Dr. Who and the Silurians: my review
jph...@aol.com
7 episodes.
THE PLOT
A series of power failures at an atomic research facility at results
in UNIT being called to investigate. The Brigadier is inclined to
agree with the facility's security chief that sabotage is responsible.
But high occurrences of nervous breakdowns lead the Doctor in a
different direction. When he sees the most recent patient - who
witnessed a friend's death in the caves beneath the station - drawing
detailed paleolithic designs on the walls of his hospital room, he
becomes convinced that there is something in those caves.
The Doctor is, of course, quite right. The caves are home to the
Silurians, a race of intelligent reptiles who ruled the Earth long
before humanity evolved. They went into suspended animation when their
scientists projected a disaster that would rip away Earth's
atmosphere. Now they are beginning to awake, to find that the guttural
apes have evolved into humanity and taken over their world. The Doctor
wants to find a way for the two species to peacefully co-exist. But
with a scientist trying to exploit their knowledge for gain, a
security chief opening fire on them, and the Brigadier ordering
soldiers into their caves in force, it seems inevitable that this
hostile first contact will erupt into a full-blown inter-species war!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Pertwee's Season Seven performances are among the best
ever given in the role, certainly across a full season. As good as
Pertwee was in Spearhead from Space, he is even better in this serial,
seeming completely self-assured. He brings absolute credibility, and
does so without going in any way over-the-top. Note Pertwee's line
deliveries for the Episode Five cliffhanger ("The first one") or in
the serial's final scene. He absolutely nails the rather difficult
task of conveying moments of high drama and intensity, and yet doing
so in a manner that seems utterly naturalistic.
I particularly enjoyed the Doctor's interactions with the Brigadier in
this serial. In the beginning, when investigating the mystery of the
power outages, the Doctor shares every discovery with the Brigadier.
Once he learns of the Silurians, however, he becomes increasingly
cagey with what he knows. From Episode Three onward, the Doctor is
pursuing his own agenda, withholding information from the Brigadier
and even acting against him at one point. This is far from the cosy
"UNIT Family" of later years. The Brig and the Doctor are two
intelligent, strong-willed individuals, as apt to work against each
other as with each other in certain circumstances.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Courtney's Brigadier continues to be
intelligent and efficient. When he dismisses the Doctor's evidence in
Episode One, noting that a mental patient drawing pictures on a wall
isn't evidence and that torn out pages from a log book could as easily
be concealing incompetence as sabotage, he doesn't come across as a
stubborn fool. He is, instead, challenging the Doctor to get more
tangible evidence, "something I can't dismiss," he says. Like any good
commanding officer, he sizes up the characters of those working for
him (and at this point in the series, the Doctor is definitely working
for the Brigadier, however much he may chafe at that), and gives them
the push needed to do their best work.
This Brigadier is also quite ruthless and assured in doing whatever
the situation dictates. There's a tiny, entirely nonverbal moment at
the start of Episode Six. As the Silurian disease is spreading to a
nearby hospital, a doctor and a nurse stand over a dead body,
wondering what is happening. The Brigadier orders them to go back
inside. When they hesitate to obey, he draws his gun and holds it at
the ready. The gesture is such that we are in no doubt that he is
fully ready to shoot both of these civilians, if that is what's
necessary to prevent them spreading the disease.
Liz Shaw: Caroline John's performance remains strong, and the
interaction between the Doctor and Liz strikes the right balance
between friendship and professionalism. Liz also represents a middle
ground between the Doctor and the Brigadier. When the Brigadier takes
his action at the end, the Doctor is shocked. Liz is not. She didn't
have foreknowledge, but she understands what was done and why. Liz -
the closest thing to an audience stand-in that we have - does not
fully support either viewpoint. She understands the Brig's deeds; she
understands the Doctor's outrage; and she neither supports nor
condemns either of them. It is left to the viewer to decide; and given
the events of the final two episodes, I suspect more than a few
contemporary viewers would have felt that the Brigadier was in the
right, or at the very least that his actions were defensible.
