Last time: Sarah Jane Smith had very lovely boots, but then she fell to her death off a scaffold by the Allies under another name. The Doctor and Harry are captured by the space-Nazis and Davros, and there is interrogating going on. And everything was made of grey areas and the blackness of Davros' soul. Plus fangirling and cheapness.
On with the show (
warning: website is in French (but rather basic), and the episode itself is in English avec des sous-titres en francais):
I still think Four's theme is the best. While that's going on, I'd like to say that when I said Michael Winner was Davros I meant Michael
Wisher (I got my Michael's crossed). Terry Nation is still the writer and Robert Holmes is still the script editor, so let's talk about two other key members of the behind-the-scenes crew: director
David Maloney and producer/showrunner
Philip Hinchliffe.
Maloney was a
Doctor Who veteran by 'Genesis', having assisted production in 'The Rescue', before directing 'The Mind Robber', 'The Krotons', 'The War Games' and 'Planet of the Daleks'. After 'Genesis' he went on to direct 'Planet of Evil', 'The Deadly Assassin' and 'The Talons of Weng-Chiang'.
Of the episodes he directed I have heard of all of them but one: 'The Krotons', and several of them (namely 'Talons', 'Genesis' and 'Assassin' are amongst the best
Doctor Who episodes ever. Post-
Who he also produced the first three seasons of
Blake's 7 (another critically acclaimed and popular british sci-fi show) as well as writing a few episodes.
Hinchcliffe began producing
Doctor Who solo with 'The Ark in Space' and finished with 'Talons'; however, it must be noted that all the serials in Tom Baker's first season were commissioned by the previous production team. But during his reign as producer
Doctor Who had the highest average viewership in all of
Classic Who's history. Sadly, he left because of complaints due to the violent and darker turn the show had taken. No doubt Mary Whitehouse was involved in this too.
So: Terry Nation is writing, Robert Holmes was editing, David Maloney directing, and Philip Hinchliffe was producing. And Tom Baker and Sarah Jane Smith were the starring protagonists, with the Daleks making another return as the show's most enduring antagonists. Any wonder this serial is considered a classic? Just look at their resumees!
I would also like to mention that it is rather fun to look up writers/script editors/directors/producers/actors involved in
Doctor Who (especially the behind-the-scenes crew) as the first sentence usually starts: '[name] [dates] is/was a [profession(s)] best known for working on the British science-fiction television series
Doctor Who . . . 'This, of course, excludes the
really famous actors and writers such as Neil Gaiman, Michael Gambon, Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.
And
BRIAN BLESSED. By virtue of his being
BRIAN BLESSED, his first sentence talks about him being VERY LOUD.
And now, we continue; I like the rendering of the TARDIS in this opening sequence, as well as the
Classic logo. So we recap the last few minutes of episode two; you know, where mutants were shot by dudes, and a girl in heeled boots and a velvet skirt outclimbed a prissy trained Nazi officer.
Until he stopped to help her and got headshotted for his chivalry, causing Sarah Jane Smith to freeze in horror. Then she feel very far indeed. Fortunately she's not dead yet, nor even pining for the fjords, merely stunned. Guess hitting the metal bars really would knock you unconscious for a bit. Even more fortunately, she wakes up just as one of the orange-shaded riflemen tries to shoot. More climbing, more shooting, and we're at the top of the scaffolding next to the warhead.
They're going to jump across an itty-bitty gap
onto the rocket. Note: this gap is literally small enough to step over. However, they're caught before they can climb to the top and . . . out the roof.
Problem is: Sarah Jane Smith is frozen to the spot and Random Rifleman
pushes her off. "If I should just slacken my grip . . . they say people who fall from great heights are dead before they hit the ground. I don't believe that, do you?" He hauls her up "You're going back to work. In a day or so, you're going to wish I had let you drop. Right, get over." I hope for irony’s sake she pushes him off. Now. That was a very gittish thing to do, pettily malevolent in fact. Alas, she does not.
