BOOK OF LISTS: TOP TEN WHO STORIES #6

Kinda

There is a great irony concerning sci-fi TV.    Like all the other mediums that science fiction languishes in, many have considered it to be "television for egg heads".    The type of stuff that only really intellectually-centered people would enjoy because it's written in a convoluted manner.
   

The ironic point is, of course, that if you look at the overall history of science fiction in television it's frequently the exact opposite.    A lot of the genre appeals to an almost "lowest common denominator" sci fi crowd.   There's an over-reliance on action - with laser-gun fights and spaceship battles happening whenever they can.    The characters are often two-dimensional.   Our heroes are whiter than white and villains blacker than black.    And the way female characters are treated is often deplorable.    They are the traditional maiden in distress and/or sex object but are, otherwise, quite useless.  

            
These are just a few traits.   And you don't have to look too long to see that even Who, itself, has committed quite a few of these crimes.    Of course, sci-fi TV has improved dramatically in the last few years and the attitudes towards it have also changed.    Not only have a lot of these shows become very intelligently-written - but audiences have grown more sophisticated and, therefore, no longer see an over-complicated plot as a thing of evil.   

            
Still, a quick review of the long-term history of televisual science fiction reveals that most of it was a series of efforts to "dumb down" all that makes this genre so enjoyable. 

            
Which means that a story like Kinda appearing when it did in the early 80s makes it stand out like a sore thumb.      

            
Or, perhaps, a beacon of hope might be a better term!

            
Kinda fulfilled all the stereotypes that the common viewing public was making about sci-fi TV, at the time.   It is near-impossible to appreciate it unless you are capable of interpreting, at least, a bit of its incredibly thick subtext.   There is so much brewing "under the surface" of this story that the whole thing might seem just a bit boring if you're not, at least, a semi-educated viewer.   

            
But that's what I actually love the most about Kinda.    It makes no effort to simplify itself or satisfy the groundlings.   It is, quite simply, a smart script.  Which is an odd thing to say about the script, really.  It has such a simple central premise: a malevolent being from some other reality is trying to enter our own and wreak havoc.   Nothing new for Doctor Who  - we've seen this trope a dozen times or so, already.    But Christopher Bailey seems to take that well-tread storyline and build a bunch of things around it that are so amazingly beautiful to watch that we barely seem to notice that we've been down this path so many times.   

            
He starts by building two intensely interesting societies.   That of the high-tech colonists and the supposedly-primitive Kinda people.  The usual temptation that a writer falls into when world-building is then resisted.   Whereas most sci-fi authors then take painstaking lengths to fully explain the societies they've created through unnatural-sounding expository dialogue, Bailey only gives us as much as we need to know.    We suspect that the colonists are from Earth - but it's never properly revealed.     The Kinda seem to work through cycles of highly advanced technology and primitiveness - but we never see full proof of this.    It's so much better that all this is left to our imagination rather than littering the story with those forced "let me tell you about the society I live in" moments that the genre is so notorious for.   

            
The next Spectacular Window Dressing To Distract Us From The Overused Central Plot is characterization.   Which prompts us to give some seriously honorable mention to someone else besides the author.    Simon Rouse plays Hindle with such astonishing skill that we find ourselves' wondering if maybe the actor had a legitimate mental breakdown during the filming of the episodes!     Like Bailey (who must also be commended for writing the character so well), he resists the temptation to overindulge.    Usually, when an actor is handed a character who emotionally disintegrates, there is a desire to become very "theatrical" with the whole thing.   To take it a bit over the top and make it almost just a tad fun to watch so as not to disturb the audience quite so much.   Rouse, instead, plays it completely straight.  Thus enabling us to become genuinely unsettled as we observe him emotionally collapsing before us.   I have watched Kinda more times than I can count, and Rouse's performance still gives me  chills every time.   He is completely genuine in his execution of the role.   One is almost inclined to believe he made extensive visits to local asylums and studied the mannerisms of the inmates, there.    He does such a good job that the whole plot could have been about Hindle's madness and I think I would've actually been okay with that.      

