Doctor Who - The Leisure Hive (DVD)

...eighteenth season of the classic Doctor Who series, and whilst in front of the camera the cast remained the same, big changes had happened behind the scenes. The Graham Williams' era of Doctor Who, with its lighter tone and frequent humour was over, and now it was John Nathan-Turner who sat in the producer's chair. He would go on to become one of the most controversial figures in the show's history and, rightly or wrongly, is still blamed by many ...
...Naturally, it's up to the Doctor and Romana to sort things out.

Without a doubt, the highlight of this story - as with much of the previous series - remains the relationship between the Doctor and Romana, where, despite tensions between the actors, they are wonderful to watch whenever they're onscreen together, wandering through events being rather brilliant and exchanging their usual quick and entertaining banter, much to the irritation ... more

The Leisure Hive opens the eighteenth season of the classic Doctor Who series, and whilst in front of the camera the cast remained the same, big changes had happened behind the scenes. The Graham Williams' era of Doctor Who, with its lighter tone and frequent humour was over, and now it was John Nathan-Turner who sat in the producer's chair. He would go on to become one of the most controversial figures in the show's history and, rightly or wrongly, is still blamed by many fans for the show's fall in popularity and final demise at the end of the eighties.

Back in 1981, however, things were looking much more hopeful. The series had a fresh new look, with the time tunnel sequence that had been in use for the past seven years replaced by a star travelling sequence and a new remix of the theme music. Whether this was an improvement is a matter of opinion, but certainly the opening story of the season, The Leisure Hive, had a definite confidence about it and was a strong start to the year.

The story opens in that classic, somewhat damp, British tourist destination of Brighton beach. The Doctor, Tom Baker in his final year in the role, is having a holiday ad rather enjoying his snooze on the sand. Romana, his Time Lady companion (played by the lovely Lalla Ward), is having less fun: K-9 has broken down after an untimely swim in the sea and she really doesn't see the fun in making sandcastles. So after a quick argument, it's off to Argolis for an entirely different sort of holiday, and the adventure proper begins.

Argolis, home of the Leisure Hive, and a species that's all but been wiped out in a brutal war. While most of their planet remains radioactive, they showcase their remarkable science and philosophy of understanding alien cultures in the Leisure Hive, attracting visitors from across the galaxy. But now interest is declining, and their economy teeters upon collapse. Their enemies from the war have offered to buy their planet, but while the Argolans refuse and continue their secret experiments to reverse aging and save their dying population, someone has infiltrated the Hive and bodies are beginning to pile up. Naturally, it's up to the Doctor and Romana to sort things out.

Without a doubt, the highlight of this story - as with much of the previous series - remains the relationship between the Doctor and Romana, where, despite tensions between the actors, they are wonderful to watch whenever they're onscreen together, wandering through events being rather brilliant and exchanging their usual quick and entertaining banter, much to the irritation of the natives.

The guest cast are pretty decent all round, taking the story seriously and making it all the better for it. The standout is Adrienne Corri, as Chairman Mena. She gives her performance a dignified air, making a diplomatic and confident patriot, who faces her impending death with a steady calm. And it's always nice to see a character who opposes the Doctor not for the Evil Purposes or Conquering The Universe and so on, but because he's a mad stranger who turned up out of nowhere and then people started dying, heh.

Unfortunately, the story does require for a fair few special effects, and, well, they didn't quite have the budget or, really, the technology required to make any of them convincing. So just quietly ignore those thick black lines and suspect flying around the screen, and the story will be all the better for it. They do a bit better with the model work though, and there's some fairly nice shots of the outside of the Leisure Hive.

The make-up team, on the other hand, do an outstanding job. The Argolans themselves are a marvellous alien creation, both in concept and execution. Getting a reasonably well-developed alien civilisation in Doctor Who is something of a rarity and they manage it here with considerable panache. Even better is their wonderful green make-up and hair, making a nice change from the general, and much cheaper, Aliens That Looks Exactly Like Humans. Best of all is when they die (ah, that sounds ever so slightly more bloodthirsty than I intend, ahem) and there's a marvellous combination of make-up and special effects as they go a bit green and icky. It's pretty impressive stuff for this show.

And the make-up team come up trumps again when the Doctor is made to age into a terribly old man. Those make-up people are more than up to the task and he's given a terribly convincing wrinkled parchment face and wispy white hair. It's pretty scary in a way. Certainly, a lot more frightening that the giant green reptile that the lighting people spend most of the story desperately trying to drown in shadows.

As ever, the DVD release offers a plethora of extras. There's the usual commentary, photo gallery and selection of documentaries to take a look at, with the commentary being particularly revealing: by this point the brief marriage between Tom Baker and Lalla Ward was effectively over, and Baker was apparently delivering most of his lines over Ward's shoulder, rather than look her in the eye.

The documentaries are decent enough if you're interested in the subject, and geared more towards the fannish type than random punter. Detailed and well-researched, they look at the changes the show went through under John Nathan-Turner's producership, the creation of the new titles, and the writing of the story. Additionally, there's a nice little extra from Blue Peter, showing an eighties feature they did on the Doctor Who exhibition at Longleat.

The best word to describe The Leisure Hive would be sturdy: it's a decent story, with convincing aliens and entertaining performances. It's quite good really. But it's nothing remarkable, and, for me, mostly forgettable. For someone just dipping into the Doctor Who DVD collection, I'd recommend one of the more popular stories, but this one undoubtedly has its merits, they're just pretty darn solid rather than outstanding.

 

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