Doctor Who Seeds of Death DVD review

Doctor Who and the Seeds of Death is one of the few remaining complete Second Doctor stories. But more than the value to be derived from that, the story is excellent in its own right. It does what Doctor Who does best. Lots of running around corridors, humour, mixed with menace and genuinely unsettling aliens.

Here is where I feel the story rises above many others, including contemporary ones. The villains are not stupid. Unlike most aliens planning to take over the world, the Ice Warriors do not gloatingly explain their plans freely to the humans, allowing said plans to be foiled. The Ice Lord usually refusing to give reasons for his orders to his captives unless given no choice.

The second is the villains are genuinely menacing. Not only in appearance, slimy reptillian crocodile skinned beasts, but in their actions. The Ice Warriors are killers. They kill without compunction, and they do so often. Every character who originated on the moonbase winds up dead. The Ice Warriors are not to be reasoned with, when they've made up their minds to kill, then you are dead. The only ones who escape when shot at are the Doctor and his companions.

Third, the supporting characters are fleshed out. A great example is Phipps, who helps Zoe crawling through corridors and rescuing the Doctor. He has a moment of panic where he breaks down over the deaths of his colleagues and being chased by monsters. This is a truly human moment and is often ignored in other stories. It helps make his character more three-dimensional.

A criticism levelled at many classics Doctor Who stories, including this one is that it's ridiculous for aliens threatening to invade the world when there are only three of them. Obviously due to budget constraints. However for this story it does not detract, and indeed acts as a strength. They are after all a scout party for the main invasion fleet. And given their small numbers, the absolute havoc they wreak serves to heighten their threat. If so few Ice Warriors can do this, imagine what an army of them could do! The camera work and use of props is skillful in giving the image of there being more Ice Warriors too.

The use of a torch like device for the Ice Warriors guns works well. Far better than the Dalek guns with little extensions coming out to indicate firing, this one seems more like a beam weapon. The distorting effect on hit targets along with the unusual sound effect add to the interest and realism of the shots. It accurately conveys the impression that targets are internally distorted.

The Ice Warriors hissing voices are a nice touch and add to the atmosphere of alien menace. So many aliens in Doctor Who are simply humanoid and speak in normal English. It's nice for the writers to give them this alien effect, with the logical explanation that it is due to the difference of atmosphere they are accustomed to.

Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury shine as always in this story. Their rapport is palpable and adds to the story's believability.

The story itself is interesting, showing an Earth entirely dependant on T-Mat, where the space program has become an unfashionable relic of the past. The alien threat and how close they come to accomplishing their goal make the story much more unsettling than many others. The six-part format works well as it serves to build up tension. It allows the alien menace to build up too, as it's not solved so quickly as in the usual four-parters.

In conclusion, great story. It's a pity there aren't more survivors from Pat Troughton's era.