Right yeah OK, hands up, I admit this is yet ANOTHER post revisitation but it is in a way rather special one because this re-write will be on the first ever proper post I had written for this blog back in July of 2012. So I've decided not to bill this as another revisitation as such as it is a pretty extensive re-write I'm doing here.
And the post in question will be on the Doctor Who story of the Peter Davison era: Earthshock, which is considered a classic of the era and is also known for its controversial departure of one of the show's companions aswell as the return of one of the Doctor's oldest foes. But is it still a classic after 35 years??? Well let's take a look....
And yes the usual warning is coming....
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!
STORY
The story begins with the Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions, Tegan (Janet Fielding), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), and Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) who land the TARDIS on Earth far into the future, inside some caves. Meanwhile an expedition of military men, lead by Lieutenant Scott (James Warwick) explore the caves with Professor Kyle (Clare Clifford) an archeologist who's team went missing during a survey to find fossils. However as the team search, they are killed off one by one, by some strange androids, who appear to be protecting something.
The Doctor is soon captured by Scott, but then they soon find the remains of Kyle's team and a metal hatch in the wall, which Scott forces the Doctor to open. However before the Doctor can do so, they are attacked by the androids who are clearly guarding the hatch for their masters, which we soon find out are the Cybermen! The hatch in fact contains a bomb which the Cybermen activate a coundown to kill the others, but the Doctor with Adric's help successfully manages to deactivate the bomb. The Doctor then is able to trace the signal of the bomb back to its origin which is a big space freighter.
The Doctor tells Scott and his crew to stay in the TARDIS while he investigates the freighter with Adric, but they are soon captured after the find two dead bodies onboard the ship. The Doctor and Adric are then taken to Captain Briggs (Beryl Reid) who demands what they are doing there as the Doctor explains about the bomb.
However before they know it they find out the Cybermen are actually stowed away onboard the freighter, and they emerge from containers on the freighter to take control of the ship, lead by their Cyber leader (David Banks). So the Doctor must try and find a way to defeat the Cybermen who intend to wipe out Earth while several dignitaries visit Earth to discuss forming a pact to destroy the Cybermen......
THOUGHTS
Earthshock was widely regarded as one of Peter Davison's best stories, and its hard to argue with that as the story has plenty going for it and it was refreshing to see the return of the Cybermen after a seven year absence. The Cybermen themselves also had an impressive makeover from the rather flared looking outfits they had in Tom Baker's 1975 adventure, the Revenge of the Cybermen.
WARNING: THIS FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH REFERS TO A BIG SPOILER!!
The story is also well known for its demise of the character, Adric, the teenager mathematics genius from the planet Alzarus, who to this day remains one of the most hated companions from the entire show's run. However here, the makers of the story succeded admirably in giving Adric a rather emotional farewell as his last scene certainly packs a punch and remains one of the most powerful in the series. This would then see the rather overcrowded TARDIS crew reduce its load to just two companions and would lead the way to eventually just going back to one companion again.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)
Performance wise, Earthshock really is a mixed bag with some performances better than others it has to be said.
However to start off with the regulars things are mainly solid here starting with Peter Davison who is excellent as the 5th Doctor, who continues to play the Doctor with a sense of authority and vulnerability, and his youthful exterior always betrays the doctor's real age (although I'm not sure how old would be at this stage!).
Peter naturally has his share of good moments in this story that include the scene where the Doctor argues with Adric near the start of the story about the dangers of taking Adric back home into E-Space (the space dimension Adric came from). And the scene kicks off with the Doctor shouting as he rushes into the TARDIS console room "No, Adric, I will not do it!!" and as Adric tries to convince the Doctor he can plot a course using his skills, the Doctor shouts "You do not have the Monitor's skill, Adric, and even if you did, I am not going back into E-space!". So, Adric angrily says "Then I will find someone, who will take me!" and the Doctor tells him "E-space is another universe. There isn't a taxi service goes back and forth!". And Adric lastly asks him "Can I use your computer?" and the Doctor groans and says "Oh, help yourself. I'm not waiting around while you plot the course to your own destruction!".
