Post by Tumble Lord on Nov 8, 2005 21:37:36 GMT
"The heat must have been indescribable, it's turned the earth to ashes"- The Doctor
Story B: "The Mutants" written by Terry Nation
Produced by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert.
Starring William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carol Ann Ford, John Lee and Virginia Wetherell.
Eerie accompanyment of suitably creepy music set the tone exactly as this seven part story weaves into action; the way the camera leads its way slowly through a grove of strange-looking trees and bushes; the use of shadows affording a sense of foreboding to compliment the music. A forest unlike any other as the four travellers emerge onto into the dim light, unaware that the radiation gauge on the ship's console registers extreme presence of the pollution. This is the first serial in the series to possess a fully science-fiction based settings, adopted with some elements of the Time Machine say a few critics. The story by comparison to its predecessor possesses some very adult themes, the kind that you would not find in any children's programmes but all this is cleverly used to provoke an adult audience; the first instance that Doctor Who could be a piece of family entertainment as well as historically intriguing.
A world unlike any that Ian and Barbara recognise, certainly it bares no resemblance to the Earth they left behind; a forest of trees standing in ash, not soil, as the Doctor kneels grabbing a clasp of the material, watching as it pours effortlessly to the ground. Dust, ash, not soil that is healthy and rich and capable of supporting life; the trees, Ian notices break; fracture as fragile as the dust heaped on the ground.
It is noted that in later stories, the Doctor's involvement is not as great as his later incarnations; Hartnell's use of exaggerating the characterisation to make him appear absent-minded and sometimes forget his lines. Ian would take over as the brains, gently coaxed into the correct direction by the Doctor's observing. Susan runs off to explore; energetic and unworried whilst Barbara has a felling within her, a sense of dread that they should leave, this goes unnoticed. Susan summons her grandfather to invesigate a flower; an actual living thing present within the soil structure but all too quickly it fractures like glass, like the trees and soil into dust. Whatever has happened, the heat has turned all to ashes, bleaching life from this petrified jungle; and suddenly the first instance of an alien monster is encountered, what Sydney Newman referred to as "Bug-eyed monsters"; something he despised should not happen, wanting Doctor Who to be an educational storytelling programme that dealt with history exploring. Science fiction was to play a small part in the proceedings, something that changed with this story, not simply cowboys and indians in space but an intelligent-thought provoking serial.
A creature; the size of a small crocodile, possessing eyes on stalks; a row of spines lining its back lies under the cover of some foliage, a scream from Barbara has drawn all four together as they stand some feet from it but it fails to move; an indication that they are not on Earth not in its past or extreme future. This beast is dead, the eyes do not move but more so; it has been solidified and its flesh its metallic, metal- later to be called a "Magneton", held together by an inner magnetic field. The night creeps in too quickly now but with the idea of an alien world in mind, Ian agrees with Barbara to depart but it is the youngest member present to discover the motivation for the rest of the story. Susan stands on a rocky ledge, below her as she calls for the others stands a mighty city, a city of metal gleaming in the eerie light but there is no sign of life; an alien planet, a dead world and the sign of a city. However the urgency to leave overtakes the Doctor's enthusiasm and he is forced to return to the ship, standing incongruously in the forest's clearing.
However, Susan is left on her own, spying a similar flower to the previous one, it is then that she know they are not alone; spying something; a brief glimpse of something unknown, she runs back to the TARDIS, scared. Something is out there but as the ship tries to take off- it fails, something is wrong; a vital component run by mercury has failed, they need it to leave. The only logical place to find it or a substitute is the city, however as they depart the TARDIS, they discover a metal box. Further signs of something out there, intelligent yet elusive, with this box placed inside the ship for further study, the travellers move off.
Growing ever weaker is Barbara, attacked at first by exhaustion for the city is so vast and there are many entrances, splitting up Barbara, weak wanders off down corridors, confronting something she cannot understand. The sets in later stories were designed for human actors, making it harder for the monsters to negotiate them but not here; the sets are round, oval, claustrophobic and the travellers have to hunch down. The others, seemingly growing weaker, sweat appearing on their brows discovers instruments; sophisticated technology indicating the danger of the air and following this the masters of the city.
