Day 317 — November 13th 2021
The Caves of Androzani — Parts One and Two
The Caves of Androzani — Part One
More than any other story, I think the last two stories of Season Twenty-One are hampered by their reputations. In the case of The Twin Dilemma it’s because it frequently ranks bottom in polls of every story, but The Caves of Androzani has exactly the opposite problem; it’s often ranked as the best Doctor Who story of all time. I used to be all edgy and say that I preferred the one that everyone disliked, but I think when I came to them in my last marathon I decided that this really was the better of the two. The thing is, I don’t think it is the best story of them all. It’s decent enough, sure, but I don’t think it’s going to make my Top Ten based on the 7/10 score I’ve given this opening instalment.
What I think happens with this story is that because people know that it’s usually ranked as the very best (Top Three at a push) they see the good bits as being really good, and gloss over some of the downsides. Take the location work for example. There’s some great shots early on of Doctor Who and Peri as they explore the surface of the planet. They don’t have quite the same impact as Lanzarote did in the last story, but they’re still better than several other quarries we’ve had down the years. There’s some shots which show off the scale of the location nicely, and I think the opening shot of the TARDIS’ arrival is beautiful.
But then they’ve tried to extend the horizon with a painted overlay (I can’t tell if it’s an on location glass shot or a Quantel effect added later) which has the unfortunate effect of reminding me of places like Vortis — it looks like Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant are stood vaguely near the painted backcloth in a (very large) studio. They do this a few times during the scene, and it’s just as distracting every time. It’s telling that things always look a bit better when we’re back on the ground and close to the actors.
I’ll also say that I’ve found this episode a bit heavy. There were two or three moments where I had to rewind back a minute or two and rewatch because I thought I’d missed something, or I realised that I wasn’t sure what was going on. I like to think I pay pretty good attention when I’m watching these stories, but this one in particular felt like it was demanding my focus more than most.
Anyway, I don’t want to appear like I’m ragging on this story for the sake of it, so I will say that there’s some really good things in here that I’ve enjoyed, and a lot of them are down to the script itself. The Fifth Doctor Who here is allowed to be more sarcastic than he has been since his earliest adventures, and that’s for the best — Peter Davison plays this kind of petulant attitude, winding up people in authority, incredibly well. I’m particularly keen of the way he mocks Chellack over his manner of address;
Chellack: ‘You will stand there until I’ve finished with you, and when you address me, you will call me sir.’
Doctor Who: ‘May I ask who you are… sir?’
Chellack: ‘I am General Chellak, Commander of all Federal forces on this planet.’
Doctor Who: ‘Well done, sir. I suppose you started in the ranks.’
Chellack: ‘Under emergency regulations, anyone caught supplying arms to the android rebels faces summary execution.’
Peri: ‘But, but, we weren’t supplying arms. We were, well, we just found them.’
Doctor Who: ‘…Sir.’
Peri: ‘Sir.’
I think it’s telling that it feels like the kind of exchange I can imagine Tom Baker being good at, where I can’t picture him in many stories from this era. It’s tempting to suggest that I’m reading into that a bit much knowing that it’s Robert Holmes writing the script, but I think it’s just that Holmes’ voice is so distinctive it shines through all the same.
The other thing I’ve really enjoyed in this one is Peri. I said yesterday that her arrival felt like a breath of fresh air, and that’s continued into this one. There’s a scene in the prison cell which stands out in particular;
Doctor Who: ‘He had us paraded up and down in front of him, then once he’d seen us he seemed to lose all interest. I find that rather insulting.’
Peri: ‘I can take an insult. I just don’t want to be shot. Doctor, what are we
going to do?’
Doctor Who: ‘I’ve really no idea. I’m sorry I got you into this, Peri.’
There’s something refreshingly innocent about Peri which I’m really enjoying. As much as I’ve loved Tegan and Turlough as a team, they were both quite feisty characters, able to speak their minds and give as good as they get. Before them Nyssa and Adric were both presented as geniuses and Romana and Leela were about as confident as you can get. A companion as down to Earth and simple as this feels like something we’ve not had in a very long time, and I wasn’t expecting to find it as moving as I have.
