The Awakening is one of the 21st seasons two part stories though this wasn’t intentional. The story was written by the wonderfully named Eric Pringle and this would be his one and only contribution to the show. It’s a story that was intended to be a four part adventure until it was decided that there wasn’t enough of a plot to fill four episodes without the mother of all padding. What we get is a story where Tegan travels to Earth in 1984 to see her grandfather but comes across a town that has become obsessed with the Civil War. However (as always) there was an evil force behind this.
The idea that there are ‘war games’ going on and that someone in the town is enjoying far more than he is should is quite a fun idea and its taken to its natural conclusion but for me when the story moves into the church and all the business with the Malus it just seems to be a bit silly. I think that the giant face is to be honest a little rubbish and I cant see how anyone could be frightened by this. Maybe if the lights were turned off and you were a bit drunk then maybe this might be scary but what’s even worse is the little creature which that appears in the TARDIS. Another thing that we are expected to be scared by. Sorry but not gonna happen.
The thing that makes this story mildly interesting are the performances from the supporting cast. Two people return to Doctor Who. The first being Denis Lill who appeared in the 1977 story ‘Image of the Fendahl’ and was very good in that. In this story he was Sir George Hutchinson who was the one that was enjoying the games just a bit too much. It turns out he is being controlled by the Malus but I didn’t care about that and just found that every scene Lill was in the story picked up a little. The second person was Glyn Houston who had appeared in the 1976 story ‘The Hand of Fear’. Like that story, Houston plays someone who the viewer likes because they fall on the side of the Doctor. It’s a shame that Houston didn’t appear in more DW stories because he’s a very good actor. Another good supporting cast member was Polly James who was the voice of reason. She instantly dislikes the games and is the only one of the villagers that doesn’t dress up.
Something else that I do like about this story is the wonderful location footage. Possibly the best for quite some time the location stuff benefits from being in a beautiful town and having the good fortune to film on what appears to be a lovely weather. It’s rare that I am interested in the documentaries about where it was filmed but on this occasion I decided to look at it and its still a lovely place.
The Awakening is neither a great story nor a poor one. It’s just one that seems to serve a purpose of filling two episodes. I think that in the scheme of things when you look at the twenty-first season this is the weakest story and that’s partly due to it lacking anywhere near an effective punch that some of the other stories had but that happens in Doctor Who.
The idea that there are ‘war games’ going on and that someone in the town is enjoying far more than he is should is quite a fun idea and its taken to its natural conclusion but for me when the story moves into the church and all the business with the Malus it just seems to be a bit silly. I think that the giant face is to be honest a little rubbish and I cant see how anyone could be frightened by this. Maybe if the lights were turned off and you were a bit drunk then maybe this might be scary but what’s even worse is the little creature which that appears in the TARDIS. Another thing that we are expected to be scared by. Sorry but not gonna happen.
The thing that makes this story mildly interesting are the performances from the supporting cast. Two people return to Doctor Who. The first being Denis Lill who appeared in the 1977 story ‘Image of the Fendahl’ and was very good in that. In this story he was Sir George Hutchinson who was the one that was enjoying the games just a bit too much. It turns out he is being controlled by the Malus but I didn’t care about that and just found that every scene Lill was in the story picked up a little. The second person was Glyn Houston who had appeared in the 1976 story ‘The Hand of Fear’. Like that story, Houston plays someone who the viewer likes because they fall on the side of the Doctor. It’s a shame that Houston didn’t appear in more DW stories because he’s a very good actor. Another good supporting cast member was Polly James who was the voice of reason. She instantly dislikes the games and is the only one of the villagers that doesn’t dress up.
Something else that I do like about this story is the wonderful location footage. Possibly the best for quite some time the location stuff benefits from being in a beautiful town and having the good fortune to film on what appears to be a lovely weather. It’s rare that I am interested in the documentaries about where it was filmed but on this occasion I decided to look at it and its still a lovely place.
The Awakening is neither a great story nor a poor one. It’s just one that seems to serve a purpose of filling two episodes. I think that in the scheme of things when you look at the twenty-first season this is the weakest story and that’s partly due to it lacking anywhere near an effective punch that some of the other stories had but that happens in Doctor Who.
No comments:
Post a Comment