I'm not presenting another outlandish theory, this time. Instead, I'm going to look at a somewhat over-abused writing device that was used in the Classic Series and assign fictitious awards to the grossest examples of it. We'll even have specific categories.
CAPTURE-AND-ESCAPE: THE ULTIMATE PLOT FILLER
New Who tends to move very quickly, these days (some might even say too quickly). Many stories are resolved within the same episode they started in. We get the occasional two-parter, or even three-parter (or are they really three parters? - read about the debate here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/09/points-of-debate-what-constitutes-three.html), but even they tend to fly along at breakneck speed. Our "ADHD Culture" that loves YouTube clips that don't last longer than 5 minutes can't tolerate a story with any kind of real sag in it. Our interests must be constantly held or we turn our attention elsewhere.
Keeping us focused in New Who has sometimes occurred at the expense of good writing. Points in a script that should have been better explored get brushed aside in the name of Maintaining Momentum. In some cases, actual plot holes have been glossed over because the author wanted to keep the story moving. Perhaps they could have fixed the issue with the story if they had been allowed to examine things a bit more closely. But, again, Momentum wouldn't let them. They had to maintain a flow. This seems to be the priority in modern-day television.
Classic Who, of course, frequently did the exact opposite. Classic Who could contemplate its navel all day. Especially when you consider that it frequently indulged in longer stories that ran for six episodes. It also dipped its toe into seven parters - or even longer!
Doing the reverse of New Who does not mean all problems were eliminated. Instead, we were introduced to all new set of writing obstacles. On certain occasions, a writer was assigned more episodes than they had story for. Rather than ask for less episodes (and, subsequently, less pay), they tried to come up with "filler" or "padding". These were tricks an author might use to intentionally slow the plot down so that it would properly fill the assigned episodes.
One of the most obvious devices used by the writers in Classic Who was the "capture-and-escape" technique. Your protagonists could easily get from Point A in a plot to Point B - but that would not eat up enough time to fill your episode count. So you have them get caught and imprisoned in some way by the antagonists of the story. The main characters now have to spend some time trying to figure a way out of their jail cell. Time gets wasted and episodes get filled.
In a lot of cases, "capture-and-escape" should actually be called "capture-and-escape-and-re-captured" - but that it is too much of a mouthful. It is what most frequently occurs with this device. After some great struggle is spent getting out of jail, the protagonists then get re-captured a short while later and are thrown back in their cell with increased security now being used against them. This is, of course, the ultimate filler. For several long minutes, absolutely nothing was really achieved in the story. But the writer goes to bed that night happy to have gotten a nice paycheque for their efforts.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION?
I was going to go for one of my big, wordy definitions where I make totally sure that we're all clear on what a capture-and-escape is. And then I was like: "Rob! Lighten up! This is supposed to be something funnier. Take a chill pill, dude!"
So, yeah. Pretty straightforward. If the Doctor or a companion (or the entire TARDIS crew) gets caught and then has to spend a bunch of time getting out of their trap rather than propelling the plot forward - that's a capture-and-escape. The escape can even include a rescue rather than them completely getting out of it on their own. Although, probably at least a few minutes get wasted with them trying to escape of their own volition. After all, the whole point of the process is to eat up time.
WARNING!!
I will admit, outright, I consider this a really cheap device. The author should have created more subplots or character conflicts to mark the minutes. To just incarcerate the main characters and then have them struggle to find freedom is very lazy writing.
I will be discussing certain well-loved stories that exploit this technique quite a bit. Because of this, they're not so well-loved by me. So, brace yourselves, I may be taking the piss out of a few stories you really like.
Okay then, with all that out of the way. Let's get to the awards:
Most Blatant Use of the Device
There are two stories that use this device so obviously that I have to say they tie. So I will list both:
The Three Doctors
During Part Two of the Tenth Anniversary Special, the Doctor, Jo and a Professor Dude Who Got Accidentally Embroiled Into the Story (who is played by an actor who will play yet another Professor Dude Who Got Accidentally Embroiled Into the Story during Hand of Fear - he must love Doctor Who's casting director!) are being marched through the strange, alien-looking palace of Omega. There seems to be a few minutes that need filling as the episode nears its end. Professor Dude suggests they try to make a break for it. The Doctor argues against the idea. The debate, itself, eats up a good minute or so. Finally, Professor Dude pretends to submit. Then, suddenly, makes a break for it! Another minute or so gets wasted as he charges around the palace and gets intercepted by the giant jelly monsters that are roaming about. Slowly but surely, they press him back towards the Doctor and Jo. "Well, that was a waste of time!" he woefully admits as he re-joins them.
Yes it was Professor Tyler. Which was the whole point of the exercise. Nice of you to be obvious about it!
