Day 261 — September 18th 2021
Creature from the Pit Parts One and Two
Creature from the Pit — Part One
Creature from the Pit is another one of those stories which I’ve basically zero memory of. I think I’ve only seen it the once — during my last marathon — and I can’t for the life of me remember what I thought about it. Indeed, the only thing I can recall is the famous scene where Tom Baker looks like he’s doing something rude to the monster. Beyond that… nothing! Blank slate! That’s really exciting to me, and I’m feeling re-energised from the highs of City of Death, so I’m excited to dive into a new adventure.
With that said, I’m not totally ignorant. I can’t remember what I thought about this one, but I do know it’s not got a great reputation, and it doesn’t appear at the top of many fans’ lists of favourites. So, excited but with trepidation. I’ve heard it described before as the sense of ‘anticipointment’ you get when there’s new Doctor Who to watch — you’re prepared for disappointment.
Thankfully that hasn’t happened today, because this opening episode is brilliant! No, really, it is! And to prove that I’m going to stick my score — 8/10 — right up here at the top.
I shouldn’t be surprised, really, because this one is filled with the kinds of things I always enjoy from Doctor Who. We’ve got a great jungle set (something which is becoming quite the common theme in the Tom Baker era), the majority of the episode is shot on film and we’ve got Christopher Bary back for his final outing as a Doctor Who director. It’s written by David Fisher, who was responsible for my two favourite stories of the last season and brings the same wit and humour to this one.
I said during The Stones of Blood that I felt Fisher had the best handle on how to write Doctor Who as a character, and I think that’s still evident here. He’s filled with the same kind of flippant attitude that’s so celebrated in City of Death, and I love his infectious excitement at discovering the mysterious object in the middle of the jungle isn’t only an eggshell but a living creature. People talk about Baker’s smile as a defining part of his character and I think that’s been absolutely true in the last couple of stories. There’s a moment late in the episode which sums up Fisher’s approach to writing the character perfectly;
Guard: ‘My lady, this man is being facetious.’
Doctor Who: ‘He’s quite right.’
I love, too, that Doctor Who willingly throws himself down the pit as the cliffhanger. When I say that I really like the way Fisher writes for the character it’s not only the dialogue which I’m talking about — it’s moments like this, too. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to have him thrown down and have to get on with it, but it feels so right that he’d simply leap into the unknown.
Romana’s on fine form in this one, too, and I’m genuinely surprised by that (though pleasantly). I mentioned how well she was catered for in the last story partly because I was expecting to contrast that with later ones, but this episode is just as strong for her, keeping her cool and in control when kidnapped by bandits and managing to trick them into summoning K9 for her. It’s a bluff used by Doctor Who before now, but I like seeing her appropriate his moves.
The bandits themselves are a lot of fun, and I’m not sure I was expecting that to be the case. They’re a great contrast to Romana and I love their interations;
Romana: ‘Go ahead and kill me. Commit suicide. Listen to that hirsute moron.’
Torvin: ‘Here, who are you calling hair suit?’
Romana: ‘You. Do you want to make something of it?’
Torvin: ‘No, I just want to know what it means.’
Romana: ‘It means hairy.’
The biggest thing for me here has to be all the film material, though. I had this down in my head as entirely studio bound and — therefore — a little flat, so I’m really pleased to see the jungle realised so well on a film stage, and it’s allowed Barry to get some really nice compositions in the early exploratory scenes. I’m especially fond of the shot of the TARDIS in the jungle.
And then there’s the Wolf Weeds which look fantastic and are another example of an effect where I could probably work out how they did it (I’m assuming it’s as simple as a length of string) but I’m not entirely sure, and that only adds to the effect. The sequence in which a group of them edge forwards while Doctor Who’s back is turned is genuinely scary, and I’m surprised it’s not better thought of. A strong start!
Creature from the Pit — Part Two
How fab is Geoffrey Bayldon as Organon? I’d forgotten that he was in this story, and seem to recall now that it was a bit of a coup to get hold of him at the time, having come from popularity as Catweazle and in Worzel Gummidge. He’s playing a great part here which likely helps with my admiration. It’s almost like they’ve picked up on how good Binro was in The Ribos Operation and decided to do some more along those lines, and that’s no bad thing.
He turns out to be a brilliantly funny character — every bit as hilarious as any of the characters in City of Death — but I also love that his first appearance is played as something a little bit scary, with Doctor Who lighting a match in the dark caverns only to find the man suddenly stood at his shoulder. This story isn’t shying away from going for the scares in places and I’m really appreciating that. I think I’ve said before that I’ve never found Doctor Who particularly scary, but it’s in moments like this, or with the Wolf Weeds in Part One, where I understand what people mean when they say they hid away from the show as children.
I’ve written down lots of bits of Organon’s dialogue to highlight here as being brilliant but I’ve narrowed it down to just the one example, from his description of the act he used to peddle before being thrown into the pit;
Organon: ‘Astrologer extraordinary. Seer to princes and emperors. The future foretold, the past explained, the present apologised for.’
The only other characters played so explicitly for laughs in this one are the bandits, although they don’t get much of a look in this episode. Now Romana’s escaped from them they feel curiously divorced from the rest of the narrative, and the brief sojourn to their hideout was probably the weakest part of the episode. All the other characters — Lady Adrasta especially — are supposed to be a little imposing, and I think that comes across well.
There’s one character I’ve not mentioned yet, and that’s K9. Creature from the Pit introduced David Brierley as the new voice of the absolutely-not-tin dog, and I have to say I’m not overly keen. It feels like he’s trying to do something in the same vein as John Leeson but without any of the subtleties. There’s a few instances in this episode where he’s given quite a lot to say and it just sounds vaguely flat — like a fan attempt to voice K9 in their own film. I wonder if it’s feasible to have Leeson re-record all K9’s dialogue for this season as an alternate option on the Blu-ray release? I’d certainly go for it…
This episode contains a joke which I’ve seen described as a bit of a litmus test for how much you’ll enjoy the humour in Season Seventeen as a whole. Doctor Who finds himself trapped in the shaft to the pit and starts trying to climb his way back out. Struggling with the task he produces a book from his pocket — Everest In Easy Stages. Realising the book is written entirely in Tibetan, he reaches into his other pocket to produce a second book entitled Teach Yourself Tibetan. Some people describe the joke as silly and credibility stretching. I have to admit I found it funny! I’m hoping that, coupled with how much I’ve enjoyed the humour over the last six episodes, will prove a good sign for the rest of the run.
For all the good in this one, I worry that the plot’s going to struggle to hold my interest over another two episodes. There’s moments here where I found my attention wandering a little, so I’m going to drop to a 7/10 and hope it’ll prove me wrong tomorrow…
