The Road to Wenley Moor

"But if you trust me, I think I can persuade the humans that you are prepared to live with them on this planet in peace."    --The Doctor

Doctor Who and the Silurians rises in my esteem everytime I watch it. To be fair, my first watch was a grainy black & white broadcast 35 years ago.

The world views of the producers, writers and directors of the program are frequently apparent.

Seeking peace is always risky, but through the Doctor, as an outsider, Doctor Who imbues the cause with a higher authority; an idealized striving for a better world. 

Malcolm Hulke leaves the ultimate decision with us though, when he chooses to let the Brigadier blow up the Silurian base. Hulke was always speaking to us. Peace is always something to work towards even when the circumstances are as seemingly overwhelming as an alien race that specializes in creating super-soldiers in the refining fires of The War Games (in that instance, even the Doctor had to call on a higher force--the Time Lords--to resolve the situation).

Doctor Who and the Silurians is an extraordinary, layered story, that holds up even at the improbable length of seven episodes. Hulke knew his craft (hell the man wrote the book: Writing for Television in the Seventies) and he was working with compelling stuff. Biological warfare, sabotage, heavy artillery (well a big rubber, CSO dinosaur), and yes, those who thirst to profit from conflict (I'm looking at you Dr. Quinn).

Here is Hulke speaking about Terra Luna, which he was commissioned to write with Eric Paice by Sydney Newman for ABC television:

“We soon see how the plight of one human being in an Earth-bound rocket catches the imagination of the whole world. Radar stations – Russian, American, British and others – are linked in a global effort to bring the rocket home. Space travel, it turns out, is a great unifying influence among the nations. The old law of the sea becomes the law of space too.”

Extraordinary circumstances can unite human beings to rise above themselves, come together and exhibit great bravery, creativity and ingenuity--the same circumstances can also uncover our fear and loathing of the unknown; turn us into a pitchfork-wielding mob.

But Hulke is more subtle and sophisticated. Through his characters he offers us variations on a theme: Dr. Lawrence (Peter Myles) puts his head in the sand for stubborn careerism, Major Baker (Norman Jones) sees his opportunity to make up for past mistakes, while Miss Dawson simply wants revenge for what she sees as Dr. Quinn's straightforward murder. And of course in the end the Brigadier holds steadfastly to the letter of his duty by parsing the odds, and protect the state/planet/the Home Counties from what he sees as an ongoing threat.

Into this scenario it's fascinating to consider the Doctor' s motivations. He clearly believes that the two species can live together on the planet to the extent that he actually proposes a rough plan: the Silurians can inhabit the parts of the planet that are too inhospitable to humans, because these areas are actually better suited to the needs/biology of the reptiles. But we're dealing with issues of racism (the humans clearly fear 'the other' and the Silurians feel a strong sense of superiority to the humans--they view them as apes and as pests), and resource scarcity (the Silurians are 'stealing' power from the humans and feel strongly that the earth isn't big enough to share with the humans; the humans don't want these 'immigrants' coming in and putting a drain on their society--this is more implied than stated outright).

The Doctor has seen how large and wonderous the universe is, and despite being confined to one planet in one time, he still sees the infinite possibilities; sharing the planet can happen if he can just get both sides to talk. He's willing to take the risk of seeking peace, even if it upsets his friends and allies. Honestly, he could easily opt out and let his exile/sentence run out but he actually chooses to intercede/meddle (which surely would negate any hope for early release/parole).

Sadly, the more hardline, cautious factions prevail. The 'young Silurian' executes the leader who is more open to negotiating. I do find it curious that Hulke chooses to make the old guard more tolerant and open to change. It's an interesting inversion of the youth rising up for change (which would be explored later stories like The Green Death.) This may reflect Hulke's own experience in socialist/communist circles).  Hulke once wrote:

Once a man starts wanting to believe in a thing, it’s just about time he really set about some deep thinking…Could it be that Communism is a wonderful idea but that its philosophy is inherited with some not easily definable something that, at least, in present, day society, tends rather to gather to itself mentalities of a not wholly desirable type?…And if that is the case, and if Communism, managed to gain control in this country, just what sort of people would we expect to find governing us?

One wonders if Hulke equates the 'young Silurian' not with the entrenched old guard, but with young ideologues who aren't interested in shaping or adapting their theories in the real world, but just rigidly applying them. 

