The Green Death

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.2 million

Synopsis

While the Doctor plans a holiday to Metebelis Three, Jo and the Brigadier are intrigued by a mysterious death at a coal mine in Llanfairfach, which is being blamed on local company Global Chemicals.

Episode Two

First aired

Saturday, May 26, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.2 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and the Brigadier attempt to rescue Jo and Bert from the mine but Global Chemicals prove distinctly uncooperative.

Episode Three

First aired

Saturday, June 2, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.8 million

Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo manage to escape from the mine with a maggot egg but Stevens is determined to stop them analysing it.

Episode Four

First aired

Saturday, June 9, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.8 million

Synopsis

The Brigadier calls in a full UNIT force to deal with the giant maggots while the Doctor infiltrates Global Chemicals to find out what is really going on.

Episode Five

First aired

Saturday, June 16, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

8.3 million

Synopsis

The Doctor manages to escape from BOSS with help from Yates and discovers Cliff has been infected by a giant maggot.

Episode Six

First aired

Saturday, June 23, 1973

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7 million

Synopsis

The Doctor attempts to destroy the giant maggots and cure Cliff but the real threat is BOSS, who is poised to take over all the world's computers.

Characters

Third Doctor

Jo Grant

How to watch The Green Death:

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The Collection – Season 10

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The Third Doctor Collection

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The Green Death

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The Green Death (VHS)

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6 reviews

Oh I HATE JOS LOVE INTEREST

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Review last edited on 24-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

We've not seen a story with this sense of scale since The Daemons, it did not surprise me when I found out that The Green Death was also penned by Robert Sloman who can now add a second excellent story to his name (lets not talk about The Time Monster).

Jo's ending is superbly handled, in an unprecedented and heartwarming exit. After years of unbelievable love stories - they finally achieved it here. As usual the relationship developed very quickly, but a lot more work was put into making it as believable as possible. She was ready to leave The Doctor before he even shoots off to Meteblis Three and was already gushing over Professor Cliff Jones before meeting him, but this relationship was marvelously built up over six episodes - he felt like a fitting substitute for The Doctor. It feels like another milestone for the show. Of course, the fact the actor was actually in a relationship with Katy Manning must have helped sell their onscreen romance.

The direction and editing was better than ever in this adventure - The Doctor and Jo say goodbye, he exits, she stays at the party. The two scenes are intercut with each other - Jo with her new fiance and friends, The Doctor - on his own, driving away. It was very sensitively handled, brave and emotional (though not over the top). Similar techniques are employed at the beginning of The Green Death when the gorgeous and mind bending Metebelis Three scenes are cut between the more ordinary but intriguing goings on Earth. The Metebelis Three scenes look like genuinely expensive film sequences, the giant bird, trademark Third Doctor tentacle and mysterious blue planet had a very memorable effect. It is rare to see this much pace and action in Doctor Who - but it was most welcome.

The maggots were an amazing concept for a menacing force - some of the ways of displaying giant maggots were more convincing than others, but it was a fantastic effort all round. The animatronic maggots on location in the slag heaps looked particularly good.

This was a story full to the brim with great characters. The return of UNIT was wonderful, it's brilliant to have that team back again. It was a superb story for Mike Yates who is interestingly given something quite different to do. UNIT are served better in this story through not having been in the show every week. The UNIT crew act as an interesting social middle ground between the lefties at the Nut Hutch and the seemingly malicious and cruel businessmen covering up malpractice at the plant. The writing that went into crafting these characters not only helped sell the social themes of the story - but could genuinely instill opinions in children that would last a lifetime.

I wasn't sure about Jo Grant when she first entered The Doctor's life. But her relationship with the Third Doctor has been absolutely marvelous. We've seen Jo grow as a character over three seasons and instill a sparky energy into the show. This was a fitting final episode for such an important character. I'm relieved that her era ended on a high. Jo Grant will be missed.

Review last edited on 14-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

A spooky send-off for Jo Grant. Robert Sloman gives us a creepy tale of giant maggots, with a strong environmentalism message which makes the serial feel truly ahead of its time. Jon Pertwee proves his acting chops as he drives into the sunset in Bessie, delivering a true emotional punch to this Doctor Who classic.

Review last edited on 31-07-24

This review contains spoilers!

This is a fun, top-tier Third Doctor story, really showcasing the strengths of the era. I've talked about this before, but this Doctor was often dismissed when I heard fans talking about it or from what I gleaned from online content. It really has impressed me time and time again though, for its heart, ambition, and energy. The Green Death felt like a great expression of that, while also having a moving outro for Jo. Chronologically, this is the first companion leaving that had a big emotional impact on me. Jo had a very active role with the Third Doctor and the show took a lot of time to show her bonding and connecting with the Doctor. So her leaving was quite moving and I feel the show played up on that well.

Of course, that's not really the focus of The Green Death. The story itself is more about gooey slugs messing around with a mine. It sounds goofy, and it is, but it is also a well filmed episode with a good sense of suspense and the show just manages to pull it off even with dated/low-budget effects. I do wish that Jo leaving was better connected to this story, because it really feels like the overall plot really could have been any old Doctor Who adventure.

Review last edited on 23-06-24

The Green Death is one of those episodes everyone is right about when they say how good it is. BOSS was fun, the maggots actually looked really good, the ending was heartbreaking, the neon green slime was silly. What more do you need from Doctor Who

Review last edited on 20-06-24