BOOK OF LISTS: TOP 10 FAVE WHO STORIES - #8

ARK IN SPACE

Let's be honest, Classic Who can really be a "tough sell", sometimes, to the newbie fans who only discovered the show in 2005.     Not only does the production value of the Original Series make it look laughably cheap, but much of the show needs to be viewed contextually.    People, back then, enjoyed television in a totally different manner than they do today.   And the New Who fan has a hard time getting his or her head around this.    They expect their TV to be a mini-motion picture every week - and Classic Who seldom worked that way.    It was all meant to be a bit more ponderous and static.   Like watching a play on a television instead of a movie.
     

But there are a small handful of Who Adventures from the Original Series that move at such a cracking pace and use atmosphere so well that all the wobbly sets and rubber monsters in the universe can't work against them.    Whether you watched the original transmission or are re-watching it, today - it stays relevant.   It keeps moving along so quickly and effectively that the New Series Fan will enjoy it just as much as the stuff that's coming out this year.   Even if it all "looks a bit hoaky" by today's production standards.  

            
Two stories that have made it into my Top Ten achieved this. 

            
Ark In Space is one of them.   

            
Yes, Robert Holmes has written many brilliant scripts (and a few not-so-brilliant ones - but someone as prolific as him is allowed to have his off-days!).   But I like this one so much because it is such a stripped down version of what he usually does.    Rather than load up the tale with his usual hallmarks, he sticks to story.   There are no subtle satires being told.   No eccentric characters.    There's not even a colorful double-act to be found.   It's all about plot, here.    And it's nice that, even when his script is in it's most simplistic state, Holmes still fires on all cylinders.  

            
Episode One is truly intriguing.    Bob almost seems to be trying to parrot Terry Nation, here.   The whole episode chiefly concerns the TARDIS crew wandering around a bit in the new setting, discovering a few minor plot points and getting into some trouble.   Something that happens in most of the scripts our famous Dalek Author hands in.   But whereas a lot of Nation's first parts have been such pure filler that you can almost skip them and still understand what's going on - Holmes uses this style to full aplomb.   We get some important plot information that makes the first episode still necessary to watch.   We also get some nice characterization and one of the best-written monologues in the show's history.    And, of course, we get a lot of the main characters falling in and out of trouble.    In fact, a sense of danger runs quite strongly through most of the episode and keeps it very interesting.   Especially in those first few minutes as various members of the TARDIS crew suffer from oxygen starvation, battle a dangerous automated guard and get teleported into permanent cryogenic suspension.  The high level of threat that comes barreling in at the beginning of this whole adventure really catches our attention and keeps us involved.

            
But we've seen any number of Who four-parters where Episode One is highly promising but the other Three never live up to their potential.  Holmes, with his incredible eye for what does and doesn't work in the show's format, has probably even recognized the problem he's created.   So he makes sure that those other three parts have just as much memorable stuff in them.    And, again, he's all the more impressive because he doesn't resort to any of his favorite tricks to do so.

            
Functionalism in the supporting cast is brought to its ultimate forefront in this plot.  This is meant in a completely literal sense.    Each character gets introduced because their background serves to specifically benefit the workings of the Ark.    We've got medtechs and engineers and the like.    It is a group of people that have done their damnedest to ween out personality and focus on pure survival.   In many ways, the honeycombs of the Ark remind us all-too-succinctly of another set where a race was cryogenically frozen for an indefinite period of time.    Not only does Ark In Space visually resemble Tomb of the Cybermen, but the beings that have frozen themselves' within the Ark's pallets are very similar in characterization to the monsters of Telos.   Particularly as we hear Noah ranting on about killing the Doctor, Sarah and Harry simply because they are "regressive".  

            
But this whole approach with the supporting cast makes it almost impossible for Holmes to inhabit the story with his usual gang of colorful characters.    He can't offer us a loveable rogue because the society of the Ark would never permit one to exist.    This is a great move on Holmes' behalf as it forces him to dig into characterization in a whole new way.  Admittedly, there is little humor in Ark In Space.   But this just means that our favorite author can take the drama to untold heights.   

            
The most noteworthy example of this, of course, is Noah's Great Internal Struggle.   His fierce dedication to successfully completing the Ark's mission constantly clashes against the Wiirn's control over his mind.   Kenton Moore, the actor portraying Noah, does the most amazing job of fleshing out this conflict.   The Discontinuity Guide put it best when it pointed out how quickly we forget the embarrassment of the bubblewrap glove and focus, instead, on the tension of that particular scene.    To be so easily distracted from such a blatantly bad visual says a lot about Mister Moore's abilities as an actor.   And what could have been memorable for all the wrong reasons, instead, becomes the most iconic moment of the whole story.    Noah's fight against himself, alone, makes this story a classic.    But Ark in Space offers us so much more...

            
The general sense of claustrophobia and horror that hangs over everything is another powerful element of the storyline.   And like Moore's performance - it is another instance where content overcomes the limitations of budget.
  

The design of those Wiirn outfits is not exactly impressive.   Especially when you start trying to figure out how the creatures actually manage to get about.  Anything remotely resembling a limb is several feet away from touching the ground!  Essentially, these creatures appear to be mobile torsos bouncing around on a space station.   With a nasty bug-head and spindly arms added to them almost as an after-thought rather than a prominent feature.   It's not the most effective of visuals.  

            
And yet, we're on the edge of our seats as a Wiirn suddenly lunges for Sarah Jane's leg from the ventilation grille.   We're full of fear when the Doctor hides himself in a cryogenic pallet while a Wiirn searches the room for him.    Even the gastropodic version of these creatures, in all their "bubblewrapic splendour", manage to provide us with a few highly riveting instances.    It's because the Wiirn or so well-presented on paper and then shot as cleverly as possible on video that the visual downside of them becomes almost negligible.   These monsters may not look all that formidable, but they still feel absolutely terrifying.   

            
This is where we truly see the brilliance of Ark In Space.   Where it supersedes the limitations of the era it was shot in and becomes something bigger and better than just a mere four episodes of an old cult T.V. show that was recently brought back to life under better production conditions.   No matter which period of television history you watch Ark In Space in, it remains a truly creepy tale that unsettles you.  That's why it remains so highly-regarded by both myself, and fandom, in general.  

            
But not only is the story timeless, it also gives us some of the best supporting cast acting we've ever seen.  It's a brilliant script by Robert Holmes where he actually manages to completely re-invent himself.   Most writers produce a whole bunch of bad material when they attempt such a process.   But Holmes, genius that he is, gets it right first try.   

            
Both Russell T. Davies and Stephen Moffat site this story as their all-time favorite.    It was even partially responsible for inspiring the whole Alien movie franchise.   And it's not hard to see why Ark In Space remains so influential.    It's not only a story that continues to scare us to this very day, it's just damned good television.

Other fave stories:

#10 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html

#9 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-fave-who-stories-9.html