Written by Robert Sloman, Barry Letts, and Sydney Newman
Directed by Michael E. Briant

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television series which has been around off and on since 1963. The main character is just known as “The Doctor” and is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. This means he travels through time to various places. One of his favorite places to visit is Earth. Typically, he has a companion traveling with him, usually female, sometimes male, sometimes one of each. He travels in a time machine known as a “Tardis” which is disguised as a British Police booth.

A Time Lord can regenerate if fatally wounded, which has accounted for all the different actors who have played The Doctor throughout the years. In this episode, the Doctor is portrayed by Jon Pertwee. The Doctor is working with a British agency known as UNIT and has been spending most of his time on Earth. He isn’t traveling through space with companions, but he has close friends on Earth in Jo (portrayed by Katy Manning) and the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (portrayed by Nicholas Courtney).

In The Green Death, the new owners of a mine in South Wales are touting re-opening it. Professor Jones (portrayed by Stewart Bevan) derides the idea, saying it will do more harm than good. As the debate is going on, one of the miners comes out of the mine and throws the alarm, covered with a glowing green substance.

After the report of the man’s odd death reaches UNIT, the Brigadier tries to encourage the Doctor to investigate it. Jo already has it in her head to go meet with Professor Jones about shutting down the mine.

The Doctor knows what is happening, but keeps it to himself. He materializes in the TARDIS down in the mine and begins his own investigation. The Brigadier is meeting with the company officials while Jo is with Professor Jones. Their meeting gets off to an awkward start, but soon the two of them are heading to the mine, thinking the company is using it as a toxic waste dump.

The truth is stranger than that as extra-large maggots are discovered down in the mine below the complex. Not only is the Doctor dealing with these creatures, but he’s also trying to avert an environmental disaster.

Aired at a time when the planet was plagued with various environmental issues such as rivers on fire, The Green Death is largely viewed by fans as “the environmental show.” The timing was perfect – the first Earth Day had been held about three years prior to this show airing and it was right about the time that people were becoming more aware of the effects of pollution on the planet.

The story is good if a bit heavy-handed with the message. Don’t pump toxic waste down the mine or you will breed giant maggots which will kill us all – got it. The main problem besides the obvious nature of the show’s message is that it trots out the tired plot of having a computer that becomes self-aware and wants to rule the planet. It’s been done better before and since just in this series, never mind the myriad of films. However, in this modern-day corporate culture, it’s easy to view the computer’s single-minded pursuit of the success of the corporation as quite parallel to issues we currently face.

The acting was terrific. I am gaining a new appreciation for Pertwee watching these story-arcs in sequence and uncut. He probably had less to work with being pretty much confined to Earth during his tenure. At the same time, he keeps the Doctor interesting and compelling. Nicholas Courtney has one of his better turns as the Brigadier. Instead of being just the military buffoon, he’s a pivotal character and immersed more believably in the role. When he deals with civilians he’s acting in an appropriate manner and that is completely the opposite of how he is when he’s faced with a superior. Both angles he handles very well.

This was the last story-arc for Katy Manning. During the commentary, she frequently changes her voice to one that sounds like she used it to voice animated characters and it can be quite annoying. At the same time, listening to her cry over missing Jon Pertwee as the story-arc (and commentary) concludes speaks volumes as to the bond she had with her co-star.

There could have been a better job done with certain aspects of the transfer. Part of the show’s appeal has always been the somewhat cheesy special effects and costuming. In this story-arc, it’s quite obvious that there was primitive use of the blue-screen technology. Many of the characters in these scenes have a tell-tale black outline around them. Most science fiction shows and films, where this occurred digitally, removed the black outline when they began transferring the films to DVD, but that’s not the case here.

Also among the special features on the DVD is a wonderful follow-up to the story. It’s a purported documentary and an interview segment with the principals involved in the story many years later. It’s a lot of fun and I really appreciate the effort that’s gone into producing DVDs that are really worth collecting. I only wish I had the money to invest in them for my home collection.

If you have watched Doctor Who and haven’t had much exposure to the Jon Pertwee era, I can’t really say this is the place to start. There are some terrific performances, but the story is too heavy-handed and unoriginal to work as well as it could. Still, if you’re invested in the series, it’s not an episode to avoid as there are some terrific moments.


SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Commentary by Terrance Dicks (script editor), Barry Letts (Producer and co-Writer), and Katy Manning
• Information Text
• Interview with Robert Sloman
• Interview with Stewart Bevan (OMG, has he changed!!! He looks so… establishment)
• Global Conspiracy? – hysterical “follow up” report on what happened in the village
• Visual Effects track
• Picture Gallery
• Who’s Who