Day 264: Doctor Who and the Silurians Episode 7

This episode has one of the most chilling endings that we will encounter. The Silurians have been sent back into hibernation, and all looks as if it will be well. The Doctor is busy fixing Bessie, his car, when he notices an explosion going off in the distance. The Brigadier, fully aware of the threat that the Silurians pose, has decided to ensure that they will never wake from their slumber. He has destroyed an entire intelligent life form, just because of an incident which was blown to uncomfortable levels due to some extremists. There are two points to take away from this. One is that the Brigadier was wrong to do this. An intelligent live form has just been destroyed with no prior warning. It stands to reason that peaceful talks could have occurred, that hopes could have been made for an existence where there was no need to resort to violence. However, humanity has to resort to primitive behaviour in order to get its own way (interestingly though, the Silurians also exhibited primitive behaviour, indicating that both species may be more alike than first thought). It serves as a chilling reminder of the poor decisions that humanity can make in the course of society.

But more than that, it's the Brigadier who does this. The Brigadier is a friend of the Doctor's, a trusted ally. To see him err morally is distressing, and it goes to show how good a writer Malcolm Hulke is. He is not afraid to show heroes in shades of grey, as he understands that that doesn't reflect real life as well. But most importantly, he introduces enough doubt for people to understand why this decision was made. Hulke's ability to deal with character makes him a writer whose work on Doctor Who we shall follow with great anticipation. And that anticipation may be resolved sooner than expected...