Workers Playtime
Written by Ian Stuart Black
Doctor Who Series four serial seven
Episode 1 transmitted BBC1 11 March 1967
Episode 2 transmitted BBC1 18 March 1967
Episode 3 transmitted BBC1 25 March 1967
Episode 4 transmitted BBC1 1 April 1967
Episodes no longer exists, animation used for source DVD. Synopsis
The TARDIS lands near a human colony on an unknown planet. They meet Medok, a colonist fleeing with wild tales of monstrous creatures that scuttle around the colony at dark. He is arrested by security chief Ola, and The Pilot, leader of the colony, explains that Medok is suffering from hallucinations, and was in hospital for treatment. The Colony mines a gas toxic to humans though the reason why they mine it is never explained, it comes from orders from The Controller, a large face seen on a viewing screen. However the Colony places great premium on the happiness of its workers, organising cheerleading parades and song and dances and musical jingles blare from the tannoy. They also look after their mental health, with a hospital full of people suffering from the same delusion as Medok. Review
No episodes exist of this serial, so all four episodes are animated. There are colour as well as B&W animation. Probably due to the colour animation (as with the U.S. version of The Power of the Daleks) the animation is in the wrong aspect ratio again, 16:9 widescreen rather than the 4:3 original. Also, Doctor Who in the 1960s was always in black and white. Since there only a few B&W photos of the original episodes, and no production script or notes detailing the colour of costumes and props, the colour version is pretty much made up. This was attested to by Frazer Hines when he saw a colourised restoration. I have to say that I prefer the B&W and not for purely knee-jerk purist reasons. Much of the story (indeed nearly the whole of Episode 3) depends on darkness and shadow to create an atmosphere of menace. Also, one only sees The Macra either at night, or in the darkened gas filled lower depths. The colour episodes don't quite have the same impact. There are however, changes from original, as the off-air audio recordings and shooting scripts show. These are quite extensive. Episode one begins with the final scene from The Moonbase in which the time travellers see the image of the claw on the time scanner. The refreshing department sequence is removed, including the rough and tumble machine. Instead, Polly already has her short haircut. All characters, except Ben, keep the same clothing during the whole story. Polly, Ben and Jamie are all sleeping in one room during the brainwashing scene rather than Polly having a room of her own. Polly is physically picked up and suspended upside down by a Macra when it attacks her. Hanging lights are added to the colony. The Macra now have legs. The Doctor writes his formula on a transparent board instead of pipelines. Medok's corpse is changed into a puddle of ooze. Chicki, Sunaa and the Pilot's secretary all look the same. Many Macras are in control room, instead of only the leader. The leader of the Macra is grey rather than being a lighter colour than the other Macra. The final sequence of the Doctor and his companions "taking a leaf out of Jamie's book" and dancing their way out of the Colony is omitted. So not just cosmetic changes, if you'll excuse the pun. The most annoying, if you watch Episode 1 immediately after Episode 4 of The Moonbase, as I did, is Polly's hair has suddenly gotten shorter in the TARDIS before they land. Over the years there have been put forward many reasons why Anneke's hair was cut. One was that she had it cut in real life, and had been wearing extensions in the earlier serials. However, Anneke in later interviews stated that she wore a short pixie cut over her own long hair. Which makes the original production team's decision to show her go to the hairdressers, thus necessitating the unnecessary expense of a wig, all the more bizarre? Why they did this I have no idea, it makes no sense to me. Given the many, and some would say rather unnecessary, changes how does the animation stand up. Actually it's rather good, on a number of points. There's a good use of shadowing and chiaroscuro, especially in the depiction of the outside of the Colony buildings at night. In this sense it's quite scary. This is added to by the Macra, who, because of their greater 'mobility' (the original prop was so huge it was placed on a flat-bed truck and necessitated shooting its appearances at a larger film studio) are therefore much better (Frazer dismissed the original as rubbish). The faces of all the characters are realistic (see above), better than earlier attempts to capture the main cast, though I'm not sure Polly is quite right, they can't seem to get her nose, or slightly lengthened profile, right. In fact all the women have the same button nose. As for the main cast, Troughton fitting in really well as The Second Doctor, nice humour (he even makes a joke about the appalling rhymes in the work songs) and the influence of unofficial scientific advisor Dr Kit Pedler can be seen in the attempt to have the Doctor come up with a scientific explanation and solution, hence the formula on the transparent board. He's really settled into the role, alternating natural gravitas with mischievous behaviour. The acting, as far as one can tell from purely audio, is good. Michael as Ben nicely portrays the ambivalence between his concern for his friends, and the brainwashing he's received. Now that the writers have had time to acclimatise to Jamie's permanent inclusion, Frazer gets his lion share of lines, and is forceful and competent, no longer the superstitious 18thC highlander. Peter Jeffrey is always good value, and here shines as The Pilot. Among the support, Terence Lodge stands out as Medok, who's seen the Macra but is not believed by anyone, whose fatalistic anger as he is condemned to death in the 'danger gangs' working at the most toxic level of the pits is well delineated.
