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Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death (Story 48)

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4 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There should have been much to celebrate when Doctor Who reached its tenth anniversary in 1973 and recognizing this, the BBC pulled out all the stops for a special story (often suggested by viewers) bringing together all the three actors who had played the part of the Doctor up until that point. Its just such a shame that what was produced turned out to be the very lackluster Three Doctors!

Actually made around the time of the ninth anniversary in November 1972 and first aired almost eleven months before the tenth, The Three Doctors is a hugely disappointing story in an otherwise strong season. It was pretty routine during the Pertwee era of the show to have some stories weaker than others, but it is such a shame that it was this very special adventure that drew the short straw. Inherently, the plotline itself is not bad at all, but the script and execution are woeful. The dialogue is not only cheesy but exceptionally cheesily delivered. The normally reliable Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier) and John Levene (Benton) in particular are both made to look like bumbling pantomime characters as are the supporting cast of Dr. Tyler and Mr. Ollis. Of course, the production was plagued with problems right from the beginning as Producer Barry Letts and Script Editor Terrance Dicks explain in the very engaging commentary. Although he was very enthusiastic, ill health meant that the first Doctor, William Hartnell, was simply not up to playing a very active role in the show at all. His part was drastically scaled back and limited to filmed inserts. Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor, makes a very welcome and energetic return to the show and certainly goes a long way to stealing the thunder of the incumbent Jon Pertwee. Rewrites to accommodate the changing availability of the cast and plot could be one reason the show just doesnt work, but theres no real excuse for the cheapness of the production. The sets are limited to four with some bland location work in the standard gravel pit added. The set for Omegas domain is truly dreadful, as are his Gellgaurd minions. Quite how anyone thought the design would work is mind-boggling. The time lord control center is littered with left over props from Carnival of Monsters (not yet broadcast, but recorded earlier), as are the time lord costumes. Everything else takes place in the standard Tardis or the UNIT lab sets. Its all so gaudy and hammed up by the actors that theres no way it can be appreciated as the classic adventure it should be. Even the normally very reliable Katy Manning (Jo Grant) is weak, but in fairness, like the two lead Doctors, shes merely trying to cope as best she can with dreadful lines.

Rather surprisingly, the better of the two releases is the earlier Troughton epic The Seeds of Death, one of the first stories to make it onto VHS in the early eighties. Made at the end of 1968/early 1969 this six-part adventure in black and white hardly holds classic status in the series canon. But surprisingly, and thanks in part to a very, very intensive clean up and restoration, the story does stand up very strongly. Well, at least in comparison to the Three Doctors anyway. Marking the second appearance of the much-loved Ice Warriors, there is enough in this story to keep viewers enthralled throughout its six episodes. True, it could have been much better had it only stretched to four, but the padding is not as obvious as other longer adventures. The most striking feature for me is the design and direction. Marking it clearly as a late sixties show, the set has some terrific touches that help the production stand out. Theres a very well put together supporting cast, even if the three regulars are a bit below par. This was intended to be Frazer Hines (Jamie) last appearance in the show, but as it was announced during its broadcast that Troughton would be leaving the role of the Doctor at the end of the season, Hines was persuaded to stay on until then and leave at the same time, as ultimately did Wendy Padbury (Zoe). Hines and Padbury join Director Michael Ferguson and Script Editor Terrance Dicks to provide a hugely enjoyable commentary soundtrack, which is very insightful into the production of the story. As both teams say on both releases, its such a shame that neither of the two Doctors featured are around to provide their own thoughts.

Both discs provide many, many extras, in the case of the Seeds of Death on an entirely separate disc. Theres some genuinely interesting features dragged from the archives, including a completely bizarre interview with Patrick Troughton recorded in 1973. Theres also a newly made mini-documentary featuring the actors who played the Ice Warriors.

Its all very enjoyable stuff, and any fan of the show will of course be delighted to add to the growing DVD collection of stories. Im not sure how casual viewers would react to these two stories, but I hope it wont put them off future releases.

This is one of Troughtons best surviving stories. It is a marvelous DVD with great commentary by Wendy Padbury, Frazer Hines, Terrance Dicks etc. It is a shame that only 6 stories out of 20 in Troughtons era exist in full, but luckily we do have this story. I think the monsters are great in this, and the storyline is wonderful. This is an excellent addition to any Patrick Troughton fan, or to any Doctor Who fan!

The Seeds of Death was the very first black & white Doctor Who story released on video, it was also the only one to be released in a movie compilation format. The fact that the new dvd is presented here complete and uncut is just one selling point. That it has been fully vidfired and now looks absolutely astounding is the big one. Only the sound quality of the story should clue you in to the fact that it isn't a transfer from the original video tapes Seeds Of Death isn't quite on the same level as other season 6 stories such as The Invasion and The War Games, but it does pack it's own little dramatic punch. The extras are a bit slim for this release and one wonders why they even bothered with the second disc. Still, this is a required purchase for any fan of Patrick Troughton's doctor.

