Day 133 — May 13th 2021
Doctor Who and the Silurians Episodes Five and Six
Doctor Who and the Silurians — Episode Five
Okay, I know I said I’d stop going on about the Narrated Soundtracks, but listening to one for an episode that exists is an interesting experiment, because it can really highlight how differently you can experience a scene. Take the cliffhanger to Episode Four, for example, which is repeated at the start of this episode. Here’s how it’s described on the soundtrack by Caroline John;
QUOTE
It’s quite exciting, and I know I enjoyed it. And then when I sat down to watch it replayed here I’ve got a bloke in a really poorly-fitting rubber costume shaking his head around while Jon Pertwee gurns a bit half-heartedly in the background.
It’s made me think that when this marathon is over I might well give some of the later Narrated Soundtracks a whirl and see how much they affect my opinion on a story.
Truth be told, I’m already contemplating doing it for one of the Peladon stories…
I have to admit that having praised the design of the Silurians in the last episode, they really do look rubbish in this one. The design is good, that still holds up, but the actual execution might be some of the shonkiest work we’ve seen in Doctor Who so far. It looks as though the costumes have all been sized for specific actors who’ve all dropped out last minute, leaving differently-shaped people to fill the roles.
They hang loose where they shouldn’t and have loose flaps of ‘skin’ which I assume are part of the design but have the unfortunate effect of making them look unfinished. That the actors are forced to do a bit of wiggling when operating their third eye just adds to the effect of this not really working. Compare how they look on screen to the powerful illustrations in the Target book for this story — they’re worlds apart.
And I can’t get on board with the voices either, I’m sorry to say. The Silurian Leader has a decent enough voice which feels as though it suits. The Scientist has a good voice, too. But then there’s the ‘Young Silurian’ who’s doing a slightly awkward accent (is it American?) and speaking-all-his-lines-so-quickly. There’s one particular point in this episode when he tells the leader he disagrees with him and storms out, and it’s more comical than dramatic.
It’s not all bad, though, and there’s some serious drama in this one in other places. I really like the idea that everyone suspects Doctor Who of turning against the humans and going over to join the Silurians’ plans. It’s becoming a bit of a recurring theme in Malcolm Hulke’s scripts (similar happened in The War Games), but it’s played in a different way here.
We’re shown fairly unambiguously that Doctor Who’s intention is to prevent bloodshed, and you can’t fault him for that. Still, it’s terribly effective when Major Baker accuses him of treachery;
Baker: ‘Where’s the Doctor, what’s going on? Well, where is he? What’s he telling you? Where are you, Doctor? Telling them everything they want to know? You’re nothing but a traitor.’
All in all a bit of a mixed bag. I’m going back to a 6/10 for this one. So far Doctor Who and the Silurians seems to be bouncing around like a (galactic, surely) yo-yo…
Doctor Who and the Silurians — Episode Six
I’ve been for my Covid jab this week, and as such I’ve spent the time since pretending to be a UNIT soldier (with a sore arm) given an early vaccination against the Silurian plague. The wife has really enjoyed me shouting ‘get me Greyhound One!’ and ‘the caves are swarming with lizards!’ at random moments.
All jokes aside, this might be the single most 2021 episode that 20th Century Doctor Who ever managed to produce. There’s fears about a virus which is spreading rapidly and spiralling out of control before the British government can get a handle on it, and Doctor Lawrence even manages to broadly paraphrase Facebook posts from my uncle;
Doctor Lawrence: ‘My establishment has been brought to a complete standstill and my staff are suffering the ill-effects of a series of compulsory injections.’
Liz: ‘You haven’t had your own injections yet, have you?’
Doctor Lawrence: ‘No, nor do I intend to.’
Liz: ‘But you’ve got to have them. It’s for your own good.’
Doctor Lawrence: ‘Rubbish. Why should I waste my time having useless injections against an imaginary epidemic?’
He goes on to be infected with the virus and attempt to murder the Brigadier while shouting conspiracy theories about how all of this was a plot to get at him specifically. I’ll tell you what, Malcolm Hulke was pretty on the money fifty years ago…! I’ve found the character a little ineffectual up to now, but his final scene is really good, and a highlight of the story.
Lawrence’s death is also a pretty key moment in the overall narrative — it means that almost all the main guest cast have been killed off now, with another episode still to go. From the original group only Miss Dawson is still around (although she doesn’t feature in this episode because she’s off screen infected herself), and even Masters has died off now, having only featured in three episodes.
It’s surprised me that Masters played such a small part in the story, because when I think of Doctor Who and the Silurians, he’s the guest character who comes instantly to mind. So much so that when Peter Miles showed up in Episode One I was surprised to see him, as I’d entirely forgotten his involvement. I think it comes down to this being the single best episode of the story so far — and it’s telling that pretty much all my memories of the story appear to come from these 24 minutes.
The sequences in London are really powerful stuff, and they’re the highlight of this season so far for me. It saddens me that this one only exists in slightly ropey quality because I’d give anything to see these in full high definition. There’s a scale to the shots that’s been lacking elsewhere in the story, and when the virus really hits, and we pull out to show the scope of the action, it really makes you sit up.
I think it’s partly down to all the earliest material in the city — Masters getting off the train, and the ticket inspector collapsing at his post — has an air of being shot on the fly. People look at the camera because they don’t know not to. It’s not a slick, carefully directed environment, it’s real life. And then all of a sudden everyone in shot is an actor, and most of them have been struck down.
I’ve not talked a lot about Timothy Combe’s direction in this story, aside from praising a few specific shots here and there, but all of the sequences on location in this episode are a sign of how good he is. I think it’s clear that he’s far more comfortable with the freedom afforded by filming than the evenings spent in the studio.
Something I’ve really liked about this episode is Doctor Who and Liz getting the chance to actually work alongside each other. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but they seem to have spent a lot of time in the episodes so far being split up; lot’s of ‘you go do this and I’ll be doing that’. They’ve certainly not had the traditional Doctor Who / Companion relationship, and it’s a shame because they work so well when they are together.
I’ve also enjoyed watching Liz and the Brigadier square up to each other over what her duties are;
Brigadier: ‘Will you come with me, Miss Shaw?’
Liz: ‘Oh, I’m helping the Doctor.’
Brigadier: ‘I’ll need help manning the phones.’
Liz: ‘I am a scientist, not an office boy.’
Brigadier: ‘You’re a member of UNIT, Miss Shaw, and you’ll do as you’re told!’
Liz: ‘I will not be spoken to in that way!’
It feels like an evolution of the scene from The Invasion where the Brig casually suggests that women have no place in the field, but Liz really gives as good as she gets; it feels like she’s more likely to win in the argument than either Isobel or Zoe were. I think this is a good episode for the Brigadier on the whole, though, and I especially love him standing by his team on the phone;
Brigadier: ‘The Doctor and Miss Shaw have been working flat out for a very long time. They’re tackling an immensely difficult task under conditions of great pressure and I do not propose to make it worse for them by breathing down their necks. Excuse me, will you?’
As I say, this is certainly the best episode of the story so far, and I only wish I could be enjoying the rest as much as I have this one. A 9/10.
