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| The Drahvin: The most ineffectual villains ever? |
4 episodes: Four Hundred Dawns, Trap of Steel, Air Lock, The Exploding Planet. Running Time: Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: William Emms. Directed by: Derek Martinus. Produced by: Verity Lambert.
THE PLOT:
The Doctor, Steven, and Vicki find themselves on an apparently deserted planet. A blind robot, which Vicki nicknames a "Chumbley," appears and begins feelings its way around the outside of the TARDIS. This captures the Doctor's attention, and he determines to find whoever is controlling the machine.
They have only left the timeship for a few minutes when another Chumbley approaches, this one clearly armed and gesturing for them to come with it. They are rescued by a patrol of cloned female warriors known as Drahvin. The Drahvin take them back to their ship, where their leader, Maaga (Stephanie Bidmead) tells them they were shot down by the Rills, a vicious and repulsive alien species. The Rills also crashed on this planet, a planet they have determined will soon explode.
The Doctor not only verifies the planet's imminent destruction, but discovers that the end is coming in "two dawns - tomorrow is the last day this planet will ever see!" The Drahvin respond by holding Steven as a hostage, issuing the Doctor an ultimatum. If he is to save Steven, he and Vicki must capture the Rill spacecraft!
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: The discovery of Episode Three reveals something a bit unwelcome: William Hartnell is just not on his game in this story. It was not apparent on past viewings of the story, when watching a still-frame reconstruction; but in the existing episode, at least, Hartnell doesn't seem to have the same energy as in previous stories. Given that this was shot at the tail end of Season Two, it's likely he was a bit tired; it's also a matter of record that none of the regulars were fans of this script, and he may have felt less than fully committed. Whatever the reason, he's neither as sharp nor as focused as in other serials.
Vicki: "I noted, observed, collated, concluded - and then I threw the rock.". Have I mentioned that I love Vicki? Aside from testing out a Chumbley's blind spot by tossing a rock at it, the story overall doesn't give her much to do, but Maureen O'Brien takes the scraps and runs with them. She is instantly hostile to the Drahvin, crossing her arms and glaring at them as they speak (very visible in the existing clip from Episode One). She is concerned for Steven's safety throughout, seeming again to regard him not as a grown man who can take care of himself, but rather as a stray they've picked up for whom she feels responsible.
Steven: Actor Peter Purves inherited a script originally written for Ian and Barbara, and he was given most of Barbara's bits - something which did not please him one bit, particularly in a scene in which Steven attempts to disarm a Drahvin and fails. The single most memorable bit of the story does belong to him, though. With a bit of patience and connivance, Steven finds an opportunity to escape into their ship's airlock - only to see a Chumbley waiting right outside. This leaves him caught between the Drahvin, who by this point are obviously evil, and the machines of the Rills, who might well be just as bad. Steven is left to consider his options - fireplace or fire - as the air is slowly removed. It's by far the best scene in the story, and it fortunately occurs in the existing episode, showcasing some fine nonverbal acting by Purves.
THOUGHTS
Galaxy Four is noteworthy as the last story with the Doctor and his companions to be produced by Verity Lambert. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she had been relieved upon learning that it was no longer in the archives, as The Time Meddler is a much more fitting swan song. Galaxy Four is watchable (if that's not a bizarre thing to say about a still mostly-missing story), but that represents its only achievement. This serial is entirely forgettable, and even a tiny bit dull.
The Drahvin would have to rank among the most ineffectual villains in Who history. Generally, a story will lazily attempt to build suspense by making sure the villains have either cunning, technological superiority, or both. Not so Galaxy Four, whose masterstroke is to make the Drahvin dumb as rocks, with technology that the Doctor literally scoffs at in Episode Two. Early in Episode Four, the Drahvin are forced to meekly retreat to their ship in the face of a single Chumbley with a loudspeaker - at which point, any tiny modicum of tension is effectively smothered.
With the villains utterly incapable of generating any threat, the climax of the story hinges on whether the Doctor can jump-start the Rill spaceship before the planet blows up. These scenes no longer exist, but from the reconstruction appear to center on the Doctor standing over some cables while Steven and Vicki ask, "How much longer, Doctor?" Doubtless, the sequel would have us thrill to the white-knuckle action as the Doctor attempts to inflate a rubber raft on a beach before the tide comes in!
Lest I go too far into making the story sound like a disaster, I'll repeat that it is never less than watchable (listenable?). The first episode does a solid job of introducing the situation, with the cliffhanger revelation of just how little time is left raising the stakes. Also, the sequence leading into the Episode Three cliffhanger, with Steven caught in the airlock between the Drahvin and a Chumbley, is very effective - Though it would have been even moreso had the story not already tipped us that the Rill and Chumbleys are not a threat.
While Galaxy Four is nowhere as bad as The Web Planet, it is an almost completely uninteresting story. At least The Web Planet failed in part because of overreach - This story isn't even particularly trying to do anything. The closest it has to ambition is the revelation that the beautiful Drahvin are evil while the ugly Rill are good - Fairly trite stuff, even by mid-1960s standards. The whole thing feels tired and lazy - adjectives I rarely apply to the creatively rich Hartnell era.
Overall Rating: 3/10. This is one missing story where I'd have to say that no one's really missing anything.
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