The Savages (1966) Review

Godspeed, Steven. Godspeed.

For a typical Hartnell story(two sides, one good and one evil) not presented very uniquely, this story is quite exemplary. Especially in its' latter half, The Savages boasts great acting from the guest stars, a choking departure for Steven(the nearest I've come to crying in Doctor Who) and an all-around decent story.

William Hartnell is really good here and has a magnificient speech against prejudice. His outrage is presented very naturally and I'm very impressed with his performance. I'm not all too keen why the Doctor would suddenly want to ditch Steven(he isn't very happy when people leave him), but altogether, he's holding on remarkably well for someone whose mental and physical health was deteriorating. People say his sickness caused him to forget lines, but rather ironically, he hasn't fluffed a lot at all since Season 1. 

Steven is once again the hero of the story, doing all the gunfights and the running while the Doctor gets knocked out again. His departure was a little contrived(no other messed up alien race has needed a mediator in Doctor Who thus far), but I feel he got the finale he deserved. When we first met Steven, he was stranded on Mechanus and was a bit naive. Now, he's gotten stranded again and has developed patience, intelligence and a strong sense of morality. I praised Sir Ian a lot in my previous reviews, but I must admit, Steven is the most developed 60s companion. Even if he never said anything about his past(he was an astronaut... why didn't he ever want to go back?). 
Farewell Peter Purves. You da man.

Dodo is peculiarly quiet this whole story. Besides uncovering the plot of the Elders, she just sort of... tags along. I can't really say much about her and she's already leaving in the next story. Hi, bye. You were cute.

As I said earlier, the guest stars who played Jano and Chal were very good. Chal comes across as very wise and intelligent, and also incredibly patient. His trust in the TARDIS crew is admirable. A brilliant performance.
Same can be said about Jano, who at first is without moral, but otherwise a decent chap and later gets imbued with the Doctor's intelligence(I thought it slightly odd that the Doctor would leave the Time Lord knowledge in him... maybe it wears off.)

The story involves the TARDIS landing on an Earth colony(at least I presume it is... it's never really mentioned) where the humans(who conveniently all live in one city) use the life force of savages to fuel their own brains and power. No need for food or water, just POWAAAHHHH!!! Okay, bad joke.

I would've liked to have heard a backstory for the planet and the conflict between the Elders and the savages and the development of the laboratory, but oh well. It was still interesting.

The music is somewhat different in this story, giving it a bit of a Hammer Horror feel(you know that bit of music that everyone associates with Dracula? It sounds kinda like that.)

This is notably the very first Doctor Who story where the Doctor has a chance to leave, but chooses to stay behind and help whoever's in trouble. No more TARDIS separation, I suppose.

And speaking of the TARDIS, has anyone else noticed that way back in An Unearthly Child, the console was flashing with lights and felt alive, whereas now it's pretty static.

At one point in the story when Steven believes that they've arrived in the Stone Age, the Doctor(who is far away from them) mutters: "That young man. He thought I'd made a mistake." How did he knew?

The story is quite atmospheric. At one point, the characters hide in deep caves, with echoes and all and it look really fantastic. I applaud the set design. I also liked the laboratory and the bubbling tanks. I must also applaud Loose Canon for the details(burning torches and smoke). Brilliant stuff.

Overall, the story is inconsequential(unless you're a Steven fan). A very average Hartnell story.