35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My second favorite from the Tom Baker Years, November 15, 2001
I have to admit that I'm partial to the Seeds of Doom because the fifth segment was the first episode of Dr. Who that I ever saw. I was only seven or eight at the time and the sight of evil, intergalactic plants taking over unwitting human beings was one of the most terrifying that I had ever seen. Well years later, the image isn't quite as scary but the story and the performances still hold up remarkably well as the Doctor (played here by Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (one of my favorite companions -- an opinion that is apparently shared by many fans) confront insane, plant-obsessed millionaire Harrison Chase (played to cold perfection -- and with an admirably serious air -- by Tony Beckley) and the evil alien fungus that he has unwittingly brought back to life. This seriel was written by a veteran of the Avengers and, as such, doesn't play so much as a traditional installment of Dr. Who but instead as an especially elaborate Avengers episode in which Patrick McNee has been replaced by Tom Baker and Diana Rigg by Elisabeth Sladen. As such, the Doctor is willing to engage in hand-to-hand combat with Chase's henchmen and more time is spent on espionage than the usual fantasy and philosophical metaphors than longtime Dr. Who fans might expect. No matter for the change in pace is handled well by both Baker and Sladen and the seriel comes across not as an abberation but instead just a rare chance to look at another side of the Doctor's universe. Even with a longer running time than most of the Tom Baker seriels, the Seeds of Doom is still a remarkably quick paced adventure that holds up remarkably well and is a great deal of fun for both fans of the show and, dare I say, nonfans as well. With its many twists and compelling cliffhangers, the Seeds of Dooms is reminiscent, in many ways, of the classic seriels from the early days of cinema and, for me personally, ranks closely behind The Talons of Weng-Chiang amongst the best of the Tom Baker years.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As good as it gets, March 17, 2004
Is this the best episode of Baker's seven-year run as the Doctor? Quite possibly. Certainly it is up there with "Horror of Fang Rock" and "The Talons of Weng Chiang" on my list of personal favorites. All of the elements which made the series so good are here -- terrific chemistry, Gothic horror, campy dialogue, over the top villainy, and of course that all-purpose English manor, which appeared in about 17 episodes and which I think actually belonged to Mick Jagger (it gets blown up at the end, but that doesn't mean we've seen the last of it).
I have to say the criticisms of this episode that I've read seem silly to me. Bad special effects? When were the effects in this series ever good? In my view it has only two flaws -- it's too long to watch comfortably in one sitting and there are way too many escapes and recaptures, the Doctor & Sarah spend half the episode getting tied up and the other half escaping, and there is a ridiculous Dr. Evil moment where the villain, Chase, devises an elaborate and horrible death for the Doc and then leaves the room, allowing him to escape, instead of just shooting him....sigh...don't these crazy bad guys ever learn?) -- but they are pretty minor in compared to what works.
"Seeds" begins at a lonely scientific research station in the Antarctic, a la "The Thing." And just like "The Thing" the bumbling scientists unearth something from the ice that would better have been left alone. In this case, a large seed pod. They send pics back to London, where the Doctor identifies the pod as a sentient alien plant called the Krynoid, which has unlimited growth potential and a big appetite for human flesh. He and Sarah make tracks for the South Pole to make sure the ticking green bomb stays frozen and harmless. Unfortunately, the bumbling scientists put the thing under a lamp, and before you can say "Good god, what is that thing?" one of them is infected.
More unfortunately, a flora-crazed English millionaire named Harrison Chase (beautiful performance by the late Tony Beckley) has also learned of the pod's existence and sends a sneering mercenary named Scorby (another terrific turn by big John Challis) and a biologist named Keeler to collect it by force.
"Who" always excelled at loosing multiple plot elements at each other like bumper cars, and the crash-bang of the first two episodes of "Seeds" is great, creepy fun, as the good and bad guys square off while the infected scientist, now essentially a large angry yucca plant, wanders around strangling people and not caring whether they are good or bad. And just when you think it's over -- bingo, another pod appears. D'oh!
Eventually the action shifts back to England, where Scorby has delivered the second pod to the crazy Chase. He orders Keeler to feed it, and poor Keeler ends up doing just that, in a nasty case of "being consumed by your work." Meanwhile, the Doctor and Sarah blunder around the huge mansion and grounds, getting captured and escaping so many times, you wonder why Scorby doesn't just shoot them. Eventually, however, the Krynoid (nee Keeler) gets loose, grows to gigantic proportions, and starts eating Chase's employees en route to germinating hundreds of pods which will destroy the world (or at least everything not made of salad materials). The climax comes with the Doc, Sarah & Scorby trapped inside the crumbling mansion being hunted by the completely loco Chase, while UNIT soldiers fight the Krynoid outside. One small drawback is that while this is another UNIT episode, once again, there's no Brigadier and no Benton -- that's kind of like a peanut butter sandwich with no jelly. You can do it, but why?
"Seeds" is a great episode with some tremendously wonderful dialogue ("Don't be silly, Sarah -- of course he has to kill us, we keep interfering!") that also brings up nostalgia/horror for 1970s fashion -- c'mon, where else can you see a bad guy in zippered platform boots, a turtleneck shirt and a jacket with a butterfly collar....without a time machine, that is?
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I could play all day in my green cathedral...", August 16, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Doctor Who - The Seeds of Doom [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Two alien plant plods are found frozen in the Antartic, and examining the pods might lead to the extinction of all animal life on earth. Like "Terror of the Zygons", Robert Banks Stewart dishes us out another masterpiece! There is an extreme urgency in this story to quell the problem, and keeps you the on edge throughout ALL six parts, an element missing in a majority of six-parters. Baker and Sladen are brilliant, Baker giving a dramaticperformance with hints of his own absurdity. Harrison Chase is an unforgettable character and is quite chilling! All actors involved give it their best. Some interesting video viuals are used for the Antartica location, really quite effective. Not only was the story influenced by "Day of Triffids", "Quatermass Experiment" and many others, it also echoes "Night of the Living Dead" as our heroes and outcasts nail and hammer themselves in Chase's mansion. A great way to end the season!
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