Old Who: Battlefield and The Aztecs
Oct. 3rd, 2007 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIt wasn't all Heroes, all the time for me this last week; I also caught up on some Old School Who and watched the Sarah Jane Adventures. The later are delightful, though not producing much in the way of meta thought in me beyond "I love Sarah Jane, the kids are terrific, wow, Rusty really has it in for nuns, oh, that scene with Sarah and the old lady was poignant".
Then there was Battlefield, one of the Seventh Doctor adventures I hadn't watched yet, and The Aztecs, a First Doctor adventure recommended by a lot of people, and now that I've seen it, I know why.
Not one of the era's highlights, but it does have some good character moments, plus I'll never get tired of watching Seven and Ace together. The star of the story, though, was unquestionably the Brigadier. I understand this was his last tv outing (so far?), and a good one it was. The meeting between him and the Doctor, the instant recognition on the Brig's side ("who else could it be?"), that affectionate smile exchanged: just lovely. And he brought Bessie! Awwwww. Having just rewatched a Third Doctor adventure, I felt ridiculously mushy about that dammed car, and so did Seven, apparently. I mean, he was practically all over it. Are we sure he didn't cheat on the TARDIS with Bessie while he was confined to Earth as Three?
Doris the Brigadier's wife, despite little screen time, came across as likeable and real, and bonus points to the show for not just giving her that predictable scene in the beginning (wife seeing husband off to one last adventure) but that great turnaround at the end where Doris heads off with Ace and Branberra and leaves the Brig to make dinner.
Speaking of Winifred Branberra aka the new Brigadier, though, she was a bit too much of a caricature of a tough woman, though again, giving UNIT a female leader as Our Alastair's successor is appreciated. Still, I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at the scenes with her and Ancelyn.
Then there was the whole Arthurian concept, which, well. Worked in parts and in parts so not. The Doctor as Merlin, only he doesn't know it yet - nice idea, especially given the variation of the myth where Merlin lives backwards. Ace pulling out the sword while everyone else is busy posturing, and the whole implication that "Arthur" is now everybody taking up the cause; also a commendable twist. But the writer clearly couldn't work out whether he wanted Morgan to be your standard fantasy evil sorceress or an honorable warrior queen, so the characterisation switched between both. On the one hand, she gets the muwahhaaahhaaa laughter scenes and the talon nails, on the other, the respect for the fallen dead and arranging (and keeping) honorable truces with the Brigadier, whom she respects. On the one hand, she does the casual unnessary killing of bystanders (the UNIT pilot), on the other hand, she heals the innkeeper's wife from blindness just because. Now if this was all meant to keep Morgan ambiguous I'd applaud it, but as I said, it rather comes across as inconsistent. One thing about Morgan that does come across as deliberate: her reaction to the "Arthur is dead and has been for a thousand years" news, showing that in fact she loved Arthur. It's not mentioned in the episode, but I take it this version of Morgan and the late Arthur were brother and sister, too, which means Ben what's his name who wrote this storyline did not shy away from the incest part of the Arthurian lore.
(Also, the Morgan/Arthur backstory indicated here makes her a parallel to the more recent variation of the Master.)
Something that was of interest to me continuity wise: after School Reunion aired, there were complaints both Sarah Jane and Rose were demeaned by the writer having them react with competitiveness and bickering to each other before they bond over laughing at the Doctor. In Battlefield, you have the precedent of Old Companion Meets New Companion, in the form of the Brigadier and Ace meeting, and guess what? There is bickering. There is competitiveness. There is the Brigadier referring to Ace as "the latest one", Ace fiercely resenting that and later, when he does ask for her name, saying "just call me the latest one", and declaring her distrust in him to her friend of the episode, saying that she doesn't trust the Brigadier to guard the Doctor's back because that is her job. There is also bonding and reconciliation and the graceful end note with the Old Companion complimenting the New Companion, sending her to further adventures with the Doctor. I'm just saying, people. Precedent.
Even further back in DW history: The Aztecs, or Yet Another Example of Barbara Rocking Beyond Belief.
