The Savages Episode 1

The one where the Doctor is honoured as "the greatest specialist in time-space exploration"...

As soon as the Doctor insists that the TARDIS has landed in "an age of peace and prosperity", alarm bells surely chime! While he wanders off to take some readings with his questionably-named Reacting Vibrator, Steven and Dodo wait for him outside the TARDIS. These initial scenes were filmed on location at Callow Hill sandpit in Surrey and give the episode a bracingly open and atmospheric feel. Quarries and sandpits would become the laughable norm for Doctor Who in years to come, but here in The Savages, it feels spookily appropriate.

Judging by John Cura's telesnaps (hooray, they're back!) and the filming report in Richard Bignell's fantastic 2001 book Doctor Who On Location, it seems that William Hartnell himself didn't make it to Surrey, but we do get lots of lovely footage of Peter Purves (now dressed in what I like to call "puppeteer black") and Jackie Lane (dressed in what appears to be a dinner lady's tabard) with the police box prop.

It's such a pity we can't see this material because it feels like director Christopher Barry did a grand job, shooting from high and low angles, as well as using shadow and silhouette to build mood. When coupled with Raymond Jones's gorgeous incidental score - which paints atmosphere with woodwind and strings - it all seems rather special.

These early scenes between Dodo and Steven sum up how I feel about each companion. Dodo is ever optimistic, full of energy and fun, while Steven is the grumpy older brother who (to paraphrase a great man) would see menace even in his own shadow. Steven moans about the Doctor wandering off, and Dodo admonishes him for worrying so much. "You're a grown man!" she says. "Or are you?" Quite a feisty, cutting comment for a cheeky teenager, but she's absolutely right. Ever since he left Mechanus, Steven Taylor has very rarely enjoyed his adventures aboard the TARDIS, and insists on trying to bring others down at any opportunity!

All the impressions we're initially given suggest they've landed on Earth in the time of early man (Dodo suggests it's the Stone Age, and later the Iron Age - history isn't Dodo's strong point, as these two Ages were at least 2,000 years apart!). This assumption is dispelled, however, when we see "savages" Tor and Chal converse quite eloquently, and see the futuristic costumes and weaponry of guards Edal and Exorse (what a wonderfully odd name Exorse is!).

The Doctor is taken into the city of the Elders, where leader Jano explains they have been plotting the journeys of "The Traveller from Beyond Time" on their star charts. So I assume the Elders have images, perhaps even footage, of the Doctor's lost adventures, such as his journey with Marco Polo, his tribulations in Ancient Greece, and his shenanigans in 16th century France? Although the Doctor's welcome seems very cordial and grand, appealing to one of his weak points - his vanity - as a viewer, alarm bells are ringing already. The Elders seem far too nice and accommodating, but the Doctor doesn't seem to detect any of that. You'd think he'd be a little more wary of situations like this by now. Also, why don't the Elders expect the Doctor to have travelling companions? He always has someone with him, as far as we have seen, and if they've really been plotting his adventures through time and space, surely they'd know this too? It's nice that they have gifts ready for Steven and Dodo though, even if they are a little gender typical (daggers for the boys, mirrors for the girls!).

As soon as Jano starts talking about the scientific breakthrough the Elders have made (Avon's mysterious "one simple discovery"), everything starts to feel very false. The Elders have learnt how to rejuvenate and extend their life span by extracting the very essence of life force from one being and giving it to others. The "savages" on the outside of the city (such as Tor and Chal, and the skimpily-clad Nanina) suddenly come across as animals, hunted down by the guards to be used by scientists such as Senta as sources of life force to pass on to the Elders. Survival of the fittest, where the strong use the weak. There's a food chain in all civilisations, where predators feed on their prey: tigers prey on giraffe; snakes prey on rodents; humans prey on cattle. And the Elders prey on the "savages"...

As the Doctor begins to find this out, Steven and Dodo are given a tour of the city by Flower and Avon. They seem to have perfect, fulfilled lives, as long as they stay within the city boundary, where they have everything they could possibly want or need, it seems (except for real wind, rain and sunshine). The city sets, judging by the telesnaps, look wonderful, designed beautifully by Stuart Walker, and Christopher Barry shoots people in foreground with rear perspective, as well as from far away to enhance the scale. Dodo's climactic exploration of the lab and corridors has a spooky feel, helped by lighting designer Gordon Sothcott's work in silhouette as the shambling "savage" shuffles toward her for the fabulous cliffhanger.

By the way, there's even more disdain directed at Dodo by Steven when she tries to tell him what she's seen (ie, a guard leading a "savage" prisoner into the city at gunpoint). He refuses to believe anything anyone ever tells him which is outside his own sphere of experience, and it's bloody annoying. Companions are supposed to stick together, but all Steven ever wants to do is prove people wrong and take a supercilious lead. I'll be glad when he decides to leave the TARDIS...

First broadcast: May 28th 1966

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The combined talent of director Christopher Barry, designer Stuart Walker, musician Raymond Jones and lighting designer Gordon Sothcott make this episode a really atmospheric success.
The Bad: Steven Taylor. He's the original 1960s mansplainer.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 2...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-savages.html

The Savages soundtrack is available on BBC CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Original-Television-Soundtrack/dp/0563535024