SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE
This week in our 50th Anniversary countdown, we're moving back from the multi-Doctor story deviation we had in Week Nine to the Third Doctor's debut story Spearhead From Space. Not only was this the initial adventure for Jon Pertwee's incarnation of the Time Lord, it was also the introduction for the menacing Autons and indeed the fully-fledged return of UNIT and the Brigadier. It's quite the transition story, with the Doctor now trapped on Earth following the events of The War Games.
Nevertheless, the new format of Earth-bound investigation works well in the aftermath of Pertwee's Doctor finding his feet in the opening two instalments. It takes a little while for the Third Doctor to become the bold character we know and love, yet the time dedicated to discovering him does justice to the talent of the late theatre actor. Inevitably, though, that does means that this story is a bit of a slow-burner, especially in terms of the alien menace which the Doc, UNIT and new companion Liz Shaw (Caroline John) must fight against.
Jon, Caroline and Nicholas Courtney are each stunning in their lead roles, just as Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill were when they had a similarly shifting debut story in The Eleventh Hour in 2010. Better yet, the Autons are a fearful and fairly realistic threat derived from the 'norm' to scare younger viewers. There's something truly disturbing about a creature we see as inanimate on a daily basis coming to life before our eyes, and this terrific effect was something that was later replicated magnificently in episodes such as Terror Of The Autons, Rose and The Pandorica Opens.
When it comes to the Third Doctor era, I've always had something of mixed feelings and mixed responses from others. With Spearhead From Space, though, we get a bold and innovative opening story to the period that Jon Pertwee spent in the role, really solidifying the grounded feeling of the early seasons of this era before the Doctor regained his TARDIS controls in The Three Doctors. When it comes to Steven Moffat and future showrunners someday choosing how to handle their introduction to the Twelfth Doctor and future incarnations, they could certainly do with consulting Spearhead, as it's perhaps the best introductory story for a classic Doctor of all time.
NEXT WEEK: CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS
No comments:
Post a Comment