Foreign location shooting at last, but it's a great story that makes City Of Death worthy of being a movie...

Like The Mona Lisa, City Of Death has been seen, admired and commented on by millions. On its original transmission, it managed to achieve over 16 million viewing figures for the last episode alone. Yeah, this may be partly down to the ITV strike of Autumn 1979, but don’t forget, no one forced people to watch City Of Death part four at gunpoint.

So it’s a hell of an achievement, and what’s more, City has been acclaimed as one of the very best Doctor Who stories ever. Like a good wine it has a bouquet, even if 1979 isn’t exactly a vintage year in most fans’ eyes.

The problem with discussing stories like this, Genesis Of The Daleks and The Talons Of Weng-Chiang is that you get the impression that you can’t heap any more superlatives on such a great piece of telly. We all know that City Of Death achieves the perfect combination of humour and drama, for example. Whereas Destiny Of The Daleks leaned too far towards the flippant, City Of Death gets the balance just right, with equal helpings of comedy, wise-cracks, intense drama and scares for the kids.

We also know that it’s strikingly different to your average Doctor Who story. It’s the first story to be filmed overseas, as the cast and crew take to Paris for a few days. The end result is a Doctor Who story that could conceivably be a feature film. Take away the credits and you’re left with something that could easily be shown in the cinema with its top-quality location filming and direction.

Given their work on The Androids Of Tara, it’s not altogether surprising that Michael Hayes and his film cameraman John Walker are responsible for some breathtaking scenes. They certainly get their money’s worth, with many scenes of The Doctor and Romana breezing along the streets of Paris. It’s also expertly filmed, with lots of avant-garde camera angles – take Duggan’s pursuit of the duo, filmed at points through postcard racks or either side of a wall. What could have been a mundane trot through the streets of Paris becomes something quite unique. Hayes evidently thought long and carefully about how to get the best out of the Parisian filming, and it evidently shows in the final results.

"You can’t imagine City Of Death being filmed in an ordinary English town; it just wouldn’t have the same effect."

Oh, and Dudley Simpson ups his game with one of his very best scores to accompany these Parisienne Walkways, with a score that’s both hummable and evocative at the same time. Which only makes the decision to axe the great man the following season all the more regrettable.

Unlike future adventures, the location is key to the story rather than acting as some lazy excuse to just film abroad. You can’t imagine City Of Death being filmed in an ordinary English town; it just wouldn’t have the same effect. What I like is the huge contrast between a city that’s full of life and colour and the original prehistoric Earth scenes which are empty and desolate by comparison. This also utilises the clever trick of setting up a plot that’s not made obvious until much later in the story. The eerie one-eyed spaghetti-head is all but forgotten about for most of part one until the Count rips his face off at the climax to reveal his true form.

Talking of which, the cliffhangers take a different tack to your average Doctor or Companion In Peril scenario. Instead, the City Of Death cliffhangers only add to the mystery of the story and steer it in a new direction. So in part one, the audience is left scratching their heads in bafflement as to how Scarlioni can possibly be Scaroth. In part two, they’re left wondering how Scarlioni can be in two times and places at once. And in part three, they’re left wondering whether all of Paris will end up doing some truly ridiculous disco dancing and then ageing to death in about 10 seconds. That these cliffhangers work very well indeed demonstrate that sometimes The Doctor being at death’s door wasn’t always the hook to bring viewers back for more.

Two of these stick well in the mind from my childhood (City’s the first one I remember seeing in its entirety) – the cliffhangers to parts one and three are very well filmed. Part three is interesting in that it caps off what’s quite a dark episode. Up until now, we’ve had plenty of running around Paris and witty one-liners, but part three (an episode that’s generally hard to get right) turns all this bonhomie on its head, as Scaroth’s plans are revealed. And most of the characters change too. The Count, up till now, has been your archetypal Bond villain (yeah, Julian Glover would play Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only a couple of years later), but in part three becomes just that bit more dangerous and unhinged. The mask slips away, both literally and metaphorically, as he tries to keep some grip on reality and succeeding in his quest to reunite his splintered selves. As a result, he’s shown to undergo some mini-breakdown as he communicates with his other selves (in a rather cool surreal set-piece).

He also becomes more of a bastard. He’s distant, aloof and scornful with his wife, who’s dreaming of money and achievement at stealing the Mona Lisa. And rather than promise Kerensky great rewards, he decides to change tack and become the boss from hell. Blimey, even Alan Sugar doesn’t threaten death to his apprentices from hell.

And so Kerensky, who up until now has been something of a figure of fun becomes the character that everyone feels sorry for. The Ronnie Corbett lookalike has been scuttling about moaning about lack of sleep and demonstrating his pride and joy – a cellular accelerator, which he presumes will turn the Count into a tidier Bob Geldof. The accent hasn’t helped matters either: “Yeeees Count, zat veel hailp admeeerablee!” or “Ey am ze forrrmooost autoreeteee on teempoorul teary in ze whole vurld!” are just two examples. But in part three, Kerensky is relentlessly bullied by The Count, to the point where he’s a quivering wreck (“Zeees ees monstrous, beeeyond eemehgeeneeng!”).

