The Mysterious Planet v. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
For my twenty-fifth post, marking the forty-ninth and fiftieth stories in my Doctor Who rewatch (roughly a sixth of my way through the whole thing), the Randomiser directed me to the great Robert Holmes’ final complete Doctor Who story, The Mysterious Planet, which was first broadcast in September 1986, and to the two-parter The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion, the first part of which was written by Peter Harness and broadcast on 31 October 2015, and the second part by Harness and Steven Moffat and broadcast on 7 November 2015.
The Mysterious Planet
The Mysterious Planet (aka The Trial of a Time Lord parts 1-4) opens with great promise. Having been off-air for seventeen months, the very future of the series in considerable doubt, Doctor Who returned to our screens on 6 September 1986 with an impressive (for its day) sequence combining detailed model-work and computer-generated effects to illustrate the TARDIS being pulled inside an enormous space station. Inside the construct, the Doctor stumbles from his police box into a dimly-lit courtroom where it is revealed that he is to be tried by the Time Lords for the crime of interference in the natural order of time. I watched that first episode in a large room full of fellow Doctor Who fans – this, I think, was one of the Panopticon Doctor Who conventions held at Imperial College, London (probably the same one at which I saw Janet Fielding criticise the underlying ‘white knight’ premise of the show, which I mentioned in my previous blog post). It was quite something to be watching the first broadcast of an episode of Doctor Who as a live event, alongside fellow enthusiasts. That opening scene of the Time Lords’ space station generated a round of applause from the audience – a sense of surprised appreciation, as if none of us had ever known Doctor Who be this good (almost Star Wars good, it seemed, for a few happy seconds).
The next scene showed us the Doctor and Peri walking through some woods. They looked different from their last on-screen appearances almost a year and a half before. The exterior shots in The Mysterious Planet were shot on videotape rather than film, which must have exaggerated the sense of this being something new, but additionally both characters had bigger hair and bigger clothes, befitting the big, confident styles of the era (Britain in the mid-1980s, I mean, not the planet Ravalox, two million years in our future). The Sixth Doctor was a little jollier and softer round the edges than he had been in the previous Season 22. Peri was dressed more stylishly and seemed to be happier in the Doctor’s company. Together, the pair seemed more comfortable, mature and developed. I like woods as a setting for a Doctor Who adventure; being in a woody area always sparks the imagination of my inner child, sparking memories of stories such as The Pyramids of Mars or The Android Invasion that captivated me when I was much younger. Forests have the feel of ancient mystery about them – the spirits of all those old trees – and are full of hidden sounds, places to explore, to hide, and from which to be hidden.
So my first impressions of this brand new series of Doctor Who were of something fresh and exciting and new, mirroring how I remember feeling about life at this point in time. Saturday 6 September 1986 would have been the final weekend of a summer holiday in which I turned 16 years old, passed my O-levels, did a lot of painting, cycling around, visited galleries in London, and generally felt quite grown up and excited about wider horizons that seemed to be opening up before me. I was due to start my A-levels at a new school in the autumn – a private school, which I naively thought would be full of happier times with a better class of people than the rougher comp at which I’d just completed five rather introverted years. What an idiot.
I gained A-levels in English, History, History of Art, and Hubristic Studies. The school turned out to be a miserable experience. It was elitist, authoritarian and infantilised its students (while the school I had just left seemed to treat my old pals in its sixth form as young adults, granted respect and opportunity). There was a culture of social and intellectual snobbery, awful sexism, racism and homophobia, and I was bullied by one particular boy in a manner that belittled and upset me more greatly than anything I had felt in the previous sixteen years of my life. Sadly, Doctor Who also seemed to deteriorate rapidly after that opening episode. Perhaps the way I was feeling at the time has coloured my memories, but my recollections are that the rest of The Mysterious Planet, and the rest of Season 23, was poor.
Watching the story again today, my revised opinion is that there are a lot of good little bits to The Mysterious Planet but the whole is significantly lesser than the sum of its parts. There are some juicy little ideas, snippets of dialogue, characters and typically Robert Holmes-ian character pairs. But these fruity bits are suspended in a rather tasteless blancmange, which disintegrates disappointingly at the touch of a spoon.
