C07S02 The Silurians

Synopsis

Exiled to Earth and now working for UNIT as their scientific advisor, the Doctor is summoned to an underground research centre at Wenley Moor to investigate a series of inexplicable power losses.

Initially suspecting sabotage, he soon discovers that the nearby cave system conceals a colony of an ancient reptilian race called the Silurians.  Awaking from a hibernation which has lasted millions of years, they are now intent on reclaiming the Earth from Mankind...

Cover notes

Joining Doctor Who as its new producer, Barry Letts worked closely with script editor Terrance Dicks to set a more mature tone for the show.  Writing for the newly-established Earth-bound format, writer Malcolm Hulke neatly side-stepped the more obvious plot devices of alien invasion or mad scientist, delivering a script where the threat is both ancient and indigenous.

Developing UNIT's wider brief for the investigation of the unexplained and mysterious, the story also shows the organisation in the context of the political establishment.  The Doctor is apparently coming to terms with his exile on Earth, abandoning attempts to fix his TARDIS and acquiring a more traditional mode of transport in the form of the roadster, Bessie.

Given the nature of the story, the Brigadier's 'final solution' is hardly unexpected, but it is fascinating to note his dawning realisation the UNIT's new scientific advisor would seek to share the Earth with 'the enemy' given the opportunity.

Through the Silurians, Hulke presents a thought-provoking moral dilemma where there are no easy answers.  We are challenged to question the traditional response to 'alien invasion', as both sides are shown equally capable of race-hate, craven self-interest and paranoia.  Doctor Who and the Silurians remains one of the darkest and most morally ambiguous stories in the history of the series.

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