The Ambassadors of Death

"Who would want to kidnap three astronauts?"

Writer: David Whitaker

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21 May - 2 March 1970

Season: 7.03

Featuring: Third Doctor, Liz, Brigadier

Synopsis

The Doctor joins UNIT's investigation into the mystery surrounding Mars Probe 7. Space Control, headed by Professor Ralph Cornish, has had no contact with the astronauts on board since it started back from Mars seven months ago, and now the Recovery 7 rescue mission has run into similar difficulties...

Verdict

The Ambassadors of Death was a very good serial and one that I felt was steeped in realism. To me, this didn't quite feel like a Doctor Who story and that is absolutely fine. It just felt like something that might actually happen and in the end, it really is all just a big misunderstanding. Whether or not that was the right pay off after a lengthy seven episodes is here nor there, but it still stands as a very good tale. I really enjoyed Jon Pertwee's performance as the Third Doctor and I can imagine it was a story he quite liked being a part of. Liz is one of my all time favourite companions and I loved seeing her in this one. It's a shame that given the structure of Season 7 she only gets four adventures with the Doctor. She's really great and has a lot going for her with her scientific background. I'm a huge fan of hers so it was wonderful to revisit this story for the first time in eight years and see her again. And my word was her outfit and hair representative of the 1970s! That was fantastic history to see before my eyes. I thought the premise of this serial was really good and the only thing that hinders it is that is almost certainly a bit too long. The formula of wanting more answers as things goes on isn't sustainable for the seven parts, but it does do a very good job of keeping the viewer interested. I get the feeling that I'd really enjoy the Target novelisation of this one as the pace must be a bit more exciting. The Brigadier's involvement in the story was prominent which I'd expect of this era and it was good that after Doctor Who and the Silurians, there was another authoritative figure in the wrong this time. Well, there was more than one with a scheme going on involving the likes of Carrington, Taltalian and Collinson. For me, it was the former that was the most impressive villainous character of the bunch, but the collective effort did make for entertaining viewing and spread the story around which was very good. One thing I should mention is the unique format for the opening titles and it was somewhat reminiscent of what would become common in the modern era with the pre-titles sequence. Here though we had a mid-titles scene which was really intriguing! The Recovery 7 linking with Mars Probe 7 was impressive directing and I liked the idea of the whole story. Finding out that the Ambassadors of the alien race were just that was good, even if the title had given it away right at the start! Their abilities to kill by touch were devastating, but the revelation that they had no ill intentions was welcomed and it reminded us that it was members of the human race who were the villains in this one. The Ambassadors themselves had an excellent presence and again, with them not having any bad intentions I really liked the realism it provided. I thought the cliffhangers in this one were pretty decent for the most part, with part two's simplicity standing out for me. It was really effective without doing an awful lot. Despite its length, I was a little surprised with how much advancement of events occurred that we didn't get to see. That wasn't an issue, but it just goes to show how much was happening in the serial. The Doctor going up into space as the astronaut for the Recovery was excellent and I liked the dangers associated with that. His stubbornness in continuously standing by his statement that the astronauts were still in orbit was brilliant and I really enjoyed when he met them once he was up there. They believed they were in quarantine which was a fun revelation!  The ending worked out well and again, we didn't actually get to see the exchange of the astronauts for the Ambassadors, but we really didn't need to with everything all worked out. Overall, a very good tale that could have been even better in a condensed format.

Rating: 8/10