The story introduces us to Sabalom Glitz, played by Tony Selby. Glitz seems a promising, interesting character, self-described as ‘the product of a broken home’ and ‘wanted in six different galaxies for crimes you couldn’t even imagine’, suffering – according to one of the dozens of prison psychiatrists to whom he has been assigned – from a ‘deep-rooted maladjustment, brought on my an infantile inability to come to terms with the more pertinent, concrete aspects of life’. He’s a ‘scholar’, with ‘an uncanny knack with ageing females’, whose conscience be pricked a little from time to time ‘but where money is concerned that doesn’t usually last long’, yet he seems to have enough heart to banter with the Doctor and even sympathetically to tie his hands with a slip-knot to give him a chance to escape Drathro’s exploding dungeon. It would have been good to see more of Glitz, written by Holmes, in further Doctor Who stories, but sadly his later appearances did not serve the character so well.
Merdeen is another facinating character – a high-ranking officer in Drathro’s ranks who is secretly working against ‘the Immortal’ and helping to smuggle other innocents to the planet’s surface, convinced that ‘we were meant to be free’. Like Glitz, he has texture and depth, he’s a troubled soul who seems to be neither completely good or completely bad. I would suggest that Merdeen is more interesting than City of Death’s Duggan, actor Tom Chadbon’s more celebrated but rather two-dimensional other Doctor Who role. But he suffers from such grim costuming, make-up, surrounding set design, lighting, direction and general sluggishness of plot, that he’s unlikely to be remembered as one of the series’ more notable characters.
Here's the problem, for Merdeen, Glitz, and all the other nice little elements of the story. The overall production is uninspiring. The Mysterious Planet isn’t really very mysterious: it becomes clear early on that Ravalox is Earth, and the explanation of why it has moved light years across space seems (to me) complex and uninteresting. It’s a slow story, with a low sense of danger. That incredibly slow-moving service robot, and the gunge spewing out of the food pipe, both seem emblematic of the sticky drudgery of the viewing experience.
The end-of-episode cliffhangers comprise an equal mix of scenes set in the Time Lord courtroom and beneath the surface of Ravalox, which seems to give out rather mixed messaging about where our sympathies as the audience should be engaged. As the court, with the Doctor present, is viewing events that have already happened, clips of him exclaiming ‘I really think this could be the end!’ and of apparently being shot are relieved of any great dramatic impact or tension.
The trial itself is the most interesting part of The Mysterious Planet. As the Inquisitor acknowledges, it’s not the first time the Doctor has been trialled by his own people, but this season-long arc is an original and innovative idea. The charges against him – interference in the natural order of events in time and space, and genocide – seem quite reasonable given what we know of the Doctor’s past and future catalogue of adventures. But one can’t help feeling that the Valeyard could have chosen a better story than The Mysterious Planet as evidence to support the prosecution.
It's generally recognised that The Trial of a Time Lord season was devised in part to reflect the way that Doctor Who’s production team felt the way they were being trialled by the BBC at this point in time. The show was under scrutiny for a perceived decline in its quality, popularity and relevance, and also for suggestions that it was becoming too graphically violent. There’s a whole scene in episode three in which the Inquisitor and the Valeyard clutch pearls over the ‘repugnant’ and ‘brutal’ images on screen, which one can appreciate as satirical but at the same time a bit self-indulgent.
The Mysterious Planet contains a few interesting ‘this is who the Doctor is’ lines – such as: ‘I can’t let people die if there’s a chance of saving them’; ‘I like to do the unexpected, take people by surprise’; and ‘Never believe what is said, only what you know’ – which makes sense for a season opener, and especially for this story after the show had been off air for so long, and in which there seems to be an effort to make Six a more sympathetic character.
The story ends with a debate between the Doctor and Drathro over the relative values of organic and artificial lives. ‘The purpose of life is too big to be knowable. A million computers couldn't solve that one,’ the Doctor says, in response to Drathro’s claim that without him the humans that serve him would have no purpose. It seems an apposite point to ponder in 2023 as I write this blog, as humans on Earth appear to have reached a point at which our development of Artificial Intelligence has got us genuinely worried about how much of a danger it could now become. The general feeling seems to be that the more useful it can be to us, the greater its potential threat (in the sense that it reduces our own purpose and self-determination).
I decided to explore this for myself, and asked ChatGPT to write an alternative blog post for me. As the AI claims no rights for itself, I don’t see a problem in pasting everything it wrote here, unedited. I’m also going to steal its title as I’m struggling to think of one for this week’s post myself. Personally, I found the ChatGPT to be very pleasant (I like the ‘Allons-y!’ and the little spacey emojis it chose to put at the end of its final message) and not at all like nasty Drathro. It worked out the regular format of the blog (a review of each story, followed by connections between the two) straight away, and there’s significantly less navel-gazing than one of my own efforts. But I’ll place myself on Trial and let you decide whether its blog post compares favourably to my own:
ME:
please write a new post for my blog www.dwrandomised.com based on the two Doctor Who stories The Mysterious Planet and The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion.
