The thing that struck me the most about "Terror of the Zygons" is how much the series has changed in just one season of the Fourth Doctor. The return to UNIT really highlights these changes. The mood is darker, continuing the gothic horror theme of the era, but there’s also a change in the way UNIT is presented. In his last few appearances, the Brig teetered on the edge of buffoonery, but he’s treated more seriously in this story. Times are grim, but faithful UNIT is standing by!
Harry -
There's a warm feeling of familiarity as this story gets going and we find ourselves back in a Pertwee-era Earthbound adventure with UNIT. It does make sense, though, since all of the stories in the previous season were presented as one continuous story. So when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry return to present-day Earth for the first time, there's UNIT waiting for them.
Sarah -
UNIT is always there, waiting for him! Good Ole UNIT!
Harry -
It was good to see a serious UNIT again, sans buffonery. But we are in Scotland after all, so everyone camps it up Scottish style, with a flurry of tartan and kilts and rrrrolling of the "R's". Then we get down to business.
Sarah -
The tam o'shanter on the Doctor, while Harry and Sarah wore his scarf and hat, was hysterical. Nice way to set the scene.
Harry -
A group of oil rigs in the North Sea have been destroyed and UNIT is on the case. The Brigadier is determined to protect the vital means of oil production, much to the Doctor's disdain. There was a definite sense early on that the Doctor has gotten tired on being on-call for UNIT all the time.
Sarah -
The Doctor is not at all pleased to be called back, snapping at the Brig, "When I left that psionic beam with you, Brigadier, I said that it was only to be used in an emergency!"
The Brig asserts that it is an emergency, to which the Doctor responds, "Oil? An emergency? Ha! It's about time the people who run this planet of yours realised that to be dependent on a mineral slime just doesn't make sense."
He has got a point, you know. Still the Zygons are utterly fabulous. Pity the Beeb wouldn't spring for some more costumes. I'm pretty sure we never see more than two Zygons in any shot.
I love the texture and creepy sucker-like things on the Zygons. Their organic technology is reminiscent of the Axons, but somehow the Zygons make it darker and less psychedelic. The other side of the 70s is showing here!
Harry -
The Zygon design is amazing. A testiment to its greatness is that when they were brought back in 2013, the contemporary Zygon design was virtually identical. Remember the uproar over the new Silurians?
Sarah -
I remember all too well. There's really no way to improve on the Zygons.
Harry -
The organic console aboard the Zygon ship, and the way they have to squeeze and manipulate the controls - there's something wonderfully gross about it all.
Sarah -
It's brilliantly disgusting!
Harry -
I have to give a shout out to Mr. Huckle of Hibernian Oil - is Huckle the first Canadian character in Doctor Who? His accent and demeanour both suggest there's a hoser in our midst. And this exchange totally set off my Canuck-dar:
HUCKLE: Yeah, well, if there's anything I can do?
DOCTOR: No, thank you, Mister Huckle. This could be very valuable. You've done enough, thank you.
HUCKLE: Okay. Well, watch yourself, Doctor, eh? You too, Miss Smith.
You go, Huckle!
Sarah -
Ha! I was wondering if he was meant to be Canadian, until the "eh?" confirmed it for me.
Harry -
I wonder if this story was written during the Pertwee era then plucked off a shelf by Hinchcliffe. We haven't seen Tom Baker do this much running and tumbling and fighting - everything seems to have been set up with the Third Doctor in mind. Once again, the male companion is relegated to a minor role. However, Ian Marter gave a chilling performance as Zygon Harry, especially that scene where Sarah chased him to the barn.
Sarah -
Marter was absolutely brilliant in that episode. The moment when he hides in the hayloft, peering around the hay bale with one eye was terrifying. I loved the moment when Sarah found the real Harry later in the story. She was wary of him, but knew he was her Harry when he called her Old Girl. I wanted to hug them both!
Harry -
I can't decide if the Zygon chameleon technology is brilliant or wonky. The fact that the templates needed to be trotted out every few hours lest they become corrupted was either brilliant realism that reflected the fragility of the system, or just the kind of plot hole that you could drive a UNIT Jeep through.
