Episode 8: The Ambush

I want to start by mentioning Ian's "dislike of the unlike" speech. When I wrote the section on disability last time, I hadn't seen The Ambush for a couple of years so it's pure chance that this comes up now. Ian accuses the Daleks of just the sort of attitude I was talking about, but with the direction reversed. It's a good message, but it must be said that it isn't backed up by the rest of the program.

Still, I don't watch Doctor Who for moral instruction (an idea that is explored in more detail in one of my favourite Eighth Doctor audios, and who knows if I'll ever get that far in this marathon). The important thing is that this episode was - for the most part - highly entertaining. The opening section with the regulars escaping the city was particularly good: well-acted, well-paced, and with Susan using her brains to save everyone. I also enjoyed the Daleks' repeated use of the word "exterminated", so close to their future catchphrase, and the effective and imaginative cutting torch. Not all the effects are so special, with a Dalek having trouble operating controls and an obviously polystyrene statue, but these are not enough to spoil the sequence.

Unfortunately the same can't be said of the following scene between Temmosus and Alydon. They are given some heavy exposition to remind viewers of the situation on Skaro (now that the immediate crisis is resolved), and it kills the tension. The titular ambush that follows isn't bad, but it is too slow to regain the momentum.

So, this second four-part story winds down towards its conclusion - and it's a fairly downbeat end. The Thals' future looks anything but rosy and the TARDIS crew are still divided, arguing about leaving them to their fate. It's notable that the Doctor's appeal to self-preservation wins everyone over, and the travellers head off on another adventure...

Only they don't, of course, because this is a seven-part story, and Terry Nation is just playing a little trick on us. Again I wonder if people knew at the time that the story was due to continue, because it certainly makes a difference to how I watch it. This really does feel like the last part - though not, admittedly, a particularly satifying conclusion. The last few seconds as Ian realises the Daleks still have the fluid link lead us into possibly the best cliffhanger since the plunger.

People have called Nation a hack writer. We know that he didn't pour his heart and soul into this story, which was simply a way to keep his family fed when he was fired by Tony Hancock, but what is evident to me is the craftsmanship. Remember, too, that this was written in something of a hurry. The second story kept changing, and for a long time was going to be The Masters of Luxor by Anthony Coburn, but it wasn't working out. Nation effectively stepped into the breach with the only script that was usable in time (a narrow squeak for the Daleks, who Sydney Newman disliked but was forced to accept). The fact that it works so well in the circumstances is impressive; if this is hackwork, I'd love to see what happens when Nation actually tries his best!

And this is where I need to thank El Sandifer for making me do this episode by episode. You can't see the quality of Nation's script so clearly when watching the story en masse, because you're trying to view it as a film and it is written as a serial - the only way the creators thought it would ever be seen. I don't agree with the erudite Dr. Sandifer on everything, though. Take William Russell, for instance. Russell gets to play a man who suppresses his emotions much of the time and to my mind puts in a fairly subtle performance, second only to Jacqueline Hill in the "reliable acting" stakes among the regulars. The closing moments of this episode are a case in point. Ian gets to stand around stiffly, emoting very little, but in the process Russell shows us quite a lot, particularly with his eyes - and when Ian does get the bigger moments (such as the final few seconds of the episode) he has real presence.

There was good news for all the regulars shortly before The Ambush was broadcast, as the BBC committed to a further 16 episodes on William Hartnell's birthday; and next week, Nation will be called upon to write another SF script at short notice. The show is going places, but the travel arrangements are still rocky...

Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 11th January 1964
Viewers: 9.9 million
Chart Position: 29
Appreciation Index: 63

Rating:
8/10.

Next Time:
The Expedition.