The educational children's programm idea is still clearly noticable here, with the Aztec culture being presented. I don't mean that as a criticism, on the contrary; it's very well done, and btw, kudos for not choosing the actual time of the Spaniards arriving, but an earlier period, and for doing something all too rarely done in shows with time travel. I ranted about this on several occasions, last I think when I was watching some Enterprise episodes wherein history has been changed so that the Nazis win, and Our Heroes have to put it right again: it feels like a cop-out to me never to put Our Heroes in a historical situation where there is a horrible injustice going on and they can't do anything about it because otherwise they'd change history, no, history is always already changed and must be back on track for the better. How nice. (ST did it somewhat differently in the classic Guardian at the Edge of Forever, where Kirk has to let Edith Keeler die because she's supposed to, but that is a purely personal loss.) The Aztecs, on the other hand, does put Barbara (and to a lesser degree the rest of them) in the situation where she's confronted with a horrible status quo - a society practising human sacrifice - and understandably wants to change it, only to find out she can't. The compromise the story makes - Barbara can't change Aztec society, and the Aztecs themselves remain doomed, but she can and does make a difference for one individual Aztec - comes across as fair and plausible. (Let's handwave Barbara's idea that if the Aztecs hadn't practised human sacrifice, the Spaniards wouldn't have destroyed them; really, even as a 60s teacher, Barbara should now better - Cortez & Co. were after the gold, and with the Aztecs had been nothing but loving pacificists, they'd still have been subjugated, only quicker.)
Barbara's big argument with the Doctor about whether or not to change history: reminded me of what I thought in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, i.e. that Barbara's relationship with the Doctor, utterly unromantic and also not father-daughter or mentor-protegé, because Barbara is an adult woman in her 30s and interested in another man, is a) compelling and b) what would be great to have in New Who right now. (And chances are we'll get it with Donna.) Of course, with the way the show continues in mind it's hard not to see the Doctor as having a double standard here, because there are future occasions where he does interfere in societies (usually via supporting the rebel du jour) a plenty -, but this is the show in its very early stages, and the writers didn't know that then. Still, from a Watsonian pov his vehement "it's not possible, believe me, I know" - pause, bitter - "I know" is intriguing; did he try unsuccessfully earlier, and was that one of the reasons why he's at this point on the run from Gallifrey?
Speaking of the Doctor, Watsonian interpretations and continuity into New Who: it cracks me up that the asexualist view of the Time Lords was so much fought about in the Fourth and Fifth Doctor periods and later, because One, that cranky old-young man (old in looks, young in Time Lord years), is clearly NOT asexual in The Aztecs. If there ever was a precedent of the Alien Slutboi Tease accusation leveled at Ten, it's here. Not only does he flirt with Cameca, all the time, and definitely not innocently or just because he needs information (he raves about her when she's not present, after all), he leaves her at the first opportunity as surely as Ten will leave Reinette and can't say goodbye when she wants him to, and yet he goes back for that talisman she has given him and keeps it to remember her. There is even that shot of him busying himself at the TARDIS console with a sad expression paralled in Girl in the Fireplace. Oh, and in between, there is the shocked look as soon she mentionsmortgage marriage and settling down their own garden. Yep, clearly the same Time Lord.
The Aztecs does have its share of 60s sci fi clichés and/or racism: the very premise of Barbara being taken for a goddess (or technically the reincarnation of a dead priest become divine), Ian defeating the Aztec warrior Ixta in combat all the time despite Ixta having fought all his life and Ian being a school teacher. On the other hand, they're a human not an alien society (which oddly enough for me avoids the condescension which the same kind of storyline has when it's a member of the Enterprise crew being taken for a god or defeating the local champions in single combat), and you have both the Doctor and Ian pointing out to Barbara that her desire to change the Aztecs also means she's ignoring all their own convictions and religious beliefs, seeing hers as superior, which is a degree of self awareness most comparable tv in the 60s doesn't have. Most refreshingly, none of the locals fall in love with Barbara, Ian or Susan and change their alliances because of that; the most important relationship is the one between Barbara and the Priest of High Learning, and it works via discussions, with him being challenged by the new ideas she presents, not by her as a woman. Similarly, the Priest of Sacrifice doesn't resent Barbara because he is in thwarted lust with her but because she represents a threat to his power. The only romantic subplot is that of Cameca and the Doctor, and the Doctor does not change Cameca's views, or tries to.
