Day 162 — June 11th 2021
The Mutants Episodes One and Two
The Mutants — Episode One
I’ve not really touched on it yet, but I really like the idea of Doctor Who only being allowed to leave Earth when he’s on a mission for the Time Lords. This is the third time they’ve used that conceit, and while I was starting to worry that the idea would quickly get old, it hasn’t. It’s also telling that this is the version of ‘a mission for the Time Lords’ which I remembered — I was surprised when the message ‘cube’ didn’t appear at the start of Colony in Space.
That same moment also provides my favourite exchange of dialogue between Doctor Who and Jo so far, when it arrives just as she’s planning her break;
Jo: ‘Lunch?’
Doctor Who: ‘No.’
Jo: ‘Bomb?’
Doctor Who: ‘No, nothing so exciting.’
Doctor Who gets some great dialogue across the board in this one, and I’m a big fan of his speech about the cycle of civilisation;
Doctor Who: ‘Your empire. Earth’s empire. Yes, great colonists, Earthmen, you know, Jo. Once they’d sacked the solar system, they moved onto pastures new. Solos is one of them. One of the last. Did you ever read Gibbon’s Decline and Fall?’
Jo: ‘No. Is it good?’
Doctor Who: ‘Jo, this is like that. You see?’
Jo: ‘No.’
Doctor Who: ‘Oh. Well, empires rise and empires fall. And if this is their idea of a reception, this one has obviously crumbled.’
This episode marks the first appearance of a very important part of Doctor Who — the raised triangular wall design. It’s used all over the corridors of the Skybase here, and will be a staple of Doctor Who for a long time to come. I think it might make its final appearance in something like Trial of a Time Lord (and I’ll enjoy keeping track of it from now on), and it’ll turn up in pretty much every science fiction programme made by the BBC in the next decade, from Blakes 7 to The Adventure Game and Captain Zep: Space Detective.
It’s a nice enough design, and I have to admit to being keen on the design across the board in this story so far. The opening shot of Solos makes it look like an episode of The Savages by way of Genesis of the Daleks, and the Skybase feels somehow both incredibly familiar and also very distinct to any of the spaceships we’ve had in the series before.
And then there’s the design of the guard costumes, which look so much like a Troughton-era design when they’ve got the visors down and Oxymasks on that I actually feel a bit nostalgic for the era! They look fantastic. I’m also a fan of the previously-mentioned ‘Message Cube’ which feels far more unique and interesting than you suspect it needed to be. A great job all round.
Pleased to say this opening episode has entertained me — another example of being surprised by an episode I didn’t have particularly high hopes for. 7/10.
The Mutants — Episode Two
I double checked the director credit for this one at the end of the episode and was all ready to say how nice it is to have Christopher Barry back with the series… and then I remembered that he directed The Dæmons at the end of Season Eight, too. Everyone talks about how much they loved making that a story, but I can’t help wondering if he might have been more captivated by this one, because the direction feels more noteworthy here than it was there.
As ever it’s the film material shot on location which comes out the best. The time and money afforded to those parts of the story really show on screen, and Solos comes across as a totally believable location. Impressively, it doesn’t ever look like they’ve stuck a load of smoke machines into a quarry — the mist feels incredibly natural, and allows for some gorgeous shots of our heroes being pursued by guards.
Katy Manning only appears on location in this one — the first time something like that has happened since the 1960s, I think? — so she benefits the most from it. There’s a couple of gorgeous close up shots of her hiding out in the caves which really stand out as being something special.
The other thing which really stands out in this episode is how well the guest cast are written… but not in the way I usually praise. Here it’s not particularly about the depth of their character, but how cold and cruel this world can make them. Ky tells Jo ‘my life is more important than yours’, and only a few scenes later we get the Marshall being incredibly matter-of-fact about the potential fate of Doctor Who’s friend;
Doctor Who: ‘Bad news?’
The Marshal: ‘Not for you, Doctor. For your friend. They have escaped on to the surface of Solos.’
Doctor Who: ‘Ah.’
The Marshal: ‘Still, without a mask. But never fear, Doctor, we shall find her. Or her body.’
Elsewhere, Jon Pertwee really gets to shine in this one, in a way that I don’t think he’s had the opportunity for in quite some time. As usual he’s bristling at the thought of being caught up in a world of bureaucracy, but it’s his reaction to another scientist which really stands out;
Jaeger: ‘I can’t understand your concern, Doctor. This planet, as it stands, is no longer of any use unless we make the atmosphere breathable.’
Doctor Who: ‘Even if it means wiping out every Solonian in the process?’
Jaeger: ‘Earth is fighting for its survival. The side-effects are of no importance!’
Doctor Who: ‘Genocide is a side-effect? You ought to write a paper on that, Professor.’
Although Pertwee is always very good in the role, there’s sometimes a sense of his simply going through the motions a little, so it’s always great to see times like this where he can really show his skill as a performer. I feel like this is another one of those character-defining moments which should be more appreciated and talked about — it’s a long time since I saw The Mutants, and I’d completely forgotten it.
Another 7/10.
