Jon Pertwee: The Beginning, End and In-Between (Part 1)
John Hussey begins his review of several stories from the Pertwee era.
‘Spearhead from Space’
By Robert Holmes (1970, 4 Episodes)
“In the last decade, we’ve been sending probes deeper and deeper into space. We’ve drawn attention to ourselves, Miss Shaw.”
‘Spearhead from Space’ had a lot riding on its back. The transition to the 70s brought a lot of changes to the show, channelling a new flow and feel into its design through the Doctor’s characteristics, the tone, format and direction in which the show would take. Out of all of the introductory stories for new incarnations, this one stands out as one of the best for its inventive writing and the risks involved.
To start with this story wasn’t accompanied with a pass-over like with the original transition. There was no on-screen regeneration from Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee. This was one of the more inventive moves took by new leading showrunners Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks. The final shot of the Second Doctor falling into the darkened void at the end of ‘The War Games’ was a tragic resolution that left the viewer with uncertainty.
The Third Doctor’s arrival is always somewhat mysterious because the TARDIS forcefully lands on Earth with him falling out unconscious. This opening scene was very abrupt and didn’t give any indication of where his incarnation would go. Following on from this was the fact he was absent a lot from the first episode of the serial. That was the first major difference between ‘Spearhead from Space’ and ‘The Power of the Daleks’, the story wasn’t focused on the Doctor and didn’t go about to make the audience accustomed to the change.
What I enjoyed was the re-establishing of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, a character seen twice within the Troughton era. This reintroduction not only made the audience feel safe with familiar territory but it also concreted the foundations of the Third Doctor’s era in a neat little package that didn’t feel out of place. We also got introduced to new assistant Liz Shaw who proved to be a highly intelligent young-woman who could bounce off the Doctor, similar to Zoe Heriot. Through the brilliant performances of these two characters, the Third Doctor’s absence didn’t really matter because other aspects to the narrative kept the audience engaged.
With the Brigadier back onboard it gave the serial that element to allow some challenge go towards the Doctor’s change in appearance. Last time it was left up to Polly and Ben Jackson who were present for the regeneration. This time however the Doctor was alone and required the Brigadier to identify him, which allowed for some great scenes where the newly regenerated Doctor could try to get across he was the same man whilst adjusting to his change. For the first time we had the clever addition of post-regenerative stress which left the Third Doctor out cold for some time. We also had for the first time the Doctor challenging his own appearance through both negative and positive comments to himself.
The serial was rather slow in pace, with it taking time before the Third Doctor was motivated into the main narrative, which began the change of tone and format towards a more investigational approach of storytelling, borderlining on a spy film from that era. The tone became darker, which I liked, through the creepy inclusion of the Autons. Within their first outing they were used carefully in order to build up their threat and terror. It was unsettling to watch one of them come to life at the end of episode two and creep up behind Ransome. Then of course there was the famous window breaking scene which depicted the shop-window dummies coming to life in episode four. They then proceeded to kill everyone in sight. One of the darker points of the story was the Nestene creating facsimiles of government officials in order to gain control over the planet.
This serial was a great introduction to Pertwee. It had a nice slow pace to it which slowly built up a story filled with a new deadly threat through the stories now being locked within a familiar territory. I always love the final scene where the Third Doctor gave his name to the Brigadier, “Smith. Doctor John Smith.”
‘Inferno’
By Don Houghton (1970, 7 Episodes)
“Listen to that! It’s the sound of the planet screaming out its rage!”
It brings me great pleasure adding this serial to my article as I really do enjoy it. I can’t see a single fault with it because the entire narrative is challenging towards the viewer and leaves them gripped from start to finish. Some would say longer episodes are dull through their extensive length but with ‘Inferno’ it used its time accordingly.
What I liked most about the story was the Third Doctor’s attitude towards the human mind, almost becoming fed up of its incompetence and near enough became in-suffocated by its presence and the knowledge of being trapped with it. This led to him engineering careless experiments with his Console in order to escape his exile.
