repair the computer, thanks to Liz.
The Doctor, Petra and Sutton are discussing the dangers that the computer is warning of, overlooked by Liz and Benton. Greg Sutton is using some severe technical terms here; shebang! I love that word. I use it myself a fair bit.
The Doctor is trying to get Liz to use her own mind rather than go along with the “bigoted” world she lives in.
Stahlman is back in his sunnies. He reminds me bizarrely of Doctor Strangelove when wearing them!
The Doctor is being interrogated by the Brigade-Leader and Liz. It’s rather chilling to see the regulars like this; ruthless fascists. Nick Courtney is really relishing the role, playing a polar opposite to the Brigadier just superbly.
The Doctor queries Stahlmans white gloves when he enters to see how the interrogation is progressing. The Doctor is convinced that he has been infected.
It seems alternate Sutton is also convinced that Stahlman is a nut, and tries to bring Petra round. Although it seems that she may be warming to him, as he says that a couple of days previously she would have reported him.
The Doctors fellow inmate in the security section seems to be mutating into a Primord.
We’re back in our home universe now, and the Brig and Liz are discussing what may have happened to the Doctor.
Sir Keith is going to the Ministry to try to halt Stahlmans project. He confides in the Brig and Liz that there’s something ominous about the project.
Back to the parallel universe and the Doctor has noticed that he’s got a Primord for company and calls for help. The RSF guard is swiftly despatched as the Primord technician bends the bars of its cell to attack the Doctor. And the Doc is free and on the run again. He’s disguising himself with a heat protective suit.
Penetration Zero in the parallel world is now three minutes away and the Doctor has joined a disaster crew in full protective gear, entering the drill head. The Brigade-Leader spots the Doctor at a console trying to stop the drilling. The Doc whips his protective headgear off and warns that they’re about to unleash unimaginable forces; “Listen to that, it’s the sound of this planet screaming out its rage!”
There’s a cracking cliff hanger, one of the best of the season so far, as Sutton jumps the Brigade-leader, knocking the gun from his hand and shouts at the Doctor to run as the countdown nears zero. Stahlman picks up the gun and trains it at the Doctor as the countdown hits the zero mark.
Episode 5:
“We have penetration zero” and an earthquake it seems, as everyone is thrown to their feet. It seems the Doctors predictions may be coming true. There are explosions a-plenty and there’s lots of green gloop coming from the bore head.
Stahlman seems to have flipped and is attacking the Doctor and Sutton as they attempt to seal the bore. And he’s sealed the safety shields from the inside. He’s also wiping the unconscious technicians faces in the green.
There are some great model shots of the complex as explosions and gouts of steam erupt from it. It really gives a good impression of doomsday as there are roars and explosions in the background. The Brigade-leader says that there have been severe seismic disturbances throughout the country.
The Doctor is still calling the Brigade-Leader “Brigadier”, but then it is a lot easier and shorter to say, especially when warding off from a Primord. It seems that fire extinguishers are a way of getting rid of them, they can’t stand the cold.
The Brigade-Leader is almost forcing Sutton to remain in control at gunpoint. He’s rather bellowy all of a sudden. Although I like Suttons response; “The worlds coming to an end and they’re still playing at toy soldiers.” And then mimics the republican salute. I don’t remember spotting the salute before.
Petra seems to have accepted finally that they’re going to die and no help is coming, admitting that she’s frightened to Sutton, who asks her to get out with him.
The Doctor is asking the Brigade-Leader and Liz to help him save a world, the parallel world. The Brigade-Leader is still highly dubious about the story but agrees to see the console.
The Brigade-Leader seems to now believe the Doctor after seeing a demonstration of the Console, but now seems adamant that the Doctor will take others with him. The Doctor flatly refuses saying there are possibilities of a dimensional paradox.
Stahlman has come through on the intercom and ordered the heat shield be raised. This can only be bad news as the Doctor is adamant that no human could have survived. And he’s right, Stahlman and the technicians have fully mutated into Primord creatures, hairy, beardy, green, savage.
