"Doctor Who"
Earthshock: Part 3 (1982)

Director:

Peter Grimwade

Writer:

Eric Saward (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

15 March 1982 (Season 19, Episode 21)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor and Adric are escorted to meet Captain Briggs, a middle-aged women who is concerned about the bonus of delivering the cargo on time...

Plot Keywords:

Australian | Space Hero | Doctor Who | Scientist Hero | Christ Allegory

Cast

Peter Davison	...	The Doctor
Beryl Reid	...	Briggs
James Warwick	...	Scott
Clare Clifford	...	Kyle
Janet Fielding	...	Tegan
Sarah Sutton	...	Nyssa
Matthew Waterhouse	...	Adric
June Bland	...	Berger
Alec Sabin	...	Ringway
David Banks	...	Cyber Leader
Mark Hardy	...	Cyber Lieutenant

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG

Goofs:

Continuity: As the Cyberman breaks through the softened bridge door, the damage to the door and the Cyberman's arm change size and position between shots.

Quotes:

[as the Cybermen are softening a bridge door]
The Doctor: [to Adric] What is the square root of 3.69873?
Adric: About 1.92321.
[the Doctor enters it into the freighter's computer and 1.923208 appears on the monitor]
Berger: [next to the bridge door] That's not possible!
The Doctor: Oh, he's very good, and almost right.

Keeping up it's great start.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: Earthshock: Part 3 starts as the Doctor (Peter Davison) & Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) are taken prisoner by Ringway (Alec Sabin) on suspicion of killing two crew-members, they are taken to the bridge to confront Captain Briggs (Beryl Reid). The Doctor tries to convince her there is something nasty aboard her ship & when a large amount of power is diverted to the cargo hold to awaken several Cybermen it is confirmed, at fist it seem there are only a few Cybermen but once on the bridge & the freighter is under his control the Cyber leader (David Banks) gives the order to revive the rest. The Doctor looks on as thousands of Cybermen are revived & burst out of their silo's intent on invading Earth...

Episode 21 from season 19 this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in the UK during March 1982, directed by Peter Grimwade I think this is one of the best Doctor Who stories. The script by Eric Saward has had a bit of everything so far, some surprises & twists, some horror, some sci-fi, the triumphant reappearance of a classic enemy, a bit of mystery, some action & a good story which is still developing & moving forward even now during Part 3. Apart from a bit during Part 2 there hasn't been much padding at all & the time has flown by, at only 25 minutes an episode you can sit down & watch it in bite sized chunks although with three really good cliffhanger endings you may not be able to wait. My one problem is that Nyssa hasn't done anything at all, during this episode all she has done is stayed put in the TARDIS & for some reason we cut back to her every so often even though so far her character is utterly surplus to requirements. I think the reason for that is that three companions for the Doctor is too many, it's difficult to give each character a significant part in a story so inevitably either one or two of the companions are just left standing in the background doing nothing in particular. Having said that the whole production team knew this & is an issue that Earthshock: Part 4 deals with rather nicely...

This one has actually looked good as well with decent production values even if the ships cargo bay stairways look like they were made from scaffolding, the spaceship interior looks alright. The special effects have been OK too, they ain't brilliant but not as bad as some Doctor Who stories & you can see brand spanking new replacement CGI effects on the DVD if you so wish. A word about the costumes too which have been better than usual, the army unit team during Part 1 & the cool looking redesigned Cybermen in particular deserve mentions. The guns & weapons used by the various character's look quite meaty & impressive as opposed to the flimsy water pistol type stuff we sometimes get in Doctor Who. The acting has been OK but Beryl Reid as the hard nosed Captain Briggs in a tight fitting leather coat is seriously miscast & is the one really weak link.

Earthshock: Part 3 is part of a great story but is more than watchable in it's own right & considering this is the third part there's still a fair amount going on. One of my favourites & a fans favourite too, if your new to classic Doctor Who you could do a lot worse than check Earthshock out.