I did say earlier that I would talk about some of the problems with
Richard Martin's direction, and this - the most troubled episode of the
serial - seems like an appropriate point. To be honest, the problem
isn't so much with the technical aspects of direction as the scale of
his ambition. The filming at Ealing overran massively, requiring not
only the day set aside in case of problems but also one extra. The Zarbi
overran a little, and then this episode hit serious difficulties
resulting in an overrun of more than half an hour, running close to the
11PM absolute deadline. Many of the problems were nothing to do with
Martin - some sets were not delivered on time, parts of the floor had
not been painted, there were lighting difficulties and a camera broke -
but these delays caused friction between him and producer Verity
Lambert.
As well as timing, Lambert also chided him for letting the actors change
their lines. Part of this was due to the actors being thrown by the
other problems and so fluffing. William Hartnell in particular was
finding the serial difficult, because the cumbersome costumes meant he
had to hit his marks more accurately than he was used to. Martin
responded to the producer's comments with a complaint of his own, about
the trailer that was shot to advertise the serial (which portrayed Zarbi
arriving at the BBC to act in the show)). He felt it was too comedic,
undermining the tone of the story before it even aired; Lambert wanted
to make the creatures feel safe to children.
I'm with Martin on this. Serial N was the first time the show had done
outright horror, and if that required undercutting the mood to avoid
scaring younger viewers then it should probably not have been done in
the first place! Still, I'll return to the theme of horror later, in a
more appropriate episode.
What of this one, though? In general the direction is not so good, with
far more static shots; and of course we get to see a Zarbi running into
the camera! A bigger problem for me, though, is the sequence where the
Animus' gun is supposed to be firing at the TARDIS. We can't see this
from the way it is shot at all, which is a serious storytelling failure.
Having said that, though, it is followed by a great shot of the Doctor
stepping out of the smoke and appearing clearly while Ian and Vicki are
still wreathed in it behind him. We also get to see the Menoptera
Vrestin flying, which works surprisingly well; and the shots of the
Doctor talking to the Animus are great, with both Hartnell and Catherine
Fleming selling the idea of two great minds locked in a battle of wits.
The low shot of the Doctor in the communicator in particular makes him
look majestic, and the way he refers to it as a "hairdryer" is a great
bit of lampshading.
The script seems to be using this episode as a chance to explain things.
We learn the backstory of the Menoptera, that they are not invaders
(and so probably count as "good guys"), which is probably a good thing
at this stage; but there is just too much talking for me, and it drains a
lot of the tension. Still, it is written well enough that I didn't
notice that Jacqueline Hill was on holiday, and there are some nice
moments scattered throughout. When the Doctor tells Ian not to break the
time and relative dimension link, I wondered if it were foreshadowing
events in The Time Meddler.
Overall, though, not the best episode. Hopefully it will pick up next time...
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 27th February 1965
Viewers: 12.5 million
Chart Position: 11
Appreciation Index: 53
Rating:
3.5/10.
Next Time:
Crater of Needles.
No comments:
Post a Comment