Geek Syndicate
The Doctor and his new companion (Cambridge educated
scientist Liz Shaw) are contacted by UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to which the Doctor had allied himself, to see what is happening in a mining network.
When the Doctor ventures into the mines, he discovers
that there is more to the Earth than meets the eye. Before
the humans became the dominant species there were The
Silurians. After millennia in hibernation, the old masters of
the planet want to reclaim the surface. The story features
groups of humans and Silurians who are willing to co-exist
and factions of both species that do not. The Doctor finds
himself caught between the two races, struggling to discover a compromise – will he succeed?
The build-up of suspense in this story is brilliant. Classic
Who might not have had the budget that New Who does,
but I believe that often the writers and directors had more
tricks under their sleeves, building more horror than the
new show has ever been able to do: it hides what it can’t
do and builds on what it can. For the first few episodes, we
really get a sense of rising dread about the menace that is
coming. The audience does not see a Silurian clearly until
the third episode of the story. We get the feeling that they
are coming and that they are something to fear. The story
presents the effect that the Silurians have had on the people that have come into contact with them. The audience
has heard them hiss as well as see the odd reptilian hand
here and there. Nothing more. Like The Daleks, this really
builds suspense and horror by allowing the viewer to fill
the gaps with their own imaginings.
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At the end of the story’s first episode, the casual viewer
familiar with Doctor Who would assume that the Silurians
are the same as any other monster that has featured in
Doctor Who at the time: they are the villains of the piece.
The humans are the innocent and the heroic Doctor will
save them from the menace. By the end of episode two,
the seeds of doubt begin to be sewn into the audience’s
minds, with the Doctor stating that he is unsure whether
the Silurian’s are really a menace. As the serial continues,
we discover that on both Silurian and human side, there
are shades of black as well as shades o