Serial DD, in four parts:
- Part One - 10/8/66, 5.5m viewers
- Part Two - 10/15/66, 6.4m
- Part Three - 10/22/66, 7.6m
- Part Four - 10/29/66, 7.5m
Sound Bytes:
"The changeover between the Doctors took a long time to do, and there was a lot of consultation about...how we could use the technical resources and so on. It took a whole morning of studio time to rehearse because it was thought to be so important. A lot was riding on it working. We wanted people to carry on watching Doctor Who even though William Hartnell was no longer playing the Doctor." - Derek Martinus, director, quoted in The Handbook: The First Doctor by Howe, Stammers and Walker (Virgin, 1994)
"I was obsessed as a scientist by the differences and similarities between the human brain and advanced computer machines, and I was thinking that although I could easily imagine a logical machine reasoning to itself and manipulating events outside it, by no stretch of the imagination could I visualize a machine producing a poem by Dylan Thomas. And so the Cybermen appeared. They were an ancient race on a dying planet who had made themselves immortal by gradually replacing their worn out organs and limbs with cybernetic spare parts. They had become strong in the process and always behaved logically, but had lost their feelings and humanity as they became more and more machine driven." - Kit Pedler, writer and scientific adviser, quoted in Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado (St. Martin's Press, 1983)
"Basically I left Dr. Who because we did not see eye to eye over the stories and too much evil entered the spirit of the thing. Dr. Who was always noted and spelled out to me as a children's program[me], and I wanted it to stay as such, but I'm afraid the BBC had other ideas. So did I, so I left. I didn't willingly give up the part." - William Hartnell, in a July 1968 letter to a fan.
Comments:
The first time I watched The Tenth Planet, I thought it was great, but it hasn't fully stood up to repeat viewings. My biggest gripe is that it's not a "proper" Hartnell story; I associate the First Doctor with exploring alien planets and visiting Earth's distant past, but here he travels only a few years into the future to battle the Cybermen in a hardcore science fiction story that's more typical of the Pertwee era.
So, this makes an aggravating final adventure for Hartnell, particularly since he fell ill during shooting and consequently does not appear in episode three. Fortunately, he gives a good performance during the rare occasions when he actually is on screen. I love the mocking way he asks the chief Cyberman, "Emotions -- love, pride, hate, fear -- have you no emotions, sir?" But sadly, his Doctor isn't even faithfully characterized. He somehow knows all about Mondas before it appears, and figures out exactly what's going on through a series of intuitive leaps worthy of Sylvester McCoy or one of the other know-it-all Doctors.
I suppose what I'm getting at is that The Tenth Planet represents, for me, an unfortunate transition for Doctor Who -- a transition from fascinating history-based stories to boring Earthbound ones, and a transition from a properly characterized Doctor to an omniscient, emotionless superhero Doctor. On those grounds alone, I could really loathe this serial, but it's well made and imaginatively directed by Derek Martinus, so I can't complain too much.
I must admit, too, that The Tenth Planet does a great job of introducing the Cybermen. The Doctor's new enemies are not just watered-down copies of the Daleks (as the Mechanoids, the Chumblies and the War Machines were), but a strong alien culture with a unique philosophy. The Cybermen genuinely believe that they have discovered the key to a better life, and they act as though they're doing the humans a favor when they offer to cybernetically enhance their bodies and purge their emotions.
Doctor Who and Star Trek fans are always debating back-and-forth over the question of whether the Borg "ripped off" the Cybermen. Regardless of whether the copying was intentional, I think it's worth noting that Doctor Who introduced the concept of cyborg villains more than 20 years before they appeared in Star Trek. The Borg initially seemed scarier and less cheap-looking than the Cybermen, but time (that great equalizer) has rendered the Borg cheesy as well. One might argue that the 1960s Cybermen are actually more effective than the Borg; the Doctor's foes certainly look creepy in their techno-mummy form in The Tenth Planet.
But, before I get too arrogant on Doctor Who's behalf, I should point out that the Cybermen's scheme in this serial doesn't really make sense. They plan to siphon off Earth's energy, but somehow they end up blowing up their own planet -- say what? I know this is ostensibly a science-literate story, but oftentimes the plot seems to be cobbled together from technobabble and nonsense.
I can forgive many such flaws, though, in light of the dramatic regeneration sequence at the end of episode four. The changeover from Hartnell to Patrick Troughton is cleverly achieved through the use of a bright spotlight and an interesting camera angle. It's a simple yet elegant scene, far more dramatic (and less silly-looking) than the expensive CGI regenerations of more recent days.
So there you have it -- Hartnell's last story is a chaotic mix of the classic and the bland, the elevating and the irritating. I've probably hit it too hard in this review. Like Logopolis, it's interesting, but it makes a poor choice for a great Doctor's final adventure. Hartnell deserved to go out with a story that was more faithful to the spirit of his era.
Grade: B+