The Doctor and Sarah meet some trees you won't want to hug...

After the optimistic 1960s, the 1970s came along with its power cuts, strikes and punk rebellions to crush all that sanguine cheer underneath its platform boot heel. Even Flower Power didn’t really pan out, and if you want a stark warning about the so-called joys of this concept, then take a look at The Seeds Of Doom.

The Seeds Of Doom basically concerns the machinations of camp millionaire Harrison Chase, whose plans to buy a simple pod rapidly snowball out of control. Naturally, the pod is much more dangerous than its appearance would suggest, since it’s a Krynoid pod. As The Doctor describes it, it’s a “galactic weed”, only more dangerous than the average plant, since it has a craving for human flesh. Cue six episodes of intense drama that pushes The Doctor’s mental and physical strengths to the limit.

The only problem with seasons 13 and 14 is that they are so near perfect that it’s hard to come up with original ways of saying that the stories tucked away are so brilliant. The Seeds Of Doom is no exception, a rollercoaster ride of horror, black humour, and most of all, action. It’s so expertly written, produced and acted, that I’m left wondering how Hinchcliffe and Holmes managed to repeat the knack of producing such great TV week in, week out.

"The Seeds Of Doom is quite atypical for the time, since it’s both more action packed and violent than usual"

With respect to the action quotient, it helps that Douglas Camfield’s back (sadly for the last time) in one of his most successful productions. In a sense, The Seeds Of Doom is quite atypical for the time, since it’s both more action packed and violent than usual. I think it was Elisabeth Sladen who once said that Camfield’s direction would have been in tune with that gritty 70s police drama The Sweeney. And that’s certainly true with this story. The Doctor, in particular, is getting in on the action more than ever before. He punches a chauffeur’s lights out. He twists Scorby’s head with a rather brutal click. And he’s not averse to running around with a pistol in hand (although he does at one point say that he’d never use it). At the start of the fourth part alone, he rescues Sarah by crashing through a skylight window and breaking a stool over Scorby’s head, leaving Chase to dryly ask: “What do you do for an encore, Doctor?” The Doctor gleefully replies: “I win!”

More in tune with other stories of the time though, is the fact that practically all the supporting characters meet sticky ends. Two hapless blokes are turned into Krynoids, and judging from the evidence, it’s not a pleasant process. It’s slow and drawn-out, and in the case of Keeler, he’s fully conscious, meaning that he’s frequently torn between his human self and the Krynoid within – just look at how he drools over a plate of meat that flop-haired butler Hargreaves brings in.

And then there are the other actual deaths. Three of them readily stick in the mind. The first is Dunbar’s, whose death actually warrants a near-cliffhanger ending. Up until now, Dunbar has been no more than a turncoat, offering the secret of the pod to Chase in return for money after seeing opportunity pass him by at the World Ecology Bureau. Clearly toadying up to Sir Colin Thackeray doesn’t offer much financial reward. However, even Dunbar has a conscience, which has slowly manifested itself over parts three and four, to the point where he decides to tell the authorities everything. Regrettably for Dunbar, he hadn’t reckoned on a giant blob of vegetation, which traps him and presumably eats him alive (we get a blink ‘n’ miss it far away shot of what looks like a suited husk by the time the Krynoid’s through with him). What really makes this sequence effective is Kenneth Gilbert’s convincingly terrified reaction as Dunbar. Not only is the fear on his face very real, so is his piercingly agonised scream, which is totally at odds with his normal posh (slightly Scottish-tinged) baritone.

Another memorable demise is that of Scorby, who is drowned by the Krynoid weed. Scorby, is of course, played by John Challis, who’s better known these days as Boycie in Only Fools And Horses and The Green Green Grass. Fans of these shows who’ve never seen Seeds may be alarmed to see Challis’ Scorby behaving like a thug throughout. He’s either bullying the wimpy Keeler or throwing The Doctor around like a rag doll. However, as the story develops, we rapidly see that all this bullying and bluster is just a mask for a closet coward. He’s reluctant to go and investigate screams from outside (unlike Sarah) and is ultimately reduced to a resigned, self-pitying heap in a corner after the Krynoid attack gets too much. In the end, Scorby’s cowardice proves fatal, as he tries to flee from the house through a river, but discovers to his cost that there’s something nasty in the water. Clearly, Scorby hadn’t been to see Jaws in 1975. Challis gives a blistering performance as Scorby – again the character is played totally for real, almost to the point where you may feel sorry for the scarred mercenary. Well, I said almost.

The other memorable death is of course, Harrison Chase’s. It’s done with the blackest of ironies, as he does help his beloved plants after all – just not in the way he had imagined. Yes, it’s crusher time, as the deranged millionaire gets caught up in his own wretched machine after trying to drag The Doctor in with him. Bloodshed fans may scoff at the fact that inexplicably, there’s no blood on the blades, but because the acting from Tony Beckley and Tom Baker is so good, this doesn’t matter at all. After a series of rapid jump cuts between an increasingly terrified Chase and The Doctor trying to save him, the millionaire is rapidly whisked away from sight with a series of horrible screams, which along with The Doctor looking away, does the job enough. And The Doctor’s shell-shocked reaction is perfectly sold by Baker, as he stammers: “Sarah? I tried to save him… He was trying to pull me in.”

