The Space Pirates Episode Five

The one where we learn Dom Issigri has been alive all along...

Now this is more like it! The huge leap in the quality of story-telling between episodes 4 and 5 is considerable, as the plot finally kicks in and the TARDIS crew finally gets (very slightly) involved! I mean, it's still pretty lightweight, but there are a good few revelations and twists that crank up the interest and turn what has been a poor runaround so far, into a mildly intriguing thriller.

As suggested last week, it seems Madeleine Issigri has been in cahoots with Caven all along, but as we learn more about her working relationship with the pirate, we realise that things have gotten rather out of hand for her liking. She first got involved with Caven to orchestrate a salvage operation, but his plans have expanded somewhat to include piracy, and now murder (or "deliberate murder" as Madeleine rather puzzlingly puts it).

It feels like we're starting to get to know these characters at last, although it also feels too little, too late. Lisa Daniely is powerful as the outraged Madeleine, who demands that Caven stop killing people. But Caven is a thoroughly nasty, unpleasant and determined criminal who will do anything to get what he wants, and Dudley Foster is marvelous at portraying his gritty stubbornness. "I don't have to make threats," he sneers at Madeleine. "I'm telling you not to interfere!"

Another of the big revelations of the episode is the fact that Madeleine's father, Dom Issigri, isn't dead at all, and has been held prisoner by Caven all this time. There's an added twist of the knife in that Caven has kept Dom captive in his own Edwardian styled study, simply because Madeleine ordered it to be closed and never reopened when she learnt of his "death". In that time he has become an old and frail man, portrayed  mournfully by Esmond Knight ("They came for me by night, with guns...").

When Madeleine finds out that her father is alive, and that Caven has kept him captive all this time, she flips, and tries to call in Space Corps' General Hermack to come and arrest Caven and his men. At last, boneheaded Hermack has an in-road into the main story!

There's also a lovely little scene where Madeleine tries to persuade Caven's deputy Dervish to break ranks and help her defeat him. "Dervish, you're an intelligent man, a qualified astro-engineer. How did you get mixed up with a criminal like Caven?" enquires Madeleine, to which he replies: "I made a mistake once, just once. Caven found out about it." We don't learn any more about that mistake, but we do know that Caven has a stranglehold over Dervish (maybe his reputation or loved ones?) and he's unlikely to turn mutineer anytime soon. He's too afraid. A lovely example of colouring in a character with just one small scene, something Robert Holmes would become known for in time, and which Russell T Davies did so expertly in New Who.

As we head for the closing chapter of this extremely trying adventure, we find the Doctor caught in the launch blast of the LIZ-79, which in itself has been booby-trapped by Caven so that the oxygen supply can be switched off remotely. Zoe and Jamie have inexplicably gone AWOL, and Madeleine is left in the hands of a ruthless murderer with her only hope of rescue - the inept General Hermack - umming and aahing about whether to bother going to Ta or not.

Fair dos, Mr Holmes, you've upped the ante considerably for the final flourish.

First broadcast: April 5th, 1969

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: There's some great drama between Dudley Foster and Lisa Daniely, and Robert Holmes has finally demonstrated some of the writer's magic we know him for.
The Bad: The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe continue to have no direct involvement in events - so far it's been five episodes of capture and escape, ad infinitum.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode Six...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Three; Episode Four; 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/2014/03/the-space-pirates.html

The Space Pirates soundtrack is available on BBC CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Pirates-Frazier-Hines/dp/0563535059.