We return to a base-under-siege format for ‘The Seeds of
Death’ and see the return of the rather immobile Ice Warriors in a story which
takes place on Earth and the moon. It’s a lot of fun really. The regulars are
great and the guest cast is fantastic. It’s a six parter that moves well and
doesn’t get bogged down, and my friend Andrew tells me it was the first
Troughton story he saw which apparently makes it special. His favourite Doctor,
I should add, is Patrick Troughton.
I did enjoy this story, and although it’s not brilliant,
it’s a very strong story in the style of the previous season. Season Six, which
we are now in, has been experimenting up to this point, and this is the first
and only return to monsters and base-under siege, the staple diet of the fifth
season which ended with ‘The Wheel in Space’.
It’s full of amusing curiosities, such as the death effect
for the Ice Warriors’ weapons which twist and distort the victim, and a
computer which announces everything that is happening to expedite the plot
outside the story show on screen. The computer is constantly telling the
audience and indeed the characters what is happening in other countries around
the world. The seeds themselves, designed to create foam and change the
atmosphere of Earth, are basically just balloons that get bigger and then
burst. It’s simple, but effective most of the time but looks dodgy at others.
The direction is rather good. I gather the story stretched
its budget to the limit, and Terence Dicks had to re-write most of the final
four parts, I believe mostly for budgetary reasons. There is a bit of evidence
of the budget not quite stretching all the way – the sets wobble a bit, mostly
on the moonbase, but I didn’t notice it until the production notes on the DVD
told me! The corridor sets are apparently just one or two used over and over
again, shot in different ways from different angles, inter-dispersed with halls
of mirrors which don’t make a lot of sense, but look rather stylish!
A look at the dubious costume design of the Seeds of Death. |
The one thing that really dates the futuristic stories
though is the use of old TV sets for monitors. There are a few here. Then we
have the costumes. I’m sorry, they are awful! It is the worst costumed story I
have seen. The plastic suits with stripes that make it look like people have
their underwear on the outside is seriously embarrassing. Then to put it on
older actors looks ridiculous. Only the Doctor, his companions and Gia Kelly
escaped this awful costumes.
Alan Bennion as Slarr, the Ice Warrior Leader. |
And the Ice Warriors of course! These lumbering great beasts
are great villains, but I have to admit at times they look far too slow to do
anything. Add to the fact that their hands are very impractical, and maybe they
don’t stack up as great monsters. They were able to dig out the costumes from
the previous appearance which was good, and I think it’s fair to say, with
Wendy Padbury apparently pay half the cost of her costume so she could keep it,
costumes were done on the serious cheap in this story.
The foam seems to be exactly the same as what was used in
‘Fury from the Deep’ – well if it worked once, why not? For a futuristic story
there aren’t a lot of special effects. The exterior shooting seems to fit in
quite well with the studio stuff which is good.
Trohgton at his best. |
The cast are stellar. Troughton, Hines and Padbury all have
some good moments, Troughton takes a holiday during episode four (I think) when
he’s replaced, perhaps not too subtly, by an unconscious double. Well, I’m sure
he wasn’t actually unconscious.
Louise Pajo as Gia Kelly. |
Louise Pajo is perfect casting for Gia Kelly, a
role which was originally to be male, which would have left Zoe as the only
female character in the story! Louise Pajo, people may be interested to know,
had a role a few years later in the first season of Prisoner, the Australian TV
show, not the British!
Terry Scully, whose personality might have been similar to
the character he played, Fewsham, was perfectly cast. He appeared in Terry
Nation’s ‘Survivors’, but had to be replaced during the shooting for mental
health reasons. Then we have Christopher Coll as Mr Phipps, a great character
we build sympathy for as an audience only to have him killed in episode four
George R. Martin style. Ronald
Leigh-Hunt as Commander Radnor and Philip
Ray as Professor Eldred complete a great ensemble.
It’s a highly enjoyable tale, and was the first black and
white story to be released on video. It’s easy to see why.
7.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment