Doctor Who: The Savages
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| Also called The Last of Steven! |
Anyhow, The Savages is the ninth serial of Season Three of Doctor Who which aired in four weekly episodes between May 28 and June 18, 1966. Like most of the serials in Season Three, only audio and production stills are available for this serial so I'll be watching a reconstruction by Loose Cannon Inc. once again. I'm really getting used to watching stills of William Hartnell as the Doctor talks. Is that a bad thing?
Two Hours Later...
So this episode was pretty interesting and seemed like it was going to ask some heavy ethical questions... and then it turned around and made the plot very black and white. Basically, the Doctor, Steven, and Dodo land on this planet that is in humanity's (I think) future. The Doctor even tells Steven and Dodo that the people who live on this planet are completely peaceful and extremely advanced.
Sounds good, right?
Well, when they first arrive, Steven and Dodo see some people who are wearing animal skins and look like cavemen. So they assume that the Doctor is wrong and they've landed somewhere in Earth's past.
Turns out, the Doctor was right, but like all utopias, not everything is as perfect as it seems on this planet. See, the people of the planet (in the city) have discovered a way to gain energy which doesn't harm the planet, is 100% natural and it allows the people to increase their strength, intellect, and talents.
Want to know what it is?
Have you guessed it?
It's just what you expect.
Wait for it...
Yup, that energy is PEOPLE.
Soylent green all over again!
I wonder which one happened first?
They suck the life force, talent, and abilities from the "savages" that live outside the city... which they (the people of the city) go hunting for. They don't suck the "savages" completely dry, mind you. Just 75%. So that they can release the "savages" back into the wild and suck them again when they're back to 100%.
Well, obviously, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are not having that! They immediately stage a protect. Steven and Dodo run off with the Savages while the Doctor is taken prisoner and sucked of his own energy which the leader of the city, Jano, immediately transfers into himself.
We then get several awkward minutes of Jano acting like the Doctor where you realize that Jano got a bit more of the Doctor than he bargained for. This causes Jano to see the monstrosities that his people are committing. So, he hunts down the Doctor, Dodo, and Steven, pretends to take them captive, and then Jano, the Doctor, and his friends destroy the machines that drain people.
The people of the city are pretty ticked off about it while the savages are right pleased with the whole operation. Apparently the people of the city didn't know how to make more machines so that's the end of them sucking people of their energy and strength and minds. Jano and the leader of the Savages decide they need a mediator to keep the two civilizations from reverting back to war so they want the Doctor to stick around and help them keep peace.
The Doctor travels. He does not want to stay around with these fools. So, he points to his nifty companion, Steve, and suggests him for the job. Steve doesn't know if he's up for it, but he'll try his best. Dodo cries. I roll my eyes. And then Dodo and the Doctor leave in the TARDIS suggesting that they "may" see Steven Taylor again one day, but we already know that they won't.
Unlike previous reconstructions, this one was made by Butterfly-Effect. It didn't just have the nice running commentary of the actor's actions, it actually kind of worked like subtitles with the actor's words and actions. So they took the script and ran it along the bottom of the screen with the pictures. I kind of liked it a bit more than the Loose Cannon version because I got clarification on what the actors were saying when the audio went loopy.
Next Serial: The War Machines. Also, that's the last serial of Season Three and the first of the last three serials with William Hartnell as the Doctor.
Sounds good, right?
Well, when they first arrive, Steven and Dodo see some people who are wearing animal skins and look like cavemen. So they assume that the Doctor is wrong and they've landed somewhere in Earth's past.
Turns out, the Doctor was right, but like all utopias, not everything is as perfect as it seems on this planet. See, the people of the planet (in the city) have discovered a way to gain energy which doesn't harm the planet, is 100% natural and it allows the people to increase their strength, intellect, and talents.
Want to know what it is?
Have you guessed it?
It's just what you expect.
Wait for it...
Yup, that energy is PEOPLE.
Soylent green all over again!
I wonder which one happened first?
They suck the life force, talent, and abilities from the "savages" that live outside the city... which they (the people of the city) go hunting for. They don't suck the "savages" completely dry, mind you. Just 75%. So that they can release the "savages" back into the wild and suck them again when they're back to 100%.
Well, obviously, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo are not having that! They immediately stage a protect. Steven and Dodo run off with the Savages while the Doctor is taken prisoner and sucked of his own energy which the leader of the city, Jano, immediately transfers into himself.
We then get several awkward minutes of Jano acting like the Doctor where you realize that Jano got a bit more of the Doctor than he bargained for. This causes Jano to see the monstrosities that his people are committing. So, he hunts down the Doctor, Dodo, and Steven, pretends to take them captive, and then Jano, the Doctor, and his friends destroy the machines that drain people.
The people of the city are pretty ticked off about it while the savages are right pleased with the whole operation. Apparently the people of the city didn't know how to make more machines so that's the end of them sucking people of their energy and strength and minds. Jano and the leader of the Savages decide they need a mediator to keep the two civilizations from reverting back to war so they want the Doctor to stick around and help them keep peace.
The Doctor travels. He does not want to stay around with these fools. So, he points to his nifty companion, Steve, and suggests him for the job. Steve doesn't know if he's up for it, but he'll try his best. Dodo cries. I roll my eyes. And then Dodo and the Doctor leave in the TARDIS suggesting that they "may" see Steven Taylor again one day, but we already know that they won't.
Unlike previous reconstructions, this one was made by Butterfly-Effect. It didn't just have the nice running commentary of the actor's actions, it actually kind of worked like subtitles with the actor's words and actions. So they took the script and ran it along the bottom of the screen with the pictures. I kind of liked it a bit more than the Loose Cannon version because I got clarification on what the actors were saying when the audio went loopy.
Next Serial: The War Machines. Also, that's the last serial of Season Three and the first of the last three serials with William Hartnell as the Doctor.
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