Day 129 — May 9th 2021
Spearhead From Space Episodes One and Two
Spearhead From Space — Episode One
Jon Pertwee was my vary first Doctor Who, via the VHS tape of Invasion of the Dinosaurs rented from my local library in 2003. I enjoyed it enough to keep picking up assorted Doctor Who adventures until the series’ return eighteen months later really ignited my love for the programme. And yet for a long time he was my least favourite of all the incarnations.
That’s not to say I disliked him — I liked him well enough, just not as much as the others. For that reason I tended to reach for his stories less frequently, and when I was doing my last marathon I genuinely worried that I’d give up on watching them all once I had to sit through his five seasons. I can’t remember particularly what I thought of any of his stories last time around — and I’m looking forward to finding out how I feel about them now over the next couple of months — but I recall finding a lot to enjoy in his era.
Indeed my dream ideas of ‘What I’d do with Doctor Who if the BBC inexplicably put me in charge tomorrow’ draws more, I think, from this era than any other. I know I didn’t particularly take to his portrayal of the character until The Time Warrior where he suddenly clicked for me, but I’m, wondering if that’ll be different this time around, now that I know there’s so much I like coming up?
We’re off to a good start with Spearhead From Space, simply because it looks beautiful. It’s the only story of the Old Testament that we can watch in full HD throughout, and that instantly makes it better. I’ve said countless times in this marathon that I wish the series had always been shot on location and on film, and this episode helps to show just how good it could look. This was the first Blu-ray I ever bought, and I’m still floored by the quality.
When talking about this story it’s customary to note that it’s a distinct break with everything that’s come before. The series is in colour for the first time, and the all-film approach just serves to hammer home that things are different. But it’s not only visually that things have changed. This feels like a different programme to the one I’ve been watching since January. It’s more adult, and certainly aimed at an older audience than I’m used to.
That downside to that is that the episode can risk being a little talky and there’s a risk that it might stray into being a little bit dull. I think the glossy film look helps to paper over that, and I can’t say that I’ve been bored by it today, but I imagine a ten year old in 1970 being a bit disappointed by this one given that when the series was last on telly six months earlier it was one of the most action-packed and exciting adventures we’d ever seen.
This episode has a considerably more leisurely pace. There’s no monsters, and not even really a hint of a villain. Channing hovers around in the background being a little bit sinister, but he’s really more part of the mystery than any out and out threat at this stage — even when he takes part in bundling Doctor Who into the back of an ambulance. It doesn’t feel like an action sequence in the way I’ve been used to.
And then there’s Doctor Who himself. He’s barely in this one! By my count, Pertwee utters a total of 125 words across the episode, and spends most of the running time unconscious. If I’d waited six months to see the new Doctor Who, I think I’d be a bit disappointed in that. As an adult, though, I really appreciate his first exchange with the Brigadier;
Brigadier: ‘He’s a complete stranger. I’ve never seen him before in my life.’
Doctor Who: ‘Lethbridge-Stewart? My dear fellow, how nice to see you again.’
Munro: ‘He knows you, sir.’
Brigadier: ‘But he can’t do. Look here. Can you hear me? Who are you?’
Doctor Who: ‘Don’t you recognise me?’
Brigadier: ‘I’m positive we’ve never met before.’
Doctor Who: ‘Oh, dear. Oh, I can’t have changed that much, surely?’
It seems fitting that the first proper conversation this incarnation has with another person is with the Brigadier. Courtney plays the part so well, and I’m looking forward to having him back in the series for the long haul. I’m even more pleased to see the return of the uniforms UNIT sported in The Invasion — I think they look much nicer than the ones we’ll see them wearing for most of this era.
We’ve got the thorny issue of dating again with this story. When we last saw UNIT I speculated that this one is maybe only a few months after The Invasion, but the implication on screen is that it’s been a little while. If nothing else, UNIT seem to have had their funding cut so instead of a swanky aircraft HQ they’re based in a fairly generic building with a derelict-looking car park…!
There’s also scope for an unseen adventure with UNIT for Troughton’s Doctor Who, given the way the Brig discusses UNIT’s job with Liz;
Liz: ‘Why is Earth any more likely to be attacked now than during the last fifty thousand years?’
Brigadier: ‘In the last decade, we’ve been sending probes deeper and deeper into space. We’ve drawn attention to ourselves, Miss Shaw.’
Liz: ‘Aren’t you being a bit alarmist?’
Brigadier: ‘Since UNIT was formed, there’ve been two attempts to invade this planet.’
Liz: ‘Really?’
Brigadier: ‘We were lucky enough to be able to stop them. There was a policy decision not to inform the public.’
