The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Creature From The Pit
The Creature From The Pit: Part One (27/10/19)
Well, that was all rather wonderful! We're on an alien planet and, frankly, the jungle sets are amazing! They rival the 'Planet Of Evil' and 'The Face Of Evil' sets and, I think, are superior thanks to some lovely mountainous backcloths.
Brought to the planet by a distress signal, the Doctor and Romana discovered a (brilliantly realised) giant, shattered egg made of woven metal! They were caught (in 'The Place Of Death') by Madame Karela and her posse (who we'd earlier seen with Lady Adrasta chucking some poor bloke down the eponymous Pit) who took them to her boss (Lady A.).
Romana was kidnapped during an ambush by bandits but managed to talk her way out of the situation with the help of K9 (yes, he's back! Sort of...). At dawn, Lady Adrasta took the Doctor to The Pit ("You have such a way with words") to witness one of her engineers, who she set the task of finding out what the egg was, get thrown in for failing to work out what the Doctor has. Then Romana arrived with K9, but the latter was incapacitated by Wolf Weeds and the Doctor jumped in The Pit!
As amazing as this episode has been (and it's really been a great ride thanks to a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek script peppered with some great humour), there are one or two things that... well...
Firstly, K9. WTF??? It seems he's been absent for two months because they've changed his voice artist. I guess they thought we'd not notice, but my god he's different. He's a damned sight camper, for a start! And the bandits who kidnapped Romana appear to have stepped straight off the set of 'Oliver!'. Gangland Dickensian Jew is one way of getting an idea of metal-hungry bandits across, but I'm not convinced it's the right way!
And as for Romana, what the mother of fuck is she wearing? A chest-flattening, plunging-neckline version of Mary Tamm's first outfit with an unflattering high waistband, truly awful hair and Agnetha Fältskog makeup; what were they thinking? Fortunately, Lalla manages to act her way out of this mess, evoking her predecessor with a nicely haughty performance.
But aside from this we have a fantastic story, stunning sets, and some really nice costume designs (Romana aside). Adrasta in particular looks incredibly commanding, helped by Myra Frances' authoritative performance. This season is progressing very well!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Two (03/11/19)
Well, this story is very well written! Lady Adrasta and Madame Karela are brilliantly scripted and wonderfully acted. The jungle scenes in the first half of the episode were really well shot, especially the scenes of Tom hanging down inside The Pit. Romana continues to impress and they've really given K9 a good reason to be there in the story (and after such a long absence, too right!). The planet is deficient in metal, and Lady Adrasta owns the only mine so she is very interested in K9 to start with, and then when Romana told her he was the only one who could provide her with the information the Doctor knew about the 'egg', that made him indispensable (Adrasta originally intended to take him apart for his metal components).
Meanwhile, the Doctor encountered another victim of Lady Adrasta who had survived his fall into The Pit. He's called Organon and is actually quite cool. He's a travelling prophet/con artist and incredibly funny! He's yet another brilliant secondary companion in the same vein as Duggan. He's basically just there to infodump about The Creature in The Pit, but it's done so well and in such a humorous way that it works very well!
Basically, there's a giant, amorphous monster from beyond the stars (that actually looks like a huge, green ballsack with a probing, green penis, but let's not go there!) which is crushing people in The Pit and Lady Adrasta knows about it in some way, and she doesn't want anybody else knowing what she knows.
There was a brief scene with the Jewish Bandits which looks like they're going to raid Adrasta's palace while she's away. But the most striking thing about this story is that it's so well written and so humorous. It's really well acted and directed, and the sets are amazing. This is such an improvement on last year! Everybody seems to be giving it their all, and it looks gorgeous. I thought I'd given up on Tom Baker as the Doctor, but this story and 'City Of Death' have really proven me wrong! Tom has massively improved this year and seems to be bringing life to the show which really sagged in Season 16. I'm really looking forward to the next episode, and I actually mean that quite sincerely!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Three (10/11/19)
Another pretty decent episode slowly revealing the plot a bit at a time. To be fair, not a great deal happened but it was nonetheless entertaining. Myra Frances really is a great villain as Lady Adrasta, in turns angry and anxious, and determined to have The Creature (a Tythonian whom she threw down The Pit, which she accidentally let slip) killed.
