026 - The Savages

Broadcast:

28^th - 18^th June 1966

Doctor:

William Hartnell

Companions:

Steven, Dodo

Adversary:

Scientists

Written by:

Ian Stuart Black

Director:

Christopher Barry

Music:

Raymond Jones

Script Editor:

Gerry Davis

Producer:

Innes Lloyd

Average Viewers:

4.98m (4.8, 5.6, 5.0, 4.5)

Summary: Some time in the future, an advanced society live inside a perfect city with the ability to revitalise life. Outside the city, however, savage primitives are left to fend for themselves.

It is such a shame that the video for this story is among the missing. It is perhaps not the greatest Doctor Who story, but it is the first commissioned and fully controlled by the Lloyd/Davis team and therefore the first to have an over-all title and episodes simply being called "Part 1" etc. Very quickly, it feels different to pretty much everything that has gone before and with hindsight it is clearly a sign of things to come. They could finally start to sweep away the cobwebs in their attempt to revitalise the show and the final two stories of the season would see each of the companions bow out... and the star lead would soon learn that his position was no longer guaranteed either!

In the news, Fidel Castro declared martial law in Cuba in fear of a U.S. attack, The Nigerian government outlawed all political activity until 1969 (in fact, military rule would effectively prevail until 1998), and a tornado devastated Topeka, Kansas killing 16, injuring hundreds and was the first to cause $100m worth of damage. The US Supreme Court, meanwhile, introduced the 'Miranda Rights' requiring suspects to be informed of their rights before questioning (similar but unrelated legislation would arrive in Britain twelve years later). Closer to home, Guyana gained independence from UK and Éamon de Valera was re-elected as Irish president. Comedy series "Till Death Us Do Part" had it's TV début, while The Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" handed the number one spot over to Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" in the music charts. Finally, cinemas were showing, among other things, A Patch of Blue, The Agony and the Ecstasy, and The Trouble with Angels.

For Doctor Who viewers, the TARDIS had last been seen departing from the Wild West and arriving, according to the Doctor, in a time of great advancement and prosperity... but the scanner screen showed a primitive looking man in animal skins...

The Doctor heads off on his own telling his companions that he will only be gone five minutes... but Dodo becomes concerned when he doesn't return and declares that the Doctor has no idea of time! They remain separated for some time and in fact that is an indication of how the story will unfold and it is difficult to talk about it without retelling the fairly simple story. The Doctor meets some guards who insist on taking him to the city as their guest because their elders have been tracking him in his 'space-time ship' for many 'lightyears' (it is uncertain at this point, but a later scene suggests that the term has been misused and the Doctor has been tracked for a long time rather than just across a large distance) they call him the 'traveller from beyond time' and are aware of his dislike of weapons (and are therefore confused that he is carrying on, but he explains it is a Reactive Vibrator for taking readings... predecessor of the Sonic Screwdriver then!), they are also surprised that he has companions because, for some reason, they thought he travelled alone (with modern eyes, it could be suggested that perhaps it is not this current version of the Doctor that they have been tracking but only the Ninth and Tenth Doctors went through periods of travelling alone, although the Eleventh is also known to have had adventures without Amy and Rory...) It is worth stopping at this point to note that these are the first people that the Doctor has encountered who have any pre-knowledge of him having never met them before, the Celestial Toymaker knew him when we first saw him but they had met previously, and of course the Daleks didn't know him until their second appearance.

Dodo and Steven are brought to the city and are reunited with the Doctor as he is being honoured with gifts and ceremonial robe, to which Dodo declares in true swinging-sixties style "You're really with it now, Doctor!" leaving him somewhat bemused and asking "With what?" To expand on the situation, Dodo and Steven are given a conducted tour of the city and while the Doctor learns of the scientists' ability to recharge people with "life's vital force", the learn that the citizens rarely leave the city and go outside to the waste land because there is no need... but they get seem to get cagey rather than ignorant when asked. All this adds up to a fascinating first episode, along with what feels like a long chase sequence where the only sound is music (always awkward to watch in a reconstruction!) finally resulting in the realisation that the 'vital force' is being extracted from the primitive people from the wastelands who are then dumped back outside somewhat depleted and weary.
The remaining three episodes continue to expand on the plight of the primitives (who are not savage in any way, merely repressed by the controlling city) and the travellers gradual realisation of their bad treatment. It is coupled with at least one long scene per episode of not much detail (especially in the reconstruction) whether it is a mute chase sequence or repetitive and drawn out transference or destruction. The Doctor offers records of his own investigations into time travel until he realises exactly what is going on, then is put through the process himself with extraordinary and exciting consequences!

It is hard to avoid spoilers when something so exciting happens but if you are reading this far into the review then you must know that the plot is going to be laid out in some form. Following the transference, as expected, the Doctor is left weak and insensible - in fact he is barely seen in this episode, briefly at the beginning during the transference, then again halfway through when he is lead out of the laboratory and finally towards the end when Dodo and Seven discover him. However, the most exciting part is that Jano, the head scientist who has received the Doctor's 'vital force' has taken on more than he expected and starts speaking with the Doctor's voice and mind! Actor Frederick Jaeger does a reasonable job of impersonating William Hartnell's characterisation though he speaks a little too fast and the pitch is too high (he reminds me of Professor Yaffle from "Bagpuss"!) He does flip-flop back and forth with his own personality though and ultimately regains control, but the Doctor's morals and better judgement are there to stay. The final episode sees this shift of balance which ultimately seals the fate of the city and the transference equipment is smashed beyond repair, with the Doctor declaring that "there is something very satisfying in destroying something that's evil" in a scene that was clearly going to be a struggle to reconstruct and which gets very noisy.

Finally, Jano and the primitives' leader Chal come to the decision that they need to work together and recombine the population under the guidance of a new leader or mediator and they both feel that the best candidate is Steven (presumably acknowledging the fact that the Doctor will want to dash off and continue his travels!) The Doctor agrees and tells Steven that "it must be so" and reluctantly they all say their goodbyes and the Docto0r and Dodo leave without him. Even the TARDIS seems to mourn his departure giving a clear thud at the start of the de-materialisation sound and following it with an unusually long rumbling build up before the familiar wheezing, groaning begins.

There is nothing particularly clever or impressive about the production and not much to really complain about. The sets are perhaps a little basic but within the context of pure, futuristic utopia they work well. Costumes are similarly basic but the guards' helmets have to take the main criticism, clearly made from just a few strips of foam, about an inch square, and just wrapped around the heads! There are two line fluffs, one with Hartnell saying 'camet' before correcting himself with 'cabinet' and one major stumble with one of the lab assistants getting tangled twice while talking about Dodo. The story advances at a reasonable rate, reconstruction limitations being overlooked, and introduces an air of curiosity of scientific wonder that had been lacking for a while, turning the adventure towards something to make you think. The bad guys aren't especially bad, just lost in the pursuit of scientific advancement, but their weapons are rather interesting. The light-guns are used not to kill people, but to control them by means of a containment beam... though the effect was also presented in the studio with a puff of smoke (or possibly extinguisher gas/vapour) to give a volumetric element. It is story of ideas rather than substance, possibly the sort of thing that the BBC's early investigation into sci-fi was afraid of, but it works reasonably well and earns a score of 66%, above average for this season but about average for the whole run at this point. Steven's fate may be rather grand, like Susan, left behind to rebuild society, but he doesn't bow out in any kind of grand way. His final scene is perhaps emotional but in no way made a big deal of and it comes as a bit of a surprise. An even less ceremonial departure was just around the corner for Dodo, but that's another story...