So I was working away at a nice ANALYTICAL essay (a pretty cool topic, too - I was writing about Regeneration Recovery). While composing the post, I decided - just for fun - to watch the entire Sylvester McCoy era from beginning to end (not only a great Doctor - but his era plays out in a very different way than most other Doctors - which makes him all-the-more interesting to watch). I got to Delta and the Bannermen and remembered a pet theory that had circulated about the character of Goronwy,
At the back of my mind, I've also been thinking about this new type of essay I created last year called POINT OF DEBATE. I was concerned about the fact that I haven't really written a whole lot of essays in this style, yet (only one, so far). Suddenly, I realized I needed to abandon my ANALYTICAL essay for now and work on something different.
GORONWY: TIME LORD OR JUST HUMAN?
Very near the beginning of Part Two of Delta and the Bannermen, Agents Hawk and Weismuller find themselves' at the home of an eccentric beekeeper as they are trying to track down a missing satellite that has fallen to Earth. They attempt to ask the elderly gentleman a few simple questions but he only seems interested in explaining to them the Cycle of Life. The two agents shrug him off and go on their merry way.
We think this is all we will see of the beekeeper, but Goronwy (as he is called) continues to figure into the story. In fact, at certain crucial moments, he proves to be quite useful. But he always seems to be in his own world. Responding to the chaos around him in the most curious of manners.
It could be that our eccentric beekeeper is just a very unique individual. A mere human who just happens to be good at seeing the bigger picture. Or it could be that Goronwy is something more. Some fans like to believe that Goronwy might actually be a Time Lord. Similar to K'anpo Ripoche in Planet of Spiders, he has chosen to leave Gallifrey and live out a quiet life on Earth. For the most part, he has stayed away from any kind of trouble. But, at last, his path has crossed with the Doctor's. And he helps his brother Time Lord for just a little bit before returning to his peaceful existence.
POINTS OF SUPPORT
There's never any totally positive proof that validates that Goronwy is anything more than a human. At no point does the Doctor give a statement to the nature of: "Ah, Goronwy! How have you been?! I haven't seen you since my Prydonian Graduation Ceremony!" or words to that effect. But there are many little clues that might indicate that he is a Time Lord. In fact, just about every scene he's in seems to insinuate this idea.
Let's examine some of those clues:
Right in his opening scene with Hawk and Weismuller, Goronwy gives several statements that make him sound like he's not quite sane. The two agents ask him if he's seen any strange, unusual lights in the sky. Goronwy explains that he's seen all kinds. Low, pulsing lights as he describes them. The American duo are already reacting to this poorly. Wondering if they've "found a live one" - as the old saying goes.
But could this be Goronwy revealing his longevity? Time Lords live a long time. Perhaps he's been settled in Wales for a few centuries, now. These various lights he's seen in the skies might be different space vessels he's seen crashing to Earth over the years. Ships like the one owned by Linx the Sontaran or the escaped Terreleptils from Raaga. Goronwy would always be keeping an eye out for such things. Other aliens might be the only thing that could genuinely disrupt his quiet life. Perhaps there's even a special scanner located somewhere in his basement that has enabled him to keep an eye on alien visitations that have taken place over the years. So this description of low pulsing lights might actually be the Time Lord describing any number of spaceship landings that he's seen throughout the centuries.
As if this wasn't enough to estrange himself from the agents, Goronwy then tells them he will consult his bees. "They see everything..." he assures them. Again, taken at face value, this man just sounds nuts. But Time Lords are mildly telepathic. Perhaps he's found ways to enter into mental communion with bees. It helps, of course, that we will later learn in Stolen Earth that some bees actually are aliens, themselves. Could Goronwy actually be keeping special highly-evolved and intelligent aliens that resemble bees and actually have low-level telepathy?
If we're willing to stretch our imaginations a bit, Goronwy doesn't quite seem so mad, now.
LATER SCENES...
For a while, our eccentric beekeeper disappears from the story, again. When we re-join him, his behavior continues to be erratic.
The next time we see him, he gives away one of the strongest clues that he is more than he seems. With absolutely no hesitation, he accepts the Chimeron princess when she is handed to him. A normal human would probably have all kinds of reservations about taking a strange creature into their arms and carrying them. But Goronwy has no problem with it. Almost as if he is accustomed to seeing and handling non-terrestrials because he is one, himself. Some might argue, of course, that he is not put off by the Chimeron princess because she really just looks like a young girl in a silly green outfit with some face paints. But her unintimidating appearance is due more to budget limitations. We're meant to visualize her as looking weird and alien even though the costume and make-up doesn't re-enforce it very well!
Another clue is given about Goronwy's longevity as he and Billy are talking in his storage shed. Billy asks him how long he's been collecting honey. Goronwy can't remember cause it's been so long. He holds up one jar to Billy and describes the beauty of the summer it was made in.
Could it be that each jar we see represents a different summer? There's hundreds of jars on those shelves. Could that be hundreds of years of honey? The jars, themselves, might be some sort of special advanced technology that can preserve the honey indefinitely. Has Goronwy been keeping bees in Wales for several centuries, now?
HIS GENERAL ALOOFNESS
As the battle rages on between the Doctor and the Bannermen, Goronwy goes along for the ride. But while the stakes seem pretty high with ruthless alien conquerors roaming the Earth, the beekeeper seems pretty uninvolved with the whole thing.
He is nice enough to tend to Hawk's wound and lend earplugs to people. But, otherwise, he just sits in a corner and reads a book (eventually, he starts reading aloud to Hawk from the book). Again, his comfort around beings from another world seems to insinuate that he is one himself. But I think his aloofness might have stronger bearings than that.
An interesting look passes between the Doctor and Goronwy as they first meet that I think represents the telepathic recognition that Time Lords have when they haven't seen each other in a while. I believe the Doctor and Goronwy knew each other back on Gallifrey and may have even influenced each other a bit to make that decision to leave. Goronwy, in fact, knows the Doctor's reputation well. He may have even researched him a bit over the years. No doubt, he heard whispers of the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster or the Cybermen's attempt to invade the Earth through Tobias Vaughn (didn't want to completely paraphrase Remembrance of the Daleks!) and dug into the events more thoroughly. He discovered the Doctor was always there when such incursions happened. That he acts as Earth's champion whenever he is needed. So he's not the slightest bit bothered by this latest incident with the Bannermen. The Doctor can handle them easily. He'll offer his assistance when needed. Otherwise, he'll just sit back and enjoy himself.
POINTS AGAINST GORONWY BEING A TIME LORD
I'll admit, ideas that disprove this theory are scant. Or, at least, I'd like to believe that they are. Truthfully, I've always liked to believe that Goronwy is a Time Lord. Right from the first time that I watched the story, I've harbored this idea. I was pleased to pick up The Discontinuity Guide a few years later and see that the authors of that Great Book felt the same as I did. This was the first time I had my pet theory affirmed by others. Thanks to the internet, of course, I've seen several more discussions of this nature on the subject.
The biggest thing that negates the idea of Goronwy being a Time Lord is that it is never explicitly stated that he is one. Hints are given all over the place that we can then blow out of proportion in the way that I just have. But if there had been just one proper piece of dialogue to officially re-enforce this - this would not be a point of debate, right now. But, rather, a piece of continuity.
What if Goronwy isn't a Time Lord, then? Is he just some crazy old man living in the Welsh countryside who hasn't been institutionalized because no one feels he is a threat to himself or others? Could he have that simple of a backstory?
Truthfully, such an idea doesn't make sense to me. Why would the scriptwriter make him such an odd character unless he wanted him to be something more than just a madman? To just drop some senile old man into the story like that doesn't really work unless we believe there is more to Goronwy than meets the eye.
CONCLUSION:
In all honesty, this doesn't seem like much of a debate to me. I know I should have probably represented the contrary stance better but I have a hard time with it. It's far cooler to think Goronwy is a Time Lord. I actually even like the fact that it's left ambiguous rather than properly stated. It makes the character seem all the more mysterious.
There is one final piece of evidence to support this idea: Even though Goronwy doesn't get introduced til the beginning of Part Two, the director is nice enough to give him the final shot in the story. As the TARDIS dematerialises at the end of the tale, various humans that have witnessed it respond accordingly. They can't believe their eyes. But not Old Goronwy. He just turns to look at it and smiles. It seems like it's a comforting thing for him to watch.
Almost as if he's seen any number of TARDISes take off over the years...
