The Doctors Who's Who (37 page)

Over the years both
Doctor Who
and
Star Trek
have tackled huge themes, even though made for a younger audience. The simple way in which
Star Trek
dealt with the issue of racism – especially at that particular time in American history (Martin Luther King and Malcolm X amidst racial disharmony) – was outstanding. It occurred in an episode titled ‘Let That Be Your Last Battlefield’. Two survivors of a planet destroyed by raceriots are fighting each other to the death because one has the left side of his face black and the other has the right side of his face black. Because one is declared different by the more vindictive other, he is therefore deemed inferior and not worthy of living, but the inferior fights back. Neither creature learns from the fate of their race who have massacred themselves to genocide through racial hatred. The story is an amazing reminder of the stupidity of racism.

Doctor Who
tackled racism in ‘Planet of the Ood’. A race of creatures – the Ood – are persecuted and enslaved by the human race, mocked and considered inferior, but they are far from it. Internal oppression is at last overcome and the remarkable accomplishments of the Ood and their culture are at last appreciated in a heart-warming scene. The whole story has the feel of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during the Second World War, but done in such a way that children can appreciate the sadness and moral undertones to such a story
without learning the full horror. This is good writing, and can only work when it is one step removed from real-life.

Both
Doctor Who
and
Star Trek
have ventured back to the terrible times of the Nazis, but perhaps
Doctor Who
explained the nuances of this better through one of its greatest stories, ‘Genesis of the Daleks’. Written by Dalek creator Terry Nation, ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ showed us how the Daleks were born and the evil mastermind who created them – Davros – and the totalitarian regime that spawned their single-minded genius.

‘Genesis of the Daleks’ contradicted ‘The Daleks’ because the race that created the Daleks, the Dals, was suddenly called Kaleds (an anagram of Dalek). But
Doctor Who
has had many contradictions over the years, one of the big ones being the argument over the home planet of the Cybermen: Mondas or Telos? The audience still appears confused, even though there is a brief reference at the beginning of ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ stating that Mondas was the home planet.

Unlike a programme such as
The X Files, Doctor Who
can carry off certain contradictions in its legacy. It can blame alternative realities or similar races. Unfortunately there is further evidence to explain which planet the Cybermen come from (other than that related in ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’). In the novelisation of ‘The Tenth Planet’, creator of the Cybermen, Gerry Davis, tells us that the Cybermen came from Telos, but left the planet to inhabit the sister world of Earth, Mondas, from where the Doctor first meets them. And therein lies the irretrievable contradiction!

Regardless of the planet mix-up, the one-page ‘Creation of the Cybermen’ in Davis’ novel is an excellent introduction to the silver metal giants that, unfortunately, the TV counterparts have never truly emulated. The new series Cybermen started by showing some of their mighty strength, but instead of being the
race-that-adapted to rid themselves of disease, they were a disparate mix of races harvested from their bodies by an evil human creator. So not the Cybermen of old, but some alternative state of Cybermen that Rose Tyler would come to hate and we the viewer would look upon as nothing more than grotesques, not an advanced species.

Not so in the Neil Gaiman story ‘Nightmare in Silver’. The ultimate Cyberman make-over (with the Cybermat to Cybermite transition) a breathtaking compromise between the old and the new with new-model army features. A brilliant interpretation and excellent story, with Gaiman’s love of the old strip stories of
Doctor Who
blended into the story (children in the TARDIS thrilled by their adventure with the Doctor). Marvellous stuff!

The Cybermen were always a more credible extreme adversary than the Daleks. Never appearing with Jon Pertwee’s Doctor, they carved their own piece of immortality through Patrick Troughton’s era. ‘The Moonbase’ was a good story but ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ was an absolute classic, bringing in an archeological twist and therefore an air of mystery and menace. ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ truly started a mythos for the show – and the true Cybermen – that gained momentum from Troughton’s time, continuing with ‘The Wheel in Space’ and ‘The Invasion’ (the latter too long in my opinion), but it would be nearly seven years before we would see them again (Tom Baker’s ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’). Their return was, however, excellent and showcased the fact that they were as popular as the Daleks, with just a handful of stories showcasing them against many of the pepper-pot megalomaniacs.

