Horror Show for Doctor Who

In less than two years the entire Doctor Who series will be finally brought to the DVD world.

There are still a few titles left in the series to get the digital treatment. This week on March 8 will see the much belated release of “Seeds of Doom.” I wish they would have released this one a long time ago. But I suppose it’s better late than never.

But this is one of the quintessential episodes of the series that brings all the best elements of the series to the foreground which is a sturdy reminder as to why the Tom Baker period remains the best of the old shows.

Why is that?

The gothic tenure of the series comes to a culmination at the end of the thirteenth season with “Seeds of Doom” delivering horror elements along with some of the most horrific images ever devised for the series. A children’s show? I think not.

This is Tom Baker’s second go-round as the Doctor, an alien being who comes from an ultimate advanced race as a harbinger of good to the human race. In a way, he’s like a god. But he brings with him the best weapon of all: science. And this is what saves the day in the end. He’s the best Doctor in the old days. Along for the ride is Elizabeth Sladen who once again plays the role of Sarah Jane Smith, a journalist turned companion for the time-traveling misfit.

There is much to go for here. The isolationism and the air of atmosphere in the first one hour of the show is a jarring kick-back to the story “Who goes There?” The mountains of snow cuts off the small Antarctica facility. The feeling of being in the middle of nowhere becomes rather forceful.

The music here is well done with the composure opting to use nerve-wracking motifs that could otherwise be used in old Hammer Horror pictures. You get the feeling of discomfort when you listen to the music in the background. It soaks with a great measure of atmosphere.

However, it is the gothic mode that became the staple for the Tom Baker period here. The unfaltering shadows which leap into the scene. The constant use of dark alleys and small corners give you a sense of impending doom. Phillip Hinchcliffe, being the best producter for the old shows, knows how to bring the best out for the series. And Doctor Who was at its best when using horror motifs.

The show is divided up into two parts. The first section is set in the Antarctica while the later portion revolves around a plant loving madman bent on destroying humanity. How can you not like overblown villainy like this? It’s played well by the late actor Tony Beckley.

How can you forget the awful transformation of the man turned into a plant that could become a threat to the world? The English millionaire tree hugger, Harrison Chase, would not stop at anything in turning the world into a garden paradise for plants. He loves his plants. And it shows. His strange fascination while watching one of his lackeys turned into a plant is unsettling. Chase describes it as “beautiful” while the man shouts in agony.

Some people may criticize the “Seeds of Doom” to be too much like the Avengers episode with its espionage elements. I disagree. The story written by Robert Banks Stewart is fast paced and well thought-out action. It would feel to some in part like a spy movie. But it fits well with this story in an odd way.

Doctor Who achieves its crowning glory not with being tight-knit in its stories. But by offering horror in the most macabre sense. It’s a perfect setting of fear matched with Tom Baker’s excellent acting. In some ways, you can get a feeling that the episode is inspired by the many darker paintings of Francisco Goya who always glimpsed into the darker corner of humanity. Doctor Who does the same thing here.

The ending is one of the most remarkable especially for the shoe-string budget it was on. But the special effects with the growing seed creature engulfing the house where the Doctor, Sarah and others are can’t be easily forgotten. It holds in the best tradition of the Ray Harryhausen days.

Some of the imagery remains with me to this very day. I remember seeing this episode for the first time when I was a kid at my grandmother’s house in Marshfield. So gruesome it was that my grandmother wouldn’t watch it. But eventually she came around to seeing Doctor Who in a better light years later.

“The Seeds of Doom” still stands against the test of time. And it wins out. The story is placed with the gothic thread in the series. The old traditional elements of horror is mixed well with an interesting story about environmental safety. How long would it be before plants would decide to fight back the humans who have become too reckless with taking care of the world? This story gives an interesting example of such.

Give this one a try to find out why the Tom Baker years is fondly remembered.