            
Although, some major kudos must also be handed to Richard Todd.   The strange, macabre double-act that he has with Rouse in the later episodes is a sheer delight to watch.   It's equally-impressive to see the personality changes Todd must take his character through every time the Box of Jhana is opened in front of him (which happens to the poor man quite frequently!).   It's the type of solid performance that only a veteran of his standing can produce.    Or perhaps it was some helpful advice from Matthew Waterhouse that got him to pull it all off!    

            
Behind the scenes humor aside, everyone really deserves praise for the performances they hand in.   There is an atmosphere to the script that almost makes it seem more like a play than a TV show and all the actors pick up on this.   They appear to have given their characters the time and attention that they would  normally devote to a stage role whilst still maintaining a proper sense of naturalism that a television camera requires of them.   It's remarkable, really.   Look at other stories shot in and around these episodes and you'll see the difference in the performances.    The actors are doing something special, here, and it really shines through.

            
But enough about actors.    Back to the writing end of things.    Christopher Bailey provides some absolutely smashing dialogue for his characters.   Again, Hindle gets all the best stuff.  His wonderful monologue about the evil of the trees outside is truly ominous.   Both on paper and through Rouse's delivery.   "Change and decay in all around I see." is a great line that is masterfully delivered.    But my absolute favorite has to be:  "Don't be silly!   You can't mend people, can you?!   You can't mend people!".   Probably my favorite line of dialogue ever delivered by a supporting castmember.   

            
Of course, on the downside, we can't complete this review unless we deal with the elephant sitting on the table.  Or, more appropriately, the giant snake curled in the circle of mirrors.   Much criticism has been leveled about the full manifestation of the Mara that occurs at the end of Part Four.    And you know what?   It is a far-from-perfect effect.   But it's not as bad as people like to say.   In fact, our director does his damnedest to work around the problem.    Tight shots that wobble and blur so that we don't get the clearest view of our cheap-looking snake are employed to their fullest potential.    Frequent cutaways to horrified Kinda people and TARDIS crew also help to distract us.    We're even given some pretty creepy incidental music.   So that the story's climax actually manages to work half-decently - even if the Mara is far from horrifying.  But Fandom, as always, must blow negatives out of proportion wherever it can!   

            
And if they're going to make such disparaging remarks, Fandom should also note the effectiveness of the various dream sequences in this tale.  This is where Kinda uses its low budget effectively.   The images that fade up when the Box of Jhana is opened are well-shot and the music enhances these moments to no end.   The symbolic vision that Panna summons at the end of Episode Three is also very stirring.   But, of course, the truly enduring imagery is the dream Tegan lapses into during Parts One and Two.    When it comes to creepy moments in 80s Who, this is one of the best.    A brilliant choice made by the writer.   It's almost as if he understands that the TV show can't produce the sort of scary monsters that it used to because it's no longer capable of keeping up with the sophisticated prosthetics we were seeing in movies, at the time.   So, instead, he devises a new way to frighten us.   The stark simplicity of characters in front of a black screen acting in a very off-skewed manner is so  much more disturbing than any rubber-suited monster could ever hope to be.  If we have to put up with a few minutes of a big fake snake at the end in order to also get this kind of stuff, then I'm perfectly all right with that.

            
I could keep going on about the brilliance that is Kinda. There is so much more to discuss.   But I'll stop, for now.    

            
I've only placed the story at Number Six because I do recognize that it's not the most approachable of stories.    No doubt, it actually alienates a lot of its audience and that does cause it to lose a few points.   But that egghead that lingers deep inside of me who finds documentaries on geology intensely fascinating or loves to have a really complex physics equation explained to him puts Kinda at Number One.   It's only the fact that I've actually got a well-rounded personality (or, at least, I like to think that I do!) that causes me to view the story more objectively and bump it back a few slots in the countdown!    

Want to read the rest of my Top Ten? Here they are: 

#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

#8 -   http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-10-fave-who-stories-8.html 

#7 - http://robtymec.blogspot.ca/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html