"Fear makes companions of all of us, Miss Wright."
Ha ha, Doctor Who in nutshell. A striking episode this one, with some memorable moments. It's enjoyable to see that, in the production team's imagination at least, politics would have played just as big a part in the life of a stone-age tribe, the Tribe of Gum, as it might in a family or workforce today.
This episode makes much of very little; a small cast and a small studio. It succeeds with imaginative direction and clever lighting, presumably from the moon in the story.
This is the first time watching this story that I have really enjoyed the three stone-age episodes. The very first episode of the programme is a television classic and would easily stand up to being shown again today, but I've previously always felt that the other three were weak, an impression that I know has got in the way of starting this project and one that I have held since they were shown in 1981 as part of 'The Five Faces of Dr Who' season on BBC2. The Tribe of Gum and The Krotons were shown as the only examples of sixties Dr Who. You had to be strong to be a fan in those days. Well, how wrong I was. I'm really enjoying them on this viewing and I'm looking forward to the last instalment.
It's most interesting for the way in which the main characters, the TARDIS crew, are developed.
Ian attempts to take control of the situation from the Doctor, but the only thing the Doctor really relinquishes is brawn, the only thing he can't do himself.
The Doctor is alien here, another sign of his different morality and ability to see the bigger, universal, picture.
Barbara, as for all of Jacqueline Hill's tenure, is beautifully drawn and acted. It is she who reacts most to the situation she and Ian find themselves in; not only wrestling with the high concept of having travelled through time in an impossible machine, but also with being in immediate danger, cold and frightened with no time to think. Stumbling across the dead boar, the last straw, she breaks down. Then Za is attacked by an animal and it is at this exact moment that we see her become the character that we adore. Having doubts, being afraid and yet always doing what she feels is morally right. She puts her own needs aside to help another. She is undoubtedly one of Doctor Who's strongest and best-loved companions.
Next episode: The Firemaker
