Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death
"The Ambassadors of Death" was a seven-part serial, first broadcast on BBC TV between 21 March 1970 - 2 May 1970. It was written by David Whitaker (and Trevor Ray and Malcolm Hulke, uncredited), and directed by Michael Ferguson. It starred Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, Caroline John as Liz Shaw and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
Although often seen as the weakest story of the seventh season, "The Ambassadors of Death" has a great deal going for it, with a truly ambitious narrative detailing humanity's first official contact with alien life. The story, which started out as a tale for Patrick Troughton's Doctor, went through numerous script revisions, which many tend to blame for it not working quite as well as it might have done. This could not be further from the truth as the story gels together incredibly well and is quite clever. Admittedly, it does sag a bit in the middle episodes, but it picks up again as soon as the Doctor goes up in the space capsule. Its seven-episode length allows it to indulge in a bit of everything - action sequences, model work, character development and fine dialog.
The style of the story is unique, yet vaguely reminiscent of The Avengers and inhabiting a similar world to that of the James Bond movies, more so than any of its predecessors or successors, and contains a number of the same flaws (such as the unclear motivation of characters such as Heldorf and Taltalian) and the same sort of charm. The atmosphere of menace generated by the alien Ambassadors, whose power to kill is abused by a misguided human, is especially effective, as is the build-up to their appearance. There are several classic and memorable scenes of the massive and eerie space-suited Ambassadors towering over the characters, their hands outstretched, and of course, the sun behind the Ambassador as it marches onward, oblivious to bullets.
Characterizations are mostly strong, particularly General Carrington, an ex-astronaut driven to the edge of sanity (and beyond) by his fateful encounter with the aliens. A man who very nearly starts a war that Earth cannot possibly win because he believes that it is his 'moral duty'. In many ways this story is still frighteningly relevant today. We live in a world of fanatics, doing the things that they do because they believe it is right. Deep rooted beliefs leading to terrible actions and even worse consequences. Racism and xenophobia are essentially Carrington's motivation. And as usual, they are completely unfounded and irrational.
The ending of the story features a famous scene for Jon Pertwee's Doctor. He tells Carrington that he understands the reasons why he has done what he has done. As far as he is concerned, the General has been stopped and war averted, it isn't necessary to humiliate him further. He seems to recognize that he is a decent man whose irrational hatred has led him astray. He accepts this and allows the General to keep his dignity. A very unusual ending and all the better for it.
And then there's Reegan, Carrington's sadistic henchman. Has there ever been (or since) a bad guy so capable? Always in control, and absolutely ruthless. By no means is Reegan a cookie-cutter thug; he adapts his plans according to the situation, even making helpful suggestions at the end in the hope of leniency. He is unrelentingly evil, killing without thought, and you get the impression his pulse doesn't increase a beat while he's doing it. He is so uncaring about everything - emphasized by the casual way in which he buries the bodies of the Ambassadors' victims in a quarry - making him one of Doctor Who's most frightening villains ever.
Along with the well-written characterizations, there is also an abundance of outstanding performances in "The Ambassadors of Death" - particularly from the regular cast. Jon Pertwee is on superb form here, with the Doctor veering from being charming to downright rude, while acting as a mediator - and not so much as a 'man of action,' which is surprising considering the high action content in this adventure. Caroline John again shows why dropping Liz after this season was a real mistake; she's brave, clever, feisty, helpful and resourceful. Nicholas Courtney is at the height of his powers here. These were the glory days of the Brigadier and UNIT. Compare this Brigadier with the buffoon of later Third Doctor stories (e.g. "The Three Doctors" or "Planet of the Spiders"). Are they really the same character? Here he gets into shootouts and brawls. In later stories he's reduced to fighting with the UNIT budget.
The guest cast are also very good; Ronald Allen as Space Center boss Ralph Cornish (who sadly doesn't have much to do in the closing episodes), Dallas Cavell as the ambitious and misguided civil servant Quinlan, Cyril Shaps as the nervous, twitchy, disgraced scientist Lennox, William Dysart as the thuggish Reegan (I love his 'make yourself at home!' after UNIT blast their way into his hideout), and of course John Abineri as Carrington, who goes convincingly over the edge as the climax nears. Even Robert Cawdron as Taltalian is good, despite his outrageous - and inconsistent - accent.
Dudley Simpson contributes one of his finest incidental music scores, ranging from the strident UNIT theme, to the suspenseful drum motif used in several sequences, to the haunting flute theme for the alien astronauts. The production is extremely competent given the elements the story requires, with all the spaceship scenes coming across as particular effective. Michael Ferguson's direction is top notch, inventive and gritty, imbuing the story with a real sense of tension throughout.
