Day 150 — May 30th 2021
Colony in Space Episodes Three and Four
Colony in Space — Episode Three
I may be about to jinx this, but I suspect the second half of this story isn’t going to fare as well in my estimations as the first has. I say that because this episode ends with Jo Grant being captured by a bunch of extras in ill-fitting rubber suits and being shepherded into a cave. I’ve said before that I’m largely willing to over-look bad costumes and effects in Doctor Who because they can be par for the course, but the green aliens we’re presented with here are an especially rubbish bunch.
It doesn’t help that the costumes seem to have been created on a ‘one size fits all’ basis which means that some of them appear to be hanging loose, and they’ve got the same issue that the Silurians had; the heads are too obviously a rubber mask unattached to the body.
The other thing is… I’ve been really enjoying the conflict between the groups of humans. I reckon you could get away with losing the aliens altogether and simply focussing attention on the battle between profit and freedom. There’s a very real risk that this write up may end up being a repeat of yesterday where I just praised Malcolm Hulke’s characterisation to the high heavens, because it continues to be brilliant here, and the stakes feel like they’re being raised at the right pace. There’s talk in this episode of war and it really has an impact;
Ashe: ‘We must organise a search.’
Winton: ‘No. We’re going to mount an attack on their spaceship. We’re going to try and get them to surrender, make them release Jo and then get them off this planet.’
Ashe: ‘We’re not going to start a war.’
Winton: ‘Now look, Robert, I’ve been chained to a bomb, hunted and shot at. As far as I’m concerned, the war’s already started.’
It’s also another example of how powerful real guns can feel when they show up in Doctor Who. When David makes his escape he’s shot at with proper weapons as opposed to ray guns and it feels incredibly hard hitting.
I’ve not had a lot to say yet about the direction of Michael Bryant who makes his debut with this story, and it has to be said that while it’s been competent and had some nice touches in places there’s not been a massive amount to write home about. That said, the final shot as Jo descends into the darkness is beautiful. Elsewhere it feels as though his location work is getting better with every episode — which can only be coincidence because it was all shot together at the beginning of production. Once again this episode gives us a much better sense of scale on the alien planet, and I long for the arrival of the TARDIS to have looked more impressive.
A step down from the opening episodes, but still a far stronger episode than I’d been anticipating. 7/10.
Colony in Space — Episode Four
I’m not sure if the arrival of the Master in this episode is supposed to be a surprise or not. Obviously the Time Lords convened in Episode One to send Doctor Who after him, but we’ve not had any mention of him since then; to the point that I’d forgotten all about it until sitting down to write this. His voice is heard clearly over the radio early on in this episode, but I’ll accept that it’s perhaps not iconic enough to be instantly recognisable from that alone.
The bit that really confuses me is his reveal. They go to great lengths to hide his face as he walks up to the colonists’ dome — to the point that they give his costume a massive collar to keep him unseen — but then moments later the camera just cuts to him stood there, accompanied by the musical equivalent of a shrug. I’d been assuming that his arrival was going to form the cliffhanger to Episode Three, and when that didn’t happen I thought they might hold him off until the end of today’s episode… but no. There he is. On we go.
Having touched briefly on Bryant’s direction last episode I think the blame for this fumbled reveal has to be placed on his work, because the script makes it clear that it’s supposed to be a huge surprise, with the reveal not happening until considerably later in the episode.
Every sequence featuring the Adjudicator before Doctor Who’s arrival back at the dome is prefaced with a note instructing that the character’s face shouldn’t be seen. Even the scene in which his identity is finally revealed specifies that we only get to find out at the exact moment Jo realises who they’ve encountered. Many shots are noted as being shot from behind the Adjudicator’s legs, or looking over his shoulder.
And it’s far more effective than what we got on screen — I think it’s fair to say that had the direction followed the stage directions a little closer then this episode would have been looking at a higher score.
I can’t really complain, though, because as much as the continual reappearance of the Master is starting to wear a little thin, it is nice to see him here. I especially love the way he greets Doctor Who more as though he’s annoyed to be interrupted than because he suspects he’s been caught doing something naughty. Indeed, I rather hope he isn’t up to anything evil in this one — I really like the idea that he has a day job as an Adjudicator, and simply does the ‘taking over the universe’ stuff on the weekend.
He and Doctor Who get to have a couple of great exchanges in this one, but my favourite is him berating our hero for not being thorough enough with his planning;
The Master: ‘So you’ve at last succeeded in escaping from your long exile on Earth. Congratulations. What are your plans now?’
Doctor Who: ‘Well, my immediate plans are to expose you as an imposter.’
The Master: ‘That would be very foolish of you. My credentials are immaculate.’
Doctor Who: ‘Forged, of course.’
The Master: ‘Of course, but immaculate. May I see your credentials, Doctor?’
Doctor Who: ‘Don’t be absurd.’
The Master: ‘What? No interplanetary travel permit? No registration for your Tardis? No personal identification?’
Doctor Who: ‘Bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo.’
The Master: ‘Maybe, but in this regimented age of ours, essential.’
It’s not so nice to see the introduction of yet more rubbish rubber men in the secret underground city, though. As predicted, my interest in the story wanes massively when in the scenes with them, and the dialogue takes a real downward turn too. It all becomes a lot of ‘look Doctor’ and screaming. It doesn’t help, of course, that the aliens are mostly mute! I’m hoping that their role in the story isn’t going to take over too much in the final third, because the human narrative continues to entertain me in this one, and I’d long for a version with no rubber!
A 6/10.
