7-03: "The Ambassadors Of Death"

As usual, I got the DVD from the library. It's the last of the stories from Jon Pertwee's first year to get the treatment. Maybe it's because this was also the last Season/Series 7 stories I watched, but I liked it. Consider: "Doctor Who and the Silurians" ended with the lizard humanoids seemingly getting blown up, much to the Doctor's disgust. The story that followed "Ambassadors" -- "Inferno" -- had the Doctor so pissed off at UNIT that he basically says "Fuck this and fuck y'all," and tries to leave through his patched-up TARDIS. He wound up in a parallel universe with the usual trappings of evilness . . . except Nicholas Courtney going without his fake 'stache as the Brigade Leader. And in the end, that world wound up getting wasted.

Compared to those two stories, "The Ambassadors Of Death" is rather fun, even at seven episodes and Three's Company-style misunderstandings. The astronauts from a Mars probe (remember, this was more or less "Next Sunday, A.D.") come back to Earth, seemingly irradiated to hell and capable of killing with a mere touch. A network of thugs clash with UNIT several times for the astronauts . . . except they're not actually the astronauts, but three aliens with no understanding about what they're doing. Turns out the ringleader is a general who faced the aliens in the past, and wants to use them to whip up anti-alien hysteria. With no TARDIS (Time Lords wasted it and took keyt time-travel knowledge from his noggin), the Doctor winds up riding a probe to see what's what. The ending is happy, albeit with lots of dead bodies littering the storyline . . . the aliens get to go home, and the astronauts -- mesmerized to think they're in quarantine while watching footie -- get to come back to Earth. No species going extinct, no Earth getting burned to a crisp, and no Doctor landing his TARDIS in a dumpster.

I haven't gotten beyond the story with the DVD features. I don't listen to commentaries . . . . and given how they include two recently deceased regulars (Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John), I'll probably avoid them. I did like the altered credits, with footage preceding the title card . . . "The Ambassadors" [TWANG!!!] "Of Death." I think this was the first use of HAVOC, the stunt team that became regulars in Pertwee-era stories. The deaths do come off over the top, as bodies somersault and twist before hitting the ground. In one instance, a scientist decides to rush a thug, only to get kicked in the bread basket. The guy stumbles back, then tries running again, only to get smacked. Dude tries a third time, only to get shot and killed. Then another scientist winds up getting killed, and the angle of the gun makes me think he got shot in the nuts. All I can think is Eric Cartman screaming, "YOU DON'T SHOOT GUYS IN THE DICK!!"

What do you guys think of the story? As it happens, this AV Club review of the story was put out today.