The Seeds of Doom Part Four

The one where Keeler transforms into a monster...

I know he's desperately trying to save his best friend from being infected by a carnivorous galactic weed, but we start the episode with a flurry of violence from the Doctor as he jumps in through a skylight, punches Scorby, smashes a stool over his head, then picks up a revolver and holds his adversaries at gunpoint. Apart from the fact all this is not the sort of Doctor I admire or relish, it also makes clear that Scorby is absolutely useless. He's all mouth and no trousers, and is repeatedly confounded physically by a supposed pacifist from outer space. No wonder Chase thinks he's surrounded by idiots.

I'm glad it's quickly made clear to the viewer that the Doctor would never use the gun, but the violent Doctor we see in The Seeds of Doom is a reflection of the TV landscape, where gritty police action-dramas such as The Sweeney, Hawaii Five-O and The Rockford Files popularised heroes who used fists and firearms rather than their wits. It's interesting to see a version of the Fourth Doctor within this landscape, but I'm glad it's largely restricted to this story, or at least this era.

With Sarah rescued, the blossoming Krynoid seed pod latches onto poor Arnold Keeler instead (who conveniently has his sleeves rolled up to reveal bare arm), and the transformation is swift and devastating. Keeler appears to change before our eyes, his skin mottling into a putrid green and his body convulsing as "things" begin to change inside him. It's truly gruesome, and Keeler's developing mutation throughout the episode is a tough watch. He goes from a normal human being at the start of episode 4 to a giant mass of tentacles and vegetation by the end. The Krynoid really is more voracious than Japanese knotweed!

What's equally as horrifying is the reaction from Harrison Chase, who couldn't give a hoot about Keeler's personal health, and is simply fascinated by what's happening to him. Chase values plant life over animal or human life, so the transformation of man into plant completely obsesses him. He sees Keeler as the key component in an experiment, as the scientist becomes the subject. Mark Jones is marvellous as the desperate, terrified Keeler - "For pity's sake, help me!" - and helps to sell what's happening by playing it dead straight, not overacting, and showing Keeler's terror. He's losing his body as well as his mind, and as Chase and Hargreaves struggle to walk the convulsing Keeler out of the lab and to the cottage, it's clear this is not going to go well for the poor botanist.

"Mr Keeler's not very well," understates Chase as Keeler turns to Hargreaves, who's faced with a mottled grotesque. Later, he tells Keeler to "bear up", as if he's overreacting to what's happening to him. Chase's cold, dispassionate regard for the "experiment" is as scary as the physical horror, thanks to Tony Beckley's measured performance.

The very idea of a mutant monster tied to a bed in a dimly-lit cottage is the stuff of nightmares, and I can imagine this was very scary for children back in 1976. Keeler appeals to Hargreaves to help him, but the butler dutifully sides with his employer. This in itself is terrifying as well. Keeler has nobody to turn to, and those who surround him all seem psychopathic or disillusioned. When Chase says: "You're changing into a plant, Keeler. You're privileged", you know Keeler is doomed.

The horror just deepens when Sarah investigates the cottage, and hears a dreadful moaning coming from upstairs. She finds the mutating Keeler, who appeals to her to let him free, but she knows what happened to Winlett, and knows that's not the right thing to do. John Dixon lights the cottage very low, accentuating the body horror in shadow. The way Douglas Camfield approaches all this wouldn't be out of place in a Hammer or Amicus film, or even something a little edgier by Pete Walker. "Disgusting, isn't it?" says Keeler of himself. "Aren't you scared?" YES! Yes, I am!

And then Hargreaves brings in a plate of raw meat to feed to Keeler, who is rapidly turning mind, body and soul into a carnivorous alien monster. This is very edgy stuff for 6pm on a Saturday teatime!

Body horror, carnivorous aliens, fisticuffs and psychopathy. Surely that's enough for one episode, but no! What's going on with the Doctor? Well, not an awful lot to be honest, but what is happening is pretty heady stuff, as he is captured by Scorby and taken to the composting room, where the thug proceeds to get his own back by roughing the Doctor up and repeatedly throwing him into a load of bins. He even yanks his head back by the hair. Very nasty.

But it gets nastier, as the plan is to put the Doctor into a giant mangler where he'll be minced alive by its metal jaws and turned into compost for Chase's garden. The very idea of it is horrific; you can even see the stains of spurting liquid left by a previous victim of the mangler (it was most likely a bush or sapling, but the sight of it conjures more in the imagination). The Doctor is horrified that Chase is "nurturing" Keeler (a beautifully grotesque use of the word in the circumstances), but Chase can only see the wonder of what's happening. As for the Doctor: "Within 25 minutes you'll be pumped into the garden!" Yeuch!

There's a wonderful return for Amelia Ducat, who calls at the house demanding payment for her painting of the common snake's head fritillery found in the boot of Chase's Daimler (although the car is immaterial). Puffing away on a cigarette, Sylvia Coleridge steals the scene from the otherwise exemplary Tony Beckley, and it's lovely to see the two sizing each other up. Amelia suggests 1,000 guineas for her painting, but settles for £1,000 (what's £50 between friends?), but it's the whole idea of Harrison Chase having to put his blood-thirsty madness on hold so that he can pay an old debt and get rid of an interfering pensioner which amuses me most. It's just so wonderfully silly, but played absolutely straight.

Amelia encounters Sarah in the corridor, who asks her to get a message to Sir Colin Thackeray at the World Ecology Bureau. When we next see Amelia meet with Sir Colin and Dunbar in a car at a darkened roadside, it's suggested that Amelia was sent in there by them for the express purpose of finding out what's happened to the Doctor and Sarah ("You were quite right, Sir Colin. The girl and the Doctor have run into trouble"). But why did Sir Colin go to Amelia to do this? What's their connection? It makes no sense.

Sarah manages to rescue the Doctor from the composting machine (Rule 1 in 'The Villain's Handbook of How to Kill the Doctor': Always leave him alone so that somebody can rescue him), and they head to the cottage, only to find Keeler has escaped and is now roaming the woods in the form of a giant, lumbering, wobbly mass of tentacles. It's a great design, but not nearly as effective as the humanoid Krynoid, and when it jiggles comically toward the camera as the credits roll, it's more funny than scary. By making the Krynoid the size of an elephant, the credible horror is removed, sadly.

First broadcast: February 21st, 1976

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Keeler's transformation is rapid and terrible, as is Chase's reaction to it.
The Bad: The larger Krynoid monster is nowhere near as effective or convincing as the Keeler version.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★☆

"Would you like a jelly baby?" tally: 05

NEXT TIME: Part Five...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Part One; Part Two; Part Three; Part Five; Part 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/2014/07/the-seeds-of-doom.html

The Seeds of Doom is available on BBC DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Seeds-Doom-DVD/dp/B003Y3BEZA