Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy

(First published in 2000)


It seems inconceivable that a television programme can change your life. Not in a profound way that is. I don’t worship Doctor Who. Well, not anymore. (That was a joke. I think.) I really mean in the way we organise our lives or the way we watch other shows, even how we compare other shows to it. Most people who consider themselves Who fans would probably argue against that statement. Oh no, they’ll argue, not me. I lead a normal life. I’m not a nutter. I go out. I get pissed. I live a normal life. Doctor Who is just a programme. I watch it, I enjoy it. That’s all. It doesn’t suffocate the rest of my life. That’s fine. I enjoy these things too and many more things. Good food and even good wine nowdays, much to the amusement of many who remember me sluming it up in pubs watching non-descript punk bands destroying my hearing and drinking to my hearts content until the walls started shaking and the floor started rolling. Good fun, eh?

The above statement is just typical of us Who fans. Even unconsciously, we have to justify our enjoyment of the programme. Better stop that sermon of self-justification, eh? What I really mean to say is that however much we deny it, Doctor Who has changed our way of life. I mean anyone who is or who has ever been in Who fandom, either as a participant or just a purveyor of fanzines has had their life changed by Who. You have to enjoy the programme so much that you seek out other fans or materials that other fans have put out. It goes beyond that too. You buy the merchandise, you even make an effort one way or another to watch the programme. If the programme wasn’t around you might be a fan of Star Trek or something as silly as that (the Trekkies are coming to get me).

Which brings me to this article. The E-Space trilogy is an important part of my personal fandom history. Everyone’s got a personal fandom history. How they first started watching Who, which Doctor, which episode, which scenes they can remember vividly as a child, etc.. Every fanzine put out has at one stage or another included an article or an editorial about how Doctor Who first entered the writer’s life and the influence over their, at least, televisial experiences ever since. Mine was last issue so I won’t bore you again (huge world sigh of relief there). Season 18 was the first I watched as a fan and each story has something I have enjoyed. Especially the trilogy, the backbone of the season.

The E-Space stories cemented the show in my heart and from then on I wouldn’t be the same. I read the books, bought the merchandise, the magazines, the videos, the zines. All because of this season. If I had seen Season 17 first or even Season 20 I wouldn’t be here writing this (bad luck folks). But I did and I am. I’m glad they’ve finally decided to release them on video. It’s been long overdue.

One of the reasons for the success of Doctor Who has been the appointment of young and ambitious producers to the show. Willing and eager to take risks to impose their signature on the programme and thereby giving it an ever renewed ‘freshness’.
The Unfolding Text

Two things were going wrong, as we saw it. One was the pantomime element and the other was the element of magic which had come in. ...

I got the job on the premise that we would go back to basics.
C.H. Bidmead
The Fourth Doctor Handbook

Season 18 really really projected a quite serious mood and an air of sombre inevitability, that something was coming to an end. By the end of the season the Doctor had regenerated and had picked up three new companions for the next season. Science ruled supreme as the enemy and the hero. Importantly, the scripts were a sound base from which good atmospheric stories could be made. The E-space trilogy showcased this, with crisp, creative and, at time, poetic direction and quite lively and interesting characters. Most importantly, the Doctor removed himself from centre stage becoming once again an observer and a helper, rarely taking over the proceedings but giving it a nudge here and there to help things along. The trilogy used a wide brush to deal with themes such as evolution, mythology, hard science and philosophy. But covering it all was an atmosphere of “foreboding and doomladen miasma.” (Amanda Murray, In-Vision #48. Nice line Amanda).

The first of the trilogy, Full Circle, is an interesting beast. Seemingly a monster story, it is in fact a much more sophisticated story, dealing with the concept of evolution and the danger of stagnation. What I like about this lot of episodes is the more I watch it the better it becomes. It’s subtle messages are everywhere and the whole storyline actually progresses in a very symmetrical line, slowly giving out the finer details of the Alzarious evolutionary cycle at key points of the story. From the eggs found in the riverfruit at the beginning of episode one, the whole story evolves until we get to the resolution at the end of part four. We are shown the spiders that burst out of the eggs in the riverfruit, the Marshmen who are the next step and then we discover that the humanoids themselves are descended from all of the above. Fascinating, well written ideas. When doing the research for this article I rewatched Full Circle for the first time in around three or four years and I found it to be so much better than I remember. I suppose in a season containing so many memorable stories, gems like this one could easily be forgotten.