Benton bursts into the control room only to be accosted by the Primords and begin a rapid and rather horrendous mutation. It’s almost like a werewolf transformation. Although the funky hairstyle he sports partway through the transformation is pure mullet! But still, the howls of the Primord and Bentons screams are rather chilling, making it a macabre scene.
We’re back in our universe and Sir Keith is on his way back to the complex. He’s persuaded the minister to suspend the project pending an investigation. It seems his driver has orders from Stahlman to stop Sir Keith returning if he has orders to stop the drilling. He offers to forget everything if his driver gets him back but it seems too late as they crash!
And we’re back in the parallel universe. One of the Primords growls down the camera in a rather amusing manner. Trapped in the Brigade-Leaders office, everyone bar the Brigade-Leader has voted to help the Doctor. And the Primords smash through the door window.
Episode 6:
The Doctor and Sutton are planning their escape from the office using the fire extinguisher to get into central control and then use the coolant for the drill as a “monster fire extinguisher” to fend off the Primords.
It seems the Brigade-Leader is starting to crumble and panic. It’s an interesting twist of the character, who was at one point hugely confident
The exterior shots are well done, giving the impression of extreme heat.
Back in our universe, the Brig wants to see Stahlman and is rather adamant that he’ll get him, telling Benton to “Carry him if [he has] to”. A small smile plays across his face afterwards which is a nice touch for the character, especially as we’ve seen the dark side of him of the parallel universe.
Sutton is quizzing Liz about the whereabouts of the Doctor, and she’s being rather and cleverly evasive about his disappearance until she admits that there was an accident.
The Brig has taken up Sir Keith’s reservations about the drilling and told Stahlman to halt the drilling, but the demented scientist isn’t having any of it.
And we’re back in the parallel universe. The Doctor, Sutton and Petra are working against the clock to hook the power up to the console. The Brigade-Leader seems to be planning to threaten the Doctor to take them away from the doomed world and back with him.
The Brigade-Leader really is starting to panic, and it’s interesting to see Liz’s character start to talk back to him as the formerly cold man starts to break down in fear.
There’s a fault in the wiring as Petra tries to send the power across with no luck and Stahlman bursts into the switch control room.
The exterior shots of the complex are really well done, really giving off the impression of intense heat as the disaster gets ever closer.
The Brigade-Leader has really lost it now. Panicked and scared and even ends up in a fist fight with Sutton, who beats the seven shades out of him before the Doctor intervenes. Sutton looks up to see that Petra has gone back to the switch room. She manages to do it and the power builds up in the console. The brigade-leader is threatening the Doctor to take him, reavealing how much the Doctor wants to take them but physically cant.
The cliff hanger builds brilliantly as the bore shaft explodes and Liz shoots the Brigade-Leader and a river of lava encroaches on the Doctors hut, as the power is still to erratic for him to take off.
Episode 7:
The Doctor made it! He’s back and Liz has found him.
There’s three hours twenty minutes to go before penetration zero in the home universe. Stahlman is “losing his grip” and if he makes a mistake it could be “lulu”, according to Sutton. He’s got some great dialogue this man, dialogue that I can get along with. Sutton overhears Benton telling the Brig that the Doctor is back.
Stahlman is starting to change mentally, hearing the whine that his alternate self did before he became a primord. It makes the danger to our world that little more threatening, as he loses his grip on reality and sanity, not listening to the warnings from Petra or Sutton.
The Doctor seems to be in a coma, again, lying in the hut, under watch of Liz and the Brig.
Sutton finally loses it with Stahlman, having it all out with him before making to storm out, shouting at Stahlman that he can blow himself up as far as he’s concerned. It’s a good little scene and shows just how Stahlman can wear down the patience of people he’s rude and intolerant to.