There is also some evidence to suggest that the British communist party was considerably suspicious of Hulke's motives and loyalty and closely monitored him. Check out this well researched article, "Doctor Who and the Communist: The work and politics of Malcolm Hulke", from which I've sourced the above information.  One can certainly see aspects of his experience with the British communist party present in Doctor Who and Silurians: the Doctor is a free thinker and judges the situation from his own experience; he may be allied to UNIT and the government at times for the common good, but where those interests diverge from his own beliefs and conscience, loyalty and friendship do not prevent him from doing what he knows to be right.

Locations: Marylebone Station: where Masters arrives back in London and unwittingly causes the outbreak of the Silurian virus. Hankley Common in Surrey fills in for the fictional Wenley Moor (no, sadly we're not actually in Derbyshire--the production crew had hoped to film at the Wookey Hole caves in Somerset but alas the money was not forthcoming and Doctor Who would have to sit on its hands until Revenge of the Cybermen.)

Call Forwards:  Harriet Jones would order the Torchwood attack on the fleeing Sycorax 35 years later in The Christmas Invasion. The Doctor would proof to be less forgiving on that occasion.

Hammer Horror or I, Claudius? Peter Halliday was in Captain Clegg (1962); Gordon Richardson (Squire) played an uncredited "Aggressive" in Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

Cheese Please:  A nice Gouda.

Next Up:  Mars Attacks!

Striking Out On Film

"I couldn't bear the thought of being tied to one planet and one time."                                  

 --The Third Doctor

With the recent death of Terrance Dicks and the marking of Jon Pertwee's 100th birthday in July, I've begun to hear a ticking that can only be a timey-wimey call from the future to finally commence my Third Doctor rewatch.

Doctor Who loves a new beginning and Spearhead from Space is one of its best.  There's a breezy verve and a fresh-off-the-line sense right from the get go. We've got colour, check; new Doctor (Jon Pertwee), check; new companion (Caroline John as Liz Shaw, check); Nicholas Courtenay is back as the Brigadier, check; the Doctor is exiled on Earth, check. Now let's dig into the story.

Here we're treated to the only Doctor Who story in the original run of the program to be presented entirely on film (and location) owing to industrial action at the BBC.  It's the love child of BBC modesty and ITV shine. This leads to some great directorial touches like Liz's Shaw's arrival in a car at UNIT headquarters, complete with jazzy flute and trumpet solo, the barrage of photographers descending on the Brigadier, the 'walk and talks' through the hospital corridors (with staff scurrying around in the background) and through the hospital grounds. And who can forget the sight of the Doctor lathering up in the shower while humming an opera tune.

Who can forget Liz Shaw's ample mascara, the cosy feel of the cottage hospital with its funky mod curtains, and smart nurses' uniforms,  the fact that the Autons wear scarves, and plucky Meg Seeley standing up to her home invader with her trusty double barrel shotgun.

But god don't I just love all the wonderful, character-filled faces too: John Woodnutt with his chunky, awkward glasses purring his lines (Hibbert), Derek Smee, all pasty, wide-eyed and perpetually bewildered (Ransome), Neil Wilson, always looking like the kid caught in the act (Sam Seeley) and of course Talfryn Thomas as Mullins the porter.

There are also some deeply unsettling deaths that remain a touchstone of season 7 Doctor Who:  the two UNIT soldiers who we get to know interrogating Sam Sealey are gruesomely and bloodily  acquainted with a windscreen when their jeep swerves off the road; and poor Ransome who is vapourize utterly in a cloud of of orange smoke. Total destruction indeed.

Locations: Holloway, London (the plastics factory); Evesham, Worcestershire (Scobie's House); Wisley, Surrey (the forest where the TARDIS materializes/Doctor falls out); Wheelbarrow Castle Cottage, Radford, Worcestershire (the Seeley cottage); Hatchford Park, Hatchford, Surrey (Ashbridge Cottage Hospital).

Call Forwards: The Autons and the Nestene would return 35 years later to launch the modern era of Doctor Who in "Rose", with a similar attack by shop dummies.  You would never see a bloody face smashed against a vehicle screen on modern Who. Oh and I once saw Tessa Shaw, the actor who played the UNIT officer at the start of the story, years ago at GallifreyOne in autograph alley.  She looked to me with her coiffed hair and twin set like Rita Sullivan from Coronation Street.

Hammer Horror or I, Claudius? Hugh Burden (Channing) played Geoffrey Dandridge in Blood From the Mummy's Tomb (1971); Neil Wilson (Sam Sealey) played a policeman in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) and a schoolmaster in The Horror of Frankenstein (1971) and a guard in The Damned (1962); 

Cheese Please: A strong 5-year aged cheddar with some bite.

Next Up: Doctor Who and Some Cave Monsters