The Steel Sky (The Ark Episode 1)

The one where the TARDIS lands on an intergalactic space ark...

The most striking aspect of The Steel Sky is its sheer ambition and scale. Director Michael Imison brings an immense amount of size and space to the production by using some sweeping camera moves, as well as high shots looking down on the studio, making Barry Newbery's sets look cavernously big and impressive. The scenes set in the jungle are directed with real style, giving the impression of a real location out of doors. Imison had only been directing for three years, but he'd worked on a lot of programmes in that time, so brought to Doctor Who a palpable sense of experience and ambition. It's breath-taking.

I mean, there are real live animals for a start! Before now we've had the odd horse or monkey on the Doctor Who set, but here we have a monitor, a hornbill, a snake, a chameleon, a locust... and even an elephant! Newbery's jungle set is thick and dense, enhanced by Brian Hodgson's evocative soundscape and the odd well-placed wisp of mist. There are banana trees and even a body of water for the elephant to trample through. I'd go so far as to say this is the most impressive set of 1960s Doctor Who. The effort that's gone into it is obvious and it pays off in spades.

The epic scale isn't confined to just the jungle set though. Newbery's set for the ark's control room is equally as vast, especially when Imison shoots it looking down from above. The sheer size of this set (coupled with some only partially successful backdrops to add depth) is like something you'd expect to see in a movie from this era, or a well-financed ITC or Irwin Allen series. The shots of the set at 10m 33s and 11m 36s are truly awesome by Doctor Who's standards. There's even an impressive depth of field in the scene where the TARDIS crew are captured by the Monoids. This is Doctor Who squeezing the very last penny out of its modest budget.

So that's the sets dealt with, what about the people? Let's get straight on to Dodo, the latest recruit aboard the TARDIS. She bursts out of the Ship the second it's arrived and seems to take the whole experience in her stride. It transpires she doesn't believe they've left Earth at all, as she thinks they have landed at Whipsnade Zoo. It's a perfectly reasonable assumption for her to make, but grumpy old Steven is always on hand to bring people into line. He insists on trying to burst her bubble, reprimanding her for leaving the TARDIS without asking, and generally being something of a nag.

Admittedly, Dodo does seem to accept everything a little too easily, but this is quite an endearing part of her character. She seems very keen to leave her home behind, and soon embraces "this space travel or whatever it is". You get the feeling Dodo is running away from something in her own life, and although this is never referred to beyond her having no parents and living with her great aunt ("She won't care if she never sees me again"), it gives us a valuable layer to cling onto. Dodo is young and enthusiastic, full of energy and open to new ideas and experiences. She "footles about" in the Doctor's wardrobe and tries on a ridiculously incongruous page boy's outfit from the time of the Crusades, just because she can. When the Doctor reprimands her for wearing these "stupid clothes", she answers him back ("Is it alright to wear or do I have to ask permission for that as well?"). She knows her own mind (her insistence that they're at Whipsnade, for instance) and has a cheeky sense of humour. Jackie Lane gives Dodo an invigorating energy which has been missing since Maureen O'Brien's Vicki left - I had to chuckle when she said: "I bet if you go down that path there you'll come to the American Bison and the tea bar!" Dodo is funny and chirpy and full of characterful language (Steven: "Are you crying?"; Dodo: "No, me nose is running!"). Everything's "fab" and "gear" and "Hey, look at him then!". She's great!

The Monoids are impressive too. I know they've come in for considerable stick from some fans over the years, but just look at the basic design - it's really cool (gear, even)! Forget the fact that we know the eyes are being moved with the actor's tongue, forget the unfortunate shuffling that results from the skirt-like lower body. These scaly fellas look great. They're striking, with their lush mop tops and clawed feet. Imison's early reveal of a Monoid in the jungle is a great WTF Moment, and the fact they communicate using sign language is a lovely little twist (they're aliens, so why would they speak English?). The fact the humans only seem to look at the Monoids' faces when they're signing, rather than at their hands, is an unfortunate failing on the actors' part.

The human Guardians are a pretty wet bunch, aside from Inigo Jackson's feisty Zentos, who seems to be the only one who can weigh up situations fairly. He might be a little overzealous in his condemnation of the strangers at the episode's climax, but to be honest, he's right to be alarmed. Humans cured the common cold many years ago and have lost their immunity to it, so when people catch Dodo's germs and start falling ill (it kills one Monoid), it's a fatally serious situation. I think I'd be the same as Zentos: get these intruders, with their deadly germs, out of here!

Jackson (coupled with the dashing Peter Purves, Zentos and Steven make for a handsome pair) gives Zentos real conviction, unlike the awful Eric Elliott as the Commander (he's so rubbish, he doesn't even get a name!). Elliott minces around delivering his lines like he's in a primary school panto rehearsal, and anything he says which has any weight or import is undermined by the ridiculous costumes Daphne Dare dresses the guest cast in. They are truly appalling - flip-flops and underpants beneath one of those ribbon curtains that dodgy fortune tellers drape across their doors at the seaside. By far the worst costume design to appear on Doctor Who to this point, which is a shame when you see so much effort went into the set design.

The central story of the human race being miniaturised and setting off on a voyage to Refusis II, which takes millions of years, is a fascinating sci-fi idea. It's something you'd expect to see depicted in BBC2's wonderful SF anthology series Out of the Unknown, or the American series The Outer Limits. It presents the viewer with big situations, big ideas and gets them thinking outside the box: the future of humanity reflected through the Biblical tale of Noah and his ark. It might not be an original idea, but writers Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott (well, Erickson) have introduced something bold and epic to the Doctor Who canon which is perfectly in line with the recent upsurge in scale of the series as a whole - the epic storytelling of The Chase and The Daleks' Master Plan, for instance. Doctor Who in Season 3 feels much bigger in scope and scale, as its horizons expand and it begins to weave its own mythology.

Having said all that, the fact humanity has decided to set off on this voyage to Refusis II based purely on "audio-space research" and little else is baffling, and foolish. They have no idea what awaits them when they get there. The whole of Refusis II could be steeped in the rhinovirus (common cold) for all they know!

First broadcast: March 5th 1966

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Michael Imison directs with scale, scope and ambition. The Steel Sky looks seriously impressive, complete with a menagerie of live zoo animals! Oh, and a cheeky shout-out to some terribly handsome actors in this episode: Peter Purves, Inigo Jackson, and the uncredited David Grineau as the miniaturised Guardian (he's comedian Russell Kane's dad, don't you know?).
The Bad: Eric Elliott is simply awful as the Commander.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

NEXT TIME: The Plague...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Plague (episode 2); The Return (episode 3); The Bomb (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/2013/10/the-ark.html

The Ark is available on DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Ark-William-Hartnell/dp/B004EPYSAU/