Another good scene comes when the Doctor makes up with Adric after they have helped the expedition team deactivate the Cybermen's bomb and destroy the androids. So, once they are back onboard the TARDIS, the Doctor talks to Adric alone and says "Look, I'm very grateful for your help with deactivating the bomb" and Adric smiles and says "That's alright". And the Doctor continues "It was very brave of you also, the way you tackled the android" and Adric says "All part of the daily routine!". The Doctor then says to Adric "Look, I've been thinking about your wish to return home. Well, I thought that if we could work out a satisfactory course, I might give it a try" so Adric then shows the Doctor that he already has worked out calculations to do so.
However as the Doctor is about to go, he turns and asks Adric "Do you really want to go home?" and Adric smiles and says "No, of course not, there's nothing there for me anymore" and the Doctor walks up to him and says "So you've done all these calculations for nothing!" and he softly taps Adric on the hit with Adric's notepad. Adric smiles and tells the Doctor "Well, it made a point, didn't it? Besides, who knows? I might change my mind again". The Doctor then grins and hands back Adric's notepad and leaves the room.
Then there is the scene where the Doctor along with Adric, now onboard the freighter, are trying to help Captain Briggs and her crew to fight off the Cybermen and stop them get onboard the bridge. However, despite their best attempts, the Cybermen manage to blast through the doors and enter the bridge. And the Cyber Leader says to the Doctor "So, we meet again...Doctor!" and he signals one of the Cybermen to kill someone, who shoots one of the crew, Ringway and the Cyber Leader says to the Doctor "He decieved us!" and the Doctor says "You never change. Always the perfect guests!".
And lastly there is the scene where the Doctor is held hostage onboard the TARDIS with Tegan and Nyssa while Adric is still onboard the freighter. And the Doctor says of the freighter "It may be of some small consequence to know we've travelled backwards in time some sixty five million years" and Tegan says "Big deal" but the Doctor tells her "Think about it". So, they deduce that the freighter is travelling back in time to coincide with the time of the death of the dinosaurs and the freighter will be the cause of it. So, the Doctor tells them "The antimatter vessel will split open on impact. There will be a tremendous explosion!" and Tegan says "The freighter was the meteorite?" and the Doctor excited tells her "It seems inevitable, as is your history as we know it!". However the Cyber Leader is furious and shouts "You lie!" and the Doctor with much satisfaction goes up to him and says "Not at all!! You've lost! The Earth is safe!".
Matthew Waterhouse in his last appearance as Adric, actually does fairly well here even though Adric is still a rather annoying, whiny little brat at times, he is still given a rather heroic and even emotional send-off.
Matthew despite not being the strongest in the cast here, still has his moments such as the scene where Adric argues with the Doctor at the start and he tells him he wants to go back home. So, Adric in the scene tells the Doctor "I'm tired of being considered a joke" and the Doctor says "Oh, no one thinks that!" and Adric asks "Then why am I being constantly teased?!" and the Doctor says "Well everyone is teased from time to time" and Adric says "Yeah, but not as often as me!". And as they continue to argue, Adric tells the Doctor "I'm tired of being an outsider, Doctor. I want to go back to my own people".
Then there is the scene where the Doctor compliments Adric on his bravery in fighting against the Cybermen's androids. So, the Doctor tells him ""It was very brave of you also, the way you tackled the android" and Adric says "All part of the daily routine". And as the Doctor says to Adric "Look, I've been thinking about your wish to return home. Well, I thought that if we could work out a satisfactory course, I might give it a try". So, Adric tells the Doctor "Well, I've already done so, Doctor" and the Doctor surprised asks "Really?" and Adric shows the Doctor his notes "As you can see here, I've even managed to calculate the way into the CVE, the gateway through E-space" and the Doctor, impressed says "You've done extremely well".
However as the Doctor is about to go, he turns and asks Adric "Do you really want to go home?" and Adric smiles and says "No, of course not, there's nothing there for me anymore" and the Doctor walks up to him and says "So you've done all these calculations for nothing!" and he softly taps Adric on the hit with Adric's notepad. And Adric tells the Doctor "Well, it made a point, didn't it? Besides, who knows? I might change my mind again" and the Doctor smiles and gives back Adric his notepad.
