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The Doctor, Steven and Dodo land on a planet in the far future,
a supposedly idyllic and enlightened age. But the planet's
population is divided into two castes. The comfortable lifestyle
of the Elders is starkly contrasted by the harsh existence
led by the Savages...
November
must have been decreed "official William Hartnell month" by
BBC Worldwide. In addition to their First Doctor Box Set,
they have also released this audio presentation of The
Savages, which rather conveniently follows on from The
Gunfighters, the final story in the video box set.
Ian Stuart Black's script contains few surprises, apart from
the virtual dual role that is played by Frederick Jaeger as
the lead Elder, Jano. Director Christopher Barry compensates
for the unremarkable script by making the adventure noticeably
more melodramatic than usual.
The Doctor is more vocally outraged than ever before about
the injustices he witnesses on the unnamed planet. He goes
so far as to compare the evil he perceives to that of the
Daleks. This bit of dramatic shorthand is intended to heighten
the sense of danger, and is a device that Black would use
again in the next serial, The War Machines. Accordingly,
Steven (Peter Purves) is even more gung-ho than usual, while
Dodo (Jackie Lane) is as spirited as we have ever seen or
heard her before. Even the incidental music, composed and
conducted by Raymond Jones, is distinctly over-the-top in
places.
The
departure of Steven is rather poignant, especially when you
consider the perfunctory ways in which Dodo and her successors
Ben and Polly would eventually exit the series.
The
Savages is a decent enough little story, so it's not going
to be savaged too badly by this particular critic.
Richard
McGinlay
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