The Mutants
review

Holistic Review: It's a bit overlong and slow-paced, with some bad acting and very little for Jo to do, but the script has some great ideas and a really worthy message.

The Mutants has never been one of my favorite stories. As a child, I found it relatively uninteresting, and as an adult, I was bowled over by how awful I felt some of the performances were. Now, I find myself much more kindly disposed towards it, but that's not to say that I was wrong about its flaws; I do, however, think that my earlier views were a little bit imbalanced.

There are two plot elements in which The Mutants really succeeds. First, the depiction of life under colonial rule, complete with blatant discrimination, cruel treatment of the natives, lands being conquered and plundered, and even a power-mad despot of a ruler desperate to preserve his station and cover up his wrongdoings at all cost. And second, the depiction of a truly alien society, with a unique life-cycle and a culture that's in danger of being lost forever. What's particularly smart is that The Mutants doesn't throw in a lot of other plot threads; on the whole, the story sticks to various elements relating to one of these two strands, and that, I think, is why it feels more focused and more successful.

I really love The Mutants' message about colonialist attitudes, partly because it's not just about colonialism (which could have seemed a little bit over-specific and outdated). It's a cautionary tale about discrimination, disregard for the environment, and prioritizing oneself above others. When relatively ordinary people are being hunted and killed just because they're different, it's hard not to get chills of the Third Reich rounding up Jews, lynch mobs targeting blacks, or gay-bashers expressing their hatred through anything from ostracism to murder. (Given this perspective on the story, Cotton's arc is particularly rewarding.) We also get little hints of segregation (separate teleportation booths for Solonians and, gag, "Overlords"). Pleasantly, the story is also multi-layered on this account; it's not just the people themselves who are in danger of extinction, it's also their culture and their history that will be wiped out if the Marshal gets his way. However, The Mutants is really clever about not sounding preachy. Initially, even though we know that the Marshal is being far too aggressive about his beliefs, it looks like he may be right. We don't know why the Solonians are transforming into monsters, and for all we know, they are dangerous and pose a genuine threat. It's not until we discover that the changes could be a direct result of the Marshal's actions that we get a different perspective on the situation, and realize that not only was the Marshal being willfully ignorant of the cause by shooting first and asking questions later, but he was also fully aware that there might be a cause-and-effect connection. His willful ignorance was simply an attempt to provide justification for acting on an existing prejudice; the mutations that he caused gave him the perfect excuse to wipe out the Solonians and take over their planet for himself, even going so far as to make it uninhabitable to them. Of course, there's another nice twist when we learn that the Marshal wasn't actually responsible for the transformations at all — at most, he may have simply accelerated a natural process — but that doesn't make the Marshal's xenophobic reaction any less despicable.

Then we have Solonian culture, which revolves around a race of people who undergo a seasonal metamorphosis. What makes this particularly interesting is that this metamorphosis doesn't happen during a person's lifetime, it happens during the planet's lifetime, in which the seasons are 500 years long. We might not be so surprised to see a society in which all the people spin coccoons and turn into butterflies (or Menoptra) around age 35, but when you've had humans for generations and suddenly they all turn into armored ants with walrus moustaches, that's gonna throw you for a loop. So I find this to be a really creative idea, particularly when the timespan means that there hasn't been a metamorphosis on Solos for around 1500 years (assuming that they only change for one season and then revert back). Then again, this does raise the question: if the metamorphosis has been sped up because of the Marshal's reckless actions, how long does it usually take them to go through the liminal insectoid (or part-insectoid) stage? Would that ordinarily last for the entire summer, with their ascended stage in the autumn? And do they pass through another insectoid stage in the winter before becoming boring old humans again in the spring? Or is the insectoid and semi-insectoid stage only meant to last as long as it takes them to crawl to the cavern and ascend? In which case, how long should it ordinarily take them to transform from human to insectoid? (Or is that process happening at a normal speed, triggered prematurely but not accelerated by the Marshal's experiments? The script never quite makes it clear exactly how much of this metamorphosis is due to the Marshal's interference.) At any rate, I really like the glimpses we get of Solonian culture, from their radioactive temples to the snippets of their ideographic ancient language.

