076 The Ark in Space

 Started 12-Apr


We watched a Bluray of all 4 parts on HD big screen in one go.

On Bluray you can see *EVERYTHING*:

• The the saw marks on the isolite (and the sets look so damn cheap.)
• reflections of cameras, 
• holes in the curtains, 
• dodgy bits of carpentry and 
• things sticky taped together, 
• bubble wrap, 
• studio hands holding stuff up.

Also you can see the sleepers swallowing and blinking or cardboard cut-outs (look at the upper rows!) and that the cables are corrugated trunking, the props are made of tin bits. the slime trails are glad-wrap covered in more washing-up liquid.

The sound is weird too. There's lots of bits where the audio is overdubbed e.g. whenever the trolley is **moved** in p2 in the cryogenic chamber there is NO dialogue.... the clanky, squeaky wheels are being overdubbed. In p1 there's loads of odd silences too.

But that's not the point.

The point is the atmosphere and the horror. The desperate inevitability of the creepy Wirrn, The fight against the psychological invasion of Noah's very being.. that fight Noah has with the bubble wrap and fairy liquid in the start of p3....not necessarily the first time the idea was used (as pointed out in the DVD Info text) but fresh to DW.

The production team was the dream team. And they did the business. Holmes, Hinchcliffe, Simpson, Murray-Leach, Kidd, James, all of 'em. Job of their lives on a shoddy budget. If only the blinkered Beeb had an idea of what they were doing when they had people making this for them.

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One little issue is the possible casual rascism... The original script is supposed to say Vira is a black woman. She was not cast that way. The Doctor has a line about 'all races, all creeds' being included in the Ark but Noah has a line about gene pooling and compat evaluation (not clear exactly what that means but it does not sound good) and others about regressives and the "elimination' of regressive factors are mentioned a few times (by Noah in p2).

This is the language of race theory... or at least it sounds like it could be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_race_theory
They don't mention obvious terms like 'half caste' or 'octoroon' but these scripted lines could be read as a dog whistle by the insidious rascist right. Whether it's intentional or just thoughtless is not easy to judge.

Admittedly this is perhaps a little technical and harsh considering the historical reality of film and TV up to this point in time (1974) but it does seem kinda ugly when it's pointed out.

It would be very regrettable since the story is so inspiring about the future of humanity that this thoughtless casual bigotry might allow this piece to be appropriated by racist sympathizers. That of course might be an objective of race theory sympathizers regardless which is why this is so dangerous. (Is their campaign my responsibility? This is very hard to address sensibly... Ark in Space is not racist... it can't be... this is like wishing in a bad dream... this issue is such a can of worms.)

Classic DW does not have an exemplary record on this issue generally (or others like feminism or class justice) but at least it's trying better than most. Isn't it?

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Part 3 rocks. No lingering in that one. This is a reliable sign that this is a good story.

I can't pick the best scene but for mine it's either of these two. The Earth High Minister's speech at the start of part 3 or the convo the Doctor has with Noah in part 4.

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from p3 0m52s

• WOMAN [OC]: Hello, Space Station Nerva. This is the Earth High Minister. The fact that you are hearing my voice in a message recorded thousands of years before the day in which you are now living, is a sure sign that our great undertaking, the salvation of the human race, has been rewarded with success.

• WOMAN [OC]: You have slept longer than the recorded history of mankind, and you stand now at the dawn of a new age. You will return to an Earth purified by flame, a world that we cannot guess at. If it be arid, you must make it flourish. If it be stony, you must make it fertile. The challenge is vast, the task enormous, but let nothing daunt you.

• HARRY: Sounds like a sort of pre-match pep talk.

• WOMAN [OC]: Remember, citizen volunteers, that you are the proud standard bearers of our entire race.

• Of the millions that walk the world today, you are the chosen survivors. You have been entrusted with a sacred duty, to see that human culture, human knowledge, human love and faith, shall never perish from the universe.

• (Noah smashes his green appendage against the console, trying to kill the alien thing.)

• WOMAN [OC]: Guard what we have given you with all your strength.
• And now, across the chasm of the years, I send you the prayers and hopes of the entire world. God speed you to a safe landing.

•  (Vira returns to her duty.)

• HARRY: Well, I bet that did your female chauvinist heart a power of good.
• SARAH: Why?
• HARRY: Well, I mean, fancy a member of the fair sex being top of the totem pole.

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p4 from 15m42s to 16m52s

• DOCTOR: And if we surrender?
• WIRRN [OC]: I have said. You will be allowed to leave the Ark.
• DOCTOR: The Wirrn hate all humans. Once we step outside this chamber we'd be attacked.
• WIRRN: I am the swarm leader. I guarantee your safety. The Wirrn will spare your lives, but leave the sleepers for us!
• DOCTOR: Noah, listen to me. If there's any part of you that's still human, if you've any memory of the man you once were, leave the Ark. Lead the swarm into space.
• DOCTOR [OC]: That's where the Wirrn belong, Noah. Not on Earth, not where you were born. Remember the wind and the sun, the fields, the blue sky? That's Earth, Noah. It's for the human race. Don't abandon it.
• WIRRN: I have no memory of the Earth.

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In the first scene there is humanist ideals, political commentary, plot development and character anguish, leadership, inspiration.. even a joke.... it's basically space-Gettysburg Address...

This should be read out at school graduations. Compared to most nationalist declarations and rally cries it knocks 'em very flat indeed.

The second quoted scene... What is this story about. Is it how to live forever? Is it how to survive? No. It's why are you alive? There is something very profound in this.

Russell T Davies has said Robert Holmes sadly only ever wrote genre television. If he'd been writing movies or high drama he would have given Dennis Potter and Harold Pinter a run for their money come awards time.
These are examples of why that is true.


The Ark in Space is a stone cold classic. All time Top 10 easy. Even 44 years on.
(After a countback correction this is the new no.1...)


ABM Rating 3.90/4.00
LJM Rating 4.50/5.00
SPJ Rating 9.90/10   

Peak Ranking No. 1 (out of 76)

Link to Cumulative Rankings


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