Doctor Who Reverse the Polarity - An Analysis Of The Pertwee Era
Part Four - Season 10
1973 marked the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee has out run his two predecessors William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, who had both done three years each. Doctor Who you'd expect to find on the front cover of the Radio Times, and up there as one of the most watched shows on the BBC at the weekend. So it's no surprise to the production team to find themselves in good stead in making plans for the Doctor's 10th Birthday.
Season Ten started on the 30th of December 1972 with the tenth anniversary special The Three Doctors, and ended with Katy Manning's (Jo Grant) departure in The Green Death.
THE THREE DOCTORS
Keen to open the anniversary season with a bang, Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks commissioned an ambitious story that would see the return of the First and Second incarnations of The Doctor, while retaining the UNIT family elements of the Third Doctor era.
It had been brought the attention of Dicks and Letts, a lot of fan mail was coming through from viewers suggesting ideas for stories such as "please can you have the Daleks battling the Cybermen?", or "Can you do a story with all the doctors together?" suggestions that were brushed off at first as being ridiculous. However, after giving the matter a little thought some of these suggestions did not sound so ridiculous after all, hence why The Three Doctors happened.
The Three Doctors stands out as being the first story in Who history to feature previous incarnations of the Doctor return to the programme, something that would later go on to be a regular feature in anniversary episodes.
The resulting celebratory romp has a distinct pantomime flavour in places, with the Doctors battling a giant anti-matter jelly and the globular Gell Guards, before arriving at the glittery fairy-tale domain of Omega; the shouty man in the shiny cloak.
In 1973 it was a bold new concept for multiple Doctors to share an adventures. William Hartnell was sidelined due to ill health, nevertheless brings gravitas and charm to his scenes as the First Doctor. The accidental brilliance behind what makes The Three Doctors work so well as story is that William Hartnell wasn't well enough to do it. Patrick Troughton looks exactly the same as he was before, Hartnell comes in and out when he needs to, no one really gets in the way of each other, the story does pace itself with a nice and easy flow.
The chemistry between Pertwee and Troughton though quite spiky in places, it's great to see the two doctors in action, and it's obvious that their two personalities clash both on and off screen.
The fractious scenes between the Second and Third Doctors are arguably the highlight of the story, and the success of this pairing established a recurring device, various Doctors reunite in The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors, Dimensions in Time, Time Crash, The Day of the Doctor, etc.
A colourful, nostalgic celebration of the first ten years of the programme, The Three Doctors is best enjoyed with a fizzy drink and a big slice of birthday cake. But perhaps not jelly and ice cream.
CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS
It is interesting when you look at things today like Gogglebox, concepts and ideas for things like that are only being touched upon in television before it's time.
Making the end of his enforced exile on Earth, Carnival of Monsters sees the Doctor return to the role of intergalactic adventurer, with this first outing in the TARDIS reminding us that his navigation skills were always less than accomplished.
Tossing out most of the elements which characterised the early Pertwee era (UNIT, Earth under attack, the Master) Carnival of Monsters gets back to the basics, placing the Doctor and Jo at the heart of a strange and dangerous mystery. But still a very fun and comedic story in moments where light hearted humour is needed.
Although not as blatant as his later tax parody The Sun Makers, Robert Holmes pokes fun at television and its viewers with a postmodern zeal. In a playful and cleverly crafted script, the lurid Lurman entertainers are juxtaposed with the desaturated stiffness of Inter Minor and 1920s manners aboard the SS Bernice.
The design work is similarly superb, in particular the period detail of the ship and the interiors of the Miniscope, and the Drashigs (which is an anagram of dish rag) are ferocious enough to convince us that they would do some serious damage if they managed to escape from the machine.
Often overlooked between the tenth birthday indulgences of The Three Doctors and the space operatics of Frontier In Space, Carnival of Monsters is fast, fresh, and feels surprisingly modern. One of Robert Holmes's finest scripts, this story is a comic highlight of Season Ten.
FRONTIER IN SPACE
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks has made grand plans for the tenth anniversary season of Doctor Who. Not only would it feature the reappearance of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton alongside Jon Pertwee, but there would be an epic twelve-part story to rival 'The Daleks' Master Plan (1965/6)'.
In the event, two linked six part stories were commissioned. Frontier In Space, the first of these stories, is an ambitious project realised through extensive model work, careful scripting, inventive use of locations and impressive design. It presents a future permeated with 1970s Cold War sensibilities, bleak, unfriendly and distrustful, where two galactic empires teeter on the brink of war.
But this future is far from black and white. As in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970) and The Sea Devils (1972), Malcolm Hulke portrays two morally ambiguous adversaries and highlights the fear and latent aggression on both sides as they manipulated by a third party.
Perhaps, unexpectedly, it is the presence of the Master that brings humour and lightness to the story. Roger Delgado's performance is beguiling, playfully masterminding the escalation of tension and relishing being in control. Given that this was Delgado's last appearance as the Master before his untimely death shortly after Frontier In Space was first broadcast it is all the more tragic that his final moments on screen are edited to a rather hasty and unsatisfactory conclusion.