Cut to Our Boys in a set - tunnel - made of shiny rocks, they were lost, but there’s light, so
logically that must mean they’re free. Or about to wonder back into the Kaled-Nazi’s base. What they see in the conspicuous spotlight is . . . s set of rusty iron bars blocking a passageway.
And then there’s
this: a mutated
giant clam. On land. When, on earth, giant clams are traditionally found in the Indian and South Pacific oceans. However, I must stress that it’s only mutated because it’s on land. Some of the largest giant clams ever discovered have been over a meter long and weighed over three hundred pounds. They also appear to live exclusively in/on flat coral sand/broken coral. Also: clams
burrow into sand. I would also like to add I spent over twenty minutes looking for this particular species of clam, and clams in general. Thy are surprisingly interesting.
Oh, and, of course, Harry steps into it. My one overwhelming question is: how didn’t he see this
enormous and conspicuously out-of-place bivalve mollusc right in front of him?! And why is the clam growling? Why would you
make a clam growl? Why is this treated with all the seriousness of being attacked by a real threat? It’s even got dramatic music for the ‘fight’ scene!
By the by, is there a proper word for ‘Eating Someone‘? Only my tags look a little clumsy. It’s not cannibalism, because it’s a
clam, and my brain seems to have failed me. And yes, I do realise I may end up needing to add a cannibalism tag to my screenshots.
H: “Pull it out Doctor!” That's what s/he said.
The Doctor tries to kill the clam by smashing it with a rock, but it fails so he goes for a
biggger rock! This time to use as a lever. The Doctor must be pretty strong to rip a stalactite off the ceiling; I mean, even limestone and other really soft rocks would be pretty tough if they were half a foot thick.
Why would Davros experiment to make mutant giant clams? What’s that Latin phrase Harry spouts? Magnon de lores? Magna poluris? Polaris? Well, it’s ‘great something’ at any rate. I do get a bit of a giggle from the Doctor telling Harry now is not the time or place for Latin. But really, you're a genius biological/genetic engineer and a major force for political power in Kaled society with significant contributions to the military campaigns of the past several decades, you've single-handedly created the Daleks/ultimate evolutionary form of the Kaled/Thal species . . . and in your spare time you make land-walking giant clams. Clams! Why is this more ridiculous than
murderous statuary, killer shop mannequins, Christmas trees and Father Christmases, and cute animated adipose babies. Which, need I remind you, are sentient lumps of human fat. But it
is less ridiculous than the resolution to 'Fear Her' and much less ridiculous than 'Love and Monsters'.
Killer clam.
And
Doctor Harry Sullivan - a
doctor - didn't see it. It's a third his height! Surely being a doctor implies intelligence and the ability to
observe things? Giant. Clam. On land. That's the kind of thing I'd notice, and my attention span is rather small.
Also, while clams can move when they're still in their baby form, they
swim. And can't be found on land. Because there's no salt water.
As an aside, this set is quite nice, but in a weird bit of sci-fi cross-translation, I'd swear blind this set belonged in
ST: TOS' 'The Devil in the Dark', but with a bit more sand. And clams. Admittedly a giant clam is a little less ridiculous than a Horta, which looks rather like a
mutant lasagne rug, but it's still an ambulatory mutant giant clam. And it's treated so
seriously, even though it sounds like a gurgling drain overdubbed with a growling kitten.
Fortunately the Doctor determines that the doctor's foot isn't broken, although I'd think a doctor'd be able to tell if he had a broken bone. Maybe he'd have to take his shoe off first (which the Doctor doesn't do), but it's not like a broken foot/leg bone would be that hard to diagnose.
H: "Why is it always me that puts a foot in it eh?" Heh, that's pretty funny. And you do it because you're neither Sarah Jane Smith nor the Doctor. I feel I should inform you at this point that, it being New Year's Eve/Day I have been drinking moderately steadily since six in the evening, and the rum
and the vodka are now all gone. It's not that I've been doing a drinking game like I did last year (or the year before?) with Maltak, but that I have been watching
Star Trek episodes and - oh wait, that
was a drinking game of sorts. Ne'eryoumindthen. Never watch
ST: VOY and take a drink when a reset button is pushed for
anything.
