Back when I was a mere and
tender 7 years old my Dad and Mum introduced me to Doctor Who via Revenge of
the Cybermen with Tom Baker. The fear of the Cybermen immediately cemented in
me a love for the strangeness and uniqueness of the show. When I heard that
Doctor Who had originally begun in the Sixties and in black and white, I was
incredibly apprehensive indeed as to whether the show would work as well in
Black and White as it did in colour. But at once upon my first viewing of the
late great Patrick Troughton in The Seeds of Death I was more hooked than ever
on the show.
I immediately took to
Patrick's clownish and impish personification of the Doctor, yet his lined and
expressive face still held a certain fear for me. Yes, I was a little unnerved
by Patrick's face during his serious moments. But that fear of his face soon evaporated
and left me for good. As soon as I saw how comical he could be within just this
story's confines he became my favourite Doctor of all time. And I was also
immediately scared witless by the superb bass drum driven score by the late
great Dudley Simpson. I was literally palpitating at the superb score that
accompanied the Ice Warriors as they move through the corridors of the moon
base. The Seeds of Death grabbed and held me firm.
There is so very much to
love about this story. The direction by Michael Ferguson for a start is
inventive, and his opening shots being from the alien's point of view are fresh
and different as the show had never done this really before. Then there is the
superb and flawless casting. There is not one disappointing performance in the
Seeds of Death from anyone of the main cast.
Ronald Leigh Hunt makes a
stern yet likeable leader of the T Mat team, and Louise Pajo compliments him
perfectly. And the sparks that light the screen between Radnor and Philip Ray's
Eldred are rather strong and special. These scenes really do give the
impression of a firm friendship that’s been broken by being involved with
different projects. Radnor is with the future, and Eldred is with the rockets
of the past. It’s a real pity actually that Harry Towb's Osgood only lasts for
the first few minutes of the episodes because he acts with his typical panache
and elan. Alan Bennion portrays the cruel Martian Ice Lord Slaar with sublime
delivery from start to finish. Yet his Lord is the typical coward in that he
always has his Ice Warrior lackies commit his murders for him. Sonny Caldinez
and Steve Peters too make the Ice Warriors a true force to be reckoned with and
leave no doubt that they are nothing less than a palpable and horrifying threat.
There are some superb
moments of comedy too along the way but in the usual Doctor Who way this humour
does not go over the top. Patrick Troughton's Genius speech when cornered by
the Warriors is definitely a classic Doctor Who moment if ever there was one.
But one of the very finest
performers in this story besides the three regulars is Terry Scully as Fewsham.
He injects his character with an extremely strong feel of despair and terror.
His acting is first rate and superb. One is actually saddened to see him die,
but somewhat exultant that his betrayal of the Warrior's leads to their defeat
in the end. Terry is definitely the most rounded and relatable character in the
story. He truly sells the notion that he is a man trapped under the pincers of
a mighty army of alien Martians.
Patrick Troughton Frazer
Hines and Wendy Padbury don’t really need much description, except for me that
they exemplify here just why they are my all-time favourite TARDIS crew. It
absolutely shines from the screen that this trio just click and the interplay
between them is nothing less than atrue
joy to behold from the moment they appear in the story to its superb climax.
This story truly made a
Doctor Who nut out of me. Now I must be one of the biggest Patrick Troughton
fans in the whole world. I have about ten series now with him featuring. I
think he was simply a phenomenally talented actor indeed and I thank him
personally myself for making my life so enjoyable and wonderfully thrilling.
This story does not suffer
from being a six parter either. It is superbly paced and for once the Ice
Warriors are in the show right from the beginning. Some other Doctor Who
stories leave it quite some time before the real threat or monster turns up,
but here the big, bad and evil Slaar and his henchman are there from the start
and the story never loses its second wind. In fact, for me this belongs in the
category of some of the best maintained stories the show ever did. Id actually
sooner watch this story than any modern David Tennant or Matt Smith episode
because several of them are boring, but the Seeds of Death is never anything
less than engaging and brilliant viewing.
If you have never seen any
of the black and white era of the show and you are looking for a simple nonstop
thrill ride this story is certainly one, I would recommend. Smile as Wendy
Padbury has a fit on obvious giggles when Patrick's Doctor is lost in foam and
emerges as a hilarious soaked clown! Or quake in fear at the genuine size and
menace of the Ice Warriors. Its little wonder they have garnered a reputation
as one of the finest alien races portrayed in Doctor Who.
Not even the slightly
niggling fact that Slaar never seems to notice when any of his minions get
fried can seriously dent this otherwise fantastic sci fi adventure. There’s
threat and peril aplenty and with Pat Troughton at the helm you are forever
given a treat of performance. The Seeds of Death perhaps is quintessential Pat
Troughton Doctor Who. But I’d much rather call it essential Doctor Who. It is
definitely in my top 20 stories of all time without any shadow of a doubt.
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