ChatGPT:
Title: Unraveling the Enigmas: Doctor Who's Timeless Tales - The Mysterious Planet & The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
Hello fellow Whovians and time-travel enthusiasts! Today, we delve into the timeless and ever-fascinating world of Doctor Who, exploring the intriguing narratives of two captivating stories: "The Mysterious Planet" and "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion." These episodes have left an indelible mark on the Doctor Who universe, offering riveting plots, unforgettable characters, and profound messages that resonate even across time and space.
1. The Mysterious Planet:
In "The Mysterious Planet," the Sixth Doctor finds himself on a mysterious planet, Earth, but in a distant future devastated by nuclear war. He is put on trial by the enigmatic Time Lords, accused of meddling in the affairs of other worlds. This Trial of a Time Lord arc marks a significant turning point in the Doctor's life as he faces perilous accusations from the Valeyard, a dark incarnation of himself.
This story not only explores the Doctor's moral dilemma of interfering with other civilizations but also delves into the themes of accountability, the consequences of one's actions, and the burden of being a Time Lord. We witness the Doctor defending his actions and principles, reminding us that even a Time Lord is not immune to doubts and fears. "The Mysterious Planet" challenges us to reflect on the complex nature of justice, the fine line between right and wrong, and the power of redemption.
2. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion:
Fast forward to a more recent adventure, "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion," featuring the Twelfth Doctor, Clara Oswald, and the shape-shifting Zygons. This gripping two-parter revolves around the tense peace treaty between Zygons and humans on Earth. However, the fragile truce is shattered when a radical faction of Zygons seeks to take control, putting both species and Earth itself at risk.
In this compelling story, the Doctor finds himself negotiating between two warring factions, each grappling with their identity and desires for peace or conquest. The Zygon conflict serves as an allegory for real-world issues such as identity crisis, assimilation, and the difficulty of finding common ground in a divided society.
The highlight of this story is undoubtedly the powerful "The Zygon Inversion" speech, delivered by the Doctor, urging both sides to embrace empathy and compassion. This emotional and thought-provoking monologue reinforces the show's core belief in the power of words over violence and how understanding and dialogue can triumph over conflict.
What Unites These Stories:
Despite being from different eras, "The Mysterious Planet" and "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion" share striking similarities. Both stories demonstrate the Doctor's role as a moral compass, seeking to resolve conflicts and championing for compassion and understanding. We see the Doctor as a timeless figure who continuously learns from their experiences and evolves throughout their regenerations.
Moreover, these tales embody the essence of Doctor Who's message: that the most formidable adversaries can be conquered through intelligence, wit, and the strength of one's beliefs. Whether it's standing against a dark reflection of oneself or mediating a tense intergalactic conflict, the Doctor exemplifies the power of hope and resilience.
As we immerse ourselves in the rich tapestry of Doctor Who's adventures, let's celebrate the profound impact these stories have had on us as fans and the universal relevance of their messages.
So, fellow wanderers in time and space, which moments from "The Mysterious Planet" and "The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion" have left an indelible mark on your journey as a Whovian? Share your thoughts and reflections in the comments below. Until the next adventure, allons-y!
ME:
Thank you - I think that's excellent.
ChatGPT:
You're very welcome! I'm delighted to hear that you liked the blog post. If you have any more requests or need further assistance in the future, whether it's about Doctor Who or any other topic, don't hesitate to reach out. Happy blogging, and may your readers enjoy exploring the fascinating world of Doctor Who through your insightful posts! Allons-y! 🌌🚀
The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion
Just as you probably now can’t tell the difference between me, David Moloney, and my co-blogger, dAvId molonAI, the two-part Twelfth Doctor story The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion opens (following a pleasing flashback to 2013’s 50th anniversary story The Day of the Doctor) with two Osgoods, of whom we are unable to tell which is the original human version and which is the Zygon replica. As the story moves on, we are reminded that one of the Osgoods has since been murdered (by Missy), and then we learn that the surviving Osgood will not reveal which version they are, because as part of their mission to safeguard the sensitive ceasefire between the two species on 21st-century Earth, they want to emphasise that both should be considered equally. There are good people and evil people in both tribes, and individuals should be evaluated on the evidence of their own actions, not because of what they look like or of what sort of suckers they have hidden from view. ‘I am human and Zygon. I am the peace.’