Talons of Weng-Chiang
A very popular story among fans. This is one of those tales, however, that I've never really seen why it's got such mass appeal. Making up a white guy to look Asian certainly gets it to look very offensive by modern-day standards. Although, really, even in the era it was made - it seemed pretty offensive!
But, rather than ruffle too many feathers with my many objections to this story, let's get to the real topic. As we're nearing the end of this Six Parter (that really only needed to be four parts), Bob Holmes seems to be getting desperate to mark time. He has his latest double act incarcerated in a manor of some sort by the evil Magnus Greel. Jago and Lightfoot spend a good few minutes investigating a dumb waiter and debating whether or not they could employ it as a form of egress. At last, we watch them awkwardly climb in and descend together to another level of the building. Clumsily, they climb back out - consuming as much time as possible in the process. Just when freedom seems apparent, a whole gang of actual Asians (as opposed to white people pretending to be Asians) descend upon them and force them back into their prison.
A huge screeching halt that we could, easily, fast forward through without causing any real damage to the story. It's almost embarrassing, really.
Talons ranks so highly because it is such a well-regarded story so it almost makes the capture-and-escape more famous. Three Doctors ties with Talons because it, outright, announces that it was a waste of time!
Story That Abuses this Device the Most
Without a doubt, this particular category goes to the notorious Frontier In Space. There's a lot of things I like about the writing of Malcolm Hulke - Frontier In Space, however, is not one of them!
Yup, he's given us another alien species that is not completely good or evil. They're just like us. Yup, their masks look really good/ Even by modern-day standards, it's a fairly good costume. If they returned in the New Series, there would be little need to alter the original version. It's also a bit cool that the Master teams up with the Daleks. Although the team-up is woefully short.
Otherwise, that's really about it for the qualities of Frontier In Space. I would say there's enough plot for about two episodes. But Hulke needed to give us six. So it is capture-and-escape after capture-and-escape after capture-and-escape.
I bothered to re-watch the story and actually count all the times the device is used. I had actually expected one capture-and-escape per episode (which, when you think about it, is still pretty bad!). I was wrong. Part One has two capture-and-escapes. The Doctor and Jo get imprisoned by the pilot and co-pilot of the bulk freighter they land on (are they really shipping flour to a colony world?! There really is no way for the colony world to just make its own flour - it needs to be imported?!). They escape only to have Jo imprisoned again by the Ogrons. We'll be merciful and include the cliffhanger of Part One (the Doctor and Jo now being captured by Earth Authorities) as the capture-and-escape for Part Two. In Part Two, the Doctor escapes Earth Authorities only to be captured by the Draconians. Who he escapes a short while later (in one of the most ridiculous methods of egress I've ever seen. Did you really need to flip over backwards in an art-deco chair, Jon?!). The Doctor is then re-captured by Earth Authorities only to escape again into the hands of the Ogrons at the cliffhanger. So, yeah, that's right. Three capture-and-escapes in Part Two. So, in just two parts, that's five capture-and-escapes!
Things slow down in Parts Three and Four. Only one capture-and-escape per episode. The Doctor tries to escape from the Lunar Penal Colony (woah! That gets referenced in Bad Wolf! Except that Bad Wolf takes place a good 100 000 years or so after Frontier In Space. Was the Moon a prison that whole time?!) in Part Three. He is delivered to the Master and tries to escape from him during Part Four. Now, if you thought the chair flip was silly in Part Two, the escape attempt in Part Four is way more ridiculous! Why did he need to do a space walk?! Couldn't he have just gone down the hallway and snuck up on the Master that way? The door between the room with the cage and the bridge didn't seem to be locked. And wouldn't some kind of instrumentation on the bridge register that airlocks are being opened and closed all over the place? Was the War of the Worlds book so engrossing that the Master just wasn't registering these notifications?!
Herein lies the problem of an endless array of captures-and-escapes. In order to keep things varied and interesting, the escapes need to become more and more outlandish. Frontier In Space definitely illustrates this problem quite clearly.
Part Five, amazingly enough, has no true captures-and-escapes. I say "true" because my definition stated it had to be a main character who tries to escape incarceration. There is a capture-and-escape of an Ogron - but I won't count it. Just as I didn't count the capture-and-escape from the Ogrons at the beginning of Part Three because it happens so quickly that it doesn't truly mark any time. It was there, moreso, to create a cliffhanger and give us a little bit of suspense. Even though it really just came across as Micheal Kilgarriff (or, quite possibly, Stephen Thorne - it's hard to tell!) running around in his Ogron costume as he smashes his way through bulsa wood doors that are meant to be metal.