The story begins with the Doctor resigned to returning Romana to Gallifrey. This is not the (Tom Baker) Doctor of old. He’s given up the fight against the Time Lords. He is tired, maybe even conscious of an impending disaster. Meanwhile, on Alzarious, a luscious green planet full of fruit and forests, the mythical Mistfall is upon the happy community. Mistfall is believed to be a horrible time, though nearly none of the community have ever experienced it. Only Decider Drake knows the truth as he holds the System Files, which hold the “truth” about their planet. Ironic, really as he is the first victim of Mistfall. So much for not sharing the knowledge. When you’re at the top of the oligarchy, you don’t really want to erode your power base.

Though there are early clues as to what is happening: the insect eggs in the riverfruit and Adric’s extremely quick healing process. However, as Mistfall begins, through the fog on the river the Marshmen slowly rise up from below in a very impressive scene, one of Peter Grimwade’s better moments as director. “When Mistfall comes, the Giants leave the swamp”. To add spice to the Marshmen, they acclimatise very quickly, from gills to lungs, from sluggish to nimble movements. They adapt quickly and the locals are going to find out how quickly soon enough. Andrew Smith includes another aspect of the evolutionary process as a cliffhanger as the spiders break out at the end of the second episode. When the Doctor enters the Starliner, this is usually when the Doctor gets into the thick of the action, taking over and making sure everyone follows him. Not this time. The Doctor stays on the sidelines for most of the story. His personality is quite infectious though, especially when the three Deciders introduce themselves in almost godlike theatrics in the second episode: Each one stands in a spotlight, wearing the full Decider clobber, and using authoritative voices, only to be shot down by the Doctor.
“I am Nefred.”
“I am Garif.”
“I am Login.”
“And I’m the Doctor.”

His superiority comes to the fore when he confronts the Deciders over the cruel experiment being conducted on a Marshchild, condemning their consent to allow the experiment to happen: “You are supposed to be leaders.” The power of the Doctor is apparent, even though the Deciders are standing above him. His influence is exemplified when Login is shocked to hear the truth about the Manuals, and walks down to the Doctor to join him. By descending to the Doctor’s level he shows himself to be the best leader and in the fourth episode he starts to give orders to the other Deciders.

Overall, the whole story has a good pace and rhythm to it as the plot unfolds at a good pace and the cliffhangers are very good, but which are also symbols of the different stages of the evolution process.

State of Decay is the middle of the trilogy and as a Doctor Who it works very well. You can tell it’s by Terrance Dicks. He knows how to spin a traditional yarn, especially a Who one. It’s there to entertain, it’s pretty much straightforward and contains all the details of a typical Hammer vampire story and “it works, largely, because everybody knows that they are in a vampire story and act accordingly”. (Keith Topping 625 #20). No doubt the scientific aspects of the story are due to Bidmead’s influence.

The direction by Peter Moffat is competent, even stylised at times. The theatrical choreography of the three who rule stands out and adds a surreality thats pleasing to the eye. Of course I have to mention the bat superimposed over Aukon’s face as a sublime piece of film which adds a great atmosphere to the already gothic. Speaking of Aukon, Emrys James puts in a sinister performance that almost steals the show which is hard considering he’s up against Tom Baker. As for Romana, she is really getting herself into a lot of trouble in E-Space, what with getting bitten by a spider and then by some vampire bats. I would have thought she would have been happy to get out of the place.

Some of the acting and dialogue is really quite over done and over the top, especially some of the talk by the rebels and villagers concerning the Lords and the Wasting. A bit too cliched. Of course using the tower to kill the giant vampire is a bit too contrived but you need a big prop to kill that thing, don’t you? Though it's just a bit too obvious.

Overall, it is a good set of episodes, a nice middle section, something that is enjoyable and not too demanding which is lucky considering what is coming up next on the menu. As a side note, I haven’t really mentioned Adric at all so far, mainly because basically I don’t think he was really up to being a companion. Matthew Waterhouse didn’t have enough experience or talent to carry the part.

After State of Decay comes, to my mind, the piece de resistance, Steve Gallagher’s Warriors’ Gate, “one of the most mysterious, convoluted and ultimately enjoyable stories”.(Scott Sherritt , Sonic Screwdriver, #57).

“The whole structure of the story is abstract in Doctor Who terms, consisting of a series of ‘bits’, constant character building and sufficient dramatic moments to keep the audience interested, rather than a steadily flowing plot leading to an exciting conclusion”.
Scott Sherritt
Sonic Screwdriver #57, 1989

This story was so damn good when I first saw it so long ago and I still think it’s fantastic. The atmosphere is compelling, giving the show an aura of surrealism, and I’m a sucker for that kind of ambience. The Tharils, the leonine race of the piece, look and act like they were great rulers in the past. They are graceful, superior and arrogant. The once great Tharils of E-Space who treated their human servants as slaves got theirs in N- Space as the humans created the Gundan robots to destroy the “brutes” who rule.