I’m not a huge fan of Osgood as a character (I don’t like the fan stereotyping trope) but I do think this non-binary presentation is excellent. In Peter Harness’ recently-published novelisation of this adventure, the point is re-enforced by the use of them/they for Osgood’s pronouns. It’s a powerful statement, obviously relating to the horrors of drastically-increased transphobia in our society as well as racism, xenophobia and violence against and othering of so many other vulnerable minorities.
The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion is notable also for making all the lead characters (excluding non-binary Osgood and the Doctor, who, it could be argued post-thirteenth incarnation, represents a non-binary character, although to be honest he brings a particularly male energy to this story). That’s Clara, Kate Stewart, Jac and Walsh on the human side, and Norlander, ‘Bonnie’, ‘Claudette’ and ‘Jemima’ on the Zygon side. A handful of male actors play relatively minor supporting roles, but this was a really strong move by the production team in 2015. I don’t think Doctor Who had ever had such a female-dominated cast list before; in fact, I suspect few British television programmes had, other than those that made a particular feature of it. But this is not presented as novelty casting or box-ticking. It’s just something that one suddenly notices and thinks ‘Great move!’.
I’m sure it wasn’t an accidental casting decision. This story is unashamedly political, which is a good thing because there is nothing in life that should be excepted from political analysis. I don’t think it always gets it quite right, for reasons I describe below, but it’s not shy about making a statement; for this reason I think it ranks highly among Doctor Who’s most important stories.
It was made and broadcast in 2015, politically a significant year in the United Kingdom as it contained a General Election won by the Conservative Party in large part on the promise of the EU membership referendum that would lead to Brexit. UKIP won an eighth of the national vote. Filming on The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion began on 5 May, just two days before the election. Thinking back to that year, and the extent to which nationalism, isolationism and racism was simmering in the UK (and how it’s come to the boil in subsequent years), makes it seem all the more likely that Harness and Moffat were making direct reference to that climate.
A scenario is described in which approximately twenty million Zygons, having lost their home planet, are now living on Earth, fully integrated into human communities around the world, but secretly, hidden in human form. The obvious analogy suggested here is of refugee and migrant people having to leave their original home country, often because of war, persecution, natural or economic catastrophe, and make a new home where made to feel far from welcome – ‘You can't have the United Kingdom, the Doctor warns a Zygon. ‘There's already people living there. They'll think you're going to pinch their benefits’ – and with a prevailing expectation that they will integrate and ‘fit in’.
In the story, a faction of younger Zygons become radicalised, unhappy with the prospect of having to suppress their identities and ways of life, but also with the idea of sharing the planet with humanity. They initiate a campaign of violent action with the aim of starting a war for control of Earth. I think we’re moving into more problematic territory here, re-enforcing an unhelpful real-world suspicion that immigrant communities inevitably contain factions of dangerous hostiles inclined to terrorist behaviour. ‘We're already there, Doctor,’ replies that angry young Zygon. ‘The invasion's already taken place, bit by bit, over the last year. We've won the first battle. And now, we are going to begin the war.’ ‘They’re already here’ sounds like the sort of racist dog-whistling we heard from Farage and co during the thirteen months between the 2015 election and the 2016 Brexit referendum. I’m sure that wasn’t the intention behind its inclusion on The Zygon Invasion, but I don’t think it’s helpful.
The second of the two episodes, The Zygon Inversion, is best remembered for the Doctor’s anti-war speech directed at Kate Stewart and Bonnie the Zygon. ‘You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?’ It’s a good speech, powerfully delivered by the always brilliant Peter Capaldi. It’s full of some great takeaway lines about the futility of war, the need for courage, forgiveness and trust, and – although directed primarily at Bonnie – the futility of the human condition.
Unfortunately, nobody ever changed anything by shouting and belittling people. The brokering of effective peace agreements takes time, diplomacy and empathy, it involves getting alongside and getting to know those you disagree with. Anger can’t be subdued by logic; forgiveness can’t be manufactured on behalf of a community. Ending a war doesn’t require a tirade of sarcasm and belittlement, but such is the Twelfth Doctor way. I was reminded of his ‘planet of the pudding brains’ insult near the beginning of his first story, Deep Breath, and how alienated I felt by that.
Twelve is always so angry. What’s his problem? One of the consequences of trying to rewatch the entirety of Doctor Who in randomised order is that I’m gradually starting to see the bigger picture of various character arcs. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion sits roughly in the middle of the Twelfth Doctor run, and we see a few cringe-dications of what might be described as the Doctor having a mid-life crisis: the sonic shades and the electric guitar, and calling himself Doctor Disco and Doctor Funkenstein. At the opening of the story he is playing Amazing Grace on his guitar, suggesting some deeply introspective soul-searching is going on.
