Home
| Search
| Now Playing
| News
| My Movies
| Games
| Boards
| Help
| US Movie Showtimes
| Top 250
| Register
| Recommendations
| Widgets
Box Office
| Index
| Trailers
| Jobs
|
IMDbPro.com - Free Trial
| IMDb Resume
Copyright © 1990-2008
IMDb.com, Inc.
Terms and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.
An
company.
Advertise on IMDb.
License our content.
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsPlot & Quotes
plot summaryplot synopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglinestrailers and videospostersphoto galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsIMDb user comments for
"Doctor Who"
Earthshock: Part 1 (1982)
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Watchable in an unimpressive kind of way., 4 June 2007
Author: StormSworder from United Kingdom
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
If you're going to end a story in the shocking death of a main character, then at least make sure the character is halfway sympathetic. Not only that, but ensure the events leading up to the 'heroic death' make some kind of sense. From what I can make out, the Doctor - for no apparent reason - leaves Adric on a bomb-laden spacecraft heading for the Earth in prehistoric times. The inevitable happens and he dies as the result of the collision. Despite the popular Dr Who myth that 'Adric died saving Earth', the truth is that Adric died failing to stop a spacecraft wiping out the dinosaurs. Indeed, if he had stopped it, he would have altered history and the human race might never have existed. Most of the story leading up to this is quite entertaining, in a clumsy kind of way. The androids are effective, although the military types are pretty wooden. Beryl Reid is laughably miscast as a hard-nosed freighter captain. At this point in the show's history, the powers-that-be were more interested in casting (often inappropriate) 'big-name' guest stars than they were with credibility. The Cybermen are good, although it's painfully obvious trick photography is being used when the Cyber 'army' approaches. In short, this is a watchable story let down by a 'heroic death' which was ill-conceived and badly-thought-out.
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Possibly Peter Davison's best story, it's certainly right up there., 25 October 2007
Author: Paul Andrews (poolandrews@hotmail.com) from UK
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Doctor Who: Earthshock: Part 1 starts on Earth in the future during the year 2526 where a team of paleontologists & geologists have been attacked & killed in some caves, an army unit lead by Lieutenant Scott (James Warwick) along with the sole remaining scientist Kyle (Clare Clifford) is sent in to investigate but are picked off one-by-one by an unknown force. Meanwhile the Doctor (Peter Davison), Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Tegan (Janet Fielding) & Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) arrive in the cave system in the TARDIS. After an argument Adric stays behind in the TARDIS as the Doctor, Nyssa & Tegan explore their cavernous surroundings outside but run into Scott & his men who blame them for the unexplained killings...
Episode 19 from season 19 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during March 1982 this was Davison's sixth story as the Doctor from his first season, directed by Peter Grimwade I personally think Earthshock is Peter Davison's best story. The script so far by Eric Saward is a nice claustrophobic horror with a group of people being killed off one at a time by some unseen menace, in fact the whole heavily armed soldiers walking into an isolated & enclosed location & being picked off reminds heavily of Aliens (1986) even though Earthshock was made a full four years prior. I do like my Doctor Who stories when they try to be scary & actually have the balls to try & be horrific, there's plenty of dark cavernous corridors & the remains of melted soldiers to satisfy on both counts & there's the great ending which suddenly reveal the return of the Cybermen who are probably my personal favourite Doctor Who monster. At 25 minutes it moves along at a nice pace, the story is good if a bit familiar & it's a much better written & thought-out episode than usual for this period of the show's history.
The first thing to say is that the cave sets look a little fake, they aren't too bad but they are the one production aspect of Earthshock so far which lets it down. I also have to mention the new look Cybermen, they look great although I would maybe have liked a more electronic robotic sounding voice. In fact the Cybermen had not featured in Doctor Who since season 12 & the mighty fine Tom Baker story Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) but both writer Saward & the Doctor himself Davison were fans of the of the silver cyborgs which probably helped convince the production team they were ready for a long overdue come back. There weren't many special effects in Earthshock, the pink laser beams that the soldiers fire from their weapons actually look alright although the DVD (another brilliant special edition DVD by the way) gives you the option to replace these, as well as other various effects, with brand spanking new CGI beams which obviously look a lot better but as I said they aren't too bad to begin with.
Earthshock: Part 1 is just a great Doctor Who episode, it's got surprises, some nice tension, atmosphere, eeriness & the reappearance of the newly designed Cybermen in a great cliffhanger ending. Surely this is Peter Davison's best story, surely...
3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
The Most Controversial Doctor Who Episode?, 8 April 2006
Author: richard.fuller1
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric encounter the Cybermen in a rather vicious encounter which results in the death of young Adric.
Adric, who had been the teen-aged stowaway with the previous Doctor (Tom Baker), suddenly seemed out of place when #5 Peter Davison took over the main role.
What should have been a worthwhile, almost nuclear family quartet, suddenly gave way to strange rumors.
Did Peter Davison want Adric & Tegan removed from the show, feeling only he and Nyssa were worthwhile? Or did Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) behave too irresponsibly and cause his own departure? The truth may never be known by the masses, but as Peter Davison says with his three co-stars on this story's DVD audio commentary, "Earthshock" is now rather discussed by fans because of Adric's death.
Was it a good story or was it behind-the-scenes shenanigans that brought about Adric's death? Looking back now, I didn't like Adric's death then, and I still don't like it. I would have much rather preferred he left in "Terminus" with Nyssa.
However, to hear the commentary of the four cast regulars shows that there was clearly no animosity amongst them, thank goodness.
No harm done.
But still, I didn't think Adric should have died.
Add another comment
Related Links