Part Six, makes up for the absence of true capture-and-escapes in Episode Five by giving us two. Jo does one from her prison cell but is tricked by the Master and re-captured. The Doctor then gets captured and escapes a short while later by using the "mini-Keller Machine" that Jo stole (does no one check a prisoner's pockets before throwing them back in jail?!). There is, again, a super-short capture-and-escape right at the very end of the episode. But I'll let it slide. Again, it doesn't really mark time. If I was giving out awards, however, for most poorly edited scenes in a Doctor Who story, the last couple minutes of Frontier In Space would get first prize. You almost can't tell what happened at the end of that adventure because the editing is just that bad!
So, if I'm being nice, Frontier In Space has a total of nine capture-and-escapes. If I want to include the super-short ones and the Ogron capture-and-escape - we're up to twelve! There is no story in the history of the show that abuses this device more. Which is why I rarely watch Frontier. In fact, this was the first time in years. I only put it on to do this count. And to laugh at the super-obvious strings that hold up Jon Pertwee during his space walks!!
Story That Abuses This Device But We Tend To Ignore It Because It's A "Classic"
Now, I gave a warning that my opinions in this essay might offend some of you. I'm sure a few of you are already upset about what I've said about Frontier In Space. It does seem to hold a special place in the hearts of certain sectors of Fandom. You might have even gotten a bit mad at me for the things I said about Talons of Weng Chiang. This is a greatly-adored racially-offensive tale and no one should ever say anything ill of it.
But now you're going to get really mad at me!
For many, Genesis of the Daleks is their all-time favorite story. I had heard legend of it before watching it. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high because of it. When I was finally able to view it, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't think it was absolutely horrible, of course. But I definitely don't consider it the best story ever.
There were a couple of things about it that I found downright silly. Can you really escape a landmine like that? Pretty sure once you step on it, you're done for. Sarah Jane falling off the scaffholding only to fall back on it, pretty much, constitutes the worst cliffhanger resolution ever. Yup, the end of Part One of Dragonfire is pretty bad, too - but this one might be worse. I also think the famous monologue about Davros contemplating releasing a virus is pretty silly. Would someone really get that over-excited about cracking open a vial?! It's just a little too OTT for my liking. But it's funny how we never seem to talk about how bad certain elements of Genesis of the Daleks are. Almost as if we're not allowed to because the story is so highly regarded. Genesis almost reminds me of a dysfunctional family where a parent is a severe alcoholic but we're not allowed to talk about it because they're also a prominent figure in the community!
But the thing that really made me lose respect for Genesis of the Daleks is its abuse of the capture-and-escape device. While not as bad as Frontier In Space, there is still not enough story here for a Six Parter. At best, Terry Nation could have comfortably filled four episodes.
We know we're in trouble when Harry and the Doctor do a full capture-and-escape-and-recaptured with the Kaleds in Part One. We're not even through the first episode and there's a need for padding. Things continue to go bad when Sarah Jane gets captured by Thals in later episodes. The failed attempt to climb to the top of the dome is as painful to sit through as the Third Doctor's space walk in Frontier. There's still a bit more capture-and-escaping in the last few episodes when the TARDIS crew return to the Kaled bunker. To his credit, though, Nation does find other ways to pad things out in the latter half of the story. Davros delivering an impassioned-yet-boring speech to a group of Kaled scientists and soldiers we don't give a rat's ass about that we know will become gunstick fodder in just a few short minutes was an interesting alternative to just one more capture-and-escape.
Again, the tallying of capture-and-escapes is a fairly subjective process. But it does look like there's about five of them in Genesis of the Daleks. As I've said, though, we never acknowledge this flaw in the story. Or any other problem, for that matter. Because we're not allowed to. It's Genesis of the Daleks, damn it. The best Doctor Who story ever. Supposedly.
Earliest Example of a Capture-and-Escape
The capture-and-escape device seems to have a long history with the show. But just how far back does it truly go?
Believe it or not, we can trace it all the way back to its most humble of beginnings. Even Unearthly Child (or 1 000 000 BC - or whatever you want to call it!) takes advantage of it a bit.
Some of you older fans are, no doubt, familiar with the works of Dicky Howett. A great little comic strip artist who was, obviously, a big fan of the show. Dicky drew some great strips involving Who that were clearly geared at people who knew the show inside and out. While other comic strip artists might make a bit of fun here and there by drawing pictures of Daleks that can't climb stairs or other easy jokes like that, Dicky went for the more obscure stuff. It's great to see that a T-shirt company has used some of his images and I catch the occasional New Who fan wearing them. Howett's legacy lives on.
At one point, Dicky released an extended strip that was his own version of Unearthly Child. It had some great jokes in it. One of the ones I liked the best was his own acknowledgement of the capture-and-escape device. The basic gist of the gag is that Howett suddenly inserts a panel near the end of the strip that proclaims something to the nature of: "Six Capture-and-Escapes Later...". In the next panel, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara are racing towards the TARDIS with cavemen chasing them.
