Who Review: Doctor Who and the Silurians

A team of scientists is conducting experiments at a nuclear research center built into caves at Wenley Moor. There are high hopes for the project, but concerns over mysterious power outages, and incidences of mental breakdown among the staff, lead them to call in U.N.I.T. to investigate. One man is confined to a psychiatric ward where he does nothing but make cave drawings on the walls. Others who have gone down into the caves turn up dead with claw marks. The Doctor determines there’s an alien presence underground, a fact that is confirmed when one of the creatures tries to attack Liz. But these creatures aren’t an enemy from without. They claim to have been around long before humans came on the scene, and they intend to reclaim the planet they believe is rightfully theirs…

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!

“Doctor Who and the Silurians”–the only serial in the show’s history to have “Doctor Who and…” in the title–is a seven-part story written by Malcolm Hulke, whose last contribution to Who was co-writing “The War Games.” The basic premise of the story concerns an alien species called the Silurians, reptilian creatures who supposedly occupied Earth long before humans evolved. When the moon came into the Earth’s orbit, they believed it was a planet about to crash into them, so they headed for the caves, and hibernated underground. They intended to stay in their hibernation units for a limited time, however, the hibernation units developed a fault that required a large power surge to start reviving them. The nuclear power experiments provided the power they needed. Using that energy (hence the power outages), they began the process of revivifying their race.

Clearly the story assumes an evolutionary point of view, and given Hulke was an avowed atheist, I’m not surprised. Plenty of Doctor Who stories–indeed, much of science fiction period–is written from a secular humanistic worldview. While I don’t share that worldview, I can appreciate the story for what it is without letting it bother me. As long as it doesn’t mock alternative perspectives (which it doesn’t), I’m okay with it. Besides, it is science fiction. 🙂

Seven episodes seems long for a story, though the last season saw both eight-part and ten-part serials (“The Invasion” and “The War Games”). The difference here is this really could have been edited down to six, maybe even four parts. The whole thing with the Silurian’s anti-human plague and the race to find a cure does come across as padding to make the story stretch, although it fits with the power struggle between the peaceful and the warrior Silurians.

The idea that the Silurians, like the humans, have “doves” and “hawks” I thought was good. We’ve encountered a number of aliens who all think alike (Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors), so it’s nice to see dissension among the ranks. Just like the humans, there are those who want to negotiate a tolerant co-existence, and there are those that want to wipe out the whole species and take the planet for themselves. Unfortunately, the “hawks” win the day, but the Doctor holds out hope to the end that peace between Silurians and humans can be achieved. That is, until the Brigadier blows up the Silurian base and closes off all the cave entrances. It was a daring move to end the serial like this, with the Doctor’s plan frustrated by a frightened government. Not exactly a happy, positive conclusion to the story.

There are some interesting character points in “The Silurians.” The Doctor doesn’t come across as very likable at the beginning. His disrespect for the Brigadier is a little annoying, as is his expectation that the Brigadier just accept whatever he says without any proof. When the Brigadier challenged the Doctor on this point, I was 100% behind the Brig. There were times when the Brig wanted to pull Liz away from helping the Doctor to work phones or nurse the sick. At these points, Liz rightly protested that she’s a scientist, and her job was to assist the Doctor. I expected the Doctor to rally to her defense, but he rather sought to appease the Brigadier. Maybe he felt that, as an employee of U.N.I.T., Liz needed to do as the Brig said, right or wrong. But he conceded a little too quickly for my liking. He should have at least insisted she be allowed to return to help him as soon as possible.

There are a couple of plot issue I’d like to raise. The first has to do with the Silurians’ reference to the Van Allen Belt. When their plan to kill off mankind with a virus fails, they go to plan B: a machine that, with the power from the nuclear station, would destroy the Van Allen Belts that protect the Earth from the sun’s harmful rays. This would make the planet too hot for humans, but quite habitable for Silurians. My question is, how would these Silurians, who have been living underground for millions of years, know these belts as “Van Allen Belts”? They were named for James Van Allen, who is credited as having discovered them in 1958. Why would the Silurians also call them “Van Allen Belts”?

The second is the idea that the Silurians fled underground when they saw the moon coming into Earth’s orbit. I’m no cosmologist, but I’m assuming the accepted theory is that the moon was in orbit around the Earth prior to organic life developing? At least, the moon was there from the time humans have been around–that’s my understanding. If that’s the case, then why did the Silurians use their virus to keep humans from stealing their crops back in the day? By the time humans were around, the moon was in the sky and the Silurians were underground.

Overall, this is a good story, and even the “filler” plot isn’t boring. While not necessary, it didn’t make the whole thing drag. It’s the first story to feature Bessie, the Doctor’s car, so it has that going for it. Otherwise, not essential viewing, but worth catching if you can.