Is this lush season 17 outing strictly for kids...?

Narcissist that I am, I sometimes go back to read my past reviews on the Shadowlocked website. I was just checking out the one for The Big Bang, in which I was foolishly attempting to make out that I'd found the ability to travel back in time to meet my five-year-old-self.

As you do.

Anyway, the ham-fisted point that I was trying to make was that Doctor Who is chiefly for kids. Although it enjoys a sizeable adult following, kids especially love Who. What's great about this is that they take it at face value, ignore the shortcomings and get caught up in the different fantasy worlds, scenarios and monsters. A good example of this approach is season 17 adventure The Creature From The Pit.

The difference between adults' reactions and kids' reactions to Pit is bigger than Mick Jagger's gob. To a child, Pit is an atmospheric fantasy adventure that promotes a number of worthy messages: Good triumphs over evil; don't judge by appearances; money and material goods aren't everything. Three admirable concepts, especially in today's somewhat superficial society full of Alan Sugars, Katie Prices, Simon Cowells etc.

There's very much a Disney-esque atmosphere about The Creature From The Pit - the lush jungle of Chloris could have snuggled cosily into any of the Disney cartoons, as could the wicked witch-style Adrasta, who looks, sounds and behaves like your average Evil Queen of the Realm. At a pinch, even the gormless bandits are just like the Three Dwarves, complete with comedy beards and a "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to steal we go".

On the other hand, an adult's POV of Pit may be less charitable, especially given the rather obvious shortcomings. The aforementioned bandits are actually deeply silly and rather obvious Fagin clones. Torvin (apparently played by Michael Winner impersonating David Crosby) is a bit of an unfortunate stereotypical Jew, all "Moy luvverly boys" and little else. And they don't achieve much during the story, blundering ineffectually from one situation to another.

"The idea behind Erato is sound enough, but unfortunately its end appearance is ridiculous and highly questionable to say the least"

More problematic is the titular creature. The idea behind Erato is sound enough, but unfortunately its end appearance is ridiculous and highly questionable to say the least. Yes, it's The Dick From The Pit, as the creature lumbers about like a giant mobile mattress with a dubious phallic appendage. It's supposed to be an arm, but even your most innocent of viewers will inevitably raise an eyebrow. Especially when The Doctor attempts to "communicate" with the creature. Seriously, was anyone directing that day? Or was it all just a big joke? Given that Tom Baker looks evidently embarrassed on the Tom Baker Years video at this clip, it's unlikely that this is one of the great man's ideas.

Which is all a great shame, as take the schoolboy sniggering away, and you're left with The Doctor at his best. He's trusting, willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the creature, and also kind - he compliments the creature on its skin, and treats it as a pet cat rather than a mobile killing machine. And even with the lamentable communication scene, this is Tom Baker at his best - totally authoritative, inquisitive and compassionate at the same time.

Indeed, Baker gives a brilliant performance throughout - jovial one minute (when he asks guards to scratch his nose in the stocks) and full of self-righteous anger another ("Weeds, weeds, FOREST AND WEEDS!"). He gets the balance of jovial frivolity and grave seriousness just right - which, unfortunately isn't the case with Lalla Ward's Romana.

Now this isn't Ward's fault. Pit was the first story to be shot of season 17, and at that time writer David Fisher had no real idea of the new Romana's character - so with that in mind, Fisher was still writing for the Mary Tamm incarnation. Therefore Lalla's looking desperately uncomfortable with a character that isn't really hers, all snooty aloofness and whiny hand-wringing (just look at her reaction to K9 getting mothballed at the end of part one).

Talking of the robot dog, David Brierley's new take on K9 admittedly isn't quite in the same league as John Leeson's definitive portrayal, but he does try his hardest - the new K9 voice is a bit more of a finnickety headmaster.

The Creature From The Pit itself follows typical David Fisher lines - a baddie that isn't all that it seems. A strong female cast. And again the lack of ability to string out a story for four parts.

Taking each of these at a time, Erato is the classic case of Don't Judge By Appearances. According to Adastra, the creature is the Big Bad on Chloris, but then given her obsession with wealth, she would say that. Erato is actually a benefactor, hoping to trade with the folks on Chloris, but because this puts Adrasta's monopoly on metal at risk, she quickly chucks the creature down a pit and throws astrologers at it. And following the theme of season 17 so far, Erato is missing that all-important link. The Daleks were missing Davros in their bid to win their war against the Movellans. Scaroth needed to reunite himself after being splintered into several incarnations. And now Erato needs its communicator, which is hanging innocuously on Adrasta's wall - nothing much is made of this until part three, when the bandits steal it as part of their haul - only for the bandits to be hypnotised by the device into placing it on Erato at the end of part three in a brilliant cliffhanger.

What's great about this is that no-one at this point knows what the hell's going on, or why Adrasta's screaming at the top of her lungs in protest. Instead, it's just great melodrama, and because Christopher Barry films the sequence really well (full of eerie cross-fades between the communicator and Adrasta's wailing face), it's the best cliffhanger out of the three.

"Adrasta is one of that rare breed in Doctor Who - a good villainess"

Talking of Adrasta, she's a great villainess, full of boo-hiss malevolence, and played to perfection by Myra Frances. Adrasta is one of that rare breed in Doctor Who - a good villainess. Fisher had nearly got it right with Vivien Fay in The Stones Of Blood, but thanks to Vivien's non-stop cackling, the end result was a bit of a laughing stock. Adrasta on the other hand, while undeniably hammy, is just that more convincing, willing to slap Romana viciously round the face, throw a hippy seer into the Pit when the fancy takes her or wage her crusade against soothsayer Organon.

Even her second banana Karela is a nasty piece of work too, and after her mistress is reduced to a cobwebbed mess, she ups her game by trying to get her hands on all the metal and even stabbing Torvin in the process. Luckily, The Doctor saves the day, but Eileen Way gives a good performance as the hell's granny.

The problem is, though, that the final part seems tacked on, especially since the story technically finishes about seven minutes in. Adrasta is killed. Erato is rescued. Everyone wins. At least until some rather pointless subplot about the Tythonians reacting badly to Erato's capture - and so they threaten to blow Chloris to kingdom come with a bomb. It just seems like a separate storyline, and so the ending's a bit of a damp squib. And despite some cool video distortion in the TARDIS, the model effects look pretty ropey.

Other complaints are few and far between. Organon is a bit of a bore, forever asking The Doctor which star sign he is - it's like being accompanied by a freeze dried version of Russell Grant. Some of the cliffhangers are a bit daft - why The Doctor leaps into the pit at the end of part one is anybody's guess. And the wolfweeds are a bit rubbish.

But otherwise, this is a solid production - Christopher Barry's last work on the show is well up to standard, with some excellent Ealing filming. That jungle is very well-shot, atmospheric, lush and actually quite realistic. The set pieces are done well, especially part three's cliffhanger and some of the fight sequences. And the design work from Valerie Warrender is uniformly strong - the fairy tale interior of Adrasta's palace and the clammy, claustrophobic tunnels are particularly good.

Overall, The Creature From The Pit needs a kind eye to garner any sort of enjoyment, and as I said, try and watch it as a kid would. Forget the dodgy-looking creature, the silly stereotypes and instead focus on the neat ideas and more importantly, the sound moral messages that are at the story's core. And as a result, you may find that this is one of the better stories of the season.

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, City Of Death

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