Sarah -
Plot hole? Surely you jest?
Harry -
All the Zygon humans were creepy - did this render them ineffective to sharp-eyed observers? Sarah noticed right away that Harry was cold and distant, and not his usual affable self. Can we assume the same of Zygon Forgill, Zygon Caber, and Zygon Nurse Helga?
Sarah -
Perhaps the Zygons were careful about selecting particularly unpleasant humans for their task. I did enjoy Sarah sticking her tongue out as the Zygon Caber left the library. A fruitless gesture, but an endearing moment.
Harry -
What were these people really like? Maybe the real Forgill is a wry, humourous sort -- quick with a quip, as we saw at the end. And maybe beneath that burly, shaggy exterior, Caber loves nothing more than to cuddle puppies and bunny rabbits. And maybe the real Nurse Helga likes a song and a brandy in the evening. We'll never know... but there's probably a fan fiction for that.
Sarah -
Now you're frightening me.
Speaking of frightening, we've not yet discussed Nessie! At last, the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster is solved!
Harry -
Does the Skarasen qualify as a prehistoric monster?!
(Hinchcliffe Horror Homage Tracker: Godzilla.)
Sarah -
She's got prehistoric props, so I say yes!
Harry -
The Doctor Who show-runners of the mid-70s were suddenly fascinated by gigantic monsters. There was T-Rex and pals in "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", Professor Kettlewell's giant robot last season, and now the Skarasen. Admirable efforts, all of them, but the awkwardness of the effects kept pulling me out of the stories. Most annoying was when we had to watch the actors watching the Skarasen in the Thames, relying on their dialogue to learn what was happening.
Still, Nessie seemed kind of cute.
Sarah -
No one understands her good points.
Harry -
And so, once the Zygons had been routed and Nessie returned to the deeps of Loch Ness, there's the closing scene back in Scotland. Were viewers supposed to know at the time that this was Harry's farewell as a regular companion? It's implied that he preferred to travel overland back to UNIT HQ, rather than in the TARDIS. We'll see how that worked out for the Doctor and Sarah shortly.
Sarah -
It's hard not to imagine the kiddos waiting for him to be back next week. Imagine their disappointment.
Harry -
As it turned out, that was it for Harry Sullivan. He started off as someone who would do the heavy lifting, and was unceremoniously written out of the show just a handful of stories later. We've seen this kind of off-screen, after-the-fact companion departure happen before with Liz Shaw and Dodo Chaplet. But never mind Dodo - she's insane, let her be.
Sarah -
Leaving Dodo be, both Liz's and Harry's departures annoy me. They were both excellent companions and deserved a good send off. Harry was smashing. I can imagine him as the perfect companion for the First Doctor.
Harry -
Farewell Harry! You were never an imbecile!
Sarah -
Cheerio, Old Boy!
Harry -
Well, I'm ready to put a wrap on this one. At the same time, "Terror of the Zygons" puts a wrap on the UNIT era of Doctor Who. Yes, we'll run into the Brigadier and Co. again from time to time, but UNIT won't figure this much in the Doctor's adventures again until the new series.
Sarah -
I'll miss the Brig, and, of course, my dear Benton.
Harry -
Nor shall we see the Zygons again until the new series. Broton had told the Doctor that his people's refugee fleet would take centuries to arrive at Earth. Turns out, it won't take that long until the Zygons square off against the Doctor and UNIT again. The more things change...
Sarah -
I was so glad that the Zygons came back for the 50th. They are excellent!
Harry -
Best line: The Doctor mocks Broton: "You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out onto the balcony sometime and wave a tentacle."
Favourite moment: everyone reacting to the Brigadier's kilt.
Lasting image: the Zygons at the controls.
7/10
Sarah -
Best Line: The Doctor to the Duke of Forgill: "I'm not a party to any sort of nonsense, Your Grace."
Favorite Moment: Sarah finding the secret passage. I LOVE secret passages!
Lasting Image: Harry peering around the hay, watching Sarah from the loft.
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #81 - Planet of Evil...
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