The Doctor tried to communicate with it this week. To be perfectly frank, it does look a bit rude - like the Jolly Green Giant's ballbag - and exactly what Tom was doing to one of its 'appendages'... well! He made it blow shapes all over the cave wall!!!
Enough innuendo, though. As with Count Grendel, David Fisher has made sure that Adrasta and Karela are far from stupid with plot points slipping out in moments of anger, and both very aware of their prisoners' movements and capabilities. I'm still not quite taking to K9's new voice; he's a lot camper and emotional than he used to be. Romana is still great, holding her own against Adrasta and giving some smart back chat, and Tom, whilst clearly taking the piss in some of the scenes with The Creature, nonetheless did so with a straight face.
It seems the thing on the wall behind Adrasta's throne is a communication device for The Creature (at least, that's what it seems) and The Creature has somehow managed to take control (or use the device to take control) of two of the bandits who stole it during their raid. They're not great, to be honest, but I guess using Dickensian Jewish stereotypes gets their role and social position across in a reasonable shorthand.
Interesting cliffhanger, too! Adrasta screaming for The Creature to be kept away from her as the bandits deliver the communicator and the Doctor keeps her from running away. It joins a handful of cliffhangers where the villain is the one in jeopardy!
And a quick note (again) about how great the sets and lighting are for this one. The caves, as with the jungle, look brilliant and are suitably gloomy and grim. Some of the nicest design work in a long time!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Four (17/11/19)
Well, that was really good; certainly the best of David Fisher's three scripts so far. A subtly anti-capitalist piece which offed the greedy Adrasta quite early on. She had plenty to do in the first ten minutes, though, and met a fitting end, crushed by Erato (The Creature) in vengeance for imprisoning him in The Pit for 15 years. It was quite unusual for the Doctor to do nothing, but I guess circumstances and the bigger picture took precedent - to be honest, there was nothing he could do and, as it turned out, there were more important issues once the Tythonian Ambassador had been freed (such as the Neutron star aimed at Chloris' sun as retribution for the reported act of aggression sent by Erato's 'shell' spaceship after Adrasta threw him down a pit instead of negotiating trading agreements). The Doctor talked Erato round, and they averted the catastrophe with plenty of drama in the meantime.
The most interesting thing about this episode was the use of the different characters who have peppered the preceding episodes. With Adrasta gone, each took on a new role. The bandits, almost absent last week, heard the talk about trade agreements between Chloris and Tythonus so planned to scupper it, and Karela did likewise, killing Torvin (the head bandit) when he showed a lack of vision and proposing an alliance (which the Doctor scuppered). The Huntsman (dresses to the right) also stepped up, stood up to Adrasta early on and ended up (basically) Chloris' liaison with Erato. If anything, too much happened this week! It was perhaps a little rushed, but perhaps the narrative wouldn't have sustained a fifth episode. Organon continued to be a charming ally and got a nice little piece at the end.
Overall, this has been another great story, contrasting well with its predecessors but looking stunning and incredibly well plotted with some nice flashes of comedy. Certainly the dialogue (particularly for the Doctor and Romana) flowed beautifully, and Tom was clearly enjoying that. Also a great idea for Erato to communicate with other people's voices (K9 has larynx! - set up earlier this season with his bout of laryngitis!). An enjoyable season so far. I really hope it lasts!
Well, that was all rather wonderful! We're on an alien planet and, frankly, the jungle sets are amazing! They rival the 'Planet Of Evil' and 'The Face Of Evil' sets and, I think, are superior thanks to some lovely mountainous backcloths.
Brought to the planet by a distress signal, the Doctor and Romana discovered a (brilliantly realised) giant, shattered egg made of woven metal! They were caught (in 'The Place Of Death') by Madame Karela and her posse (who we'd earlier seen with Lady Adrasta chucking some poor bloke down the eponymous Pit) who took them to her boss (Lady A.).