Dr. Quinn: A special note for this guest character. Quinn is probably
the single most critical character in the piece. Driven by greed - not
for money, but for fame and credit - his refusal to listen to the
Doctor's pleas to "let me help you" are key to the tragedy of the
piece, as by the time the Doctor manages to "play catch-up" with
Quinn, it is already too late. Though Quinn's role is essentially a
villainous one, he never really comes across as a baddie. Fulton
Mackay plays against the character's nasty side, instead emphasizing
the character's outwardly calm and friendly manner. He's so outwardly
genial, it's actually quite startling when that mask dissolves into a
near-violent paranoia in Episode Three. A wonderful performance, vying
with Mark Eden and Derren Nesbitt in Marco Polo for the strongest
guest performance I've reviewed to date.
THOUGHTS
Barry Letts took over as producer with this serial. The handover from
Sherwin to Letts is all but invisible, though Letts' influence is felt
in the toning down of the comedy elements. If anything, bits of it may
be too straight-faced. Lines such as, "She was found in the barn,
paralyzed with fear. She may have seen something!" cannot help but
provoke giggles, particularly when Pertwee delivers these lines with
such gravity and conviction.
Still, these moments of unintentional comedy are relatively few in
number, and do little to interfere with a gripping and intelligent
story. Malcolm Hulke's scripts, fine-tuned by script editor Terrance
Dicks, are expertly structured. In fact, this is one of the keys to
Season 7's success. Spearhead used the episodic structure in a very
methodical way, and so does this one. Episode One sets up several
mysteries (the presence in the caves, the power outages, the log book,
the drawings on the wall).
These mysteries start being answered as early as Episode Two. But as
early as Episode Two, the stakes begin to be raised. Major Baker's
careless shot, which ricochets and wounds a Silurian, sets in motion
the conflict that comes to dominate the rest of the serial. Episode
Three effectively follows a manhunt for the wounded Silurian, and the
end of that episode and the beginning of Episode Four represent the
last points at which the crisis might be forestalled.
Episodes Four and Five are largely transitional and, in fairness, the
pace does sag a bit in these two episodes - which is very noticeable,
sandwiched as they are between the outstanding first three episodes
and the intense final two. I suspect the serial may have been well-
served had it been possible to sandwich Four and Five into a single
episode. Still, this midsection is important to the overall story, as
it is here that we shift focus to the Silurians themselves. We see
that the violence of the "ape creatures" has sparked a power struggle
between the more cautious Old Silurian and the aggressive Young
Silurian. The results ratchet the tension to the crisis point for the
final episodes.
Episode Six, centered on the Silurian plague, offers the spectacle of
a gradually-spreading epidemic. And while this subplot is quickly
resolved in Episode Seven, the final episode does not truly grant a
release. Instead, we end on an uncomfortable note, with no cosy,
reassuring tag scene. The Doctor wins, in that he stops the Silurians
from wiping out and/or subjugating humanity. But in his other goal -
peace between the Silurians and the humans - he fails utterly.
I'd like to end this review by observing just how expertly the serial
plays with the Silurians' reveal. In Episode One, we do not see
anything of them; we merely hear Dr. Quinn and his assistant
discussing a mysterious "them." In Episode Two, we see a Silurian in
shadows, easily mistakable for a man, and see its point-of-view shots
and reptilian arms. This continues through Episode Three. It is only
at the cliffhanger to the third episode - the point at which the
narrative thrust changes substantially from investigating a mystery to
dealing with the fact of the Silurians - that we actually see a
Silurian clearly.
It is a wonderful build-up, in that by the time we see a Silurian,
it's not just a man in a rubber suit. The world in which the serial
exists has become so meticulously believable, that it is no great leap
to accept that this obvious rubber suit is exactly what we are told it
is. One of the triumphs of Season Seven in general, and this serial in
particular: by presenting each setting, and the characters populating
it, with such a strong sense of authenticity, the monsters and aliens
become more believable, more real, and far more interesting (and
unsettling).
Rating: 10/10. Despite a slight sag in the middle, this serial remains
my one of the series' all-time greats.