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Doctor Who - Silurians [VHS]

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When UNIT begins its investigation into strange happenings at a secret atomic research center on Wenley Moor in Derbyshire, the Brigadier sends for the Doctor and Liz. With mysterious leakages in the power supplied by the nuclear generator, the stability of the reactor itself is under threat. A major atomic explosion is imminent! The Doctor suspects internal sabotage, until an attack by a prehistoric monster while he is visiting the nearby caves leads him twoards a more sinister conclusion. What is really lurking there in the shadowy depths? Who or what is controlling the monsetr? And to what end?

The Doctor must move quickly to arrest a devistating power, active once more after millions of years of hibernation...

Another GREAT Jon Pertwee story! If you liked "The Green Death", "Inferno" and "The Sea Devils", you will thoroughly enjoy "The Silurians". This is another great Doctor Who classic that can be enjoyed by the whole family!

At Wenley Moor, an atomic research center built into a network of caves is experiencing an abnormally high rate of personnel absenteeism and unexplained power losses that force the crew to hastily shut down the reactor. Then, two junior technicians who are out potholing (Brit. term for spelunking) are attacked, one is killed by some kind of creature with an ominous roar, the other is driven mad and scribbles drawings on his hospital room wall, including some bipedal reptilian creatures.

Director Charles Lawrence has personalized the project to the point that shutting it down would mean the end of his career, and he reluctantly has UNIT to help him get things back to normal ASAP. However, Dr. John Quinn, Lawrence's number two, seems to be involved in something with his assistant Ms. Dawson. A potholer himself, he is in contact with certain beings who have promised him a higher form of scientific knowledge. Could they be the party involved?

The Doctor and Liz discover that the neuroses rate is 200% above the normal and involves humans who worked at one time in the cyclotron room, which is the deepest part of the caves. The caves are the key to the mystery.

Certain episodes have a theme. Episode 3 has a military theme, with a military search operation filled with choppers, dogs, soldiers, flares being fired. It ends with the object of that search, a Silurian, making its first detailed appearance. Episode 6 is the frenzied crisis episode, with people succumbing to a Silurian virus, collapsing with facial discolourations, ambulances and police appearing in the streets, and the Doctor and Liz working to make an antidote from various medicines.

Big goof: in Episode 7, Liz says "Van Allen Belt" when she should have said "ozone layer." And she's a doctor of science to boot! Shame on you, Liz!

Of the guest stars, Fulton MacKay plays the charmingly smooth Dr. Quinn, effectively showing him as someone who is driven by wanting to attain superior scientific knowledge to the point of personal greed. However, his palaeontology and geology leaves much to be desired. He makes references to the Silurian era, yet the Allosaurus is clearly from the Jurassic Period. The Doctor later goofs things up when encountering their cousins the Sea Devils in the story of the same name, naming the Eocene epoch as their time of origin, at which time Allosaurus were extinct.

Peter Miles plays Dr. Lawrence as a career-driven adminstrator. He is best known as Nyder in the Who story Genesis Of The Daleks. Norman Jones (Major Baker) later played Hieronymous in The Masque Of Mandragora. And a young Geoffrey Palmer (As Time Goes By series) plays Permanent Undersecretary Masters.

The second televised Jon Pertwee story demonstrates that 7-episode stories work if they are effectively utilized, and The Silurians is a prime example of that. There's suspense, a good story, the conflict between peace and diplomacy versus military power, factionalism within a civilization (peaceful versus racist as seen in the Old Silurian and New Silurian), and the dangers of nuclear power, especially at a time when it was seen as a cheap way to make electric power. A strong story to follow the classic Spearhead From Space.

Also known as Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters, this story is one of the better ones of the Pertwee years. The second story involving the third Doctor takes place in the peak district of Derbyshire where a secret atomic research power station is experiencing dramatic and sudden power losses.

Some unexplained deaths in the underground caverns seem unconnected but soon it becomes clear that a dormant race of reptilian creatures who were part of an advanced society before the onset of the Ice Age have been awakened and are intent on reclaiming what is rightfully theirs, the earth.

The story is set in the still continuing cold war background at a time when there was also an energy crisis. Both of these themes are strongly in evidence in the script. The new Doctor is seen to be an opponent of force as his previous incarnations have also been but in this Doctor, the role of peacemaker is much more prominent. He is determined to seek peace between the Silurians and the warm bloods but is twarted in this by the machinations of the military among UNIT, the security staff at the research station and among the Silurians themselves.

His attempts to secure peace fail and he is deceived into believing that the Silurians will merely be sealed off in their caves only to find that the caves themselves are destroyed.

These early depictions of the Pertwee Doctor point to a more principled, outspoken Doctor than in the past who is not prepared to put up with the jingoistic claptrap that comes from the Brigadies. This eventually changes which is why I admit to preferring the early Pertwee espisodes to the later.

