Weird one this. The start is very disjointed. The Doctor seems to know where he is but is remarkably unspecific. He has some sort of scanner that he seems to think will do him some unspecified good and so buggers off out of the TARDIS for a wander. Dodo (of the wandering accent) and Steven follow on simply because they must…
And it soon becomes clear that we have two races on the planets. Some Savages (imaginative mind at work on the title, huh?) and some more advanced peoples. This story is completely missing and I can’t tell from the reconstruction if the main homo superior is blacked up or golded up. Either way he has an odd look to him and I can’t help but think we’re straying into slightly racist territory again as it soon becomes clear the superior race is preying on the savages.
The Doctor is seriously annoying in the opening stages as he simpers over this advanced society. Both he, and Steven, seem deeply enamoured by his society and it is only Dodo who smells (and soon finds) a fish.
That said, we do soon find out that the Doctor’s simpering is just an act and he knows something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Or whatever this planet is called. So it’s just Steven who’s being a schmuck.
We then discover that the savages are being preyed upon for their “life force” a wonderfully non-specific phrase but seems to provide the superior race (I genuinely can’t recall if they mentioned a name) with all the energy they need to live a lovely relaxed and luxurious life.
Obviously our heroes soon side with the oppressed masses but in the meantime the Doctor has managed to get himself caught and had his “essence” extracted and then accidentally implanted into the leader of the bad guys, who promptly starts acting very Doctorish and makes the schoolboy error of growing a conscience. And so begins the, frankly rather plodding, fightback.
The conclusion is quite swift and frankly irritating and involves hitting machinery with sticks. Early puzzles are never resolved – it is never explained how the beings on the planet knew the Doctor was coming or how they allegedly tracked him through time. It’s also quite convenient that after the final battle the two sides shake hands and come together as chums. They equally conveniently choose Steven as their new leader and the poor chap is swiftly pressganged out of the TARDIS and into command of a whole new (and really rather divided) society.
Okay, so the premise is alright. I do like the idea of one race stealing the energy of another but not killing them, so they can steal from them again. But the execution is just so plodding. Yeah, I know I used that adjective earlier but it is very apt.
Very average and a real shame to see Steven – of whom I have become very fond as a companion – leave the show in such a decidedly sudden and frankly uninteresting manner.
And it soon becomes clear that we have two races on the planets. Some Savages (imaginative mind at work on the title, huh?) and some more advanced peoples. This story is completely missing and I can’t tell from the reconstruction if the main homo superior is blacked up or golded up. Either way he has an odd look to him and I can’t help but think we’re straying into slightly racist territory again as it soon becomes clear the superior race is preying on the savages.
The Doctor is seriously annoying in the opening stages as he simpers over this advanced society. Both he, and Steven, seem deeply enamoured by his society and it is only Dodo who smells (and soon finds) a fish.
That said, we do soon find out that the Doctor’s simpering is just an act and he knows something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Or whatever this planet is called. So it’s just Steven who’s being a schmuck.
We then discover that the savages are being preyed upon for their “life force” a wonderfully non-specific phrase but seems to provide the superior race (I genuinely can’t recall if they mentioned a name) with all the energy they need to live a lovely relaxed and luxurious life.
Obviously our heroes soon side with the oppressed masses but in the meantime the Doctor has managed to get himself caught and had his “essence” extracted and then accidentally implanted into the leader of the bad guys, who promptly starts acting very Doctorish and makes the schoolboy error of growing a conscience. And so begins the, frankly rather plodding, fightback.
The conclusion is quite swift and frankly irritating and involves hitting machinery with sticks. Early puzzles are never resolved – it is never explained how the beings on the planet knew the Doctor was coming or how they allegedly tracked him through time. It’s also quite convenient that after the final battle the two sides shake hands and come together as chums. They equally conveniently choose Steven as their new leader and the poor chap is swiftly pressganged out of the TARDIS and into command of a whole new (and really rather divided) society.
Okay, so the premise is alright. I do like the idea of one race stealing the energy of another but not killing them, so they can steal from them again. But the execution is just so plodding. Yeah, I know I used that adjective earlier but it is very apt.
Very average and a real shame to see Steven – of whom I have become very fond as a companion – leave the show in such a decidedly sudden and frankly uninteresting manner.