The Seeds of Death

Dear Gary—

The Seeds of Death is a case of the story almost getting in the way. There is so much going on; so many layers; so many depths of character; so many threats; so many interesting twists and turns. The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe almost get lost in all of it. They spend much of their time explaining technical matters to Jamie, talking over procedures, discussing strategies, running through landings and takeoffs and equipment repairs, and as a result there is limited time left for character interactions. But in a six episode story they can always manage to slip enough in to keep the Doctor Who in the story.

“I’m afraid the TARDIS is not suited to short range travel,” the Doctor admits; and Jamie says of the TARDIS, “Well, we have our own system, thank you; only it isn’t fool proof.” However, in comparison to other modes of transportation Jamie cries, “This is worse than the TARDIS.”

Transportation. The way we get around. The way we move goods from one place to another. It is critical to the development and maintenance of a society. The Seeds of Death is a case study for the cultural importance of transportation, and a screaming warning against putting all your eggs in one T-Mat.

However, it seems that the peoples of future Earth never learn this lesson. T-Mat is so reliable, so effective, so efficient that there just isn’t any reason for cars or planes or boats or trains; not even for rockets. Don’t get me wrong, Gary. I would gladly throw away my car keys if I could teleport wherever I wanted to go. I’m all for it. But I think I’d at least keep a bike around, or some cab fare, or even a pair of roller skates just in case. Nothing is fool proof, not even the TARDIS.

Nor is it Ice Warrior proof.

And if I did put all my eggs in one T-Mat, I’d at least have a back-up site and not also put all my eggs in just one central T-Mat control, especially not one that is located on the moon, and especially not when the only way to get to the moon is via this T-Mat system.

Thankfully The Seeds of Death does not follow suit and put all its eggs in one plot point.

While the Earth suffers from a complete breakdown in the social order with the loss of its T-Mat system we have better things to entertain us. Such as Professor Eldred tinkering away with his obsolete rockets and resenting his former colleague Commander Radnor for having hitched his wagon to the T-Mat star, so much so that when he is turned to in this crisis to revive his lifelong dream of sending his rocket to the moon he initially refuses out of pique and reveals his hidden fears and doubts in his own ambitions.

And then there is Kelly, Commander Radnor’s assistant who quietly and efficiently runs the show and without whom T-Mat would be rendered useless. She, apparently, is the only person on Earth who understands the system and who can keep it running and who can fix it when it breaks. Talk about all your eggs.

Let’s not forget Fewsham up on the moon with the Ice Warriors. Initially Fewsham seems to be your typical Doctor Who coward who sides with the enemy to save his own neck. But Fewsham is a man of depths untold. Fewsham is everyman. Fewsham is any man. Any man; any ordinary man. Any man sitting at his terminal day after day; performing his job adequately and perfunctorily; not anything special; just a man; perhaps out of his depth. Fewsham happens to be working out his mundane routine up on the moon. Fewsham happens to be whiling away his humdrum day up on the moon when some Ice Warriors come smashing into his world and kill his defiant boss and coworker and turn on him next with an order to obey.

What would you do?

Fewsham’s face plays out his inner agony as he complies with the Ice Warrior demands.

Phipps, the remaining technician on the moon, runs away. Flight or fight? Osgood and Locke fought and are dead. Phipps has fled. Fewsham, alone, remains caught in the Ice Warrior headlights.

What would you do?

What would the Doctor do?

 The Doctor, when confronted by the Ice Warriors, begs for his life. “Your leader will be angry if you kill me,” he exclaims, “I’m a genius.” The Doctor, like Fewsham, defers to the Ice Warriors. The Doctor, unlike Fewsham, secretly sabotages the Ice Warrior equipment while appearing to aid them. The Doctor, unlike Fewsham, is a genius.

Fewsham isn’t even sure he can fix the equipment that the Ice Warriors are demanding he tend to, but he bluffs his way through and manages to do enough to get Kelly transported to the moon so she can deal with it. And that is what Fewsham does. Bluffs his way through; stalls for time; tormenting over each choice he makes.

Eventually Fewsham’s torturous journey leads him to redemption. Knowing he will face certain vilification and probable execution on Earth, he remains behind after sending the others safely home and faces the alien threat. Taking a page from the Doctor, he plays up to the Ice Warriors, learning their plans and getting the message back to Earth. He may not be a genius, he may not know how to sabotage the equipment, but he knows enough to surreptitiously flip a switch to transmit a conversation. He has bluffed and stalled just long enough to come nobly through in the end.

But the end of Fewsham is not the end of our story by any means.

I haven’t even begun to discuss the seeds of death of our title. The seeds (more like balloons) multiply when they open (or pop) and spread, sucking the oxygen out of the air as they do so. The Ice Warriors have sent these seeds (or balloons) to Earth using the T-Mat system and have a fleet in readiness to invade once the oxygen levels of the Earth have been sufficiently depleted. As they multiply these seeds (balloons) also spread massive amounts of foam (obviously left over from The Fury From the Deep), all of which leads to some great fun as the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe go slip sliding away in it.

And in the end we have a typical Doctor Who ridiculously simple means of defeating an enemy. Just turn up the heat on the Ice Warriors and send down some rain on the seeds (balloons). A neat little trick of a duplicitous homing device doesn’t hurt, either, in deflecting the alien fleet off of its flight path and into the sun’s orbit.

I’ve rambled on again, Gary, and should really wrap things up without even mentioning the folly of Mother Earth trying to control the weather yet again; or some of the great camera shots through grates and grilles and with the use of mirrors; or the wonderful gradation in Ice Warrior costumes between the ordinary Warriors, the Ice Lords, and the Grand Marshall; or the fact that the peoples of future Earth run around with their underwear on the ouside of their trousers; or the appearance of the earlier Doctor’s Astral Map in the background as one of Professor Eldred’s space museum exhibits; or the assertion that Zoe has total recall; or the great comic bits the Doctor does as he runs down corridors or dives in foam or serendipitously discovers the effectiveness of water against the seeds (balloons) of death.

No, I should wrap things up without mentioning any of these things and so much more.

“Well, you know—questions, explanations—it’s very difficult.” With that the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are off, but to where they don’t know.

“It’s no good asking him; he has no more idea than the man on the moon.”

They don’t have a T-Mat system; they have the TARDIS. And as we know, “it isn’t fool proof.”

And with that, Gary . . . well . . . you know . . . questions, explanations . . . .