And I was only watching it to prove a point to a sibling, not because I actually like that show. Well, I do, I
love Star Trek, but not that particular version of the show, you know. Like how people like certain Doctors/people, but not others? Like that. But good God, why did Sibling have to pick 'Threshold' (amongst others) to watch, I was drinking out of despair because even
I could tell the made of science was one hundred percent wrong even by
Star Trek standards! I mean, my science qualifications amount to a double A* at GCSE, so I am
really not an expert, but even I can tell you that humans
would not evolve into newt-thingies! And do you know how I know that?!
Because we evolved from them! Sort of. Well, on a parallel path or something. But humans have a vestigial tail, meaning that it was evolutionarily beneficial for us to
lose it, so we wouldn't grow it back! Humans can't de-evolve and then
call it evolving!!! It's like that episode of
TNG where the
Enterprise crew started de-evolving and turning into apes and lizards and whatnot you know, but
the writers of TNG
knew that lizards-thingies were a step down the evolutionary ladder from homo sapiens (but admittedly on the wrong side of things? But Troi was a lizard thingy so it's possible because she was part-Betazoid (although as a hybrid I don't know[/I] what [I]was going on there) so that could have been entirely possible for a Betazoid. Did they evolve from lizards? To
Memory Alpha! No idea! Although I did spent a good six minutes reading various articles on Betazed and Betazoids. Betazoid's a silly name for a species anyway because I keep thinking it's a
Power Rangers zoid. Although it would be funny if the Huttese were related to Betazoids if it turned out they (the Betazoids) were descended from lizards. Although I doubt that would be true at Betazed is still in the Alpha Quadrant.
And that episode of
TNG was
still stupider than
this serial even though it was done a little under twenty years
later than 'Genesis of the Daleks'! And do you know why I make that decision?
Because at least here they said they deliberately mutated Kaleds to reach the so-called 'ultimate evolutionary point' of their species meaning that the little blobs are mutants! Yes.
Doctor Who science from 1976 is infinitely better than
Star Trek science of the 1990s!
And STAR TREK HAD SCIENCE CONSULTANTS!! Actual, paid, part-of-the-staff science consultants. Something that
Doctor Who doesn't appear to have ever had!
Oh God what have I done.
So Our Boys try to break open the 'iron bars' mentioned earlier. They will, of course, break the bars because they look like the frozen form of
Scottish fizzy pop. This is accompanied with a disconcertingly close close up of the Doctor's chest and Harry's
extremely grubby hands. Eww.
DJANG! Smash cut to Davros, Himmler and Daleks. He's still creepy.
An evil, genocidal Stephen Hawking. He wants to tweak the Daleks even more to make "[t]heir instincts . . . as accurate as a scientific instrument" which is patently absurd because even
Cybermen's instincts aren't that accurate. And neither are Data's even though he's a ridiculously human android. I'm beginning to wonder if the white scientist's outfits are symbolic of something. You know, given that the Nazis - I mean
Kaleds wear black or grey, and the scientists can technically be considered neutral in this matter. Very technically. Given they want to help their people, and one of them also permitted Our Boys to escape.
Tall Dark and Sneaky (to old, white-haired guy): "Don't worry, I won't betray you. You're not the only one concerned about the morality of the work we are doing here." [how much do you want to bet this is a ploy of some sort?] "Now answer me: does Davros know they're gone?" Hmm, I think OW-HG
might be Alastair Darling. TDS spouts some nonsense about our Boys having reached the city and contacting the dudes Darling told them to contact.
Darling: "How do you know?"
TDS: "There is some advantage of being in charge of the communication system. All that we can hope for now is that they convince the leaders that Davros' work here must be ended." [Did that happen? I can't remember.]
Okay, maybe TDS isn't a traitor. However. They are discussing this treachery in front of Himmler. Stupid heads.