Stories like this is what made the Pertwee era of Doctor Who so Marvelous. In the second story of Pertwee's era of the Doctor has him up against the Silurians, a race of intelligent reptilian creatures living in caves who believe they're the true masters of the Earth and man is a mistake that must be destroyed. The Doctor must convince the Silurians that mankind has just as much right to inhabit the planet as they do. If he fails, it might mean the end for both species. Stories like this are the reason that I feel when Doctor Who returns to television Chris Carter should direct it. This episode is a MUST for all Who fans. Great story, great monster, 'nuff said!

A beautiful, tragic story from 1970 that, despite its epic length (7 episodes on two tapes), is never slow or boring. Previously Doctor Who assumed that the "monsters" were evil, but here humans and Silurians both have complex attitudes and legitimate gripes. The writer, Malcolm Hulke, had a gift for moral and psychological ambiguity; he also scripted "The Sea Devils" and the magnificent "Frontier in Space." One of the top two or three stories in the "Doctor Who" canon, in my opinion. (And, by the way, the recolorization is pretty good.)

The Doctor and his companions at UNIT are called to a search centre to deal with unexplained power loss and nervous breakdowns among the staff. Before long they have uncovered a race of people who once ruled the Earth but were driven into suspended animation by some predicted global disaster.

This is Dr Who at its best. The storyline is intelligent and well-thought-out, the characters are strong (Pertwee is a likeable eccentric/gentleman version of the central character), there are some great pieces of dialogue (the 'house of rats' analogy, for example), and despite the length of the story (7 episodes) there is no padding to speak of. The incidental music sometimes borders on the idiotic, but that minor detail doesn't detract from this fine tale.

One of the best of all Jon Pertwee's outings as the Third Doctor. The Doctor and UNIT investigate the reasons behind power drains at a nuclear reactor and uncover in the caves below an ancient race of intelligent bipedal reptiles who have awakened from stasis and desire to reclaim the Earth they long ago abandoned.
In keeping with the gritty realism that marked Doctor Who's 7th season, 'The Silurians' is a suspenseful, horrific, tense, exciting, inventive and poignant adventure replete with wonderful characters, great dialogue, above average production values and unique cinematography. One of the few Pertwee stories longer than 5 parts that does not seem to drag much if at all, the pacing of each episode is exquisite, and the plot is constantly moving forward and shifting to keep the viewer interested. The tone of the story is decidedly adult, and characters and situations are sophisticated and undiluted. UNIT characters, in particular Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier and Caroline John's Liz Shaw behave intelligently and the supporting cast is filled with notable actors including 'Blake's 7's Paul Darrow as Captain Hawkins and 'As Time Goes By's' Geoffrey Palmer as the politician Masters. The Silurians themselves are developed as multi-dimensional characters all with conflicting feelings of pride, curiosity, fear, trust and hatred. The reptilian costumes are effective, as are the unique voices given to these creatures who appear (less impressively) in 1984's vastly inferior sequel of sorts, 'Warriors of the Deep.' Some production elements like blue screen work and a rather laughable model of a Tyrannosaurus stick out, but are not featured heavily.
Jon Pertwee is only in his second story as the Doctor, but he is immediately at home in the character's eccentric, adventurous shell. The Doctor is portrayed here as desperate to forge a peace between humanity and the Silurians, going to great lengths to stop war even as both sides move to cross that threshold. The story's final scene is chilling.
Of particular note is this story's cinematography - many gripping exteriors are shot on film and are particularly effective in shaky sequences where a rogue Silurian runs across the rocky landscape and seeks refuge in a barn... But there are many particularly effective shots throughout these 7 episodes.
Accessible to most ages but programmed very consciously for adults, 'Doctor Who and The Silurians' is an exciting, scary, thought-provoking and classic example of Doctor Who at its finest.

One of Pertweee's best, if not the best in his reign. Malcolm Hulke's script is full of intelligent points, moral dilemmas, and sophisticated excitement. Pertwee's Doctor may never have been better than in this story, which features his alienness and his feelings about his exile in full, glorious writing. The Silurians themselves get a few emotional moments, and this story stretched the idea of how a Doctor Who monster could be portrayed. Any true Doctor Who fan recognizes this as one of the best in the series' history. At seven episodes, it never drags, but instead seems more epic in scope. Absolutely necessary to any collection.

Dr Who and the Silurians is undoubtly the best Jon Pertwee story. It sees the debuet of surley the best Dr Who monsters ever(Silurians)who reapear in Warriors of the deep. The story is gripping. The actors are the best and costumes and acting is superb. I would strongly recomend any one to buy this classic Dr Who andventure!

This is how a Dr Who story should be - gripping, thought-provoking and with a realistic race of genuine people rather than ranting monsters. The Doctor (here in his 3rd incarnation) is forced into a piggy-in-the-middle situation as he tries to persuade both the human and reptilian races that they can share the planet.

Brilliant, and not a hint of padding even at 7 episodes.