Frontier In Space sees the return of the Ogrons to Doctor Who having appeared in the previous seasons opening story 'Day of the Daleks' (1972) The Draconians make an appearance as a new alien, they were Jon Pertwee's favourite aliens in Doctor Who, as he felt the make up on them was so well done he believed he was actually interacting with an alien species, and the costumes and design of the Draconians is well done and throughly executed to make them stand out as the most impressive aliens in Doctor Who. Such a shame however, they have not yet made an appearance in the new revived series.
Conceived with great ambition, Frontier In Space is somewhat compromised in is climax by the need to dovetail into Planet of the Daleks, but remains a first-class space opera realised on a grand scale.
PLANET OF THE DALEKS
What better way to celebrate Doctor Who's tenth anniversary than to include one of the show's most successful monsters.
Since negotiating their return for 'Day of the Daleks' the year before, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks had given writer Terry Nation the first refusal on writing all future Dalek stories. Planet of the Daleks was the first time he had worked for the series since 'The Daleks' Master Plan' in 1965.
Usually, the story follows on directly from the previous one, Frontier In Space, and the six-part adventure is full of treats for long-term Doctor Who viewers. We meet the Thals again, the first time since the very first Dalek story in 1963; old friends of the Doctor's get a mention, and then there the Daleks themselves. Four more Daleks were built - and we also get to meet the bulkier Dalek Supreme, a modified version of Terry Nation's personal prop from the film 'Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD' (1966).
Planet of the Daleks is an enjoyable and colourful Third Doctor story. Interestingly, the Doctor and Jo are separated for half go the adventure, something that becomes a bit more permeant after the story that follows.
THE GREEN DEATH
If you're a child and you're not that too familiar with classic Doctor Who, but your parents watched it when they were younger, chances are they've seen this one. Yes, everyone seems to remember, the one with the giant maggots. Probably because of how horrible and well they looked on screen, for the minimal screen time they did have, they were effective, scary looking and fitted the purpose of what is a eco friendly story.
The Green Death addresses matters which concern our environment and if we carry on polluting and submitting to global warming we will destroy the planet. In some ways, we may already be too late.
The Green Death is the final story in Doctor Who's tenth season and, although this is Jon Pertwee;s penultimate series, this story marks the end of an era for Doctor Who at that time and sets the wheels in motion for changes ahead. The UNIT Family is starting to break up and it's as if Doctor Who is slowly and gently preparing itself for bigger changes the following year when Jon Pertwee decided to leave the show.
Producer Barry Letts used his concern for pollution and the effect on environment as the basis for a Doctor Who story, Writer Robert Sloman, who had previously written the much praised story 'The Deamons' and 'The Time Monster' with Letts was assigned to co-write the finale to Season Ten.
The story is filled with iconic moments from the Third Doctor's era. Nightmarish giant maggots, a quick trip in the TARDIS to Metebelis Three and it has even got the Doctor dressed as a cleaning lady. Doris the cleaning lady still goes down in history as being one of the best Doctor disguises throughout the whole continuity of the shows long history.
However, The Green Death is really all about the departure of companion Jo Grant. There is a nicely done build up leading to its conclusion. You've got Jo who has been on this journey ever since she first step foot into UNIT and met the Doctor for the first time, it's built upon a sweet friendship between the Doctor and Jo that has lead to each of them feeling affection for the other. Jo Grant is a loveable ditherer who although her intentions are good, she can't help but make a fool of herself and you feel when you're watching her scenes with Professor Jones how similar it is to her first scenes meeting the Doctor.
Even early on in the story when Jo is keen to go up to Wales to help stop Global Chemicals, the Doctor is left in the lab and says 'the fledgling flies the coop' at that moment, it's almost like the Doctor already knows she's going, deep down he can sense it.
Throughout their relationship The Doctor has always been very protective of Jo, and there's a scene where he shows Jo the crystal he brought back from Metebelis Three, Jo doesn't look that interested, and so he removes Professor Jones from the room, this indicates the Doctor doesn't want to let go. He's still protective of Jo and his affection for her.
When you build up to the final scene it is terribly sad, you find yourself wanting to grab a box of tissues, it's very well acted and well done. Katy Manning's difficult not to love character swaps occasional time travel and working with UNIT for a trip up the Amazon with someone who reminds her of a younger Doctor.
Season Ten draws to an emotional close, with the final scenes of the Doctor driving off in Bessie and signifying the beginning of the end for a lot of things, the foundations of this UNIT family pact were breaking up, and the show was evolving into something new, but again that's the thing with Doctor Who it never stays the same. It is something which is constantly changing, adapting, and evolving throughout the years and will continue to do so.
Join me next time for the concluding part of my analysis of the Pertwee era as I review Season Eleven.
