Dominance and Submission

Patrick Troughton's third and final season begins with The Dominators.

A ship with a couple of the titular villains lands on an island which turns out to be the planet Dulkis' equivalent of the Bikini Atoll, with atomic testing having been done there. A gentleman named Rago is in command and has a rather antagonistic relationship with his subordinate, Toba. Toba, we learn, is the Dominators' Curtis LeMay as he wants to just lay waste to whatever he happens upon and kill whomever he encounters. Perhaps he's irritable because his uniform has this big collar thingy which gives him an appearance and gait which reminded me of the Zygons.

Their ship, being low on power, vacuumed (or hoovered) up the ambient radiation on the island but it requires even more as does the rest of their fleet. Meanwhile, a group of local sophistos are on a joy ride but their mood is ruined when the ship crashes and gets stuck in the earth. They are none the worse for wear and exit the ship but run into peril in the form of Quarks, the robots used by the Dominators. The Quarks are clunky and boxy with round heads that have spikes protruding from them that are either sensors or decorations to make them look very metal. Their arms/guns are tucked inside their bodies and apparently attached with simple hinges so they swing out 90 degrees to fire and that's about all they can do. Not particularly menacing. It doesn't help that their voices sound like a young woman or a boy.

But they're dangerous enough to kill most of the day trippers. A woman amongst them is shot and her face is replaced with what looks like some melting celluloid. Cheesy, perhaps, but it was a bit disturbing in a Meshes of the Afternoon kind of way.

Another group of Dulkisians are on the island as well - a group of scientists researching the radiation and its effects. We learn that the Dulkisians are a peaceful people, having forsaken conflict after their initial atomic testing which revealed just how deadly the technology could be. In addition to being pacifists, their society is home to the worst haberdashers in the galaxy. The men wear what look like curtains in a way that makes them like these corset-dress hybrids. I suspect Jamie was very happy to finally meet other men who don't wear pants.

Dulkisian women, on the other hand, wear sheer skirts which reveal their knickers or the bottom part of their leotards.

Anyway, the Dominators' scheme here is to drill a hole into the earth and deposit a seed device, a.k.a. - an atomic bomb, in or near a volcano. Upon detonation, Dulkis will explode and release a bunch of radioactivity which they can harvest.

Into this rather nonsensical malaise appear our time traveling heroes.

They stumble upon the ruins of a museum dedicated to explaining the dangers of radiation. It would become their Masada later when the Dominators besiege it. But there's an underground chamber a la LOST's hatch where our heroes and the locals can take shelter. The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe meet up with the local scientists before being captured by the Dominators and then endeavoring to save the day.

I found this story to be thoroughly mediocre. There are some really neat elements and some real headscratchers.

Of the former, I thought it was really neat that the big control display in the Dominators' ship was all psychedelic swirls and trippy patterns instead of numbers and letters. I also appreciated that Rago and Toba are always at loggerheads with Toba disobeying orders to satisfy his bloodthirst. As the tension between them grew, I wondered if Toba would commit mutiny.

As far as the things that dragged this story down, one could go on forever about the Quarks. For instance, in one scene they just spun in place to gather data while in another they just stood there extending and retracting their arms like they were doing some goofy, lame calisthenics yet doing so inexplicably recharged their batteries.

But aside from them, we have the lead Dulkisian researcher who doesn't believe reports of a ship having landed on the island and robots wandering about. Yet, when he is taken to the ship's landing site and he sees it with his own eyes, the guy remains incredulous because there are no robots around, as if the Quarks couldn't just be inside of it.

There's a funny bit where Rago zips over to the mainland and bursts in on the ruling counsel of Dulkis. Some guy blurts out, "Hey! You need to make an appointment!" I got another laugh when Jamie comes up with a plan to save the day and the Doctor replies, "It's so simple, only you could have thought of it." Their double act in full force.

At one point, the Doctor pulls a Geiger counter of his pocket giving the impression that they're quite capacious, not unlike the TARDIS. I don't remember if this is the first hint of the Doctor's deep pockets or not. The sonic screwdriver makes another appearance and we discover that it can cut through rock in addition to tripping lock mechanisms. I don't recall Zoe doing a lot of physical derring do, but, when captured by the Dominators and doing forced labor, she does her best to rally the troops. "We must fight!" she implores, instead of just waiting for the cavalry to arrive. She also displays great curiosity and intelligence.

The Wheel in Space came to mind when the Doctor and Jamie poke around the fallout shelter/Duklisian hatch and find food rations that are in the form of nondescript rectangles.

I am looking forward to seeing how Zoe fits into the TARDIS crew because the Doctor and Jamie's repartee is firing on all cylinders here with retorts timed perfectly and odd facial expressions. The Doctor doesn't seem to have things under control all the time or even seem to know exactly what to do either while Jamie is steadfast in his desire to be the prime mover in defeating evil.

Also, it was a bit odd to see a bunch of peaceniks get their asses hand to them in a late-60s story. The moral here seems to be "Don't turn the other cheek".

Definitely a mixed bag here but there's enough positives to grasp onto for an enjoyable watch.