Okay, so the title's not that great.
Fortunately, the DVD is.
This was one of the first Troughton episodes I remember seeing, and it was certainly an enjoyable experience. It introduces the T-Mat, Doctor Who's version of Star Trek's Transporter, and provides an interesting commentary on what happens when we get too comfortable in our lives. Not to mention that the technology became one of the few examples of continuity through most of the series. There's some great moments for the Doctor here as well, especially one scene where he is rapidly trying to prevent a "seed" from bursting by pouring just about everything in a beaker he can get his hands on as fast as he can. While some of the acting is a bit flat and the special effects were dated even when the episode was new (It's kind of hard not to giggle when someone appears on the T-Mat and the entire scene jumps a few inches to one side), the script is reasonably solid and most of the performances are quite enjoyable. Because of the technical flaws it's probably not the best story to start out with if you've never seen the series, but if you've already learned to love the second Doctor you probably won't be disapointed with this in your library.

I made up my mind to leave Ohio in January 1999, and moved six weeks later. I somehow got wrapped up in a very intense relationship during those six weeks, knowing quite well in retrospect that it was never going to work once I left the state for good. However, she was a "Doctor Who" fan, and so was I. You just don't let these rare connections drift by. We spent a good portion of our time together watching my Season 6 Patrick Troughton videotapes (getting far as Episode 4 of "The War Games" until the inevitable happened). The only disagreement we ever had (apart from the move) was on the quality of "The Seeds of Death". She thought it was enjoyable fun. I thought it was a dull slog. Maybe that's why we didn't last. Was I being too critical?

"Seeds of Death" has always been on the lower region of my own "Doctor Who" rankings. On paper I should love it: I'm a fan of "The Ice Warriors" and "The Curse of Peladon", two other stories featuring the same villainous Martian marauders. I similarly have great fondness for the Season 6 Doctor/companion pairing. Fraser Hines almost never embarrassed himself as an actor during three long seasons. Wendy Padbury, of course, is a doll. Archaic word, but it actually fits. Cutest face ever.

Each of Patrick Troughton's stories -- whether you're watching on TV or merely listening to the surviving audio -- is a seminar on how to play "Doctor Who". You can always count on Troughton for a riveting mixture of physical clowning and top-tier problem solving -- usually at the same time. "Seeds of Death" is notable for a shockingly well-directed madcap chase sequence in Episode 3, as Troughton runs back and forth down the same lone corridor set, making it seem as if he's running for miles. He slips and slides, turns and twists, and does comic double-takes at every distorted mirror reflection. Finally, when the Ice Warriors have him cornered... he talks his way out of it: "Your leader will be very cross with you if you kill me.... I'm a genius!"

However, "Seeds of Death" itself never tickled my imagination the way other stories did. The Ice Warriors, let's face it, aren't well-used here. Slaar (Alan Bennion, who played three different Ice Lords across the years and gave each of them distinct shadings) is only allowed to stand around a control room on the Moon and terrify a dwindling cast of stock BBC actors. The most interesting of these (Harry Towb) is killed off after ten minutes. There's a lot to be said for Terry Scully's nebbishy performance as Fewsham, the moonbase technician who turns traitor to save his own life until he finally summons up the courage to redeem himself with a noble act of self-sacrifice. However, we've seen this performance many other times across the years, so the hurdle is set high. His best moment is the scene in Episode 5, after Fewsham's already made up his mind to betray the Ice Warriors: he's seen standing alone, frowning, wringing his hands, waiting for Slaar to find him. That's quite a good shot.

The DVD builds up a solid case that this story is a neglected Troughton gem. The crowded commentary track features the companions (Hines and Padbury) making cogent remarks about the action -- when they're not busy laughing at Troughton's clowning or about their own slips and line fluffs. Much is made of Jamie's frequent groping of Zoe. You can always count on this reaction when someone asks what it was like to work with the late Troughton: "Ohhhhh" (Similarly, when asked what William Hartnell was like, the reaction is a less enthusiastic "Well..."). Director Michael Ferguson delivers a good account of how he direct ed the story. Since he's speaking 34 years later, it's impressive that he remembers what he does. Script editor Terrance Dicks should be allowed on every commentary track, even for the stories he didn't oversee. The commentary picks up intensity once he shows up for Episode 3. If you don't have time to listen to two hours of actor ramblings, the one episode to listen to is Episode 4, where Ferguson and Dicks discuss the story alone.

