Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Survival By @Blackadder345

Doctor Who:
Survival
By Rona Munro
Reviewed By Will Barber

  
“If we fight like animals, we’ll die like animals!”

The Doctor and Ace arrive in Ace’s home town of Perivale. They soon discover that Ace’s friends have been disappearing, horses shoe prints have been found all over the town and the local cat population is acting strangely. The Doctor must tackle one of his oldest enemies…

This is the last (with the exception of The TV Movie.) Classic Doctor Who story.  For that reason it has a high standing amongst the Doctor Who community but is it actually a good story? Let’s try and view this story  not from a fan’s point of view but from a first time views point of view. The first episode begins with a bloke wearing a weird get up and a young woman coming into a town. They walk through a hill on top of the town. They then walk into a club where people are doing defence classes. They wandered about a bit. The chap who is called Doctor/Professor (The woman who is called Ace keeps calling him both at different times.) goes into a pet shop. There is a bit with two comedy shop owners. I think this really shows that Doctor Who is at a low point.

Unlike the brilliant Battlefield, Curse of Fenric or Ghost light, Survival has no proper jumping on point. To watch and enjoy this story you have to A) Know quite a bit about Doctor Who and The 7^th Doctor’s era and B) have lots of patience. By Episode Two the story delivers with The Master finally making his presence felt. Unlike in previous stories and seasons where The Master has been under used (i.e. Trial of a Timelord.) this story really uses the evil and power of the Master with The Doctor put in a morally difficult situation most noticeable during the fight sequence in Episode Three where The Doctor seems to become like The Master.

  

Mcoy and Aldred  are excellent in this episode. Mcoy  is defiantly taking on the mentor aspect of The Doctor guiding Ace through the dark turn of events in Survival. Aldred is excellent as Ace, troubled  by the effects the planet of the Cheetah people have on here but always embarrassing the strange change that is over coming her. Some critics argue that this story is a turning point of Ace truly understanding herself and her sexuality.

Anthony Ainely is brilliant as The Master in the episode. A lot of his movements and mannerisms are very similar to Delgado’s Master. Particularly during the scenes with  Mcoy he is electric truly playing the evil villain.

The costumes of the Cheetah people are not the best. They are lets say more cuddly than the cat like people who appeared in New Earth and Gridlock but they are not the greatest costume design. They look rather un realistic and a bit silly the fur looks like it will fall of a t any moment.

Survival is the last classic Doctor Who story. It is a rather sad and not fitting end to a show which at the time had been running fro 26 years.  The trouble with Survival is it is too convoluted and just plain mad. Though thinking of this end we must remember that’s not how Dr Who ended.

After the McGaan hiccup (I’m still waiting for a proper Eighth Doctor series.)  Doctor Who returned in 2005. The rest as they say, is history.