The Hungry Earth!
Well I’m hungry for more! Oh, sorry that was a bit clichéd wasn’t it?
Doctor Who, ‘The Hungry Earth’, series 5 x 09
This episode, written by Chris Chibnall welcomes back the bi-gone, classic Who era with pomp circumstance and mystery. Our story begins, as stories often do, in fairy tale, a notable repeated theme of this series. Eliot, a young boy living a life of rural seclusion but with a loving family and inquisitive spirit is entranced by the terrible tales of the ever popular Gruffalo series as his father, Mo reads its encrypted language to a dyslexic apprentice of Sherlockian intellect. “Who is the creature with terrible claws? Terrible teeth in his terrible jaws?”
We are immediately drawn into this close familial circle and watch with trepidation as their daily lives take a tour of the fantastic.
With strange prehistoric minerals staining graveyard grasses blue a team of drilling devotees plunge further into the earth’s crust than man has ever ventured before. They hit an impressive 21km before the earth starts hitting back.
It’s late at night, everyone’s asleep except Mo, manning the drilling station and seriously who would wish to wile away their nocturnal hours in such a vacuous and morphic place? Bet they don’t have many job applicants for the ‘graveyard’ shift. Oh, and how apt is that coin of phrase for in the cemetery, buried bodies are disappearing from untampered plots and ‘CID’ Rory Williams is called in to investigate.
Meanwhile Mo is missing, and Amy soon suffers the same fate as the Doctor struggles to pull her from some subterranean suction. Ah, but alas the endearing of a companion is far too vital a plot device for Amy to remain unscathed and on terra firma. Amy’s gone, Rory’s furious, the Doctor’s frantic and something is transporting itself to the surface so there’s no time to lose as the small family and new friends seek to defend themselves inside the eerie old church. To top it all off, it’s suddenly gone dark, a crimson lightening, force field trapping our heroes like a big, glass stopper on a test-tube.
More hostages are taken and we meet the Silurians, a homo reptilian race who evolved from lizard like ancestors who inhabited the earth long before the birth of mankind. Our predecessors and now, having been disturbed and threatened by the drilling, our competitors for rightful claim on our planet.
This episode runs like an existentialist essay but with fun, interactive visual aids. So many subtle references are repeated. The presence and innocence of children. The realisation of fairy tales, using typical story book terms like monsters and villains and the mysterious stranger who steps in for justice and freedom.
The idea of sleep, dreams or should I say nightmares as for generations humanity has sought answers to their existence and we have a plethora of artistic works questioning what answers lie in the depths of the sea, or in the ground beneath our feet. Things literally going bump in the night and the phobia of being buried alive, all these intrinsic fears are solidified by this script.
We also have mankind’s ingenuity and curiosity as the Tenth Doctor termed it, “The urge to jump, or rather the urge to fall” as we see ordinary people doing extraordinary things, digging into the depths of soil because they can, because they want to know more, to discover, to explore. Even our first ‘victim’ Mo has this innate compulsion to reach out and touch the steaming hole in the floor; to feel it and make it tangible and real.
A moral and ethical question is also posed that we can’t help but relate to as this narrative takes place only 10 years in the future. Do we deserve this earth? What is humanity? When we are threatened or hurt do we seek vengeance or understanding. A superior race, more evolved than our own shifts us out of our complacency and four unsuspecting beings become the ambassadors for the entire species. Are we worthy? Are we more constructive than self-destructive?
I loved the volume of layers in this episode. Of course it contained some fantastic one liners as well as geeky gimmicks like the Doctors night vision, sun glasses, there’s an oxymoron for you and great CGI in the climatic scene where a whole civilisation thrives underground for our viewing pleasure.
The characters are varied and distinctive as is their motivations and the actors playing them really add to the flow and intimate feel of the production, particularly the excitement and exuberance of Meera Syal The design of the ‘aliens’ and their experimental layer is very reminiscent of the situations in the classic Who series’ and I feel, this new series is more science fiction, more over the top and fantastical in its realities however this style does work though it stands in contrast to Russell T. Davies more TV drama and human approach.
Now, just to play devil’s advocate, as always, some queries and minor nit-picking!
Sometimes the dialogue is too spoon feed and undermines the intelligence of the audience for example the pregnant pauses and grandiose hyperbole when referencing, again, that the Doctor is the last of his race. Perhaps this is to place catch up for new viewers or to repeat the point for the young or even, its consistent repetition could have a deeper meaning as the series unfolds that we are not yet aware of.
Too many two parters? I have always loved stand alone episodes as they have to be rich in quality and fast paced and engaging in story telling. Two parters slow down the series and lower its content for me. However when we remember that Doctor Who used to be screened in small bite sized bits with four or sometimes more parts to one story I suppose this is more traditional. But with only 13 episodes in a series I can’t help but feel cheated when we only get half as many stories and strange new worlds to explore.
The Doctor’s lack of awareness for the individual is starting to become a problem as he forgets about Eliot, a small child out on his own in a potentially fatal situation. His own fatherly instinct, which has been often draw upon in the past was absent. He certainly cares about the human race as a whole, in terms of their continued existence but he doesn’t seem to focus so much on the individual in dialogue or plot any more.
The loyal companion! Once upon a time, to be a Who girl you had to be able to scream and that alone was the main prerequisite. Are we stepping backwards into that concept once more? Amy is continuously getting into trouble and almost dying and though she blusters like the best of them, she doesn’t react with that X-factor that distinguishes a companion from the common crowd. For example, “What is the point of you?” ~ Amy’s Choice. Don’t get me wrong, I like her a lot and maybe Stephen Moffat is simply trying to get away from the god complex that Doctor Who has been criticised for having in the past but she has failed many tests and committed sins that the Doctor would normally kick her out on her ear for. Again, there is also less of an emphasis on the caring and compassionate companion except for the unsubtle star whale incident and in general I think her character is simply less complex and formed than in pervious years.
Another thing that I couldn’t help but wonder about was the TARDIS. It is sitting right outside the church and yet a power failure and a sticky, stubborn door cause havoc and mayhem. Surely there is a wealth of technology within her huge halls to aid in their plight?
Now for the rating: I’m oscillating between a 3 and a 4 star rank so let’s go 3 1/2, ok maybe 3 3/4!
Favourite line: Doctor: “Oi! Don’t dis the sonic!”
Doctor: “Oh, I love a big mining thing. Way better than Rio. Rio doesn’t have a big mining thing.”
Rory: “If he can’t get us to Rio, how is he ever going to get us back home?”
Rory: “Doctor something weird’s going on here. The graves are eating people.”
Doctor: “Not now, Rory.”
Eliot: “I can’t do the words, I’m dyslexic.”
Doctor: “Oh, that’s alright. I can’t make a decent meringue.”
