Airdate: January 17, 1970Jon Pertwee, Caroline John
Written by Robert Holmes
Produced by Derek Sherwin
Directed by Derek Martinus
This story introduces the Autons and the Nestenes. They will go on to make two return appearances on television, in Season Eight's "Terror of the Autons", and in the first episode of the 2005 series, "Rose", but they'll never again be as good as they are here. They're actually a lot like the Yeti (which, at one point, were supposed to return this season, which is why Jon Pertwee appeared with one for a publicity photo). Both the Yeti and the Autons are robot-like creatures used as soldiers/workers for a disembodied alien intelligence. The New Adventures novels in the 1990s explained that the Nestene Consciousness, along with the Great Intelligence and the Animus from "The Web Planet", were Lovecraftian "Great Old Ones".
Of course, this is the first "Doctor Who" story to be shot in color. This is a big part of what gives this story a completely new look compared with previous "Doctor Who", but it's not the end of the story. Prior to this story being shot, there was a strike at the BBC, which delayed the shooting for a number of BBC programs. By the time the strike was resolved, BBC studio space was required by other shows to make-up for the lost time. As a result, this became the first "Doctor Who" story to be shot entirely on location, and also the only one to be shot entirely on film. Subsequent stories will return to the old mix of video for studio work with occasional location film inserts. The rest of season looks pretty much like "Doctor Who", only in color. Because it's entirely shot on film, this story doesn't look much like "Doctor Who" at all.
Now that the Doctor has caught up with the plot, we get are first taste of how he's going to approach problems. He's got a strong "gentleman adventurer" vibe going, which is charmingly old-fashioned and appropriately British. But the script still has more work to do in establishing the new format. The Doctor manipulates Liz into retrieving the TARDIS key from the Brigadier, and he attempts to get away in the TARDIS. Right in the middle of a crisis. The purpose of this scene is to illustrate that the Doctor can't leave Earth, and to establish that he feels trapped and resentful at the loss of his freedom. And that's fine. But it's curious that Doctor would really just up and leave in the middle of the story. And it's doubly curious that the Brigadier would expect him to try do this.
6 comments:
I love Lovecraftian type of "Old Ones". I think the new series could stand to use some of that. Right now the Doctor's really powerful/imposing. He literally resolves the first story of the current season by telling the aliens to run away, because he's the Doctor. It'd be nice for him to be gripped by the horror of an evil to big to comprehend and then survive mostly by luck
Word Verification: Supecove - When Superman got tired of all the ice at the Fortress of Solitude, he decided he needed a beach retreat.
I think we've seen some of that in "The Satan Pit", but I'd certainly be up for more.
But I have to object to your characterization of "The Eleventh Hour". The scene you're referring to wasn't the resolution of the story. It was a coda. I won't say more since most of my readers haven't seen the episode yet.
Gah! I come here to post about the Great Old Erection I get when I think about the Doctor fighting Mythos creatures and I get Dr. Semen spoilers!
What is the title of the New Adventures novel you refer to, cause this shit makes me happy.
It's really not a spoiler. But it's a good reminder to us all to avoid talking about episodes that haven't even aired yet!
Anyway, check out All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane. There are currently several copies available from eBay. It's actually a Dr. Who/Sherlock Holmes crossover, with much of it written from the 1st person POV of Dr. Watson. It sounds strange, I know, but it's really very good.
My panties are like a mop now. I have added it to my wish list so I don't forget the title.
What's Weird (Fiction) is that this mash up set up seems to predict half the genre stories around these days.
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