This one was somewhat of a surprise to me! Based on the impressions I had from just eyeballing screenshots, I thought this one would be rather silly, just like the last water-themed Troughton serial. I didn't expect such a tense and creepy story, nor one with so much heart.
The setting on its own doesn't distinguish itself too much from the other bases we've seen besieged over the last couple seasons, except that for once we are in contemporary times and in England. The choice to set it on a gas rig makes sense in light of the fact that the first North Sea gas was only piped to England in 1967, the year before this story went out. I don't think it's trying to "say" anything about drilling in particular, since the environmental effects of it probably wouldn't have been evident at the time, but it is another example of the show picking up on contemporary events to inspire its scripts.
It also entertainingly subverts the conventions of the "base under siege" format in a couple of notable ways. Robson, who seems at first like the most base commander-y of base commanders we have seen so far, rather immediately gets jettisoned from a position of authority by the rest of the control rig's concerned crew and Harris, who believes the Doctor, is in charge instead. The serial also directly acknowledges the "female companion screams at monsters" cliché, in this case weaponizing it against the seaweed monster, as the sonic waves from Victoria's screams are what end up killing it.
The monster itself is fairly creepy, for a bunch of foam and seaweed! By far the scariest part is its ability to parasitize and control sentient life. The two technicians who start the story under its control get this across quite well, and Quill's actor manages to make opening one's mouth, of all things, scary, courtesy of those bug eyes. The scene where Maggie Harris walks into the surf in Episode Three likewise stuck with me, as did Robson submerged in the suds at the end of Episode Five.
The sound design is really on point in this one. The heartbeat-like thrum of the seaweed in the pipes is positively chilling to listen to, and the incidental music, while a bit obtrusive at times, is suitably alien and memorable.
God bless the Kiwis for their sensibilities, by the way, or we wouldn't have all the censor clips to give some visual reference here. I was heartened by the fact that, between these clips and the alternate takes used in Episode Six, basically every cast member of this serial gets at least a few seconds of surviving footage. That's really nice. It also helps that the coolest, scariest bits of the story were naturally the ones that were cut. For all that I really, really hope that this serial gets found one day, the clips go a long way.
It's not all smiles, because this is where we must say goodbye to dear Victoria. Although I've heard her derided in some corners as the classic "screamer" companion, I've appreciated her presence throughout this past season. Perhaps not so much on her individual qualities, but rather what she brought to this TARDIS team, which I think is one of the strongest ensembles the show has had so far. She's played with class and charm by Deborah Watling all the while, and even if she wasn't cut out for life in the TARDIS in the long term, we shall never forget her. Nor shall, I expect, the Doctor. (But Jamie... More on that at the end of next season.)
The departure is a genuinely moving one, and I was surprised that I came close to misting up during the scene where Victoria and Jamie quietly say their goodbyes the night before the TARDIS leaves. Definitely the most emotionally affecting moment that has been in the program thus far. I'm not surprised to note that Victor Pemberton, who wrote this story, was script editor presiding over The Tomb of the Cybermen, and I have to imagine that he was involved with the TARDIS opening scene there. It's a neat bit of bookending.
We shall wrap the season up and meet another new crewmate in The Wheel in Space next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 March 2021.)
No comments:
Post a Comment