Another POINT OF DEBATE discussed and, hopefully, settled. I do look forward to writing more essays in this style in the future. There are many other interesting "grey areas" that the show has created throughout its many seasons that merit discussing. I wish to delve into a bunch of them.
Did you miss the first POINT OF DEBATE? Here's the link:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/08/points-of-debate-was-missy-truly.html
Friday 25 January 2019
Sunday 13 January 2019
BOOK OF LISTS: TOP 6 BEST EPISODES - PART 1
And so, at last, our end-of-year countdown draws to a close. Sorry that it ended up bleeding so much into the New Year, after all. I really was hoping to wrap it up sooner. Sadly, my career as an actor/writer has been keeping me busier, of late. I kinda have to give priority to that stuff cause it pays the bills. Truth be told, however, I'd rather just write these!
Anyway, here's Number One:
THE BEST SINGLE DOCTOR WHO EPISODE, EVER:
Could it be anything else but Heaven Sent? It's not just the best episode of Who. It's, quite possibly, the single best episode of television, ever.
I still remember when Series Nine was coming out and different members of the production team were giving little "teases" of what Heaven Sent was going to be like. It sounded very unique and interesting. Something like this, however, also had the potential to fall flat on its ass. But then I honestly thought to myself: "Steven Moffat, Peter Capaldi and Rachel Talalay. If anyone can pull this off - it's them!" In fact, even before the episode was transmitted, I was pretty sure it was going to be awesome. I just had that much confidence in this particular team.
My faith in them was not let down.
It's difficult to know where to start in the writing of praise for this episode. So, let's go for the obvious: let's start at the beginning.
Heaven Sent is riding a major shockwave from its predecessor. In the final moments of Face the Raven, we watch Clara Oswald die. As is often the case with major characters in sci fi franchises, there were people that loved her and folks that despised her. Whichever camp you're in, it was a brutal ending to the episode and a gigantic cliffhanger as the Doctor gets teleported to Parts Unknown. With this sort of ending to the previous week's adventure, Heaven Sent has a lot to live up to. Which can also equate to a lot working against it. It has to keep riding on all the tension Face the Raven has built up. Not only must it achieve this but, because it's the middle installment of a three-parter, it must be even bigger and better than Raven so that it can effectively take us into the final episode of the season.
Part of what makes Heaven Sent so beautiful is that, even with those high expectations placed upon it, it chooses the most unconventional direction to go in. There were so many good formulas that Moffat could've chosen with the story structure of this middle episode. Instead, he uses the most unlikely premise to keep the story going. He actually brings the whole thing to a grinding halt to allow the Doctor to grieve the passing of a dear friend.
How death is handled in science fiction has always been a great point of criticism for people who have studied the genre. It's a paradox, of course. You need to display danger so characters do need to get killed off from time-to-time. But then, because it's all meant to be an action-packed adventure, you can't slow things down too much to mourn the passing of these characters. The plot has to keep moving and your surviving characters need to seem relatively unaffected by it all.
Before Heaven Sent, the greatest sense of bereavement that we got was a snippet of dialogue at the beginning of Time Flight over Adric and a crying fit from Jo Grant during The Green Death which was really just a set-up for Cliff Jones to try to kiss her. Sadly, this still shows greater sensitivity towards death than most sci-fi adventure franchises have displayed. Consider something like Star Wars. Where Luke Skywalker mourns the death of Obi Wan in A New Hope for all of two seconds and then runs off to blow away some Tie Fighters By the end of the dogfight, he seems to have forgotten the loss of his mentor.
Moffat very consciously tries to re-dress that balance with this episode. Heaven Sent is about the Doctor dealing with the death of a dear friend. Yup, there's a creepy veiled monster and a really cool puzzle-box castle - but that's all just really awesome window dressing. The real story is the Doctor facing all those various stages of anger, denial, sadness and acceptance. It's absolutely beautiful to watch this process. If ever we've been able to empathize with this larger-than-life alien character, it's in this episode.
Because the Doctor is alone for the entire time, Moff can't resist delving into the Doctor's psyche a bit more than usual. How much did we love it when we discovered he gets out of all his perils by imagining himself in the TARDIS console room bragging to his companion about how he escaped? All those scenes are wonderful to watch. They add a great extra dimension to all that we see going on in the castle.
