Doctor Who Randomised, week one: Planet of Evil v. The Caretaker

As a note for regular comic-fans readers of the blog, this is the first guest post on a little side hustle I’m working on - aiming to rewatch televised Doctor Who in random pairs of Classic and New series stories, with my personal responses and an attempt to find connections between each pair. It’s not directly to do with British comics, but much of the Classic series Doctor Who stories were broadcast during the same period (1970s and 1980s) on which I focus the comics blog, so there is some shared cultural history there.

WEEK ONE! The first pair of stories randomly presented for review are classic season 13’s Planet of Evil, and new series 8’s The Caretaker. Reflections, connections and lessons learned follow in the thread below.

I’m not sure when I first saw Planet of Evil. I had only just turned 5 when it was first broadcast in autumn 1975, and repeated shortly before my 6th birthday. It holds significant visual and auditory memories for me, and it’s an indulgent pleasure to watch again.

Credit to the talent and craft of the production team, including designer Roger Murray-Leach and vfx designer Dave Harvard. That jungle, Sorenson’s transformation, the Doctor in the pit … these scenes held me absolutely captivated, and resonate still for my inner child.

Tom Baker and Lis Sladen are on great form. Lis in particular amplifies the tension and terror of a moody story. I loved the character of Sarah; she was like an older sister, I think. POE’s a great showcase of that particular SJS blend of courage, fear, loyalty and humour.

Overall it’s a shadowy, foreboding tale. Even the TARDIS interior seems subdued by this trip to the edge of the material universe. The catastrophic dangers of robbing a planet of its natural resources seems a prescient theme in this age of fracking.

It seems so on the nose today that it’s hard to imagine POE may not have been intended as an environmental message. I’ve asked a few people with a better memory of 1975 than me and they say that eco concerns over mining weren’t a big thing then, at least in wide public discourse.

Sub-plots are pegged on personal power struggles and pissing contests within the Morestran group. Science purist Sorenson clashes with authoritarian space captain Salamar, who then faces a challenge from his own ranks in the cooler-headed Vishinsky.

A shouty race of men with Sunday league physiques in ill-fitting superhero suits, the Morestrans present initially as a dull, Fathers for Justice space gang. But the sympathetic developments of Vishinsky and, eventually, Sorenson, make the group more relatable and interesting.

Season 13 is special to me - it’s Doctor Who in its purest nostalgically comforting form - and I ration my rewatching of its stories for fear of spoiling them. I’m glad the Randomiser gave me POE as my first watch. It crackles with a dark, whispery life-force of its very own.

The Caretaker is, of course, a more recent story, although I don’t think I have seen it since first broadcast in 2014. That’s eight years ago and it does feel like something from a different age - more confident and more innocent, or perhaps that’s just how the world felt then.

It’s a clever farce, full of misunderstandings, stagey runarounds and humiliations. I enjoyed all of that, and also thought the secondary characters of Courtney and Mattsmithalike English teacher Adrian were a lot of fun.

The Doctor’s pride at the thought of Clara dating a mini-him echoes the proud sadness of his third incarnation when Jo left him for scientist Cliff. His torn face when Clara says she loves soldier Danny recalls the fourth’s bemusement when Leela departed for military man Andred.

TC reminded me of how frustrated and annoyed I was at this time by the developing character of the twelfth Doctor. So offensive and grumpy; difficult watching, especially alongside family members who were falling out of love with the show. A flame seemed to be going out.

I felt there was a nastiness in this Doctor. I know there is precedent (One, Four and Six could be alienatingly rude) but I’ve never liked it, and I think it’s unattractive for the show. I prefer to think it’s a mistake of production, rather than the actor’s choice.

Clara is treated badly by this Doctor; why is she so keen to keep travelling with him? And his bullying of Danny is horrible… so when Danny finally snaps back - ‘I’m the one who carries you out of the fire. He’s the one who lights it.’ - it’s really, *really* satisfying.

Danny and the Skovox Blitzer are the maligned, isolated and confused ex-squaddies in TC, but at least Danny is still able to hit a target. ‘The world is full of PE teachers but the officer class is to blame’ seems to be the principal theme, and I’m on board with that.

CONNECTIONS

This is the difficult bit. What could possibly connect these two stories? I have some thoughts, less likely to amaze and amuse than they are to irritate and enrage.

Here’s one canny connection.

Bizarrely, both stories debuted on 27 September - POE in 1975, TC in 2014.

Both appear close to the start of a Doctor’s run (TB’s 7th story, PC’s 6th).

POE is the first adventure for 4 and Sarah *without* Harry, strengthening their bond, I think. TC is the first for 12 and Clara *with* Danny involved, conversely straining their relationship.

There is a loosely similar theme of military hierarchy and the failings of commanding officers. In POE, Salamar’s poor judgement and authority is challenged by Vishinsky, and the number of Morestran foot soldiers enhusked in the line of duty validates the speech of Danny Pink.

Both POE and TC make rather dismissive references to multi-denominational belief systems.

When told his dead crew member was Morestran Orthodox, Vishinsky shrugs ‘Oh, one of those.’

‘It’s assembly, you better get going. Go and worship something,´ the Doctor goads Clara.

Both stories involve an element of invisibility.

This is starting to stretch things a little bit, but if Clara Oswald - ‘the impossible girl, born to save the Doctor’ - has been a part of all his adventures, she must have played a crucial role in POE.

Helping the Doctor climb out of the antimatter pool, perhaps?

Therefore, when she tells Danny in TC that she is ‘from Blackpool’, perhaps she means that she is … wait for it … ‘from the black pool’.

*cough*

Moving on, I’m sure I once saw Occuloid Tracker take on Skovox Blitzer on an episode of Robot Wars.

THE RANDOMORALISER

POE: Frackers! Consider tapping the kinetic energies of planetary movement. But don’t feel you shouldn’t take a trip to Zeta Minor anyway, just to check it out.

TC: Some caretakers should take more care.