Not bad model work! Not bad at all... That opening shot used behind the title of an eclipse followed by the reveal of the Earth is lovely, and it's nice to see it used for all the episodes in this serial.
The existence of T-Mat and its usage to move people and goods around the world, together with the importance of the moonbase are all established within the first few minutes. Nicely done.
Guest roles are well-defined. There's a lovely bit of acting from one of the moon technicians in episode one telling the Ice Warriors that the circuit he has just sabotaged has overloaded, and knowing as he says it that his own death is moments away, while Fewsham's journey in the serial, from cowardice to giving-his-own-life-to-save-the-Earth is nicely delineated.
Throughout the serial the writing seems to be excellent on character work, but... uh... somewhat *less effective* shall we say on plot. For example all rocket travel has stopped (All of it? I mean, really, ALL of it?). It really does stretch credulity that one man has built a rocket in his backyard on his lonesome as a hobby. Also, apparently Miss Kelly is the only person to properly know how the system that the entire world relies on works.
The Ice Warriors' plan seems to rely on their being able to bully humans into sending the seeds of death to earth in order to destroy the whole human race. Which does make you wonder - why don't they just do it themselves? Is it cos they've got clamps for hands?
There's something particularly interesting about the Ice Warriors tech, which is that it seems very organic - their suits reminiscent of hard shells, the fact that they use "seeds of death", the hairs poking out from the edge of the suits.
There's a bit of retconning to enable the Martians to be referred to as Ice Warriors ("Mars is a cold planet... they've adapted to the cold.") which I can live with.
I notice that again we're using the trope of requiring a homing radio beam in order for a rocket to land safely - was this a real 1960s thing that I've not heard of, or simply something that happens in the Doctor Who of the time? And if you can't land a rocket safely without one, how exactly *did* the Ice Warriors manage to get to the moon then?
Regardless, it seems that their plan relies on sending exactly one Ice Warrior - no more, no less - to Earth and hoping that they'll be able to complete their mission. And once there, the Warrior mostly... well, just stumbles around for a bit before being attacked by some guards. Who they then kill.
Mind you, the Earth defence forces aren't much better, managing to lose him entirely. Last spotted at the Weather Control Bureau, they seem to have lost track of him and instead are wandering around themselves going "Derp, where's the Warrior got to, we dunno, derp derp."
The cinematography is lovely throughout. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this serial because I'd seen it before and, well, hadn't. Perhaps the reason for this was because my previous copy was on VHS. Without access to the lovely cinematography to distract, the story problems become much more obvious.
Episode six, and it's nice to see security guards who when faced with an enemy who easily shrugs off their bullets and begins to kill them all, run away rather than hanging around waiting to be slaughtered. UNIT could learn from these guys.
Also, does any one else worry that the Doctor is a bit murdery in the final episode? He very quickly makes a portable death ray and uses it to kill an Ice Warrior. Topped shortly thereafter by sending their entire fleet into the sun, and then killing those who are left with their own guns and electricity. I suppose they were trying to kill everyone on Earth, but it still feels a little gung-ho.
On the whole, and dodgy plot aside, there's a lot to enjoy here.
Including Zoe Heriot and Miss Kelly's Fetish Wear. Yay! Woo! Ahem!
Not bad model work! Not bad at all... That opening shot used behind the title of an eclipse followed by the reveal of the Earth is lovely, and it's nice to see it used for all the episodes in this serial.
ReplyDeleteThe existence of T-Mat and its usage to move people and goods around the world, together with the importance of the moonbase are all established within the first few minutes. Nicely done.
Guest roles are well-defined. There's a lovely bit of acting from one of the moon technicians in episode one telling the Ice Warriors that the circuit he has just sabotaged has overloaded, and knowing as he says it that his own death is moments away, while Fewsham's journey in the serial, from cowardice to giving-his-own-life-to-save-the-Earth is nicely delineated.
Throughout the serial the writing seems to be excellent on character work, but... uh... somewhat *less effective* shall we say on plot. For example all rocket travel has stopped (All of it? I mean, really, ALL of it?). It really does stretch credulity that one man has built a rocket in his backyard on his lonesome as a hobby. Also, apparently Miss Kelly is the only person to properly know how the system that the entire world relies on works.
The Ice Warriors' plan seems to rely on their being able to bully humans into sending the seeds of death to earth in order to destroy the whole human race. Which does make you wonder - why don't they just do it themselves? Is it cos they've got clamps for hands?
There's something particularly interesting about the Ice Warriors tech, which is that it seems very organic - their suits reminiscent of hard shells, the fact that they use "seeds of death", the hairs poking out from the edge of the suits.
There's a bit of retconning to enable the Martians to be referred to as Ice Warriors ("Mars is a cold planet... they've adapted to the cold.") which I can live with.
I notice that again we're using the trope of requiring a homing radio beam in order for a rocket to land safely - was this a real 1960s thing that I've not heard of, or simply something that happens in the Doctor Who of the time? And if you can't land a rocket safely without one, how exactly *did* the Ice Warriors manage to get to the moon then?
Regardless, it seems that their plan relies on sending exactly one Ice Warrior - no more, no less - to Earth and hoping that they'll be able to complete their mission. And once there, the Warrior mostly... well, just stumbles around for a bit before being attacked by some guards. Who they then kill.
Mind you, the Earth defence forces aren't much better, managing to lose him entirely. Last spotted at the Weather Control Bureau, they seem to have lost track of him and instead are wandering around themselves going "Derp, where's the Warrior got to, we dunno, derp derp."
The cinematography is lovely throughout. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this serial because I'd seen it before and, well, hadn't. Perhaps the reason for this was because my previous copy was on VHS. Without access to the lovely cinematography to distract, the story problems become much more obvious.
Episode six, and it's nice to see security guards who when faced with an enemy who easily shrugs off their bullets and begins to kill them all, run away rather than hanging around waiting to be slaughtered. UNIT could learn from these guys.
Also, does any one else worry that the Doctor is a bit murdery in the final episode? He very quickly makes a portable death ray and uses it to kill an Ice Warrior. Topped shortly thereafter by sending their entire fleet into the sun, and then killing those who are left with their own guns and electricity. I suppose they were trying to kill everyone on Earth, but it still feels a little gung-ho.
On the whole, and dodgy plot aside, there's a lot to enjoy here.
Including Zoe Heriot and Miss Kelly's Fetish Wear. Yay! Woo! Ahem!