Who Review: Earthshock

A team of paleontologists and geographers comes under attack during a cave expedition on Earth. Military help arrives, but they find no traces of either the missing team members, or of their alleged assailants. When the soldiers sent into the cave to investigate start reporting missing squad members, even the military must concede there is a real threat in the caves.

Meanwhile in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Adric fall out over Adric’s desire to return home. The TARDIS lands, and the Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan leave Adric to plot a way back to E-Space on the ship’s computer while they explore. They seem to have landed in a cave, and before long they find themselves having to explain their presence to a squad of soldiers looking for missing expedition team members. It soon becomes clear that the Doctor had nothing to do with their deaths when they all come under fire from deadly androids. As if this isn’t enough trouble for the Doctor, things will only get worse when he finds out who’s controlling the androids, and what they plan to do…

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!

“Earthshock” is one of the two best stories this season, and possibly the best of the two–the other being “The Visitation”–both written by Eric Saward. The story starts with an extended prologue, which was a novel feature of “The Visitation.” In this story’s five-plus minute opening scene, Saward sets up the story by introducing us to the cave explorers, the soldiers who come to their aid, and the danger they face. While it’s no longer a novelty, this device not only gives us insight into the peril the TARDIS crew will be facing, but it gives us a chance to get to know the new characters, which doesn’t always happen when the Doctor’s around stealing the limelight.

When we eventually get to the TARDIS team, the Doctor and Adric are at each other’s throats again. What starts as a conversation in Adric’s room, where he has mementos from previous adventures (the android mask from “The Visitation,” and a Kinda necklace), turns into an argument about taking Adric home, and how Adric feels unappreciated, the butt of jokes, and an outsider (cue music from Adric’s first story, “Full Circle”). I have to say, I think Adric has a point. But I’ve said more than once that the Fourth Doctor and Adric worked well together, and everything changed when the Doctor regenerated. The Doctor refuses to take Adric home, citing the difficulty of plotting negative coordinates for E-Space, and the virtual impossibility of piloting the TARDIS through a CVE again. Adric says he can do it. By the time he shows the Doctor his calculations, however, both sides have calmed down and Adric admits he doesn’t really want to leave. Its this kind of scene, building our sympathies with Adric, that makes the finale so much harder for Adric’s fans.

“Earthshock” is notable for a couple of huge surprises, and some minor ones. The first of the big surprises that the production team managed to keep secret from the public (a feat that would be impossible these days) is the return of the Cybermen. The reveal at the end of episode one is brilliantly done, and certainly delighted me when I first watched this story. How cool! And even more cool was the fact that they played little clips of the First, Second, and Fourth Doctors’ encounters with the Cybermen. Bear in mind, in 1982 Doctor Who was not available on VHS or any other medium. If it wasn’t on broadcast TV, you didn’t see it. So it had been years (and in the case of fans like me, never) since people had seen these old stories.

We get a minor surprise at the fact that veteran British comedy actress Beryl Reid is playing the freighter commander. Not only is this drama, but it’s sci-fi, both anomalies for Ms. Reid. However, she’s a consummate professional, and gives the part her all, putting in a good performance. Someone more suited to the role may have done better, but it’s testimony to the caliber of actress she is that, even though she is clearly mis-cast, she does well.

Another minor surprise, at least for me, happens when the Cybermen come on board the TARDIS, and the soldiers fire on them from the Console Room. It had been established previously (the 1976 story, “The Hand of Fear,” to be precise) that the TARDIS Console Room was in a special “state of temporal grace” such that weapons do not work there. Clearly that detail was neglected for the sake of a gunfight in the TARDIS. We also see the meek and pacifistic Fifth Doctor pick up the Cyber Leader’s gun and shoot him multiple times at point-blank range. The Doctor has not been averse to using violence when necessary, but this seemed particularly out of character for the Fifth Doctor, and a bit excessive for any Doctor.

The second major surprise is, of course, Adric’s demise. It’s accidentally heroic, caused by his determination to solve the logic puzzles that would release the freighter’s navigation system so he could steer the ship away from Earth. He could have escaped, but sudden inspiration causes him to leap out of the transporter that would take him to an escape pod, so he could try his idea. Before he gets the chance to solve the final puzzle, a dying Cyberman blasts the console. There’s nothing left for him to do but grip the badge his brother had given him before he died in “Full Circle,” and watch the Earth hurtle toward him. The episode closes with a silent credit roll over a picture of Adric’s broken gold-rimmed badge for mathematical excellence that the Doctor had used against a Cyberman. It was a powerful finale, and certainly stunned Who fandom. Even those who didn’t like Adric (and there were many of those) were shocked that they would actually kill him off. What makes his death even more tragic is that the plot made it inevitable. It was that freighter hitting Earth that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs (an event the Doctor told Tegan was “unexplained” in episode one–not any more!). If Adric had succeeded in solving the puzzles and diverting the freighter, the dinosaurs would have stayed and Earth’s history would have been dramatically altered (according to this particular theory, anyway).

I don’t find flaw with much in “Earthshock.” Most of my criticisms are to do with the sets and the costumes, but I have to temper that criticism with the acknowledgement that, as always, the production team were doing the best they could with what little money they had. Sadly, the results are soft, silver-colored Cyberman boots, and flimsy looking doors and storage containers.

The Doctor’s speech to the emotionless Cybermen about smelling a flower, watching a sunset, and eating a “well-prepared meal” is a little strange. Especially the “well-prepared meal” part. But the Doctor’s emphasis on the value of emotional experience only serves to underscore the strength of the Cyber Leader’s argument that emotions are a weakness. There’s no disputing that by threatening Tegan’s life, the Cyber Leader can control the Doctor. Their back-and-forth makes it clear that there is no reasoning with the Cybermen with regard to the value of emotions. Having never known joy, fear, delight, love, friendship, etc., they cannot appreciate the inestimable worth of such things.

To sum up, “Earthshock” is Must-See Who. Definitely a story the die-hard needs to see, but also one that the casual Whovian will enjoy. Good acting, a great script, and full of shocks and surprises (well, not so much now that you’ve read my review!)