Another decent scene from Matthew is when Adric pleads with the Doctor and Tegan to leave the freighter without him after the Cyber Leader orders Adric to stay onboard. So, Adric tells the Doctor "Take Tegan with you. I'll find my own way. Please?" and Captain Briggs offers up "The boy's right, there's a chance. Leave now". However the Cyber Leader is less optimistic, who says "There is no chance!" and Adric insistently tells the Doctor "Just leave!". So, the Doctor with a heavy heart goes up to Adric and extends his hand and says "Good luck, Adric" and they shake hands for the last time and Adric says "Goodbye, Doctor" and he says rather sadly goodbye to Tegan.
And last of all there is Adric's final scene (SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) where he meets his maker as the freighter is locked on a collision course with Earth and as Adric frantically tries to crack the code to stop the freighter from crashing, a dying Cyberman struggles onto the bridge and shoots the controls. And Adric jumps back and then looks at the Cyberman, who dies from its wounds and Adric looks dispairfully at the bridge's screen as he sees the Earth near closer and he says to himself "Now, I'll never know if I was right!".
Janet Fielding is pretty good again as the feisty Tegan, one of the Doctor's other companions and she proves her courage against the Cybermen throughout the story and would later mourn Adric.
Janet has a few good scenes but I will for only mention a couple with the first being the scene where Tegan accompanies Captain Scott, who is the leader of the military expedition in the story, as they wander the freighter to find the Doctor and Adric. And Tegan after alot of wandering about wearily says to Scott "It's vast. We'll never find him!" and he says "You wanted to come" and Tegan says "I know. I'm just a mouth on legs!".
Then later there is the scene where the Cyber Leader holds the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa hostage aboard the TARDIS. And in the scene the Cyber Leader taunts them by saying how the freighter draws near to colliding with Earth and he says to them "The time draws near" and Tegan desparately asks the Doctor "Can't you do something?" and the Doctor says "Not at the moment". So, Tegan says "I don't have to watch this!" and she tries to walk out the console room but she is stopped by the Cyber Leader. Nyssa says "She doesn't have to be here!" and the Doctor says "Gently, Tegan" but Tegan is outraged and angrily says "Gently?! This is my planet they are about to destroy!" and she desparately hits a few buttons on the console that causes the whole TARDIS tilt sideways. So, the Doctor grabs and shouts "No!! You do things like that, we'll all end up dead!".
Sarah Sutton next up is also pretty good (and pretty!) as the Doctor's 3rd companion, Nyssa, who for the most part of the story is isolated to the TARDIS console room.
Sarah has a few good scenes too that include the one where after the TARDIS has landed in the caves on Earth and the Doctor has rowed with Adric he goes outside to get some air and Tegan and Nyssa go with him and try and persuade him to listen to Adric's plea to go home. And Tegan says to the Doctor "Breathe deeply and relax. Now, go and make it up with Adric, please?" and the Doctor sighs "All right, but I'm not taking him back into E-space, and that's my final word on the matter!". So, Nyssa says to the Doc "Look at his calculations before you decide. It may be possible" and the Doctor gives in and says "All right, I'll look, but I'm not promising anything!" and he heads off and Nyssa smiles and says to Tegan "Of course not, Doctor".
And lastly there is the scene near the end where the Doctor having just killed off the Cyber Leader frantically tries to get the console working so he can try and materialise on the freighter to save Adric. So, Nyssa pleads with the Doctor "Please hurry, Doctor. We must get Adric off the freighter!" and the Doctor while flicking buttons says "The console's damaged!" and Nyssa says "We must save Adric! There's so little time!". Then in the next moment, a Cyberman enters the console room and Nyssa shouts "Look out!" and grabs the Leader's gun and she shoots the Cyberman with it. However the Doctor is powerless to do anything to save Adric and they look on at the scanner as the freighter is about to impact with Earth and Nyssa shouts desparately "ADRIC!!" just before it crashes.
David Banks is great here as the Cyber Leader although he does play the Leader as being somewhat emotional in his responses, which would negate the Cybermen's logical nature a bit. However, Banks himself also fairly raised the point while the Cybermen in the story weren't seen to be robotic or emotionless enough, it would undercut the drama of it all.