On top of all that, there’s little moments which I really love like seeing the back of a character’s head when we’re watching their hologram from behind. It’s a little thing but it makes all the difference. I’m sure we’ve had something like that in the show before and I praised it then too, but I’m damned if I can remember what it was.
And then there’s the cliffhanger which is undeniably brilliant. When you know how they’ll get out of it there’s just enough there to stand up to scrutiny. Watching for the very first time, though, must have been a proper thrill. It’s one of the most hopeless situations Doctor Who has ever found himself in.
The Caves of Androzani — Part Two
I finished Part One genuinely a bit worried about how people would react when it came to my Caves of Androzani posts. I don’t think I was particularly harsh in the first one, but it made me think that I might end up going through this story deliberately picking out the bits which refute the narrative of this being the best story ever, whether I wanted to or not. I’m really pleased, therefore, to say that this second episode has done a lot more for me; so much so that it’s getting a 9/10, and I’m starting to understand the love a bit more.
The biggest thing that stands out for me is the performances, which are pretty uniformly brilliant across the board. I may have been a little harsh on Peter Davison in the last couple of stories but it has felt like he’s going through the motions working out his notice for a little while. There’s none of that on display in this one, though. He’s making a point of going out with a bang, and his discussions with Salateen and confrontation with Sharaz Jek are particular highlights. It helps that he’s been given some proper material to get his teeth into, and he’s clearly enjoying himself.
In response to all this is Christopher Gable’s performance as Jek, which is every bit as powerful and commanding. I can totally understand, watching this, why he’s considered such an iconic villain. It also makes me think how much better the Master might have worked in this era, given an actor with a bit of bite like this and some decent stories to play through. I was surprised that Gable hadn’t returned for the new series in another role, and that I’d never really seen much of him, but having checked I’m saddened to see that he died surprisingly young in the 1990s.
I also think it helps my enjoyment of the story that we spend less time in Morgus’ office during this episode, because I think that’s the weakest area for me. The set looks bizarrely cheap, totally at odds with the fairly spectacular cave sets they’ve built elsewhere, and the oft-praised choice to have Morgus deliver lines directly to the camera does nothing for me. It takes me out of the story more than anything else.
Across the board the direction in this one really stands out as being something unique. It’s very good, don’t get me wrong, but I almost find it a bit distracting because of just how different it is to the usual. It looks like the show has suddenly leapt a decade ahead in terms of the production. You can really tell that Grahame Harper has put some thought into what he’s doing, and there’s some nice flashes of symmetry when it comes to moments like Krelper trying to seize control from Stotz where the shots are mirrored depending who’s in control of the situation. It feels like a basic thing — almost ‘Directing 101’ — but it also feels like a lot more effort than we usually see.
While the stuff in Morgus’ office might not be my favourite part of the story, it does feel nice to have Robert Holmes back doing the kind of material he does best. Morgus’ discussions with the President remind me a lot of The Sun Makers and that’s never a bad thing. I’m especially fond of their parting exchange;
Morgus: ‘The stews of the city are full of unemployed riff-raff.’
The President: ‘Most of them unemployed, Trau Morgus, because you have closed so many plants. It’s caused great unrest.’
Morgus: ‘Easily settled. Those without valid employment cards will be shipped off to the eastern labour camps.’
The President: ‘Yes, we might make that seem morally justifiable. I’ll put your interesting suggestions to the Praesidium tomorrow.’
Morgus: ‘Naturally, should any special funding be required…’
The President: ‘Most generous. Of course, the irony is while you’ve been
closing plants here in the west, you’ve been building them in the east. So if the unemployed were sent to the eastern labour camps, a great many of them
would be working for you again, only this time without payment.’
Morgus: ‘I… hadn’t thought of that.’
The President: ‘Of course you hadn’t.’
This feels like the kind of story we used to get quite a lot in Doctor Who, taking pot-shots at corporations and a vaguely distrustful attitude towards capitalism, but we’ve not had a story with these kinds of undertones for a very long time. I wonder if that’s another reason that The Caves of Androzani is so well thought of; because it feels a bit like ‘traditional’ Who while still pushing forward with the way it looks.
