Maybe it's because a certain amount of the series was put in place by Peter Bryant. Maybe Letts and Dicks hadn't found a nice cosy, complacent formula. Maybe it's that Jon Pertwee puts a bit more effort in. Maybe it's that with the 'UNIT family' still forming the stories feel that bit fresher. But Season 7 is considerably different in feel and quality to Seasons 8-11. It's not a new observation, I know, but it is a fairly apt one.

It seems to be largely due to a production team trying to find its' nichè. The quasi-realistic style of Season 7 would be lost among the ever-rising amount of caricatures (with The Doctor and the Brigadier gradually turning into cartoons, and the replacement of the adequate Liz with the idiotic Jo, and the nose-diving IQ of UNIT members and government liaisons).

A few of the staples of later Pertwee stories - The Chap Who Makes The Brigadier Look Like A Hippy; The Bitter Scientist; The Fussy Civil Servant - are present in "The Silurians", but the characters aren't that exaggerated. Major Baker is a believable xenophobe; Dr. Lawrence is a well-rounded character, thanks to Peter Miles' trademark highly-strung weed performance, while Geoffrey Palmer's Masters isn't so stupid you wonder why he's allowed to leave his house (unlike, say, Chinn from "The Claws of Axos"). The key is that unlike their later archetypal descendants, these people don't feel like their entire reason for existence is to make The Doctor look good.

Jon Pertwee gets the balance right here, as he would do in the rest of Season 7, managing the right balance of irascibility, impatience, independence and likeability. Compare how many times you want to yell at him to shut up across 165 minutes to the 90 minutes of, say, "The Three Doctors". Caroline John does an adequate job as Liz, though the character's never struck me as being as progressive as is made out… She certainly isn't presented as being more intelligent than, say, Zoe, she just bitches at the Brigadier fairly often. UNIT are well-used, with the Brigadier a fairly intelligent sort, and it's good to see them utilised as something other than a surrogate army.

The story itself is quite good… The very real possibility that The Doctor could chose to side with 'invaders' adds an edge to the opening half, though once the older Silurian is killed, it does seem a bit like he's playing devil's advocate, especially once the rest kill numerous UNIT squaddies and try to poison London. The actual unveiling of the Silurians is rather good, with Hulke's script selling a nice dummy with the dinosaur, and then manages to keep the Silurians off-screen. While they're not the best realised Who monsters, they are well characterised, with Hulke adding depth to their culture and defining the individual Silurians.

The pace is surprisingly good, mainly because so many strong characters are given so much to do. It's well-directed and looks quite expensive, T-Rex aside. The script is solid and well-paced, subverting the staple alien invasions in favour of a more thoughtful approach. There are some excellent concepts at work here, and the unfortunate naming of the Silurians (for the fistful of people who don't know, the period they actually hail from is the Eocene era) aside, Hulke's done his homework.

The incidental music is a little grating, with weedy little electronic figures thrown in randomly - at times, considering all the computers and the noise the Silurans' 'third eyes' make, it can actually get a little confusing. It's a shame this is so unobtrusive as, aside from the dodgy paelientology, it's the only real problem with the serial. That said, it's so irritating it does disrupt things a surprising amount…

The supporting cast are all incredibly solid. The likes of Baker and Lawrence give actors a chance to go way over the top, but everyone stays in line - probably happy that Hulke gives out such good parts in his script. Even a very young Paul Darrow (this story's thankless UNIT captain) behaves himself.

At times the story is a little workmanlike, and on repeated viewings the opening red herrings can be a little trying. However, it stands up as a rather mature action-adventure, and is certainly one of the very best early 1970s Doctor Who stories.

Review written: 31/05/06
"Doctor Who and the Silurians" VHS @ Amazon.co.uk