As you may have noticed from my reviews I am watching some of the old original series of Dr Who and this is the latest
one I have bought and watched. Staring the ever popular Tom Baker in the lead
role.
This story was broadcast in 4 parts in October –
November 1977
Plot:
A skull has been found in volcanic sediment perhaps
nothing unusual in that except that it is of modern man and the volcanic
sediment is 12 million years old – that is 8 million years before it could even
have existed. So just how did it get there? It certainly has the scientists who
found it puzzled.
Dr. Fendelman is trying all sorts of
experiments to find out why the skull is there and to even get an image of who
it was. The experiments alert the TARDIS which bring the Doctor and Leela to
earth. The Doctor soon discovers something sinister is going on which is far
and above the strange cult/coven in the village.
The Doctor discovers what is happening
and just what the skull is but can he act quickly enough to prevent those
responsible from carrying out their plan?
What I thought of it:
In general I have found most of the
original series to be better written and on the most part better acted than the
more recent series. I just find that now all the wiz bang special effects tend
to distract you from the lack of any real storyline or acting ability. The
special effects in this story are limited to superimposing on image onto
another, a bulb inside a fibre glass skull and a few pyrotechnics. You do have
to remember that this was in the days before CGI and a budget that today’s
Doctor wouldn’t even get out of the TARDIS for.
On the whole the acting is of a very
good standard the only slightly weak performance is by Geoffrey Hinsliff as Jack Tyler.
Hinsliff just never seems comfortable in the part. Denis Lill as Dr. Fendelmen
is well done in general but his put on accent in the part does slightly break
at times. Perhaps the best acted part is that of Martha Tyler played by Daphne Heard. Her portrayal as the local ‘wise woman’ is first
class and at times it is like she could turn a man to stone with a single word.
She is one of the few cast members in any story I have seen that can completely
upstage Tom Baker with just the delivery of a single line.
The sets have been well put together all be them slightly basic being a
front room and a couple of kitchens also a few offices. The computer banks in
the labs from this distance do look very outdated but were probably, almost, (or
made to look like they were) state of the art. The external shots of the big
house were done at Stargroves estate but the night time ones have perhaps
overdone the dry ice just a bit. The lighting in the cellar/chapel area has
been done well to give a sense of dread.
The enemies are nearly all the usual original series of Dr Who quality.
You know what I mean foam rubber and bubble wrap sprayed green. They may have
been scary back when this story was first broadcast but now they would hardy
get a five year old hiding behind the sofa. The main enemy is unconvincing in
other ways. The large eyes are clearly badly done makeup on the actresses own
eyelids.
Tom Baker does have his usual unscripted line of offering a ‘jelly baby’
to people. Although this story is well known for the fact that at one time he
says it he is actually offering a liquorice allsort. Whether this was an accident
by Tom Baker or not I doubt we will ever know.
Extras include:
After image:
A look at how this story was made including interviews with some of the
cast and crew. The cast talking about them getting their parts and the other
actors in the story and their own characters traits as well as a couple of
unscripted moments in addition to Tom Baker’s ‘jelly baby’ question. The script
editor makes reference to Tom Baker’s habit of putting additional bits into the
script and that he, at times, had to ask him to do the script as written rather
than just to leave the extra line in. Louise Jameson admits she had a laughing
fit the first time she saw the alien. She also says that it was during this
story that, due to other offers, she decided to leave Dr. Who but admits that
if she had the time over she may not make the same decision. Also discussed is how
one or two bits had to be slightly re-written to put them ‘off camera’ to make
it more acceptable for the time of broadcast.
Deleted and extended scenes:
Due to one of the BBC purges the original film and studio recording for
the story were destroyed but some of the parts that did not make the final cut
two monochrome reels dubbed from the master tape somehow survived and have been
used for this extra. The tape used were of low quality and only so much
technical jiggery pokery could be done improve them. Most of the deleted scenes
were removed for timing reasons and they take little if anything away from the
story. Included in them is a much longer scene of the hiker walking through the
woods. This is quite a boring scene so I can see why it was cut. The bits left
in switch into colour which helps to show how much was edited out. Also the
extended scene of the bit where the Doctor becomes sort of stuck to the spot in
the woods, again the switch between colour and black and white shows what was
edited out.
Photo Gallery:
Self explanatory
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