Jon Pertwee’s Doctor is sent by the Time Lords to deliver a mysterious sealed container to an unknown recipient. So begins The Mutants, the penultimate adventure in the ninth series of Doctor Who (1972), a run that also included The Sea Devils and The Day of the Daleks. The Doctor and Jo (Katy Manning), find themselves on a space station belonging to Earth’s crumbling 30th-century empire, while below the planet Solos is on the verge of independence, a situation the corrupt Marshal (Paul Whitsun-Jones) is at pains to avert. What follows is a tale of opposing factions, assassination, genetic mutations and running around in caves. The story concerns the aftermath of empire, a topic very relevant in the Britain of 1972, and the devastating environmental effects of industrial development (though with the ecology movement then gathering force, the following year’s The Green Death addressed similar topics far more effectively).
There are plenty of elements packed into The Mutants, yet the story feels padded and, the mutant costumes apart, is not helped by weak production values. Though far from a classic, this is still an entertaining Doctor Who adventure with Geoffrey Palmer in a small supporting role and a startling homage to the Monty Python “It’s” man. The video quality is variable, not because of a tape fault but due to the source material. —Gary S Dalkin
Changing opinion It’s perhaps appropriate, given this adventure’s underlying message, that The Mutants seems to have changed in the near-40 years since its first broadcast – and only for the better. Long-vilified by seasoned fans, here it emerges on DVD (and immediately after fellow miserable outcast Meglos) looking slightly mad, very spangly and all rather good fun.There are no utterly-lost Pertwee adventures (technical issues still affect the future DVD release of classics like Ambassadors of Death, Mind of Evil, The Daemons and The Dinosaur Invasion, for now), but critical cold-shouldering means The Mutants is in some ways the closest we come to such a creature. It’s shaping up as a vintage year for Pertwee fans, with Terror of the Autons, a revised Day of the Daleks and Three Doctors, plus swansong Planet of the Spiders, all in the DVD pipeline, but these we know and love. For many, the rummy six-parter presented here is undiscovered country and, coupled with unavoidable low expectations, means pleasant surprised lie ahead.It’s got a loose, relaxed, undercooked (but sometimes overheated) feel, and unfolds in a charmingly offhand manner, developments seeming to surprise the cast as much as the viewer in a way that keeps the adventure effervescent and wards off typical six-parter fatigue.The lead himself is in fine form (and has the third Doctor even looked quite so swankily third-Doctor-ish?). Pertwee mixes a strange, Troughon-esque feyness and amused distance into his usual impressive performance, as the still-officially-exiled Doctor is suddenly whisked off by his Gallifreyan gaolers to the year 3000, and tasked with sorting out trouble at t’Skybase, an Earth Empire-run space station (the exteriors of which, at least, are spiffily done) that’s orbiting high over turbulent planet Solos at a time of flux with apparent cosmic implications.Relishing his return to off-Earth adventure, but resenting his errand-boy status, Pertwee’s urgent, imperious, impatient Doctor switches moods slickly here as he bears down on new problem after new problem while his mission endlessly changes shape. His hilariously-efficient, explosive dispatch of sort-off-baddie-scientist Jaegar (Who fave George Pravda), after the Doctor quickly sizes him up as first necessary help, then a nuisance, then nothing more, is one of the great Pertwee moments no one ever talks about. They should!Space-and-time travel always brings the best out in companion Jo Grant, we know, and Katy Manning shines in shrewd mode, showing Jo as not just a blinky-eyed little kitten-face but someone evolving into a smart improviser in the image of her Doctor. She pulls, of course, and her scenes with Solnian rebel Ky (proto-Johnny Depp Garrick Hagon; he’s on the commentary track) hold much sub-textual fun, especially when Solos’ poisonous atmosphere makes Jo feel a bit, er, faint…For the admission fee you also get a fine, watchable supporting cast: Geoffrey Palmer shimmers in (and out a bit too soon, alack); John Hollis is a striking, stranded scientist and helpmeet dressed in Anita Roddick cast-offs; and Christopher Coll charms as a Scouse space security guard. Fans have often poked fun at Rick James’ performance as Skybase servotor Cotton, but I dunno… it has a certain memorable charm.Tristram Cary’s squelchy, squonky, synth-heavy soundtrack (already out on CD, but better heard in context here) adds another layer of distinctiveness, providing as it does the precise sound of ropey-but-head-spinning CSO effects. There’s a genuine sense of weirdness crackling throughout all six episodes that never fails to beguile and is undiminished by repeat plays.By year’s end, all of season nine should be out on DVD; from the fug of Accepted Fan Wisdom, The Mutants could well have emerged by then in a new light and deserving place among the best of the Pertwee years.Oh, and it’s a deliberate nod to Monty Python at the start, by the way.