Given that the Williams years are less violent, it’s all the more grim to see Kerensky dispatched in such a nasty manner. It’s all poetic justice of course – he croaks it in the very machine that he created. But even if the silly “Nooo, not zat sveetch!” and disco dancing threaten to spoil the scene, the actual rapid ageing is done really well, thanks to quick camera cutting and convincing make-up. And an army of little kids in 1979 are suitably terrified at seeing such a likeable character disposed of in such a fashion. Although he may have been an authority on temporal theory, Kerensky’s not quite the authority on spotting treacherous bosses to work for.

So with such a dark part three, City Of Death proves that the humour/drama combination was achievable. And unlike Destiny Of The Daleks, City Of Death is genuinely funny. So many witty lines and great jokes (Peter Kay could learn a thing or two here) that come thick and fast. “I say, what a wonderful butler, he’s so violent!”; “You’re a beautiful woman, probably”; “It’ll be so much the worse for you, your assistant and thousands of other people I could mention if I happened to have the Paris telephone directory on my person!”. Genius from both Douglas Adams and Graham Williams, who really should have written a sitcom.

"What’s all the more impressive is that this script was a last minute rewrite job, since the original Gamble With Time didn’t quite pan out"

What’s all the more impressive is that this script was a last minute rewrite job, since the original Gamble With Time didn’t quite pan out. So, Adams and Williams, armed with several gallons of black coffee managed to complete the scripts during one long March weekend – just one month before the cameras rolled. But you’d never guess it, since the scripts are funny, clever and expertly structured. The whole story works logically – events don’t just happen for no good reason – every scene is integral to the plot, even throwaway scenes like the one where the artist sketches Romana and turns her into a blank clock face. Even the John Cleese and Eleanor Bron cameo works in the context of the story, and its not so offensive as to distract from the rest of the action.

And the script affords some great opportunities for all the actors, both regular and guest. This is a story that’s tailor-made for The Doctor and Romana, as their relationship blossoms. The Doctor is given the lion’s share of all the witty lines, as demonstrated in the Countess’s unsuccessful interrogation scene. Tom Baker acts this perfectly, especially when you realise that it’s all a front (“My dear, nobody could be as stupid as HE seems!”). The Doctor uses his comedic charm as a smokescreen for a razor-sharp brain that’s quietly deducing what’s going on. And this formidable intelligence is seen in part three when he works out Scaroth’s fiendishly clever plan in just a matter of seconds. Even Tancredi, the 16th century splinter grudgingly says: “I can see that you are a dangerously clever man, Doctor!”

And also, Tom’s performance conveys the seriousness of the situation. He goes from joking about Shakespeare’s broken arm to warning the Countess about her husband in the blink of an eye. And later in the same part, he’s quietly authoritative when dealing with the Count: “Well because I’m going to stop you.” This is Tom Baker at the height of his powers, a hero that uses humour, brains and a Polaroid camera to save the day.

"It’s a great story for Romana, as Lalla Ward unassumingly gets countless dads’ pulses racing in a schoolgirl outfit"

And it’s a great story for Romana, as Lalla Ward unassumingly gets countless dads’ pulses racing in a schoolgirl outfit. Ward’s Romana is far more independent than Tamm’s, working out what’s going on and acting on her own gut reaction – not to mention leading Duggan around like a rowdy kid on a school trip. She gels perfectly with Tom’s Doctor too – this is one of the best Doctor/Companion teams ever, because A, it’s very much a grown-up partnership that doesn’t rely on countless “What does it all mean?” fool questions and B, it’s one of the happiest partnerships in the show’s history – well, until the 18th season at least, but that’s another story.

The guest cast make the most of their roles, and are perfectly chosen. Julian Glover, baddie par excellence, is the ideal choice for Scaroth. He brings the right amount of suave charm and ruthless menace to the part, and you really believe that this is a being who could achieve his aim, whatever the cost. Catherine Schell reprises her part from The Return Of The Pink Panther, right down to the unscripted giggles (although Tom’s Doctor isn’t as inept as Monsieur Guy Gadois – “Eeee-ere’s looking at yew, keed”), but it’s an excellent performance. Her final confrontation with her husband is another oddly grim moment in what’s been quite a light-hearted story, and is very well acted by Schell and Glover.

David Graham gives his all as the hapless Kerensky, as does Tom Chadbon as the bungling detective, Duggan. Duggan could have been such a boring stereotype, but Chadbon’s performance allows the detective to be both genuinely funny (“Hell’s bells!”) and likeable at the same time. And you can’t help but cheer a bit when he gets to save the day with a punch that’s applauded rather than reproved by The Doctor.

City Of Death: A work of art. Everything comes together to create a taut blend of drama and comedy. And as I said, the direction is feature film material, not just in the location scenes, but in the studio too. Lots of excellent effects – Scaroth’s unmasking, Kerensky’s rapid ageing, and the very neat cross fade from the mock Louvre Gallery to the Chateau. The production values are uniformly impressive, with some lavish sets from Richard McManan-Smith that perfectly conjure up that Parisian air or that Italian Renaissance sunshine. Even the BC scenes are not that bad.

So catch that bouquet when you can.

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, Destiny Of The Daleks

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