The Mutants Episode Two

The one where Jo ventures onto the poisoned surface of Solos...

Having purposefully taken Jo hostage in the last episode and used her as a human shield, Ky wastes little time in trying to ditch her once he's transferred down to Solos. Jo, realising the importance of Ky to the Time Lord capsule, refuses to be left behind, and despite being told about the poisonous air of Solos, sticks with Ky as he returns to his people.

The location filming for the surface of Solos is so atmospheric, with waves and wisps of mist in a landscape which looks freezing and barren (and no wonder: it's a cement quarry in the depths of a British February). The way director Christopher Barry shoots through the twiggy trees and pallid shrubbery is lovely. Apparently they took sprigs of buddleia on location and sprayed them silver, and it adds a certain "damaged pastoral" feel to the landscape.

On Skybase, the Marshal agrees to step up the search for Jo in return for the Doctor agreeing to try and open the capsule to see what's inside that is so important for Ky. This is even though the Doctor said he couldn't open it "even if he wanted to" (twice) in episode 1. The Doctor hopes to use particle reversal technology to turn the capsule inside out, but as soon as the Marshal learns such a thing is possible, he endeavours to manipulate the Doctor so that particle reversal can be used to make the air on Solos breathable again. This episode talks an awful lot about particle reversal, and quite frankly, it's dull.

We're introduced to a new character in the form of Professor Jaeger, played by George Pravda in a beige skirt. Pravda is another weak link in a story already plentiful with dodgy actors. He arrives in his first scene unprepared and under-rehearsed, and fumbles his way through the lines (and when he does get his lines out, his thick Czech accent makes them difficult to decipher).

Talking of bad acting, Rick James just goes from bad to worse. He's given more to say and do in episode 2, but rather than rise to the challenge, he fails appallingly, saying his lines with next to no feeling or understanding. I can only imagine what Jon Pertwee was thinking deep down during the scene between the two of them, in which the Doctor entrusts Cotton to back-up the Skybase's transfer station power supply so that he can get down to Solos and find Jo and Ky. It's not clear how Cotton, a mere guard, would understand how to re-route power supplies, but the ease with which the Doctor gets both Cotton and his pal Stubbs on his side suggests they're both looking for a distraction of some sort.

Safely ensconced in a cave, Ky tells Jo about the plight of his people under the rule of the Overlords, and how they have begun to genetically mutate as a result of the Marshal's experiments with the atmosphere (but why is he experimenting with the atmosphere?). Ky describes the Solonians as "the dispossessed, the outcasts", adding that the Overlords label them terrorists, merely for fighting back. We also get a fleeting glimpse of something in the cave with them, silhouetted against stark red lighting, but the glimpse is so quick that it barely registers.

At the end of the episode, Varan gets the Doctor in a head-lock, bellowing "Die, Overlord! Die!", despite the fact Varan met the Doctor earlier and can at least tentatively trust him. I can understand Varan might have developed a deep-seated dislike of Earthmen since the Marshal murdered his (nameless) son, but to attack the Doctor, one of the few "Overlords" to show him compassion, seems drastic.

By the way, Varan's son is never named on screen in the story, but he is afforded a moniker in Terrance Dicks' novelisation. He is named Vorn. Why Bob Baker and Dave Martin chose specifically not to name him is remiss, and just as odd as not naming the Marshal properly.

First broadcast: April 15th, 1972

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: "Genocide as a side-effect!?" Jon Pertwee gets to inject some real anger into this one chilling line.
The Bad: Rick James goes from bad to worse, and is joined there by George Pravda.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

"Now listen to me" tally: 17
Neck-rub tally: 6

NEXT TIME: Episode Three...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode One; Episode Three; 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/the-mutants.html

The Mutants is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Mutants-Jon-Pertwee/dp/B004DNWDYQ