The seeds of death (1969)

Review
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Review

This is a six-part serial, first broadcast between 25th January - 1st March 1969. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: in this story our heroes visit a museum, fly to the moon in a rocket and, back on earth, use solar power and plain old H2O to defeat the abominable Ice Warriors and their abominable killer fungus.

In short, this is 1960s science fiction in all its - occasionally deeply silly - glory. To start with some of the sillier bits:

one plot point in this story is that all existing modes of transportation have been rendered obsolete by something called T-Mat, which transports people and cargo by dematerialising them in one place and materialising them in another. And yet, a couple of small control centres appear to be able to handle the entire world's T-Mat traffic, and only one person fully understands how the process works;
on the various control panels that we see in the control centre and inside the moon base, buttons and switches that are relevant to the story are labelled in large, friendly letters that can easily be read from across the room. While this helps the audience to understand their function without much need for exposition, it still looks a bit silly;
faulty high-tech devices helpfully announce their faultiness by emitting large quantities of smoke;
the costumes that are worn by most of the male cast are quite unflattering, and particularly the older actors seem embarrassed to be seen in them;
and - warning, spoiler ahead - the Ice Warriors' idea to smother the earth in a fungus that can be dissolved in water seems insufficiently thought out since, even if they can keep it from raining, there's still plenty of water present on the planet.

If you're able to look beyond all that, there's a great deal to enjoy here. The serial is well-paced, and there is some real tension. The music is excellent, the sets are well-designed and much of the story is 'shown' rather than 'told', most interestingly by showing us the invasion of the moon base from the invading Ice Warrior's point of view. Zoe and Jamie are used well here, as are several well-rounded and memorable supporting characters. The acting is very good, both from the regulars and the rest of the cast.

My verdict:

Nice!

Solid 1960s science-fiction.

More about Doctor Who

An introduction:
Doctor Who reviews: introduction

More "nice!" Doctor Who:
Doctor Who reviews: nice!

More from the Patrick Troughton years:
Doctor Who reviews: 1966 - 1969

Similar stories:
Doctor Who reviews: alien invasion

Original version of this review:
06/08/01

More about this serial

Episode guides:
BBC Cult

Serial reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey

DVD reviews:
Outpost Gallifrey

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