The Ark in Space Part Four

The one where Noah saves the day...

The Wirrn costumes are a triumph of design over practicality. They look splendid, they have some nice texture and a great silhouette; they really are very memorable Doctor Who monsters. But they look nothing more than a rubber monster suit, thanks to a lack of flexibility. Whenever you see them move, the first thing that comes to mind is how they're walking. In reality, they'd scamper along on their many legs, but as far as we can ascertain (because director Rodney Bennett never shows us!) they're hobbling along on the end of their abdomens. One behind-the-scenes photo on set shows operator Stuart Fell's little legs sticking out of the bottom!

Mutant Noah takes time to explain the Wirrn's modus operandi, revealing that this is all the humans' fault to start with. Mankind destroyed the Wirrn's breeding colonies on Andromeda, making the creatures homeless, so now they are wandering through space looking for new territories to colonise and breed from. And what better place than a space station crammed full of defenceless human bodies? This is about revenge, as well as the survival of both species.

The Ark in Space Part Three

The one where the Wirrn attack...

Events are interrupted by a doom-laden female voice claiming to be the Earth High Minister. It's great that writer Robert Holmes makes the boss of Earth a woman, because, you know, this is the future and all, when attitudes have changed. Disappointingly, Harry Sullivan lets the side down with his sexist surprise that a member of the fair sex is "top of the totem pole". Gladys Spencer's High Minister actually chose to record a pretty melodramatic speech, and when she signs off her "pre-match pep talk" with "God speed you to a safe landing", it tells us that mankind still has religion in the far-flung future.

Meanwhile, poor old Noah is struggling to fight against being totally absorbed by the Wirrn consciousness, and Kenton Moore does a grand job of portraying the turmoil and the inner conflict going on inside him. It could quite easily have been a very silly scene, with Noah fighting against his own bubble wrapped hand, but he manages to play it convincingly, and you do actually start to feel for this poor, conflicted victim.

The Ark in Space Part Two

The one where the hibernating humans come to life...

Yay, the blue titles are back! It must've been Harry fiddling with the helmic regulator last week.

So the terrifying insectoid monster lurching toward the camera at the end of last week's episode is actually a mummified insectoid monster locked in a cupboard (Who by? How did it get in there? Did it open the door itself?). There are lots of Doctor Who cliffhangers with curveball resolutions, but this one is up there with the weirdest!

The dead bug on the floor doesn't occupy our heroes for long though because Sarah Jane is still in suspended animation, so it's fortuitous that one of the sleeping crewmembers suddenly decides to wake up. Vira's revivification looks terribly painful, and it's interesting that the first sensation anybody feels when coming out of suspension is searing pain (welcome to the real world!). Wendy Williams is elegantly beautiful, and puts in a marvellously removed performance as a human from the very far future who, quite naturally, would be very different in manner and outlook to "dawn-timers" like Harry. The way she glides across the floor like she's on a Paris catwalk, her head high and proud, is lovely (and I love how the little yellow trolley glides effortlessly alongside her too. She has a way with castors).

The Ark in Space Part One

The one where Harry loses his shoes and the Doctor burns his scarf...

What's going on with the funny opening titles this week? They're all brown and green and metallic. I thought someone had fiddled with the colour settings on my TV for a while. It's not that I dislike variations in the opening titles (which will be a boon when I reach the Matt Smith era!), but this sludgy, coppery version isn't as good as the Robot one.

The episode opens with a shot of a wheel in space (oh no, not a sequel!), and someone - or something - approaching a sleeping man within. The sequence means next to nothing to me at this point, but it's suitably intriguing, and as it leads into a shot of the TARDIS materialising in the darkness, it sets the episode up with a spooky start.