It's an exaggeration, of course. But then, comedy will do that for effect. But Part Three of the story is one big capture-and-escape-and-recaptured. It's just difficult to notice because it's still, actually, a pretty well-written episode. The scene where Ian, Susan and Barbara teach compassion to Za and his girlfriend is quite compelling. That is the same scene, of course, where Ian stops the Doctor from attempting to kill Za. Which is a crazy moment to watch retrospectively. To see someone who is your hero be that heartless in his earliest days can really throw you off.
And that's the thing about capture-and-escape: if it's well done, we're not bothered by its attempt to mark time. There are some other problems with Unearthly Child. But I don't believe its use of capture-and-escape is one of them.
Which leads us to our next award:
A Story That Creates Such a Compelling Capture-and-Escape That We Don't Mind It
As I just tried to illustrate in the last award, there are times when a capture-and-escape doesn't actually drag the story down. If done cleverly, it can really lift the story and create some legitimate tension.
I picked pretty hard on Terry Nation for Genesis of the Daleks - so now I will sing his praise. While Planet of the Daleks is a bit of a Daleks (or The Dead Planet - or whatever you want to call it!) re-tread, it also does do a good job of doing a huge capture-and-escape that we don't mind at all because it is really well-conceived. The Doctor getting captured by the Daleks and being hauled off to their base on Spiridon starts feeling like that stereotypical: "Oh boy! It's a six parter and we only have story for four!" moment. But I find it really fleshes out nicely. So much so, that some of it even gets referenced in Remembrance of the Daleks.
Getting out of his cell and running into some other Thals that are stuck in an ice vent keeps the pace going nicely. The "ice slime", in fact, is a pretty nice effect. As they figure out a way to use the hot air rising through the refrigeration vent to their advantage, I really find myself impressed by the cleverness of the whole thing.
For years, the episode that featured all this capture-and-escaping was cut out from the story because it only existed in black-and-white. They finally colorized it and put into the DVD release. It is interesting to note that the story does do pretty well without the episode in it. Which shows off quite nicely that it was meant to just eat up some minutes. But, with the episode back in, I find myself enjoying the action that takes place within it. Yes, it's largely superfluous to the overall plot - but it's still a damned good episode!
The TARDIS being able to run out of oxygen, however, is still pretty weird. Not sure what that was all about!
Story That Could Have Abused Capture-and-Escape But Didn't
Obviously, a longer story is far more likely to take advantage of the capture-and-escape motif than, say, a two-parter. Totally awesome Classics like Inferno had seven parts to fill. So the Doctor does end up breaking in and out of captivity a few times when he's trapped in a fascist parallel universe.
With this in mind, a story like The War Games would be more-than-justified to be peppered with capture-and-escapes to fill up its ten episodes. Amazingly enough, it doesn't seem to resort to this tactic half as much as it could have. Parts One and Two do use this device a fair amount. But then it actually settles down and finds other ways to fill up the bountiful episode count. Some of these devices work better than others. The subplot of David Troughton having to guard a War Lord, for instance, is a fairly decent piece of drama. The Doctor and Jamie trying to blow open a safe while Carstairs deals with a surprise visit is another very enjoyable moment. These are storylines that do little to advance the main plot but still provide us with lovely distractions. Other moments, like trying to explain to a converted French soldier that he's being exploited by an evil alien race, don't necessarily work as well. But they are still far more effective than just chucking the Doctor and/or his companions in another jail cell and letting them try to find a way out. It's almost like Terrance Dicks and Malcolme Hulke sat down and said: "Let's try to find as many other ways to pad this out than just capture-and-escape."
War Games is still longer than it needs to be. And it does abuse capture-and-escape a bit. But I do recognize it as a story that could have used the device a whole lot more. Because of some of the creative choices that get made by the authors, the story ends up working quite well. It could have plodded along horribly and made Troughton's send-off absolutely tedious. But it gives us something quite masterful, instead. And I think some of that is due to the fact that Dicks and Hulke decide not to be lazy writers.
If only Hulke had maintained that same level integrity for Frontier In Space!
An Actual Example of Capture-and-Escape in the New Series
I did say in those introductory paragraphs that New Who tends to move really fast and doesn't use this device anymore. But we are a good eleven seasons into the show, now. That's a lot of stories. Couldn't just one of them have used that device somewhere?
Truthfully, it's probably happened a few times. But the one that seems to stand out the most would be the "three Doctors in one jail" scene from Day of the Doctor. It's almost as if Moffat is using the anniversary special to pay tribute to the great capture-and-escapes of yesteryear. While Clara's plotline does continue to move and develop, the Doctors' is brought to a grinding halt as they are thrown into a medieval cell by the Queen. There's much discussion and debate about where the Doctor has been going since the Time Wars and two different escape plans get hatched at once. And then we find out the door was unlocked the whole time!
