Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 1

After doing a good job of introducing the world to Pertwee’s Doctor, we get what is really his first proper adventure. After the initial scene we get our first glimpse of Bessie, a prop that would feature largely with Pertwee’s Doctor but make an appearance with Tom Baker’s Doctor and Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor.

The idea that the Doctor is at the Brigadier’s beck and call is something that wouldn’t be the case for William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton. Though on the plus side he can get to things just by saying that he’s an associate of UNIT. I like Jon Pertwee in this episode as he flips between being curious on whats going on and winding up Dr Lawrence. Caroline John spends a lot of time either having a headache or doing ‘research’. I know that Liz is suppose to be a different from previous companions but I think that she’s not being utilised in the best way. I think that Nicholas Courtney is having fun in this episode and seems to put up roadblocks in the Doctor’s way. Not in a malicious way but it’s the military mind and its going to be a good constant source of friction.

In their first scene with the research facility staff, its clear what sort of ride that we are going to get with them. They are all people with things to hide. Dr Lawrence is in charge of the facility but doesn’t want people to look over the problems that its having. I liked Dr Lawrence from the very moment he appeared. Peter Miles is the sort of actor that can be relied upon to come up with an enjoyable performance. Dr Quinn is a likeable and on the face of it trustworthy character. It’s strange that he would go on to play the horrible Mr Mackay. The trustworthy vibe lasts about 10 minutes before this disappears as it seems that he is in league with whatever is affecting the facility. Miss Dawson is the only female member of the facility and she’s a bit more like Dr Quinn and also seems to be in collusion with the unseen threat.

The cliffhanger is quite good as it isn’t obvious and it answers the question as to what the two cavers saw at the beginning of the episode. It was a good opening episode. I cant say that there was anything special about this episode but that’s not a bad thing but it does a good job of just introducing us to the setting and the characters that we will be watching over the next six episodes. A good start.