Motivating the Master
The Master is a difficult character to motivate properly, as his
TARDIS provides him with all he needs for his material survival and
gives him the freedom of all time and space. That freedom in fact
keeps him separate from any society he might wish to dominate. What
really is his life-style of choice? Ruler of the universe surrounded
by minions in a command structure, or self-centered loner wandering the
galaxy by TARDIS? Well, lots of people don't really have the issues
in their lives all neatly sorted out, and villians should be no
exception, particular those who miss their objectives as often as
the Master does with the Doctor on his tail. Still, in order for the
Master character to work well in a script, he either needs a
particularly grand ambition to deviously work towards, or he needs
to be in some form of trouble causing him to work to regain what
he originally had. Ideally, both ideas should be in play. Revenge
is yet a third possible motivational factor, but I find it to be
the weakest in terms of creating quality entertainment, and insufficient
to sustain a complex character like the Master over the long-term.
"Doctor Who" is definitely a long-term sci-fi adventure series.
Robert Holmes' motivation for the Master in this introductory
story is too deep into fuzzy territory for my liking. Obviously,
much of what he does is simply a continuation of the sparring with
the Doctor that he reportedly enjoyed so much in the past. Okay fine,
no problems there. But what exactly does the Master want out of an
alliance with the Autons?
I'll say no more here; you can read the rest along with the
SPOILERS in the In-depth Analysis version
of this review.
But here's another question: What does the Master
want with Earth? To destroy it in
revenge and escape? No previous relationship between the Master and
the Earth is described to fuel that. Does he plan to stay on Earth
to rule it through the Autons? The Master's plans for the Earth
flip-flop about a little too easily all through his time on the
program to make good sense.
Episode One will probably remain my favourite due to all of
the classic introductions it contains and the fact that its structure
holds together fairly well. Episode Three is next on my list, as
it is possibly the most creatively directed episode of this story,
and gets a nearly perfect execution all the way through, full
of essential creepiness and providing some great
expository action scenes. Episode
Four begins very cheesily for the first fifteen minutes, as the script
is not great at all on dialogue or on applying suspenseful threats
where they need to be for good story dynamics, and the production
also displays a lot of its cheapness at this point. The last ten
minutes make up for this, with a fast-paced conclusion that provides
lots of action and plenty for all of
the regular characters to do.
Episode Two is the least effective
in the story, looking cheap and filled with inane scenes of characters
who don't get acted out all that well at all.
The exception is
Harry Towb as Mr. McDermott, a fine actor putting a gem of a performance
into this touch-and-go production, who plays well off of his
fellow actors.
Michael Wisher's natural features are seen in this story better
than in any other, with his face clean-shaven and his haircut neat and
trim, and his acting is
superb as always in a role that becomes stranger and more demanding
as it progresses. I'm not sure I like the Rex Farrel character too
much later on, but this is mostly in the scripting.
Finally, let's look at what the Doctor actually gets to do in this
adventure. Jon Pertwee is not really at his best in this one.
Several of his scenes either don't really work or turn out less than
impressive, when he is accidentally stealing some of his fellow
actors' lines altogether. The rest of the Doctor's
shortcomings originate in the script. He seems all right in the first
half, a wily investigator as well as scientist and outcast Time Lord,
and a really likeable, friendly, reasonable kind of guy at that. Robert
Holmes' use of the Doctor's lab as a "home base" set throughout the
story is also quite excellent in pushing investigation to the forefront
of story dynamics. The Doctor even makes a very consciencious
gesture at one point - a nice touch. His character
is not so pure in the second half....
but I'll save all of that for the
In-depth Analysis version
of this review.
Dudley Simpson's music for the Master is limited in this
particular story to a very effective and recognizable electronic
sting, plus a "hypnosis" track, the two being played back-to-back
over the Master's entrance. The rest of the music is quite bold,
including some very distinctive melodic tracks played with harshly
simplistic electronic tones, at other times very short notes or
phrases bubble out with fresh creativity in electronic sound. The
two styles manage to complement each other fairly well in this
story, and though "Terror of the Autons" is one of the season's
better scores, only the two above-mentioned "Master" tracks survived
to be heard in later stories of the year.
"Terror of the Autons" is aptly named, a story whose strength
is in the horror department, attempting to frighten and terrorize
and upset the daily British rituals of tea-time and what-not. For
some fans, this is what Doctor Who should be about, but not me.
Not all of the terrors work anyway, so it's a bit of a hit and
miss job of finding its own target. Personally, I prefer to aim at
different ideals, so this adventure will not be ranked high as
a personal season favourite of mine.
This story is available on DVD and VHS video,
re-colourized as it was meant to be seen:
PAL