To all intents and purposes, this does sound like a bit of a time-eater. Just like the old capture-and-escapes were. But, upon closer inspection, we see that Moff is setting up some crucial character development that will affect the Doctor as the story reaches its climax. Some of what gets covered in the prison cell will even bleed into Time of the Doctor a bit (the scene does start to foreshadow what's waiting for him on Trenzalore). It also sets up the basic premise of what will stop the Doctor from destroying Gallifrey in the Time Wars. So, on the surface, this may actually seem like yet another capture-and-escape. But there's quite a bit more going on there than you think. It is actually a very important scene on several levels.
Well, I have to admit, I enjoyed doing that. There's a few other conventions the show has used that I find quite silly that I might set up award ceremonies for, too. I definitely want to tackle the Cast Slaughterfests of Seasons 21 and 22. I could have some fun with that one!
I do hope some of my opinions on certain stories that I know are greatly loved didn't offend you too much. Some fans get very distressed by the fact that I don't think Genesis of the Daleks is that great! I also hope you noticed that I didn't just take the piss out of my favorite show for the entire entry. I intentionally pointed out some good stuff, too. Certain stories do resort to this tactic to mark time but end up doing it in a very effective way. I wanted to highlight that a bit too.
Like COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS? Here's the first entry in the Series. Learn all about the frotnok:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/03/complete-and-utter-silliness-was.html
I was going to go for one of my big, wordy definitions where I make totally sure that we're all clear on what a capture-and-escape is. And then I was like: "Rob! Lighten up! This is supposed to be something funnier. Take a chill pill, dude!"
So, yeah. Pretty straightforward. If the Doctor or a companion (or the entire TARDIS crew) gets caught and then has to spend a bunch of time getting out of their trap rather than propelling the plot forward - that's a capture-and-escape. The escape can even include a rescue rather than them completely getting out of it on their own. Although, probably at least a few minutes get wasted with them trying to escape of their own volition. After all, the whole point of the process is to eat up time.
WARNING!!
I will admit, outright, I consider this a really cheap device. The author should have created more subplots or character conflicts to mark the minutes. To just incarcerate the main characters and then have them struggle to find freedom is very lazy writing.
I will be discussing certain well-loved stories that exploit this technique quite a bit. Because of this, they're not so well-loved by me. So, brace yourselves, I may be taking the piss out of a few stories you really like.
Okay then, with all that out of the way. Let's get to the awards:
Most Blatant Use of the Device
There are two stories that use this device so obviously that I have to say they tie. So I will list both:
The Three Doctors
During Part Two of the Tenth Anniversary Special, the Doctor, Jo and a Professor Dude Who Got Accidentally Embroiled Into the Story (who is played by an actor who will play yet another Professor Dude Who Got Accidentally Embroiled Into the Story during Hand of Fear - he must love Doctor Who's casting director!) are being marched through the strange, alien-looking palace of Omega. There seems to be a few minutes that need filling as the episode nears its end. Professor Dude suggests they try to make a break for it. The Doctor argues against the idea. The debate, itself, eats up a good minute or so. Finally, Professor Dude pretends to submit. Then, suddenly, makes a break for it! Another minute or so gets wasted as he charges around the palace and gets intercepted by the giant jelly monsters that are roaming about. Slowly but surely, they press him back towards the Doctor and Jo. "Well, that was a waste of time!" he woefully admits as he re-joins them.
Yes it was Professor Tyler. Which was the whole point of the exercise. Nice of you to be obvious about it!
Talons of Weng-Chiang
A very popular story among fans. This is one of those tales, however, that I've never really seen why it's got such mass appeal. Making up a white guy to look Asian certainly gets it to look very offensive by modern-day standards. Although, really, even in the era it was made - it seemed pretty offensive!
But, rather than ruffle too many feathers with my many objections to this story, let's get to the real topic. As we're nearing the end of this Six Parter (that really only needed to be four parts), Bob Holmes seems to be getting desperate to mark time. He has his latest double act incarcerated in a manor of some sort by the evil Magnus Greel. Jago and Lightfoot spend a good few minutes investigating a dumb waiter and debating whether or not they could employ it as a form of egress. At last, we watch them awkwardly climb in and descend together to another level of the building. Clumsily, they climb back out - consuming as much time as possible in the process. Just when freedom seems apparent, a whole gang of actual Asians (as opposed to white people pretending to be Asians) descend upon them and force them back into their prison.
A huge screeching halt that we could, easily, fast forward through without causing any real damage to the story. It's almost embarrassing, really.
Talons ranks so highly because it is such a well-regarded story so it almost makes the capture-and-escape more famous. Three Doctors ties with Talons because it, outright, announces that it was a waste of time!
Story That Abuses this Device the Most
Without a doubt, this particular category goes to the notorious Frontier In Space. There's a lot of things I like about the writing of Malcolm Hulke - Frontier In Space, however, is not one of them!
