26: The Savages

Before Watching

I can say but little about this one. All I remember is that Steven stays behind at the end of the story, and this is Peter Purves’ swansong.

As for the story, well, I must have read the synopsis somewhere along the line, but I can’t remember one thing about it. Still, as my grandmother used to say, “Expect nothing and you won’t be disappointed.”

After Watching

Maybe I’m going soft, but at least the basic concept of this one seemed to hold a little more water than some. Not for the first time in the show’s history, this is a story which seems to draw some of its inspiration from HG Wells’ The Time Machine. The Doctor and his companions land on a planet in the far future where there seem to be two distinct groups of humans – those who live in the city led by the Elders, and those who live outside in a virtually paleolithic existence, and dubbed by the city dwellers as the savages. By the second episode it becomes clear that the Savages are being kept almost as farm animals. They are harvested, and their life force is technologically drained from them, to augment the life fore of the city dwellers. The average city dweller doesn’t know what is going on, it is all down to their nefarious Elders, led by Frederick Jaeger’s Jano. So, dirty and smelly as they may be, the noble Savages are cast in the role of the Eloi, and the self satisfied and smug city dwellers are the Morlocks. Although the word vampire hasn’t been mentioned I could argue that this is Doctor Who’s first take on the theme of vampirism. It won’t be the last. As I say, at least I can see a motive behind the nastiness that is going on, and that’s always a plus point.

In the first episode as the TARDIS lands the Doctor says we’re so far in the future we’re in an unprecedented age of peace and prosperity. After he goes off wandering with a piece of funny looking equipment called honest to God, a reacting vibrator, for reasons he never really explains, Steven and Dodo deduce that we’re back in the Stone age after seeing one of the Savages. The city soldiers who come to welcome the Doctor have by far the silliest hats since the Robomen.  When the Doctor met the Elders, there was a surprise when I saw that their leader Jano was played by Frederick Jaeger. He appeared in two memorable Tom Baker stories, Planet of Evil, and The Invisible Enemy – he was the creator of K9 in that story. Lot to answer for in my opinion. Jano at least seems to be blacked up – I wonder what made them take that particular decision?

The leader of the soldiers, Exorse has a lightgun which in some shots looked like a seaside telescope – I couldn’t help but wonder if he had to put a shilling in it to fire it? The city set looked quite impressive in some of the snaps.  The light gun has the effect of sapping the will of anyone caught in its beam, and the unlucky recipient in the first episode was a savage girl called Nanina. She looked to be dressed in a costume which reminded one of Raquel Welch’s One Million Years BC. The Savages may have been short on technology, but judging by Nanina they’re not short on hair care products.

Coming back to the City Dwellers, I’ve already drawn the comparison with “The Time Machine”  Actually with the people who show Steve and Dodo around the city not wanting to look through the windows to the outside, and insisting that they have everything they need in the city, I’m also reminded of Arthur C. Clarke’s “The City and the Stars.”

Now, here’s a thing. In the end of the first episode Dodo wandered off, and accidentally blundered into the corridor where the scientists release the de-vitalitised savages back into the wild. The two city dwellers who had been showing her and Dodo around, called Avon and Flower suggested that maybe she was hiding playing a game, and Steven replied, “Not even Dodo’s stupid enough for that!” Heartfelt words by the sound of it. Was this a sign that the production team had had enough of Dodo? I know that she disappears for good before the end of the next story.

Hartnell is superb when he confronts the soldier sent to follow him out of the city. He is full of righteous indignation saying “They are men, human beings – like you and me!” Of course the presumably unintentional irony is that he isn’t a human being himself! Which he already told us many stories ago. This continues even more so when he confronts Jano – again a terrific performance from Hartnell. When the Doctor is having his vitality removed, the third assistant is played by Tony Holland, who would go on to create Eastenders just a couple of decades later.

In the third episode Jano takes the intransference – the vitality transfusion – from the Doctor himself. Edorse follows Steven and Dodo into the cave of the savages, and this bit goes on a bit too much. It turns out that it’s another wordless week for Hartnell, as he’s unconscious. There’s just a hint of possible future romance between Exorse and Nanina after she prevents Tor from killing him. You just knew that when Jano recovered he was going to be doing a William Hartnell impression. Which makes no sense. If that was how it worked, then every time someone intransfers savage vitality, then they’d start acting like the savages do.

Oh well, it was nice to get a sudden flash of video towards the end of the third episode, although it only lasted for a couple of seconds. As for the last episode, the big question is how will Jano act when the party of soldiers goes out with him to try to recapture the Doctor, Steven and Dodo? Back in the cave Nanina is having a hard time convincing the rest of the savages not to listen to Tor, and to leave Exorse alone. Her hair still looks lovely though. The Doctor is still suffering from the effects of the vitality transfusion, and Dodo once again shows that she is no mental giant when it turns out that she has had capsules from the Doctor which could have helped him all the time, but forgot. D’oh! Once the Doctor starts to recover he gives us an interesting contrast which shows just how far he and the series has come since An Unearthly Child. That story was all about getting back to the TARDIS and leave well alone. In this one he absolutely refuses to go back to the TARDIS because he wants to stay and help the oppressed people (his words).

Yes, this is a story with its heart in the right place, and you can only applaud the Doctor’s determination to get back into the city to destroy the machinery. Knowing that Jano has been changed through being transfused, the two of them come up with a plan to convince the Elders and soldiers to let them in and start smashing the machinery, which they do with true luddite abandon. Then almost immediately after Jano turns to the savages’ leader Chal and says they will have to all find a new leader, Steven shows leadership quality when the soldiers under Edal burst in. That was handy. Steven is unsure when both the Chal and Jano say he is the man for the job, but the Doctor pushes him forward with almost indecent haste. At least they got a handshake, and he told Steven he was very proud of him. Don’t expect anything like that for you Dodo.

Good old Peter Purves. It didn’t matter how silly the lines he was given were, or how humiliating the things he was asked to do, he always gave it his all.  As for this story, well, it wasn’t at all bad. For all that you could accuse it of being a bit preachy, the fact is that this story had its heart in the right place.

What Have We Learned?

Dodo has the memory of a goldfish

The Doctor is very proud of Steven