The Doctor in his comatose state tells Liz that number two output pipe has blown and how to put it right, from his knowledge from the parallel universe.
Stahlman has clearly lost it now, intent of pushing the drill down to reach penetration zero. Liz arrives with the Doctor’s suggestion and Sutton manages to get the situation under control.
There’s another nice little moment when the Doctor finally comes round and sees the Brigadier, telling him he looks better with the moustache and the Brig replies; “Delirious, poor chap”. The Doctor quickly recounts that he slipped sideways in time, and the regret is clearly noted in the tone of his voice about his leaving them as “terrible things are happening there”.
The Doctor seems to have gone mad, bursting into the control room and starts to smash the equipment shouting for the drilling to be stopped. He’s carried out by two UNIT troops and Benton under the Brigs orders. It seems as though things are going to repeat themselves on this world.
Stahlman orders all the technicians out of the drill head and then lowers the heat shield behind him. Meanwhile the Doctor uses the old Venusian karate to escape his guards and runs into the rogue primord technician and swiftly despatches him with a fire extinguisher.
Stahlman is smearing his face with the green goop, speeding his mutation into a Primord as the Doctor arrives in the control room. The countdown is now in the last two minutes as the Primord Stahlman bursts out of the drill head and is swiftly fire extinguished by the Doc and Sutton.
There’s a great scene as the Doctor and Sutton emerge from the drill head and stand still next to each other as the announcement says that countdown was aborted at 35 seconds. Petra and Liz rush over and hug Sutton and the Doctor respectively.
“Nothing like a nice happy ending is there?” the Doctor grins as Sir Keith reveals Sutton and Petra have already left together. The Doctor plans to use the reactor one more time to escape Earth after a little argument with the Brig, saying there are times he reminds the Doctor of his other self. Calling the Brig a “Pompous self-opinionated idiot” and disappearing. The scene ends nicely as Liz tells the Brig that she can see why the Doctor left as he appears back in the doorway, revealing that the Console dumped him in the rubbish tip, just yards away, as he tries to sweet talk the Brig into helping him, leaving Liz chuckling as the two men walk away.
Inferno is another great story and a great ending to the season. It’s the first time that Doctor Who has tackled the issue of parallel universes and seeing copies of all the cast, bar the Doctor, is really interesting. Nick Courtney in particular stands out for his performance as the Brigade Leader; initially a strong, cold hearted, ruthless man, relishing in the fascism of the British Republic to the panicked coward who is shot in the back at the end of part six. It’s such a change from the role of the Brigadier, a moral, upstanding character, who puts the interest of his men and his country first.
The story has continued the gritty realism of the season so far, both a landmark and benchmark season for Doctor Who, giving each story a great differential and each one raising questions about the activities of characters in the stories. Spearhead was more the alien invasion story, which would become the norm, but Inferno was a much more home grown threat. The fate of the parallel world, being consumed by lava and severe seismic activities is spine chillingly terrifying. The penetration of the Earth’s core and the pressures and power released from deep within the planet are forces that mankind cannot comprehend. Could we blame the Brigade-Leader for his breakdown into one of panic and fear at the end? How would we react if we knew it was doomsday and our own activities had facilitated the end of our world?
The fascist regime of the parallel world gives a terrifying insight as to what England could have become had the Second World War gone against us, or even if Britain decided to go into a fascist state alone. It mixes the “what if” elements and the science fiction elements of parallel worlds.
In all, this is a fantastic story and I rank this among the top Doctor Who stories of all time for all the aspects that it deals with, as does the rest of the season. It has boldly taken Doctor Who into both a new era and new areas all together. Here’s to season seven, and to the rest of the Pertwee era!

