Old Who: Spearhead from Space
Mar. 20th, 2008 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakFirstly: just saw that season 4/30 will start on April 5th. Yay!
Now, on to old canon. Having recently watched The War Games, aka the end the Second Doctor Era, I was able to acquire Spearhead from Space, which is the first adventure of the Third Doctor. It’s impossible to be exactly in the same position as viewers were back then, and not just because I already watched many Three episodes and know decades of the show were still to come, but it’s still obvious that it must have been a quite radical change for fans then, and a daring move on the part of the creative staff to play with the format in such a way.
…and Venusian Aikido and other frivolities were yet to come. Spearhead from Space strikes me as a splendid “new pilot” episode, similar in this regard to the season 4 opener from Star Trek: DS9, The Way of the Warrior. In War Games, the Time Lord’s response to the Doctor’s argument that it was irresponsible NOT to act, use the abilities they had and help had been to concede there was something to that but that the Doctor would henceforth exercise his philanthropic urges just from one point in space and time. If you think about it, this meant an amazing break with one of the crucial premises of the program, and they stuck it out for two seasons (with the occasional cheating when someone else briefly enabled the Doctor to use the TARDIS again). What’s more, instead of being an independent agent able to travel through time and space, the Doctor was now dependent on working for a human organization. This all works neatly with some of the differences between Two and Three, because to me Three’s chip on the shoulder and arrogance are very connected to this humiliating (for him) situation.
Grounding the Doctor also meant more ongoing screentime for UNIT characters. Spearhead from Space introduces (Dr.) Liz Shaw; I had seen her before in Inferno and The Silurians, where I thought she was okay, but she didn’t exactly capture my imagination; her introduction here is splendid, though. And one feels for her as the Doctor cons her into getting his TARDIS key for him and in the end ursurps her new job, which makes her his assistant instead of the head scientist. And in between, he charms her with that eyebrow language gimmik, which was admittedly funny and cute, and I wonder given David Tennant’s eyebrows whether they’ll ever let Ten refer back to that. No, seriously, Liz comes across as a no-nonsense scientist hitting it of rather well with the crazy alien scientist, BUT you know, if I was completely unaware of the nature of the program and would just see this storyarc, I’d have assumed she was introduced to end up with the Brigadier. Nice sparring and UST, there. Of course, he’s a married man, and so it will never come to something, but one does notice.
Speaking of the Brig: much love with the characterisation. His reaction to the whole regeneration thing – after all, the first time he’s exposed to it, though later he’ll get routine in meeting new faces of the Doctor – is just right, skeptical but willing to consider all possibilities, and in the meantime trying his best to make sure nobody gets hurt. My absolutely favourite Brig moment is when Liz admits to having slipped the Doctor the key, “so he could get equipment”, and the Brigadier at once correctly deduces this isn’t what the Doctor wanted, and tells Liz as much. Then when it turns out the TARDIS is as damaged as the Doctor’s memories so he can’t travel anymore, and the Doctor steps out with that priceless expression on his face, the Brigadier doesn’t rub it in but briskly gets to the emergency at hand which he needs the Doctor for. I love that, both that he is aware the Doctor would of course lie to them and do a runner – the Brigadier’s affection for the Doctor isn’t blind – and that he’s also aware the Doctor will come through for them if needed.
The Doctor here is still in a becoming stage, very post-regeneration (mind you, I’ve seen Four’s, Seven’s, Eight’s and Ten’s immediate reaction, but am still lacking One to Two, Four to Five and Five to Six); there is the hyper aspect, between enthusiastic showers,stealing loaning wardrobe and cars and going for a escape by wheelchair, but also the aftermath of just how this regeneration came about (“what have they done?”), and I thought it was a good transition between who Two had been and who Three will be in future eps. Lastly, the giddy negotiating with the Brig in order to get his own car (the result of which I have already seen) is adorable. Forgive me, TARDIS, but that fling with Bessie was really something.
Monster of the day: I must say, the Autons and the Nestene consciousness are creepier here than they are in Rose. Robert Holmes (btw, always a delight to find his name as the writer, if one is a B7 fan) clearly knows that plastic dolls are scaaaary. Go him, for inventing the Autons.
Now, on to old canon. Having recently watched The War Games, aka the end the Second Doctor Era, I was able to acquire Spearhead from Space, which is the first adventure of the Third Doctor. It’s impossible to be exactly in the same position as viewers were back then, and not just because I already watched many Three episodes and know decades of the show were still to come, but it’s still obvious that it must have been a quite radical change for fans then, and a daring move on the part of the creative staff to play with the format in such a way.
…and Venusian Aikido and other frivolities were yet to come. Spearhead from Space strikes me as a splendid “new pilot” episode, similar in this regard to the season 4 opener from Star Trek: DS9, The Way of the Warrior. In War Games, the Time Lord’s response to the Doctor’s argument that it was irresponsible NOT to act, use the abilities they had and help had been to concede there was something to that but that the Doctor would henceforth exercise his philanthropic urges just from one point in space and time. If you think about it, this meant an amazing break with one of the crucial premises of the program, and they stuck it out for two seasons (with the occasional cheating when someone else briefly enabled the Doctor to use the TARDIS again). What’s more, instead of being an independent agent able to travel through time and space, the Doctor was now dependent on working for a human organization. This all works neatly with some of the differences between Two and Three, because to me Three’s chip on the shoulder and arrogance are very connected to this humiliating (for him) situation.
