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WATCH ALONG | CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO | 12x8 | The Ark in Space: Part 4
🕑 Added 2025-01-27 10:15:57 +0000 UTCEpisodes 12x9 and 12x10 are currently being edited and will be posted shortly.
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A Few Notes:
Please no spoilers beyond episode 12x16 unless you see that later episodes have already been released. In that case, no spoilers beyond those episodes.
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This episode was viewed on BritBox via Amazon Prime.
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Comments
Azmat Mahmood
Speaking of the Doctor, Tom Baker is an absolute revelation in this story. He was highly entertaining in the previous story, but there wasn't much nuance or depth to his performance. That almost entirely comedic performance couldn't carry on beyond that story and the new producer and script editor (Phillip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes respectively) knew this and clearly reigned Tom in from The Ark in Space onward. Right from the get-go in this story, he has a sense of wonder and excitement to explore unlike anything we've seen previously, but he's also impatient and quick to snap at his companions if he feels they're behaving recklessly. As much he loves to explore, he's also keenly aware of the dangers of the universe, and this gives his performance a gravely serious, brooding edge when required. Despite that though, he's willing to jump headfirst into that danger with a beaming smile on his face. His reactions to certain things and the way he talks makes him feel like a true alien, a complete outsider. The "humans are indomitable speech" is the prime example of this, he really feels like a higher being admiring the ingenuity of these puny little humans. Every Doctor is mercurial and unpredictable to a certain extent, but none more so than the fourth Doctor. Tom has made his Doctor dark, short-tempered and aloof to go along with the wit and humour here and it works wonderfully, this is how he will play the Doctor for as long as Hinchcliffe and Holmes are in charge at least. The crazy thing is, this is only Tom's second story. He's going to get even better....We can all enjoy Tom Baker giving some of the best performances anyone has ever given as the Doctor during this period, not that he was bad after that! In some of the greatest stories ever too. The Hinchcliffe/Holmes era is a time of supreme consistency, great story after great story. Let me put it like this, no other era boasts a good/bad story ratio as good as the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era.
Azmat Mahmood
The beginning of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era and boy do they start off strong, The Ark in Space is an absolute classic and they’re immediately able to put in place the gothic horror direction they’ll take the show in. This story has an unrelentingly dark, grim tone unlike anything we've seen before, certainly since season 7 at least, but this is still something different. Season 7 had an uncomfortable gritty realism to it, whereas this is otherworldly and eerie which sets the tone for the rest of the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era. If the last story was like a warm blanket, easing you into the new Doctor’s era, this story is like getting a bucket of cold water dumped over your head! It’s so different to the previous era, which was Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in the role of producer and script editor respectively. The stark white sets with the columns and rows that seems to go on for miles are very impressive and give this story an uncomfortable, sterile feel. The entire setting of this story looks and feels very unwelcoming, suddenly the universe has become a much more dangerous and threatening place under Hinchcliffe and Holmes. The focus on the body horror and psychological torment Noah/Lazar goes through is also extremely disturbing and highly effective and adds to the unnerving atmosphere. it makes you forget he's just wearing green bubble wrap on his hand! The moment Noah in his confused state of mind says he is Dune is one of the most horrible moments of horror the show has ever done. I love the worldbuilding explaining why and how the humans ended up on this ark and cryogenically froze themselves, how human society this far into the future works and the backstory of why the Wirrn want to take over the ark and why they want to destroy humans. I love that this isn’t a black and white scenario and the Wirrn actually have a legitimate gripe with the humans and even if these particular humans on the ark aren’t responsible, you can believe from their elitist attitude and talk of genetic purity that they still aren’t morally upstanding people and that other surviving humans elsewhere are probably similar and would do what the Wirrn accuse them of. I think it’s very interesting to give these surviving humans such dubious ethics because it makes you question whether it’s worth humans surviving if this is what it takes and where our own path is leading us and if we’re also going in the wrong direction. What would we do if we were faced with the end of everything we know? It’s proper weighty, existential stuff. The idea that the Wirnn want to lay their eggs inside all the sleeping humans in order to both eat the humans and absorb all of their technological knowledge to become a more advanced race is gruesome and highly disturbing. It's all so detailed and helps to give this story depth and texture. This might seem like another classic 'base under siege' story from the second Doctor’s era, but it's so much more than that. Don't get me wrong, I love most of those second Doctor 'base under siege' stories, but this is an entirely new twist on the genre. It's all capped off by that strangely poignant ending with Noah/Lazar's last shred of humanity saving the day. Proving the Doctor's "humans are indomitable" speech right and it reaffirms his and our own belief in the capacity of humans to do good despite everything we saw from them in this story.
