I have a number of problems with Delta and the Bannermen,
but somehow I don’t seem to mind too much. It has been a long time since I have
liked and enjoyed the Doctor, so it is a relief just to watch and have fun and
not worry about what is wrong. Also, I first viewed this during the same
Christmas time pledge drive marathon that first introduced me to Paradise
Towers so it retains some of that aura.
To begin, I take issue with the characters of Hawk and
Weismuller. These bumbling bumpkins are not American agents of any kind. They
never would have gotten a first interview, much less made it through the
rigorous background checks and screenings. No, these are a couple of escapees
from a nearby sanitarium or two locals who like to play act at secret agent in
their free time. The big tipoff is when Weismuller picks up a phone in a police
telephone box in Wales, asks for the White House, and is immediately put
through to the President’s right hand man. Never going to happen. Not even
close. (A more accurate result would be ala Mandrake trying to reach the
President in Dr. Strangelove.)But I can put aside my doubts and simply accept
this pair as the comic relief they are intended.
I don’t much see the appeal of Delta, either. She’s a bit
bland and emotionless. What does Billy see in her to make him give up his
entire world? Then again, Billy is rather impassive himself. And his lack of
astonishment or any sort of reaction to the alien nature of Delta—I wonder,
could he be a Ford Prefect type? Is he actually an alien who has just been
waiting around for a ride out of here? How else to explain that a few drops of
Chimeron jelly turns him into a Chimeron, complete with white jump suit.
Speaking of wardrobe, where does Mel get her extensive 50’s
collection, how does she get it all crammed in that tiny suitcase, and why does
Mel’s dress fit Delta?
It always bothers me, too, that the Doctor wantonly wastes
all of that precious honey. Goronwy is so proud of his honey that he has worked
long and hard to produce. Then the Doctor rigs the walls of jars up as a booby
trap, and for what? All it does is slow the Bannermen down a bit and give them
a bee sting or two. It is an elaborate annoyance at best. Poor Goronwy and his
life’s work deserves better.
Finally, the murder of the Tollmaster and more particularly of
Murray and his busload of happy Navarino tourists is rather unsettling and a
grim contrast to much of the lighthearted tone of the serial. However, these
acts do serve to remind us of the deadly nature of Gavrok and his Bannermen,
keeping the danger real for us.
Overall I have to say that the humor of Delta and the
Bannermen is both its downfall and its salvation. And so you have the comedy of
Weismuller and Hawk, too ludicrous to be true. Clowns undermining reality. And
then you have the toothy Tollmaster and ebullient Murray and the Navarinos
providing a cheerful backdrop and a promise of Disneyland fun only to explode
in our faces. Slapstick and brutality blunting each other’s edge. Walking the
line between the two is the gaping chasm of the aloof lovers.
What brings our divergent styles together is a trio of
characters: Burton, the Doctor, and yes, Mel. It is in these three that the humor
and the reality blend.
Burton, the cheerful leader of the holiday camp Shangri-La, succeeds
where the farcical one-note characters of the Tollmaster and Murray fail.
Burton: “Now let me try and get this right. Now, are you
telling me that you are not the Happy Hearts Holiday Club from Bolton, but instead
are spacemen in fear of an attack from some other spacemen, and because of the
danger you want me to evacuate the entire camp?”
In one fell swoop Burton condenses the absurdity into very
real perspective.
Although Burton is not going to blithely accept the absurd
in the same way that Billy does: “Oh, by the way, can we have space buns and
tea afterwards?” However he has an open mind willing to accept the proof of the
TARDIS: “Couldn’t we take it for a bit of a spin, Doctor?”
And so Burton is not simply buttonholed into the role of
jovial camp leader; Burton can take a stand; Burton can display bravery and
cunning; Burton can become a man of decisive action.
Mel, the companion who screams, also comes across well in
this holiday camp of horror. Mel is caught up in the more fun aspects of this
tour gone wrong. Throwing herself into the sing-along atmosphere of the
Navarino excursion, she doesn’t miss a beat when the bus is blown off course (I
can only imagine the hissy fit Peri would have thrown). Mel is making the best
of it, and trying her darnedest to get the wet blanket Delta to join in.
Mel and Burton combine to successfully meld the comic and
the tragic, culminating in the explosion of the bus with Murray and the
Navarinos on board. “You killed all those innocent people,” Mel bemoans, and we
feel both the horror and the grief with her as the menacing Gavrok stands over
her while the ashes of the victims smolder. Wits about him, Burton calmly steps
in to save Mel from a similar fate. Together these two turn what could have
been a scene of jarring and gratuitous mayhem into something touching and
heartrending.
The Doctor goes one step further than Burton and Mel; he
blends not only the comic and tragic but the detachment of Delta and Billy as
well. He does not fling himself headlong into the 50’s nostalgia as Mel does;
he travels separately in the TARDIS. He also does not step lively out onto the
floor during the Get To Know You dance, but he does discern the sad underpinnings
in Ray, hopelessly yearning for Billy, and thoughtfully takes a turn with her
to ease her pain.
This is the most apropos approach for the Doctor to take
against the Bannermen, headed by the ruthless Gavrok, as they maraud their way
through the 50’s funland. With just the right amount of detachment, humor, and
seriousness, the Doctor stands up to Gavrok. Arriving under the white flag, citing
fair play and justice, armed only with droll wit, the Doctor courageously frees
Mel and Burton.
His subsequent actions to resolve the conflict are inventive
and entertaining, although I still take issue with the wanton destruction of
Goronwy’s honey. The use of the Chimeron princess’ high pitched scream,
amplified by the Shangri-La sound system, is very satisfying, although having
Gavrok trip over his own booby trap wire thus destroying himself and freeing
the TARDIS is a bit too much of a plot convenience.
All in all I have to put Delta and the Bannermen in the plus
column. The 50’s soundtrack, the likeable Doctor, the comic touches all help in
keeping it enjoyable. It might not be the best, but it is one of the brightest
in what has turned out to be a long grim stretch.
A promising beginning to the McCoy era. Here’s hoping, Gary
. . .
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