Doctor Who and the Silurians Episode 6

The one where the Doctor conducts some very complicated scientific tests...

For the vast majority of this episode - aside from the pre-filmed insert where he meets a doctor who I swear could be a Reese Shearsmith League of Gentlemen character - the Doctor spends all his time in a lab carrying out endless tests. It makes for seriously boring telly, with whole sequences spent in silence as we watch Liz and her clipboard watch the Doctor fiddle about with test tubes and pipettes. At one point, Liz enquires: "Have you considered the addition of A37 in the presence of Z19 might well be effective?", to which the Doctor replies, "That's a possibility, let's try", and then we have to watch Liz watching him try.

Boy is it dull, and proof that Malcolm Hulke is really struggling with this seven-episode structure. Director Timothy Combe does his best to spice up the visuals with some nicely shot - but terribly murky - location filming at Marylebone Station, but there's no escaping the truth that there's not a lot going on. We even get some really cheesy cross-fades of the Brigadier answering telephones, the Doctor conducting his tests and Liz taking blood samples like this is a 1940s Hollywood thriller. But with test tubes.

I'm a bit riled about the way poor Liz is treated in this episode too. Misogyny may be rife in the military, with the Brigadier bullying Liz into answering telephones instead of helping the Doctor do his tests, but the Doctor's no better. For the second time in this story he lets her down by siding with the Brigadier, and she then lets herself down by dutifully obeying without question. I like the fiery response she initially gives the Brigadier - "I am a scientist, not an office boy!" - but the strong, independent woman we first met in Spearhead from Space has now made way for a diluted shadow. I blame the production team - Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke - who obviously didn't share very progressive views on the role of women in Doctor Who. How many strong female characters can you name from the Pertwee era in comparison to those in the Troughton or Tom Baker era?

There's some more pointless UNIT action in the caves, with Private Wright (played by the characterful Derek Pollitt, wasted here after such a strong turn in The Web of Fear) playing hide and seek with a roaming Silurian. It's not clear why the Silurians are roaming aimlessly around the caves and taking pot shots with their third eyes at UNIT troops, but it fills a few minutes, I suppose. Even the unexpected return of the formerly disgraced Sergeant Hart doesn't reward us because actor Richard Steele goes so OTT in his performance that you're not sorry that he ends up dead. Even the Brigadier isn't all that bothered by his demise when Captain Hawkins reports back!

The Silurians wobble about waiting for their next plot strand, which involves them burning their way through solid rock into the research station in order to stop the Doctor finding a cure for the epidemic. The cliffhanger, with the Doctor succumbing to their magical third eye, is another example of how Jon Pertwee really can't do pain very well as he gurns his way into the closing credits like he's on The Goon Show.

The very best thing about this episode is Peter Miles. Wow, what a stunning performance he gives when the diseased Dr Lawrence finally snaps and turns on the interfering Brigadier, who he blames for the demise of his precious career. With bleeding welts on his face, and a hateful stare that could kill at twenty paces, Miles steals the show with his high-octane breakdown. He has two scenes - the first in which he is cool and calm, on the very edge of breaking as he tries to make an official complaint about the Brigadier's conduct (I love the fact he says he wants to make a complaint to the Brigadier, but just ignores him as they pass in the door), then a second scene where Lawrence has completely lost it.

"I've had enough of you..." he growls, before launching into a maniacal tirade against the resolute Brigadier. He now believes everything has been concocted as a plot against him to destabilise his career (he mentions he has enemies in the ministry), and because he hasn't personally witnessed cave monsters or dinosaurs or anything untoward, he truly believes it's all about him. His paranoia tips him over the edge: "You can clear out of here, all of you - and you can take that crazy Doctor with you!" he screams. "I'm in charge of this place! Well? Are you going!?" And then he launches himself at the Brigadier before collapsing to the ground, the disease finally getting the better of his addled mind.

It's an astonishing performance, and although it's on a completely different level to Nicholas Courtney's and Caroline John's, that's precisely why it works. Miles is crazed, angered, deranged, desperate and disillusioned. Dr Lawrence has been a peripheral character throughout the story, appearing every now and again to add some tension or friction, but he's never been a main player. Malcolm Hulke is so clever in leaving this character to simmer for six episodes until he finally boils over here, and his "journey" is there for us to see on screen from the first episode. Lawrence's journey is one of the subtlest Doctor Who ever featured.

First broadcast: March 7th, 1970

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Peter Miles is extraordinary in Dr Lawrence's final scene. "Well? Are you going?!"
The Bad: Endlessly dull scenes of the Doctor and Liz conducting endlessly dull experiments.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 2
Neck-rub tally: 0

NEXT TIME: Episode 7...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 7

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/2014/04/doctor-who-and-silurians.html

Doctor Who and the Silurians is available on BBC DVD as part of the Beneath the Surface box set. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Beneath-Silurians-Warriors/dp/B000ZZ06XQ.