Who Review: Battlefield
The Doctor and Ace intercept a distress call that leads them to Earth, three years in Ace’s future. There they find the strange convergence of an archaeological dig, and a group of soldiers with a nuclear convoy. Explosions hit the hillside, which the Doctor and the chief archaeologist put down to army games. But something deeper is going on, as the Doctor confirms the distress signal is coming from this very area, near to Lake Vortigern. On her way to the lake, Brigadier Bambera of UNIT finds herself caught in the middle of a battle between knights in armor using swords and laser guns. And in a nearby pub, the Doctor notes some kind of alien energy coming from an ancient scabbard hanging on the wall. It seems to be waiting for something, or someone. In the shed where the pub owner makes his own beer, the Doctor, Ace, and their new friend, Shou Yuing, come across an unconscious knight. When the Doctor removes the knight’s helmet, he appears to recognize the Doctor, but he calls him “Merlin.” Before they can leave, they are threatened by knights with guns, the leader of which is identified as Mordred. But Mordred is more concerned to see the Doctor, or “Merlin,” as he calls him. Meanwhile, Mordred’s mother, Morgaine is conjuring a rift in space and time. The Doctor fears a cosmic battle from another dimension is about to take place on Earth. But what is the end game? And why does it seem the Doctor is more intimately involved than he realizes…?
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!
“Battlefield” opened the 26th season of the Classic Series with a pseudo-Arthurian adventure featuring Morgaine, Morgana, Excalibur, Merlin, and knights in shining armor. Writer Ben Aaronovtich, who penned the previous season’s very successful opener, “Revelation of the Daleks,” has since said he wasn’t happy with the way “Battlefield” turned out, and he blames himself and his youthful inexperience. There were things he did in the script that on reflection he shouldn’t have, and things he didn’t do that he should have–one in particular that we’ll talk about in due course. Certainly, “Revelation” is a superior story, but I think Ben’s being too hard on himself. “Battlefield” works well, with a good balance of drama and humor. It doesn’t stick very tightly to the Arthurian legend (the original Merlin wasn’t known to travel through time in a blue box), but plays with it respectfully, so we have the sense of the myth without getting hung up on details.
The big coup for this story was getting Nicholas Courtney back to play the Brigadier for the first time since “Mawdryn Undead” in 1983. This would be his last appearance in Doctor Who. The Brig is in retirement, having traded in Cybermen, Yeti, and Autons for weeds and aphids as his new adversaries. But a call from Geneva convinces him to return to service one last time. How could he refuse when the Doctor is back in town?
But there’s a new Brigadier running UNIT, Brigadier Winifred Bambera. Given the story is set a few years into the 1990s, it was decided to not only make this Brigadier a woman, but a black woman. There still wasn’t much racial diversity in the upper ranks of the military in the late 1980s, so this was seen as a way to indicate we’re in the future without relying upon gadgets and special effects. Today we wouldn’t bat an eyelid to see Brigadier Bambera, but at the time it was significant, and Angela Bruce doesn’t disappoint in the role. She’s every bit as much a Brigadier as Leithbridge-Stewart ever was.
The Brig isn’t the only blast from the past in the story. When the Doctor and Ace encounter the UNIT soldiers, he gives Ace Liz Shaw’s UNIT pass. (For the uninitiated, Liz was the Third Doctor’s first companion). Later, the Brig surprises the Doctor by returning his car, Bessie, to him. Bessie, a canary-yellow Edwardian roadster, was the Third Doctor’s main mode of transportation while he was exiled on Earth.
The Doctor is called “Merlin” by all the Arthurian characters, and the fact they refer to his ever-changing aspect, and the blue box in which he travels through time, indicate they are not confusing the Doctor with someone else. So is he “Merlin”? We’re all glad when Ace raises the question, because we’ve been asking it since Ancelyn first recognized him. The Doctor’s response is typically unsatisfactory: No… or perhaps not yet… maybe in a future incarnation going back to the past… or in a parallel world. Such is life as a Time Lord. Nevertheless, the Doctor doesn’t dismiss the credibility this identification gives him, and he plays the Merlin card for all it’s worth.
I like the way Ben wrote the character of Morgaine. She’s an evil villain, but a villain with a sense of honor and duty. She doesn’t think twice about killing people to get what she wants, even leaving her own son in the hands of her enemies to deprive them of an advantage. And yet, when Mordred downs multiple pints of the barman’s best ale, she settles the tab by restoring sight to his blind wife. And when her soldiers unwittingly fight in a cemetery, near a memorial to fallen soldiers, she is outraged. They stop fighting and pay homage to the dead warriors. This “old school” sensibility doesn’t take away from her wickedness, but makes her more interesting.
Also, there’s subtle plotting, when the Brigadier boasts about UNIT now being equipped with armor piercing bullets, and bullets tipped with gold for Cybermen, and the Doctor asks if he has silver bullets. The Brig tells his quartermaster to make sure they have some. And what do you know–the way to kill the Destroyer is with silver bullets! Nicely played, Ben!
Speaking of the Destroyer, that costume is one of the more successful creations of the Classic Series. By 1989, you would imagine the special effects team could do better on a budget, and that costume is probably as good as it gets. The mouth is a little clunky, but otherwise very effective.
Yes, “Battlefield” is well worth your time. Not “Must-See,” but definitely among the better stories of the Seventh Doctor era. It has tense drama, humor (the budding romance between Bambera and Ancelyn, for example), and a message (see the Doctor’s anti-nuclear war speech to Morgaine at the end), all wrapped up in an enjoyable plot.
