Although The Moonbase is 47 years old, I appreciate not everyone has seen it and is waiting for the DVD to come out. Please note that this article reveals some plot points and spoilers that may ruin the enjoyment of the episode/story. If you do not want to be spoiled please do not read further or read at your own risk. I have been watching an evolutionof an animation studio over the last year. It seems like it should be longerbut it has just been about a year sinceTheReign of Terror had been released. WhenTheReign of Terrorwas released by Thetamation, which then became Planet 55, Ithought the animation overall was inconsistent. There were a lot of good thingsgoing on with it but so many of the production decisions made left me baffled,I was quite disappointed by the effort. As we begin 2014 with the buzz ofmissing episodes possibly being found hanging over everything, I watchedsomething really remarkable.
TheMoonbase is the second time we have seen the Cybermen in the series and thefirst occurrence where they meet Patrick Troughton’s incarnation of the Doctor.Troughton would meet the Cybermen a total of 4 times during his era. I havealways thought this story was cool but now I feel that I see this storydifferently. Perhaps now, this sort of reaction is becoming a bit clichéd. Imean, it is becoming clear that episodes make a lot more sense when we are ableto see a fluid visual presentation. TakeThe Enemy of the World for example. Many of usthought it was an oddball story in a season of monsters. Now that this gem hadbeen found in its entirety, a lot of us feel quite differently about it. Forme, it has become an instant favorite. It’s the same withThe Web of Fear. I always knew it was a classic but there is somuch more to be taken from the story once you are able to see the visuals theway they were meant to be seen.Perhaps unsurprisingly,The Moonbase takes place on the moon. TheDoctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie land on the moon trying to get to Mars. Afterromping around on the surface of the moon, Jamie makes one large jump for man alittle too far and ends up knocking himself out. He lands near the entrance ofthe Moonbase and is taken inside. The Doctor and his other companions go to theMoonbase to collect the fallen Jamie. Once inside they realize they areat a weather control station set on the moon which I think is a pretty coolconcept. Jamie is in the sick bay but we find out that there is somethingreally odd going on at the base. There are strange drops in the air pressurethat is unexplained, there is evidence to suggest that communication with the Moonbasepersonnel and the Earth are being monitored, and finally there is a strangevirus that is taking crew members down. Dr. Evans is one of the first to go. Thebase no longer has a doctor until the Doctor arrives. It is clear from thestart that the Doctor is convinced that this virus has more to it.Soon, whatever attack is happeninghas been escalated. It is now turned into crew members disappearing. Thisincludes people who have been taken ill or even have died. Jamie, who is stilldelirious from his fall, is terrified of the Phantom Piper to take him away.It’s worse than the Phantom Piper. It’s a Cyberman. Obviously, the story here is thatthe two missing episodes ofThe Moonbasehave been animated by Planet 55. They animated the two missing episodestoThe Reign of Terror and Episode 4 ofThe Tenth Planet.There is a progression of skill that is very obvious from these threeanimations. I feelThe Moonbaseisreally a triumph of quality that is almost perfect. My biggest gripe of theanimations have been a lack of cohesiveness through the episode. It’s still aslight issue here but greatly reduced. The main problem that I see is whenthere is any sort of moving character action that is created by rotoscopingfrom real footage, the detail of character is severely lacking. The good newsis that these two episodes don’t have a ton of action to them so this isn’t asbig of a problem as it could have been. The detail is in the character designsand backgrounds otherwise are excellent.
The animated Cybermen areabsolutely excellent in this. That is what truly sticks out for me. This is oneof my favourite designs for the Cybermen and they are refined enough in thisanimation that make them stand out. Don’t get me wrong, when I say refined, Idon’t mean anyone changed anything from how they look from the episodes, thedesigns are just cleaned up a bit. They look solid. I guess what I like is howthey have almost a chrome finish to them in the animation. They are metallicand menacing. InThe Tenth Planet, itwas harder to get them to look as good in animation because of the cloth faces,etc but with them being solid, the design is a triumph. Easily a highlight ofthese episodes for me.