While Gallagher’s script is surreal in nature, it was Bidmead with the help of director Paul Joyce who brought it "down to earth", with extensive rewrites which disappointed Gallagher. They tried to rationalise many of the surreal events contained in the script. Nonetheless, workaholic Joyce was great on this script, creative and artistic. Overall, the people involved push the format of the programme and, to me, this story is the best of the whole season by far. As mentioned by Scott, there isn’t much of a plot but who cares as the characters are interesting, the dialogue witty and the direction is at times sublime , some of the best in the show’s history.

From the beginning, Joyce stamps the story with his own auterism. Because of the limited time available in series television, directors are usually applauded for their competency in bringing in a show on time and on budget and any flashes of creativity are frowned upon, if they hamper the budget and time considerations. Nonetheless, Joyce begins with tracking- dissolving shots that organically dissolve into each other, building up an atmosphere of expectancy in the merging shots. With an audio countdown in the background this increases the expectation of the final shot as we see a close up shot of Biroc, the Tharil. The countdown hits zero and ... nothing. It isn’t a scene letdown, more a comical moment as the crew is shown in their true colours: a rundown ship containing a run down group of men who have been in the job too long and who are disenchanted and losing their discipline fast. They seem more real and funnier than some of the other groups of space officers we’ve seen in the past:

(On seeing the TARDIS)
- It’s a ship.
- What, for midgets?
- Or a coffin. For a very large man.

There are so many excellent shots during the first few moments, what with the slow motion close up of a tossed coin and Biroc’s escape and entry into the TARDIS (how about that great line Biroc spouts in the TARDIS “A shadow of my past and your future”). Then Biroc enters the Gateway at zero co-ordinates. The Gateway is in a medieval castle setting, cobwebs and dust everywhere. Now this is design at it’s best. Greame Story has a good vision about these sets. Added to that, Boric shows his powers by escaping through a mirror, a la Cocteau.

The Gundan Robots are quite impressive too, looking like medieval fashioned androids. The idea behind them is good too: to build robots that can travel the time lines to kill the Tharills. This is exemplified by the episode three cliffhanger: while Biroc boasts to the Doctor during their medieval feast that the Tharils are indeed kings, the Gundan smash into the room and the Tharils, terrified, scatter in all directions.

The crew themselves are a bunch of bored and illdisciplined sods. They just don’t care. When Packard enters the ship with Romana the bemusement of the crew is blatant:

Packard: Packard here. Party aboard. Make safe the hatchway?
Crewmember (v.o): What?
Packard: Close the door.
(THE DOOR CLOSES IN HIS FACE).
After I’ve gone through!

Another funny moment occurs when the captain introduces the crew to Romana:

Rorvik: And this is the bridge. Nerve centre of the whole operation. These are the lads with all the answers. My team. Best drilled you can get. Efficient as anything on the spaceways. Isn’t that right lads?
Crew (lethargic): Yea...
Rorvik: Isn’t that right lads ?!
Crew: Yes sir!

There’s a lot of these witty recognisable moments, for people like me, who have worked in dead end and boring jobs. However, there is a dark and unpleasant side to the crew. While we are enjoying their farcical approach to work we forget what their job is. They are time sensitive traders, slave traders in our terms. Using other species as mere merchandise is dispicable in itself without the thought they are making an excellent profit in the industry. Added to that, they are prepared to use any means to escape E- Space, like electrocuting Tharils and even using Romana as a time navigator and being prepared to watch her burn if she isn’t suitable for the task.

The cliffhangers in the serial are exciting and well executed, drawing you to watch the next episode, exactly what cliffhangers are supposed to do. My favourite is the Gundan attack on the Tharil’s feast, but the second episode ending, that uses the point of view shot of the burned Tharil slowly walking up to the bridge, heading for Romana and breathing heavily, ending with Romana screaming is a great moment and no doubt strongly influenced by the slasher horror films of the late 1970s.

The Doctor has a lot of good lines, but not a lot to do as the events happen around him. Even though it’s Lalla Ward’s last story, unfortunately for one of the best companions in the show’s history she doesn’t play any pivotal role and her decision to stay with the Tharils is just a way for her not to return to Gallifrey. She deserves more than that. As for Adric, well, he is okay, nothing more.

Warriors’ Gate is an excellent piece of television, showing what Doctor Who can achieve if it is allowed to rid itself of the shackles of conventional television. Definitely one of my favourite stories.