Yes, I did just claim that the castle was a mere window dressing (in my defense, I said it was a really awesome window dressing) but the whole premise of the place is another great feature to the plot. The strange blend of the medieval and the high tech provides a great atmosphere. As we learn with the Doctor how the whole place works, we can't wait to find out what's in Room 12.
There is this great sequence in the story that I think sits with me strongest. It begins with a sort WTF?! moment. What's been going on in the puzzle-castle becomes immensely clear. We realize all the skulls in the water belong to the Doctor (we also have to guess that, on at least one occasion, the Doctor wandered about nearly naked to leave dry clothes for himself) and that he is just repeating this whole process over and over. It then becomes like watching a time loop. Key moments flash by as we become almost aghast at this horrible repetition that he is putting himself through. Why is he doing this?!
The music is our first clue. From some odd reason, it seems to hold a sense of hope. And then there's the Doctor commenting on the position of the stars and how many years into the future he is. I could, literally, feel my mind straining. What is Moff up to, here?
And then there's that triumphant shot of the tunnel the Doctor has been slowly pounding through the Azbantium wall. The music wells up even more hopefully as it all becomes clear. I don't know about everyone else, but I was genuinely awestruck in that moment.
There are many beautiful aspects to Heaven Sent. Far too many to enumerate here. My review barely scratches the surface, really. But it would be a crime against all that is Well and True if I didn't spend some time dwelling on our first view of that tunnel he's been building.
It is, quite simply, a beautiful statement of the Doctor's credo. He knows, just by the nature of his torture chamber, that he can't give away the full mystery of the Hybrid to his captors. That's part of who he is. Regardless of the situation, he will not surrender to an enemy who he senses is corrupt or even evil. There is a beauty to that whole element of the plot. But when we see the tunnel - we realize another important core trait of the Doctor. Regardless of the nature of his opposition, he will search and, inevitably, find a brilliant way to defeat it. He will put all his intellect and resources into solving the problem and we will always marvel at his creativity. While his foe might be trying to pound him down with brute force, he only uses intelligence to fight back. His victories become all the more wonderful because of this.
Yes, many other stories have illustrated this point. But Heaven Sent does it with magnificent succinctness. As the tunnel continues to be forged with the time loop effect, I found myself physically cheering.
"This," I proclaimed aloud as the Doctor escapes out of his Confession Dial, "is why I love Doctor Who!"
The episode still has the coolest of endings, too. After two seasons of being aware that Gallifrey stands, he finally finds it. I love that, once more, Moff subverts expectations. We thought finding his home planet again would be joyous. But there is an insinuation of the exact opposite. Although we've watched this protracted grieving process play out - the Doctor is still mad about what happened to Clara. And he knows the Time Lords were behind it all.
As he delivers: "The Hybrid is Me!", we know all hell is about break loose on Gallifrey. We shiver just a little bit from the moment. And the episode becomes even more enjoyable because of its ominous ending.
Where all this will lead gets revealed in the next episode. For now, we get to sit back and realize we've just watched what might be the coolest thing Television has ever produced.
Heaven Sent is awesome. That's all I really needed to say about it. Nothing summarizes it better. But it was fun spending way too many paragraphs trying to be a bit more detailed!
Well, that about wraps things up for the Best Episode Countdown. Again, sorry for taking a bit longer than I expected. Hopefully, I can sneak in one more entry before the end of January. I have subjected you to quite a bit of opinion over the last while. I think I might try something ANALYTICAL, now. That's, pretty much, the anti-thesis of my opinionated nonsense. I suddenly have to find facts to back my ideas up. The challenge is always fun!
Here's the rest of the countdown:
Part 6:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.htm
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-6-doctor-who-episodes.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/01/book-of-lists-top-six-best-episodes.html
Like my Countdowns? Here's the tenth best Doctor Who story ever. Keeping clicking on the next entries to read the rest...
Number Ten:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html
Anyway, here's Number One:
THE BEST SINGLE DOCTOR WHO EPISODE, EVER:
Could it be anything else but Heaven Sent? It's not just the best episode of Who. It's, quite possibly, the single best episode of television, ever.
I still remember when Series Nine was coming out and different members of the production team were giving little "teases" of what Heaven Sent was going to be like. It sounded very unique and interesting. Something like this, however, also had the potential to fall flat on its ass. But then I honestly thought to myself: "Steven Moffat, Peter Capaldi and Rachel Talalay. If anyone can pull this off - it's them!" In fact, even before the episode was transmitted, I was pretty sure it was going to be awesome. I just had that much confidence in this particular team.
