Colony in Space Episode Three

The one where Jo gets chained to a bomb...

I've already mentioned the fact the colonists don't seem to own a razor between them (I think every single one of the men has facial shrubbery of some sort!), but I've only just noticed that the IMC staff seem to have a particular way of brushing their hair. All of them have their hair brushed forward, often into a kind of widow's peak if they don't have enough hair to go round. The colonists don't have this hairstyle, so maybe make-up supervisor Jan Harrison decided that the IMC crew would be trendier because they'd more recently come from Earth?

I also love the fact the IMC spaceship has a noticeboard. Despite it being 2472, it seems people still read memos printed on sheets of A4 paper pinned to cork boards!

The hero of this episode is undoubtedly David Winton, played by Nicholas Pennell. He goes through a lot in this episode: joining Jo on a recce to the IMC ship to try and find evidence of the company's treachery, they are captured by Dent and sent to the Primitive ruins, where they are tied to an explosive device and used as leverage against the Doctor. When they manage to escape their bonds, Winton is shot by Allen, and then staggers through the muddy landscape of Uxarieus, being hunted by IMC guards and used as target practice. Luckily he comes across kindly Caldwell, who saves him from being murdered.

Back at the dome, Winton insists on taking the fight back to IMC, but leader Ashe is reluctant to "start a war". Winton retorts: "I've been chained to a bomb, hunted and shot at. As far as I'm concerned, the war's already started!" Good on you, Winton!

When I think about it, Dent's incarceration of Jo in the ruins doesn't make complete sense. He says that unless the Doctor withdraws his evidence about IMC using the servo robots as killers, he'll press a red button and blow her up. This immediately reveals that IMC aren't going to play by the rules, as beforehand there was little reason to believe they wouldn't play it by the book and wait for the Adjudicator. Now, their underhandedness is out in the open, declaring themselves enemies rather than just rivals.

The Doctor obviously relents, but if he gave it any thought at all, he'd realise that he really does have the upper hand. He has evidence of IMC killing colonists with their servo robot, and now he has evidence that they've chained people to an explosive device as a form of blackmail. If Dent were to blow them up, he'd then lose his bargaining chip and be no better off at all.

Mind you, as Caldwell reveals, "adjudicators can be dealt with", which makes quite clear how corruptible these Earth referees are. There's so much duralinium on Uxarieus that the adjudicator, when they arrive, will have little choice but to find in favour of the company, which is, as Dent has already pointed out, also in the interest of Earth as a whole.

Some other observations about this episode:

• Jo trying to tell the Doctor that they're stranded without the TARDIS seems rather unnecessary!
• We finally discover that Norton is an IMC undercover agent, something we've suspected all along but could never be sure of. We knew he was working against the colony's best interests, but weren't sure why - until now.
• It's quite a man that can hold a wriggling woman under one arm while shooting at an escaping prisoner with his other hand. No wonder Allen misses (and he's not alone: the two IMC guards chasing Winton also miss him, despite having machine guns!).
• Caldwell shuts himself away in a survey tent away from the IMC ship because he basically doesn't want any part of what Dent is up to. He is between a rock and a hard place (if you'll excuse the pun) because if he doesn't go along with Dent's plans, he'll lose his job and spiral even further into debt. He prefers to turn a blind eye and feign ignorance, pretending to believe that Dent is bluffing. But if you turn a blind eye to atrocities, you are complicit in them...
• Numerous Doctors have worn clothes other than their own over the years, but I can never seem to take the Third Doctor seriously when he's not in velvet, lace and cape (ironically). When he's dressed here in IMC uniform, he looks somehow weaker (despite it still being his trademark black and red!).

The final scene sees the Primitives take Jo to their city, which seems to be located behind a hinged door in a rock face. I've always wondered how hinged rock doors work; they pop up in Doctor Who from time to time. Director Michael Briant makes the wonderful choice of reducing the light right down for the cliffhanger, focusing on Katy Manning's frightened eyes as she enters the city. We don't know what horrors await, but this atmospheric ending hints at terrors to come. Wonderful!

First broadcast: April 24th, 1971

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: This is Nicholas Pennell's episode, whether he's staggering through rivers of mud with his wrists manacled, or taking control back at the dome.
The Bad: I'm not sure why but I'm beginning to find Helen Worth's chirruping Mary quite annoying.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 13
Neck-rub tally: 5

NEXT TIME: Episode Four...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Two; Episode Four; Episode Five; 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/2014/05/colony-in-space.html

Colony in Space is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Colony-Space-DVD/dp/B005CW11AO