Then we're outside the
Eden Project, doubling as the Thal city, and someone's been playing with the smoke machine again. Tsk tsk. Ah, my mistake, it's the Kaled city. They're in a Secret Bunker of Secretiveness to keep this meeting secret! And for good reason as the Doctor intends to
tell the House of Congress of the Kaleds the future! And you have to love this line: D: "[M]y knowledge is scientific fact." Mmmhmm. Dwell on that line for a moment. Let it sink in. Somehow, I think between Four and Eleven that factual basis has deteriorated somewhat. I mean, remember that scene from 'Christmas Carol' where Eleven short circuits the psychic paper by claiming to be a responsible adult? Now, I would trust Four to be a responsible adult. However, I also believe Four
would keep a Christmas List. I think perhaps, that later Doctors, or at least
Nu ones are perhaps a bit ditzier than
Classic ones? Or maybe just less serious overall?
Oh God.
I
may possibly have either overdosed on sugar or have finally become tipsy, but . . . Tom Baker in this shot looks like Cumberbatch!Sherlock?
A lot? As in, aside from colouration and nose length. Suddenly all those 'The Doctor is Sherlock and Mycroft's parent' fics are a
lot more plausible. It's not just looks and voice either. Not only is this line
very Doctor, but it's
extremely Sherlock, and they both say such things with utter certainty. The cinematography here, while rather simple, still seems shot in a similar, slower style to
Sherlock (I think it's to do with the angles and lighting more than anything), and both Four!Doctor and
Sherlock!Sherlock have very animated eye and facial movement. Their presence is also rather commanding when necessary, as it is in this scene, and is emphasised by the slow zooms onto their faces to show how their actions and words are dominating the scene. The scene start at 08:20 if you don't believe me.
Errr.
Dear Mr. Moffat,
I am writing to you to tell you that
Sherlock isn't as innovative as you thought it was . . .
D: "Now Davros has created a machine-creature," [a Borg] "a monster, which will terrorise and destroy millions and millions" [so not billions then? And not as many as the Time Lords?] "of lives and lands throughout all eternity. He has given this machine a name: a Dalek. The name is new to you, but for a thousand generations, it is a name that will bring fear and terror. Now undoubtedly, Davros has one of the finest scientific minds in existence." [a very high compliment there] "But he has a fanatical desire to perpetuate himself and his machine." [The shot begins to pan over the little miniature 3D map of the area] "He works without conscience, without soul, without pity, and his machines are equally devoid of these qualities."
Aaand we have a Message folks! A subtle one too: science without a conscience, pity, ethics and so on is inhuman. A sentient being without these at least some of these things is a machine, and the textbook definition of a sociopath. It's a good message: science without human moderation is capable of monstrous things. And people say
Doctor Who is just an entertainment show for children devoid of meaning.
As an aside, I like how the Kaled city is represented by a slightly pointy sieve. Kind of like a bra cup too. Actually, it was the Thal city and proved a very nice segue into the next scene where we are, yes, back at the site of the atomic rocket with Quasimodo the Mutant and our lovely Sarah Jane Smith. Why is it that whenever I type her name I always miss capitalising the 'j' and have to go back and edit it in? Hooded mutants, aka Nazgul beggars are slowly loading 'chemicals' onto the rocket and Sarah jane Smith starts to collapse on account of being a human exposed to radioactive chemicals without any protection. The Storm Trooper says "When that's packed aboard, she'll get all the rest she needs" [because she'll be
dead mwahahahahahaha?] "Now pick up your loads."
That was a quick scene, it serves two purposes (one of which is virtually subconscious and accepted without even realising it). Sarah jane Smith is running out time time, and if something isn't done she'll die soon. And yes, that is a little morbid considering Elisabeth Sladen died a few years ago from cancer - aka 'broken' cells or a predilection towards certain types of genetic mutation, aka, something you are more likely to develop if you are exposed to large amounts of certain types of radiation - thus making me a little uncomfortable. The second purpose is that even the slightly-less-evil-Nazis are performing science (and war) "without conscience, without soul, without pity" showing that monstrosity doesn't require extreme situations (relatively speaking) to develop. It's obvious when you think about it, but maybe not if you just go with the flow.