Now, as I said, there are also some things about the story that drag it down, and for that I'm going to need to name names! First, though, there's this whole six-episode deal. Do stories really need to be six episodes usually? I suspect budget-saving-mindedness. Still, a rather unexpected feature of The Mutants is the fact that it drags the most in its first episode. For me, anyway, as the storylines begin to develop, they become more and more interesting. But that first episode makes it look as if the story is going to be about a bunch of politicians standing in a room arguing at one another, a bunch of yawningly aggressive warriors waving their daggers around, and a bunch of angry locals trying to stage a protest. Once we start to appreciate the dynamics and the characters, though, things start looking up (although episode 3 is still full of an awful lot of running up and down tunnels and corridors). However — and this is where I start naming names — there are some characters that keep their respective plot threads from really zinging.

Now I'm torn: do I start with the characters who are most central to the plot, or the actors who are the most egregious offenders? I think it must be the latter. And with that, dear readers, let us turn to Cotton, played by Rick James. It's James who singlehandedly made me wince at the thought of rewatching The Mutants; before this viewing, I was under the impression that he was the worst-ever actor in Doctor Who. Yes, that's right, even worse than Jenny Laird's Neska (although viewers at the time still had her to look forward to). Upon further consideration, I've decided that he never delivers lines badly... his inflections are usually right and he's clearly trying, and there are times when he does sound pretty natural. He just never seems to be very connected to the lines he's delivering (by which I mean that it sounds like he's reading them off the script), his pacing sometimes needs work, and his delivery lacks subtlety. Worst offenders include "The guard's mask was gone when we found him.", "She's receiving oxygen treatment. In a day or so." (okay, maybe he delivers that one badly), "Is he onto us?", "Gas. The Marshal's solution to what he calls 'the Mutt problem'.", and his unconvincing horror in "Wait a minute... refuelling!".

The next-greatest offender must surely be the most pivotal character, and in this case it's no less than our central character, Ky. Garrick Hagon is likeable enough in the part, but I never felt like Ky was a real person. His dialogue all feels scripted, and he comes across as a stock "noble leader who foments rebellion" character. For that matter, I have the same problem with Varan (James Mellor), who goes around constantly spouting macho pro-violence dialogue in "honorable warrior" mode. And that means that I think I must lay the blame at the feet of dear Bob Baker and Dave Martin, who do a pretty good job with the plot but quite frankly write rather ridiculous (by which I mean, unnaturalistic) lines for many of their characters. Some of the actors can handle delivering them convincingly, but either the Solonians just aren't up to the task or they're getting the very worst lines of all (I suspect a combination of the two). A prime example comes during Varan and Ky's first scene together, out of which I have selected this tiny illustrative excerpt:

Another bit of evidence pointing at Baker and Martin is the fact that they commit the cardinal sin in my book of underutilizing the companion. Jo gets a couple of good moments in this story, but most of the time she does, well, nothing. As is my tradition, let's take a look-see at her story arc (proactive moments marked in purple):

So, essentially, her only good moments are in episode 5 — she gets to backtalk the Marshal, she's sneaky and quick-thinking enough to try to rattle the Marshal (claiming that the Investigator is being sent to confirm the Doctor's findings), and she gets to use her escapology skills and steal a gun from a guard — but even these sadly contribute nothing to the development of the plot, not even her attempt to give the Investigator a heads-up. When she gets something to do, Katy is enjoyable, and in her very first scene, I can really see why Jo was such a popular companion. Her mix of perky + cutesy + enthusiastic is really infectious, and I admire her determination not to be left behind. By this point she and the Doctor have a good rapport going, such that she cleverly engages Stubbs in conversation, giving the Doctor a chance to sneak around and incapacitate him, without even needing a signal. I do, however, prefer Jo when she's not making dumb jokes (one of which I will end up quoting below) and she does seem to find the idea of empires crumbling to be inappropriately amusing. Also, I have to mention her paisley-pantsuit outfit in this story, which is understated but really flattering. Neither of those adjectives are commonly applied to Jo's wardrobe, so bask in the moment.

