Doctor Who (TV Series) The Ambassadors of Death: Episode 3 (1970) User Reviews

Doctor Who in spy mode.

[poolandrews · 6/10 · 10 April 2007]

Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death: Episode 3 starts as the Recovery 7 spacecraft is cut open only to reveal that it's empty, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) realises that the three astronauts have already been taken. The Doctor & Brigadier Lethbrigde Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) go straight to Government minister Sir James Quinlan (Dallas Cavell) who explains that his man General Carrington (John Abineri) took the astronauts to a safe place & that they are alive & well, the Doctor isn't convinced & insists on seeing the astronauts for himself but they discover they have been taken yet again by an unknown group...

This Doctor Who adventure was episode 14 from season 7 that aired here in the UK during early 1970, directed by Michael Ferguson my fear that The Ambassadors of Death cannot sustain it's story over a mammoth seven episodes is sadly proving to be the case. The script by David Whitaker has pretty much gone into padding mode as there is lots of running around without that much actually happening, so the astronauts who were stolen from the Recovery 7 spacecraft are stolen again from the people who stole them & that's what this episode basically adds up to. The Doctor once again knows just about everything while Liz just sort of stands around until the end when the episode comes to life & she is involved in the best cliffhanger ending of this story so far. The Ambassadors of Death really does feel like a spy flick & there's even a shot of an enemy vehicle with rotating number plates a la James Bond's Aston Martin. As a story it's OK but one is starting to wish it would get to it's point & put some meat on it's bones.

This one looks pretty good with impressive production values, the space suited astronauts look pretty menacing. The shot on film location shooting helps give The Ambassadors of Death a cinematic look at times & there is some nice incidental music in this story.

The Ambassadors of Death is a measured, slow going, adult orientated Doctor Who that I'm liking so far but after a great opening it is starting to outstay it's welcome & there are another four episodes to go.

String production and an intriguing story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 14 October 2019]

After all of the effort that went into recovering that space capsule, only to discover no people inside, just a tape recorder. Where are the astronauts?

The astronauts are in the hands of mercenaries, but why are they acting so strange, keeping their helmets on, and why hasn't the intense radiation affected them? They cut a truly menacing figure, especially as we have no idea, just who or what is lurking underneath those space suits.

This tale of subdefuge and intrigue continues, until this point it has felt more like a crime thriller series, with bodies buried, gun fights, even the music. It's all enjoyable however, the switch up into real sci fi will follow soon.

Caroline's wig is enormous, it looks huge in certain scenes. The car chase scene is iconic, she was a wonderful companion, not many companions would pack such a punch.

I really enjoy this story, I like the tone of it, the pace, and the amount of suspense it has. It's very good. This part has a great cliffhanger. 8/10

Appearances can be deceptive.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 8/10 · 21 September 2014]

Review of all 7 episodes:

This story begins intriguingly with UNIT and The Doctor helping to look into space missions which have run into trouble. The whole story has brilliant performances from Jon Pertwee (The Doctor), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stuart), Ronald Allen (Professor Cornish), John Abineri (General Carrington) and the rest of the cast, some good grown-up science fiction writing, realistic dialogue, plenty of thrills and intrigue plus good production values. It features some mysterious aliens, lots of action and double crossing and some good underlying moral themes to do with xenophobia and military reaction to perceived threats. That this good, solid story is the weak link in series 7 is testament to the extremely high quality of this period of the show.

The first episode is very well done with interest provided by missing astronauts, mysterious goings on, lively action and very good script and performances. The second and third episodes are less impressive. The storytelling in these two episodes feels a bit jumbled and unclear and in the second episode the Doctor inexplicably is able to make an object disappear into thin air and reappear at will - bizarre and inconsistent with anything in the series history! Episodes 4 and 5 are better although it is slightly hard to believe that UNITs security is repeatedly shown to be so poor. Episodes 6 and 7 are back to the excellent standard of the first part with the story coming to a well written, action packed and satisfying climax.

Whilst being pretty impressive for its day in presenting a space mission it does not feel entirely in keeping with its setting in the 70s or even early 80s. The ability to travel to Mars, to carry out launches and returns to Earth at great speed and a few other bits of technology shown suggest a more advanced age. This is because it was originally written to be a Second Doctor story set a bit further in the future. The original story was written by David Whitaker and would be his last credit as writer on the series. Whitaker had been the very first Doctor Who script editor, a role he carried out brilliantly, and had written such great stories as The Crusade, The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks. His contribution to the series was huge. Sadly this final story was rewritten (uncredited) by Terrance Dicks, Malcolm Hulke and Trevor Ray and, whilst good, I believe it became less successful than it could have been. I think the rewrites lead to the little bits of jumbled plot, UNITs inept security and the Doctor's incongruous magical powers making it into the story! It is also a pity the story was used whilst the Doctor was stuck in a contemporary Earth setting as a setting in the future would have added believability.

This is a very exciting, enjoyable, well acted story but under different circumstances I think it could have been one of the real classics which it falls short of in my opinion.

Episode ratings: Episode 1 - 9/10, Episode 2 - 6.5/10, Episode 3 - 7.5/10, Episode 4 - 8/10, Episode 5 - 8/10, Episode 6 - 9/10, Episode 7 - 9/10. Average rating: 8.14/10