Next Time – Terror of the Autons.

[Oldmankrondas]

Great stuff LB, I've always thought that Season 7 has some of the most thematically interesting stories (The Silurians and Inferno) ever done in Doctor Who and indeed some of its most memorable moments (The shop dummy march in Spearhead, and the beautiful railway station scenes in Silurians.)

[Fitz Kreiner]

Cheers OMK. I have to say, it's my favourite season, containing three of my all time favourite stories, and has some great moments and wonderful themes, exploring areas that Doctor Who hasn't been to before and rarely returns to. There's little I can fault the season for.

Anyway, onwards and upwards...

[Fitz Kreiner]

Terror of the Autons:

Episode 1:
And we’re back with Pertwee’s second season as the good Doctor. And immediately we’re away at a circus and the rather portly owner; Rossini and strangely a TARDIS in the shape of a horse box. We see a small, dark man sporting a swish beard jump down. He’s immediately referring to himself as “The Master” and uses Rossini’s real name; Hugh Russell. There’s already something hugely sinister about him as he seems to control Rossini and snaps his fingers in leather gloves. The pair of them steals a Nestene Energy unit. This can only end badly. What a fabulous start to the story.
And we’re back with the Doctor, singing away as he does some work on the TARDIS, ironically “I don’t want to set the world on fire” as there’s a rather smoky explosion. Hello, who’s this who’s just come in and blasted the Doctors experiment with a fire extinguisher. She seems a little dim from first glance. She’s not the tea lady, that’s now clear, she’s his new assistant; Jo Grant. The Doctors reaction of “Oh no!” is rather nicely played.
The Doctor seems suitably outraged at finding out that the Nestene Energy Unit has been stolen. Understandably so.
Ooh, a radio telescope setting. There’s some interesting incidental music being played here. And two very seventies scientists at work. And that can only be bad news, as the Master turns up at the office on the gantry, entering on an unsuspecting Goodge and fires an energy weapon at the scientist. He’s up to something as he brings a crate with the energy unit in and hooks it to the radio telescope. Seems he’s bringing the nestenes back. And Philiips, Goodge’s supervisor comes running back up to see what’s going on, only to be confronted by the Master!
It seems Liz has gone back to Cambridge and the Doctor has been pestering the Brig for a new assistant and someone with the same qualifications as Liz. Apparently Jo has relatives in “High places” which landed her the job. There’s a nice bit of Doctor/Brigadier as the Brig tells the Doc that he should tell Jo he doesn’t want her, until the Doctor about turns and says that she’ll be of help, under the smug eyes of the Brig.
The Doc, Jo and the Brig have gone off to the radio telescope and are met by Captain Yates. Up outside the office, the Doctor is met by a strange man who seems to materialise out of thin air like a TARDIS. It seems he’s a Time Lord. There’s a nice scene between the Doctor and Time Lord, until the Time Lord reveals that the Master is on Earth. It seems the Doctor and Master know each other and have met before.
The Master has booby trapped the office, but how did he get out of there after setting it up? Still, the Doc manages to get in and stop the volatiser from exploding. The Doctor seems rather flippant towards the director of the research centre. There’s a horrific moment as the Doctor searches Goodge’s lunch and the scientist’s dead, shrunken body is found inside the lunch box.
The Master now seems to be passing himself off as a Colonel at a factory somewhere. With the nestenes involve, this can only be plastic, and it is. I wonder what the Master is up to?
It seems Captain Yates had the job of cleaning up after the Nestenes last time. And the nestenes may look like octopi. And they’re here already according to the Doctor.
The Master is hypnotising Farrell, owner of the plastic factory. It’s a subtly chilling scene, added to with some great music that seems to be becoming a theme for the Master.
Jo seems to be searching plastic factories alone and has found the Master. This can only be bad news, especially if she’s the new companion! And the “ham-fisted bun vendor” has gone and got the Master’s attention. It seems that he’s gone and hypnotised her and implanted some instructions in her.
Wahey, it’s Benton again. After the Brig he seems to be the longest serving UNIT member! It seems they’ve found Professor Philips car with a UNIT box in it.
We’ve got another factory scene with a Scottish fellow, McDermott, quizzing Farrell about the Master, saying there is no customer called Colonel Masters. The Master has been making Autons in the factory. That’s bad news.
There’s something wrong with the box that Benton has brought in and Jo’s insistence that she can open it. The Doctor seems to realise that it’s a bomb as Jo tries desperately to open it.
Episode 2:
