The Faceless Ones Episode 6

The one where Ben and Polly go back to the start...

In keeping with the sedate pace of the preceding five episodes, the "finale" of The Faceless Ones jogs to the finish line rather than races. Writers David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke have an essentially interesting story on their hands, but it's been plotted and executed somewhat clumsily, making anything which could have been exciting mildly underwhelming. Hulke would go on to pen some of Doctor Who's most intelligently written stories in the Pertwee era (not always the most dynamic, though), while this was Ellis's only successful contribution to the show (he'd submitted various storylines to the Doctor Who office previously, including one called The People Who Couldn't Remember). Sadly, both writers died just 12 months and one week apart, in June 1978 and July 1979.

Their combined legacy has to be regarded as one of the weakest stories in Season 4, but that's not to say there aren't kernels of strong ideas. It's just executed in such a disappointingly uncertain way. Credulity is stretched regularly. For instance, could the Commandant really put a very sudden halt to all outgoing flights from Gatwick just to rally the airport staff to search for 25 hidden bodies? The repercussions for international air traffic would be devastating (which is probably why Brussels gives him a call at the end of the episode!).

Despite having an army of airport security, stewards and miscellaneous employees hunting for the 25 hidden template humans, it is Jean and Sam who actually find them, sitting in 25 cars in an airport car park. If the human originals are so vulnerable, and it's so important that they're not found, why on earth do the Chameleons put them into cars, which have windows to see through and are parked in plain, public sight? They surely deserve to be thwarted? And they dare to call themselves the "most intelligent species in the universe"?!

The entire episode revolves around the Doctor bluffing the Director into thinking the Commandant has found the human originals before he actually has. The bluff doesn't work initially, but the Doctor does succeed in needling Captain Blade enough to provoke some mutinous self-interest from him. I like how the Doctor gently manipulates Blade into realising that the Director and his cronies consider themselves superior (and indispensable) in comparison to those Chameleons whose originals have been left behind on Earth. Nurturing dissent within the enemy ranks is a clever and common ruse of the Doctor's, and it works here, as Blade turns on the Director and sides with the good guys. It's all down to a sense of self-preservation of course, not a sudden attack of altruism or conscience, but nevertheless, it means the Doctor saves the day without violence - the right and proper way to win. We've had far too many explosions so far this season (The Power of the Daleks, The Underwater Menace, The Macra Terror).

Having said that, everything is wrapped up a little too easily as Blade takes leadership of the Chameleons and agrees to return all 50,000 of the young humans in return for the remaining 24 aliens not being reduced to mush. But how do they restore the remaining 24 human airport staff on Earth without removing their cuffs and destroying their alien counterparts? It's not made clear, but like the script editor, it's probably best we gloss over that plot hole.

The real Inspector Crossland elects to stay aboard the alien satellite to "tidy things up", which feels like it's pointing at some development or suggestion which never comes. Is he staying there because he wants to go to the Chameleon home planet? What is there to tidy up? How will he get back to Earth after the Chameleon Tours space-plane has left? There's a spin-off story to be told about Crossland's fate (it won't take Big Finish long to get round to it).

Back on Earth, there are some tearful farewells. Samantha and Jamie made a good, if briefly paired, team, and Sam obviously has some affection for the Scotsman (maybe more than he has for her). They share a sweet goodbye kiss at the end, with Sam obviously hoping for a reunion at some time. A reunion which never happens (it won't take Big Finish long to get round to it).

And then there's Ben and Polly. Reunited with the Doctor and Jamie in pre-recorded location footage, when they realise what the date is - July 20th, 1966 - they opt to stay behind on Earth: "their world". It's a truly sad moment, as the Doctor is obviously reluctant to see them go, and it's sweet that they offer to stay if the Doctor feels he needs them. But by massive coincidence, this is the very day they both left Earth in the TARDIS with the First Doctor in The War Machines Episode 4 (which means there are two Doctors in London on the same day!). Their departure was fated from the very moment the TARDIS materialised on that runway in episode 1. There's a certain serendipity about it which is fulfilling, but I can't help feeling sorry that Ben and Polly leave, because both Michael Craze and Anneke Wills were great actors and worked so well together (and with Troughton). They weren't the best served companions in terms of storylines, but they had their moments (Polly in The Highlanders, and Ben in both The War Machines and The Macra Terror).

The farewell is heartfelt and it's nice to see them all hug and say a proper goodbye. It's more than poor Dodo ever got. You can see how the production team wanted it to pan out - Ben and Polly out, replaced by Jamie and Sam (they originally wanted just Ben to go, leaving Jamie and Polly, but Anneke Wills allegedly disagreed with that). But as the episode draws to an end, we're left with the reduced TARDIS team on a cliffhanger into the next story - the police box is missing!

The Faceless Ones is pedestrian, uncertain of itself, and lacking in incident and characterisation, but it's never less than diverting, due to the contemporary setting, the eerie monsters and a commendably greater number of female characters (30% of the credited cast are female, a ratio that wouldn't be beaten until 1976's The Brain of Morbius). If more episodes were to be found, I doubt its reputation would improve, although it would be nice to see more of the Chameleons.

First broadcast: May 13th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Ben and Polly's departure scene is well-handled: it's heartfelt, organic and suitably melancholy. Sadly, we'd never see them ever again in the show (although it is said in The Sarah Jane Adventures that the two of them are running an orphanage in India by 2010 (they'd be in their late-60s by then).
The Bad: The Chameleons give in far too easily, sacrificing a better future for 50,000 of them to save the lives of just 24. That's all down to Blade's self-preservation of course, but it still makes for a disappointingly uneventful climax.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ (story average: 5.7 out of 10)

NEXT TIME: The Evil of the Daleks...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5;

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/2014/01/the-faceless-ones.html

The Faceless Ones is available on BBC soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Faceless-Frazer-Hines/dp/0563535016. Episode 1 and 3 are the only surviving episodes, and can be found on the Lost in Time DVD box set here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Lost-Time-DVD/dp/B0002XOZW4