Taken at first to be merely machines, they are ordered to a holding cell but Ian is desperate to escape and is blasted by a paralysing weapon.
The travellers soon learn the neature of their trouble; the air is filled by heavy fall out, the concept of a neutronic war bleaching the planet, leaving these machines the sole survivors. They are not simply machines but armoured life-support systems for the xenophobic descendants of a race known as the Daleks and that they shared the world with another race; The Thals, who the Daleks besiege as "hideous monsters", the cell is metal lined possessing a surveillance device that overhears the information concerning the drugs
With Ian incapable of walking, Barbara and the Doctor unconscious, Susan is left to make her way through the forest as night falls, she retrieves the drugs and falls foul of a hideous scaly creature, revealed to be a cloak. A humanoid man named Alydon tells Susan of the truth, revealing that the Thals did indeed survive, deducing that Daleks want the drugs for themselves. With Susan returned, the travellers recover but all-too-late, the cold manipulative streak of the Daleks is seen as they get Susan to lure the Thals into the city with a plea to their leaders concerning food. With the surveillance system disabled, the Doctor is adamant to prevent this trap from unfolding, using his guile to disable a casing, they gain access to a lift but too soon are they discovered and alarm bells ring! Ian and the Doctor's expressions regarding the exposed creature is utter horror and repulsion; only the slightest claw protrudes from the edges of the cloak; webbed, gnarled. Creating the means for the audience to mentally picture the horrible thing.
As the Thals, led by their King; Temmousus enter the city, the trap is quickly foiled though by the death of Temmousus, who is ruthlessly cut down. The moral view of the Daleks is terrifying; that they despise anything different to themselves and will kill anything non-Dalek like. What's scarier is the Thals' reaction; they are pacifistic- incredibly so, they will choose death over defence. The travellers cannot leave, they need the Thals to stand up, the all important component the ship needs- a rouse just to explore the city- has fallen into Dalek hands. Breaking a pacifist's believe is hard, moral applications of survive or die are pushed to breaking point as two parties decide to attack the city.
Drugs synthesised from the Thals' solution are created, tested and fails, the Daleks cannot leave their casings, they need the radiation to survive and so begin making preparations to overflow their reactors flooding the planet with radiation, they will rebuild the environment to suit them by any means necessary. The Doctor and Susan are captured as they attempt to sabotage the power the Daleks need, the creatures discover the purpose of the TARDIS and set about their countdown. Utterly fixed on destroying all alien life to them.
A lake of mutations bars Ian, Barbara; Thals- Ganatus, Antodus, Kristas, Ellyon, obtaining water proves fatal to Ellyon as a beast, a monstrous creature drags him beneath the surface; again the subtle use of not showing the full creature; just flashes of tendrils. A mountain range conceals an entrance to the city but Antodus falls to a chasm; this quest becoming too dark a story for children- surely? The city is invaded, Ian, Alydon, Kristas, Barbara, Ganatus attack the Daleks, freeing the Doctor, destroying the power source in the process. A weak screeching cry from the last Dalek signifies the end of the terror, all the others lie silent, dead, no longer capable of absorbing power like dodgem cars; static electricity.
With the component restored, the Thals can safely rebuild the Planet Skaro without fear of the Daleks, the travellers bid Alydon a fond farewell but no sooner do they depart then there is an explosion and the ship lurches off course, the Doctor tries to wrest control but all are thrown to the floor in a suspenseful climax to the proceedings.
QUOTES:
"But look at the needle... it's past the danger point!"
"Over five hundred years ago there were two races on this planet. We, the Daleks, and the Thals. After the Neutronic war, our forefathers retired into the city, protected by these machines"
"A dislike for the unlike"
"What would you do if the Daleks could leave their city? If they came up here and attacked you?"
