Escape To Danger No.22

We continue the French theme here in the Security Kitchen, after the appalling recent events over the Channel. So, this time we turn back the clock  to 1979 and remember a story that is seared into the nation's collective consciousness almost as much as "the one with the maggots"...

 

When industrial disputes caused the ITV networks to cease transmitting for almost ten weeks in the autumn of 1979, the two BBC channels obviously experienced a significant and understandable boost to their viewing figures.

 

It's therefore tempting to conclude that "City of Death" is so well-remembered by a public largely past caring about Doctor Who, simply because it was just about the only thing available to watch at the time.

 

 

It's a tempting thesis, but it's also wrong. Season opener "Destiny of the Daleks" was broadcast in the same circumstances, and you don't hear people waxing lyrical over memories of that.

 

Well, I certainly do. But we'll get round to that magnificent serial in another entry.

 

 

No, "City of Death" is instead one of those rare occasions when, seemingly by accident, almost every element comes together in some sort of harmony, conveniently watched by an artificially large audience.

 

Don't believe me? Then let's study this phenomenon...

 

 

The first episode hits the ground running, featuring a splendidly executed tracking shot over an effective model landscape, ultimately revealing a spaceship of truly iconic design.

 

 

Next, a sequence of an alien having a spot of bother with his instruments and the expectations of his peers. The simplicity of the design concept of Scaroth adds to the impact and the believability. Done well, a great mask and some comedy gloves can stop millions of casual viewers from switching over to see what's on BBC2...

 

   

Then you ship your two regular actors over to Paris, and basically watch them running around to an oddly memorable Dudley Simpson soundtrack, before you return to more familiar studio-based fare. Luckily it's a David Fisher plot, so it doesn't matter too much that it's been rewritten to death by Douglas Adams and Graham Williams.

 

 

Of course, I'm grossly over-simplifying for effect, but I stand by my basic premise. Everything about Serial 5H just kind of gels. Everything could so easily come crashing down if the main guest cast failed to understand the tone of the script, but Julian Glover, Tom Chadbon and Catherine Schell absolutely nail it. (And just when you think it's all about over, John Sodding Cleese appears).

 

And then there's that Part One cliffhanger. Totally ludicrous in the context of the narrative, but utterly jarring and memorable.

 

 

It takes a heart harder than mine not to love "City of Death", when everything appears to conspire to make it work so well. I still maintain that Douglas Adams was a flawed writer, more concerned with conspicuous cleverness and laboured smart-arse dialogue. But Season Seventeen actually shows him to be a script editor of great talent, in the same league as Holmes, Bidmead, Whitaker and Cartmel.

 

And it's not often you'll catch me admitting that.

 

 

While "City of Death" is certainly not perfect, and it's definitely not the best Doctor Who story ever made, the more you look at it the more it carries you along with its cockiness and self-belief.

And let's not speculate on what Tom and Lalla were starting to get up to behind the scenes...