What makes this serial stand out from the other base under siege and monster of the week serials of The Second Doctor is the mechanics of how the colony works. In some aspects it resembles another 1967 TV show I'm also currently reviewing, The Prisoner. There is the commander, The Pilot, who actually takes orders from an unseen (except for a still image on a large screen) Controller. There's the cheerleaders and dance routines and tannoyed jingles and songs (like the music While You Work schemes used in post-war British factories), in order to make the workers happy and content while the Controller urges more production. It's a bit like 1984 mixed with Brave New World. It is this element that is new in Doctor Who, and oddly, given the importance of culture in human life, pretty much unique to this serial. We also see the hynpagagic sessions in the sleeping pads as the TARDIS crew are fed aural suggestions, mostly to quell any suspicion as to the existence of The Macra. So there's an attempt to make the colonists happy, but also deceived at the same time. So here culture and entertainment is used to divert attention from the real power structure and to keep the workers productive in their dangerous job of pumping a gas that is toxic to them. It's this element that really raises this serial from the routine. So in the end, we have a typical Second Doctor template (base under siege, monster of the week) given an interesting tweak. I suspect the animated versions improve upon the serial's sense of danger and menace. At least at four weeks it's not overlong, though there's the usual padding device of escape and capture, escape and recapture, which can be a bit wearing for the casual viewer. This serial also features the first score by Who regular Dudley Simpson to really stand out, nicely electronic while still being organic, really coming into ita own during the fight and flight from the Macras in the final two episodes. This was the first serial to feature a new 'howl-around' opening credit sequence, again designed by Bernard Lodge, and the first to feature The Doctor's face. There was a new arrangement of the theme tune by Delia Derbyshire assisted by Dick Mills, but due to a error by the production team, wouldn't be used until the next serial, The Faceless Ones. TARDIS rating: 4/5
Cast
Doctor Who ........................................................... PATRICK TROUGHTON
Jamie McCrimmon ................................................ FRAZER HINES
Polly ...................................................................... ANNEKE WILLS
Ben Jackson .......................................................... MICHAEL CRAZE
Pilot ....................................................................... PETER JEFFREY
Barney ................................................................... GRAHAM ARMITAGE
Questa ................................................................... IAN FAIRBAIRN
Sunaa .................................................................... JANE ENSHAWE
Medok .................................................................... TERENCE LODGE
Ola ......................................................................... GERTAN KLAUBER
Voice of Controller ................................................. DENIS GOACHER
Alvis ...................................................................... ANTHONY GARDNER
Officia .................................................................... JOHN HARVEY
Broadcast/Propaganda Voice ................................ RICHARD BEALE
Title Music By ......... RON GRAINER and realised by DELIA DERBYSHIRE
Incidental Music .................................................... DUDLEY SIMPSON
JOHN BAKER
Special Sound ........ BRIAN HODGSON and the BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP
Sound Supervisor .................................................. HUGH BARKER
Grams Operator .................................................... CHRIS POCOCK
Production Assistant .............................................. CHRIS D'OYLY-JOHN
Assistant Floor Manager ........................................ ANN FAGGETTER
Costume Designer ................................................. VANESSA CLARKE
Designer ................................................................ KENNETH SHARP
Story Editor ............................................................ GERRY DAVIS
Producer ............................................................... INNES LLOYD
Directed by ............................................................ JOHN DAVIES
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