Format: DVD
Warts & All: Dodgy Dragonfly Divebomb
Quote: Save me a piece of wedding cake
Review: From the same writing team that brought you the Time Monster comes this bona fide classic that I’d happily present to anyone in a ‘Best Of Pertwee’ box set. As long as the intended viewer wasn’t Welsh, as maybe some of the stereotypical dialogue from the Valleys might bother them, boyo, isn’t it? To be honest, it didn’t trouble me as it’s reasonably easy for me to watch such things with an eye to the mindset and culture of the time, and even if miner Bert’s habit of calling Jo ‘Blodwyn’ could induce a cringe or two, it serves well enough to lend the characters that brief connection so when Bert succumbs to the eponymous expiration it’s given some proper emotional acknowledgement rather than treated as the throwaway death common to members of a Doctor Who supporting cast. Nice touches like that plus the casting of well-known character actors (Roy Evans, Talfryn Thomas) invite the audience to care about the lot of these miners. Much as the story invites us to genuinely care about the issues – issues of the day which are every bit as relevant, if not more so, now.
The message is not subtle – it’s about as crude as the oil pumped from the depths of the Earth. The greenness of the death is ironic, since green is pretty much the political manifesto this tale espouses. We identify readily with what’s at stake and even if the locals are a bit colourful, it’s easy to identify with them as an ordinary community. Then you throw in one of the most horrific horrors the show has ever chucked at your Saturday teatime screens – that’s right, the giant M-words! Yes, creatures so disgusting that I am reduced to calling them M-words in case my sister is reading this, because she can’t even stand the word let alone the memories of this story. (Also why I’ve had to exercise some due care in choice of accompanying image!) The M-words are pretty well realised for the most part and even the giant plastic fly towards the end is only rendered truly awful by some overambitious experiments with CSO. It’s an expected feature of many a story from the period and not for the first time there are some odd uses of it when you would’ve thought a simple location shot would’ve done – the Brig and Co on site, for example, where we’ve already seen them in location filming, transferred to the studio with a crappy CSO backdrop. Did the production team run out of time on location or something? Ultimately, it’s all forgivable when the rest is so good.
Every episode is a lovely balance of action, intrigue, horror and humour – complete with a couple of star comedy turns from Pertwee as a milkman and a cleaning maid. And the absolute highlight of Mike Yates’ UNIT career, really, as he is hit with a bucket by an indignant Pertwee in domestic-cleaner drag. These are perfectly natural Pertwee comic creations but there is something special in seeing his Doctor transition from the suave sophisticate to these roles and back again. The most outlandish aspect of proceedings is BOSS, a riff on mad computer HAL 9000, who hums and sings along as his plans for Global Chemicals’ global domination are initiated, but it’s voiced with such booming and unabashed aplomb by John Dearth, you can’t help but relish this unseen electronic villain.
The technology and aesthetic is so seventies, all that’s missing is a downtrodden Reggie Perrin on the company staff. “Eleven minutes late, giant M-word on the Llanfairfach bypass.” In keeping with that full-on Seventies vibe, the hippy commune of the Nuthutch is very much of its time, but Professor Jones is a likeable chap and a much more convincing romantic match for Jo Grant. That particular thread is quite nicely developed and written – complete with a scene where the Doctor further surprises us all by cockblocking Professor Jones, taking him off to discuss scientific matters just when he’s trying to get intimate with Jo – ultimately leading of course to a beautifully understated and sad companion departure. (Albeit I’ve no need to be sad for long as Sarah Jane will be along very soon. Yay!)
It’s Pertwee’s Doctor we feel for, as he drives off alone. What a great ending to the season. And in the end the seventies backdrop is as readily updateable as the CSO effects. Sure, coal-mining is dead now and that’s one element you’d have to change if remaking this story today, but industry pollution and poisoning the environment is – I’m afraid – going to be a relevant issue for quite a while to come yet.
hich is great news for this Doctor Who adventure, meaning it will be something we can continue to enjoy long after it’s no longer safe for us to go outside.
(NB. This review in no way endorses or supports the policies of the Green Party.)
