The Green Death Episode Two

The one where the Doctor and Jo meet the giant maggots...

The CSO (Colour Separation Overlay) is really very poor in this story. I've never been a fan of it, because while it can work wonders in theory, in practice it rarely impresses. Producer Barry Letts was a big advocate of CSO (aka Chromakey outside the BBC), but to my mind, it never really looked very convincing, at least during his era of the programme. The Green Death is a prime example of why CSO was more CSOh-no! The fringing and gauzing in the early scene with the plummeting lift is disappointingly evident.

This second episode is far too preoccupied with everybody trying to get Jo out of the mine shaft, which is more Doomwatch than Doctor Who. After all, it's the Doctor's fault in the first place that Jo and Bert are trapped 600 yards underground after he managed to seize the workings up by insisting the lift was halted.

The Doctor then becomes single-minded about the need to rescue Jo, despite not really having any clear idea of how much danger she might be in. OK, so one miner has died as a result of this green infection, but there's absolutely no evidence to suggest the mine is a total deathtrap (above and beyond it being an inherently dangerous place to be anyway!). The Brigadier goes to Global Chemicals to ask them for their cutting equipment, but they insist they don't have any, sending the Brig back with his tail between his legs.

"You should have insisted!" demands Professor Jones, at which point the Doctor pauses as he realises exactly who this long-haired hippy is ("I've been wanting to meet you for a long time"). It's his friend Jo Grant's latest hero figure, but it's interesting that he appears to know all about Professor Jones's career, claiming to have read his paper on DNA synthesis. The Doctor immediately seems to warm to Jones - perhaps he's even a little intrigued by him and the hold he seems to have over Jo - and it's nice that he actually befriends him rather than turns against him.

The new friends team up, with Cliff and his hippies staging a protest to distract the Global Chemicals security guards while the Doctor hops over a fence in a bid to steal the company's cutting equipment (I wonder where the Doctor pinched that electricity board hydraulic lift from?). To be honest, this whole business trying to get some cutting equipment to fix the lift to get down the mine to rescue Jo is all a bit tedious, and certainly incidental to the main plot. While it serves as a way to get the Doctor down the shaft in order to see what's really down there, it's also very laboured. The Doctor's jaunt to Global Chemicals is all in vain, as he returns without equipment, only to discover that the Brigadier and Dave have managed to secure some from the local garage. Why didn't they think of that in the first place? Dr Who in an Exciting Adventure with an Oxyacetylene Torch just doesn't cut the mustard.

Having said that, the Doctor's action-packed infiltration of Global Chemicals feels very Season 7, and the moment where he beats the crap out of Hinks and his cronies is a highlight. "I'm quite spry for my age actually," says the Doctor before slamming his hand into Hinks's face (is it just me, or is Ben Howard wonderfully surly and sexy in the role? No? Oh, OK then).

Events inside Global Chemicals are much more intriguing, with Stevens brainwashing his employees into submission at the behest of a talking computer monitor. Who or what is the voice? "Our boss," says Stevens. "Yours and mine." John Dearth provides BOSS's voice, and makes it sound quite smug and human-like. I'm still not convinced the Nestenes aren't behind all this...

At this point I'd like to mention how much I love Stevens' office, which is rammed with all sorts of clutter and paraphernalia, everything from electrical devices to lampshades, from metal sculptures to plastic perpetual motion gadgets, from pot plants to Spiridon coat stands...

Katy Manning spends the entire episode clambering about in the half-light with Roy Evans's Bert, who he manages to make into a sympathetic, sweet and rather innocent character despite his thespian limitations. He calls Jo "Blodwen" (which means "white flowers" in Welsh, probably referring to the fluffy white coat Jo was wearing when he first met her) and is very protective of her, despite barely knowing her. When he touches the green goo and is burned by the slime, you just know his days are numbered, sadly...

The cliffhanger sees Jo and the Doctor reunited before narrowly avoiding a collapse in the shaft, from which slithers a bunch of giant hissing maggots! It's a corker!

First broadcast: May 26th, 1973

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: HAI! The Doctor's dispatch of three heavies at Global Chemicals using Venusian aikido.
The Bad: The CSO. Gawd, it's bad...
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 25
Neck-rub tally: 13

NEXT TIME: Episode Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Three; Episode Four; Episode Five; Episode Six

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.com/2014/05/the-green-death.html

The Green Death is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Green-Death-Special/dp/B00CX3FTA8