My faith in them was not let down.
It's difficult to know where to start in the writing of praise for this episode. So, let's go for the obvious: let's start at the beginning.
Heaven Sent is riding a major shockwave from its predecessor. In the final moments of Face the Raven, we watch Clara Oswald die. As is often the case with major characters in sci fi franchises, there were people that loved her and folks that despised her. Whichever camp you're in, it was a brutal ending to the episode and a gigantic cliffhanger as the Doctor gets teleported to Parts Unknown. With this sort of ending to the previous week's adventure, Heaven Sent has a lot to live up to. Which can also equate to a lot working against it. It has to keep riding on all the tension Face the Raven has built up. Not only must it achieve this but, because it's the middle installment of a three-parter, it must be even bigger and better than Raven so that it can effectively take us into the final episode of the season.
Part of what makes Heaven Sent so beautiful is that, even with those high expectations placed upon it, it chooses the most unconventional direction to go in. There were so many good formulas that Moffat could've chosen with the story structure of this middle episode. Instead, he uses the most unlikely premise to keep the story going. He actually brings the whole thing to a grinding halt to allow the Doctor to grieve the passing of a dear friend.
How death is handled in science fiction has always been a great point of criticism for people who have studied the genre. It's a paradox, of course. You need to display danger so characters do need to get killed off from time-to-time. But then, because it's all meant to be an action-packed adventure, you can't slow things down too much to mourn the passing of these characters. The plot has to keep moving and your surviving characters need to seem relatively unaffected by it all.
Before Heaven Sent, the greatest sense of bereavement that we got was a snippet of dialogue at the beginning of Time Flight over Adric and a crying fit from Jo Grant during The Green Death which was really just a set-up for Cliff Jones to try to kiss her. Sadly, this still shows greater sensitivity towards death than most sci-fi adventure franchises have displayed. Consider something like Star Wars. Where Luke Skywalker mourns the death of Obi Wan in A New Hope for all of two seconds and then runs off to blow away some Tie Fighters By the end of the dogfight, he seems to have forgotten the loss of his mentor.
Moffat very consciously tries to re-dress that balance with this episode. Heaven Sent is about the Doctor dealing with the death of a dear friend. Yup, there's a creepy veiled monster and a really cool puzzle-box castle - but that's all just really awesome window dressing. The real story is the Doctor facing all those various stages of anger, denial, sadness and acceptance. It's absolutely beautiful to watch this process. If ever we've been able to empathize with this larger-than-life alien character, it's in this episode.
Because the Doctor is alone for the entire time, Moff can't resist delving into the Doctor's psyche a bit more than usual. How much did we love it when we discovered he gets out of all his perils by imagining himself in the TARDIS console room bragging to his companion about how he escaped? All those scenes are wonderful to watch. They add a great extra dimension to all that we see going on in the castle.
Yes, I did just claim that the castle was a mere window dressing (in my defense, I said it was a really awesome window dressing) but the whole premise of the place is another great feature to the plot. The strange blend of the medieval and the high tech provides a great atmosphere. As we learn with the Doctor how the whole place works, we can't wait to find out what's in Room 12.
There is this great sequence in the story that I think sits with me strongest. It begins with a sort WTF?! moment. What's been going on in the puzzle-castle becomes immensely clear. We realize all the skulls in the water belong to the Doctor (we also have to guess that, on at least one occasion, the Doctor wandered about nearly naked to leave dry clothes for himself) and that he is just repeating this whole process over and over. It then becomes like watching a time loop. Key moments flash by as we become almost aghast at this horrible repetition that he is putting himself through. Why is he doing this?!
The music is our first clue. From some odd reason, it seems to hold a sense of hope. And then there's the Doctor commenting on the position of the stars and how many years into the future he is. I could, literally, feel my mind straining. What is Moff up to, here?
And then there's that triumphant shot of the tunnel the Doctor has been slowly pounding through the Azbantium wall. The music wells up even more hopefully as it all becomes clear. I don't know about everyone else, but I was genuinely awestruck in that moment.
