📝6/10

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"Survival: An Uneven Farewell to the Classic Era"

Survival serves as the final story of Doctor Who's original run, a milestone that comes with its own weight of significance. While the story itself doesn’t reach the heights of other McCoy-era serials, it still delivers a solid, if unspectacular, adventure with some fitting thematic undertones.

The story begins with an intriguing and grounded setup—people going missing in modern-day Perivale—and then quickly pivots to something far more fantastical with the introduction of the Cheetah People and their strange, desolate planet. The shift from mundane to bizarre is one of the story’s strengths, as it keeps the audience guessing. However, after the initial intrigue, Survival struggles with its pacing.

Part Two in particular feels stagnant, with characters wandering the planet aimlessly, and the plot doesn’t progress much until the final episode. The resolution itself—centered on the Master’s escape and the planet’s destruction—feels anticlimactic and doesn’t provide a particularly thrilling showdown. Still, the final scene brings everything back to Earth and provides a quiet, reflective send-off for the series, elevating the conclusion significantly.

The Seventh Doctor is far more subdued here than in his previous outings, lacking the dark manipulation and intensity seen in The Curse of Fenric or Ghost Light. While Sylvester McCoy’s more laid-back approach works in some places—particularly in his interactions with Ace—it does mean the Doctor feels less engaged overall. That said, his poignant closing monologue about life and survival is both poetic and iconic, serving as a beautiful farewell to the show.

Anthony Ainley’s Master, meanwhile, is disappointingly underwhelming. While the concept of him being corrupted by the Cheetah People is interesting, Ainley seems to be phoning it in, and the Master’s presence feels more like a plot requirement than a vital part of the narrative. However, the dynamic between the Doctor and the Master still manages to shine in moments, reinforcing their “special relationship,” as rivals and reluctant allies.

Ace remains a standout in Survival, with Sophie Aldred once again proving why she is one of the most well-developed companions of the classic series. Her possession by the Cheetah People gives her a unique challenge, yet Ace’s strength of will and innate goodness shine through. The story also deepens her character by exploring her connection to her hometown of Perivale—a place she finds both familiar and alien after her travels with the Doctor.

The production design in Survival is a mixed success. On the one hand, the Cheetah People are impressively realized for the time, with their makeup and costumes lending them a sense of realism and mysticism. On the other hand, the alien planet itself—shot in what feels like a quarry yet again—fails to feel otherworldly. It’s visually competent but not particularly inspired, which weakens the story’s atmosphere.

The music, however, is a highlight. The score complements the action and helps maintain a sense of excitement and mystery, even when the pacing falters.

While Survival doesn’t have the same thematic depth as stories like The Curse of Fenric or Ghost Light, it still manages to explore intriguing ideas about instinct, survival, and transformation. The Cheetah People’s connection to primal instincts and the planet’s corruptive influence provide a symbolic exploration of humanity’s struggle between civilization and its wilder nature.

The lighter tone of the story is a contrast to the darker narratives of Season 26, though it still retains a subtle air of mystery. However, this tonal shift might make the story feel less consequential, particularly as the series finale.

Where Survival ultimately redeems itself is in its final moments. The Doctor’s monologue—delivered against a backdrop of Ace and the Doctor walking through Perivale—is simple, profound, and beautifully written:

There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea’s asleep and the rivers dream. People made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there’s danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea’s getting cold. Come on, Ace. We’ve got work to do.

This closing moment encapsulates the essence of Doctor Who—hope, adventure, and wonder—and serves as a fitting end to the classic era.

Final Thoughts:

Survival may not be the epic conclusion some might expect for Doctor Who’s original run, but it’s a decent, if flawed, story that offers moments of intrigue and character depth. While the plot feels repetitive and the Master is underused, Ace’s journey and the final monologue provide emotional resonance and a sense of closure.

In hindsight, Survival's title carries a certain irony and hope. While the classic series ended here, the franchise itself endured—through books, audios, and eventually the modern revival—proving that Doctor Who truly does survive.

Random Observations:

• The line about Sundays being boring is a clever meta-joke about Doctor Who airing on Saturdays.
• Rona Munro’s return with The Eaters of the Light (2017) makes her the only writer to bridge the classic and revived eras.