A long featurette, amusingly called "Sssowing the Ssseeds", describes how the Ice Warrior costumes were made, and three actors tell us what it was like to work in them. Speaking of costumes, the VidFIRE process that restores the episodes to their original videotape look, works so vividly that you can actually count the paint brushstrokes on the Ice Warrior helmets. The other extras on the bonus disc do not pertain to "Seeds" specifically, but provide archival footage from a dozen other "Troughton" stories that no longer exist.

I find the production-note option increasingly tiresome when Richard Molesworth is the writer. His formula seems to be: provide all the other acting credits of all the other actors in the guest cast; give us the day and the location of the filming of all the model shots; and describe the originally conceived plot of the episode. Only the last of those three items interests me. It's possible to provide fresh text commentary for decades-old "Doctor Who" stories -- see Martin Wiggins' contributions -- so I think Molesworth could depart from the formula without hurting anyone.

At this point in my life, with new "Doctor Who" a year away, I am never going to fall in love with "The Seeds of Death". I may never watch it again. However, the DVD series, with their focus on what *works* (and, more importantly, by getting the story's actors and production team to laugh at the shortcomings), serve the important task of rehabilitating the less-remembered stories, and work hard to dispute the notion that "Doctor Who" was always done on the cheap, without thought. Fair enough. Job well done. Next DVD, please.

Troughton rules.
The Ice Warriors rule.
Zoe in a catsuit rules.
The Restoration Team rules.

'nuff said.

If you don't have this gem in your Who collection, you're nutso!!

On the recent DVD release of THE SEEDS OF DEATH, the picture quality looks absolutely phenomenal, thanks to the VIDFIRE treatment and from the painstaking effort placed in cleaning each frame. It's a pity the same remedies couldn't have been applied to the script, as it surely could have benefited from having a few of the rough spots removed. Terrance Dicks often complains that six-part Who stories were difficult to do without resorting to padding, and it's easy to nod alongside him. Still, this was the first time I watched the serial in episode format and that helped. By limiting myself to two episodes a sitting stretched over several days, I didn't let the viewing become tedious. The best I can say is that it isn't boring, which isn't an enormous compliment, but it's enough.

One way you could look at the structure of much of this story is as a reworking of the basic base-under-siege pattern that was so prevalent and successful. However, instead of a base, we're presented with a small storeroom; the Ice Warriors effortless capture the entire outpost within minutes rather than (as in the past) not managing it until later episodes, or, indeed, ever. But this actually works, as the storeroom is a convincingly confined set, and you can really believe they these people are pinned in here hiding from great danger lurking in the corridors.

As with many serials from the era, the production is a mixture of silliness and splashes of surprisingly effectiveness. The sets are quite good, and the director successfully makes it appear that there's more than one corridor on the moonbase. As for the silliness, well, other reviewers have mocked the characters' "nappy-wear" costumes, but it looked to me more like some joker had darkened their visible panty lines with permanent marker. I concur with the opinion stated many times on the DVD commentary track: "Not really flattering, no."

One of the major negatives is the story rests so heavily on a hokey piece of fictional technology. T-Mat is the equivalent of Star Trek's transporter, allowing anyone in the world to beam to anywhere else in the world by bouncing a signal off the moon (presumably it only works on half the planet at a time, but this isn't addressed). The world's supply of hamburgers and Chicken McNuggets are delivered via this medium, so a slight delay means starvation for millions. So naturally, this vital, irreplaceable technology is all controlled through one sloppily organized (the opening scene shows the world's food supply delayed by five minutes because of one mistake) point, a relay station. This design flaw becomes most apparent when the aliens invade and start stomping through it.

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the directing in this episode. On one hand, Michael Ferguson does a great job with some short individual scenes. There are set pieces with a lot of tension. That parallel zoom-in thing he does is very effective. But the overall story never feels real or dangerous. The threat from the Ice Warrior's oh-so-dastardly plan remains a little too abstract in tone. There's no real tension from it; I never felt the characters or the world were seriously in jeopardy. Yet I was able to easily accept that they were in immediate danger from, say, the soldier shooting at them. That stated, I did like the way the plot (where there is of it) unfolds. The Ice Warriors plan is multi-staged, and we get to see them constantly one step ahead of everyone.

The places where the story works best are where focus is placed on its human components. The regular cast and the guest actors play it all very nicely and believably (a few wooden extras aside). Terry Scully as Fewsham gets a lot of deserved credit for playing the collaborator whose conscience is slowly eating away at him. Harry Towb steals the show quite nicely... until he's killed off after a scant ten minutes. The Earth-based characters play off each other well, too. I really like the scene where Phillip Ray's Professor Eldred fusses over the would-be-Astronauts while the Doctor gently humors him.

