Day 263: Doctor Who and the Silurians Episode 6

Doctor Who, as a science fiction series, has a knack of being able to show visions of the future, mostly ones that reflect themes of the time. So far, we've had space empires, post nuclear wastelands and computers which are taking over our lives, despite being mostly useless (but not this wonderful computer on which I'm writing this now and I for one will welcome our new computer overlords). This episode has a rather lovely thing in that it is able to have a science fiction concept that is still present today: a plague killing off people in urban areas, as we see people dying all around you. It lovely, because it shows us that this particular hasn't actually aged, and that there are certain elements of the plot that still resonate today. It's actually a rather chilling scene as shot, in particular due to Coombe's use of fade between people dying as the Doctor and co. desperately try to do something to stop things from getting worse.

I also wanted to make a quick mention of Dr. Lawrence as played by Peter Miles. He essentially undergoes a mental breakdown in this story due the effects of the plague of the Silurians. What this causes him to do is to regress mentally, as he physically attacks the Brigadier to try and keep things the way in which he wants them. What this does is serve as a handy metaphor for the outlying themes of this story. Essentially: the Silurians are a race from before the dawn of man. They treat human beings as mere animals and will not really take them seriously. To see Dr. Lawrence behave in this manner serves as a reminder that perhaps the Silurians are right, and we are nothing more than animals. This is certainly something that will be raised in tomorrow's entry as we look at the finale to Doctor Who and the Silurians.