So, Aztecs: a grand old adventure, as Barrie put it, and I loved watching it.
Then there was Battlefield, one of the Seventh Doctor adventures I hadn't watched yet, and The Aztecs, a First Doctor adventure recommended by a lot of people, and now that I've seen it, I know why.
Not one of the era's highlights, but it does have some good character moments, plus I'll never get tired of watching Seven and Ace together. The star of the story, though, was unquestionably the Brigadier. I understand this was his last tv outing (so far?), and a good one it was. The meeting between him and the Doctor, the instant recognition on the Brig's side ("who else could it be?"), that affectionate smile exchanged: just lovely. And he brought Bessie! Awwwww. Having just rewatched a Third Doctor adventure, I felt ridiculously mushy about that dammed car, and so did Seven, apparently. I mean, he was practically all over it. Are we sure he didn't cheat on the TARDIS with Bessie while he was confined to Earth as Three?
Doris the Brigadier's wife, despite little screen time, came across as likeable and real, and bonus points to the show for not just giving her that predictable scene in the beginning (wife seeing husband off to one last adventure) but that great turnaround at the end where Doris heads off with Ace and Branberra and leaves the Brig to make dinner.
Speaking of Winifred Branberra aka the new Brigadier, though, she was a bit too much of a caricature of a tough woman, though again, giving UNIT a female leader as Our Alastair's successor is appreciated. Still, I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at the scenes with her and Ancelyn.
Then there was the whole Arthurian concept, which, well. Worked in parts and in parts so not. The Doctor as Merlin, only he doesn't know it yet - nice idea, especially given the variation of the myth where Merlin lives backwards. Ace pulling out the sword while everyone else is busy posturing, and the whole implication that "Arthur" is now everybody taking up the cause; also a commendable twist. But the writer clearly couldn't work out whether he wanted Morgan to be your standard fantasy evil sorceress or an honorable warrior queen, so the characterisation switched between both. On the one hand, she gets the muwahhaaahhaaa laughter scenes and the talon nails, on the other, the respect for the fallen dead and arranging (and keeping) honorable truces with the Brigadier, whom she respects. On the one hand, she does the casual unnessary killing of bystanders (the UNIT pilot), on the other hand, she heals the innkeeper's wife from blindness just because. Now if this was all meant to keep Morgan ambiguous I'd applaud it, but as I said, it rather comes across as inconsistent. One thing about Morgan that does come across as deliberate: her reaction to the "Arthur is dead and has been for a thousand years" news, showing that in fact she loved Arthur. It's not mentioned in the episode, but I take it this version of Morgan and the late Arthur were brother and sister, too, which means Ben what's his name who wrote this storyline did not shy away from the incest part of the Arthurian lore.
(Also, the Morgan/Arthur backstory indicated here makes her a parallel to the more recent variation of the Master.)
Something that was of interest to me continuity wise: after School Reunion aired, there were complaints both Sarah Jane and Rose were demeaned by the writer having them react with competitiveness and bickering to each other before they bond over laughing at the Doctor. In Battlefield, you have the precedent of Old Companion Meets New Companion, in the form of the Brigadier and Ace meeting, and guess what? There is bickering. There is competitiveness. There is the Brigadier referring to Ace as "the latest one", Ace fiercely resenting that and later, when he does ask for her name, saying "just call me the latest one", and declaring her distrust in him to her friend of the episode, saying that she doesn't trust the Brigadier to guard the Doctor's back because that is her job. There is also bonding and reconciliation and the graceful end note with the Old Companion complimenting the New Companion, sending her to further adventures with the Doctor. I'm just saying, people. Precedent.
Even further back in DW history: The Aztecs, or Yet Another Example of Barbara Rocking Beyond Belief.
