Serial T, in four parts:
- Four Hundred Dawns - 9/11/65, 9.0m viewers
- Trap of Steel - 9/18/65, 9.5m
- Air Lock - 9/25/65, 11.3m
- The Exploding Planet - 10/2/65, 9.9m
Sound Bytes:
"I'd not seen many episodes of the series at the time, so I was given an intensive course on what Doctor Who was all about. I sat down and watched some episodes, and Verity Lambert, the producer, asked me what I thought. I shocked her by commenting that I thought we should aim for higher standards! It was obviously not the thing to say, but when you're young and eager, you have high ideals." - Derek Martinus, director, quoted in The Handbook: The First Doctor by Howe, Stammers and Walker (Virgin, 1994)
"Drahvins: Race of evil blond babes who sadly never returned to threaten the Doctor after their encounter in Galaxy 4. But had the series ever taken off in America, well they'd have been a cert." - entry from Doctor Who: The Completely Useless Encyclopedia by Chris Howarth and Steve Lyons (Virgin, 1996)
Comments:
I must be going soft. The first time I reviewed Galaxy 4, I savaged it. But I've just finished listening to the BBC's CD version again (yes, this is another lost one), and I found it quite charming this time around.
Galaxy 4 is often described by Doctor Who reviewers as an extremely simple morality tale about how beautiful people aren't always good, and ugly people aren't always bad. You might say this "ugly duckling" message is childish and dated; on the other hand, a quick glance at the magazine rack in the average drugstore is enough to prove that our society remains obsessed with cultivating narrow definitions of physical attractiveness, and equating good looks with virtue. So you might say the message hasn't dated at all, then.
Aside from the moralizing, Galaxy 4 is distinctive because it features a whole gang of female villains, the notorious Drahvins. Their leader, Maaga (played with conviction by Stephanie Bidmead), is the only one capable of independent thought; all of her underlings are genetically engineered soldiers who can only fight and thoughtlessly obey orders.
William Emms' script has some interesting things to say about the dangers of genetic tinkering, in a Brave New World vein (though nothing could be quite so depressing and alarming as that book...!) There's a good scene in which Steven tries to exploit a Drahvin soldier's limitations in order to escape from her. And, in a nice twist, Maaga is ultimately revealed to be every bit as inflexible and stupid as the soldiers she bosses around, albeit for different reasons.
So the Drahvins are pretty interesting, then. But they still don't quite work as villains because they're nowhere near as smart or technologically advanced as our heroes -- the Doctor, the Rills and, of course, the ever-endearing Chumblie robots. In other words, the Drahvins are outmatched by the good guys from the word "go."
The regular cast members perform well; Hartnell's Doctor clearly has fun baiting and mocking the Drahvins. Even Vicki gets her moment in the sun, as she befriends the Rills and stops the Doctor from destroying their breathing apparatus. Perhaps the only loser is Steven, who spends an awful lot of time in captivity. I don't think his character is up to much, to be honest. All he ever seems to do is comment on events, and act concerned or amused as the situation demands; he has no real personality that I can detect.
It's hard to say what I think of Galaxy 4 overall. It's simple, yes, but it doesn't really bore me. I appreciate its serious aims and its nods in the general direction of science. I think I'll lean toward the positive side in terms of rating it, because it's got a first-class director in Derek Martinus -- the man responsible for the original Auton street massacre (you know, the one that was actually scary and exciting). I'm sure he gave Galaxy 4 some visual flair.
Grade: B
Next Episode: Mission to the Unknown