This incident transported him to an alternative reality where the drilling operation he had been a part of was further advanced and he slowly saw the outcome which ultimately added in an apocalyptic disaster. Before that though it was tense watching the Third Doctor face against his alternative friends who were now his enemy, ruled under a Republic who ran the country like a dictatorship.
Nicholas Courtney did a fine job at playing the Brigade-Leader, generally depicting the character as diabolical and extremely unlikable through his militaristic nonsense and his blind loyalty to his Republic. The best part was seeing his slow descent into cowardly behaviour when the situation turned and his power meant nothing. In the end he tried blackmailing the Third Doctor into taking him back with him to his own reality with the Time Lord stood before the gun with a stern no.
‘Inferno’ has to be one of the darkest episodes through its overall tone and the nature of the story. The Third Doctor potentially lands on a world that was doomed to die through the mad behaviours of a scientist and the rage of the Earth fighting back against man’s stupidity. The whole idea of the alternative world and everyone being against the Third Doctor all added to the atmosphere. What also made the situation worse was the Third Doctor having no means of getting back home, leaving the audience questioning how he would survive.
I think the final topping on this dark tale was the knowledge that the alternative characters all perished in a horrible way after being cornered by incoming lava. Through knowing about the future the Third Doctor went about to alter the course of effects within his own world, very nearly failing.
I absolutely love the final scene in which the Third Doctor had to apologise to the Brigadier for calling him ‘a pompous self-opinionated idiot’ after realising he was still stranded on Earth and required his assistance further.
‘Terror of the Autons’
By Robert Holmes (1971, 4 Episodes)
“The human body has a basic weakness. One which I shall exploit to assist in the destruction of humanity.”
Robert Holmes returned once again with another season opener involving the terrifying Autons. This time however the serial was accompanied by the Master. ‘Terror of the Autons’ was very much the foundation of the Third Doctor’s era in terms of format and characters. Season Seven introduced the elements whilst Season Eight finished the establishment in full. We had the introduction to long term companion Jo Grant and new reoccurring character Captain Mike Yates to accompany Sergeant Benton. With the arrival of the Master the UNIT Family was born.
This serial is very much remembered by fans for its gothic nature, a gifted talent on Holmes’ end, which used the Autons to further great acclaim. The idea that the creatures could be converted into killer couches, dolls, flowers and even disguise themselves as policemen meant that they were on a new level of scary. This particular serial was well known for causing trouble within the media due to complaints over its content. I for one love the dark tone of the story and it really established how ruthless, powerful and destructive the Master could be.
There is no denying that ‘Terror of the Autons’ is an introductory piece for the Master’s character with the Auton threat a mere pawn for his deadly plans of invasion. Roger Delgado pulled off a performance that just delivered nothing more than a cold character which you could also love for the intrigue of what he’d do next. His eyes were mesmerising and his presence was fierce. I always loved the hypnotising part to the Master as it made him manipulative whilst making him even more of a monster for controlling lives and forcing them into evil, for instance causing the death of Professor Philips. There was also Rex Farrel to feel sorry for throughout the story as his life got ripped apart and his friends and family got given horrendous deaths at the order of the Master after they tried interfering.
Jo Grant’s introduction was enjoyable too, establishing a new chemistry for the Third Doctor to face. Her bumbling nature was something fresh and her lack of intelligence gave back the questioning to the audience, allowing the Time Lord to do more explaining about the situation at hand. Also she was useful for damsel moments which ultimately led to some interesting scenarios. Her loyalty and bravery shone out and she just kept going back for more in order to aid the Third Doctor and the Brigadier.
Who can forget the resolution of the Third Doctor making the Master doubt his alliance with the Nestene and be forced to surrender his plans. This was an early indication that the character had his weakness of vanity and he had to be in control. Then of course he escaped by tricking UNIT into killing Rex disguised as him, an act that made the Master that bit more sinister in nature.
