Doctor Who: The Big Review (Season 7)

Doctor Who: The Big Review

Season 7 (1970)

Here we are, the start of a new era. Season 7 sees the bright new beginning of a new Doctor... Jon Pertwee. A season much smaller in size may take some getting used to, but I know colour television is definitely a welcomed change. The Third Doctor will face the Autons and Silurians in what I'm hoping to be a rather brilliant season. Lucky for us, Season 6 marked the end of missing stories so that is of no concern anymore... What we have now is a new Doctor, new stories, and a refreshing start to a new era of Doctor Who. Let's Go!

As always, I will grade each story on an A+ to F scale, judging it fairly, and with respect to the era it aired. Judging an episode from the 1960's with the same expectation of a modern episode would not be fair. Below is a summary of my grading criteria:

For each serial, I will provide a list of the main cast (omitting a few who don't appear often), and a list of some key facts of the episodes, such as the writer and director. I will then offer a little synopsis and my overall verdict. My favourite serial will then be listed at the bottom, where I will offer a few further thoughts and opinions. 

Below is a table which offers some short, concise figures and a more in-depth description follows just below.

1. SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE (four episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Hugh Burden (Channing), Derek Smee (Ransome), John Woodnutt (Hibbert). 

Broadcast: 3 January 1970 - 24 January 1970

Writer: Robert Holmes

Director: Derek Martinus

Synopsis: Now exiled to Earth by The Time Lords, The Doctor joins forces with UNIT to help prevent an invasion of Autons, all brought to life by the great Nestene Consciousness. 

Verdict: I think this story worked brilliantly to introduce a new Doctor, but some of the editing choices and music let it down. Also, despite the terrifying appearance of the Autons, their mannerisms were sometimes far too inconsistent. One second they're really robotic, the next they're near enough doing gymnastics. Overall, a good story, but not as great as I expected. A rather good cast all-round as well with some lovely performances.

GRADE: B

2. DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS (seven episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Fulton Mackay (Dr Quinn), Peter Miles (Dr Lawrence), Norman Jones (Major Baker), Geoffrey Palmer (Masters). 

Broadcast: 31 January 1970 - 14 March 1970

Writer: Malcolm Hulke

Director: Timothy Combe

Synopsis: A race known as the Silurians are discovered as beings that ruled Earth before humankind. The Doctor must attempt to bring peace between the two races. However, evil from both sides threatens any chance of happiness!

Verdict: No thanks. This story seems to just go on, and on, and on. The music is as if they let a child have a go, I understand the composer was an experimentalist, but it just tires quickly. It also takes far too long for anything actually interesting to happen. This was just a major miss, for me, but there was the odd nice moment and the story picked up by the end of Part 5, sort of. I like Pertwee in the role too, but how great he is doesn't make up for how infuriating every other man in the story is. 

GRADE: D

3. THE AMBASSADORS OF DEATH (seven episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), William Dysart (Reegan), Ronald Allen (Ralph Cornish), John Abineri (General Carrington).

Broadcast: 21 March 1970 - 2 May 1970

Writer: David Whitaker (Revisions by Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke & Terrence Dicks)

Director: Michael Ferguson

Synopsis: The Doctor and UNIT investigate the disappearance of astronauts who have lost contact with Earth. They become involved in a conspiracy and meet alien ambassadors who have arrived on Earth.

Verdict: I don't know how I fully feel. The motives of each villain don't seem to have been made clear and it really does make for quite a confusing story. On a positive note, John and Pertwee were fantastic and really added to the gravity of the serial. There were some interesting developments and some genuinely quite scary 'monsters.' 

GRADE: B-

4. INFERNO (seven episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Olaf Pooley (Stahlman), Christopher Benjamin (Sir Keith Gold), Sheila Dunn (Petra Williams), Derek Newark (Greg Sutton).

Broadcast: 9 May 1970 - 20 June 1970

Writer: Don Houghton

Director: Douglas Camfield & Barry Letts

Synopsis: The Doctor transports himself to a Parallel Earth where he uncovers an English drilling project that causes catastrophic amount of heat and force to be unleashed when it penetrates the Earth's crust.

Verdict: Quite something. The music in this story was brilliant and some of the editing choices (both audibly and visibly) were sublime. Pertwee continues to provide a fantastic performance as well. Some very interesting moments, sometimes flawed, but full of great moments between the cast. I'll just ignore the Halloween Costume used for the Primords. 

GRADE: B

My Conclusions

Season 7 was probably one of my least favourites so far. I didn't think any episode particularly shone. With only four serials, however, one wrong move can drag the entire season down. Nonetheless, I did manage to pick a favourite. It was a close call, but I think it's a common choice. 

At first, I wasn't too keen on this one, I found it quite slow until The Doctor began making a proper appearance. Let's begin with the positives, I found the Autons quite frightening. Their appearance seemed so much more terrifying to the 2005 version. Jon Pertwee has already cemented himself as a terrific Doctor in this one serial. He was the main reason this episode was enjoyable. Five seasons with him, not too bad! I also loved the menace of some moments within the story, like the attack on the cottage. That was a very tense moment! Of course, there are some negatives. I do feel the editing during some moments were quite weak. The first episode seemed to jump about a lot, and it felt a little disconnected. I also didn't enjoy the mannerisms of the Autons. As I mentioned, they were either quite robotic and their most sinister or darting around like any normal being. It's not a huge thing, but it did take me out a little. Having said that, I do feel it was quite a solid story and I almost gave it a B+. I do think it's quite a average story, but has little moments that make it that bit better which suits my B criteria. 

*

Overall, Season 7 was a mixed bag, for me. Most of it was quite solid, but I never really found myself glued to the screen. I found the Silurian story barely passable, which did pull the overall grade for the season down. Without, this would've been a very consistent season. The season did get an overall grade of a B-. So far, the average has been a B or B-. This joins the B- club with Season 1 and 5. I would say, overall, I think slightly more negatively of this season. However, it had much fewer stories to help aid the score. As a result, one wrong move and the average is brought down quite a bit. As a result, its lower score likely doesn't reflect the strength of the season as a whole. 

Although, I did find it weaker than I wanted it to be, I'm holding out a lot of hope that Season 8 is better, especially since Jo Grant is such a brilliant character from what I've seen of the actress and later portrayals. Let's see how it goes! 

Thanks for reading, I'll see you again soon!