The Seeds of Doom

Somewhere in Antarctica a scientific expedition finds a frozen pod deep under the permafrost. Knowing that the region was once a jungle, the scientists assume the pod is from that period of time and are keen to discover its secrets. The World Ecology Bureau calls upon the Doctor's experience to look at the pod and he recognizes it as a dangerous organism from outer space, and takes Sarah to Antarctica to deal with it. The Doctor and Sarah are followed by a pair of henchmen working for millionaire Harrison Chase, who wants the pod for his own collection of rare plants, but before either party arrives at the base, the pod releases a shoot and one of the men is infected and starts to metamorphose into a Krynoid, a hostile plant creature that when established on a world will attack and kill all animal life. The Doctor finds a second pod but it is stolen by Chase's henchmen, Scorby and Keeler, and the base is destroyed to cover their tracks, killing everyone but the Doctor and Sarah. Chase's fanatical ambition to have the pod flower and add a Krynoid to his collection results in Keeler's infection and eventual transformation, but this time the change accelerates and the Krynoid grows into a giant tendriled monster that the Doctor is not sure he can stop.

More brilliance. Sheer absolute brilliance, and six episodes of it, too. The story does take on a bit of the old formula of the Pertwee era six parters with the first two episodes taking place in Antarctica (the events therein very similar to John Carpenter's The Thing) and the remaining four taking place back in England in and around Chase's estate. But there is never a loss of momentum to the tale as it moves along, and as with The Sontaran Experiment all the location work is done on sharp Beta video, even the Anatarctica scenes which appear to have been shot on a hillside sprayed with foam, but it looks convincing. There is also a great deal of location work done at night, giving a proper sense of the passage of time while the Krynoid grows and takes over, eventually becoming large enough to envelop Chase's entire house. The house is the same location that was used in Pyramids of Mars but this time with more location work being done on the vast grounds than before, with Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen running about on the well manicured lawns and hiding behind trimmed hedges to escape uzi-toting guards.

The cast is first rate. Everyone in this show gives their all, aside from Major Beresford of UNIT who is doing a sad fill-in for the Brigadier. But take into account Sir Colin Thackary, the first civil servant ever in the show who actually did something aside from quote bits of procedure at people and throw his title about. And the amazing eccentric artist Amelia Ducat whose almost-senility made for incredible presence in her scenes. And Scorby, the thug. Wow. The confrontations between him and Sarah are pulled off perfectly, with her calling him out for his cowardice and him barely restraining the urge to kill her. The Doctor seems a bit different this time, yelling at the top of his lungs to make his point, showing how desperate the situation is with the Krynoid by losing his cool a lot in parts three to six. And he's also at his most violent in this episode, punching out Chase's chauffeur so bad he goes into hospitaly, nearly snapping Scorby's neck, then bashing Scorby over the head with a chair, flinging Chase into a heap of dustbins... magnificent. And Chase himself... so icy and alien it is fitting that he would side with the Krynoid and the plants as they begin their killing rampage. Hats off to Tony Beckley for being the coldest baddie in the series since the Master, or maybe even up there with Tobias Vaughan from The Invasion. Yeah, alien monsters are scary and horrible, but nothing is so alarming as a madman intent on getting his way.

This has got to come out on DVD sometime soon. Why it wasn't one of the first baffles me. This adventure is as close to flawless as it gets for this era, six episodes I would be proud to show to a first timer as an indicator of just what Doctor Who is at its best.

This is the end of the season for the show, and of course it would be back with another visually stunning adventure, but before we go on, a couple side trips into other media...

NEXT EPISODE : THE PESCATONS