"After being less than well served in The Brain Of Morbius, Sladen has a lot to get her teeth into here"

Chase is another brilliantly acted villain though. Tony Beckley and his posh Cockney voice is a perfect choice for the baddie, bringing a real sense of eerie detachment to the role. Chase (who actually resembles Donald Fisher from Home And Away) is one of those villains who gets steadily more insane as the story progresses. The initial parts show him as a slightly eccentric millionaire with an unhealthy plant fetish. As the story goes on though, we gradually see the extent of his depravity. By the fourth part, he’s willing to keep a man tied up as he mutates into a human plant, simply for the sake of his curiosity. And after he’s been possessed by the Krynoid, he’s gone completely cuckoo, as he’s prepared to let the whole of humanity be devoured by an army of plants. Chase is a great example of Philip Hinchcliffe’s idea of setting The Doctor up against a powerful human or humanoid adversary rather than a bug-eyed monster. The threat is that much more credible as a result, and when you’ve got great actors like Tony Beckley in Who, it’s all the more convincing.

All of the actors in The Seeds Of Doom give excellent performances in fact, even the lesser ones such as John Gleeson as Winlett and Hubert Rees as Stevenson. Rees’ performance is again, played for real, a good example being that understated, barely audible “Yes” when replying to Winlett’s and Moberley’s incredulity at the possibility that the pod could be alien. Michael Barrington (he of Porridge) and Sylvia Coleridge also make for a memorable double act as Sir Colin and Amelia Ducat. Coleridge’s Ducat is a right hoot, all inappropriate comments (“What about Operation Nuthouse?”) and wide-eyed naivety.

And it goes without saying that both Tom and Lis give some of their best ever performances in their time on Who. After being less than well served in The Brain Of Morbius, Sladen has a lot to get her teeth into here. The Sarah of The Seeds Of Doom is grown up, assured and even brave, especially when standing up to Scorby in part five (“You’re not complete unless you’ve got a gun in your hand!” she says at one point). Sladen really goes for it in this story, making Sarah a tough but still likeable companion.

Tom’s Doctor is at his most multi-faceted in The Seeds Of Doom. The man goes through so many mood swings throughout that it’s impossible to keep up with him. Deadly serious one minute (“Mr Stevenson, what you have done could result in the total destruction of all life on this planet”). Angry the next (Look at the way in which he shrieks “SCORBY!!!”” at the top of his lungs). Cheerily playful another minute (“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had perfect pitch. Did you know that?”). And detached in another (“You must help yourselves,” he says ominously as Moberley asks for his help). With this carefully studied, multi-layered performance, Seeds demonstrates perfectly why Tom’s Doctor is so popular.

The Seeds Of Doom runs along tried and tested lines of alien invasion, and again takes inspiration from a classic source – in this case, The Thing From Another World (an alien influence infiltrating an isolated, snowy base). Interestingly for a six-parter, it never feels padded or overlong, possibly because it’s structured as two stories in one: The Antarctic prologue followed by the action at Chase’s mansion. And then there is the stellar direction, which keeps events moving at a rate of knots.

Camfield really knows how to pace a story and also how to keep the tension flowing. All of his shots are carefully staged, even the quieter ones like the shot of the changing Krynoid in the snowy wastes (boosted by a dramatic voiceover from The Doctor). The scene in which Chase communicates with his plants is also well done, and another case of understatement. Beckley’s Chase doesn’t scream at the top of his voice throughout, he talks to the plants in a softly spoken monotone that’s alien to behold – and it also helps that the music score is just as quietly creepy. This is Geoffrey Burgon’s last contribution to the show, and like Terror Of The Zygons, its use of reeds and flutes is highly evocative. There’s also another effective use of organ music, this time when Chase decides to channel Rick Wakeman. Chase’s LP (called “It’s Easy Being Green”) needless to say, didn’t make much impression upon the 1976 album charts.

The only downer of The Seeds Of Doom is the fact that it’s a pretty poor last bow for UNIT. The Brig’s upped sticks to Geneva again, leaving the rather nondescript Beresford and Henderson (who looks and sounds a bit like Robin Asquith) to help out. Mind you, that’s the only blip in what’s otherwise one of the finest stories in Doctor Who’s long history. Even the effects of the giant Krynoid work well – the OB filming means that the superimposed Krynoid studio shots don’t clash. And the model filming of the thrashing Krynoid looming over Chase’s mansion looks superb. All in all, I can’t fault The Seeds Of Doom at all. It’s well written, magnificently acted, and stylishly brought to screen by Douglas Camfield, who signs off from the series in considerable style.

John Bensalhia limbered up for this mammoth task with a full four-series review of Blake's 7, and writes professionally and recreationally all over the web. Check out his portfolio of work at Wordprofectors.

Check out John's previous Doctor Who review, The Brain Of Morbius

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