Sunday, October 13, 2013

TV Review: Doctor Who: ***The Ark in Space

This is a 1975 episode of Doctor Who with Tom Baker as the Doctor and Elizabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith.  It pits The Doctor on an ark 4000 years into the future.  The humans on the ark have frozen themselves in sleep as a way of saving the human race, projecting themselves into the future as the Earth is no longer sustainable.  This idea worked well, except that a space fly has gotten into the works.  The queen fly accidentally electrocutes herself, but not before giving birth to her larvae, which are set to inhabit the human bodies.  The timing mechanism for the humans to reemerge has been triggered, and several come back to life.  The commander however touches a larvae, and turns into a fly.  The new commander (ex commanders mate) takes over, and they determine to try to electrocute the rest of the flies, except the lead fly who was the commander, has turned off the power.  This episode only has a happy ending because of the sacrifice of some of the crew, including the commander who has just enough humanity left to safe his mate.
Special effects aren't near as good as current series, and The Doctor and the commander both seem rather stiff and unemotional, while Sarah Jane Smith is too emotional.  But it is Doctor Who.

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