Rarely has there been a darkly imaginative Dalek story. Normally their presence dominates, ruining the delicate atmosphere, but stories such as ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ and
‘Death to the Daleks’ manage this through quality story, surreal sets and perfect lighting.

The ancient Exxilon city in ‘Death to the Daleks’ is one of the 700 wonders of the universe and provides a powerful and mysterious backdrop to the story. The Daleks are rendered powerless by the city, allowing the Doctor to deliver his chaos with dignified respect. Interestingly, while the Doctor takes on every challenge set by the city on his quest to its very heart, the Daleks adapt their weapons and bully their way through the challenges, showing clearly the greatest flaw in their make-up – a lack of empathy and with that, the inability to stop and think.

‘Death to the Daleks’ is important because it shows how and why the Daleks constantly fail. They are the battling French fleet tirelessly thwarted by Lord Nelson, because they don’t have the strategic mindset necessary for world domination. It is the same reasoning we can apply to the Nazis and of course, the Nazi-like Kaleds in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’, but when the Doctor has the power to wipe them out forever – from their birth – he stops to ask himself ‘Do I have the right?’ Like anybody who has mused over the notion of having a time machine and travelling back in time to kill Adolf Hitler, the Doctor ponders the same question regarding the Daleks: should he destroy them? Yes, of course he should, but what about all the races that would became allies because of their hatred or fear of the Daleks? The Doctor ultimately decides that out of the Daleks’ evil something good would come. Perhaps a similar thing might be said about Adolf Hitler. Maybe the horrendous crimes he perpetrated made the human race stop and think that one second more and thus avoid a Third World War, a nuclear holocaust, believing that they couldn’t, as a race, stoop so low again.

Imagine talking to Hitler, reasoning with him, understanding him… It is this ominous pleasure the Doctor has with Davros –
just the two of them in a room, talking. It is probably the most memorable scene in the show’s history, made more awe-inspiring because we have known Davros such a short time. But this character is awesome in voice and appearance; we immediately sense his evil genius (because of the unmatchable acting of Michael Wisher). The Doctor has an agenda, though: he needs to know if Davros is mad. He needs to justify exterminating the Daleks at their birth, albeit at the request of the Time Lords. He asks Davros if a chemical agent were created in his laboratories so powerful that it could destroy the universe, would he use it? Davros ponders the notion, not the yes or no answer – he has instantly decided yes, he just wallows in the excitement of the prospect. He takes pleasure from visualising the moment when he can hold in his hand a tiny vial where the tiniest pressure from his fingers, enough to break the glass, would destroy the universe. This excites him, makes him manic; the Doctor needs to hear no more and demands that Davros destroys the Daleks – but it doesn’t happen. The past is too strong, the momentum of the creation too wide. And so the Doctor loses, but perhaps he wins by default, knowing the Time Lords were wrong and he was right to hesitate and stop the genocide of the Daleks.

This ploy of exposing the madness of scientific genius had been applied before by the second Doctor in ‘Tomb of the Cybermen’, when the Doctor goads the manic archeologist Eric Klieg to relish in his insane union with the Cybermen, concluding, ‘Well, now I know you’re mad.’

‘Genesis of the Daleks’, not unlike ‘Tomb of the Cybermen’, is one of the most moral and creative stories in the history of
Doctor Who
. That takes nothing away from the Daleks’ very first story. ‘The Daleks’ is important because not only was it the very first Dalek story (and perhaps the one that made a success of the show), it was also the first outing for an alien race.
During the first season of
Doctor Who
, only three of the eight stories featured alien races. And although the other two stories (‘The Keys of Marinus’ and ‘The Sensorites’) had their good points, they didn’t have creatures that had the command of the TV screen as much as the Daleks.