There are many beautiful aspects to Heaven Sent. Far too many to enumerate here. My review barely scratches the surface, really. But it would be a crime against all that is Well and True if I didn't spend some time dwelling on our first view of that tunnel he's been building.
It is, quite simply, a beautiful statement of the Doctor's credo. He knows, just by the nature of his torture chamber, that he can't give away the full mystery of the Hybrid to his captors. That's part of who he is. Regardless of the situation, he will not surrender to an enemy who he senses is corrupt or even evil. There is a beauty to that whole element of the plot. But when we see the tunnel - we realize another important core trait of the Doctor. Regardless of the nature of his opposition, he will search and, inevitably, find a brilliant way to defeat it. He will put all his intellect and resources into solving the problem and we will always marvel at his creativity. While his foe might be trying to pound him down with brute force, he only uses intelligence to fight back. His victories become all the more wonderful because of this.
Yes, many other stories have illustrated this point. But Heaven Sent does it with magnificent succinctness. As the tunnel continues to be forged with the time loop effect, I found myself physically cheering.
"This," I proclaimed aloud as the Doctor escapes out of his Confession Dial, "is why I love Doctor Who!"
The episode still has the coolest of endings, too. After two seasons of being aware that Gallifrey stands, he finally finds it. I love that, once more, Moff subverts expectations. We thought finding his home planet again would be joyous. But there is an insinuation of the exact opposite. Although we've watched this protracted grieving process play out - the Doctor is still mad about what happened to Clara. And he knows the Time Lords were behind it all.
As he delivers: "The Hybrid is Me!", we know all hell is about break loose on Gallifrey. We shiver just a little bit from the moment. And the episode becomes even more enjoyable because of its ominous ending.
Where all this will lead gets revealed in the next episode. For now, we get to sit back and realize we've just watched what might be the coolest thing Television has ever produced.
Heaven Sent is awesome. That's all I really needed to say about it. Nothing summarizes it better. But it was fun spending way too many paragraphs trying to be a bit more detailed!
Well, that about wraps things up for the Best Episode Countdown. Again, sorry for taking a bit longer than I expected. Hopefully, I can sneak in one more entry before the end of January. I have subjected you to quite a bit of opinion over the last while. I think I might try something ANALYTICAL, now. That's, pretty much, the anti-thesis of my opinionated nonsense. I suddenly have to find facts to back my ideas up. The challenge is always fun!
Here's the rest of the countdown:
Part 6:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.htm
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-6-doctor-who-episodes.html
Part 2:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/01/book-of-lists-top-six-best-episodes.html
Like my Countdowns? Here's the tenth best Doctor Who story ever. Keeping clicking on the next entries to read the rest...
Number Ten:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html
Saturday 5 January 2019
BOOK OF LISTS: TOP SIX BEST EPISODES EVER - PART 5
Soooo close to Number One, now. Unlike some other countdowns that I've done, you can't guess what that episode is through sheer process of elimination (wonder if anyone would've bothered to read my ranking of all 851 episodes had I gone to the trouble of writing it?!). I will, however, give the slightest of clues: Number One is what you think it is!
But let's focus on Number Two, for now. It's another episode from the Classic Series.
NUMBER TWO:
The only episode that also ranks in my Top Ten Stories Countdown from all those many years ago (well, about 4 years ago: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-4.html). If you do bother to go click on the link, you'll see that I go on quite a bit about Episode One of Earthshock right in the review (I even give mention to Episode One of The Space Museum). I'll try not to re-tread too much.
No doubt, we're all sensing some patterns to the episodes of Classic Who that I have enjoyed so much. The most obvious being they're all the first part of a story. But there are some other similarities. Another major trait that they share is that they are all, more or less, self-contained stories that open up to a bigger adventure at the end. A very small plot that was created in the first episode gets, more or less, resolved and now we are going on to a greater tale that involves this primary plot. I'm not sure why this type of plotting entices me so much - but all three of my fave Classic Who episodes use this technique.
The cliffhanger at the end of each of each of these three much-loved episodes usually involves some amount of peril - but it's more about the implication of a greater adventure that the TARDIS crew now has to face. Time catches up with the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan at the end of Space Museum and they must now try to change events. A caveman watches the TARDIS materialize at the end of Unearthly Child and we know that will cause all sorts of new trouble. And, at the end of Part 1 of Earthshock, we get the reveal that the Cybermen are behind it all - which means they will soon be facing a much greater danger than androids.
