Tuesday Who Review: The Ark In Space

"He talks to himself sometimes because he's the only one who understands what he's talking about."
-Sarah Jane on the Fourth Doctor

So there's this... thingy. In space. And a bunch of people in cryogenic sleep. And a parasite that infests one of them. And Jones the Cat.

No, wait. Sorry, The Ark In Space precedes Alien by five years and a considerable amount of production quality (but hey, this is no-budget 70s tv - what did you expect?)

Okay, 1974, big year for Doctor Who. New Doctor - Tom Baker, wide-eyed looney in a scarf three times as long as it needs to be. New producer - Phillip Hinchcliffe, eager to grab new audiences. New script editor - Robert Holmes, eager to scare the crap out of children.

So, Ark. Commanded by a guy named Noah. Who gets influenced by some powerful force far greater than human comprehension. No, there's no religious subtext here, honest!

No, actually, the subtext has less to do with religion and more to do with charismatic leaders. Noah's subordinates will slavishly obey his every command even as they begin to question his judgement.

Vira: "My duty is to supervise the re-vivification."
Doctor: "No. Noah has passed the command to you. Your duties have been widened."

Vira's a med-tech. In the "highly compartmentalized" caste system enacted in the future, she is completely overwhelmed by anything irregular - and this is Doctor Who, meaning that soon enough there will be irregularities crawling over the hull, towards your only escape ship...

The serial is full of references to life and death:

Harry: "I say, what a place for a mortuary."
Doctor: "This isn't a mortuary, Harry, quite the reverse."
Harry: "Reverse? I wouldn't call it a nursery."

But a nursery is exactly what it is; every human that awakens from the cryogenic sleep (except Sarah) has essentially been re-born into a new world. A world where even the most charismatic leaders need to be replaced. Somebody else must always step up to the plate.

Doctor: "Homo sapiens. What an inventive, invincible species. It's only a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. [...] And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life."

It's human intelligence that has brought the species this far, made us, in the Doctor's words, indomitable. If we ignore our human spirit and unquestioningly follow the charismatic leader, we'll be nothing more than the Wirrn swarm, led into a shuttle and launched away to an explosive destiny.

Pros:
Tom Baker and the others are on top form in this early episode. The 4/Sarah dynamic is already clearly developed. It's a Robert Holmes script, so you already know it's good.

Cons:
The Wirrn aren't nearly as frightening as they could be - for one thing, the move far too slowly to present a credible threat. And of course, the sets are far too brightly lit.

Bottom line:
Quite understandably, this one's ranked as one of the greatest Who serials of all time.
-Jim