The Ambassadors of Death [TV/1970.3.21 ~ 5.2]

★★★★☆

  For some reason, despite the fact that it isn't my absolute favourite among its contemporaries, whenever someone brings up Season 7 of Dr. Who, this serial is the first to pop up in my mind. Maybe it's because the Doctor here is so vastly different from any Doctor (and other incarnations) we've seen before. Maybe it's the sharp, adult and cold nature of this narrative full of scheming politicians, generals and mysterious men in spacesuits. Maybe it's because the soundscape and music, now unmasked as full-on James Bond-esque espionage thriller, are completely unique to this season. Maybe I just like it when there's a twist on the alien invader trope.

  In any case, The Ambassadors of Death is a gripping seven-parter that mostly keeps the pace steady and nice (which is something of a minor miracle). Stories where no one is to be trusted and UNIT is shown to be rotten from the inside (i.e. the enemies are within our gates) are the butter to my bread every single time. Nicholas Courtney's always a delight, but he gets to play the action protagonist in some very beautifully directed action sequences. Plus, the battle for the giant capsule heist sequence is an amazing piece of work, with every directorial decision made for the maximal effect; no wonder this sequence cost an arm and a leg. Jon Pertwee seems to relish the opportunity to act the Doctor completely straight, and it's the first serial where he doesn't comically contort his distinct facial features to emphasize he's in pain. Caroline John gets to have a cool Bessie car chase, too, and her stunt double almost jumps from a bridge! You see, Ambassadors has a rock-solid concept and execution of said concept, but it also has plenty of set dressing to feast your eyes on while you get along the seven parts. Chase sequences, attempted murders, loads of cliffhangers, shootouts, all sorts of spy movie goodness like intercepting radio transmissions and triangulating the source of mysterious signals -- there are so many wonderful things inside this serial that I can't help but fall in love with it each time I revisit.

  It's not a perfect serial by any means (come episode 6 the whole narrative starts to lose steam... a lot), and I do wish someday we'd get a copy of its original colour tapes. Nonetheless, this is a pretty darn strong serial that presents a nice twist on the alien invasion story (the clue's in the title), and in true Season 7 fashion, it delights in bringing up real-world issues (in this case, the general's xenophobic rants presenting a dig at conservative culture going for the "England for the English" fascist mindset). The Ambassadors of Death asks the burning question: what if, when aliens say they're simply ambassadors, they're telling the truth...?