Day 269: The Ambassadors of Death Episode 5

Sometimes, when you watch a Doctor Who story, there's a character that jumps out at you as interesting, above everyone else. Most of the time, it's a regular. Sometimes it's the villain. Sometimes it's the Doctor's primary ally. And sometimes it's just a side character. We get such a case here in the character of Lennox. He's a scientist who has been forced to work for the villainous group who are using the titular ambassadors, in order to find a way to control them. He's an excellent character because of his opinions, but also in the way in which he chooses to put these opinions across. He's a man who is opposed to the nature of the work that he is doing, and desperately wishes to get help to escape, however he is trapped by the fact that there is nowhere else for him to go. He expresses this not as much through dialogue, but through his neuroticism which comes across remarkably well from Cyril Shaps, the actor who plays him. This creates a memorable character for whom the audience can easily feel empathy for, and it means that the story feels better because we can care about more of the characters. This, in turn, is possibly due to Malcolm Hulke who, as previously mentioned, is a wonderful writer of character and can make things instantly memorable.