The Ambassadors of Death Episode 6

The one where we finally see the alien ambassadors...

The first 10 minutes of this episode are really trippy, and must certainly have stretched both the patience and skills of the DVD Restoration Team when adding the US broadcast home video colour signal to the UK 16mm black and white film. The Recovery 7's arrival on the alien spaceship is not as poor as it could be, with the use of Colour Separation Overlay (CSO) being quite effective, even if the ship does look like an enormous colon.

When the Doctor enters the astronauts' waiting room, that's when the eyes really get put through their paces. It's a kaleidoscope of day-glow reds, greens and blues which bleed uncontrollably around the frame, but this adds a suitably weird and wonderful atmosphere to the scenes. When we finally get to see the alien creature in its raw form, it's thanks to the creative use of CSO, which makes them look fuzzy and indistinct, like humanoid interference. It's really effective in maintaining the creatures' mystery, especially shot through a Venetian blind! They remind me a lot of the Chameleons from The Faceless Ones (also co-written by Malcolm Hulke).

The Doctor learns that the aliens are ambassadors, not aggressors, although that is something the viewer has known since episode 1. The chief alien wants his three ambassadors back safe and sound, just as the humans want Van Lyden, Lefee and Michaels back, and the Doctor is trusted to make the intergalactic deal.

Back on Earth, Ralph Cornish is on a mission to humiliate the poor Brigadier by listing UNIT's catalogue of incompetence: the aliens are missing, Liz has been kidnapped, Taltalian has been killed, and Dr Lennox murdered. And that's only the half of it, what about the lax security at the launchpad which allowed Reegan to sabotage the rocket fuel? Or the loss of the Recovery 7 convoy to Carrington's men in episode 2? Mind you, the Brigadier does have a strong comeback when he says they may be able to locate Reegan's secret bunker by tracing the insecticide found in the mud on Dr Lennox's shoes. Now that's the sort of scientific expertise you'd expect of an international paramilitary organisation with access to crime-detection techniques.

But then UNIT goes and lets itself down yet again by granting Reegan access to the space centre compound a second time, this time disguised as a bun vendor. Somehow, the UNIT guard killed by the alien in episode 4 is back on duty, right as rain, at the gates, and lets Reegan through, despite the fact he was there only hours earlier causing havoc. I wouldn't put UNIT in charge of guarding an ice cream from a toddler, never mind anything of national importance like a space centre!

Reegan morphs easily from criminal mastermind (in the novelisation, he is a former IRA agent) to rocket scientist, and now to an expert in ventilation when he taps into the decontamination chamber's air duct and pumps gas inside, knocking out the Doctor (our first sighting of the Time Lord in a dressing gown!). He then somehow breaches security once more to abduct the Doctor and take him back to the bunker.

It's nice to have the Doctor and Liz reunited, with the Doctor at last showing some concern for his friend when he asks if they hurt her (interestingly, she says no, even though they did). Unwisely, Reegan leaves the Doctor and Liz alone in the bunker, without his usual heavy looking on, but it's clear that the Doctor can't have mastered the art of Venusian aikido, as he has yet to use it (he could easily escape with a quick HAI-YAH to Reegan's neck).

The episode ends with Carrington threatening to shoot the Doctor at point blank range (it's his "moral duty"), but we know that the Doctor isn't really going to get shot in the face, so it's all rather weak. This episode has been an overdue step-up on the pedestrian pacing so far, with the most startling moment being those precious few frames we see of the alien's real face when it removes its helmet to say hello to Liz. It's truly horrible (and looks a bit like Les Dawson).

First broadcast: April 25th, 1970

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The realisation of the fuzzy aliens is effective - and horrible.
The Bad: The ease with which Reegan comes and goes as he pleases is unrealistic, if narratively convenient.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 4 - The Doctor says "Now please listen to me" to the guffawing astronauts on the alien ship.
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/the-ambassadors-of-death.html

The Ambassadors of Death is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Ambassadors-Death-DVD/dp/B008H2JK5Y.