"Oh they're find a way. They're clever enough. They'll find us and kill us. You know that as well as I do"
Story B: "The Mutants" written by Terry Nation
Produced by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert.
Starring William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carol Ann Ford, John Lee and Virginia Wetherell.
Eerie accompanyment of suitably creepy music set the tone exactly as this seven part story weaves into action; the way the camera leads its way slowly through a grove of strange-looking trees and bushes; the use of shadows affording a sense of foreboding to compliment the music. A forest unlike any other as the four travellers emerge onto into the dim light, unaware that the radiation gauge on the ship's console registers extreme presence of the pollution. This is the first serial in the series to possess a fully science-fiction based settings, adopted with some elements of the Time Machine say a few critics. The story by comparison to its predecessor possesses some very adult themes, the kind that you would not find in any children's programmes but all this is cleverly used to provoke an adult audience; the first instance that Doctor Who could be a piece of family entertainment as well as historically intriguing.
A world unlike any that Ian and Barbara recognise, certainly it bares no resemblance to the Earth they left behind; a forest of trees standing in ash, not soil, as the Doctor kneels grabbing a clasp of the material, watching as it pours effortlessly to the ground. Dust, ash, not soil that is healthy and rich and capable of supporting life; the trees, Ian notices break; fracture as fragile as the dust heaped on the ground.
It is noted that in later stories, the Doctor's involvement is not as great as his later incarnations; Hartnell's use of exaggerating the characterisation to make him appear absent-minded and sometimes forget his lines. Ian would take over as the brains, gently coaxed into the correct direction by the Doctor's observing. Susan runs off to explore; energetic and unworried whilst Barbara has a felling within her, a sense of dread that they should leave, this goes unnoticed. Susan summons her grandfather to invesigate a flower; an actual living thing present within the soil structure but all too quickly it fractures like glass, like the trees and soil into dust. Whatever has happened, the heat has turned all to ashes, bleaching life from this petrified jungle; and suddenly the first instance of an alien monster is encountered, what Sydney Newman referred to as "Bug-eyed monsters"; something he despised should not happen, wanting Doctor Who to be an educational storytelling programme that dealt with history exploring. Science fiction was to play a small part in the proceedings, something that changed with this story, not simply cowboys and indians in space but an intelligent-thought provoking serial.
A creature; the size of a small crocodile, possessing eyes on stalks; a row of spines lining its back lies under the cover of some foliage, a scream from Barbara has drawn all four together as they stand some feet from it but it fails to move; an indication that they are not on Earth not in its past or extreme future. This beast is dead, the eyes do not move but more so; it has been solidified and its flesh its metallic, metal- later to be called a "Magneton", held together by an inner magnetic field. The night creeps in too quickly now but with the idea of an alien world in mind, Ian agrees with Barbara to depart but it is the youngest member present to discover the motivation for the rest of the story. Susan stands on a rocky ledge, below her as she calls for the others stands a mighty city, a city of metal gleaming in the eerie light but there is no sign of life; an alien planet, a dead world and the sign of a city. However the urgency to leave overtakes the Doctor's enthusiasm and he is forced to return to the ship, standing incongruously in the forest's clearing.
However, Susan is left on her own, spying a similar flower to the previous one, it is then that she know they are not alone; spying something; a brief glimpse of something unknown, she runs back to the TARDIS, scared. Something is out there but as the ship tries to take off- it fails, something is wrong; a vital component run by mercury has failed, they need it to leave. The only logical place to find it or a substitute is the city, however as they depart the TARDIS, they discover a metal box. Further signs of something out there, intelligent yet elusive, with this box placed inside the ship for further study, the travellers move off.
Growing ever weaker is Barbara, attacked at first by exhaustion for the city is so vast and there are many entrances, splitting up Barbara, weak wanders off down corridors, confronting something she cannot understand. The sets in later stories were designed for human actors, making it harder for the monsters to negotiate them but not here; the sets are round, oval, claustrophobic and the travellers have to hunch down. The others, seemingly growing weaker, sweat appearing on their brows discovers instruments; sophisticated technology indicating the danger of the air and following this the masters of the city.