Now you and I both know he’s referring to The Web of Fear and The Invasion, but the former was before UNIT had been set up and I love splitting hairs, so I’m going to assume there was another invasion somewhere between The Space Pirates and The War Games. If nothing else, it’s fun to imagine another story with Troughton in.
As much as I’ve droned on about this possibly being a bit dull for the kids watching at home 50+ years ago, it’s a bold new start for the show, and I’m excited about this new era. It’s an 8/10 for me.
Spearhead From Space — Episode Two
I’ve only just noticed that the episode numbers in this one are rendered as numerals rather than written out. I think that’s a first for the programme, and I’m struggling to remember if that becomes to norm from here on out. I’ll be keeping an eye on them going forward.
I’m also not sue I’ve ever appreciated just how much the New Testament takes from this story when doing its own relaunches of the format. Rose obviously takes the general story of the Autons staging an invasion of Earth and of course the shop window dummies stalking an otherwise normal street, and The Christmas Invasion features a newly regenerated Doctor Who being tucked up in bed for a fair while as he recovers from the experience.
Both of those episodes also open with the view of Earth from space before moving in for a closer look, although neither have the meteorites which I think looked quite good in Episode One. The latter story also makes use of the Brig’s description of Earth drawing attention to itself by sending probes out into space. ‘This planet’s so noisy,’ explains Tennant’s Doctor Who.
The Eleventh Hour has the newly regenerated Doctor spending some time in a cottage hospital, and stealing his entire style from the clothes he finds in a changing room there. Of course, the TV movie utilises that trick, too.
And I must admit, I got a good chuckle out of the ‘Doctors Only’ sign on the changing room door.
Something else I’ve really noticed in this marathon is that one of the essential characteristics for a Doctor Who Companion is sarcasm. Ian and Babs had a dash of it, Vicki was the absolute master, Steven used it well and even Victoria could be quite cutting from time to time. I think they might all pale in comparison to Liz Shaw, though, and it’s making me take to her incredibly well. We get three especially fun examples of her sense of sarcasm in this episode;
Liz: ‘You really believe in a man who’s helped to save the world twice? With the power to transform his physical appearance?’
Brigadier: ‘I’m not sure yet. It may not be the same man.’
Liz: ‘An alien who travels through time and space in a police box?’Scobie: ‘Dear chap, what are you doing with a police box?’
Brigadier: ‘Well, sir…’
Liz: ‘Camouflage, General. It’s not really a police box. It’s a spaceship.’Brigadier: ‘Without this machine, the Doctor’s stuck. He can’t leave Earth.’
Liz: ‘You were about to open it?’
Brigadier: ‘Yes.’
Liz: ‘I think you should. There might be a policeman locked inside.’
It makes her feel more realistic as a person, and I’m looking forward to seeing that humour develop as the series goes on. I vaguely recall her teaming up with Doctor Who in teasing the Brigadier a bit, and I’m already anticipating that as a highlight in some future episode.
I also love how quickly she and Doctor Who take to each other after their first proper meeting here. They knuckle down to work immediately, and strike up an easy rapport;
Doctor Who: ‘Go away and let Miss Shaw and I get on with our work, there’s a good fellow. Look, do I really have to call you Miss Shaw?’
Liz: ‘No, Liz, just Liz.’
Doctor Who: ‘Liz. That’s much better.’
During Episode One I mentioned that I’d not really warmed to Pertwee’s Doctor Who until his final season, but that’s already been bettered this time around because I sort of love him from the moment he rocks up at UNIT HQ. His indignity with the guard (‘I suppose you want to see my pass? Yes, well, I haven’t got one. And I’m not going to tell you my name, either…’) is great fun, and his prattling about communicating via his eyebrows was brilliant, and very much a Doctor Who thing. I’d totally forgotten that he then introduced himself to Liz via said eyebrows, before translating for her, and I loved that. It’s the kind of thing I can imagine any incarnation of Doctor Who doing, but there’s an added charm when Pertwee does it.
Elsewhere this episode continues to be quite adult in tone, but not in the same way as the last one. Whereas there it was about being talky and lacking much in the way of a solid threat, this time around we’re awash with terrifying images. When we first cut to the woods and find an Auton stumbling around it takes a moment to process what you’re seeing. And when one comes to life behind Ransome just in time for the cliffhanger… I’d have definitely had nightmares about that if I’d seen it as a kid.
But the bit that really gets me is the shot after the Auton has caused the crash of a UNIT jeep — we get a shot of the lifeless driver sprawled over the wheel with a decent amount of blood smeared on the smashed screen! Being in colour allows us the actually see the blood, and it feels like the kind of image I don’t think you’d get away with showing in a kids’ TV series half a century later — this episode went out at 5:15, and this is an image best suited for considerably later in the evening!
That said, it does look bloody brilliant, doesn’t it?
It’s a 7/10 for this one.
