The Invention Of Death is an extraordinary study of the psychological effects of death on other people, and depicts a heartbreaking loss of innocence.
WRITTEN BY
John Dorney. He da man. I'm definitely keeping an eye on him from now on.
PLOT
The TARDIS lands on a blissful planet of sapient amoeba-like aliens, who are without any natural threats, including old age, and have thus not developed an understanding of death. After the crew tell them of mortality and how it drives humanity, the Ashtallans begin to die under mysterious circumstances and the destiny of their race changes irrevocably...
ANALYSIS
Where to begin? This one defied all of my expectations. I could tell from the get-go that Ashtalla was far too good to be true, and that something terrible would happen to burst the happy bubble(plus, it was in the title). But the fact that a villain was never truly established surprised me - even the crew escaped any (rightful) accusations. The tension and horror came entirely from the psychological shift of the Ashtallans over the course of the story as we see them struggle to cope with losing lives after an extremely long period of immortality, some worse than others. That's far from all, though. Having the Doctor find a way to introduce new life alongside the loss brought things to a whole new level. The discussion surrounding the child, and the development of Ashtalla's first family is astoundingly well-written and consistently gripping.
The Invention Of Death is one of those stories that makes you think "this is why we have Doctor Who". Scratch that, this is why we have science fiction, period. It's exploration of the human condition at its finest.
Now let's look at some of the surface elements. Dorney nails the 1960s feel - there's no action or postmodern moments, it all feels very theatrical and restrained, in a good way. For some amusement, one can imagine how the gelatinous Ashtallans would've been presented in 1964. I do have to criticise some of the sound design - green grass should not sound like gravel and the random cacophony of the crowd(especially when they're supposed to sound bemused and not terrified) mixed with the perfect clarity of the main actors' voices wears thin quickly. I also think the laboratory location could have used some more identifiable background noise, because at some point, I forgot the Doctor wasn't in his TARDIS. But that might've just been me.
CHARACTERS
It probably won't come as a surprise that this is David Bradley's best performance as the First Doctor. Though to be fair, his material up until now has been shaky at best. Twice Upon A Time presented a fundamentally incorrect depiction of the character, and both The Destination Wars and The Great White Hurricane were forgettable.
There's still none of Hartnell's trademarked spiky energy, but the Doctor is written with wily humor and a strong sense of justice. Bradley's peculiar vocal tics work much better with more traditional dialogue and now sound like the quirks of a slightly overwrought and excited old man.
The rest of the crew(Jamie Glover, Jemma Powell and Claudia Grant) also fit their roles like a glove, and produce a brilliant spiritual recreation of the original crew, with a few added benefits from hindsight: for example, there's subtle jabs made at the relationship between Ian and Barbara, and Susan gets to show more initiative than she would have on television). I adored the camping sequence. Of course it provided a nice parallel to the less warm Ashtallan society, but mainly I just liked seeing the crew come close as family. For a moment, it was like Marco Polo 2. Don't be afraid to write fluff, Big Finish! I'll listen to it.
The Ashtallans Brenna and Sharlan(Michelle Morris and Tracy Wiles respectively) seemed indistinguishable until the final episode, but they were such a charmingly kind and curious pair that my heart really went out for them. And then broke. Because we can't have nice things, can we?
NOTES
*I like that Ian and Barbara get to exercise their teaching skills, even if it's on a whole different level. It's just a nice way to make them useful to the story.
*I heard that fluffed line, Dorney. I see what you did there.
*A minor criticism: I wish the story made it clear exactly what kind of natural resource the TARDIS needs for repair. They never actually bring that up.
*Not gonna lie: I totally imagined the "perfect green hill" as that classic Windows desktop.
*Considering the lax life of the Ashtallans, I am intrigued that they managed to create buildings of some sort(the purpose of which is never explained - they don't live in them), along with doors, bags and possibly blankets.
*When the Ashtallans tell the crew that Barbara will be well, I have to wonder... how do they know the concept of wellness if they don't know the opposite?
*How do the amoeba come up with the concept of donating flesh and how does it even work on humans?
*I wonder - how did the Ashtallans come into existence? They claim to have always existed, yet there has to be a starting point. How did they come up with language and their names?
*Apparently, Ian was a scout at one point. I don't know if it was ever mentioned on the show, but it fits his personality so well. Of course he was a scout. He's got all the classic British values. Ian and the Brigadier would get on like a house on fire.
*I love that the Doctor just happened to have marshmallows on the TARDIS.
*Given that the Ashtallans are so closely tied to the shared energy of their planet, I was briefly afraid that entering the TARDIS might harm them somehow. I can only assume they can store energy within themselves and aren't wholly dependent on it all the time.
*Barbara logic: decides to apply herself by going to answer the crowd's questions. Then tells the crowd she has no answers.
*One of the few terrible lines of dialogue: "It's got worse since the last time you saw it, Susan." I just wanted her to shout: "Yes, I can see that! I'm staring at it!"
*I like the touch of Ian and Barbara not knowing about cloning. We all do, of course, but such profound science fiction concepts must've been a bit unknown at the time, given how long it took them to figure out 'bigger on the inside'.
*Yes, Doctor, when you have a panicking populace on your hands, the right thing to say is that you have no idea what you're doing and are just keeping busy for the sake of it. Facepalm.
*Something that I wish the Doctor had pointed out: death is not linked to the development of science, not even on Ashtalla(Brenna and Charlin had been evolving on their own even before meeting the TARDIS crew).
*The First Doctor is apparently familiar with comic books, which is cute.
*Everyone's oddly cheerful at the end. Is that another 60s thing?
CONTINUITY ADVISOR
1) When the TARDIS breaks, Ian ironically asks if they require mercury again. The Doctor previously deceived the crew by demanding that they visit the Dalek city on Skaro to obtain mercury in The Daleks.
2) Susan reminds the crew that for every Dalek they've met, there's been a Sensorite(seen in The Sensorites).
3) The Doctor theorises that Ian and Barbara will never age due to their exposure to the Ashtallan flesh, something that supposedly comes true according to Sarah Jane in Death Of The Doctor.
4) The Doctor learns to enjoy singing, which we saw him do in The Chase.
5) Barbara rips her cardigan(a running gag from The Space Museum and The Chase).
6) The crew compare their situation to Millennius(The Keys Of Marinus) and Paris(The Reign Of Terror).
7) Ian's campfire reminds Susan of their encounter with the cavemen in An Unearthly Child.
8) The Doctor very briefly references regeneration.
BEST QUOTE
"Questions are unusual things. No matter how trivial they might seem, no matter how small, they have an unsettling tendency to lead to further questions. And those new questions lead to further questions of their own. And so on and so on. Before you know where you are, you're exploring the great unknown, contemplating the biggest ideas, thinking the biggest thoughts and the world has changed immeasurably for the better." - The Doctor.
CONCLUSION
*clap* *clap* *clap*
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