Yup, he's given us another alien species that is not completely good or evil. They're just like us. Yup, their masks look really good/ Even by modern-day standards, it's a fairly good costume. If they returned in the New Series, there would be little need to alter the original version. It's also a bit cool that the Master teams up with the Daleks. Although the team-up is woefully short.
Otherwise, that's really about it for the qualities of Frontier In Space. I would say there's enough plot for about two episodes. But Hulke needed to give us six. So it is capture-and-escape after capture-and-escape after capture-and-escape.
I bothered to re-watch the story and actually count all the times the device is used. I had actually expected one capture-and-escape per episode (which, when you think about it, is still pretty bad!). I was wrong. Part One has two capture-and-escapes. The Doctor and Jo get imprisoned by the pilot and co-pilot of the bulk freighter they land on (are they really shipping flour to a colony world?! There really is no way for the colony world to just make its own flour - it needs to be imported?!). They escape only to have Jo imprisoned again by the Ogrons. We'll be merciful and include the cliffhanger of Part One (the Doctor and Jo now being captured by Earth Authorities) as the capture-and-escape for Part Two. In Part Two, the Doctor escapes Earth Authorities only to be captured by the Draconians. Who he escapes a short while later (in one of the most ridiculous methods of egress I've ever seen. Did you really need to flip over backwards in an art-deco chair, Jon?!). The Doctor is then re-captured by Earth Authorities only to escape again into the hands of the Ogrons at the cliffhanger. So, yeah, that's right. Three capture-and-escapes in Part Two. So, in just two parts, that's five capture-and-escapes!
Things slow down in Parts Three and Four. Only one capture-and-escape per episode. The Doctor tries to escape from the Lunar Penal Colony (woah! That gets referenced in Bad Wolf! Except that Bad Wolf takes place a good 100 000 years or so after Frontier In Space. Was the Moon a prison that whole time?!) in Part Three. He is delivered to the Master and tries to escape from him during Part Four. Now, if you thought the chair flip was silly in Part Two, the escape attempt in Part Four is way more ridiculous! Why did he need to do a space walk?! Couldn't he have just gone down the hallway and snuck up on the Master that way? The door between the room with the cage and the bridge didn't seem to be locked. And wouldn't some kind of instrumentation on the bridge register that airlocks are being opened and closed all over the place? Was the War of the Worlds book so engrossing that the Master just wasn't registering these notifications?!
Herein lies the problem of an endless array of captures-and-escapes. In order to keep things varied and interesting, the escapes need to become more and more outlandish. Frontier In Space definitely illustrates this problem quite clearly.
Part Five, amazingly enough, has no true captures-and-escapes. I say "true" because my definition stated it had to be a main character who tries to escape incarceration. There is a capture-and-escape of an Ogron - but I won't count it. Just as I didn't count the capture-and-escape from the Ogrons at the beginning of Part Three because it happens so quickly that it doesn't truly mark any time. It was there, moreso, to create a cliffhanger and give us a little bit of suspense. Even though it really just came across as Micheal Kilgarriff (or, quite possibly, Stephen Thorne - it's hard to tell!) running around in his Ogron costume as he smashes his way through bulsa wood doors that are meant to be metal.
Part Six, makes up for the absence of true capture-and-escapes in Episode Five by giving us two. Jo does one from her prison cell but is tricked by the Master and re-captured. The Doctor then gets captured and escapes a short while later by using the "mini-Keller Machine" that Jo stole (does no one check a prisoner's pockets before throwing them back in jail?!). There is, again, a super-short capture-and-escape right at the very end of the episode. But I'll let it slide. Again, it doesn't really mark time. If I was giving out awards, however, for most poorly edited scenes in a Doctor Who story, the last couple minutes of Frontier In Space would get first prize. You almost can't tell what happened at the end of that adventure because the editing is just that bad!
So, if I'm being nice, Frontier In Space has a total of nine capture-and-escapes. If I want to include the super-short ones and the Ogron capture-and-escape - we're up to twelve! There is no story in the history of the show that abuses this device more. Which is why I rarely watch Frontier. In fact, this was the first time in years. I only put it on to do this count. And to laugh at the super-obvious strings that hold up Jon Pertwee during his space walks!!
Story That Abuses This Device But We Tend To Ignore It Because It's A "Classic"
Now, I gave a warning that my opinions in this essay might offend some of you. I'm sure a few of you are already upset about what I've said about Frontier In Space. It does seem to hold a special place in the hearts of certain sectors of Fandom. You might have even gotten a bit mad at me for the things I said about Talons of Weng Chiang. This is a greatly-adored racially-offensive tale and no one should ever say anything ill of it.
But now you're going to get really mad at me!