Fortunately Benton and the Doc manage to get rid of the bomb, throwing it out of the window into a body of water. There are seagulls about, maybe this HQ is on the river? The Doctor realises that Jo has been hypnotised, and deduces that it was the Master.
McDermott is quizzing the Master about his intent, saying he’s ruined the day’s work. The Master demonstrates a plastic arm chair that seems to self-inflate. It’s quite chilling, coupled with the incidental music. McDermott says the chair looks like a black pudding. The Master almost commands him to sit in the chair. There’s something not right here as the chair starts to move. The Master coolly watches as the chair seems to smother McDermott, suffocating him. It’s a rather horrific scene and just terrifying.
“The human body has a basic weakness. One which I shall exploit to assist in the destruction of humanity.” Has there ever been a more chilling line said by a Doctor Who villain?
The Doctor has managed to get Jo out of her hypnotic trance and is trying to get her to remember the name of the factory where she met the Master.
Mr Farrell senior has arrived at the factory to take charge. The Master seems adamant on hypnotising him as well, telling him there is nothing to worry about. It seems his hypnosis isn’t working on the man, telling him his will is dangerously strong. The Master is up to something in Farrell sr.’s car, putting the heater on full before giving the man a “disgusting” troll doll, telling him he is trying out a new product.
The Brig says that if his agents don’t turn anything up, he’s going to raid every factory, leading to a great line from the Doctor; “You know Brigadier, your methods have all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop.”
Now that is rather scary, the troll doll, which the Master threw onto the back of Farrell’s car seat seems to be coming to life. That is until the man opens the windows.
It seems the Master sent Phillips to the circus to be found by the Doctor, where he plans to destroy him. This seems rather ominous.
The Doc is at the circus, and it seems as though Jo has hidden away in Bessie and gone with him. Ooh, it’s Toberman, wearing a leopard skin leotard watching the Doc. That looks rather ominous.
Farrell is back home and talking to his wife about their son and the Master and their apparent lack of concern over McDermott’s death. His wife doesn’t like the troll doll.
The Doctor has spotted the Master’s horsebox. He certainly seems to recognise it as not normal, but he’s grabbed by Rossini and Toberman the strongman who isn’t really Toberman. Tony, close enough. Anyway, they’ve got him tied up in Rossini’s caravan. There’s a great scene as the Doctor is questioned by Rossini and answers flippantly to all questions.
Jo has managed to let the Brig know that the Doctor has been taken prisoner and doesn’t seem to be listening to orders. She does manage to see Philips though on her way back to the Doctor.
There’s another terrifying moment as Mrs Farrell picks the doll up off the floor and places it on the side and it comes to life again as soon as she’s out of the room. It’s rather horrific to see it throttle Farrell before running off. If there’s one thing this episode is doing, it’s pushing the envelope in terms of horrific and terrifying scenes.
Jo comes to the Doctor’s rescue, hitting Tony over the head with a vase. Philips has received instructions from the Master and bursts into the caravan with a grenade to kill the Doctor and Jo. The Doctor manages to counter the Masters resistance and Philips runs out to get rid of the grenade. There’s a good little scene as the Doctor turns his body over and we see Jo’s reaction. The Doctor nips into the horse box and comes out moments later to be confronted by Rossini and a group of circus personnel only to be rescued by the police just before the Brig and Yates turn up.
Benton reveals to the Brig that the car isn’t a police car as Jo realises that there’s something wrong when she’s in the back. The Doctor asks to see a police officer’s warrant card and as he turns round, he leans forward and peels off his face, revealing him to be an Auton. It’s a fantastic cliff hanger that goes along with the rest of the shock factor of the episode in pushing the envelope. There can be no doubt about it; this has to be a runner for one of the scariest stories so far.
Episode 3:
Cue some in-car Venusian karate, as the Doctor causes the car to crash and he and Jo make their escape, the Autons firing at them. It’s another wonderfully scary scene as the two Auton police officers follow the Doctor and Jo into the quarry, hunting them. The Brig, Yates and a Private have arrived on the scene and calling for the Doctor, the Brig narrowly avoids being killed by an Auton. The luckless Private doesn’t though.
There’s a fantastic scene as Yates gets into the car and drives full pelt at an Auton knocking it down a steep incline only at the bottom, the Auton gets back to its feet immediately and starts climbing back up.