Romana was kidnapped during an ambush by bandits but managed to talk her way out of the situation with the help of K9 (yes, he's back! Sort of...). At dawn, Lady Adrasta took the Doctor to The Pit ("You have such a way with words") to witness one of her engineers, who she set the task of finding out what the egg was, get thrown in for failing to work out what the Doctor has. Then Romana arrived with K9, but the latter was incapacitated by Wolf Weeds and the Doctor jumped in The Pit!
As amazing as this episode has been (and it's really been a great ride thanks to a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek script peppered with some great humour), there are one or two things that... well...
Firstly, K9. WTF??? It seems he's been absent for two months because they've changed his voice artist. I guess they thought we'd not notice, but my god he's different. He's a damned sight camper, for a start! And the bandits who kidnapped Romana appear to have stepped straight off the set of 'Oliver!'. Gangland Dickensian Jew is one way of getting an idea of metal-hungry bandits across, but I'm not convinced it's the right way!
And as for Romana, what the mother of fuck is she wearing? A chest-flattening, plunging-neckline version of Mary Tamm's first outfit with an unflattering high waistband, truly awful hair and Agnetha Fältskog makeup; what were they thinking? Fortunately, Lalla manages to act her way out of this mess, evoking her predecessor with a nicely haughty performance.
But aside from this we have a fantastic story, stunning sets, and some really nice costume designs (Romana aside). Adrasta in particular looks incredibly commanding, helped by Myra Frances' authoritative performance. This season is progressing very well!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Two (03/11/19)
Well, this story is very well written! Lady Adrasta and Madame Karela are brilliantly scripted and wonderfully acted. The jungle scenes in the first half of the episode were really well shot, especially the scenes of Tom hanging down inside The Pit. Romana continues to impress and they've really given K9 a good reason to be there in the story (and after such a long absence, too right!). The planet is deficient in metal, and Lady Adrasta owns the only mine so she is very interested in K9 to start with, and then when Romana told her he was the only one who could provide her with the information the Doctor knew about the 'egg', that made him indispensable (Adrasta originally intended to take him apart for his metal components).
Meanwhile, the Doctor encountered another victim of Lady Adrasta who had survived his fall into The Pit. He's called Organon and is actually quite cool. He's a travelling prophet/con artist and incredibly funny! He's yet another brilliant secondary companion in the same vein as Duggan. He's basically just there to infodump about The Creature in The Pit, but it's done so well and in such a humorous way that it works very well!
Basically, there's a giant, amorphous monster from beyond the stars (that actually looks like a huge, green ballsack with a probing, green penis, but let's not go there!) which is crushing people in The Pit and Lady Adrasta knows about it in some way, and she doesn't want anybody else knowing what she knows.
There was a brief scene with the Jewish Bandits which looks like they're going to raid Adrasta's palace while she's away. But the most striking thing about this story is that it's so well written and so humorous. It's really well acted and directed, and the sets are amazing. This is such an improvement on last year! Everybody seems to be giving it their all, and it looks gorgeous. I thought I'd given up on Tom Baker as the Doctor, but this story and 'City Of Death' have really proven me wrong! Tom has massively improved this year and seems to be bringing life to the show which really sagged in Season 16. I'm really looking forward to the next episode, and I actually mean that quite sincerely!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Three (10/11/19)
Another pretty decent episode slowly revealing the plot a bit at a time. To be fair, not a great deal happened but it was nonetheless entertaining. Myra Frances really is a great villain as Lady Adrasta, in turns angry and anxious, and determined to have The Creature (a Tythonian whom she threw down The Pit, which she accidentally let slip) killed.
The Doctor tried to communicate with it this week. To be perfectly frank, it does look a bit rude - like the Jolly Green Giant's ballbag - and exactly what Tom was doing to one of its 'appendages'... well! He made it blow shapes all over the cave wall!!!
Enough innuendo, though. As with Count Grendel, David Fisher has made sure that Adrasta and Karela are far from stupid with plot points slipping out in moments of anger, and both very aware of their prisoners' movements and capabilities. I'm still not quite taking to K9's new voice; he's a lot camper and emotional than he used to be. Romana is still great, holding her own against Adrasta and giving some smart back chat, and Tom, whilst clearly taking the piss in some of the scenes with The Creature, nonetheless did so with a straight face.