So. Himmler! Just after an uneasy look from Our Conspirators he tells Davros "I've just had word from one of our conspirators in the dome. Councillor Mogran has called a secret meeting. The only councillors invited are known opponents of the work we are doing here in the bunker." [there were six max! That's hardly a lot, all things considered.] Natch, any risk of opposition is worrisome for our soon-to-be-dictator, so he pulls a
News of the World and demands the information from that meeting, by any means necessary.
Davros: "I think we need not be too concerned. MAny times in the last fifty years, factions of the government have tried to interfere with my research here. They have failed, they will fail again." And all's good and dandy until Himmler drops the additional bombshell that Our Boys have escaped their cell. Also, either Darling or TDS is actually called Ronson - I think it's Darling. Yes, Ronson is played by James Garbutt.
Cue the dramatic zoom on Darling and Davros order an investigation of this event and the rather chilling reveal that Darling will be personally dealt with by Davros. You know, this is a situation where having a poorly fitting rubber mask for your character actually makes sense and is really creepy. His face is so flexible I'm left half-wondering if he's going to try to peel it off to rid himself of such disgusting organic material. Plus the subtle way it bends in all the wrong ways makes for a wonderful way to unsettle viewers without them really being able to say why without paying close attention. Same with the really jittery way he moves his hand.
The music throughout this scene by the way is best eloquently summed up as an electro-sythned version of a WWII film (made in the '50s and '60s) soundtrack. It works, after all, sci-fi and synthesisers go well together, and music evocative of films based in WWII perfectly fits this war allegory.
Back in the Not-So-Secret Meeting Room, Our Boys are hoping that the Doctor's speech convinced them to halt Davros' work, and the Doctor says, "Sometimes words aren't enough." And thus greater sanctions up to, and including, war. The councillor's decision comes in, and it's a very realistic one at that. Speaker For the Council: "The council could not agree to half all experimentation in the bunker. [...] It has been agreed that an independent tribunal will investigate all work that has been done at the bunker." I'll just let you make your own pithy remark here.
D: "But that could take months! Davros already has several prototype Daleks ready for action!"
SftC: "It has also been agreed that, pending the investigation, Davros' experiments will be suspended."
D: "It is less than I had hoped for." But realistically, all you could expect. Say what you want about amoral politicians, but these people have been at war a thousand years, desperate to
end it, and yet they are still willing to prevent the development of, let's face it, intelligent WMDs, that could end the war in a few weeks, for the sake of people all over the universe. On the word of a person they have never met, or heard of, before that very meeting. Frankly, I'm a little amazed Our Boys got that much
and a promise to completely stop all work being done at the bunker if the Doctor's allegations are proven true.
The Doctor must have rolled a natural 20,
and got bonuses for RP.
Oh, and while I'm here; this situation sounds very similar to the one in 'A Town Called Mercy' with Carla and the Kryten-lookalike doesn't it? Here it's all the more compelling because while we
know the Daleks are amongst the most despicable species of all time, the Kaleds in the story only have the word of one man who honestly could be a Thal spy sent to sabotage them.
H: "Well, now I think it's high time we looked for Sarah, don't you?" You
think?! She's been missing for two and a half episodes!
Some guy: "The one you left behind in the wastelands?" No, the
other girl called Sarah they left behind in Timbuktu. Natch, Our Boys' interest is piqued and they inquire further, and sweet Angels of Mercy
doesn't he look like a snot-nosed, pimply-faced little ponce? I bet he's the spy. It's the fringe. "I can't be certain, you understand, but our agents inside the Thal dome report a newly arrived girl prisoner who led an attempted break-out. Given the Thals quite a bit of trouble. And while I do like the calm certainty with which Our Boys say that it's Sarah jane Smith,
it's also very unlikely it isn't Sarah jane Smith.
God I just want to slap that prat senseless. Who was he anyway?
