The Silurians
The Silurians
This Story: Series 7, Story 2. Production Code BBB
Overall: Story 52, Episodes 258-264
Airdates: 31 Jan 1970 to 14 Mar 1970
Written by Malcolm Hulke. Directed by Timothy Combe
Notes
- Officially this story is titled “Doctor Who and the Silurians”, but I’m shortening it to just “The Silurians” for brevity’s sake.
- In Episode 6, the Doctor mentions his age as “several thousand years”.
Links
[ Wikipedia | Tardis Data Core | SPS Historium | Amazon US DVD | Amazon UK DVD ]#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 258 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 1/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 31 Jan 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 2, 2022
My memories of this story are of one I never much cared for - except the ending. Will see if that's any different now. I do recall thinking it takes a really long time until pic.twitter.com/1pLbP15q3r
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 258 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 1/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 31 Jan 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 2, 2022
we actually get to see a Silurian. Given the length of the story (7 eps), this first one is nearly all setup. Most of the drama is about a seemingly pending problem. pic.twitter.com/M7NAqn6UQr
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 259 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 2/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 7 Feb 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 4, 2022
The Doctor gets into exploring what's going on with the problems at the plant. Nobody seems to want to believe him, which is par for the course. Some of the plant workers are pic.twitter.com/XTavA2NS9t
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 259 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 2/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 7 Feb 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 4, 2022
obviously behind something, as they're nervous about people exploring caves. We do see a Silurian, but in the shadows in the distance, plus other hints of what they look like. pic.twitter.com/3acEH9ZHI4
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 260 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 3/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 14 Feb 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 5, 2022
The rogue Silurian attacks Liz, although we don't see it beyond just its claws. UNIT sets off in search of it. The Doctor confronts Quinn who he suspects is doing something he pic.twitter.com/GjcW9Aw0IQ
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 260 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 3/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 14 Feb 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 5, 2022
shouldn't with the Silurians. The Doctor also rages against everyone wanting a military answer to the problem. Most of the story to this point has a very military vibe to it. pic.twitter.com/QuNt8YAd1X
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 261 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 4/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 21 Feb 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 6, 2022
We finally see a Silurian in full. In 1970 it was probably more impressive than it looks in 2022. He realizes they're intelligent & can be reasoned with, thinking they're not pic.twitter.com/VufEWyHa0H
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 261 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 4/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 21 Feb 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 6, 2022
hostile. He and Liz investigates the Silurians while the Brig and UNIT plan an invasion to explore the caves. Things start to go off the rails when Quinn is found to be dead. pic.twitter.com/iiRUVDkAsF
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 262 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 5/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 28 Feb 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 7, 2022
Now that the shit has hit the fan with humans captured, a rogue Silurian attacking the Doctor, and UNIT wanting to blow everything up, it's basically the Doctor trying to pic.twitter.com/nFY0HdngQN
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 262 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 5/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 28 Feb 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 7, 2022
keep the two sides from killing each other at this point. Several on both sides don't want to go along with the peace plan the Doctor has brokered and want to start a war. pic.twitter.com/uFKX3X3ny6
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 263 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 6/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 7 Mar 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 7, 2022
The rogue Silurian plan to destroy the humans is hatched, poisoning one & spreading the disease to the regular population. Given what's happened in real life lately, it's hard pic.twitter.com/Lpw58HrrLC
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 263 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 6/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 7 Mar 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 7, 2022
not to see Covid here. The Doctor works to find a cure w/ a sample the late Silurian leader gave him. I did like how they visually showed the disease spreading in the populace. pic.twitter.com/tPCJoTbg6D
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 264 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 7/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 14 Mar 1970. 1/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 9, 2022
The Doctor is kidnapped by a few Silurians, & is forced to help them. Liz manages to get the antidote out for mass production. In the end, the Doctor stops their plan and the pic.twitter.com/ArfVxq7EKc
#DoctorWhoMarathon Ep 264 - #DoctorWho and The Silurians 7/7 (Serial BBB, Story 52) - 14 Mar 1970. 2/2
— jᎾᎬ sᎥᎬᎶᏞᎬᏒ (@JoeSiegler) May 9, 2022
Silurians retreat to wait out radiation. The Doctor solves that, & the Brig ends up blowing up their base, killing them. This disgusts the Doctor. Nice emotional end to story. pic.twitter.com/0Rw5AVCfMJ