I was still very new to Doctor Who when I saw this episode for the first time. I didn't even know what the Cybermen were, yet (it's great fun to see the documentary on the DVD bonuses - it shows how fans who knew their Cybermen went insane from this reveal). Even without prior knowledge of this monster, that cliffhanger impacted me quite strongly. I knew these robot-like things must be important and that they were going to really broaden the story in the next episodes. And I needed to see what was going to happen next. That says something about the nature of that cliffhanger. Even without having the slightest idea what a Cybermen was, I was drawn in by it.
Being drawn in is, perhaps, what I love most about Part 1 of Earthshock. Within seconds of that opening shot of futuristic troopers running along to the cave entrance, it becomes impossible to stop watching this episode. Bits and pieces of information that explain why this team is assembling get dropped here and there. We get the impression something very bad has happened and we have to know what it is.
By the time we get into those caves - we've lost all resistance. We are trapped in this episode and have to see it to its end.
Ah, those caves. Those beautiful, dark atmospheric caves. In an age when lighting technicians believed everything had to be seen as clearly as possible, someone finally remembers that shadows are spooky. We never even get all that clear of a look at those androids because of this. Which makes them all the more terrifying But obscuring them in darkness was a good choice for several reasons. Those android costumes are pretty simplistic and might have actually decreased their sense of menace had we seen them better. So God bless whoever thought to turn the lights down in those scenes!
Counterpointing those scenes is some nice drama aboard the TARDIS. Lots of folks complain about all the arguing that went on with the TARDIS crew in Season 19. I actually kinda liked it. It seemed realistic. Three people thrown together in such a fashion might have a hard time getting along. But, whether you liked this dynamic or not, the argument between the Doctor and Adric is very well-staged. The dialogue doesn't seem forced and Matthew Waterhouse is doing a good job, here (which isn't always the case!). The Fifth Doctor's vulnerability is very nicely on display here, too. To all intents and purposes, he's losing the fight. Not something we would see with most other incarnations.
From this point onwards, the episode turns into a magnificent little horror story. The sinister unitard-wearing globeheads start to slowly but surely pick off the troopers. The soldier at the scanner must helplessly watch the whole thing. The tension of it all is gorgeous. That shot of Nyder's liquidated body still holding a comlink as she's being told to get out while an android stands over it all is, perhaps, one of the coolest shots in the history of the show. It's legitimately chilling, too. 80s Who really started to reveal how budget limitations were killing the effectivenes of the horror in the show. Scenes that were meant terrify were, instead, cringeworthy or even laughable. But, suddenly, we want to hide behind the couch again.
The true success of this episode (and the whole story, for that matter) lies in this beautiful marriage that occurs between writing and direction. It seems the author and the director both agreed this wasn't going be the standard three-camera set-up that we normally get during this era of television. That the whole thing would be shot more filmicly (pretty sure that's a totally made-up word!). This whole cinematic feel is what truly makes the episode (and - again - the whole story, for that matter) such a delight to behold. Other directors would take this approach from time-to-time in the 80s (Lovett Bickford, Graeme Harper - to name a few) but I do think it's done best, here. Part One of Earthshock introduces us to this whole Movie House atmosphere that the rest of the adventure will continue to deliver. It tells a simple tale of murderous androids in a cave system that hooks us in solidly for the next three parts.
It's a work of art, really. As I've said in another review: the whole story is. But Part One is beautiful in its own right and deserves a special level of recognition.
Number One is soon to come....
Here are the rest of parts:
Part 6:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.htm
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-6-doctor-who-episodes.html
But let's focus on Number Two, for now. It's another episode from the Classic Series.
NUMBER TWO:
The only episode that also ranks in my Top Ten Stories Countdown from all those many years ago (well, about 4 years ago: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-4.html). If you do bother to go click on the link, you'll see that I go on quite a bit about Episode One of Earthshock right in the review (I even give mention to Episode One of The Space Museum). I'll try not to re-tread too much.
No doubt, we're all sensing some patterns to the episodes of Classic Who that I have enjoyed so much. The most obvious being they're all the first part of a story. But there are some other similarities. Another major trait that they share is that they are all, more or less, self-contained stories that open up to a bigger adventure at the end. A very small plot that was created in the first episode gets, more or less, resolved and now we are going on to a greater tale that involves this primary plot. I'm not sure why this type of plotting entices me so much - but all three of my fave Classic Who episodes use this technique.