Oh! It's
Guy Siner. He was
Lieutenant Hubert Gruber from
'Allo 'Allo - you know, the amusingly ambiguously gay German officer. He's also had roles in probably the four most influential sci-fi franchises ever:
Doctor Who,
Babylon 5,
Star Wars and
Star Trek, although sadly, he was in
ENT. Plus he was in
I, Clavdivs.
I can see the resemblance now. Plus, now you look between Kaled and Nazi uniforms
on the same person you can really see the similarities. I still want to slap him silly, but now I appreciate the effort he put into making me feel that way.
So Lieutenant Gruber's a bit of a fanatic, "What they don't know is that no matter
how powerful their rocket it cannot penetrate our protective dome!"
That, my little fanatic, is what she said. "Only a few months ago, Davros invented a new substance which has the strength of
thirty foot thick reinforced concrete!" Is it called a femdom? Oh Lieutenant Gruber, you're so eager you're practically spitting at the Doctor. It makes it all the more amusing when the Doctor just dismisses this wonderful new invention with a "[N]ever mind about that. Could you help us find Sarah?" because the Doctor's so blasé in the face of his fanaticism. And Gruber is so definitely th spy. He
loves Davros.
Wait what. Lt. Gruber know how to get into the service shaft under the Thal city, but he doesn't take advantage of it for strategic sneak attacks and raids?! What kind of fanatic are you when you don't try and gas your enemies out of their homes! It gets better! Lt. G: "Right, I'll [also] give you a map showing how to reach the rocket silo area." Ehm. You know where they keep their rockets. You have a genius scientist. MAKE SOME BOMBS, SEND IN SOME COMMANDOS. GET THEM TO PLANTS BOMBS IN THE THAL'S ROCKET SILOS. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. War done. Then again, I wouldn't put it past Davros to deliberately sabotage the war effort in order to play with his toys.
Okay, look Mogran (Speaker for the Council) when someone as
obviously evil looking and sounding as Davos says "I welcome any inquiry into our work here; I think the idea is an excellent one." you shoot him, and his bodyguards dead on the spot. Especially when someone has lain allegations of perverting the natures of science and the universe to his own benefit at his feet. Well, wheels. While I understand that having a complete stranger make these allegations isn't a trustworthy source, you obviously had enough doubts about Davros and his work to take this accusation of face value. More than that, he's
welcoming this investigation meaning you're going to play into his nefarious plots! Just like when Lord Vetinari allows himself to be arrested or likewise . . . inconvenienced, yet he always manages to come out on top, better than ever.
Then again, I think that maybe Mogran's caught onto something, what with Davros' patriotic
bull. It's amazingly done,
SftC: "There's one thing more: until the inquiry, all work is to be suspended."
D: "If that is your wish, then naturally I will obey." Shoot. Davros. 2It will take some time to close down certain pieces of equipment." NOW. SHOOT HIM! And now he's asking for twenty-four hours!
SftC: "Twelve." At least he has some sense. A few more platitudes and Mogran leaves, causing Himmler to actually
emote. "They cannot fail to see the danger to themselves in the Dalek project!"
Davros: "Calm yourself Nyder. There will be no investigation."
N: "But you can't stop the investigation now."
D: "I can and will. The Council has signed the death warrant of the whole of the Kaled people. Only we, the Elite, we and the Daleks will go on." Davros, you do realise that admitting you desire for nothing more than genocide generally leads to your own men turning on you right?
N: "The whole of the Kaled people? You would go that far?"
D: "Did you ever doubt it?" Well yeah, most sane people done aspire to genocide. I'm expecting Himmler to die any time now.
N: "No." Umm. You're okay with that? Genocide I mean? You're willing to knowingly go along with that? And have done this whole time? Most people tend to baulk at killing that many people. I mean, at least Davros is
insane, you seem reasonably sane and rational.
