Colony in Space

Banger full on deadicated banger no I’m not bias cause this was my first classic dvd

4.5/5, a wonderfully fun story that I'd happily recommend! Spoilers throughout.

I thought it was clever how, for the Third Doctor's first trip off Earth, the story still centred around very human politics and recognisable allegories and examples of human problems that we still struggle with. This indicates very effectively that, even though the format may be changing, the show will still explore the same political ideas that is has been committed to throughout Three's run.

The allegory with the native americans was lost towards the end, which is a shame, because I thought the serial could have been going somewhere really interesting with it, but even so, the story had other underlying themes whcih it did carry through to the end succesfully, with the exploration of the politics around settlers being especially noteworthy. Spinning thehuman colony not as a hostile takeover of an already inhabited planet but as necessary for survival and freedom for this group gave a dimension to this story that allowed me to care for the settlers whilst still acknowledging the faults in their intentions.

The characters introduced were easy to care about, and felt more real than these side characters usually do, so, hats off to Hulke! Even though I suspected that all but Ashe had survived the explosion, I still wept when the ship blew up. The relationship between Winton and Ashe, two characters with conflicting views and personalities, who were yet able to honour and respect one another, was the highlight for me. Honourable mentions for Mary Ashe as a female character who was not treated as a damsel in distress, or as a heartless iron lady, but as a competent, brave, and confident young woman who was treated by the story no different than if she'd been a man. Norton, a spy taking advantage of Ashe's kindness, played the ominous and slimy role well. Caldwell's position as a traitor out of conscience was an absolute treat; his attempts to do good to counter his evil boss's schemes and his own guilt while still showing his fear and reluctance to leave the IMC were driven home by the context of a time where work was hard to find in a way that meshed well with the political messaging of the serial, whilst also making him feel fleshed-out and 3-dimensional. I'm always a big fan of found family, so his final decision to stay with the colonists made me choke up a little. Wonderful stuff.

As always, I applaud the anti-capitalist messaging, with the politics of mining corporations that harm the people living in the area and the environment terribly, as well as disrupting any chance at normal life, being a prevalent contemporary issue that the serial was not afraid to raise loudly and unasbashedly.

I thought the dynamic with Jo and the Doctor being helpless against the Master, unable to make the others around them listen when they try to warn them, was an innovative new way to use the Master. The format was the same as always with the threegado era, and yet their new position as nobodies made their warnings worthless and suspect, evoking new feelings as I felt helpless alongside them.

The ending of the serial was so funny - the Brigadier's bemused expression at Three and Jo's antics was absolutely priceless! However, the serial did suffer a little in my eyes from the obvious problems in the scientific side of the plot - you don't have to be a genius to raise an eyebrow at the idea that exploding the city-weapon would somehow *reduce* the amount of radiation! And, as I said before, the twist away from the Native American allegory was disappointing, though did not bring the story down too far, as it still had strong characterisation, good pacing, and managed to wrap everything up in a neat little bow. An enjoyable serial with good ol' fashioned Classic political messaging, this one gets 4.5/5 stars from me!

I did not like any of the characters that I was supposed to route for in this story. They are colonialists. They have arrived a planet with other dominant, intelligent lifeforms and have decided that it is suitable for their own needs.

We've waited a long time for The Doctor to leave the comfort of Earth, it is a shame that Pertwee's first unearthly run resulted in this particular story. Its uncommon that I mostly dislike a Doctor Who story, but Colony in Space is going to be a rare victim.

I fully expected this story to follow an anti-colonialist narrative, a critique on the evils of the British empire. Instead we have 'primitives' (which the DVD extras informed me were intended to look like Aborigines or Native Americans) who are portrayed as if they should be grateful for the presence of these humans. The Doctor is keen to fight these creatures, rather than explore the possibility that they might wish to defend their right to their land. When the minors start making havoc, he doesn't care about its impact on the creatures who have lived on this planet for generations. I longed for The Doctor of Doctor Who and The Silurians who almost cried when the Silurians were wiped out on their indigenous planet.

This is not the only element which Colony in Space falls down on. Firstly, the setting looks dreadful, muddy and grey. Its generally boring looking story - where have all those wonderful sets gone? Surely Doctor Who's first alien planet in colour would be a prime opportunity to show how beautiful they could make the show. The future of the planet Earth must be grim for any human to feel an incentive to live on this planet.

Secondly, once you get past the time/ space travel element, the script shows a serious lack of invention. Another evil mining company, ran by nefarious business leaders led solely by the profit motive. Have we been here before? The Doctor is sent in to investigate, not by UNIT, instead by the Time Lords. Why does the show have to stick so vigorously to type?

To top it all off (and this is the first time its bothered me this season) The Master shows up AGAIN! They don't even leave his initial appearance in episode three a surprise, the Time Lords let us know he will be on the planet at the beginning of episode one! I felt The Master added nothing to the story, his presence in this new setting felt more contrived than ever.

I did like Jo Grant's realisation that The Doctor could really travel in space and time. It was a brilliant idea that after the best part of a year in his company, she might doubt his truthfulness over how the TARDIS is supposed to function. The fact that as far as the Brigadier is concerned the whole story lasted less than ten seconds is hilarious. The primitives taking away The Doctor's TARDIS was also pretty funny.

We finish the story and The Doctor is once again trapped on Earth, which feels like a bit of a shame.

Having been stuck with an Earth-only story format by the outgoing production team, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks were left with the interesting question of how to get the Doctor into space again. An outright 180 at the start of Season 8 would have most likely been a bad idea, so instead we see a single outer space story among a season that's still otherwise earthbound. Commissioning Malcolm Hulke to write it was an interesting choice, but not necessarily a poor one. He manages to make a fun twist out of leading us to believe that it might be another "colony imperiled by aliens" story, before pulling the rug as we come to understand that IMC are the only real villains of the story.

Well, aside from the Master. His presence almost feels a bit incidental, but it is really funny how he reacts to the Doctor's presence, for the first time caught on the back foot because the Doctor wasn't supposed to be there for this particular scheme.

Although by no means remarkable, as a first sojourn into space for the Third Doctor this story is fairly good. I don't tend to think about it or rewatch it very often at all, but it does its job well.

A truly awful experience on the whole, I struggled to get through Colony in Space and can definitely see why it has a rough reputation.

This should be an exciting story as the Third Doctor gets his first foray off of Earth, and instead it is a bit of a mess. I found the story boring and we spend way too much time focused on a dirty, tired man wrapped in a blanket, who just seems like he doesn't want to be here - something I found relatable as I watched this slogfest.

Pertwee can be an excellent Doctor but I think handles the more physical stuff a lot better in his head than what we get on screen. This is definitely a serial that shows his more awkward side compared to what I like about him as a performer in this role. The TARDIS interior also definitely experiences a very rough transition to colour, to say the least.

And, once again, the Master shows up at last minute, really just a source of amusement at this point for this season where he appears every story. We then have some slightly interesting ideas about politics and colonialism come to a head, and the story just sort of ends after that. Jo doesn't really have much to do here, but than again, who does? It's a shame, but you can do a lot better for stories of this era and with these characters, so it is hard to express any enthusiasm for Colony in Space.

I watched the second half of this with my cousin who had never seen any Classic Who before and I think it really heightened the experience. The politics surrounding colonialism and capitalism are kinda up and down in this one but also oh my god look at that weird space baby guy why does he just live in a box