Banks also has some good moments that include the scene where Tegan is brought on board the bridge of the freighter by a Cyberman and the Leader asks the Doctor "Who is this woman?!" and the Doctor plays it down "An earthling, no one of consequence!" and Tegan, offended says "Thanks alot!" and the Doctor turns to her and says "Be quiet!". So, the Leader asks "She is one of your crew?" and the Doctor says "In a manner of speaking" and the Leader says "I see that Time Lords have emotional feelings" and the Doctor says "Of sorts". The Leader then says "Surely a weakness in one so powerful?" but the Doctor says "Emotions have their uses" and the Leader dismissively says "They restrict and curtail the intellect and logic of the mind". How the Doctor angrily says "They also enhance life! When did you last have the pleasure of smelling a flower, watching a sunset, eating a well-prepared meal?!" and the Leader says "These things are irrelevant!" but the Doctor tells him "For some people, small beautiful events are what life is all about!".
So, the Leader asks the Doctor "You have affection for this woman?" and the Doctor says "She's a friend" and the Leader asks "And you do not consider friendship a weakness?" and the Doctor says "I do not". So, the Leader turns to one of the Cybermen and says "Kill her" and the Cyberman moves toward Tegan, testing the Doctor's resolve, who suddenly runs toward and he shouts "NO!!" and the Leader calls off the Cyberman. So, the Leader asks "Such a reaction is not a weakness?" and the Doctor angrily says "No" and the Leader tells him "You are mistaken. I now have control over you, Doctor. All I need do is threaten the woman's death for you to obey me!".
Then there is the scene where the Cyber Leader asks the Doctor "Our records indicate that you have a fondness for Earth?" and the Doctor smiles and says "Fondness? I'm surprised your emotionless brain understands the word!". So, the Cyber Leader says "It is a word like any other. And so is destruction, which is what we are going to do to that planet" and the Doctor says "You've tried before" and the Cyber Leader says "This time we shall succeed, and you will live just long enough to witness it!". So one of the Cybermen tells the Leader that the reactivation of their force is complete and the Leader says "Excellent! Now you will see our strength!". So, then we see Cybermen burst free from the silos in the cargo hold of the freighter and they march through the hold in their thousands and the Leader turns to the Doctor and shouts "My army awakens, Doctor!!".
And lastly there is the Leader's final scene where his plan to destroy Earth is foiled as the freighter makes a time jump backward 65 millions year ago and it will safely collide with Earth during the dinosaur era, which would result in their extinction. So, the Leader angrily crushes Scott's communicator as Scott tries to get through and the Doctor says "You've failed, Leader" and the Leader says "But you will not enjoy the victory. I shall now kill you, Doctor!" which leads into their final struggle.
As for the other cast members, James Warwick does OK in his role as Lieutenant Scott, the leader of the miliatry expedition, who investigates the disappearance of an archaelogical team on Earth but it does have to be said Wawrick's performance is pretty hammy and silly at times.
Regardless of this though, Wawrick still has a few scenes worth a mention such as the one where Scott's men first encounter the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa. And the Doctor asks Scott "Anything we can do?" and Scott angrily grabs the Doctor, who nervously says "Obviously not!" and Scott throws the Doctor to the ground and holds his weapon to the Doc's throat and he shouts "Too many people have died for you to play the fool!".
Then there is the scene where Scott onboard the TARDIS, which is landed in the freighter, says to the others that he intends to find the Doctor "Right, we're moving out" and Tegan says "I want to come with you" and Scott says a cheesy line "No. It could be rough!". Scott then gives Nyssa a military comm unit and tells her "If the Doctor returns, call me. I don't want to be out there any longer than I have to".
And lastly there is the scene where Adric frantically tries to decrypt the codes on the Cyber machine that is locked the freighter into a collision course with Earth but Scott, Briggs and the other crew members are about to escape from the freighter and insist come with them. So, Scott tells Adric "You've done all you can, Adric" but Adric insists "I can crack this code!" and Captain Briggs says to Adric "Come on, lad!". So, Scott walks up to Adric and firmly takes his arm and says "And that is an order, Adric!" and he leads him toward the escape pod but Adric steps out just at the last moment.
