Day 292 — October 19th 2021
Earthshock Parts One and Two
Earthshock — Part One
This is another one of those stories where I’d love to come to it ‘clean’, without knowing what was to come. That’s the way it originally went out — John Nathan Turner went to great lengths to make sure that the surprise return of the Cybermen was kept as surprise. Access to the viewing galleries over-looking the studio was restricted. Footage from the cameras was removed from the internal BBC monitoring system. He even turned down a Radio Times cover (what would have been the programme’s first since Jon Pertwee’s time). There’s countless anecdotes from fans who watched this go out as children at the time about how they fell out of their chairs in shock because it was only the bloody Cybermen.
Earthshock is sort of synonymous with being the ‘surprise’ story (there’s another to some before the story is through, which they went to equal lengths to hide) but I only know it as that by reputation. For me, coming to this story for the first time somewhere around the programme’s revival in 2005, the twists have always just been there, part of the selling point for the story. The appearance of the Cybermen especially so — they were on the cover of the VHS, the DVD, even the soundtrack! Heck, I’ve even stuck them in the cover photo for this blog post. And that makes sense — after he fact when the surprises are already out there, of course you want to make the Cybermen a selling point.
The problem is that this episode becomes one long wait to get to the cliffhanger. There’s a lot of good material in this episode — some really tense moments, some great lighting, and the Androids are pretty scary lurking around in the shadows. The guest cast are decent and I should be banging on about how much I’ve enjoyed it… but all of that has felt like a prelude to the real story. Heck, Adric doesn’t even make it out of the TARDIS in this episode, we just occasionally cut back to him now and them as he stands in silence doing some maths. It’s a decent episode, but the next one is what I’m excited about.
7/10
Tell you what, it’s beginning to look increasingly like Nyssa’s the reason so many people get into the TARDIS at this point. She was the one who left the door open for the Android to get in, it was her idea to invite half the local constabulary inside during Black Orchid, and the second she meets a group of guest characters here she says ‘let me show you how we travelled here…’!
Earthshock — Part Two
When I think about Doctor Who in the 1980s, and the way that it becomes a bit obsessed with its own continuity and references for the fans, I tend to think of later on in the run than this. I think of stories like Attack of the Cybermen, which tries to be a sequel to three previous stories at once (two of which hadn’t been seen for almost 20 years). But actually, Earthshock is sort of the first big love letter to the fans.
Of course you’ve got the return of the Cybermen for the first time since the start of Tom Baker’s run. But then Part One is stuffed with references to events from the last couple of seasons. As part of Adric’s desire to go home we get the characters talking about Romana, E-Space, CVEs and the Monitor on Logopolis. It’s a sign of how much the series has shifted into new territory since then that they all feel bizarrely out of place — as ancient as referencing things from the 60s. I think they stand out because I’m not used to the series bringing things up from more than a story or two ago, as it’s not something they’ve ever really done before (bar occasional mentions like Leela in Full Circle).
This episode goes even further and introduces a staple of the Davison era — the first annual flashback montage. We’ll be seeing more in Mawdryn Undead and Resurrection of the Daleks. I’m not complaining; it’s actually really exciting to see William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton again. Tom Baker I can take or leave because it feels like I only saw him yesterday. The montage gives us some more references to the past — the Cybermen correctly identify ‘the Ice Tomb on Telos’ and ‘Voga, Planet of Gold’. I also think the montage is a perfect example of just how much this is being made as something for the fans to enjoy, because it doesn’t include Jon Pertwee.
I’ve never noticed it before. Or, rather, I’ve never given it a second thought before. Because the clips of the three past Doctor Whos that we do see are all from Cybermen stories. That makes sense, obviously, because the Cybermen are drawing these visuals from their own databanks. But it surprises me that they didn’t slip in a shot of Pertwee somewhere, with some generic quote about a monster. For a fan watching this it makes sense — of course Pertwee doesn’t appear, because we never saw him encounter the Cybermen — but you have to wonder if there were some mums and dads (or older siblings) at home when this went out wondering why the Worzel Gummidge Doctor Who had been left out of the celebrations. I’m assuming there was someone behind the scenes reminding them that Pertwee had to be left out.
This episode gives us a great boost to the count of guest characters who get to go inside the TARDIS — Lieutenant Scott, Professor Kyle and two Troopers all hitch a ride to the Freighter, and once again Nyssa’s desperate for them to spend some time in the ship;
Scott: ‘Then you must let us come with you.’
Nyssa: ‘We can’t fight androids by ourselves!’
Elsewhere, there’s lots to enjoy in this one. The big thing for me is just how good the Freighter’s hold looks, achieved though a mix of full-size sets in the studio and some impressive model work which matches up well. If there’s one issue with this it’s that the contrast on the film shots of the model looks much darker than the studio, and I’d be tempted to filter the studio material to match better; really bring out those shadows. I don’t think I’ve ever really appreciated before just how good the model work is for this one — the shot of the Freighter’s exterior is pretty brilliant too, and it looks genuinely industrial in a way that lots of spaceships in this show just don’t.
The tension gets ramped up nicely across the episode to the point that what might otherwise be a slightly unimpressive cliffhanger (Doctor Who and Adric are discovered over a body they’ve just found) work surprisingly well. I’m also enjoying just how camp the new Cybermen are. I’ve always quite liked the 1980s versions, and I think I can see why. I’ll save discussion of Beryl Reid for tomorrow (spoiler; I love her), but suffice to say there’s lots to enjoy in here.
8/10
