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| The Cybermen observe the Doctor. |
4 episodes. Approx. 97 minutes. Written by: Eric Saward. Directed by: Peter Grimwade. Produced by: John Nathan Turner.
THE PLOT
The TARDIS materializes in a cave in the distant future. In the midst of an argument with Adric, the Doctor decides to use this as a chance to walk around and collect his temper. But the isolation is an illusion... as he discovers when he walks right into a group of soldiers, who have just lost several men to an unknown alien presence. Making him the obvious target for blame.
He establishes himself as an ally by helping the soldiers defeat two killer androids. He then defuses a bomb the androids had been guarding, one which would have left Earth completely devastated. He traces the bomb's signal to a freigher in deep space, and takes the TARDIS to investigate. There, he finds himself and his companions in even greater danger. Both androids and bomb were the work of the Doctor's old enemies, the Cybermen. And they were just the beginning of the cybermen's plan to establish their dominance by wiping out all life on Earth!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Though most of Eric Saward's later serials would place the Doctor in a peripheral role, he is actually characterized quite strongly here. The Cyberleader describes him as "formidable," a term he lives up to consistently. He is almost entirely responsible for thwarting the Cybermen's first plan, in the cave. On the freighter, he constantly watches the proceedings, sizing up the situation and calmly putting the pieces together. Davison continues to play a barely-restrained weariness with other people's stupidity. Watch him in the final episode when he's calmly baiting the Cyberleader. When Captain Briggs (Beryl Reid) interrupts, he gets this lovely look of annoyance on his face. The Fifth Doctor may not be as blatant about it as his two immediate predecessors. But he still doesn't suffer fools gladly - just a bit more quietly.
Adric: Adric is paired with the Doctor throughout the story, allowing the script to emphasize the teacher/student relationship between the two. This gives him a decent role - a necessity, for the ending to work as well as it does. But the story doesn't tip its hand. Adric is his usual self throughout. He spends the first two episodes in a snit, essentially throwing an extended temper tantrum to get the Doctor to pay more attention to him. This works, as the Doctor happily brings him along to explore the freighter in the second half... which doesn't turn out so well for the young Alzarian, though his fate is largely of his own making.
Nyssa: She is reduced to a peripheral role, particularly in the second half of the story. The obligatory TARDIS cutaways may as well come with on-screen captions reading, "Nyssa's part for the week." These cutaways feature what is probably Sutton's all-time worst performance in the role. Matthew Waterhouse's acting limitations are certainly on display - but Sutton is much worse than he is this time.
Tegan: Janet Fielding, however, is on particularly good form. Tegan's role isn't really much better than normal. She is as headstrong and stubborn as ever. But Fielding tempers Tegan's stridency with a compassionate side. I like the instinctive hug she gives to Nyssa at the end, even before she turns to the Doctor. Tegan also seems to have taken it on herself to be the one to reason with the Doctor when it comes to dealing with his companions as a group. While Nyssa soothes Adric, Tegan goes out into the cave to "talk some sense" into the Doctor.
Cybermen: The Cybermen's first appearance since 1974's Revenge of the Cybermen. This proved to be a much more successful comeback for them - so much so that they rejoined the ranks of the series' regular villains. This is almost certainly their best post-1960's use. They are genuinely formidable, with some clever camera trickery allowing them to be seen in force at the end of Part Three. David Banks' Cyberleader does seem a bit prone to gloating for a supposedly unemotional being, but this is a fairly minor fault in an otherwise strong outing.
THOUGHTS
Earthshock is, in its way, as ambitious a story as Warrior's Gate or Kinda. Not in the same way as those stories, with their multilayered narratives and thematic depth. None of that here. This is a straight-ahead action piece with no real layers beneath its surface. The ambition here is in how far it tries to push Doctor Who's limited schedule and budget. Eric Saward is effectively trying to mount a Hollywood-style sci-fi/action blockbuster within the constraints of a Doctor Who 4-parter. It's fast, violent, full of gunfire and explosions.
On a classic Who budget, it by all rights should fall flat on its face. But a strong production comes together with a streamlined script and a mostly outstanding incidental score. The result may not be flawless. But taken on the level of an action movie, this story works very well indeed.
A lot of the credit has to go to director Peter Grimwade. He maintains tight control of the narrative and atmosphere, using an effective mix of quick cuts and occasional, lingering shots. Many camera shots are framed very precisely, with characters in both foreground and background. The Cyberleader announces his army while standing in front of a monitor showing the army marching through the corridors. The Doctor defuses a bomb while Adric looks over his shoulder in the background.
Grimwade's occasional weakness at working with actors does show itself. Sutton is unusually poor. James Warwick, a reliable actor, isn't quite on form. Other guest actors are largely wooden, with one exception: Beryl Reid. Fandom insists that Reid was badly miscast, an early example of producer John Nathan-Turner's "stunt casting" going wrong. I strongly disagree. Beryl Reid was a terrific actress with range and a dynamic screen energy. In a role that is rather generic on paper, she lights up the screen and turns someone who should be just a plot device into a strong presence. There's no question in my mind that this story would be far the poorer without her.
It's all very entertaining. It probably should have been left as the only story of its type, rather than being closely replicated at least two (arguably three) times over the next three seasons. But as a change of pace (what it was, at this point), it's effective. Even startling.
And within the larger story of the Fifth Doctor, it marks the point at which he is first confronted by a universe that's become just a bit meaner and harsher than he's necessarily prepared for.
Rating: 8/10.
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