Doctor Who (TV Series) The Seeds of Death: Episode Three (1969) User Reviews

Comedy corridor runs aplenty.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 24 October 2015]

Something's wrong with the rocket, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are in danger of floating endlessly in space.

The scenes of the TARDIS crew on board the rocket aren't exactly inspiring, they look a little dull, the trio all sat around with their headphones on manage to bring some drab scenes to life. The model shots of the rocket landing look rather good.

The music is quite fun, I can't explain why but at times it reminds me of Seaside holidays. Perhaps a little silly at times.

It's a bit of a mixed bag from the Ice Warriors, at times they seem quite ruthless and menacing, at others they're portrayed as rather silly and cumbersome. The best asset to the story is undoubtedly Pat, he's as always great fun to watch. He's even more madcap then usual and there are plenty of comedy corridor runs.

It's a bit of a plodder of an episode, there's nothing really here to set the pulses racing, but it's watchable enough, almost a comical caper. 6/10.

The Seeds of Success, needed a little more watering for a perfect result but still a fruitful attempt.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 30 April 2014]

This story (written by Brian Hayles and an uncredited Terrance Dicks) has aspects which are very strong but aspects which are a slight letdown. It is decent, solid entertainment without reaching the brilliance of the Doctor's best adventures.

Episode 1 is an excellent set up episode, a very promising start with a good script and some intelligent and well characterised parts such as the ageing and rather wise Earth scientist Eldred and officers Radnor and Kelly which are very well acted and thoughtfully written throughout the story. The good characters and strong dialogue are given centre stage in the opening episode.

The plot revolves around the T-Mat transport system controlled from the Moon and used by a future Earth as an instant way of transmitting people and goods between places. When it breaks down it is proved they put all their eggs in one basket (as the Doctor points out) and instantly food shortages and huge issues arise. The Ice Warriors attack the T-Mat control base and use it to launch an attack on Earth. The Doctor steps in to battle them of course.

The whole story features Troughton delivering his usual high quality and the villain Slaar, leader of the Ice Warrior attack on the Moon who is excellent and up to the sort of standard of the Ice Warriors in their brilliant debut story. Hines and Padbury as the companions are good throughout the story and acting of the other major guest characters is good. Some of the direction and effects are very impressive for its day while other aspects are a slight letdown.

The rocket journey in episode 2 which is not well done is the first letdown and would have been better not to include at all. That causes episode 2 to drop a bit, the rest of the episode before the rocket trip is pretty solid. Episode 3 is very good. It moves along well developing the story strongly and the villain Slaar with his hissing voice is particularly good in this episode.

Episode 4 is solid but not excellent, the absence of Troughton in that episode hurts it a tiny bit. Episode 5 is a bit weak due to having more scenes involving the seeds and the fungus. The idea of the seeds themselves is not brilliant as it is clearly an inflating balloon but it is to some extent a forgivable limitation of the age and budget. The fungus is another unimpressive idea involving some fun but slightly silly scenes in episode 5 flailing about in soap suds. These scenes mean that Episode 5 is the low-point of the story.

The villain Slaar is great but his fellow Ice Warriors, particularly in episode 5, are far less well realised with their cumbersome movement and lack of character. They are a rather pale shadow of those featured in the Ice Warriors debut story.

Episode 6 is a very enjoyable and solid conclusion but if the strength of Episodes 1 (especially), 3 and 6 had been matched by cutting the rocket journey out of part 2 and less reliance on unimpressive effects, particularly in episode 5, it could have been a really strong Doctor Who story instead of just a solid Doctor Who story which is what it is.

My Ratings: Episode 1 - 9.5/10, Episode 2 - 7.5/10, Episode 3 - 9/10, Episode 4 - 8/10, Episode 5 - 7/10, Episode 6 - 8.5/10

More of the same.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 6 March 2008]

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death: Episode Three starts as T-Mat inventor Gia Kelly (Louise Pajo) manages to fix the damage caused to the T-Mat controls by Osgood (Harry Towb) back in Episode One, then Grand Marshal Slaar (Alan Bennion) show's himself & now has a fully functioning T-Mat system at his disposable. Meanwhile the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Zoe (Wendy Padbury) & Jamie (Frazer Hines) have landed on the Moon & quickly realise they are dealing with Ice Warriors. The Doctor is captured while Zoe & Jamie hide out with Kelly & technician Phipps (Christopher Coll), then Slaar orders strange pod like objects T-Matted down to several major cities on Earth as the Ice Warriros plans to take control of the Earth begin...

Episode 25 from season 6 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1969, directed by Michael Ferguson The Seeds of Death has been a bit of a mixed bag so far. The script is credited to Brian Hayles but from Episode Three onwards to Episode Six it was heavily rewritten by script editor Terrance Dicks & one has to say that on one hands it's a fairly fun Doctor Who base under siege by alien monsters type romp but if you think about the plot in any great detail then it all falls apart, in fact I would say that The Seeds of Death is one of the most poorly plotted & thought out Doctor Who stories that I have seen. To think the BBC junked Troughton's The Evil of the Daleks (1967) as well but still kept this. The episodes have been pretty drawn out so far, all the stuff about the T-Mat not working has been to spread the thin story out over the six episodes as it has all amounted to nothing & the Ice Warriros plans are underway.

The direction & look of The Seeds of Death has been very good & a lot less staged than many a 60's Doctor Who story, although having said that some of the quirky little touches do seem a bit pointless like when the Doctor is running through the Moonbase & there appears to be a wall of mirrors behind him & there are lots of reflections of him going into the distance which is visually something a bit different but why on a Moonbase would they have a 'hall of mirrors' style corridor? Sure it looks nice but it's rather illogical isn't it? The actual scenes of Troughton running around the Moonbase corridors evading the Ice Warriors is a nicely amusing sequence brilliantly played by Troughton. We get our first look at the title creations, the Ice Warriors seeds of death themselves, or rather the pods which hold the seeds which are very obviously just balloons which does spoil the effect somewhat.

The Seeds of Death: Episode Three is another fun Doctor Who episode thanks to Troughton's usual great performance & the impressive Ice Warriors, just don't think about the plot too much & it will pass twenty five minutes harmlessly enough.