Although The Pescatons has an eerie atmosphere and good performances going for it, it's let down by rushed storytelling.
WRITTEN BY
Victor Pemberton, who wrote Fury From The Deep in 1968. This one is rather similar in concept.
PLOT
The aquatic Pescaton race brainwashes the Doctor to lead them to Earth, where they intend to begin mass colonisation to escape from their dying homeworld. As the invasion begins, it's up to him and Sarah Jane to locate their nefarious leader, Zor, and save the human race.
ANALYSIS
By far the most compounding issue of The Pescatons is Pemberton's lack of adaptability to a far shorter runtime. Rather than tell a short story, he basically came up with the plot of a normal serial and skipped over all the remotely extraneous scenes with narration, resulting in a jumbled mess. Every once in a while, there would be an excellent, slow-moving sequence where you can truly see the writer's talent in building up tension, but these don't make up for the rest. Listening to The Pescatons feels more like reading the Wikipedia synopsis for the story, rather than the actual thing. You get the basic gist of what it's supposed to be, but you haven't really experienced it.
It's also quite apparent that Pemberton's perception of Doctor Who was shaped by the era of the programme which he worked on. Obviously, this is a Base Under Siege in the Second Doctor mold, but there's also a lack of sophistication in the overall morality of the show. Similarly to the original depiction of the Ice Warriors, the Pescatons are monsters that we're not supposed to relate to on any level in spite of their tragic backstory. The Doctor has no problem ending their entire race for the simple reason that they're attacking humans, and makes no attempt at negotiations. Maybe this wouldn't be a problem if we got to see their ferocity and maliciousness firsthand, but listening to it in narration form just makes the Doctor seem a bit short-sighted.
CHARACTERS
To give credit where it's due, Tom Baker is more invested than I've ever heard him. He's giving it 110% and elevates the writing with extremely passionate delivery. The descriptions of London being crippled in fear of another monster attack sound truly dystopian, and he sounds practically terrified during the gloomy underwater exploration scenes.
I also have to praise Bill Mitchell as Zor. I wouldn't think of giving an alien shark a raspy American accent, but something about Mitchell's tired voice just sounds so eerie, ancient and hypnotic.
Although Elisabeth Sladen is on top form as well, Sarah Jane is treated terribly. It's like Pemberton forgot that she existed half the time, as she just flits in and out of the narrative at random and does nothing of significance beyond protecting one baby. The fact that the plot keeps jumping around means that she apparently leaves the Doctor's side off-screen constantly to do other things. It's very annoying and inconsistent.
NOTES
*Why does the main theme sound like a combination of the Hartnell theme and Murray Gold's music? I was listening to the 2019 rerelease, by the way.
*It's understandable for 1976, but the audio quality fluctuates. At times, it's very obvious that the actors are reading their lines in a studio, not on location.
*"The Pescatons are the most hostile, ferocious race I've ever known." The Doctor might be the most hyperbolic person in the universe.
*And of course they come from the planet Pesca. Where else?
*For some weird reason, Sarah seems to forget how the TARDIS works, as she questions the Doctor's age when he claims to have visited Pesca in the 15th century.
*I'm not sure who composed the incidental music, but it sure reminded me of Malcolm Clarke's terrible racket from The Sea Devils.
*Despite a single Pescaton appearing in the middle of London, it never got mobbed and managed to wander off without anyone noticing where it had gone.
*Is there some significance to the TARDIS being "drawn" into the magnetic forces of Pesca and Earth? Or is that just Pemberton's explanation for any ordinary TARDIS landing?
*So, given that the Pescatons lay waste to London(to the point of army tanks rolling through the streets), how come nobody ever mentioned them again?
*I love that the Doctor is uncertain as to why a baby can't talk to him in perfect English.
*Tom's singing is brilliant.
*The entire Pescaton race being tied to a single individual leader is mighty convenient. As is that leader just walking into the Doctor's trap. Lame resolution.
*I adored the Doctor's breaking of the fourth wall at the end to tell his listeners goodbye.
CONTINUITY ADVISOR
1) It's somewhat unclear if Pemberton is referring back to Fury From The Deep with mentions of metallic seaweed. Perhaps it's just setup for the Doctor's flashback to Pesca, but there didn't seem to be any seaweed there.
2) The sequence of the Doctor and Sarah Jane stalking Zor through the London Underground seems to be a deliberate nod towards The Web Of Fear, as the Doctor's piccolo music closely imitates the sound effect of the Yeti spheres. Not to mention, the Doctor playing a flute in the Underground.
BEST QUOTE
THE DOCTOR: "I've never known you to be so tetchy in the face of danger!"
SARAH JANE: "I'm not tetchy, I'm angry!"
THE DOCTOR: "You're tetchy!"
CONCLUSION
There's something of value here, but it just went terribly wrong.
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