Spearhead from Space Episode 2 review

Season 7 @50.  This episode is home to some of the most filmic direction original Doctor Who ever staged. Derek Martinus never misses an opportunity to exert maximum big screen camerawork when he can utilising the generous locations and accentuating the creepiness of the Autons. Shots zoom in and out at the Auton scout as it seeks the signal. There is an almost cartoon style impact to these flourishes most noticeably in the final shot of a terrified Ransome. It is rare to end an episode with someone other than either the Doctor or companion in danger and odd too that we’ve already seen an Auton in action so we know what he doesn’t. 

Best of all is the extremely well- constructed sequence in which an Auton steps out into the road causing the UNIT jeep to crash. This takes matters to the edge of where the time slot probably allowed but we still see an unconscious soldier, blood on the cracked windscreen and the Auton beyond. Showing blood like this is rare in the series even today. Martinus knows how to generate the greatest impact- as Ransome wanders around his old lab the moment when one of the Autons in the background starts moving remains a jolt even when you know its coming.

These days people treat original Doctor Who as if it is a bit basic but if you look at an episode like this one it’s just that the scripts are very precise. The series does not have time for anything which is not servicing the central plot yet the best writers of the time do find ways of establishing a light characterisation which is often enough. Here Robert Holmes has penned a very economical script which means that despite the amount of exposition matters trundle along naturally. Ransome’s backstory is presented in one sequence where he confronts Hibbert over his sudden sacking whilst negotiating deals in America. Its also a way of telling the viewer how quickly Channing  has changed the factory (though most of the equipment we see looks quite old).  Incidentally I wonder if Channing’s behaviour in this story was the template the production team used when drawing up the idea of The Master. He is very similar in many respects and seems to have a hypnotic hold over Hibbert. 

The squabbling Seeleys are another example as Holmes quickly establishes their life in one scene. Sam’s secretive hiding of the globe in the shed is clearly not an isolated incident as his wife Meg questions whether he’s been “stealing again”. Typical Seventies man Sam though just wants his wife to get back to the kitchen and cook a meal! It’s a delightful little scene that always reminds me of a sitcom situation. Fifty years back of course there was still very much a male / female divide, these were the days before most men did cooking, shopping or housework. So from a modern perspective you’re cheering Meg all the way. Mind you I do wonder how Sam would have explained the glowing object had Meg seen it. “Just summat I picked up at the corner shop, never you mind. Where’s me kippers!”

The episode gives Jon Pertwee a run out of what will become some of his go-to mannerisms in the coming years- the flexible facial expressions, a somewhat imperious tone and a love of gadgets. The new Doctor is often playful in this episode with his robust singing while in the shower and a look when he spies a sign that says Doctors Only contrast with the otherwise serious nature of the episode. His new threads fit perfectly but you wonder whose clothes they are; its only the cloak and hat that belongs to Doctor Lomax. I’m not sure Doctor Henderson would favour frilly shirts and velvet jackets!

The new Doctor’s scientific prowess though is quickly deployed within a minute of him entering the UNIT lab when he confers with Liz whom he is already ahead of with one glance despite her panoply of test tubes and bubbling liquids. It is he who suggests the fragment they’ve found was a coating containing something inside. The Brig’s comment about makeshift facilities is amusing in the middle of what looks like a very generously stocked lab but the unfeasibly huge room does allow for tracking shots and a rather silly bit of wall at the back serving no purpose.

The lab sequences also include some more Brigadier / Liz banter- she really is quit snarky in this episode whatever is thrown at her particularly General Scobie. Her expression when he comments on how it makes a change to have “a pretty face” around is a picture. She has little time for the Brigadier’s attempts to speed up her work and Caroline John does a convincing busy scientist routine whatever she is supposed to be doing. Another Pertwee period trope features here and that’s unlikely lab experiments. What is she doing exactly?

The scene where the Doctor demands admittance to the UNIT HQ introduces the first of many guards or officials whose working day would seemingly be upset by an encounter with the Doctor. This depiction of ordinary working people as easily exhausted by a little problem remains an odd thing that reached a peak with the police officer in `Planet of the Spiders` whose involvement in a car chase causes him to decide to go home for a rest!

There’s a pleasingly uneven manner in which some of the reveals are handled. Channing’s hideout is casually shown quite soon and as with the UNIT lab makes good use of a space clearly larger than a studio set would provide. These touches do add a realistic edge to even the most fantastical scene.

The Derek Smee Collection

During his 49 year long tv and theatre career Derek Smee, who plays Ransome in `Spearhead from Space` kept many of his scripts (with his notes) as well as contract documentation, correspondence, photographs, theatre programmes and other items building a unique history of a working actor. Following his death in 2014 relatives donated this collection to the V&A Blythe House Archive and Library Study Room where it can be viewed by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found at - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/