There's some great rapport between Manning and Pertwee to be found, and Pertwee is also enjoyable in this story, although I wouldn't say it's a knockout performance. My favorite moment is probably his cheeky little wave to the guards as he teleports back up to the Skybase, which I find endearing, but otherwise he doesn't really have any standout moments in this story. But I do really like his boots!

The main highlight of The Mutants, for me, is Paul Whitsun-Jones as the Marshal, who gives an absolutely perfect performance as a self-important corrupt bureaucrat with a power complex. He's thoroughly dislikeable, slimy and devilishly sneaky — we get clear evidence of this right from the start, when he coerces Varan into getting his son to assassinate the Ambassador, then covers it up by murdering Varan's son and trying to off Varan too. Yikes. He's also clever about finding out whether Stubbs and Cotton are on his side or the Doctor's, by spying on them while they're searching the caves. His primary concern is always for himself, and his tactics are about as delicate as a sledgehammer. He has total tunnel vision and cares only for immediate results, with complete disregard for the consequences of his actions — for example, his demand that the Solonian atmosphere be converted "now!" even though the rockets aren't ready and there's a strong chance that the process could fail completely, or even turn the planet poisonous for humans too. Clearly, he's an idiot who acts without thinking. He gets a great character moment when he first learns that Earth is planning on granting independendence to Solos and pulling everyone out; in an instant, the Marshal can see all of his power slipping away, and at that moment he becomes ruthless, claiming that he should be allowed to solve the "problems" of the Solonians and their poisonous atmosphere for the benefit of Earth (i.e., him). What's particularly great is that, as he continues to try to hold onto his power by any means necessary, and digs himself deeper and deeper into trouble, he has no-one to blame but himself. Although he is, at times, sneakily clever, all of his lies and manipulation end up only doing him in.

Skybase scientist Jaeger, played by George Pravda, shares some of the Marshal's slimy characteristics. He's equally unethical, concerned only with the results of his work and not at all with their impact on the Solonians; he refuses to take any responsibility for his actions, preferring instead to fall back on the old "I was following orders" routine; and he cleverly manipulates the Doctor into helping him. Overall though, I find him unmemorable, and his outfit is faintly ridiculous. Geoffrey Palmer gets a smallish role here as the Administrator; he's enjoyable as always but the role is mostly thankless, consisting mainly of bureaucratic doublespeak and some nice face-off scenes against the Marshal. Amusingly, his costume somehow manages to make him look like a giant head on a tiny body! Peter Howell is likewise good but forgettable as the Investigator, only appearing in episode six and mostly serving as a mediator between the Doctor, the Marshal and Ky.

I've already disparaged Rick James' acting skills, but what I have not said is that despite the limitations of his range, he does succeed in making Cotton likeable, and a character we can root for. It's especially satisfying to see him essentially taking charge of the Skybase at the end, even if he's packing up and heading back to Earth with everyone else. Christopher Coll is likeable too as Stubbs, particularly once the Doctor convinces him to listen to Varan's story and he begins to realize just how wicked the Marshal is. I really like that the two of them start out as lazy slackers but end up double-crossing the Marshal in order to help the Doctor and Jo. It's fun knowing that the Doctor has a pair of men on the inside, and their attempts to help him without the Marshal noticing are both entertaining and a good way to generate some tension. The other character we root for is Professor Sondergaard, played by John Hollis, who has a really cool unplaceable accent and comes across as an eager, ethical man with a great respect for the native culture. He's extremely likeable and Hollis gives a great performance.

