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 The BBC and 2 Entertain have released Survival, billed on the DVD as “The Final Classic Adventure”. This double disc set includes the 3 episodes, various documentaries and all the usual bits and pieces you can expect from the range.
I originally felt that it all seemed overkill for this story in particular. However this re-viewing of the story within this package has led me to re-evaluate this one part of the Sylvester McCoy era in a much more positive light.
THE STORY
The opening minutes of episode one with it’s images of suburban normality are intriguing and well put together, as are the scenes of the Doctor and Ace touring an almost deserted Perivale, which seems to be populated by societies lesser specimens – clever in the sense that the strong are being taken away... There is a clear nod to the Pertwee era too, as the tour of this part of West London seems similar to part 1 of Invasion of the Dinosaurs. In fact Survival with it’s tale of monsters, deserted streets, the Master and a battling community of survivors probably makes it the most traditional Who story of the McCoy era!
The movement and the tension of the earlier moments of the story are well realized too – the first two “cat-napped” people we see are taken by an invisible force which appears loudly from behind us (the viewer), keeping the suspense up. Being attacked by unseen forces is a superb vehicle that Who uses well and shows the programme, in all it’s forms, at it’s best.
However when we do see what attacks them as it makes an attempt on Ace – an overgrown cute looking teddy bear with Dracula teeth on a horse whilst wearing a rejected Colin Baker costume, you do get a feeling of being let down.
There are some other let downs – the pointless stand off between Mitch and the Doctor on motorbikes; there was no lead to it nor any sense to the reasoning of it happening, it seemed merely an expensive plot device – an exercise to dispense of Midge after making the character too powerful and to make Ace think that the Doctor had also perished. The killing of Karra afterwards was also very contrived just afterwards, again a plot device for Ace so that Karra appears in her true, human form.
The casting is a little odd too. Despite the superb performance of Julian Holloway as the embittered and passionate trainer, if Survival is trying to find an audience with London based youngsters from council estates then it wasn’t going to happen with the collection of RADA rejects that Survival brings together to play these characters. Only Adele Silva really impresses – and she was 8 here! Comedians Hale and Pace (Gareth Hale and Norman Pace) at the time the Ant and Dec of the 1980s and early 1990s for ITV are sadly placed in the pointless cameo bucket for late 80s Who.
Sylvester finally makes his mark as the Doctor here though and it says it all that it took him three years to do it. No embarrassing turns and it seems
Sophie Aldred almost fails as Ace here as she is seems far too old for the part even in 1989 but for once the script allows her to get away from the “yeah, Ace, Professor” scripting that she was saddled with for most of her time on the programme.
I do also have to mention the animatronic cat though. At times the cat works well, particularly in long shot and in scenes featuring the Doctor and Ace, with it’s lurking, sinister presence in the background. It’s scruffy appearance lends a touch of pathos. Unfortunately in close up the whole effect sadly fails and the illusion is lost.
When action falls on the Cheetah planet, it’s realization is pretty good. The pink tinge to the sky is well engineered and for once, the quarry looks alien.
I did think originally that when the Master, Anthony Ainley, makes his last appearance in Doctor Who, that his inclusion was pointless. His portrayal is much muted in this story though and it does help It is in hindsight inspired though, given the morals of the story and the amoral nature of the Master himself. For someone of the intelligence of the Master to be effected greatly by such emotions and base instincts give the story a rawer energy and nerve.
This main moral within the story that does give the whole production a certain power is that “survival” isn’t necessarily be or be killed, it’s much more than just that statement. If you live like animals, you die like animals. When Midge kills the Cheetah Person in cold blood, he becomes an animal. When Ace saves Karra, she benefits from the enlightened senses of the Cheetahs without feeling the urge as yet to kill.
There is a lot to admire despite the faults in Survival. It’s got a rough around the edges streak which is quite charming. It’s also surprisingly brutal in it’s depiction of dead humans and felines, the latter, as regards cruelty to animals is fairly uncommon these days (and I’m a committed felineophile!). There are major themes and morals running throughout the story that have been missing from the programme in some time and are capably pieced together by an obviously debut script from Rona Munro, brimming with energy but at the same time nervous, and not quite sure where it’s going to. Perhaps some of that is down to the lack of commitment the creative staff and the BBC had in the series at this time.
I still hate the last line though. Even though we thought it could have been the last ever line in the series it’s still wretched and forced (as it was in a way with it being added sometime after). Hard to think that back in 1989 Survival was the Final End.
DISC ONE EXTRAS
The deleted and extended scenes all deservedly make an entry here as none of them appear to make any difference to the final story. The inclusion of the un-matted shots of the quarry are also of interest as well as the really impressive one of how they achieved the fake sunlight reflecting from the lake! Well OK it impressed me!
The continuities from BBC1 in 1989 are always interesting watching, particularly when you see at least one is from a VHS tape with all the tape wear lines at the bottom!
CATFLAP - Most people would say that Catflap is the “seller” documentary of this set, but I would differ here as the more tighter Endgame, which discusses the final end of the series and what may have happened if season 27 had it’s go ahead in 1990, is much, much more interesting. Cat Flap does however crossover to that documentary to begin with, with Andrew Cartmel declaring that Survival is more or less Ace’s swansong. Sadly with Mr Cartmel you get the feeling that he has to constantly defend the era he worked on which doesn’t help the balance. The Director Alan Wareing, missing sadly from the Ghost Light DVD, adds his contribution here too which is of interest. However the rest of it is really standard fare – high quality as usual but nothing out of the ordinary.
DISC TWO EXTRAS
However, Endgame is certainly something out of the ordinary. It is an intriguing and fascinating documentary focusing to some degree on the “axing” or hiatus of Doctor Who. What seemed to me like a few years ago is brought home that the McCoy era ended nearly TWENTY years ago. Peter Cregeen, the then Head of Serials at BBC TV, gets an opportunity to give his opinions of the time are a real coup to the whole documentary and there is a freshness of knowledge going through the narrative . You feel that you learn something, which must be the whole point of the process to start with.
Search out Science, the BBC schools programme, is included here and is more for completists, being the last time that the Doctor and Ace featured together – in character and with K9 strangely – until the lousy Dimensions in Time later on in the decade.
Little Girl Lost is a retrospective look at the character of Ace, who from a personal point of view didn’t really convince as being young, “period 80s” or full of the forced angst that the producers seemed to think she had. Words such as “Wicked” weren’t really used much at this time too and it just showed how out of touch the whole of the production team became at the time. Again interesting thoughts and views but unfortunately for me, totally wasted on the insignificance of the character in the longer run.
Also for completists are the Master segments from the PC game Destiny of the Doctors.
All in all, the DVD is produced with so much more love, passion and care than the actual story it is featuring. That says it all about Doctor Who in 1989.
» Review by Steve Freestone, Copyright 2007.
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