While watching the episodes, I wasmistaken about a couple of things. I thought Planet 55 took liberties with theanimation that didn’t appear on screen in the real episode but found out I waswrong. InEpisode 3 when Ben, Polly,and Jamie use the “Pollycocktail” on the Cybermen, they start spewing foam fromtheir chest units. I thought this was wrong but I double checked the telesnaps.It’s how it happens in the episodes. There is a shot of battered Cybermen inthe Weather Control room which is accurate too. It’s funny how these telesnapshave been around for a long time and I have never noticed this. Now, in theanimatedEpisode 3 foam comes out of theCybermen mouths after getting the “Pollycocktail” too but I am not convincedthat is accurate. Maybe one day we will know for sure.
Finally, the sets and thebackgrounds are superb. They have been superb for all of the productions. Ithink the characters and the backgrounds combine well together. Planet 55’sanimation makes a lot of these 60s props and costumes look cool. For example, thescene with the Doctor and companions on the moon in their space suits are greatwhere they look kind of hokey in the actual episodes. The space suits are verycool in a 60s retro kind of way.
Here are some other screen grabs from the episodes:
Speaking of animation, in a coupleof weeks I will be publishing an article that details my involvement with IanLevine’sShadaand some other coolanimation projects.Next week: I have pushed back myarticle forOnly Fools and Horses so I could publish this one as soon as I could.Next week I look at theOnly Fools and Horses episodeModern Men.
Have a great week!Do you have feedback, article requests or want to talk about a program but do not want to leave a public comment? Feel free to drop me an e-mail atFTA13867@gmail.com
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6 comments:
Great review, Greg. My appetite is well and truly wetted.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for checking out the review! I really appreciate it!
Take care,
Greg
Really good review, Greg. My appetite was already whetted, but is the more so now. I think The Moonbase may be my overall favourite DW, period.
I have some recollection of seeing it when it was originally tx'd. The things that stick in my mind from then, include the almost magical sense of novelty and strangeness of being on the moon, that led to Jamie's high jinks. And what about the score - which seems to me reminiscent of Forbidden Planet. Back in those days there was a magic about space travel, and this was one of the few DWs that conveyed this, through the use of the spacesuits, as well as the jumping around.
The next thing thing I particularly recall is the 'whodunnit'' mystery, or rather 'whatdunnit' in relation to the mysterious disease. The sense of an unknown disease circulating in such claustrophobic conditions was itself quite scary, as was the mysterious pressure losses.
Finally, this adventure created a strong sense of disbelief, followed by vulnerability, that the cybermen were gaining entrance through the storage room - as if your worst nightmare was magically appearing inside the very walls you thought we're protecting you.
The end of episode 2 was, I thought, possibly the greatest DW scare ever. Again the sense that you were safe one second, and then the next second inexplicably vulnerable.
Great as they are, I miss this sort of dramatic build-up in the modern DWs, which are often have quite hurried madcap plots. You always used to have to guess what the doctor was up against during the first one or two episodes, which then kept you on tenterhooks for the big reveal!
Th Moonbase also had the best ever cyberman design, that really exploited the 'uncanny valley' of discomfort we feel, at creatures that are too similar to ourselves to be considered as robots. This included the three-fingered hands, the piping along the limbs (implying a sort of vulnerability that we don't have) and the facial design that is too simplistic and inappropriately shiny to be regarded as organic or human, and yet hides something horribly vulnerable behind it.
The Wheel in Space was the next adventure to change this design, adding the circular cut-outs to the eye and mouth holes, and then The Invasion added the giant headphones. All pretty designs, but they ultimately detracted from the concept of the cybermen that was so powerfully conveyed in The Moonbase.
An enjoyable review, and intriguing thoughts about the future...!
Ever since hearing the CD release of this story, it has seemed to me that the missing episodes are more exciting than the surviving ones, with loads of mystery in Ep 1 and incident in Ep 3.
Adding to the fear factor you mentioned is the background atmosphere of the sickbay, which sounds like sinister breathing...
An enjoyable review, and intriguing thoughts about the future...!
Ever since hearing the CD release of this story, it has seemed to me that the missing episodes are more exciting than the surviving ones, with loads of mystery in Ep 1 and incident in Ep 3.
Adding to the fear factor you mentioned is the background atmosphere of the sickbay, which sounds like sinister breathing...
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