Doctor Who Season 13: Nothing unlucky here

Doctor Who’s “gothic” era gets into full swing here, as Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes begin to produce stories that they’ve commissioned and ushered through the process. It results in series that are often dark and morbid, but also carry a light touch – mainly through Tom Baker’s increasingly strong performances and his easy chemistry with Elisabeth Sladen. It's also probably the single best season of the classic series.

The Terror of the Zygons

First off, we give U.N.I.T. a send off with an adventure set in Scotland – near Loch Ness even – and involving the much-loved-but-rarely-seen shape-shifting Zygons. They want to take over the world – don’t they always? – and are putting their final plans into motion when U.N.I.T. and the Doctor get involved. There are plenty of Scottish touches throughout; just about the first word we here is “haggis.” There is also a piper playing loudly in one scene, a dour Duke and a strong Gaelic-games champion. The BBC quarry puts in an appearance, though at least it is actually supposed to be a quarry this time, not an alien planet. It’s also time for goodbyes: Ian Marter leaves the Tardis crew, only coming back for a single series later in the season. That series, The Android Invasion, will also be it for John Levene as Benton. Nicholas Courtney’s Brigadier will eventually come back twice in the 1980s, but he essentially hangs up his swagger stick. The Earth-bound adventures that so defined the first half of the 1970s for the program are over.

The Planet of Evil

In contrast, the next story heads out to the farthest reaches of the known universe nearly 30,000 years into the future. While the previous story had an Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe, this time around it’s a mash-up of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Forbidden Planet. The titular planet is at the border between matter and antimatter. A scientist thinks that the antimatter will solve their society’s energy problems, but the Doctor knows better.

Our heroes need to fight the scientist (transforming into a sort of anti-man), a negative energy creature and the planet itself to sort things out and prevent a second big bang. The story hums along at a decent pace – enough to hide plot holes and the sometimes dodgy spaceship set. The planet set, however, is well realized. That’s aided by a clever use of “location” filming. Instead of putting the planet on the BBC quarry, the crew went to Ealing Studios, built the jungle set there and filmed it. Ealing allowed for plenty of more atmosphere than the BBC, as did putting the material down on film instead of videotape. It makes for one of the most distinctive looking shows of the era.

Pyramids of Mars

An episode of this serial was likely the first episode of the show I ever saw – I certainly have a memory of watching a few episodes around 1977 when it was broadcast on one of the local channels (KSTP 5 I believe) and the voice over introduction sticks in my mind. If it was, then the last 36 years or so have been largely downhill, because I’d consider this to be the show at its height. Mysterious evil? Check. Ancient myths that have a scientific background? Check. Mummy robots? Check. Cast of Edwardian gentlemen who get offed by the aforementioned robots and science-based myths? Check.

The plot involves an attempt by Sutek – not an Egyptian god but a immensely powerful alien – to free himself from his Earthbound prison, using the body of an unwitting archeologist and on a (thankfully for the budget) nearly deserted English estate. Robert Holmes uses mummy movies as a foundation here, building from there into something is at turns horrifying (the end of one character, killed by the animated corpse of his beloved brother, is particularly frightening), grotesque and thoroughly entertaining. It’s aided by good performances throughout, including the golden throat of Gabriel Woolf, who brings Sutek to life just through his voice. It’s one of two performances by Woolf in the TV version of Doctor Who – in the new series, he plays The Beast, an ancient all-powerful evil imprisoned… hey!

The Android Invasion

Following Pyramids of Mars wouldn’t be easy for any serial, and while there are good elements here – the first episode is particularly creepy – this UNIT postscript doesn’t hold up that well. The Doctor and Sarah land on Earth. At least, they think it is Earth, but the natives are acting oddly, all of the money is brand new and the calendar just has the same day over and over again. The title lets us know what is really going on, and there are plenty of duplicates running around from here on out. Barry Letts returns to direct and does his typical solid job, but he is done in by a script that lays everything out far too clearly early on and alien costumes that, while being somewhat effect, force the performers to overact just to get the lines out. Hammy performances can work – but not when they are on screen, talking over the plot, for long stretches.

This also marks the last performances of John Levene and Ian Marter, who return as Benton and Harry Sullivan. Marter went on to novelize a number of Doctor Who adventures and even continued his character’s story in Harry Sullivan’s War before dying far too young in 1986. Levene continues on in Doctor Who fandom (I met him in the late 1980s at a convention that also included Sylverster McCoy, George Takei and Walter Koenig; no the Who and Trek fans didn’t have a rumble at the con).

The Brain of Morbius

Hello, Dr. Frankenstein! Sometimes the influences of this era of Doctor Who sit pretty close to the surface. Here, we have a mad scientist piecing together bits and pieces of crash-landed aliens to make a body for, as the title suggests, a disembodied brain of a vile Time Lord. Meanwhile, across the rocky interior set, the Sisterhood of Karn – who are responsible for causing all the ships to crash – are on their last legs, as the elixir they rely is drying up.

The Doctor gets sent along by the Time Lords, likely to take care of the second crisis, but in typical fashion gets ensnared in both. There are a number of horror-film tropes that help each cliff hanger immensely, along with some particularly morbid humor from Robert Holmes, including the brain plopping on the floor in one scene. (Yes, they got letters about that.)

The story’s genesis is an intriguing one, as Terrance Dicks had been commissioned and wrote a similar piece, but one where the body is being built by a robot without an aesthetic sense (which would explain the hodgepodge nature). Rewrites were needed and Dicks was on holiday, so Holmes completely revamped the script to the point that the original writer didn’t recognize it and asked that his name be taken off. He asked that it be given a “bland” pen name, so it appeared on the screen as being written by “Robin Bland” (Holmes’ humor striking again).

The show is plenty of fun, owing a lot to an absolutely unhinged performance from Philip Madoc as scientist Solon, whose head-based obsession reaches new heights when coming face to face with Tom Baker’s curly-haired character.

The Seeds of Doom

I do know that I saw an episode of this during the 1970s broadcasts on Channel 5 – because the grinder turning poor folks into compost really freaked me out. This a glorious end to the season, with a six parter that doesn’t sag, a monster that isn’t really the villain, and a villain that – even in the realm of this show – is particularly mad.

The seeds in question are alien pods found buried in the Antarctic. The first two episodes find the Doctor and Sarah at the lonely outpost, doing the whole Thing thing as they try to stop a scientist who has been transformed by the pod into a vegetable creature bent on destruction. They aren’t helped by thug Scorby and scientist Keller, who have been sent by their boss – the aforementioned unhinged Harrison Chase – to get the pod at any cost. The first Krynoid is destroyed, as is everyone at the base.

The first is gone, but there is a second. That helps to fuel the second part of the story, as we return to England with a second pod (hence, the “seeds” part of the title). Our heroes spend most of their time trapped in Chase’s mansion, trying to not get ground up in the masher or absorbed by the newly hatched Krynoid, who has possessed poor Keller.

Robert Banks Stewart builds on his Terror of the Zygons success with another strong script. Tony Beckley dives into Chase with gusto, walking the ham tightrope expertly throughout. There are fine character pieces throughout and Baker and Sladen are fine as always.

So the lucky season 13 is in the books. Season 14, as typical with the program, is one of change, especially as the dark nature of the past two seasons comes home to roost.