From the claustrophobia of Nerva to the desolation of Earth in one quick transmat hop!
Watching the first two-parter in more than 10 years, I found myself enjoying the economy of storytelling. The padding that goes into so many of the six-parters is exposed by the efficiency of "The Sontaran Experiment". Telling the story in two episodes means non-stop action. I can only wish there were more stories this tight.
Harry -
At just under 50 minutes, this story clocks around the same time as one from the new series, and it shows. The pacing is brisk and there's very little time for anything else than plot, plot, plot. Funny enough, the same things we complain about in the new series could be glimpsed here: lack of character development, not a single pause in the action to catch one's breath, and a hastily concocted conclusion. I suspect "The Sontaran Experiment" would have been pelted with tomatoes in the Internet age.
But, as we mentioned before, the relentless slow march of 6-part stories in the Pertwee era almost derailed our marathon. They were generally too long to sustain interest, especially when the padding came on heavy.
So would you agree that the ideal Doctor Who story is the classic 4-parter?
Sarah -
Absolutely. As we've discussed in the past, my local public television station ran Doctor Who in the movie format back in the day. Four-parters were perfect for the 90 minute time slot, which is probably why they seemed to air Tom Baker's stories over and over. Still, it seems to be just about the right amount of time to tell the story without extended cliffhanger wraparounds.
I say this, of course, knowing that we're about to go into a six-parter that is one of my all time favorite Doctor Who stories. There are always exceptions to the rule.
Harry -
Which show breaks its own rules more than Doctor Who?
Sarah -
As our friend Toby says, "It all matters, except when it doesn't."
Harry -
"The Sontaran Experiment" is the only two-parter of the Tom Baker era, so it's unique unto itself. I think of it as a quickie cutaway, slotted between the to-ings and fro-ings at Nerva this season.
Sarah -
As filler goes, it's not a bad use of time.
Harry -
The location is unique. I love the vast empty hillsides surrounding the one spot on Earth where so many people happened to congregate all at once. So glad they didn't fall back to the same, overdone quarry setting. There were still plenty of nooks and crannies for everyone to fall into and climb out of without it being an old grey quarry.
Sarah -
It's lovely to be in the countryside. Even after several centuries, I don't buy that they're in Central London -- but who cares, the heather is lovely!
Harry -
Because of the short running time, it took our three heroes almost no effort at all to become separated from each other. The Doctor shooed Sarah and Harry away while he worked on the transmat conduits, Harry promptly fell down a hole, the Doctor vanished, and Sarah found herself all alone in a barren place. It was all done within the first seven minutes - ruthless storytelling efficiency!
Sarah -
I felt a bit desolate on Sarah's behalf when she found herself all alone. Lis Sladen struck just the right balance of terror and resolve as she set about trying to find her companions.
Harry -
Lis Sladen does anxiety very well. Meanwhile, Harry spends half of part one climbing out of that pit with his chipper Old Boy resolve. I wonder if by this point, Philip Hinchcliffe decided that the new Doctor could handle the heavy lifting on his own, and Harry became surplus. He could have easily been given the task of sparring with the Sontaran while an older Doctor nipped over to his ship to tinker with the works. Instead, it ended up the other way round.
Sarah -
Poor Harry, always left to be the bumbling oaf. Still, The Doctor's sparring with Styre does give us some of the worst body-double work in Doctor Who history. Tom Baker broke his collarbone during filming, so a significantly shorter stunt man had to fill in for the fight scene. I imagine Jon Pertwee feeling ever-so-slightly smug about that.
Harry -
It looked odd how the Doctor suddenly swaddled his left arm with his scarf for the later part of the story, but they had to improvise.
I'd say more about the supporting cast, but there isn't much to say. It looks like the South African space program will survive thousands of years into the future, featuring all white astronauts (awkward!). Other than that, it was amusing trying to track just how many of them there were, since we kept meeting a new member of the crew every five minutes. For the record, Vural confirmed that there were nine of them in total.
Sarah -
The sweaty men did tend to run together a bit, didn't they? So these are the descendants of those who didn't run away on Nerva. It's easy to understand their contempt for those who left.
Harry -
The fact that we were already familiar with the character of a lone Sontaran nasty made this story flow well, since we didn't have to go through all the who/what/where business. A quick moment of shock from Sarah was all we needed. Although one thing we learn in this story is that the Sontarans are locked in an endless war with the Rutans (whom we shall meet in the future).
Sarah -
That we shall!
Harry -
Basically, part two finds Styre conducting an array of sadistic "experiments", seemingly for his own amusement, while a Sontaran battle fleet hovers over the Earth ready to invade. I loved the image of the Sontaran Marshall up in his ship, drumming his fingers while Styre kept stalling so he could go back to his tortures. The Sontarans have always been a kind of comedic villains - all brawny bluster, but ultimately quite silly and ineffectual.
Sarah -
It's hard to take anyone with that head too seriously. Speaking of Sontaran heads, the imagine of Styre's head deflating was, well, icky.
Harry -
That's definitely the lasting image I take away from this one. That, or the Sontaran robot. For such a cheery and fragile-looking thing, it glided with great menace.
Like I said above, this story was an amusing cutaway. A bit of light fun before the extreme gloom our heroes are about to head into next.
Sarah -
I'm in the mood for a bit of gloom. Let's have at it!
Best Line: "Foresight. You never know when these bits and pieces will come in handy. Never throw anything away, Harry. Now, where's my five hundred year diary. I remember jotting some notes on the Sontarans... It's a mistake to clutter one's pockets, Harry."
Favorite Moment: The Doctor's lecture on cluttering one's pockets.
Lasting Image: Sarah alone in the heather.
6/10
Harry -
Best Line:
"Alright, now talk."
"Certainly. What would you like me to talk about?"
Favourite Moment: I liked whenever Styre emerged from his ship to see what the robot had brought him, and he gave a little "AHHH!" of delight.
Lasting Image: Styre's head deflates like a punctured volleyball.
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #78 - Genesis of the Daleks...
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