With its sophisticated themes of betrayal, moral duty and trust, "The Ambassadors of Death" is overall a very good story that only has a few weaknesses in its script but is otherwise a strong tale that deserves much praise and repeated viewings.
4 / 5 stars
Although often seen as the weakest story of the seventh season, "The Ambassadors of Death" has a great deal going for it, with a truly ambitious narrative detailing humanity's first official contact with alien life. The story, which started out as a tale for Patrick Troughton's Doctor, went through numerous script revisions, which many tend to blame for it not working quite as well as it might have done. This could not be further from the truth as the story gels together incredibly well and is quite clever. Admittedly, it does sag a bit in the middle episodes, but it picks up again as soon as the Doctor goes up in the space capsule. Its seven-episode length allows it to indulge in a bit of everything - action sequences, model work, character development and fine dialog.
The style of the story is unique, yet vaguely reminiscent of The Avengers and inhabiting a similar world to that of the James Bond movies, more so than any of its predecessors or successors, and contains a number of the same flaws (such as the unclear motivation of characters such as Heldorf and Taltalian) and the same sort of charm. The atmosphere of menace generated by the alien Ambassadors, whose power to kill is abused by a misguided human, is especially effective, as is the build-up to their appearance. There are several classic and memorable scenes of the massive and eerie space-suited Ambassadors towering over the characters, their hands outstretched, and of course, the sun behind the Ambassador as it marches onward, oblivious to bullets.
Characterizations are mostly strong, particularly General Carrington, an ex-astronaut driven to the edge of sanity (and beyond) by his fateful encounter with the aliens. A man who very nearly starts a war that Earth cannot possibly win because he believes that it is his 'moral duty'. In many ways this story is still frighteningly relevant today. We live in a world of fanatics, doing the things that they do because they believe it is right. Deep rooted beliefs leading to terrible actions and even worse consequences. Racism and xenophobia are essentially Carrington's motivation. And as usual, they are completely unfounded and irrational.
The ending of the story features a famous scene for Jon Pertwee's Doctor. He tells Carrington that he understands the reasons why he has done what he has done. As far as he is concerned, the General has been stopped and war averted, it isn't necessary to humiliate him further. He seems to recognize that he is a decent man whose irrational hatred has led him astray. He accepts this and allows the General to keep his dignity. A very unusual ending and all the better for it.
And then there's Reegan, Carrington's sadistic henchman. Has there ever been (or since) a bad guy so capable? Always in control, and absolutely ruthless. By no means is Reegan a cookie-cutter thug; he adapts his plans according to the situation, even making helpful suggestions at the end in the hope of leniency. He is unrelentingly evil, killing without thought, and you get the impression his pulse doesn't increase a beat while he's doing it. He is so uncaring about everything - emphasized by the casual way in which he buries the bodies of the Ambassadors' victims in a quarry - making him one of Doctor Who's most frightening villains ever.
Along with the well-written characterizations, there is also an abundance of outstanding performances in "The Ambassadors of Death" - particularly from the regular cast. Jon Pertwee is on superb form here, with the Doctor veering from being charming to downright rude, while acting as a mediator - and not so much as a 'man of action,' which is surprising considering the high action content in this adventure. Caroline John again shows why dropping Liz after this season was a real mistake; she's brave, clever, feisty, helpful and resourceful. Nicholas Courtney is at the height of his powers here. These were the glory days of the Brigadier and UNIT. Compare this Brigadier with the buffoon of later Third Doctor stories (e.g. "The Three Doctors" or "Planet of the Spiders"). Are they really the same character? Here he gets into shootouts and brawls. In later stories he's reduced to fighting with the UNIT budget.
The guest cast are also very good; Ronald Allen as Space Center boss Ralph Cornish (who sadly doesn't have much to do in the closing episodes), Dallas Cavell as the ambitious and misguided civil servant Quinlan, Cyril Shaps as the nervous, twitchy, disgraced scientist Lennox, William Dysart as the thuggish Reegan (I love his 'make yourself at home!' after UNIT blast their way into his hideout), and of course John Abineri as Carrington, who goes convincingly over the edge as the climax nears. Even Robert Cawdron as Taltalian is good, despite his outrageous - and inconsistent - accent.
Dudley Simpson contributes one of his finest incidental music scores, ranging from the strident UNIT theme, to the suspenseful drum motif used in several sequences, to the haunting flute theme for the alien astronauts. The production is extremely competent given the elements the story requires, with all the spaceship scenes coming across as particular effective. Michael Ferguson's direction is top notch, inventive and gritty, imbuing the story with a real sense of tension throughout.
With its sophisticated themes of betrayal, moral duty and trust, "The Ambassadors of Death" is overall a very good story that only has a few weaknesses in its script but is otherwise a strong tale that deserves much praise and repeated viewings.
4 / 5 stars