Does this mean that the more science fiction elements of the show would have been dropped in future seasons, had the Daleks not been invented? Quite possibly. The second season of
Doctor Who
included a strong presence from the Daleks, but there were more earth-based (and historical) stories. Sydney Newman’s original mindset wasn’t wholly ignored. There was an exception, of course: a two-episode gem entitled ‘The Rescue’. This story included an incredibly scary alien that ended up being something quite different. What is really interesting about it is how the religious history of a supposed dead people is perpetrated through misrepresentation. I love this idea because it gives pause for thought as to how we treat/understand the religion and beliefs of ancient Aztec or Egyptian cultures, so perhaps through a short science fiction piece,
Doctor Who
was still teaching children about their own history. It is something we take for granted with the show nowadays, ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ being a classic example, where children can be taught about the great volcanic tragedy but still have time for a fire-and-brimstone monster and immense excitement into the bargain (this story is of special note because it included Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan before they became regular cast members). It is this very aspect that keeps
Doctor Who
fresh. Every time he and his companions step from the TARDIS, past, present, future, Earth or alien worlds and situations have immense possibility and instruction.

The mindset of the programme hasn’t altered after 50 years; it is still there and crucial to the programme’s success. ‘I’ve just
snogged Madame de Pompadour,’ David Tennant’s Doctor says cheekily and children laugh with the same gusto as listening to a naughty Roald Dahl line. But it hasn’t always been that way. The first true historical
Doctor Who
story was ‘Marco Polo’. With lavish sets and costumes, the BBC pulled out all the stops for this historical masterpiece. Directed by Waris Hussein and written by Marco Polo expert John Lucarotti (a man hand-picked by Sydney Newman to write for the show), it became the benchmark for all future historical stories and truly echoed the spirit of what Newman wanted from the show in the first place. For that alone it must rate as the best ever – and most loyally interpreted –
Doctor Who
story.

Something that has been important to
Doctor Who
over the years is the
Doctor Who
annual. First released by World Distributors in 1965, it has stimulated interest in the programme over the Christmas holidays and other long periods of time when the show wasn’t on TV. In the days before DVD (or video), the
Doctor Who
annual was the constant companion of the die-hard fan, who would be horrified not to find it in their Christmas stocking each year, not just as a filler but an important present. It says a lot about the Daleks too, who had their own annual for several years in the 1960s and 70s.

Often thought to be the best
Doctor Who
annual ever is the very first one. Its two short features regarding the character of the Doctor are insightful and intriguing. Writer Bill Strutton had a large part in writing the first annual and bringing back the Zarbi and Voords. With the latter’s story ‘Peril in Mechanistria’, the annual really adds a bigger-budget interpretation of the worlds of
Doctor Who
– beyond the poor 1960s BBC visual effects budget, that is.

With the resurrection of the annual with the new-look
Doctor Who
of the millennium, the book allowed the writers to experiment with a story before being re-written for television. The exploits of Sally Sparrow and the Weeping Angels first appeared in Christopher Eccleston’s only solo annual (2006), and suggests how the iconic story ‘Blink’ would have worked with Eccleston at the helm rather than David Tennant. The illustrated interpretation of Sally Sparrow is a bit of a shock in retrospect – glasses and dreadlocks rather than dimples and sparkling eyes. ‘What I did on my Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow’ is a wonderful glimpse into the growth of a great story in the writer’s mind. Steven Moffat clearly shows the basis of his masterful story of the Weeping Angels, even though they are not in it. Panini’s 2006 annual is a triumph. Beautifully illustrated (especially ‘Doctor Vs Doctor’) and excellently written, it highlights the enthusiasm of everyone associated with the Doctor’s comeback in the millennium.

So were the Weeping Angels the Daleks of the new millennium and indicative of the successful comeback of the show? Not really, they had their place but much later (with David Tennant). The first season, Eccleston’s only season, was a triumph and showed that you could have a big budget for
Doctor Who
, as well as great storylines. ‘The Empty Child’, written by Moffat, had children shouting ‘Muuuummmmmyyyy’ in the playground rather than ‘Exterminate’, but the Daleks, or Dalek, came back in a very well-scripted story that allowed us to view the new-look tank-like Dalek that was able to climb stairs (first introduced during Sylvester McCoy’s reign), and show more emotions due to Rose Tyler’s meddling. ‘Dalek’ became a fresh start for the archetypical
Doctor Who
monster. It also raised the bar of expectation when the new-look programme confronted its
incredible past and what could be termed its legacy – something I still maintain it failed to embrace with regard to the Cybermen and made a mockery of with the Sontarans (see ‘The Snowmen’).