Who Review: The Space Pirates

A band of space pirates is sabotaging space beacons, blowing them apart for their precious argonite which they sell off for large sums of money. The pirates are being chased by Earth Space Corps under the command of General Hermack, but so far the miscreants have evaded capture. It’s aboard one of these doomed space beacons that the TARDIS materializes, and the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe soon find themselves separated from the TARDIS when the propulsion units placed by the pirates forces the beacon apart. In a failed attempt by the Doctor to reconnect their section, they find themselves drifting further away into space. Rescue appears to come in the form of argonite prospector Milo Clancey. But when Milo shoots Jamie, our heroes can no longer be sure they are in safe hands. Who can they trust? Will they find the TARDIS? And can they get out alive…?

SPOILER ALERT!! My comments may (and likely will) contain spoilers for those that haven’t seen this serial. If you want to stay spoiler-free, please watch the story before you continue reading!

I was in two minds whether to post a review of “The Space Pirates.” It’s not available for purchase because all but one of the six episodes (episode two) is missing. For the remaining five episodes, all we have are some filmed model shots, and the audio, recorded by fans when it was first broadcast in the spring of 1969. I watched the story courtesy of a reconstruction made by Loose Cannon, who used the missing episode audio track and the film clips, along with off-air pictures, and some clever CGI to give an idea of what those episodes would have looked like. Perhaps it’s not fair to review the story based on a single episode and reconstructions of the others? However, I’m a bit of a completist, and this is the only episode of the season that isn’t available on DVD. It’s hard not to say something about it. So, take what follows bearing in mind the preceding. 🙂

“The Space Pirates” was writer Robert Holmes’s second Doctor Who offering, and, I think, it’s his weakest. It’s still not a bad story, but the pacing is so slow, especially for the first couple of episodes. This feels like a four-part story stretched to fill two extra weeks. Episode one is so packed with backstory and stage-setting, the TARDIS crew don’t even show up until about 15 minutes in, and then they only get about five minutes’ screen time total. On the one hand I understand Holmes wanting to establish the main players in the story: the pirates, the Space Corps, the Issigri Mining Corp led by Madeleine Issigri, and Milo Clancey. But the way he does it comes across like the television equivalent of, what we call in writing circles, an “info dump.” And that’s not good if you want people to stay with you to episode two.

The model shots are good, considering budget and technological constraints. Some of the costumes are a little odd, especially the head-wear Madeleine and her secretary have on that look like plastic wigs. Maybe that’s what they were supposed to be? Space age hair? The men all have “normal” hair… though one of the Space Corps technicians sports a mustache that is very late-1960s!

And then there’s Milo Clancey’s accent. What exactly is it? He looks like a kind of space cowboy, and I get that he’s supposed to be a prospector. So we’re certainly given the impression that he’s American, if we follow these stereotypes. But if he’s supposed to be from the American West, I’m afraid his accent got lost somewhere between Tuscon and Bradford. The actor who plays him, Gordon Gostelow, was originally from New Zealand, so he’s neither a native American nor a native Brit. What can I say? If it’s an attempt at an American accent, I’ll give him points for effort. He didn’t do much worse than the “Americans” in the First Doctor story “The Gunfighters.” But it seems abundantly clear the production team never for one second thought anyone in the States would see this! 🙂

Where “The Space Pirates” is strong is in all the places Holmes excels. We have some colorful characters, and, all things considered, a good story–at least in essence. The plot isn’t forced along. He separates the TARDIS from the TARDIS crew in a way that works naturally with the plot. His cliffhangers are not contrived–indeed, ending the first episode with Clancey apparently murdering Jamie (and having Zoe call him a murderer to heighten the drama) is quite bold. Caven, the main pirate, is very callous, willing to kill, and, indeed commit mass murder to secure his own ends.

He also takes the TARDIS crew in some interesting directions. We see the Doctor try something risky, and the risk not paying off (as Zoe feared). There’s a scene where they’re in a dark room which they have to light using candles. “What are they?” asks Zoe. The Doctor then explains the principle of the candle and shows Zoe how to light one. I thought that was a wonderful piece of turn-about. Of course, Jamie didn’t bat an eye (except to marvel that they used candles “in this day and age”). And of course, why would Zoe have any experience with candles? She’s from the future, a time when they wouldn’t ever have used them.

As I said, this is not Robert Holmes at his best. But his talent is evident by the fact that his worst Who is still good Who. If you want to watch “The Space Pirates” for yourself, Google the story. The BBC used to turn a blind eye to fan-made reconstructions, but since the rise of digital technology and YouTube, they seem to be policing these things a little more. As of now, however, you should still be able to find the story out there. Hopefully one day, the remaining five episodes will turn up, and we can have a fully restored, complete story to watch.