Grounding the Doctor also meant more ongoing screentime for UNIT characters. Spearhead from Space introduces (Dr.) Liz Shaw; I had seen her before in Inferno and The Silurians, where I thought she was okay, but she didn’t exactly capture my imagination; her introduction here is splendid, though. And one feels for her as the Doctor cons her into getting his TARDIS key for him and in the end ursurps her new job, which makes her his assistant instead of the head scientist. And in between, he charms her with that eyebrow language gimmik, which was admittedly funny and cute, and I wonder given David Tennant’s eyebrows whether they’ll ever let Ten refer back to that. No, seriously, Liz comes across as a no-nonsense scientist hitting it of rather well with the crazy alien scientist, BUT you know, if I was completely unaware of the nature of the program and would just see this storyarc, I’d have assumed she was introduced to end up with the Brigadier. Nice sparring and UST, there. Of course, he’s a married man, and so it will never come to something, but one does notice.
Speaking of the Brig: much love with the characterisation. His reaction to the whole regeneration thing – after all, the first time he’s exposed to it, though later he’ll get routine in meeting new faces of the Doctor – is just right, skeptical but willing to consider all possibilities, and in the meantime trying his best to make sure nobody gets hurt. My absolutely favourite Brig moment is when Liz admits to having slipped the Doctor the key, “so he could get equipment”, and the Brigadier at once correctly deduces this isn’t what the Doctor wanted, and tells Liz as much. Then when it turns out the TARDIS is as damaged as the Doctor’s memories so he can’t travel anymore, and the Doctor steps out with that priceless expression on his face, the Brigadier doesn’t rub it in but briskly gets to the emergency at hand which he needs the Doctor for. I love that, both that he is aware the Doctor would of course lie to them and do a runner – the Brigadier’s affection for the Doctor isn’t blind – and that he’s also aware the Doctor will come through for them if needed.
The Doctor here is still in a becoming stage, very post-regeneration (mind you, I’ve seen Four’s, Seven’s, Eight’s and Ten’s immediate reaction, but am still lacking One to Two, Four to Five and Five to Six); there is the hyper aspect, between enthusiastic showers,
Monster of the day: I must say, the Autons and the Nestene consciousness are creepier here than they are in Rose. Robert Holmes (btw, always a delight to find his name as the writer, if one is a B7 fan) clearly knows that plastic dolls are scaaaary. Go him, for inventing the Autons.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-20 10:05 pm (UTC)Oh dear, I just finished season one of New Who. I'll have to race to get caught up on time.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 11:19 pm (UTC)From who_daily
Date: 2008-03-20 11:48 pm (UTC)Actually, since the Brig ends up going through a divorce off-screen some time along the way (he'll eventually remarry, to a woman named Doris that we see in the Seventh Doctor episode Battlefield), people have speculated due to the gobs of UST that the Brig and Liz did actually have an affair off-screen, which contributed to the the demise of his marriage and her leaving UNIT.
Re: From who_daily
Date: 2008-03-21 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 11:32 am (UTC)I will always think that Holmes and/or the director made a really bad choice by showing us Autons on screen before the Part Two cliffhanger with the Auton stepping off its plinth to attack Ransome. That should have been the utter bowl-loosening shock of the story.
I thought that Pertwee was actually doing an impression of Troughton in the very early scenes in the hospital - if it was deliberate it was a nice interim stage between the two personas.
Other regens: One to Two is lost in all but audio, Four to Five is the most extreme case of physical incapacitation before The Christmas Invasion, and Five to Six is what I will always remember as the truly inappropriately horrific one with the Doctor having a psychotic meltdown and trying to kill his companion in an appallingly visceral way. It really did traumatise me as a kid, I never trusted Six again until he regenerated, and I will never truly like him.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 04:29 pm (UTC)Having seen Autons before, I couldn't watch it with complete innocence anyway, but I can see what you mean. Speaking of Ransome, was the name intended as a C.S. Lewis homage, do you know?
I thought that Pertwee was actually doing an impression of Troughton in the very early scenes in the hospital - if it was deliberate it was a nice interim stage between the two personas.
Yes, that was my impression, with "The War Games" in recent viewing memory - I know this was long before video recorders, but presumably they did show him some episodes as preparation for the role, right?
Five to Six is what I will always remember as the truly inappropriately horrific one with the Doctor having a psychotic meltdown and trying to kill his companion in an appallingly visceral way. It really did traumatise me as a kid, I never trusted Six again until he regenerated, and I will never truly like him.
Andraste told me there was strangling involved, so despite not having seen it, I know what you're talking about. ( Unfortunately, my first and only Six episode so far was Time Lash, which, well. Doesn't encourage further viewing, to put it mildly.) I can imagine how horrible it must have been to watch for a child with the Doctor as a trusted character behaving in such a way. Especially coming after Five.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 07:03 pm (UTC)Of the Six stories, Mark of the Rani is actually a funny ninety minutes of Time Lord bitching, and Revelation of the Daleks shows that Saward could actually write a decent story when he admitted that he was doing "Davros hits the Blake's 7-verse" fanfic with the Doctor in a peripheral role.