PLOTLINE - EXTRACT
"The Doctor walked slowly forward into the cul-de-sac. The giant dinosaur turned its head to focus on the midget now approaching...The Doctor aimed his gun to fire...suddenly from behind came a great roar of anger. He spun round - blocking the exit from the narrow street towered a Tyrannosaurus rex, its savage jaws dripping with blood...The Doctor and Sarah arrive back in the TARDIS to find London completely deserted - except for the dinosaurs. Has the return of these prehistoric creatures been deliberately planned and, if so, who can be behind it all?"
COMMENT - SPOILERS AHEAD
Hulke adapted his under-rated (due to its CSO problems), subversive anti-fascist parable INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS for this Target effort and does another good job; this is the definitive 'monster on the loo in Tooting Bec' tale.
This is one of three DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC SERIES stories in which reader Martin Jarvis has appeared to date; he played the chief henchman, Butler, in this tale (the others are THE WEB PLANET and the brilliant VENGEANCE ON VAROS). Primarily known these days as an incomparable audio performer, his success led to the setting up of his own production company, Jarvis and Ayres Productions (with his wife Rosalind Ayres) and they get a producer credit for this release. Jarvis' performance is confident and professional, offering a range of character voices and a crisp, emotional narration that carries the listener along. The Doctor is not a striking presence here; the story and its message are 'the point'.
This was the second story from Pertwees final season (preceded by THE TIME WARRIOR - Sarah Jane's debut -- and followed by DEATH TO THE DALEKS). The dangerously misguided but well-meaning loon ( "Everything we're doing is for the good of mankind. It is, isn't it?") is a recurring element in Hulke's work and worth our attention because none of the monsters-with-a-god-complex in human history appeared to think of themselves as anything but misunderstood ("Under no circumstances shall we descend to murder") ; put another way, this also serves as an intelligent response to the blind cartoon hostility of the Daleks.
At the same time, one cannot help wondering if the choice of name for the chief scientist was a satirical jab at Hartnell-era guiding light, David Whitaker!
The plot is daft but that's hardly the point. A small, elite group of activists (all establishment figures, note) in contemporary (OK, 1970s) London are intent on "rolling back time" so that they can restart the cultural evolution of mankind; a fascist dream come true. As part of the process, they are time-transporting dinosaurs to the present in order to clear out London and so ensure that, erm, surplus members of the population - pretty much the entire population of the planet, basically - are not included in the final time jump, which will erase them from history. Think Shirley Porter with a time scoop...
They have hoodwinked their rank-and-file followers into believing that they are on a spaceship bound for a new planet; presumably on the grounds that they might object to the plan to wipe out the rest of humanity. This faux spaceship features a Reminder Room where the crew watch films intended to 'remind' them why they have embarked on their mission and this is not presented as an overt propaganda tool but rather as just that: a means to remind us why the Earth is such a cultural and environmental mess ("Civilisation has already destroyed humanity"). Sarah's' acceptance of the truth of this message in passing is revealing and gives the story a clear political edge; setting the climax of the story in Westminster, the heart of British government, underlines this perspective.
This adventure ends on a cryptic note by referencing Ezekiel, Chapter 1, Verses 5 - 6, which may be Hulkes wry nod to the then-popular media hustler Erich Von Daniken.
The rating (5/5) for this story reflects the quality of the tale and its significance in the Pertwee canon.