The Master seems less than surprised when Farrell reveals that the Doctor escaped the Autons.
There’s a nice scene back at UNIT HQ as the Brig runs through bullet points of what’s happening so far, the Doctor paying little to no attention and preparing as if he’s about to leave in the TARDIS. There’s a great line from the Doctor to Jo; "I sometimes think that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms." It seems that the Doctor is trying to use a circuit he took from the Master’s TARDIS to take a “proving flight”. But it doesn’t work and the Doctor sheepishly emerges from the TARDIS in a cloud of smoke. “I like being childish” he mutters.
The Master seems to have made some plastic daffodils and they’re being distributed by the Autons, wearing some creepy, large carnival masks. And it seems the Autons can speak, telling Farrell that they must drive to the next distribution centre. The gravelly voice is rather unnerving.
Jo tells the Doctor about the reports of a promotional tour, which the Doctor dismisses, saying the Master is highly unlikely to advertise what he’s doing. The Brig has brought in a chap from the Ministry, allowing the Doctor to show off more of his flippancy and annoyance at politicians. It’s a great trait that seems to have followed the third Doctor since The Silurians. But it seems as though he goes to the same club as Lord “Tubby” Rowlands, who’s in charge of the “pen pushers”. It seems there has been a wave of mysterious deaths across the country, including that of Farrell, which causes the Doctor and Jo to visit Mrs Farrell.
She tells the story of what happened, saying she found him dead after going to make the coffee after dinner. She says he was upset about McDermott’s death and worried about their son, falling too much under the influence of Colonel Masters. Things start to fall into place for the Doctor upon hearing the name.
Yates has walked into the Doctors lab to find a telephone engineer installing a new phone. It’s odd, after he checks his pass he seems to stare at the man’s bum!
Mrs Farrell gives the Doctor the troll doll that her husband was given telling him that when they took her husband’s body she found it under the curtains, as though it was trying to escape. Back at HQ, the Doctor is examining the doll, finding it to be made of solid plastic. There’s another nice moment when the Doctor scolds the Brigadier for not having all the equipment he needed in stock, a light hearted moment after the dark nature of the episo
de so far.
The Autons in the bus are pushing Farrell to leave when the door is thrown open and telephone engineer is in the doorway. He peels his face off revealing the Master. That means that there’s going to be something deadly wrong with the telephone he installed.
Yates is making cocoa for himself and Jo, using the Docs Bunsen burner, which happens to be nest to the troll doll, which starts to come to life again. It’s so chuffing creepy that thing, and it makes a go for Jo. You can really see how this would have freaked out the kids of 1971. It still creeps me out in 2009! Fortunately, Yates arrives and shoots it to pieces.
The Doc and Brig have gone to Farrell’s factory to find it deserted. The desk calendar reveals they left today. The Doctor spots a plastic daff on the floor and tells the Brig to keep hold of it. The Brig spots the order form for a 15 seater coach as the Doctor tries to open a safe. There’s a shocking moment as it reveals an Auton within.
There’s another wonderful moment as the Doctors outrage at Yates for going to make cocoa in the lab turns to the realisation that the doll was activated by heat. I’ve just noticed that the Doctor has been changing his clothes a lot this story! The Doctor gets a phone call from the Master, who simply wants to “say goodbye” before activating a buzzy thing down the phone. Another horrific moment as the phone cable comes to life and wraps itself around the Doctor’s neck. The fear factor is shooting through the roof for this story.
Episode 4:
The Brig hears the Doctors cries for help and pulls the cable out of the wall, much to the annoyance of the Master at the other end of the line. Cue witty reply from the Brig; “Afraid I cut your connection.” That line always makes me smile.
The Doc is now trying to work out how the Daffs work and Yates says the brig wants to know if they’re dangerous, in a scoffing manner. He looks a touch crestfallen when the Doctor admits that’s what he’s trying to find out.
The Brig has got a report about the coach and seems to be preparing an attack. The RAF are “laying on” a rocket strike. The Doctor has an hour and a half before the strike to find out about the Daffs. Yates gives Jo a radio with which to contact them. The Doctors electron microscope has revealed a Nestene patter; nose and mouth. Getting Jo to contact the Brig and seeing the daffs reaction to the radio signal makes the Doctor realise what triggers them off; radio waves. There’s another horrific moment as the daff shoots a jet of plastic film over Jo’s nose and mouth. Fortunately the Doctor manages to get the film off her face before she loses consciousness.
