The Green Death Episode Six

The one where the Doctor and Jo go their separate ways...

When the maggot is killed after eating Nancy's fungus it's only a matter of time before we see the final elimination of the deadly creepy-crawlies. It's a convenience that the saliota orbis fungus is the very substance needed to kill the maggots, and that it's been under everybody's noses all along. But there's a poetic neatness to it, that Wholeweal's effort to sustain the future of humankind is the very thing that puts a stop to the deadly products of a chemical pollutant.

But the danger isn't over yet. As the Doctor and Benton scatter fungus into the paths of the maggots - seen on another appalling mix of location, CSO studio and toy car - there's a new threat to vanquish, namely a giant fly! A maggot pupated and spawned a flying pest, which proceeds to harass our heroes on back projection. The fly model looks quite impressive, with its blood red compound eyes, and poses an icky threat when it spurts green goo at Bessie's windscreen. Luckily, the Doctor's wearing his Inverness cape and manages to bring the fly down. "What a beautiful creature," says the Doctor, channeling the very spirit of Doctor Who (more particularly the 21st century version).

The Green Death Episode Five

The one where Captain Yates tries to kill the Doctor...

So the mastermind behind all of this industrial pollution is a big ole computer on the top floor of Global Chemicals, voiced wonderfully by John Dearth (later to turn up in the flesh in Planet of the Spiders). Dearth's vocalization is splendidly arch and smug, giving BOSS oodles of personality for Jon Pertwee to bounce off. BOSS refers to humans as "inefficient organic machines", and also refers to his designers. He is the only computer ever to be linked to a human brain (Stevens), and this is how BOSS learnt that inefficiency is a basic human trait for success.

I've been wondering how BOSS came about, and it would seem it was designed by Global Chemicals to run the business more efficiently, with profit its ultimate aim. BOSS is biomorphic, which means it operates and computes with the benefits (and drawbacks) of both the mechanical and organic brain. BOSS programmed Stevens to programme him to be more inefficient, and now it is self-controlling, self-sufficient and a raving megalomaniac. Decades before Black Mirror, Doctor Who was warning the world of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, which - alongside this story's other concern, about global pollution - is even more relevant today.

The Green Death Episode Four

The one where we find out exactly who the real BOSS is...

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Poor old Hinks, dutiful right-hand man and general heavy for Stevens, arrives at the Nuthutch at the worst possible moment. He's there to steal back the egg the Doctor took from the mine, but little does he know the egg has already hatched, and there's a wriggly giant maggot on the loose! I love the way Ben Howard presses his nose up against the glass before breaking in, one last sardonic gesture before being attacked by the maggot, and presumably killed in the long run. The Doctor doesn't seem too bothered by Hinks's inevitable fate.

It's nice to get UNIT proper turning up at last, with Sergeant Benton putting in an appearance for the first time since The Three Doctors. You can really trace John Levene's development as an actor across his time in Doctor Who. I mean, he was never going to win any prizes, but he manages to inject tiny moments of character into some very flat lines sometimes, making Benton a rather lovable and reassuring presence.

The Green Death Episode Three

The one where the Brigadier talks to the Prime Minister...

One thing classic Doctor Who is often criticised for is its perceived lack of emotional realism. Those without the time or inclination to look properly say the characters rarely react or emote as people really would in the situations they find themselves in. This observation is often made in direct comparison to the 21st century reboot, ignoring the fact the two series were made in vastly different times with vastly contrasting remits.

But classic Who did do emotion, it's all over the place if you bother to look. It's particularly prevalent during eras where the regular cast obviously get on like a house on fire - William Hartnell and Maureen O'Brien, Patrick Troughton and Deborah Watling, Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred - and The Green Death is one of the most emotionally mature stories the series ever did. Just look at the nuance in Talfryn Thomas's small performance as Dave at the top of this episode, where he rues the deaths of Hughes and Dai, and fears for Bert. They were his work colleagues, his mates, and it's great that writer Robert Sloman and director Michael E Briant allow time to reflect this little human moment. And The Green Death is full of them.

The Green Death Episode Two

The one where the Doctor and Jo meet the giant maggots...

The CSO (Colour Separation Overlay) is really very poor in this story. I've never been a fan of it, because while it can work wonders in theory, in practice it rarely impresses. Producer Barry Letts was a big advocate of CSO (aka Chromakey outside the BBC), but to my mind, it never really looked very convincing, at least during his era of the programme. The Green Death is a prime example of why CSO was more CSOh-no! The fringing and gauzing in the early scene with the plummeting lift is disappointingly evident.

This second episode is far too preoccupied with everybody trying to get Jo out of the mine shaft, which is more Doomwatch than Doctor Who. After all, it's the Doctor's fault in the first place that Jo and Bert are trapped 600 yards underground after he managed to seize the workings up by insisting the lift was halted.

The Green Death Episode One

The one where the Doctor and Jo go their separate ways (but not yet for good)...

After a gorgeous opening aerial shot of Llanfairfach Colliery (actually Ogilvie Colliery in Glamorgan, which closed in 1975), we're launched straight into the new story (and Doctor Who's 350th episode) as we witness tensions between the local mining community and the manager of Global Chemicals, which seems to have had work at the colliery halted. Stevens promises new opportunities and employment for the locals thanks to his company's new energy-producing process, which negates the need for coal mining.

Set dead against both Stevens and coal mining in general are Professor Jones and his hippy pals who are campaigning for cleaner, greener energy production using natural resources. Stevens acts like Neville Chamberlain, his pronouncement to the men reflecting the Prime Minister's infamous "I have in my hand a piece of paper" speech prior to World War Two (it's perhaps an unfortunate choice of politician for him to choose as it was Chamberlain's government that set up the controversial Coal Commission in 1938).