From Newsgroup: rec.arts.drwho.moderated
From Address: jphalt@aol.com
Subject: The Moonbase: my review

4 episodes. Approx. 97 minutes. Written by: Kit Pedlar, Gerry Davis
(uncredited). Directed by: Morris Barry. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT

The Doctor's attempt to control the TARDIS goes awry, and he ends up
landing himself, Ben, Polly, and Jamie on the moon in the late 21st
century. While exploring the lunar surface, Jamie is injured, but he
is rescued by workers at an international moonbase. The base, which
uses a device called the Gravitron to control Earth's weather, is
suffering from an outbreak of a mysterious plague. The disease first
hit the base's doctor, then started spreading among the scientists,
with seemingly no reason behind it.

Though the Doctor's too-timely arrival draws some suspicion from
Hobson (Patrick Barr), the base commander, he is still allowed to
investigate the plague. What he discovers are contaminated food
stores, spreading an artificial disease designed to leave the base
vulnerable to infiltration. The Cybermen have returned, and they are
determined to eliminate all threats to their survival - which includes
all life on Earth!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: The Moonbase is a key story for the 2nd Doctor, because
it's the story in which the production team finally figure out exactly
who he is. Gone are the disguises and funny accents of the previous
two serials. The humor is still there (as well it should be), but it's
used as part of his characterization rather than being a replacement
for characterization. Once the Doctor sees the effects of the space
plague, we see a seriousness of purpose. He essentially lays out the
mission statement of the rest of the Troughton era in Episode Two of
this story, as the 2nd Doctor proclaims: "There are some corners of
the universe which have bred the most terrible things, things which
act against everything which we believe in. They must be fought!" This
little speech could have come across as overly theatrical, but
Troughton keeps his voice nicely quiet as he delivers it, underplaying
against the aggressive nature of the lines.

Ben/Polly: One of the things making Ben and Polly such a good pairing
is the way their personalities balance each other out. Ben is cynical,
impatient, and aggressive. This can put him into a leadership role
when the Doctor's unable to take that role himself, as when he takes
Polly's idea about acetone and turns it into a practical weapon
against the Cybermen. But on his own, Ben's impatience would have led
him to walk out on the moonbase staff as soon as Hobson voiced
suspicions about the time travelers. Polly's compassion balances out
Ben's cynicism - though on her own, as we saw when she let Zaroff get
the better of her so easily, her compassion can override common sense.
Between the two of them, they make one fairly impressive human being -
which combines with the chemistry between Michael Craze and Anneke
Wills to channel a genuine "couples" vibe that hasn't been present in
any TARDIS team since Ian and Barbara.

Jamie: While Ben and Polly are reasonably well-treated by this story,
and the 2nd Doctor gets his first really good characterization since
Power of the Daleks, Jamie is even worse-used here than in the
previous story. The scripts having been written before his addition as
a regular, script editor Gerry Davis opts to fit him in by knocking
him out almost immediately and having him spend the first half of the
story unconscious, occasionally waking up to blather about "the
phantom piper." Episode Three attempts to create a vague rivalry with
Ben for Polly's affections, but this doesn't actually go anywhere and
so isn't particularly interesting on any kind of character level.

Cybermen: The Cybermen's second appearance, after their very well-
received debut in The Tenth Planet just four stories earlier. Despite
their success in that story, they were significantly redesigned in the
interim. I'm not sure I like all the changes to the design. The
monotone voice does effectively show their lack of emotions, and in
this is far better than any of the later Cyber voices. But the sing-
song voices of the Tenth Planet Cybermen were more eerie, as were the
recognizably human bandaged faces. Here, they are recreated as
strictly robots. On that level, it works. They come across as more
formidable here than in their first story, and there's a real sense
that they truly cannot be reasoned with. In any case, the Moonbase
Cybermen work well within this story, but I can see why the design was
further altered later.


THOUGHTS

The Moonbase would be an easy story to criticize. After all, just four
serials after The Tenth Planet, this serial is practically a remake.
But while The Tenth Planet introduced both the Cybermen and the "base-
under-siege" story to Doctor Who, The Moonbase refines both. I might
personally prefer the original Cybermen, but there's no question but
that these Cybermen are a more polished final product. As is the
story, which offers stronger atmosphere and a more effective sense of
both menace and claustrophobia.

The script, written by Kit Pedlar and given an extensive rewrite by
story editor Gerry Davis, builds tension masterfully. The first two
episodes see the Cybermen introduced very gradually. The shadow of a
Cyberman's head on a wall; a Cyberman's hand, within the Cyber-ship.
Even when they are finally seen in Episode Two, Hobson refuses to
believe it, insisting that they are all long dead... Right up until
the extremely effective cliffhanger reveal at the end of Episode Two.
It's all very well done, building the menace of the Cybermen in the
background while letting the disease plot occupy center stage to keep
the pace moving briskly.

Though most of the base crew are one-dimensional, Patrick Barr's
Hobson is probably one of the best-scripted "base commanders" of the
Troughton era. Hobson is not portrayed as an imbecile. He's obviously
highly competent. We see that he's under enormous stress, but he never
comes across as unstable; and it's clear at all times that he has the
respect of his men. He may have suspicions about the Doctor. But given
what he knows of the situation, those suspicions are reasonable - and
they don't stop him from accepting the Doctor's help, simply because
he knows he's out of his depth with the disease. He maintains his
dignity and authority even when his base is held hostage by the
Cybermen, and he works well with his second in command, Benoit (Andre
Maranne), and with the Doctor in fighting them. If this were rewritten
to remove the Doctor Who elements, Hobson would make a pretty good
lead for the story without any substantial change to his portrayal.

A comparison of this serial with The Underwater Menace is revealing, I
think. Both stories involve a threat to the entire planet Earth, as
witnessed from two-and-a-half sets on a soundstage. Both stories have
rather ridiculous elements. The Gravitron seems an outright liability
to Earth, given that a few hours of issues with the machine apparently
sends the entire planet into chaos. But The Moonbase establishes an
atmosphere of credibility, with the early episodes taking time to show
us the crew doing its regular routine, showing Hobson and Benoit
leading a total inspection of the machine when problems become clear,
building the suspense of the Cybermen's introduction by having the
crew read the drops in pressure without knowing what's causing it. A
lot of little details which make the whole piece feel much more
believable than it should. This persists even into Episode Four, with
the fate of the relief rocket from Earth presented as horrific - a
very gradual execution by the Cybermen which everyone is left helpless
to stop, even though it may take a week for the men to actually die.

All of this is quite a long way from generic high priests sacrificing
the companions to generic gods, while generic cruel overseers force
them to work in generic mines (mining what, exactly?), while a madman
plots to destroy the Earth simply because he can. The Moonbase
provides little details and tiny moments to make its setting feel
somewhat authentic; The Underwater Menace... doesn't.

Lest my praise be too lavish, I should say that the serial's ending is
deeply unsatisfying. The Cybermen are defeated at the end in a way
that makes sense within the confines of the story, but which just
feels like a complete anticlimax. All the tension built up over 3 1/2
episodes evaporates as a gizmo conveniently nullifies the Cyber-
threat. Still, a weak ending doesn't wipe away 3 1/2 episodes that are
generally excellent. The Moonbase is a simple story, but an extremely
well-executed one.



Rating: 8/10.

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