retro-the-best....: [New post] Doctor Who and The Moonbase

Friday, May 20, 2011

[New post] Doctor Who and The Moonbase

Doctor Who and The Moonbase

dailypop | May 20, 2011 at 8:51 am | Tags: doctor who troughton cybermen | Categories: Doctor Who- 2nd Doctor | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-2Cz

Doctor Who and The Moonbase

"You're supposed to be so advanced, yet here you are taking your revenge like children!"
Story 033
Written by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler
Transmitted 11 February - 4 March 1967
In the 21st Century, the human race has established a moonbase to control the weather on the Earth. Having forgotten the threat that the Cybermen once posed, they are vulnerable to invasion from the silver giants. When the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie arrive by accident, they are knee-deep in a systematic attack on the international lunar installation.

The second TV Cybermen story, Moonbase is a cracking great adventure. Unfortunately, episodes 1 and 3 of this four parter are missing, requiring anyone interested in this story to watch a reconstruction from Loose Canons, read the Target novelization or listen to the audio-book. The reunion of Cybermen creators Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler sees the duo has sharpened their writing skills, delivering a more exciting story improving on their already impressive Tenth Planet the year before.

Doctor Who - Moonbase by Daryl Joyce

In their first appearance, the Cybermen were shown as being cold calculating cyborgs. Possessing great strength and armed with a deadly weapon harnessed to their chests, the early Cybermen came from the planet Mondas to drain the life from the planet Earth. While established as cyborgs, the costumes of the first Cybermen appeared hauntingly human-like.

Their cloth-covered faces betrayed a facial structure and their exposed hands established that at least parts of them were still flesh and blood. This human-like quality made them all the more terrifying as monsters as their actions denied their nature. It has often been stated that the Cybermen are devoid of emotion which has never stood up to scrutiny in my opinion. They are certainly unrestrained by compassion and empathy, but this has created a brutally aggressive personality rather than the cold, robotic personality that mythology would have us accept.

In their second appearance, the Cybermen are much less humanoid, their entire forms covered in plastic and metal. A radically different design, this version is far more solid and impressive on screen. However, it is in the Moonbase that we get a glimpse of their cunning. Initially, the base is under siege without knowing it, the commander believing it to be a simply viral outbreak. Nonetheless, the Doctor, Ben and Polly suspect that the Cybermen are behind the virus, using it as a weapon to weaken the base's crew. The commander scoffs at the notion of Cybermen, stating that they were wiped out 'long ago' (presumably in their attack in 1984). Soon the Doctor's suspicions bear bitter fruit and the Cybermen are revealed as the real enemy. By using mind control as well as viral warfare tactics, their attack on the moonbase is overwhelming. They have almost won without firing a shot.

The TARDIS crew was rather large at this time, including the new character of Jamie McCrimmon (first appearing in the Highlanders). As Jamie was added so late in the game, many of the scripts for the series were not constructed with him in mind. It's very disappointing to see what would become a beloved companion such as Jamie wasted in scenes which feature him coming in and out of consciousness, glimpsing what he believes to be the specter of death coming for him as a Cybermen breaks into the sick bay. Even when he is given very little to work with, however, Frazier Hines is outstanding. His confusion and fear surrounding their arrival on the moon is a nice touch. Jamie is obviously horrified by their ability to arrive on such an unearthly land, yet he tries to lighten the mood, 'perhaps we'll see the man in the moon.' Classic.

Ben and Polly are hardly recognized by fans, as most of their adventures are lost to the BBC's junking scandal. It's unfair as the more I explore the novelizations and audio files of these lost stories, they prove to be an enjoyable pair. Polly's swinging sixties 'dutchess' character is very unique in that the actress Aneke Wills decided early on to make her a screamer rather than a brave and noble hero. Likewise, actor Michael Craze played the part of Ben as a tough cockney who often jarred with Polly but came to respect her spunk. In this particular story, we even see Polly concoct a weapon to defeat the Cybermen... possibly the most sadistic method to date; melting their lungs with acid.

Along with a cracking script by Davis and Pedler, The Moonbase also boasts some outstanding visual design. The visual effects are great and show an inclination to explore the boundaries of the television medium, something that is perhaps most strongly felt in these 60's adventures. Keeping in mind the budgetary constraints and the limitations of the studio and bulky cameras, the lunar scenes are very impressive and establish the mood immediately. Speaking of mood, the musical score is timeless. This was back in the days when music concrete had a heavy influence on Doctor Who and the series featured some of the spookiest musical scores ever heard. The sounds provided by Brain Hodgson are also top notch, including the newly modulated Cybermen voices.

watch?v=DR530VgXArU

The Moonbase followed a mish-mash of successes and failures for the fourth series. Power of the Daleks re-introduced viewers to the Daleks in one of their most well-written scripts. Highlanders was a traditional historical romp while The Underwater Menace was a pulpy science fiction story more at home in the days of the Columbia Pictures serials of the early days of film. As such, Moonbase viewed from a modern perspective is very traditional Doctor Who. The Doctor and his companions arrive in the middle of danger, are suspected as the cause of trouble, work their way into being trusted and ultimately defeat the monster trying to get at the guest cast. At the time, this approach was fairly new and it informed the formula of the program all the way to the current BBC Wales series.

As monsters, the Cybermen are very impressive this time around. Their silent attacks on the sick bay remains one of my favorite moments of all their TV material. In my mind, I imagined that the Cybermen were taking bodies for raw material as their own organic organs and limbs would need some replacing. One thing is for sure, the abducted humans are put to use by the Cybermen to further their mission. The mind-controlled humans are horrifying on screen and would appear throughout their 60's appearances. Another iconic moment is when the army of Cybermen conduct their march across the lunar surface, unhindered by the low gravity. The black and white photography greatly helps the presentation, causing the monsters to appear as ghostly soldiers against the black backdrop.

I have noted my love affair with the Cybermen in previous articles and also pointed out that they rarely got a good innings on screen. This is an exception. Deadly and rueful, their vendetta against the human race is in full effect here. They even gloat over the hapless commander's inability to guess how the moonbase was compromised by chuckling, 'Clever... clever... clever.'

Patrick Troughton is still in his early days of playing the Doctor, but you'd never guess that by watching him here. His determination to fight 'the evils of the universe' is presented in what one would expect to be a common scene in every Doctor Who adventure, yet it is unique here. Troughton even gets to perform a strange scene with himself as he thinks aloud and talks back to his thoughts regarding the weakness of the Cybermen to intense sound and gravity. It's weird, sure, but it's also memorable.

One of the classic Doctor Who stories from its era, The Moonbase was a landmark for what was to come. I had pointed out that two of the four episodes are missing, requiring a great deal of patience from fans left to listen to an audio CD or watch grainy stills accompanying the soundtrack. Even so, it is a fantastic story worthy of a look from the devoted fan.

The remaining episodes of the Moonbase are included as part of the Lost in Time box set (available at criminally discounted prices via amazon) which I highly recommend. Also, you may want to seek out the VHS release Cybermen: The Early Years hosted by Colin Baker which analyzes their appearances in the 1960's complete with interviews from the creators, cast and crew from those early days of the program. If you are like me, the novelization is also a nice way to experience the story. The Target book range was a major part of the fan experience from the 1980's and I get more than a little nostalgic when I revisit them. Additionally, the BBC audio CD is available and uses a wonderfully touched-up audio track.