Earthshock is an important story in Doctor Who because it
marks the return of the Cybermen and also the departure of Adric from the show.
The former is more interesting because they were a regular feature in the 1960’s.
They appeared in 5 stories in three years from 1966 to 1969 and in the
subsequent 12 years, they only appeared in ‘Revenge of the Cybermen’. In an
interesting statistic, Cyberman episode accounted for 10% that were transmitted
whereas during the 1970’s it was 1.5%. Anyway the most important thing about
this story to many is the death of Adric. I have to say that before I started
this marathon I would have been looking forward to this story but having
recently found a new appreciation for Adric, I think that this story takes on a
whole new meaning. I personally think that this is one of the best Peter Davison
stories but it had nothing to do with not liking Adric before.
The story starts off with a crew that are going into some
caves for people that have gone missing. I have to say that I think that they
are some hapless during this episode that I struggle to muster any interest in
them. They manage to get picked off by the androids with a great deal of ease.
Even when they come across the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan it seems that they cant
do serious with any great enthusiasm. The regulars start off with quite a row
because Adric decides that he wants to go back to E-Space and this leads to the
Doctor going a bit OTT about it. They end up underground and come across some
bones.
The episode plods along rather well because of one new
technique used. The lighting has been turned down and this means that there is
quite an atmosphere which is something that cant be created with bright light.
The claustrophobic feel to the adventure also helps make it feel like more
happens in the episode than actually happens. The androids appear at moments and
the lighting benefits them because then can move about quite easily. The
Cybermen make their first appearance in 170 episodes and even though they are
on screen for just a few seconds, its amazing what impact they have. It has to
be one of the best cliffhangers in recent times on the show. Knowing that they
appear does take some of the thunder out of the ending but watching in 1982 it
must have been an OMG moment which doesn’t happen in Doctor Who. John Nathan
Turner turned down a cover on the Radio Times to hide the fact that the
Cybermen were returning. This was a brave and ultimately wise move. I remember
how the human Dalek from ‘Daleks in Manhattan’ was ruined by the Radio Times so
at least common sense was used here.
This hasn’t been quite the sprint out of the starting blocks
that I hoped and remembered. There is some good stuff with the regulars but to
be honest, when the story moves back to the hapless crew then I lose a bit of
interest because I think that the regulars’ story is more interesting and the
departure of Adric is the most interesting aspect of that.
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