Underworld Part Two

The one where the R1C plunges into a CSO underworld...

The R1C manages to shoot its way out of the 100 metre thick rocky skin that's formed around it, and proceeds to follow the P7E's signal, which just happens to be coming from the core of a planet. The effect of the ship plunging into the half-formed P7E planet is excellent, the ultimate splashdown! You can't knock the model effects guys on Underworld.

But then something horrific happens: everything goes CSO. As the R1C tears through the body of the planet, heading for the centre, it causes a "skyfall" at the core. Cue lots of drably dressed people running and screaming from left to right through Colour Separation Overlay caves. And then, shamelessly, exactly the same shot again. Then these drably dressed people are seen trying to lift very obviously polystyrene rocks. It's all so shockingly bad, a jarring contrast to the intelligent mystery of part 1.

Most of the titular underworld is achieved via Colour Separation Overlay (CSO), with the odd practical prop thrown in for the actors to touch. There are some "interiors" which are practical sets, but we don't get to see much of them, and neither are we really told what or where they are.

After a good dollop of promise in part 1, Underworld very quickly and disappointingly becomes a boring runaround. Doctor Who fans are used to runarounds, but usually it has people running around physical sets. Here, they're running around a blue-screen studio transformed into several photographs of caves and caverns, and that is not interesting to watch in the slightest. Sometimes the CSO works OK - notably the bit where Idas climbs through a rocky hole to escape from the guard - but most of the time it's monumentally unconvincing, with actors randomly walking over bits of wall and uneven rock. I acknowledge that the technicality of using CSO this heavily must have been immense, but it just does not work, so whoever made the decision to employ the technique so much made a major boo-boo.

But it's not just the CSO, it's everything else as well. It's like part 1 was made by a completely different production team, because suddenly the plot has ground to a standstill, the actors have lost at least one of their dimensions, and the look of the entire thing has gone mono. There's barely a scrap of colour to be seen (only the Doctor's scarf makes an impression on that score), and everything is just so dull to look at, from Rupert Jarvis's beige and black costumes, to Norman Stewart's uninspired direction, to Dick Coles's scarce set design. I imagine that as soon as everybody left the physical sets and moved to CSO, their enthusiasm and comprehension just went out the window. It all feels so flat.

It's like writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin have taken the week off and scripting duties were handed to the tea boy instead. There's not very much "script" to speak of, just lines for people to say, such as: "You two! That pile of rubble!", and "Fetch me a tissue".

And just as nobody looks interesting, neither do they have anything interesting to say. The entire episode is basically made up of people running up and down (with some sequences recycled), or standing doing nothing (there's one scene where a guard literally does nothing for an entire 14 seconds). Then there are the brief cutaways to other people doing nothing, sitting at a computer console. Perhaps Norman Stewart was just desperate to get any kind of footage in the can against testing odds, but there's no escaping the fact this is all so boring.

Pretty much the only scrap of new information we get in the entire episode is that the people running around in black masks are in charge of the people running round in grey smocks (called trogs). We know this because we get one of those scenes where somebody states what their socio-political situation is to people who know perfectly well what their socio-political situation is, but at least the viewer knows now. "We all know we're slaves to the guards, as the guards are slaves to the Seers!" proclaims Idmon. "Don't say any more, father!" warns Idas. And so he doesn't.

It takes ages for the Doctor, Leela and the Minyans to leave the R1C. As soon as Jackson's crew are out and about, that's it for their plot strand this week. They're left to just wander around CSO caves getting nowhere. Herrick gets split up from the others, but that's about it.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Leela wander about their own CSO caves, at one point hiding behind the softest, squidgiest lump of rock in Doctor Who history. One thing that's started to annoy me about Tom Baker's performance is the frequency with which he shushes people. Too often a guest character will start to speak, or Leela will ask a question, and the Doctor cuts them off with a "Ssshhh!". It works if there's actually a reason, like an approaching sound, or he's had an amazing idea, but more often than not it's an annoying eccentricity that actually deprives others of their moment, and pulls attention back on to Baker. Those shushes cannot have been scripted, certainly not that often, so it's obviously just Baker's ego taking over. I feel sorry for the actors cut short, especially Louise Jameson.

The only bit of this episode that I warmed too is barely worth mentioning at all. It's in the way the Doctor interacts with the terrified Idas. He's gentle, reassuring, understanding and protective, but it's all done quite subtly. Perhaps Baker and Norman Tipton got on particularly well in rehearsal, but I definitely sense the Doctor has a soft spot for Idas, asking him if he's frightened, and then formally introducing him to Leela. I don't know, maybe I'm struggling for any sign of quality amid the overwhelming dross, but I just like the way the Doctor is with Idas.

The episode ends with fumigating gas billowing into a CSO tunnel out of a practical air vent (and the amount of screen time taken up by that billowing air vent must mean Stewart was very pleased with the way it looked!). As the Doctor tinkers with the control unit (interminably so), my zest for life began to slowly drain from me, until the end finally came. And you can tell the scripts were rubbish because there's so little for people to do or say that the episode comes in at a limp 21 minutes 27 seconds (there's probably less than 20 minutes of fresh footage).

It often happens with Doctor Who that a story has a cracking opening episode, only to be followed by a disappointing or underwhelming part 2 (and beyond). It happened with The Space Museum, Frontier in Space and The Android Invasion, but I think this is one of the steepest drops in quality so far.

"Welcome to the Underworld"? Bring back Gatherer Hade, all is forgiven!

First broadcast: January 14th, 1978

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The way the Doctor is with Idas. That's about it.
The Bad: Where to begin...?
Overall score for episode: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 13

NEXT TIME: Part Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Three; Part Four

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: https://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.com/2014/07/underworld.html

Underworld is available on BBC DVD as part of the Myths and Legends box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Legends-Monster-Underworld/dp/B002SZQC98