Serial RRR, in 4 parts
Written by: Bob Baker and Dave Martin
Produced by: Barry Letts
Directed by: Lennie Mayne
"...Faust's diabolic pact - advanced insistently in Doctor Who, as in the tenth anniversary special The Three Doctors - is the quest for infinite knowledge, and this is progressively satirized as absolute knowledge is replaced by its absence. For Omega, the deviant Time Lord and 'last man' in The Three Doctors, the quest for total knowledge and power leads to physical absence as his material form disappears and only the will remains....there is a strong association between Pertwee's Doctor and the villain Omega. The hero who "thinks" a universe and the villain who "wills" one
are both deviants in the eyes of the Time Lords, and both are denied their freedom...via the Doctor, emotional sympathy is generated for Omega's plight." - some deep stuff from Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by John Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado (St. Martin's Press: 1983).
"Oh, come on! This ain't another episode with a disfigured bad guy, is it?" - Jeff Geist, my freshman year roommate.
"It was obvious that Bill (Hartnell) would never be able to play the extensive part which had been written for him, so I hurriedly had to rewrite the script - in particular the final episode, where he was due to appear with Pat and Jon in a dramatic showdown with Omega. Instead I confined him to a few scenes where he would appear on the screen of the TARDIS scanner to deliver advice to his other selves." - Terrance Dicks, script editor, quoted in The Handbook: The First Doctor by Howe, Stammers, and Walker (Virgin: 1994).
The best and worst thing I can say about The Three Doctors is that it’s fun – nothing more, and nothing less. It doesn’t really embody the "spirit" of the series. Omega is a new villain, so there’s no nostalgia surrounding him, and the personalities of the Doctors are exaggerated to emphasize their differences. The Brigadier is relegated to the uncharacteristic role of comic relief, as he stubbornly refuses to believe that he has been catapulted into an alternate reality; it’s a far cry from his portrayal as a savvy believer in Spearhead from Space. The Time Lords are depicted as mysterious and powerful, an image that was undermined by Robert Holmes years later in The Deadly Assassin.
All this aside, the episode is a blast to watch. The constant bickering between Pertwee and Troughton is hilarious, and everyone in the UNIT crew gets a good part (I love the scene where Sergeant Benton, in his infinite wisdom, throws what appears to be a bubblegum wrapper at the anti-matter monster. Not the best idea, mate!). William Hartnell’s failing health prevented him from taking a major role in the episode, and he appears in just a few brief scenes. Despite the fact that he’s visibly ill – and apparently reading his lines off cue cards – his final performance is dignified and impressive. For whatever reason, writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin make Hartnell the smartest of the Doctors, which is a nice tribute to him. And of course, Hartnell gets the best line in the episode, when he looks down on his successors with despair and says, “so you’re my replacements…a dandy and a clown.”
The script is mostly uninspired, but the character of Omega is a fantastic idea. It’s quite dramatic to watch the Doctor battle one of the founding fathers of his society, a man who is sort of like George Washington and Einstein rolled into one. Stephen Thorne’s deep, booming voice lends Omega a suitably impressive aura, and the final revelation of his face is a nice shocker.
Though I usually have little or no problem with Doctor Who’s production values, I do find this episode a bit too chintzy for my liking (perhaps the production suffers because Pertwee, Troughton, and Hartnell all had to draw roughly equal – and large – salaries). The special effects look like you and your friends got drunk and created them in your basement while your parents were out at a party. Omega’s black hole (which I assume is the Eye of Harmony) is an obvious cartoon, and Singularity – the most powerful source of energy in the Universe – is a sputtering column of smoke emitting from a wooden dais. I am not overwhelmed.
Nevertheless, The Three Doctors is a good time, and the best of Doctor Who’s anniversary specials. It’s required viewing for Hartnell fans, if only because it is his last appearance as the Doctor, and his only appearance on the series in color.
OVERALL RATING: B+
Mini-Reviews and Quotes:
The Brian Review:
THE FIVE DOCTORS
BACK TO EPISODES
HOME