The opening of the final episode is as bleak as anything in the series
so far. The Doctor looks defeated as the hairdryer lowers; Vicki
struggles to hide the detonator, and then - when she finds out that this
is a mistake - the two of them seem utterly dejected. Unfortunately,
the mood is hindered slightly by a switch to a less effective outdoor
scene. They seem to have used too much vaseline, and the very stagey
positioning of actors doesn't help. However, there is a certain
dancelike choreography to the diversion that Harbara's group is staging,
and this soon softens the negative impact of the initial view. Moving
into the Carsinome helps too; Hilio's wings sweeping across the body of
his dead comrade is a touching moment.
Meanwhile, underground, we have Heron's party. The discovery of water
(rather than acid) is a symbol of hope, and things are starting to look
up. The set provides rather too convenient a climbing area, but this is
easily ignored; and the Optera's fear of the light is touching.
The pacing and action is built up by the use of some very quick cuts.
The number of shots in this part of the episode is huge, particularly in
the Carsinome; and it is all skilfully done, with nobody missing their
mark by any significant amount.
When the Doctor and Vicki reach the Animus in the Centre we are treated
to a splendid new set. Since it was only required for a single episode
(and this episode was originally going to be called Centre of Terror,
which would, I feel, have been a better name) John Wood could go to
town and produce something that didn't need to survive being packed away
for a week. The mass of rootlike tentacles, the light, the organic
feel, the circularity with everything leading in to the Animus like a
great spider at the centre of its web - all of this works to enhance the
mood of Lovecraftian horror.
Ah yes, I had to use the word "Lovecraftian" eventually. I'm not a big
fan of H.P. Lovecraft's writing, but the universe he created has given
me a lot of pleasure. I was a regular player of the Call of Cthulhu
RPG back in the 90s, and have picked up a fair bit of knowledge along
the way (though I'll leave it to others to determine how much Sanity I
may have lost in the process). The Animus was one of the beings picked
to be a Great Old One in the New Adventures novel All-Consuming Fire;
and watching this you can see why. Apparently it's a Lloigor, which is
slightly odd. Lloigor was a single entity created by August Derleth, and
was a suitably tentacled monstrosity. When Colin Wilson retconned it to
be the name of a race he reimagined them as psychic energy creatures.
Whatever, the Animus has the proper feel for this sort of existential
horror. It's obviously massively more powerful than anyone else in the
story, and while it doesn't have the purity of Lovecraft's original
creations - which operate on so cosmic a level that they don't even
notice us - the adjective fits. The name of the Carsinome, of course,
comes from carcinoma, the most common type of cancer - and the image of
it growing across the planet is suitable in its sense of unstoppable,
faceless menace. Combine this with the animalistic Zarbi servants
terrified of their controller (and what a neat way to explain their fear
of spiders!), Catherine Fleming's voice, and the awed fear of the
Optera and Menoptera built up over the course of the story - and you
have a truly classic horror from beyond.
Almost as soon as they enter the Animus's presence, the Doctor and Vicki
are crushed. We have already seen them looking hopeless; now they truly
are helpless too. Then we switch to Heron in the organic tunnel beneath
- which also looks great, and feels appropriately claustrophobic.
There's a glimmer of hope, which glows brighter when Harbara activates
the destructor...
...only to find that it doesn't work. I'd forgotten that from earlier
viewing, and it threw me completely off-guard - what can they possibly
do now? The Animus says "approach, Earth people", showing that it knows
Heron is there too. Heron appears, and surely he will do something; he's
the action hero, after all. But he is unable to break the spell. All
seems lost.
And then Harbara saves the day again, priming the device at much closer
range and dropping it right into the creature, which shrivels and dies.
And that's it - the adventure's over, and the expression on Vicki's face
when she discovers this is really complex. There's relief, certainly,
but it's tempered with something else, perhaps a realisation of how
close they were to death.
This climactic sequence has been such an adrenaline rush! So many twists
and turns, moments of hope amid a wash of despair, such weird timing.
We are still a fair way from the end of the episode, and I for one
wasn't expecting the adventure to end so soon. Not that it's a
disappointment - the timing's part of what keeps it interesting. Good
old serial N, off-kilter to the end.
The long epilogue is lovely, with plenty of symbolism showing the
hopeful future. Water starts flowing, Harbara plays with a venom grub,
Vrestin provides encouragement for the Optera, explaining how flight may
return too their descendents and that light can be good as well as bad.
Meanwhile, Heron and the Doctor get back to normality, teasing each
other over the matter of a lost Coal Hill tie.
Oh, and you know I said how bad the outside scenes looked earlier? When the TARDIS disappears at the end it looks great.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 20th March 1965
Viewers: 11.5 million
Chart Position: 14
Appreciation Index: 42
Rating:
8/10.
Next Time:
Serial N as a whole.
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