Beryl Reid however is woefully miscast here as Captain Briggs, the uppity commander of the freighter, who is for the most part more concerned with getting paid than worry about the possibility of the Cyber threat (well until it happens that is!). Not to sound sexist but you feel this role would be better suited to being played by a man rather than a woman, or at least if it was a woman then they should have really cast someone better than Beryl!
Nonetheless Beryl has the odd good moment such as the scene where she first appears and she puts down one of her officers, Ringway (Alec Sabin). And when Briggs comes on board, Ringway greets "Welcome aboard, ma'am" but Briggs disapproves and says "Don't call me ma'am on the bridge!". So Ringway asks of missing crewmembers of the freighter "There was no mention of the missing crewmembers?" and Briggs's second in command, Berger says "Mister Ringway was concerned that might be the reason for you being delayed". So, Briggs says "Oh, panicking again, was he? No, no mention, Mister Ringway". So, Ringway rather annoyed says to her " I just happen to think that the disappearance of three crewmembers' rather important, that's all!". And Briggs says "So do I, Mister, but it's something that can be settled when we get back to Earth and our cargo's delivered safely. Understood? Make ready to get underway. If it makes you any happier, double the patrols. I don't want any mention of this. You're beginning to bore me!".
Clare Clifford on the other hand is easily the weakest link in the chain here as her performance as Professor Kyle, the leader of an expedition of which her team went missing. And Clare's performance is actually pretty pathetic as the woman can barely act convincingly at all throughout the story.
So, I will only mention a couple of her scenes, the first one where she delivers her most awful and laughable line when onboard the TARDIS with Nyssa, she catches sight of a Cyberman. And Kyle asks "What was that?" and Nyssa says "I don't know. A robot" and Kyle says "They're huge!!". Ugghh!
Then there is (SPOILER!!!!) Kyle's death scene where Scott and his team try to get back onboard the TARDIS but a couple of Cybermen follow them and try and get in, too. So, Kyle takes it on herself to use one of the dead Cybermen's guns but she is soon shot by the other Cyberman, who Scott struggles with and Kyle falls back dead, and the woman can't even fall properly either! So, Scott shortly after checks her pulse and states to Nyssa the rather obvious "Its no use. She's dead!".
As for the other cast members, I will mention June Brown who does well enough in her role as Berger, the officer onboard the freighter. And I will quickly mention just the one scene where, Ringway complains to Berger about the mood onboard the freighter being rather grim. So, Ringway says "Morale is very low" and Berger tells him "And with every negative thought you have, Ringway, it sinks even lower. You're supposed to be an officer. Smile when you talk to the crew. Reassure them!".
And last of all, Alec Sabin does OK in his role as the freighter officer, Ringway, who turns out to be not all he seems to be. And he has a few good scenes but I will only mention two, first off the one where shortly after two crew members onboard the freighter are found dead by the Doctor and Adric, Ringway finds them and stands behind them holding a gun. So, Ringway says to them "On this ship we execute murderers!".
Then there is the scene where Ringway reveals (SPOILER!!!) he is a traitor, who is working for the Cybermen and he holds the Doctor, Adric and Briggs at gunpoint. And Ringway says "Stay where you are" and Briggs says "The enemy's outside, Mister! You're pointing your gun in the wrong direction!". And Ringway tells her "I'm relieving you of command" and Briggs says "Oh, come off it!" and Ringway snaps back "Shut up! I'm tired of your snide remarks and bullying ways!" and the Doctor says "Oh, you haven't seen anything. Wait until the Cybermen start!" and Ringway looks surprised and asks "You know them?" and the Doctor says "Oh, yes. We go back a long way!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Direction wise, Peter Grimwade does an excellent job here with the story and he expertly hides the Cybermen from the viewers till the very end of the first episode and he makes good use of dark and dank caves very well in the first two episodes. He also deserves much credit for the scene where Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa onboard the TARDIS watch in horror as the space freighter that Adric is on crashes into Earth and it remains one of the most powerful moments in the whole Davison era. That and also the scene where the Cybermen are first revealed to the Doctor and Adric asks him "Who are they?!" and the Doctor says "Cybermen!".
And the decision to roll the credits silently at the end to commemorate Adric's death was without a doubt the right one, although perhaps the inclusion of his broken badge as a still shot maybe would have been better substituted with a black screen, but well that's what they chose to go with, and it works well enough. So overall Grimwade directed a rather controversial story very well here.
