Those colorful shapes and swirls in the opening sequence are almost like a godsend after so long in the monochrome world. It's a little amusing to me that very few contemporary viewers would have been able to appreciate this, as the vast majority of TV license holders in the Great Britain of 1970 didn't have color televisions. Still, to a modern viewer, it's the first of many stylistic changes that we're hit with.
I also immediately noticed how different the pace of this serial is from any other before it. I had to check the story notes and see if it had been edited down from a higher number of episodes or not, because there is a lot happening, and it happens very fast. This made for an incredibly entertaining watch, but it also led to some blink-and-you-miss-them transitions and bizarrely abrupt cuts. As of the time of this writing, I'm starting to notice that these abrupt cuts are very common this season, but I can't fathom why.
Being shot on film is to the story's advantage, giving the whole thing a very slick and professional feel that was sometimes missing in previous serials. I thought Dudley Simpson's incidental score was appropriate for the story, cool and jazzy as it is, and as always I was impressed by Derek Martinus's direction.
Robert Holmes finally puts in a real winner of a script, though I detect Terrance Dicks' hand in this as well. It's certainly violent enough for a Holmes serial. I was a little shocked by the blood spatter on the UNIT jeep's windshield, and by the poor dog getting whacked by an Auton offscreen in part three. The scene where the Autons chase and gun down civilians on a city street was stone cold brilliant, though. It's easy to understand why that's so iconic.
We're grateful for the Brigadier's return to give us a familiar face amidst all the new stuff. UNIT immediately feels bigger and more powerful than it did in its first appearance, but naturally, no closer to solving alien invasion issues all on its own than it did before. I was immediately taken with Caroline John as Liz Shaw. Snarky and skeptical though she may be, there's a maturity to her that's been missing from the Doctor's companions since Ian and Barbara left, and once again, it's nice to have an intellectual equal for the Doctor's partner.
As for the titular fellow himself, Pertwee is instantly convincing. Although it's impossible to deny that the two previous leads had their own sort of charisma, Pertwee's is a different beast altogether. The scene where he speaks to the commissionaire and fast-talks his way into UNIT HQ is just hilarious. I also note that this Doctor clearly didn't want to have any more helicopter mishaps like his predecessor and has decided to be good at operating vehicles. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him! (Though not in the shower scene sense, I think I've seen enough of that.)
Needless to say, it's also neat getting to see the first appearance of the Autons, who have always been one of my favorite villains in this franchise. The dummies are hilariously creepy, and Channing makes for a chilling puppet master. I also appreciated the detail that people who are Nestene duplicates like Scobie (or are implied to be) have a slightly plastic sheen applied to their faces. I noticed this with the woman working as an aide in the plastic factory; we never discover whether she is one or not, but she has that look about her, and is always deathly quiet.
All around, this is a stunningly good start to a new era of the program. This new format with the Doctor stuck on Earth seems to have a lot of promise, but I still wonder, just how long can they keep it fresh? We'll see.
Onwards, to the humorously titled Doctor Who and the Silurians.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 21 March 2021)
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