So far I’ve only watched a couple of stories from Twelve’s final season, but they have been enough to remind me that he does follow a gradual path of change, from a frustrated, intolerant and quick-to-anger figure, to someone a little more patient and kind. In season 10, he pursues the redemption of Missy, but he goes about it properly: he lives with her, he seeks to understand her, he shows her kindness and he shares his life and his loves with her. In time, he shows her trust and respect. (Perhaps the experience of beating his way through twenty feet of a rock tougher than diamond over the course of billions of years in Heaven Sent taught him something about the virtue of patience.) He’s criticised for his strategy with Missy: Nardole in particular is highly critical of it, and I’m reminded of the constant accusations of ‘sitting down with your friends in Hamas and the IRA’ that have been levelled at fellow peace enthusiast, Jeremy Corbyn (who also rose to greater prominence following the 2015 election). But we live in a world that doesn’t want things to be complex, sensitive or time-consuming, so perhaps the story of the Twelfth Doctor is more interesting and counter-cultural than I first appreciated. I’m looking forward to watching more from this period, and I’ll keep an open mind to what’s going on.
This is a long blog! I’ll try to round it up with a few brief likes and dislikes about The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion.
I liked the Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibes. It’s not a completely new idea to Doctor Who, I know, but the whole ‘Who can we trust?’ thing works well here. I also thought the visualisation of Clara inside Bonnie’s mind, able to control her actions such as firing the bazooka and texting the Doctor, was clever and original.
I didn’t like (and never have) the modern-series design of the Zygons, at least in comparison to the 1975 versions. They’re too big and strong and angry – too human. The originals’ costumes designed by James Acheson are more sinister and unworldly.
I didn’t like how much of the first episode was filmed in the dark, making it really hard to tell what was going on for extended periods of time. I wrote about this same problem in my review of the previous story, The Woman Who Lived. Proper lighting, please!
I liked the portrait of the First Doctor covering the safe that Bonnie opens. I was surprised that the novelisation described the picture as ‘a photograph of Osgood’s father’. I’ve since read that the original television script intended the picture to be of the character Corporal Osgood, who served in UNIT in the 1971 story The Daemons, with the implication that Osgood is his daughter. But as that never became official canon, the combined evidence of the televised version and the published novel leads me to speculate whether Osgood is actually the daughter of the First Doctor, conceived during a period spent on Earth before the events of An Unearthly Child. And if that were true, might his granddaughter Susan be Osgood’s daughter, born at some point after the events of The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion? It would make her even more unearthly, especially if the surviving Osgood is the Zygon version.
I didn’t like the Doctor calling London a dump. That's just rude.
Finally, it's not really a like or a dislike, but for an otherwise politically-sensitive story, the Doctor’s behaviour on a couple of occasions raises some eyebrows. A single adult man hanging around in a children’s playground, and engaging two young girls in conversation, is not a great look. Neither, environmentally-speaking, is demanding personal use of a ‘presidential aircraft’ for no good reason other than ‘I like poncing about in a big plane’.
Connections
Unlike my confident AI understudy, I couldn’t find a huge amount to link these two stories across the years.
I think the stand-out connection must be that the scripts of both stories pay homage to the Brigadier’s most famous line (also from The Daemons). ‘Five rounds rapid should do it’ is Glitz’s evaluation of how he and Dibber can break into Drathro’s castle. ‘Five rounds rapid’ is Kate’s response when the Doctor asks her how she escaped the Zygon Norlander.
The baddies in each story operate out of secret bases beneath London (or what used to be London, in The Mysterious Planet), although that’s not an uncommon scenario in Doctor Who. I’m only 50 stories into this blog and already we’ve seen action underneath London in The Invasion, The Shakespeare Code, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Deep Breath and Attack of the Cybermen, and I’m sure there will be plenty more.
Both stories offer self-referential comment on Doctor Who itself. I've already mentioned how The Mysterious Planet, as part of The Trial of a Time Lord season arc, parodies the fact that the production team felt the show was on trial for its very own future at the BBC. At the end of the Zygon stories, Osgood asks the Doctor what the initials of TARDIS stand for, with a knowing smile indicating they know that the show has given different answers to this in its own scripts. In the same conversation, the Doctor tells Osgood that he is a very big fan of theirs, the joke being that she represents a fairly hardcore section of fandom through her mix of Doctory cosplay and intimate knowledge of so many of his past adventures.
Osgood's devotion to sartorial detail gifts us another connection: question mark collars! The Twelfth Doctor reveals also that he has question mark underpants; it's possible that the Sixth is wearing those too but that information has been redacted from the Matrix.
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