Of the Solonians, I don't have much more to add to what I've said already. Ky is likeable as the devoted, crusading leader of his people. He's clever, thinking quickly to thieve an oxymask for Jo, and certainly brave to stand up to the Marshal and try to defend Jo from the mutants. So he has at least a little depth, unlike Varan, who is so one-note that I just can't think of much more to say about him, or Mellor's performance.

On the whole, the visual effects here are actually quite good. The firestorms in the Solonian atmosphere are prettily multi-colored (and there's an impressive model shot of them cascading around the Skybase like fireworks), as are the colorfully-lit walls of the Solonian caves. There's a neat effect of the Skybase firing the Doctor's ray at Solos, and that of the refuelling probe opening up (in particular, the seamless transition from model shot to life-size prop), and I love the striating colors that flow over the thaesium crystal, similar to the strobing light effect when Multicolored Floating Liberace kills the Marshal. If I can cross over into set design for a moment, I'm also a big fan of the rotating doors on the teleport cubicles, and prop-wise (or perhaps I mean physical-effect-wise, giggle), the green thaesium crystal prop looks really cool. In the area of mostly-successful effects, we have a decent-looking blanket of aqua to represent the transporter, and an interesting effect of arrows being drawn onto a map of Solos (although it's a shame that the cameras aren't locked off, because the arrows wobble all over the screen). I'm not quite sure where to classify the crazy CSO cave effect; it's not particularly convincing, but it's good at conveying the trippy effect of the thaesium radiation. Iffy effects include the Investigator's ship flying over a space-colored CSO background. The one really bad effect is that of Varon getting sucked out into space, which just isn't at all convincing because he looks more like he's being gently lifted away on wires. If we can count it as a visual effect, there's also the retro-futuristic font (futuristic at the time, retro now) used on all the signs; whether this is a positive or a negative effect probably depends on your disposition and your mood. I also note that they managed to skimp out of an effect by cutting to the exterior of the Skybase just before the TARDIS dematerializes! Sneaky.

Set design also deserves a mention: is this the first story to use the famous hexagonal panelling that makes up the walls of the Skybase? However, someone forgot to screw down the palm-scanner in storage area 3 correctly; it swings about like crazy when the mutating Solonian bumps his sword into it. And in the realm of costume design, I must tip my hat to the designer of the mutants, whose ant-like bodies have a very cool design. They manage to look both scary and cuddly at the same time! I love the adorable way that one of them interrupts the Investigator's proceedings and then waddles off down the hall! I also like the sound effects throughout the story, like the sounds of the transfer cubicle doors opening, and the sound of the teleporter itself. The music, by Tristram Cary, isn't bad; it's almost Hartnellesque, which shouldn't be surprising given that Cary scored 4 Hartnell stories as well as a Troughton (6 Hartnells, if you count the twice-recycled score from The Daleks).

Nice direction by Christopher Barry. There's a cool shot of the Doctor and Stubbs' distorted reflections in the metal wall as they enter the seed propagation room, a skilfully moving camera in the scene with the Marshal and the Administrator, and I love the cut from Ky's line "He's on Solos, Marshal. With Sondergaard! And both of them are very much alive!" to a shot of Sondergaard being obviously not-very-much-alive. Nice camera tilt also as Varan's men march Jo and the gang through the Skybase as the countdown progresses. A couple of iffy shots: as they're following Sondergaard through the tunnels, and Cotton says "Where is he taking us anyway?", the shot starts to get blurry toward the end as Cotton moves out of frame. Then, when the mountain starts to cave in, there's a very odd shot from the side that looks distorted, as if it's being filmed through some kind of fish-eye lens (this recurs a couple more times, when more rocks fall from the wall, and when the Doctor and Sondergaard leave the lab). And there's a hilarious one, as Jo is marched off to be locked up, which for some reason Barry decides to frame through the Marshal's spread legs (which means that all we see of Jo are her legs as they stagger away).

Minor points: