The Mutants - Episode 3

Against my better judgement, I have decided to be more positive with this story. I still maintain that it’s a terrible story but this story is going to take longer to endure if I don’t look on the Brightside of things. Firstly, Stubbs and Cotton are quite fun to watch and are a good double act. They have been good since the first episode but in a sea of mediocrity they are a bright beacon of warmth and humour. The Marshall is quite cold as he talks about wiping out the mutts. He seems less like pantomime villain from the previous episodes and instead is more of a serious baddie. The fact that he gets off his backside and goes onto the planet is what makes him step up a gear in my book.

Thankfully the story gets out of the studio and moves onto the planet for a large portion of the episode. The caves scenes are well done and are quite dramatic. The moments where Ky is trying to fight off the mutts is a good bit and the mutts themselves are quite good designs. The only thing that spoils the cave scenes is the disco bit where Jo encounters a silvery figure doesn’t work quite well because it’s a CSO scene so it was never going to fit in with the episode.

The first scene with the Doctor, Varan and Ky was very good because the performances were all just as good. Jon Pertwee again gets the better share of the action compared to Katy Manning. His quest to find out whats in the ball is over and now he’s on to a new mission to find out what they mean. Manning gets to have some good lines with Ky but again falls into the traditional companion trap and just runs and gets into trouble. Ky gets to hold the sphere that the Doctor has been holding onto and in it there are Solonian tablets. It does feel like this part of the story is moving forward because apart from that there is very little in terms of plot progression (it’s a struggle to remain positive).

Even taking my new positive attitude out of the equation, this isn’t a terrible episode as there are plenty of things that pass the time but it’s still a story that doesn’t have a great idea.  It’s horrible to say that the whole thing is boring because its directed by Christopher Barry and I think that Barry is a fantastic director and Bob & Dave Baker are good writers but this one doesn’t quite stand up.