The Ambassadors of Death

In high orbit above Earth, Mars Probe 7 has returned from a journey to our neighbouring red planet. The capsule has been in radio silence since it left Mars and the world waits anxiously to hear what has become of the astronauts. Space exploration is old news to the Doctor, but when a mysterious signal comes from the space craft he becomes interested. UNIT's investigation into the returning probe is suddenly hampered by a well organized and well equipped force determined to steal the capsule upon landing. The Doctor suspects there is something deeply amiss, a conspiracy on Earth which could start an interplanetary war.

It is worth noting that by sheer coincidence Ambassadors of Death was broadcast around the same time as the American space mission Apollo 13 was encountering significant difficulty on its mission to land on the moon. The parallels are interesting, and the public felt the same palpable tension that would have been evoked for the fictional public waiting for news from Mars Probe 7. Personally I preferred the dramatization in Doctor Who over another Tom Hanks theatrical dirge when Hollywood decided to have a bash at presenting the plight of the real world crew.

Ambassadors is an interesting one on a lot of levels, mostly to me for how it portrays the British Space Program as on par with or above that of the rest of the world with manned missions to Mars by 1970 and a fully functioning space centre to rival Cape Canaveral (although we never see this location again in the series). Here's where the debate about the UNIT years starts off: visually it looks to be the 1970s, but here I am writing this in 2017 and there has yet to be a manned mission to Mars in my lifetime so it's possible that these adventures were intended to be set in the 1980s, an argument which gets revisited a lot. But the concept of the British Space Program stays alive within Doctor Who right through to present day and who else but UNIT would be trusted with its security.

UNIT has its regular run-ins with the British Army here and there; most of it seems to be born out of some kind of envy or jealousy that a select group of British personnel now answer to the UN in  Geneva rather than to the home office. General Carrington in Ambassadors is definitely not a fan, and back in Spearhead from Space General Scobie may have been an ally but his Auton double seemed to have no problem mustering support against UNIT when it wanted it. This time there are operatives within the Ministry itself with some suspicions about UNIT, in particular about the Doctor and his lack of official existence. UNIT's "family" sees the return of Benton this episode; last time we saw him it was during the Cyberman invasion and here he is again and here he will stay for quite some time.

At seven episodes long Ambassadors gets a bit of a bum rap for being slow in spots, but I don't see that myself. The pace is even throughout, there is a lot for every character to do, with Liz Shaw kidnapped and operating on her own for most of the story (this following a high speed chase in Bessie) while in the company of the mysterious Ambassadors themselves. Despite the fact that these aliens were found on Mars, they are not Martians as we know them (Ice Warriors!) and are more humanoid and depend upon radiation to survive. We only see one without a space suit on, the rest of the time they are hidden behind fogged-up visors and protective suits. But damn they are creepy in some of the shots, notably with the sun behind one as it advances upon a lone UNIT sentry.

This is the third story of this season; it seems to be going by fast despite the fact that aside from Spearhead all the stories are seven episodes long. Liz Shaw is only here for one season but thankfully she like the others has had some chance at extension through the Big Finish ranges, effectively tripling the material with her as the first companion of the Third Doctor. Still to come, though.

THE BLAME GAME

Months into his exile the Doctor is paid a visit by none other than the Monk. His old adversary has heard of his predicament and offers to free him from Earth by taking him away where he can get a new time machine and get on with his travels. The Doctor agrees and leaves with the Monk but Liz has stowed away in the Monk's TARDIS, which soon breaks down itself due to the Doctor's exiled sentence.

Interesting to see the Monk back being all chummy with the Doctor - but you know this isn't genuine. The Doctor must as well but he's desperate to get away from Earth. He pretty much just walks out without thinking to say goodbye to Liz. The Monk doesn't seem to be as vicious as he was in The Black Hole so it's fair odds this is still his original incarnation from the Hartnell years when he was mischievous rather than bloodthirsty and vengeful.

It's the Doctor's character we get an interesting glimpse into here - he has already tried to run off in his own TARDIS once and is trying like hell to get it to work properly but when he gets a concrete opportunity from an old foe he forgets everything and wants out. One wonders if he had a plan to dump the Monk as soon as possible and make off with his TARDIS; not a very Doctor-ly thing to do but hey he's desperate by now. We've all been there.

Continuity wise there are few hints as to where this might be placed but with reference to the Autons and the Silurians but an early line in Ambassadors of Death placing the second and third stories of the season close, this is as good a spot as any really.

NEXT EPISODE: INFERNO