D: "There is much to do." Guys, guys, genocide? The mass slaughter of an entire people? No doubts at all? Well, birds of a feather
do flock together. Even when that feather happens to be genocide, and the birds are complete monsters. "I want the genetically conditioned creatures installed in the machines immediately. Twenty of them." Welp.
N: "
Twenty? [...] But they are still very erratic, unstable."
D: "They will not be allowed self-control." Davros, dude, when your co-conspirator
in genocide is taken aback by your plans, you
know something's going to go wrong. "I will compare a computer programme that will limit their actions." Mmmhhmmm, because nothing can go wrong with a computer programme. Nothing at all. "After that, we are going on a journey."
Now we in the Thal base, and at least they're smart enough to station a guard over the service shaft.
One who faces the wrong way. AND THEN WALK AWAY WITHOUT BEING RELIEVED BY THE NEXT MAN ON SHIFT, LEAVING IT UNGUARDED. Common sense: use it. Thanks to idiocy Our Boys have infiltrated . . . a corridor in the main BBC headquarters.
How does the Doctor not trip over his scarf? It's insanely long. And what do we see in a Secret Meeting Room in Thaldom?
H: "What's Davros doing here in the Thal city?" Conspiring to kill everything? Well, to find out, Our Boys eavesdrop. Via a vent in the door.
Da: And I am no longer influenced by words such as patriotism and nationalism. My concern is only for peace, an end to this carnage that has virtually destroyed both of our races." Another thought: you and your aide are two of the most important people in the Kaled war effort, how can you slip away from the city entirely? "[...] I have tried over and over again [to tell this to my superiors] but now they will be satisfied with nothing other than total annihilation of the Thal people." Says the pot to the kettle.
Thal Dude: "Then they deserve to perish, and perish they will when we launch our rocket. It's primed and ready." Then Davros spills the beans about the super-concrete. And provides a "super-chemical" to allow the rocket to penetrate the super-concrete.
This, naturally, arouses some suspicions in the Thal leader. "You know that your own people, the Kaleds, will be utterly exterminated."In other words, even after a one thousand year war, the Thals are still prepared to act mercifully to the Kaled people, probably not the
government and all, but the common people, yes.
Da: "No price is too great to pay for peace." . . . yeah . . . no price. This is where I'd up and shoot these guys, just on suspicion of supplying false information. And for being creepy. "I only ask that when the war is over I be allowed to help in the reconstruction of our planet."
N: "We want only to see the conflict brought to an end." Thing is, what they're saying is
technically true. Just not the way anyone thinks. This is why double-speak and 'I gave my word' contracts are so dangerous. What
you mean isn't what
they mean. At all.
Da: "By dawn tomorrow, our world could be at peace." By virtue of having wiped the vast majority of them out. At least Thal leader looks sufficiently dubious about this plan.
Of course, after our Nazis leave the room Davros admits that their belief in his words is "unimportant" as they only see the possibility of victory in their hands. Davros, being a manipulative master of human psychology is correct as the Thals emerge to say that orders have been given to launch a "barrage of shells containing the formula [...] as soon as possible"; that being immediately.
Well, at least the Thal leader isn't stupid enough to leave Davros and his crony alone in their city to wreak havoc; not that they need to, but points where points are deserved.
H: "Doctor, we've got to somehow warn Mogran and the other Kaled leaders."
D: "Yes, and we haven't found Sarah yet. Come on." So, let me get this straight: you put saving Sarah jane Smith above warning an entire people of their imminent death because their Chief Scientist betrayed them? I'm not saying Sarah jane Smith isn't important, because she is, but I think she'd understand.
This is so Doctor.
"Excuse me, can you help me? I'm a spy." *bashes two heads together* Complete with a cartoony
sproingle sound. Naturally the next thing to do is strip them of their bin bags for the usual military cliché.
For the third time all episode w're actually
with Sarah jane Smith, who's confused about the idea of people breaking promises. After all, POWs are always treated honourably and let go after performing hard labour. I mean, who ever heard of expendable mooks before? SJS: [W]hen [the rocket]'s fired, the exhaust will burn us up . . . " and the penny drops.