Speaking of the Doctor, I think a large part of what makes SEEDS watchable is that I simply love this Doctor-companion combination. I'd watch them in anything. A little remarked upon scene comes near the end, where the defeated Ice Lord orders his heavy to destroy the Doctor. Patrick Troughton calmly closes his eyes, his character peacefully preparing for death. Until he suddenly spots Jamie in harm's way and leaps across a table to spoil the warrior's aim. It's nicely underplayed, which is classic Troughton.

THE SEEDS OF DEATH isn't terribly good. But ironically, the DVD of it is, simply because of the wealth of material on it that isn't THE SEEDS OF DEATH. The SSSOWING THE SSSEEDSS documentary is relatively interesting, although if one were being unkind, one could simply sum up the 25 minutes with the sentence: "The costumes were uncomfortable." The Censor Clips and The Last Dalek thing are diverting enough, though I'm not sure if I'll ever feel the need to watch them again without a story to go around them.

While watching the main story, I wrote down many jokes and then had to erase them when I listened to the commentary track, because Terrance Dicks had already made them. I have no bad things to say about this commentary. All you need to know is that good old Uncle Terry is on it, which automatically places it in the top-tier.

An extremely enjoyable and campy Troughton adventure that heralds the return of the Ice Warriors. Some fans might not get much enjoyment out of this one, due to horrible editing, OTT acting and atrocious dialogue and scientific credibility thrown out the window. My review might be little biased, due to the fact this was the first Troughton serial I ever saw. The design of the production is pretty good, and the Ice Warriors with the first appearance of an Ice Lord and Grand Marshall are very effective. But it does feel like the whole production is very rushed, characters repeating themselves throughout the story(such as Zoe informing Ms Kelly that T-Mat is working again, when Ms Kelly had already repaired it in the previous episode). Fewshum steals the show as he informs his moon buddies, "I want to LIVE! " What makes up for the tediousness and contradictions is the humor. Trougton is absolutely wonderful, "You can't kill me..... I'm a genius!" Yes, there are better Trougton stories than this, but I often wonder if fans forget why they started watching the program. It certainly can't be the special effects.....

Leave it to "Doctor Who" to take that most hackneyed of science fiction concepts, a Martian invasion of Earth, and actually make it fresh and interesting. But the idea of an unselfconscious overdependence on technology backfiring when it breaks down or is sabotaged (I'm reminded of things like the Y2K scare here) and the theme of biological warfare (WMDs, anyone?) both seem as startlingly contemporary as the 1960's vision of the future represented here seems nostalgically dated (but fun). And if the actual rendering of the Martian Ice Warriors costume-wise hasn't stood the test of time so well, the portrayal of a rigidly hierarchical, militaristic society backed into a corner by the dying of their own world and so striving to colonize another works remarkably well and is rather believable. Of course, the idea of cold-blooded reptilians who thrive in low temperatures and to whom heat is deadly seems scientifically worrisome, but oh never mind. They sure act cold-blooded anyway.

There's some fine acting from the supporting cast here, and that does wonders in helping one suspend one's disbelief when faced with some of the shakier elements of the storyline. Patrick Troughton is in absolutely top form as the second Doctor, bumbling about absent-mindedly but saving the day with his scientific genius, goofy and lovable but ready to fry Ice Warriors into lizard pudding and lure their armadas into the sun if they insist on being aggressors (and to think the sixth Doctor took so much flak for shooting down a couple of Cybermen). Rational, intellectual Zoe and stout, strong-armed Jamie create a fine balance among the main characters, and their warmth and chemistry with the Doctor seems convincingly natural--the three of them make for what might possibly be one of the most compelling combinations in the history of the show, and that's saying a lot.

This is a six-parter, and I've found that watching these all at once makes the plot seem ploddingly slow but that watching a few at a time over a couple of days fixes this problem. Which only makes sense after all, since these episodes were originally intended to be watched one at a time on a weekly basis and were paced with that in mind. As for the DVD itself, some of the footage included here as extras can also be found on the "Lost in Time" DVD set and seems more at home there, and the ones specific to "Seeds of Death" don't quite seem to justify a second disc and the corresponding price increase. But overall that shouldn't deter anyone from adding this classic "Doctor Who" storyline to their collection.

The Seeds of Death is definitely a shining jewel in Doctor Who's sixth season, bested only by the superb serials The Mind Robber and The War Games (Can we have these on DVD soon, please?). It is simply breathtaking to watch on DVD. The Restoration Team have remastered all six episodes to such an extent that the program looks as if it were made yesterday instead of way back in 1969. Trust me - the picture and sound quality on the DVD are light years ahead of the original VHS release. Also, the extra clips from the lost classic The Web of Fear are worth the price alone! Buy this DVD - you won't be disappointed.