It seems the thing on the wall behind Adrasta's throne is a communication device for The Creature (at least, that's what it seems) and The Creature has somehow managed to take control (or use the device to take control) of two of the bandits who stole it during their raid. They're not great, to be honest, but I guess using Dickensian Jewish stereotypes gets their role and social position across in a reasonable shorthand.
Interesting cliffhanger, too! Adrasta screaming for The Creature to be kept away from her as the bandits deliver the communicator and the Doctor keeps her from running away. It joins a handful of cliffhangers where the villain is the one in jeopardy!
And a quick note (again) about how great the sets and lighting are for this one. The caves, as with the jungle, look brilliant and are suitably gloomy and grim. Some of the nicest design work in a long time!
The Creature From The Pit: Part Four (17/11/19)
Well, that was really good; certainly the best of David Fisher's three scripts so far. A subtly anti-capitalist piece which offed the greedy Adrasta quite early on. She had plenty to do in the first ten minutes, though, and met a fitting end, crushed by Erato (The Creature) in vengeance for imprisoning him in The Pit for 15 years. It was quite unusual for the Doctor to do nothing, but I guess circumstances and the bigger picture took precedent - to be honest, there was nothing he could do and, as it turned out, there were more important issues once the Tythonian Ambassador had been freed (such as the Neutron star aimed at Chloris' sun as retribution for the reported act of aggression sent by Erato's 'shell' spaceship after Adrasta threw him down a pit instead of negotiating trading agreements). The Doctor talked Erato round, and they averted the catastrophe with plenty of drama in the meantime.
The most interesting thing about this episode was the use of the different characters who have peppered the preceding episodes. With Adrasta gone, each took on a new role. The bandits, almost absent last week, heard the talk about trade agreements between Chloris and Tythonus so planned to scupper it, and Karela did likewise, killing Torvin (the head bandit) when he showed a lack of vision and proposing an alliance (which the Doctor scuppered). The Huntsman (dresses to the right) also stepped up, stood up to Adrasta early on and ended up (basically) Chloris' liaison with Erato. If anything, too much happened this week! It was perhaps a little rushed, but perhaps the narrative wouldn't have sustained a fifth episode. Organon continued to be a charming ally and got a nice little piece at the end.
Overall, this has been another great story, contrasting well with its predecessors but looking stunning and incredibly well plotted with some nice flashes of comedy. Certainly the dialogue (particularly for the Doctor and Romana) flowed beautifully, and Tom was clearly enjoying that. Also a great idea for Erato to communicate with other people's voices (K9 has larynx! - set up earlier this season with his bout of laryngitis!). An enjoyable season so far. I really hope it lasts!
This is definitely one of the series' most underrated stories, tending to get lumped in with the likes of The Horns of Nimon when it's closer to City of Death in terms of tone and how successful it is. I agree that the Jewish stereotype lets the side down, but on the whole I concur with you: it's a zingy script with something meaningful to say that's brought to life through strong, dedicated performances.
ReplyDeleteI'd always considered the story a bit of a dud, to be honest. I thought Lalla's performance was very off with her awful Mary Tamm impersonation (this being the first time she played the character and all that), Tom was just silly, the Bandits were hugely un-PC, everything ended five minutes into Part Four so the episode had to be padded out with a secondary threat, and the whole thing was just a massive camp-fest topped off with a massive gonad monster! The I watched it as part of my marathon.
DeleteI still think the Bandits are a bit cringey, but they're not quite as bad as I initially thought. Lalla's performance is fine and mostly reads as her taking on the role of a superior in order to deal with the Bandits. Tom is silly, but he's also funny and, most importantly, invested in the story. Myra Frances is brilliant, as is Eileen Way, and Adrasta's early death is, instead of being premature, highly convincing and pulls off the same 'they think it's all over' stunt as 'The Invasion Of Time' but in two thirds the time and in a much more convincing way. Most surprising was that the massive gonad monster is very well fleshed out (stop it) and in the space of an episode he turns from the victim to the villain and then to an ally.
It's still a bit camp, but the script shines and the production values rival 'City Of Death', especially given this is studio bound - the filmed jungle sets are incredible. This story used to be quite far down on my list, but now it's my second favourite of this season!