Not As Bad As I Once Thought. 1972’s The Mutants is a Doctor Who story that has been marred throughout its life. The story has consistently been voted the worst of the Pertwee era offerings. I don’t mind admitting that I was part of that ban wagon, the overall execution of Bob Baker and Dave Martin’s second script was dire. The CSO was terrible, the acting poor {Cotton!!!} and the sets unappealing. However, since the 2011 BBC DVD release of this story, I have enjoyed it a lot more and perhaps am starting to view the story in a different light. By no means will it ever be one of my favourite stories, but I think the mantle of the worst Doctor Who story in Pertwee history is a little harsh.First off, the digitally remastered picture quality helps immensely in trying to enjoy this story. Secondly, both Jon Pertwee and Katy manning with the assistance of Paul Whitsun-Jones, George Pravda and Geoffrey Palmer help to save the performance side of events, the Doctor and Jo reveling in the fact that they are out amongst the stars for the first time in a while, furthermore, the story’s main villain, the Marshal, is a fantastically realised character form Whitsun-Jones. George Pravda provides a brilliantly ignorant scientist and Geoffrey Palmer is just as good as it gets full stop. I also liked Garrick Hagon’s performance as the rebel leader Ky, his angered portrayal is another pro to add to the growing list of attributes about this adventure.The realisation of the Mutts is fantastic, they are portrayed as the monsters of the piece but are in fact just normal Solonians going through natural changes. Although the studio sets are quite dull and I am no fan, the location filming is excellent, the caves creating a certain amount of atmosphere that plays out well, the scenes with the CSO caves aren’t as successful but none-the-less get the job done.The BBC DVD release is the reason why I am viewing this less-than-classic story in a new light, the Doctor Who Restoration Team have as ever done a brilliant job in restoring and remastering these episodes for release onto DVD. The release’s flagship documentary is fascinating to say the least, “Race Against Time” coming in at nearly 40 minutes is a brilliantly constructed piece of television, new series companion Noel Clarke narrates why there were so few Black actors in Doctor Who during the classic series and in television in general in the 20th century. An excellently produced doc that opens ones eyes to the inner workings of the BBC. As ever, there is the traditional “Making Of” documentary included on the release, as always it is very entertaining and enlightening. Cast and crew sit and discuss this controversial story.Overall then, The Mutants will never rank highly in my books, its by far no classic but neither is it a bottom of the list failure. The BBC DVD release has bought out this story’s redeeming features and it certainly has gone up in my estimations since. The acting is to a high standard from the main characters and the location filming only adds to the incredible atmosphere that the Mutants has to offer. 8/10. Recommended, especially for the DVD bonus content.Thank you very much for your time in reading my review of The Mutants, its greatly appreciated.M.B.
A great story overlooked for flashier gimmicks! The Three Doctors, The Daemons, Day of the Daleks, all gimmicky, all fan favourites, all basically nonsense.Then we have the Mutants. It feels more solid a story than perhaps any other since Inferno, for my money it seems way before its time. This story would not be out of place in 1983 or 1988 and staring Sylvester and Sophie.The politics, the sheer imagination of the design work, the inevitable dragging out of the Marshall’s will to power all scream quality.I have to confess that I am a fan of this story. The premise is fascinating and very ‘deep’ it’s a type of science fiction we have barely seen before or since in DW. An alien race itself as the protagonist, antagonist, plot and theme.The acting does have a few weak spots,( Cotton,) but who, of the mainly white audience of Dw could act convincingly, a part written with the rhythms of west indian regional speech, ” Great Innit he just ups and clears off” sic, in a cockney accent. It’s the rhythm man, not the acting.Visuals, put yourself in the mindset of 1972, and the effects seems really ambitious, and convincing, with special praise to the model work, set design, and the manufacturers of bicycle pumps.Music. Speaking as a fan of Tristram Cary’s Dead Planet score and Malcolm Clarke’s Sea Devils music. I absolutely love the alien ambience of the soundtrack. I always say that it’s the mood, pace and tone of music that counts, which is why Death to the Daleks does not work. The views of Solos through the porthole and the firestorm scene as the explosions impact on skybase are particularly beautiful and intimate, whilst conveying the silent expanse of space.This is a cracking story that, like the War Games, just gets better on repeated viewing, ( You’ll always find something new to love about it.) The levels of violence seem to make this a companion piece with Colony in Space, another Pertwee alien- planet saga.The extras are pretty good, but the docu about Race in Dw is extremely interesting and sobering. Even, despite Terrance ” Up the Empire” Dicks comments, it’s impossible to think of DW as ever siding with the imperial power and not with the oppressed. It is lovely in a time of PC values to think of the Doctor, way back in 1972, as the alien judging no’one, assessing the situation on its merits, helping the innocent and taking up the banner of freedom from imperialism.Right on Doc!