aWill Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start...
Day 271: Doctor Who and the Silurians, Episode Seven
Dear diary,
While I didn't really know all that much about Doctor Who and the Silurians, the one thing that I was aware of is the ending. I knew that it finished up with the Brigadier blowing up the remaining creatures in the caves. For some reason, in my mind, it came in the form of an airstrike, with bombs being dropped across the moor (perhaps not on Who's budget, though!), but it's the one thing that I did know was coming.
And then, I went and forgot it! As the Silurians start to put themselves back into hibernation about three quarters of the way through today's episode, I started to think that it was a bit of an anti-climax to the story. It was only when the Brigadier started to act a bit shifty towards his scientific team that I suddenly remembered what was going to happen - and then it's bye bye SIlurians.
I hadn't anticipated just how much this is a story all about science verses the military, though. It's present right the way through from the Doctor telling Liz that he doesn't attend anywhere on command, via his squabbles with the Brigadier as the story has progressed and into these final moments. The same story is even playing out deep down in the caves, among the Silurian creatures, as the leader listens and agrees to learn from the humans, while his more war-like friends plot to wipe us from the surface of the planet.
The thing that really sells me on the ending is Jon Pertwee. Didn't expect I'd ever be saying that, considering my dislike for his incarnation over the years, but he really is brilliant here, isn't he. You can really feel the sadness when he talks about all the scientific knowledge that the Silurians held being wasted by this action - and then he describes it as simply being murder. It's an unusual ending to the story, but it really works. I also love the way that Liz tries to justify it by suggesting that the Brigadier must have had orders from above, even though we know that's not the truth.
It's an unusual move in some ways, because it doesn't leave you exactly enamoured with the Brigadier. It's the same kind of decision that cost Harriet Jones her place in Downing Street during The Christmas Invasion, and it's done for similar reasons. I'm kind of glad that they're not afraid to show things like this - there's no reason that all of the Doctor's associates should be whiter-than-white, and if you're going to give one of them a morally-ambiguous action to take, you might as well go large-scale and wipe out an entire species! I hope that they don't just forget about this as we move forward. An event like this needs to make an impact on the characters, and if I thought the Brigadier's relationship with the Doctor was frosty at the start of this story, I think it might pale in comparison to what we might see tomorrow!
I'm sorry to say it, but the thing that has let this story down for me is the Silurians themselves. I've praised the overall design already, and I still think it works, but they just look a bit rubbish in practice. Today we get to see lots of examples of them wobbling their heads around to make their telepathic powers work, and it just looks silly. Everything else about their city is so well designed, that it's a shame to see them coming across so poorly. I think - on balance - I might prefer the new series design.
As for the story itself, I'm really pleasantly surprised. I was so dreading these seven-part stories, but this one has set us off on a great start. THe story has changed direction so many times over the last week that I've had plenty to keep me interested all along. I'm just hopeful that the rest of Season Seven can hold my interest like this…
