The next story in my countdown of the Top 60 Doctor Who stories gives us the chance to talk about two things that have a big impact on Doctor Who in a short space of time: Chris Boucher & Louise Jameson.
Boucher wrote 3 episodes across two seasons before heading off for a better job with Blake’s 7,1 and to be honest I think all three could earn a place on this list. Boucher has a gift for dialogue, and a lightness of touch when it comes to his plotting, managing to deliver stories with some very high concept ideas that don’t sag under the weight. He expertly crafts worlds & fleshes out the characters that live within them. In short, he’s the perfect all rounder.
Of course it’s Boucher’s second story for Doctor Who, the one that comes just after this one that usually gets the plaudits – Robots of Death. And while that certainly is a beautifully written & realised story (in all aspects), there is a hole in the plot that keeps it out of the Top 60 for me2 – I’m a plotty sort of guy, I can forgive many of the sins of Doctor Who if the story itself is good, but a weak plot will always take me out. Image of the Fendahl is another story that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, with its spooky, folk-horror setting/atmosphere & supporting characters setting it above most of its Season 15 stablemates.
But it’s his first story that I’m here to celebrate today, and it’s my favourite of the three. It’s got some brilliant ideas, all layered on top of each other: The computer gone mad, the colony ship split up & the two factions evolving separately, the idea of The Doctor having been somewhere before but actually making things worse, not better… They all blend together but never overpower the story. Instead, the ideas are sprinkled throughout, like the Seveteem now thinking the space tech as holy relics & Xoanon now thinking itself a god. We all know Boucher’s great line about the facts being changed by the powerful, but he also writes superbly for the 4th Doctor, giving him some sharp & witty dialogue. He’s not quite as sarcastic as Avon, but it’s a start, and Tom Baker delights in delivering the material.
In terms of plot,Boucher keeps everything moving nicely. He sets up the Sevateem well, introducing things like the Horda and the relics, establishing our main players such as Neeva & Calib, but realises that this one setting won’t keep us going for long3. After two episodes he has the Doctor climb up his own nose & into the land of the Tesh – it’s an almost Nation-esque trick to keep things moving along nicely. Both settings are brought to life by the production team very well, with another in a long line of fantastic jungle settings realised at Ealing4. The character work here is also on point, with the cool detachment of The Tesh, Calib’s cunning & ambition and Neeva’s descent into madness all giving us plenty to enjoy before we even get to the wonder of Xoanon. And do you know somethikng? Pennant Roberts does a bang on job directing this one, with some fantastic camera angles & zooms.
But the star of the show is, of course, Leela, who is introduced here for the first time. I said earlier5 that Louise Jameson is the finest actor we’ve ever had in Doctor Who, and I stand by that statement. Sure, you can all point to Colemans Jenna or Olivia, Peter Capaldi or anyone else from the revived run, but let’s be honest: they have it easy. They are given material that is designed to show them at their best, stuff they can really get their teeth into. Louise has no such luxury: although she’s playing the companion, she arrives in a time when this role was essentially to stand next to the Doctor & look pretty. She certainly does this brilliantly, but she also digs deep into the material & brings out a performance that just isn’t in the script. Next time you watch one of her stories, watch her & not Tom Baker. I’ve mentioned the shovel in Fang Rock, but look at how she commands in Invasion of Time, her reaction to being stupefied in Underworld, her no-holds-barred slap to Adelaide’s face in Fang Rock. She’s doing more than we could ever expect her to do.
It all starts in this story. Watch how she watches The Doctor with a cocked head throughout, or sits on a chair for the first time at the end. All the contractions – or lack of – that she keeps going, the lack of screaming; Jameson does more with a very thankless role than we have any right for her to expect. I’ll never know if I’m right, but I believe that part of Tom Baker’s hostility towards her at the start of her run was due to the fact that she was acting him out of the park & the star of the show wasn’t happy with that. Either way, she was a gift to the show, and one that doesn’t always get the recognition she deserves in the era of Sarah Jane & Romana.
So a well paced, well directed, fantastically reaslied & superbly acted story is what makes this one of my Top 60. I’m fully aware that other people will like Boucher’s other stories more than this – especially the Robot one – but this is the full package in my eyes. It’s easy to see why Boucher was asked to come back – straight away not less. His stories shine bright in a short time; as does his greatest addition, the noble savage…
COMING TOMORROW: “These shoes…!!! They fit perfectly…!!!”
- Does Blake’s 7’s gain make up for Doctor Who’s loss? I’ll let the fans of that show decide… ↩︎
- No, I’m not telling you what it is. I don’t want to spoil it for you or anyone else. ↩︎
- Or maybe that he can’t a ↩︎
- Has Doctor Who ever done a bad jungle? I’m not sure it has you know… ↩︎
- 41: Horror of Fang Rock ↩︎
Skies Full of Diamonds 