4.6: Terror of the Zygons

In which we say goodbye to the UNIT family without even realising.

Broadcast: August-September 1975

Watched: June 2020

Realised that there isn’t a single story this season I’m looking forward to. Or in 15, either. Oh, god. Anyway, onwards.

Terror of the Zygons, Part One

***Harry in a massive scarf klaxon***

Anyway, considering this is actually written by a Scot, this is a load of patronising old stereotypes isn’t it? Literally the first line of the episode is racist against Scotland. And were people really using kilts as casualware in 1975?

Not sure of the point of cutting to a scowling Zygon mid episode either. Why not save them for the cliffhanger?

Blimey that’s a sinister nurse.

Never really occurred to me before but the “Terror of the-” construction popular in Doctor Who titles is really bloody weird.

Terror of the Zygons, Part Two

Kind of odd watching this one, with the Zygons as out and out monsters, and remembering that they’ve now been re-cast as space immigrants.

Anyway. I’m very much not a horror fan, but that one trades almost entirely on creepiness, and I actually really enjoyed it. I think it’s the music – both the bit with Sarah chasing evil Harry around the evil village, and the bit with the Skarasen after the Doctor, are basically about suspense, and it’s the soundtrack that makes it work. *googles* Ah! New composer. Maybe that’s why. [Geoffrey Burgon; the vast majority of ‘70s Who has music by Dudley Simpson.]

The bit where everyone is out of action but Benton is a bit of a worry. The stuff in the decompression chamber – the Doctor hypnotising Sarah to believe she doesn’t need air, then screaming – is a deeply trippy sequence.

The Skarasen effect is worse than Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The zygons’ speech is annoyingly difficult to understand.

Sort of weird how the “It’s the loch ness monster!” cliffhanger comes an entire episode after we’ve seen the monster, and quite a bit after we’ve seen it clearly. Feels like that would be the pre-credits cliffhanger in modern Who.

Terror of the Zygons, Part Three

“Aliens? With wireless sets?”

One of the joys of Doctor Who is that in any other show the Duke of Forgill’s scepticism would be correct and every one else would be mad. The revelation that he’s a Zygon has slightly been ruined for me by the fact I forgot we weren’t supposed to know. Which means I wasn’t properly impressed by the fact we see him, but not his face, as a body print in the Zygon ship, either.

Love the bit where the bug in the stuffed deer head moves. Angus is annoying, glad he’s dead.

Weird cliffhanger. “The aliens have gone! And they’ve taken the Doctor.” Right, but they have gone, though, soooo...

Terror of the Zygons, Part Four

Oh right they still want to conquer the world though, that’s the problem isn’t it. I wonder how far through writing/production/whatever did they get before bumping this from season finale to season opener?

[An explanatory note, courtesy of James Cooray-Smith: “They decide to roll on the production block in January, after the huge ratings for The Ark in Space. Terror of the Zygons starts shooting 17th March. It had originally been planned as the six part final story of 1975. It’s not clear from information available in public at what point between those dates they decide to make it a four part story and hold it back to September, what order those decisions are in and if they are made together or separately.”]

Nice how in the last proper UNIT story the Brig finally speaks to the PM. “Absolutely understood, Madam”. This is a very Tory Doctor Who story.

I quite like the fact that the Doctor’s plan is a) free the prisoners, b) f*ck sh*t up. Again, good work with the soundtrack, but not even music this time, just the persistent alarm noise (which also works to raise the tension in Inferno I think).

Stambridge House is just Millbank Tower. Bloody cheek of it.

Broton’s plan of “controlling the world using one monster” feels a bit optimistic. And the Skarasen is a truly awful effect.

Anyway, this was better than I remembered, and I quite enjoyed it, but it is a big problem that you can barely understand a word the Zygons say.

“You should have taken them and got your refund, man. I thought you were a Scotsman.” First AND last lines of that story are RACIST AGAINST THE SCOTS.

I’m really going to miss Harry and the Brig. :(