For many, Genesis of the Daleks is their all-time favorite story. I had heard legend of it before watching it. Perhaps my expectations were just a bit too high because of it. When I was finally able to view it, I was pretty disappointed. I didn't think it was absolutely horrible, of course. But I definitely don't consider it the best story ever.
There were a couple of things about it that I found downright silly. Can you really escape a landmine like that? Pretty sure once you step on it, you're done for. Sarah Jane falling off the scaffholding only to fall back on it, pretty much, constitutes the worst cliffhanger resolution ever. Yup, the end of Part One of Dragonfire is pretty bad, too - but this one might be worse. I also think the famous monologue about Davros contemplating releasing a virus is pretty silly. Would someone really get that over-excited about cracking open a vial?! It's just a little too OTT for my liking. But it's funny how we never seem to talk about how bad certain elements of Genesis of the Daleks are. Almost as if we're not allowed to because the story is so highly regarded. Genesis almost reminds me of a dysfunctional family where a parent is a severe alcoholic but we're not allowed to talk about it because they're also a prominent figure in the community!
But the thing that really made me lose respect for Genesis of the Daleks is its abuse of the capture-and-escape device. While not as bad as Frontier In Space, there is still not enough story here for a Six Parter. At best, Terry Nation could have comfortably filled four episodes.
We know we're in trouble when Harry and the Doctor do a full capture-and-escape-and-recaptured with the Kaleds in Part One. We're not even through the first episode and there's a need for padding. Things continue to go bad when Sarah Jane gets captured by Thals in later episodes. The failed attempt to climb to the top of the dome is as painful to sit through as the Third Doctor's space walk in Frontier. There's still a bit more capture-and-escaping in the last few episodes when the TARDIS crew return to the Kaled bunker. To his credit, though, Nation does find other ways to pad things out in the latter half of the story. Davros delivering an impassioned-yet-boring speech to a group of Kaled scientists and soldiers we don't give a rat's ass about that we know will become gunstick fodder in just a few short minutes was an interesting alternative to just one more capture-and-escape.
Again, the tallying of capture-and-escapes is a fairly subjective process. But it does look like there's about five of them in Genesis of the Daleks. As I've said, though, we never acknowledge this flaw in the story. Or any other problem, for that matter. Because we're not allowed to. It's Genesis of the Daleks, damn it. The best Doctor Who story ever. Supposedly.
Earliest Example of a Capture-and-Escape
The capture-and-escape device seems to have a long history with the show. But just how far back does it truly go?
Believe it or not, we can trace it all the way back to its most humble of beginnings. Even Unearthly Child (or 1 000 000 BC - or whatever you want to call it!) takes advantage of it a bit.
Some of you older fans are, no doubt, familiar with the works of Dicky Howett. A great little comic strip artist who was, obviously, a big fan of the show. Dicky drew some great strips involving Who that were clearly geared at people who knew the show inside and out. While other comic strip artists might make a bit of fun here and there by drawing pictures of Daleks that can't climb stairs or other easy jokes like that, Dicky went for the more obscure stuff. It's great to see that a T-shirt company has used some of his images and I catch the occasional New Who fan wearing them. Howett's legacy lives on.
At one point, Dicky released an extended strip that was his own version of Unearthly Child. It had some great jokes in it. One of the ones I liked the best was his own acknowledgement of the capture-and-escape device. The basic gist of the gag is that Howett suddenly inserts a panel near the end of the strip that proclaims something to the nature of: "Six Capture-and-Escapes Later...". In the next panel, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara are racing towards the TARDIS with cavemen chasing them.
It's an exaggeration, of course. But then, comedy will do that for effect. But Part Three of the story is one big capture-and-escape-and-recaptured. It's just difficult to notice because it's still, actually, a pretty well-written episode. The scene where Ian, Susan and Barbara teach compassion to Za and his girlfriend is quite compelling. That is the same scene, of course, where Ian stops the Doctor from attempting to kill Za. Which is a crazy moment to watch retrospectively. To see someone who is your hero be that heartless in his earliest days can really throw you off.
And that's the thing about capture-and-escape: if it's well done, we're not bothered by its attempt to mark time. There are some other problems with Unearthly Child. But I don't believe its use of capture-and-escape is one of them.
Which leads us to our next award:
A Story That Creates Such a Compelling Capture-and-Escape That We Don't Mind It
As I just tried to illustrate in the last award, there are times when a capture-and-escape doesn't actually drag the story down. If done cleverly, it can really lift the story and create some legitimate tension.
I picked pretty hard on Terry Nation for Genesis of the Daleks - so now I will sing his praise. While Planet of the Daleks is a bit of a Daleks (or The Dead Planet - or whatever you want to call it!) re-tread, it also does do a good job of doing a huge capture-and-escape that we don't mind at all because it is really well-conceived. The Doctor getting captured by the Daleks and being hauled off to their base on Spiridon starts feeling like that stereotypical: "Oh boy! It's a six parter and we only have story for four!" moment. But I find it really fleshes out nicely. So much so, that some of it even gets referenced in Remembrance of the Daleks.