You know, for someone who's performed hours of back breaking forced labour she doesn't look all that tired.
Ah. Enter Our Boys, who summon over the
one guard and 'punch' him unconscious. If we follow cliché, they'll be caught in a few moments. The Doctor orders her and Harry to go back to the Kaled dome to warn them about the Thal offensive. "There's a chance if they launch an all-out offensive, I might be able to stop the rocket." So in a wonderfully ironic situation the Doctor is going to protect the most-Nazi-like Kaleds over the Thals. And the Kaleds are the ones who created the Daleks. Irony done right is beautiful.
Everyone legs it, except for the Doctor (and the NPCs, they just shuffle) while the Doctor stares up at the imposing(ly fake) rocket.
Back with Harry, Sarah jane Smith and . . . Sevrin (note to self: not Severus) they hop down the service shaft just in time to have Thal NPCs run up to the hole and shoot into it with their guns. Alas poor Sevrin, we knew you . . . better than any of the other Muto/Thal NPCs.
back with the Doctor, he's fiddling around with some 'wires' (read: pushing his hand in the gaps between prop pieces looking like he's doing something) when the unconscious guard suddenly becomes conscious. The music here is mostly drums, so it's making for some tense stuff actually. Then the guard pushes the button (of course it's red) that somehow magnetically pulls the Doctor to some fence and begins to electrocute him! Oh noes!
Scream out!
Preview: No preview this time.
Best Moment: The political manoeuvring in general. I'm never really given the impression that the
writing is taking control of the scene for the benefit of the main -tagonists (be they pro- or an-) and the result is a very
human mix of compromises where no ones entirely satisfied, and certainly people are suspicious of what has been said, but they overall agree with the outcome.
Worst Moment: Seriously, the existence of that clam raises so many questions. It also breaks the atmosphere and doesn't really seem to fit the mood of the serial at all. We have a serious allegory for war - both atomic, Cold and WWI as well as actions taken in wars, that also discusses scientific ethics, morality in general, and the ethics of genocide specifically
and it's the birth of the greatest villain in
Doctor Who's history and the introduction of
their Creator . . . and there's a brief two minute scuffle with a giant clam.
Was this forced into the script because of meddling from another source?
And yet in spite of this it's still better science than 1990s
Star Trek.
Best Actor: Michael Fisher is amazing; Tom Baker is amazing; Peter Miles (as Nyder) is amazing; they're all really good.
Worst Actor: Well, Ian Marter's a bit flat as harry Sullivan, but Harry seems rather a flat character.
Best Special Effect: Davros. All of it.
Worst Special Effect: The clam because it's a giant clam.
Most Punchable Character: Lt. Gruber. I want to slap that oily little pissant silly.
Death Count: It's a war, so lots. But onscreen, four or so.
Kink of the Episode: I very much admire Sarah jane Smith's boots and would like to know where she got them.
Was Not Expecting: The clam, for reasons outlined above.
Overall thoughts?
Since when did
Doctor Who become a tense political thriller/war drama full of grey ethical and moral decisions with no real right side. Aside from the 'Daleks are evil and wrong' thing.
Even the cheapness of the sets just enforces the stark realities of war and stuff. That and it shows that even at what is probably its budgetary heights it wasn't much of a high. However, they put it to
very good use.
The clam was a blip on the radar though, so out-of-place.
I'm reminded of a comment my English teacher made in Y10 when we were studying
Macbeth. 'This play is all about tension, and it's constantly running high from the beginning - political conspiracies, regicide, murder, madness, suicide, ghosts, guilt, infanticide, war! The doorkeeper's scene is so humorous, because it is a moment of
bathos - a sudden transition from high drama to common humour that releases all the tension built up until that point in time.'
But humour is the thing that changes the most over time, so it may not be as effective now as it was then. I can't help but think that perhaps the clam scene was intended to have a similar effect, and relieve tension. Not that I think this 'humour' would have worked when it aired either. But the rest of the serial is very tense and quiet, and sometimes a little farcical, but it works.