Taken at first to be merely machines, they are ordered to a holding cell but Ian is desperate to escape and is blasted by a paralysing weapon.
The travellers soon learn the neature of their trouble; the air is filled by heavy fall out, the concept of a neutronic war bleaching the planet, leaving these machines the sole survivors. They are not simply machines but armoured life-support systems for the xenophobic descendants of a race known as the Daleks and that they shared the world with another race; The Thals, who the Daleks besiege as "hideous monsters", the cell is metal lined possessing a surveillance device that overhears the information concerning the drugs
With Ian incapable of walking, Barbara and the Doctor unconscious, Susan is left to make her way through the forest as night falls, she retrieves the drugs and falls foul of a hideous scaly creature, revealed to be a cloak. A humanoid man named Alydon tells Susan of the truth, revealing that the Thals did indeed survive, deducing that Daleks want the drugs for themselves. With Susan returned, the travellers recover but all-too-late, the cold manipulative streak of the Daleks is seen as they get Susan to lure the Thals into the city with a plea to their leaders concerning food. With the surveillance system disabled, the Doctor is adamant to prevent this trap from unfolding, using his guile to disable a casing, they gain access to a lift but too soon are they discovered and alarm bells ring! Ian and the Doctor's expressions regarding the exposed creature is utter horror and repulsion; only the slightest claw protrudes from the edges of the cloak; webbed, gnarled. Creating the means for the audience to mentally picture the horrible thing.
As the Thals, led by their King; Temmousus enter the city, the trap is quickly foiled though by the death of Temmousus, who is ruthlessly cut down. The moral view of the Daleks is terrifying; that they despise anything different to themselves and will kill anything non-Dalek like. What's scarier is the Thals' reaction; they are pacifistic- incredibly so, they will choose death over defence. The travellers cannot leave, they need the Thals to stand up, the all important component the ship needs- a rouse just to explore the city- has fallen into Dalek hands. Breaking a pacifist's believe is hard, moral applications of survive or die are pushed to breaking point as two parties decide to attack the city.
Drugs synthesised from the Thals' solution are created, tested and fails, the Daleks cannot leave their casings, they need the radiation to survive and so begin making preparations to overflow their reactors flooding the planet with radiation, they will rebuild the environment to suit them by any means necessary. The Doctor and Susan are captured as they attempt to sabotage the power the Daleks need, the creatures discover the purpose of the TARDIS and set about their countdown. Utterly fixed on destroying all alien life to them.
A lake of mutations bars Ian, Barbara; Thals- Ganatus, Antodus, Kristas, Ellyon, obtaining water proves fatal to Ellyon as a beast, a monstrous creature drags him beneath the surface; again the subtle use of not showing the full creature; just flashes of tendrils. A mountain range conceals an entrance to the city but Antodus falls to a chasm; this quest becoming too dark a story for children- surely? The city is invaded, Ian, Alydon, Kristas, Barbara, Ganatus attack the Daleks, freeing the Doctor, destroying the power source in the process. A weak screeching cry from the last Dalek signifies the end of the terror, all the others lie silent, dead, no longer capable of absorbing power like dodgem cars; static electricity.
With the component restored, the Thals can safely rebuild the Planet Skaro without fear of the Daleks, the travellers bid Alydon a fond farewell but no sooner do they depart then there is an explosion and the ship lurches off course, the Doctor tries to wrest control but all are thrown to the floor in a suspenseful climax to the proceedings.
QUOTES:
"But look at the needle... it's past the danger point!"
"Over five hundred years ago there were two races on this planet. We, the Daleks, and the Thals. After the Neutronic war, our forefathers retired into the city, protected by these machines"
"A dislike for the unlike"
"What would you do if the Daleks could leave their city? If they came up here and attacked you?"
"Oh they're find a way. They're clever enough. They'll find us and kill us. You know that as well as I do"