I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this story, since I rarely hear it talked about, except in passing as Pertwee's first extraterrestrial adventure. I did catch a snippet of Episode One a short while ago, but declined to continue so I could save my first impression for my marathon. As it happens, I like this one. There's a lot that it does very well, but some cracks also show. Read on...
It's exciting to break out of the earthbound setting again after two seasons! Even if the first place we land is a pretty drab-looking quarry, it's the baby steps that matter. The story cleverly misleads us for most of the first episode into thinking that this is another "colony imperiled by monsters" story, but as clues pile up that all is not as it seems, we come to realize that the antagonists for this one are very human. The IMC are convincing enough in this role; theirs is the banal sort of evil that has become so common during this era, that of corporate thugs and bureaucrats exploiting the law to have their way. But this time they're transposed into space, and the far future. Dent's remark, "What's good for IMC is good for Earth," is one of the most biting indictments of greed that's been written into the show so far; it's very much the sort of thing that's bandied about by companies today which are "too big to fail".
The colony itself is fine, though none of the guest characters on the colonists' side are really that memorable. The most memorable part about them is really when I thought they'd all died! Yes, I actually fell for that for a minute, though in hindsight I should have noticed the hints to the contrary. I really thought they got Delta and the Bannerman'd until they ambushed the IMC goons again. Ash's sacrifice will be remembered.
The funny thing is, I somehow also blanked on the fact that the Master was supposed to be in every story this season. It wasn't until the Adjudicator turned up that I figured it out and had a good cackle. It's amusing that this time, the Master seems completely bewildered to find the Doctor somewhere. This is his evil scheme, after all, and the Doctor is not supposed to be there! The Time Lords sending the Doctor to Uxarieus at the beginning is a little odd until you realize that they must have wanted the Master not to get the Uxariean doomsday weapon, but the "Time Lord mission" aspect of all this still seems pretty underdeveloped.
The Uxarieans themselves have some interesting aspects to them. It's clear from the ruins of the material culture that they dwell in, as well as the sophistication of their more mutated members, that they are not supposed to be taken as the savages that the colonists clearly believe them to be. All the same, everyone still calls them "Primitives" with a straight face. I have to applaud Hulke's effort to bring indigenous rights to the fore - we are only two years away from the Second Battle of Wounded Knee here after all - but it doesn't seem to come across quite as planned. And the less said about those terrible green costumes, the better...
As a spurious aside, I was really tickled by the typewriter on the IMC spaceship. That dated this story immediately, but it's charming.
Overall, we have another good entry in Doctor Who's 8th year. The length of the story unfortunately does it few favors, however, and some issues with the way that this serial is realized keep it from being in the same leagues as Hulke's best. That's all for now. The Dæmons is next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 28 March 2021.)
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