The cliffhanger at the end of each of each of these three much-loved episodes usually involves some amount of peril - but it's more about the implication of a greater adventure that the TARDIS crew now has to face. Time catches up with the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan at the end of Space Museum and they must now try to change events. A caveman watches the TARDIS materialize at the end of Unearthly Child and we know that will cause all sorts of new trouble. And, at the end of Part 1 of Earthshock, we get the reveal that the Cybermen are behind it all - which means they will soon be facing a much greater danger than androids.
I was still very new to Doctor Who when I saw this episode for the first time. I didn't even know what the Cybermen were, yet (it's great fun to see the documentary on the DVD bonuses - it shows how fans who knew their Cybermen went insane from this reveal). Even without prior knowledge of this monster, that cliffhanger impacted me quite strongly. I knew these robot-like things must be important and that they were going to really broaden the story in the next episodes. And I needed to see what was going to happen next. That says something about the nature of that cliffhanger. Even without having the slightest idea what a Cybermen was, I was drawn in by it.
Being drawn in is, perhaps, what I love most about Part 1 of Earthshock. Within seconds of that opening shot of futuristic troopers running along to the cave entrance, it becomes impossible to stop watching this episode. Bits and pieces of information that explain why this team is assembling get dropped here and there. We get the impression something very bad has happened and we have to know what it is.
By the time we get into those caves - we've lost all resistance. We are trapped in this episode and have to see it to its end.
Ah, those caves. Those beautiful, dark atmospheric caves. In an age when lighting technicians believed everything had to be seen as clearly as possible, someone finally remembers that shadows are spooky. We never even get all that clear of a look at those androids because of this. Which makes them all the more terrifying But obscuring them in darkness was a good choice for several reasons. Those android costumes are pretty simplistic and might have actually decreased their sense of menace had we seen them better. So God bless whoever thought to turn the lights down in those scenes!
Counterpointing those scenes is some nice drama aboard the TARDIS. Lots of folks complain about all the arguing that went on with the TARDIS crew in Season 19. I actually kinda liked it. It seemed realistic. Three people thrown together in such a fashion might have a hard time getting along. But, whether you liked this dynamic or not, the argument between the Doctor and Adric is very well-staged. The dialogue doesn't seem forced and Matthew Waterhouse is doing a good job, here (which isn't always the case!). The Fifth Doctor's vulnerability is very nicely on display here, too. To all intents and purposes, he's losing the fight. Not something we would see with most other incarnations.
From this point onwards, the episode turns into a magnificent little horror story. The sinister unitard-wearing globeheads start to slowly but surely pick off the troopers. The soldier at the scanner must helplessly watch the whole thing. The tension of it all is gorgeous. That shot of Nyder's liquidated body still holding a comlink as she's being told to get out while an android stands over it all is, perhaps, one of the coolest shots in the history of the show. It's legitimately chilling, too. 80s Who really started to reveal how budget limitations were killing the effectivenes of the horror in the show. Scenes that were meant terrify were, instead, cringeworthy or even laughable. But, suddenly, we want to hide behind the couch again.
The true success of this episode (and the whole story, for that matter) lies in this beautiful marriage that occurs between writing and direction. It seems the author and the director both agreed this wasn't going be the standard three-camera set-up that we normally get during this era of television. That the whole thing would be shot more filmicly (pretty sure that's a totally made-up word!). This whole cinematic feel is what truly makes the episode (and - again - the whole story, for that matter) such a delight to behold. Other directors would take this approach from time-to-time in the 80s (Lovett Bickford, Graeme Harper - to name a few) but I do think it's done best, here. Part One of Earthshock introduces us to this whole Movie House atmosphere that the rest of the adventure will continue to deliver. It tells a simple tale of murderous androids in a cave system that hooks us in solidly for the next three parts.
It's a work of art, really. As I've said in another review: the whole story is. But Part One is beautiful in its own right and deserves a special level of recognition.
Number One is soon to come....
Here are the rest of parts:
Part 6:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 5:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html
Part 4:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who_14.htm
Part 3:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/12/book-of-lists-top-6-doctor-who-episodes.html
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