The educational children's programm idea is still clearly noticable here, with the Aztec culture being presented. I don't mean that as a criticism, on the contrary; it's very well done, and btw, kudos for not choosing the actual time of the Spaniards arriving, but an earlier period, and for doing something all too rarely done in shows with time travel. I ranted about this on several occasions, last I think when I was watching some Enterprise episodes wherein history has been changed so that the Nazis win, and Our Heroes have to put it right again: it feels like a cop-out to me never to put Our Heroes in a historical situation where there is a horrible injustice going on and they can't do anything about it because otherwise they'd change history, no, history is always already changed and must be back on track for the better. How nice. (ST did it somewhat differently in the classic Guardian at the Edge of Forever, where Kirk has to let Edith Keeler die because she's supposed to, but that is a purely personal loss.) The Aztecs, on the other hand, does put Barbara (and to a lesser degree the rest of them) in the situation where she's confronted with a horrible status quo - a society practising human sacrifice - and understandably wants to change it, only to find out she can't. The compromise the story makes - Barbara can't change Aztec society, and the Aztecs themselves remain doomed, but she can and does make a difference for one individual Aztec - comes across as fair and plausible. (Let's handwave Barbara's idea that if the Aztecs hadn't practised human sacrifice, the Spaniards wouldn't have destroyed them; really, even as a 60s teacher, Barbara should now better - Cortez & Co. were after the gold, and with the Aztecs had been nothing but loving pacificists, they'd still have been subjugated, only quicker.)
Barbara's big argument with the Doctor about whether or not to change history: reminded me of what I thought in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, i.e. that Barbara's relationship with the Doctor, utterly unromantic and also not father-daughter or mentor-protegé, because Barbara is an adult woman in her 30s and interested in another man, is a) compelling and b) what would be great to have in New Who right now. (And chances are we'll get it with Donna.) Of course, with the way the show continues in mind it's hard not to see the Doctor as having a double standard here, because there are future occasions where he does interfere in societies (usually via supporting the rebel du jour) a plenty -, but this is the show in its very early stages, and the writers didn't know that then. Still, from a Watsonian pov his vehement "it's not possible, believe me, I know" - pause, bitter - "I know" is intriguing; did he try unsuccessfully earlier, and was that one of the reasons why he's at this point on the run from Gallifrey?
Speaking of the Doctor, Watsonian interpretations and continuity into New Who: it cracks me up that the asexualist view of the Time Lords was so much fought about in the Fourth and Fifth Doctor periods and later, because One, that cranky old-young man (old in looks, young in Time Lord years), is clearly NOT asexual in The Aztecs. If there ever was a precedent of the Alien Slutboi Tease accusation leveled at Ten, it's here. Not only does he flirt with Cameca, all the time, and definitely not innocently or just because he needs information (he raves about her when she's not present, after all), he leaves her at the first opportunity as surely as Ten will leave Reinette and can't say goodbye when she wants him to, and yet he goes back for that talisman she has given him and keeps it to remember her. There is even that shot of him busying himself at the TARDIS console with a sad expression paralled in Girl in the Fireplace. Oh, and in between, there is the shocked look as soon she mentions
The Aztecs does have its share of 60s sci fi clichés and/or racism: the very premise of Barbara being taken for a goddess (or technically the reincarnation of a dead priest become divine), Ian defeating the Aztec warrior Ixta in combat all the time despite Ixta having fought all his life and Ian being a school teacher. On the other hand, they're a human not an alien society (which oddly enough for me avoids the condescension which the same kind of storyline has when it's a member of the Enterprise crew being taken for a god or defeating the local champions in single combat), and you have both the Doctor and Ian pointing out to Barbara that her desire to change the Aztecs also means she's ignoring all their own convictions and religious beliefs, seeing hers as superior, which is a degree of self awareness most comparable tv in the 60s doesn't have. Most refreshingly, none of the locals fall in love with Barbara, Ian or Susan and change their alliances because of that; the most important relationship is the one between Barbara and the Priest of High Learning, and it works via discussions, with him being challenged by the new ideas she presents, not by her as a woman. Similarly, the Priest of Sacrifice doesn't resent Barbara because he is in thwarted lust with her but because she represents a threat to his power. The only romantic subplot is that of Cameca and the Doctor, and the Doctor does not change Cameca's views, or tries to.
So, Aztecs: a grand old adventure, as Barrie put it, and I loved watching it.