The UNIT chaps have got confirmation of the air strike, 37 minutes, unaware that the Autons know they’re being observed.
The Doctor wonders why the film wasn’t found on the bodies before realising that it was dissolved by CO2 from the lungs. Just then the Master appears in the Lab, saying he’s come to kill him. Cue the typical villainous gloat. “Death is always more terrifying when it strikes invisibly.” The Master really has some of the most chilling lines we’ve ever had. And he’s not wrong. The Doctor manages to bluff the Master, saying that if he kills him, then he also destroys his dematerialisation circuit. Just in time for Jo to blurt out UNIT’s plans for the Master to overhear and change plans.
Farrell seems to have overcome the Master’s influence and tries to run before being clubbed down by the Autons.
Watching the quarry, the Brig and Yates see the Doctor, Master and Jo pull up in Bessie, and Benton rushes to cancel the air strike. It seems the Master has advanced his plans. The Doctor and Jo have been tied up yet the Doctor is attempting to warn UNIT using the brake lights to send a message via Morse code. And it seems as though Jo is versed in escapology as well, freeing herself from her bonds and then the Doctor.
The Autons have driven the coach to the radio telescope, where UNIT has set up a defensive position. Farrell causes the Bus to swerve off the road, allowing the Doc and Jo to jump to freedom. The Master orders the Autons out to keep UNIT busy while he activates the radio telescope to commence the invasion.
The look on the Master’s face as he throws an engineer off the gantry is hugely chilling. There’s no doubt of his malice and evil, especially as he seems smug in triumph as the Nestenes arrive via the radio telescope. However, it seems the Doctor is capable of changing the mind of the Master telling him the Nestene won’t discriminate between him and humanity.
There are some great action sequences in the battle between UNIT and the Autons, soldiers flying all over the show.
It seems the Master has changed his mind and helped the Doctor fling the Nestenes back into space, causing the Autons to collapse. He slips off, escaping back to the coach before emerging with his hands up, surrendering. No, he pulls a gun out only to get shot dead by Yates. That was a shocker. The Doctor isn’t so sure though, pulling the Master’s face off, revealing Farrell. The Master is still in the coach and tries to plow the Doctor over, getting away.
Back at HQ, the Brig reveals that the Master got away. The Doctor however reveals that he’s stuck on earth as the Demat circuit he took was actually the broken one from the Doctor’s TARDIS and he’s rather looking forward to the Master turning up again.
Well, what can you say? A fantastic story, although not hugely an Auton story, more about the new regular team and establishing the Master. The Master; is there anything bad to say about him in this? The straight answer; no. Wonderfully and chillingly played by Roger Delgado, he’s a joy to watch, and in fact steals the story from the Doctor and co in my view. From the moment he first steps down from his horsebox TARDIS and makes his presence known, he dominates the screen. He oozes both charm and sophistication and evil and malice at the same time, a wonderful opposite to Pertwee’s Doctor, who can be, and let’s face it, rude at times. In the short time they were together on screen they portrayed a wonderful chemistry.
The Autons, although sidelined a bit in this story, were fantastic. The story certainly lived up to its title of “terror” through the oft horrific scenes in which plastic Autons kill; the chair, troll doll and daffodils. Elements that have stuck firmly in my mind since I first saw parts of this story at age eight, mainly the troll doll which scared the bejeesus out of me. This story certainly pushed the envelope as far as it could and into territories that the show has never been into before. A key moment is the revelation that police could be Autons, pushing the familiar and safe into realms of danger and horror. Both a bold and dangerous move for the show, but it played out well in the story.
Again I have to come back to Delgado, his Master was the highlight of a fantastic story and another landmark inclusion of an era of the show that had already added many landmark moments. We’ve two new characters as well in Jo Grant and Mike Yates, who seem to share interesting formations for a relationship, with her calling Yates by his first name, and his offer to make her cocoa. It seems we have a regular team forming here and I’m reminded of the last words of the Doctor of this story in regards to meeting the Master again; “I’m rather looking forward to it.”

Next Time – The Mind of Evil.

[Claire Voyant]

Great write-ups, LB. Please continue.

[Fitz Kreiner]

Thanks Claire. I have to admit I've hugely fallen behind, been busy with other things. Service will be resumed as soon as possible! ;D