I really like Survival. It's a really exciting story with an interesting theme and message running throughout. There are some excellent action sequences. I also think that the Cheetah People look great: the costumes and prosthetics are really good throughout this entire season in my opinion. Episode 2 is also notable for producing possibly my favourite blooper of any Doctor Who story ("Will you f**king stay still!"). Survival was not meant to be the end of Classic Who: it's not a special story, and it was never originally intended to be. Even so, I think the production team did a good job giving the show a nice send-off in the final speech (which was recorded because the team suspected that the show may have been about to get canceled). Even still, Classic Who should have never ended here and I'll forever morn what we've missed out on due to its premature cancelation.

Fun story to end the classic Who run, short and snappy. It's a bit of a silly premise but the episode knows it too and embraces it which is always the way to go, so gets the tone spot on. Always good to see The Master too.

Cat-man

Prerequisites: None needed.

Spoilers!
Survival is a remarkably solid finale for a serial that wasn't written to be so. It features genuine themes of, well, 'survival', and what's worth doing to simply keep existing. Such a message is either ironic or poignant, depending on how you view the show's cancellation. Either way it's fitting. Additionally, Ainley gives probably his best, most subdued performance in the show here, which is nice to see, alongside some surprisingly great little monologues from McCoy. Everyone point it out, but it bears repeating just how beautiful those last lines are; they encapsulate the show in a very nice way. Of course, there's the standard awkward pacing, poor special effects, and rough delivery from the extras, but on the whole this is good.

An epic conclusion to Doctor Who's initial 26-season run. This story has everything; action, heart, character... In many ways, it feels like a precursor to the 2005 revival, with the way it sees the Doctor take Ace back to Present Day Perivale, and we get to see more of Ace's everyday culture back home.

Although the Cheetah People costumes are poor, they make for excellent one-off villains. Rona Munro's creations act as an interesting commentary on the human race, how desperation can lead us to fight each other to survive and how our actions with climate change are slowly destroying our planet. It culminates in a fantastic showdown between the Doctor and the Master, with Sylvester McCoy giving a powerhouse performance, as he declares "If we fight like animals, we die like animals!"

The final speech, seeing the Doctor telling Ace they have 'work to do', is a natural way to conclude the show's initial run. It speaks so much to the heart of the show, and the role of the Doctor and his companion. It's without a doubt among the most well-written pieces of dialogue in Doctor Who's history.

I thought I was about to watch the final story of the classic series, but honestly, this feels more like more of a bridge to the modern series. Kitchen sink drama, relatable use of modern day suburbia, delving into a companions’ backstory in a more meaningful and impactful way than ever before... It’s crazy that this is the last piece of Doctor Who we get for 6 years. Whilst this is definitely not a roadmap for the show that Russell T Davies will go on to great success with in the 21st Century, it’d be hard to argue that cues were not taken from Survival in the making of Rose, Aliens of London, or Paul Cornell’s Father’s Day.

The Doctor in the corner shop carrying way too much in his arms, oblivious of how he looks to humans is about as funny as the show gets - it's iconic. A similar laugh is delivered when he hides in a local’s front garden and is surprised when she gets shirty. I like that Ace’s friend, mentioned in a previous story, shows up here; it reveals a properly orchestrated effort from Andrew Cartmel to build her world. The army man training the kids to fight in the gym who later “helps” them traverse the desolate planet they find themselves on with his “survival” skills is hilarious too. Rona Munro shows a natural flare for humour.

It must be said that the story does not benefit from the predictable quarry setting as much as it’s surprising suburban setting. It becomes a little reminiscent of The Sontaran Experiment, where they don’t have any sets and the crew are left wandering around a single outdoor location trying to make it as visually appealing as possible. The scenes with cheater people chasing our cast around get a tad repetitive but the quality doesn’t drop off too far thanks to the strong dialogue. When they return back to Earth the story loses the plot a little, which is a small shame, but the character moments stay strong.

Perhaps the most surprising turn of all is that of Anthony Ainley, who returns for this final story. Either his acting has mellowed with age or somewhere along the line with the director and a new cast, a better performance is demanded from him. Either way, this is easily his best go at being The Master which is gratifying at this late stage. He got there eventually.

I feel emotionally charged after watching that final, tagged on speech from Sylvester. It’s a good way of marking the end of an era. After a season of twisty, turny, blink and you miss something plots, Survival is dead easy to understand and is a decent way to end the show. It leaves you wanting more and imagining what could have been had the show continued into the 1990s. I was born in 1992, so for me, this is the closest I can get to seeing what the classic show would have looked like had it continued on into my childhood.

Cartmel and his team of writers should be incredibly proud that they managed to put together the best season of Doctor Who since Season 14 which aired 12 years before. Bookended by two decent stories with two excellent stories in between they did the end of the classic series justice.