Getting out of his cell and running into some other Thals that are stuck in an ice vent keeps the pace going nicely. The "ice slime", in fact, is a pretty nice effect. As they figure out a way to use the hot air rising through the refrigeration vent to their advantage, I really find myself impressed by the cleverness of the whole thing.
For years, the episode that featured all this capture-and-escaping was cut out from the story because it only existed in black-and-white. They finally colorized it and put into the DVD release. It is interesting to note that the story does do pretty well without the episode in it. Which shows off quite nicely that it was meant to just eat up some minutes. But, with the episode back in, I find myself enjoying the action that takes place within it. Yes, it's largely superfluous to the overall plot - but it's still a damned good episode!
The TARDIS being able to run out of oxygen, however, is still pretty weird. Not sure what that was all about!
Story That Could Have Abused Capture-and-Escape But Didn't
Obviously, a longer story is far more likely to take advantage of the capture-and-escape motif than, say, a two-parter. Totally awesome Classics like Inferno had seven parts to fill. So the Doctor does end up breaking in and out of captivity a few times when he's trapped in a fascist parallel universe.
With this in mind, a story like The War Games would be more-than-justified to be peppered with capture-and-escapes to fill up its ten episodes. Amazingly enough, it doesn't seem to resort to this tactic half as much as it could have. Parts One and Two do use this device a fair amount. But then it actually settles down and finds other ways to fill up the bountiful episode count. Some of these devices work better than others. The subplot of David Troughton having to guard a War Lord, for instance, is a fairly decent piece of drama. The Doctor and Jamie trying to blow open a safe while Carstairs deals with a surprise visit is another very enjoyable moment. These are storylines that do little to advance the main plot but still provide us with lovely distractions. Other moments, like trying to explain to a converted French soldier that he's being exploited by an evil alien race, don't necessarily work as well. But they are still far more effective than just chucking the Doctor and/or his companions in another jail cell and letting them try to find a way out. It's almost like Terrance Dicks and Malcolme Hulke sat down and said: "Let's try to find as many other ways to pad this out than just capture-and-escape."
War Games is still longer than it needs to be. And it does abuse capture-and-escape a bit. But I do recognize it as a story that could have used the device a whole lot more. Because of some of the creative choices that get made by the authors, the story ends up working quite well. It could have plodded along horribly and made Troughton's send-off absolutely tedious. But it gives us something quite masterful, instead. And I think some of that is due to the fact that Dicks and Hulke decide not to be lazy writers.
If only Hulke had maintained that same level integrity for Frontier In Space!
An Actual Example of Capture-and-Escape in the New Series
I did say in those introductory paragraphs that New Who tends to move really fast and doesn't use this device anymore. But we are a good eleven seasons into the show, now. That's a lot of stories. Couldn't just one of them have used that device somewhere?
Truthfully, it's probably happened a few times. But the one that seems to stand out the most would be the "three Doctors in one jail" scene from Day of the Doctor. It's almost as if Moffat is using the anniversary special to pay tribute to the great capture-and-escapes of yesteryear. While Clara's plotline does continue to move and develop, the Doctors' is brought to a grinding halt as they are thrown into a medieval cell by the Queen. There's much discussion and debate about where the Doctor has been going since the Time Wars and two different escape plans get hatched at once. And then we find out the door was unlocked the whole time!
To all intents and purposes, this does sound like a bit of a time-eater. Just like the old capture-and-escapes were. But, upon closer inspection, we see that Moff is setting up some crucial character development that will affect the Doctor as the story reaches its climax. Some of what gets covered in the prison cell will even bleed into Time of the Doctor a bit (the scene does start to foreshadow what's waiting for him on Trenzalore). It also sets up the basic premise of what will stop the Doctor from destroying Gallifrey in the Time Wars. So, on the surface, this may actually seem like yet another capture-and-escape. But there's quite a bit more going on there than you think. It is actually a very important scene on several levels.
Well, I have to admit, I enjoyed doing that. There's a few other conventions the show has used that I find quite silly that I might set up award ceremonies for, too. I definitely want to tackle the Cast Slaughterfests of Seasons 21 and 22. I could have some fun with that one!
I do hope some of my opinions on certain stories that I know are greatly loved didn't offend you too much. Some fans get very distressed by the fact that I don't think Genesis of the Daleks is that great! I also hope you noticed that I didn't just take the piss out of my favorite show for the entire entry. I intentionally pointed out some good stuff, too. Certain stories do resort to this tactic to mark time but end up doing it in a very effective way. I wanted to highlight that a bit too.
Like COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS? Here's the first entry in the Series. Learn all about the frotnok:
https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/03/complete-and-utter-silliness-was.html
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