Ahhh, a new season of Who. Let’s all sit down and watch our lovely cast land down as we explore the planet and discover the wondrous world of sexist fears towards feminism in the 60s.

………They just couldn’t start light, could they.

This story is notorious for all the wrong reasons. I tend to not look into production issues, since I’m mostly interested in how the story actually presents itself. But how could I have avoided all this? Everyone involved in this story hated it. It almost fired Hartnell. It had a producer who had a bit of a power trip and we will feel the awful repercussions of this fallout for half of the TV season. That’s not to mention the blatant sexism this story is known for. I basically had an opinion before I watched it.

But let’s move all that as far aside and really try to keep it fair. We’ll just look at this like any other story. Preconceived notions be damned. Afterwards, we will look at the larger implications hiding beneath.

This is a story on an unnamed planet. This unnamed planet has 2 species on them. On one side, we have the Drahvins. Warrior women who are supposed to be beautiful. On the other, the Rills, who are supposed to be hideous.

I say “supposed” because I don’t think its presented that well. The costume designs have aged a bit, and in my eyes, neither of them are presented as extremely as they are supposed to.

The 2 species are in conflict, because the planet they are on will soon explode. Taking all of them with it. The Rills are preparing to leave, and have offered the Drahvins to help, but they have an egocentrical world view and would rather take them down and leave on their own.

On paper, I do think this does some things right. If I recall correctly, the Rills are the first species on TV that are peaceful without being forced towards violence. At the very least since the Sensorites. They are a pure good force, who don’t feel the need to throw punches, which I can appreciate. In fact, they are so polite and accommodating, that they refuse to show themselves because they might scare people, instead sending out trolley robots. Vicki quickly calls those Chumblies. Great taste.

The Drahvins are on the other side of the spectrum. They look kind at first, but quickly show their ugly side. Most of them are braindead morons, while their leader is an evil schemer in the most classic way. This turns the conflict very black and white after what can be described as a very basic “subversion of expectations.”

And honestly, it’s almost too basic in places. It’s a very base level story, even for the children’s program Doctor Who. The Rills get away with this for their peaceful approach. They are kind creatures but aren’t taught violence. That’s, shockingly, pretty new at this point.

The Drahvins could’ve been more. And there are almost hints of what could be. There are a few moments in the story that feel like they’re prodding at a balloon that just won’t pop. There’s a short moment where Steven almost gets through to one of the brain zombie Drahvin. Almost getting her to think for herself. There’s also a scene with the Drahvin leader contemplating about how she didn’t really want soldiers to explore the universe, but was forced to. We’re allllmost there, but we sadly don’t get the darn thing to pop. Leaving us with pretty flat villains.

Then there’s the resolution, where the kind Rills get to escape the planet, while the Drahvins get to drown in molten lava. That’s…. definitely something a story can do. Yep. Bit harsh there, Doctor. They really weren’t established as evil enough to earn all that.

Besides all the story stuff, though, I am glad to see this cast back in action. Some things have changed with them, some have stayed the same. The fact we now have a proper party of 3 instead of 4 puts more of a spotlight on each individual, so let’s look at what we’re dealing with:

Steven feels more like his audio portrayals than his last few episodes here. He's relatively calm and collected. Not as hyper as he was before, but still definitely himself. He does not really get any stand-out moments, but I’m glad he’s back.

Vicki is practically unchanged. As mentioned, she’s the one that actually named the Chumblies. The also tries out the scientific method of throwing a rock at stuff and becomes the first person to talk with the Rills. Great stuff all around with her.

The Doctor himself has changed a bit again. Season 1 saw him as a stubborn old man who learned a lot, Season 2 saw him as a new man who had learned to enjoy life again and now Season 3 seems to present him as a sort of middle ground between the 2. He’s optimistic, yet a bit stately and stiff. Active, but to a point. I know partially why this might be the case, but let’s not talk about that yet. I do think the new approach works, and I wonder if we get some more learning moments with it as well.

And normally this is where I would summarize the story and call it quits. But we probably should talk about the elephant in the room some more. This story is widely known as a reactionary tale to feminism. The Drahvins were mostly written as an extreme of what feminism could lead to. Despising men, while only focusing on themselves. Meanwhile the Rills, with their manly voices, are presented as the better alternative by showing kindness instead.

So before looking more deeply at that, which I do feel necessary. Let me reiterate my background, like I did for “The Suffering”: I am a white guy in my twenties, so I have inherent privilege, and am probably not the person people want takes about feminism from. Yet I suppose this story makes it unavoidable. Just know that I am completely on board with equal rights between all genders. Discrimination is not be tolerated. Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise, after all.

The way feminism is portrayed in this story is eerily similar to the concept of “feminazism”. The gist of this term is that some women will take the ideas of feminism to such an extreme, that they will dismiss the male gender and strive for superiority over equality. In practice, the term is mostly used by bigots to spread hate and fear towards feministic beliefs.

While all belief systems inherently have their extremes, improperly portraying those beliefs can lead to a large number of people being put in a bad light. Think of Muslims being compared to terrorists, for example. This story portrays feminism like a novelty and brings the most radical interpretation of it to the foreground (Kill all men, etc.), while not bothering to expand on the ideas that founded the belief system in the first place. This makes the tale careless with its message, which is irresponsible and dangerous to the larger cause.

That being said, I’m not inherently against the idea of Doctor Who tackling radical feminism. A contrast between radical feminism and other feminist philosophies could genuinely be very educational. In fact, Doctor Who has covered feminism before/after in the story “The Suffering”. Maybe the Rills could’ve been presented as an alternative feminist viewpoint, instead of kind, but male, dragons. This could lead to questions and discussions, just like The Suffering did. It would take some stellar writing to do this topic and comparison justice, however.

And that’s not what we have. This script is, by all accounts, the work of an amateur. It has some good ideas, but it also had some perspectives that Doctor Who could’ve done without. Right now, it’s a simple children’s story with some sinister undertones. Yes, it has some ideas that land and some of the concepts it brings are worth exploring, but not like this. But who knows, maybe it will inspire better works in the future.

A small side note: If I’ve said something stupid or insensitive in this review, please contact me. I’ve really tried to do this subject justice, because it is important, but I’m also far from an expert.