As for the music score, it was composed by Malcolm Clarke, which is excellent and it is very atmospheric and provides an effective mix of suspense and dread. The music used in the cave scenes is great, as is the theme where the Cybermen smash out of the ship containers to storm the freighter, and the passage of music at the end just as Adric meets his maker is really suspenseful, followed by a poignant lull.
FLAWS
So, does Earthshock have any flaws???? Well, yeah it does have some.
And for starters I think one of the things that bugged me about the story was Adric's whinge about wanting to go home at the start of the episode with the Doctor, who refuses to take him back into E-space (where Adric came from) due to dangers involved. However as Adric waits huffily in the TARDIS doing his calculations for the E-spade journey, he is soon forced to help up with the Cybermen's bomb and the android attacks. And after all that, the Doctor asks Adric if he really wants to go home and all of a sudden Adric suddenly "No, of course not, there's nothing there for me now".
So, basically, Adric whined and moan for nothing! Just to prove a point that he could work out the calculations to get back home, which if anything was just to massage his own over-inflated ego! But you can't but help think Adric has just wasted everyone's time with his complaining when he should have just shut up and got on with things!
Another niggle for me comes when at the end of the first episode where the we see one of the android's infrared vision as it scans the area it homes in on the Doctor and then we cut to the Cybermen and the Leader shouts "Destroy them at once!". Right, OK, but at this point why did the android home in on the Doctor's face??? At this stage the Cybermen don't even know the Doctor is involved, so why single him out??! Its almost like the Cyber Leader does know its the Doctor and he's keeping it to himself! Weird.
Another issue I had was why were the dormant Cybermen wrapped in cellophane in the silos??? I guess that had to have some sort of protection over them but the cellophane just looks a bit cheap to say the least, and you would think that the production crew could have come up with something a bit better than that!
Then there is the issue of why didn't Nyssa just use the TARDIS to do a quick materialisation onto the deck of the bridge to rescue the Doctor and Adric rather than have Scott and Tegan try and rescue them both??? Maybe I missed some plot detail that prevented the TARDIS from doing so and also just maybe Nyssa's inexperience of using the TARDIS left her at a disadvantage at using it even for short distances.
Another thing that bugged me was to do with the freighter being able to do a time jump 65 million years into the past in the first place. I mean does the freighter have time travel capability??? This again is never made clear and I would have to imagine that it probably would not and if not then how the hell could it suddenly make a jump 65 million years backwards in time?! Its again something that doesn't make sense in the story.
And lastly I found the Cybermen to be a bit too heightened in their emotions at times in this story as Cyber Leader's constant arrogant, angry rants were hardly things of logical behaviour even though in David Banks defence, playing a Cybermen without emotion would have been pretty dull. Its also noticeable in one of the other Cybermen during the sequence where the Doctor tries to deactivate the Cybermen's bomb, as that Cyberdude get's very panicky and shouts "Supplementary power on!" and the Leader says "Hurry!" and the Cyberman panics "Power building!". OK, Cybermen, you need to chillax and be more logical is what I would say at this point! ;-)
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Earthshock is indeed an excellent adventure from the Peter Davison era of the show and one of his very best. The story is very well directed by Peter Grimwade as he effectively hides the Cybermen from the story up until the last moment of the first episode. It also has an intense tone throughout and it just drips of mood and atmosphere from the first minute to the last and it has a great electronic score by Malcolm Clarke that fits the story perfectly. The regular cast are mostly all on good form and even Matthew Waterhouse get's a somewhat emotional and noble send-off here, even if Adric wasn't the most liked of characters by the fans.
The story may have a mixed level of performances from the cast with James Wawrick, Clare Clifford and at time Beryl Reid leaving something to be desired in their efforts and yes the story has some plot holes but then again there are very few that don't! But if you put those niggles aside, Earthshock is still a very entertaining, intense and brooding story that deserves much credit for daring to kill off one of its main characters and make the Doctor realise that not even he can save everyone he travels with.
Right, so that's it for now and I will return with another review quite soon and I might try and squeeze in one more before the end of the month if I can.
So, till then its bye for now!
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