Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 330: The Mutants, Episode Six
Dear diary,
Maybe it’s simply that I’m paying more attention today, but suddenly a number of the things I wasn’t quite understanding earlier on in the story. Several revelations about the evolution cycle of the Solonians I’d sort of pieced together as we’d gone along, but I couldn’t for the life of me work out where they crystal or the radiation cave came into the equation. Everything now hangs together quite nicely, and in retrospect, even locking the hostages in a room full of radiation seems really quite clever. I think the only thing that I struggle to believe is the massive transformation that the people go through, from a cod-medieval society, via the Mutts, to some kind of all powerful ghost-like figure.
Still, I almost don’t mind, because the effect is (on the whole) very well done. The shimmering radiation across the image looks great, and very in-keeping with everything we’ve seen of the radiation before in the story. It feels strange to say it, but it does almost feel like this story has had a proper ‘tone meeting’ in the same vein as the modern-day series does, in which they’ve thought through all of these elements. The only thing I’m not keen on is the way that Ky seems to get smaller before passing through walls, where they’ve somewhat over-done the perspective.
I’m hugely pleased to say that the Mutts themselves still look pretty good even when they’re aboard the Sky Base, with far less flattering lighting than they were given in the caves. There’s one moment where everything risks falling apart, when a Mutt squeezes itself into one of the transport chambers and very nearly crushes the costume’s tail, but they still come over as being pretty impressive. I'm pleased because, like the model work, it seems to be an area in which the programme is really excelling this season. So far, I've had cause to praise Ogrons, Alpha Centuri, Sea Devils… Season Nine is pushing the boat out in all the right ways, I think.
Perhaps the best bit of today's episode is that the Doctor and Jo are finally brought back together properly. They've been almost like ships in the night throughout the story - there's even a few episodes that they spend entirely apart - but as soon as they're back together here, we're given more of the great dialogue that they had right back in Episode One. If there's one thing that 'the Bristol Boys' get right in their writing it's the way that this pair interact. They joke together about heading back to 'the broom cupboard', and they're clearly enjoying each other's company.
And the Doctor even gets to use the Sonic Screwdriver to open a door! Hooray! This is the second story in a row that the tool has cropped up in, so I think we're finally heading towards a stage where it becomes the device that we know from later on in the programme's run. It feels like ever such a long time coming, and I'm sure I'll regret my excitement when it turns into a continual get-out clause, but I'm glad to see such an icon of the series finally headed towards it's most well-known stage.
On the whole, I think I've been impressed by The Mutants. I wasn't expecting a great deal from it (and maybe that's the best thing!), but it's come out as rather enjoyable. It's never going to be regarded as one of the all time Doctor Who greats, but it's far better than reputation would have you believe. Even better, my prediction after Episode One that we'd wind up with some 4/10 scores before the story was out has proved to be wrong - One day, I'll learn to stop underestimating this era!
6/10 
