Hi guys…know any ambassadors…of Death?!?!
The Mars Probe 7 has lost contact with Earth and the two astronauts on board the ship conditions are unknown. With a new astronaut, planning to rendezvous with the missing probe, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Liz Shaw (Caroline John) have been called in to help with the mission. When three astronauts return to Earth, a conspiracy begins and it is up to the Doctor to discover what has become of the astronauts and stop a war from coming to Earth.
Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death aired during the seventh season of the popular British series. The serial aired in seven parts from March 21, 1970 to May 2, 1970. Following Doctor Who and the Silurians, Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death has been collected as part of The Jon Pertwee Years as Story #53.
Ground control to Doctor Jon!
Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death really played on the popularity of the space program at the time. Despite being a science-fiction TV show, this Doctor Who entry felt a little more “science fictiony”. The series with the returned astronauts bringing death leads to comparisons to The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) which had a similar storyline.
This is one of the “assembled” Doctor Who episodes like many of the earlier versions. The episode had to be collected from various pieces but is complete unlike most of the poor 2nd Doctor’s episodes. For all the work done on this episode, the final product looks pretty good…I just wish it was a better episode.
Trust me when I say I’m allergic to shellfish…
The agents from Mars are rather interesting and lead to some good visuals with the three astronauts. I also enjoy when the Doctor heads to space to find the real astronauts, but the plot just meanders through most of the story…stretched into an unnecessary seven parts. If the serial had been one of the four episode ones, it would have been much better.
Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death is rather a dull entry into an otherwise stellar season. The show had potential with interesting characters (I wish they had just used the Ice Warriors since they inhabit Mars), but it like many old Doctor Who episodes just drags. I enjoy Pertwee’s run but this isn’t one of the strongest entries to no fault of his own. Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death was followed by one of the best Jon Pertwee entries Doctor Who: Inferno.
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Preceded By:
Doctor Who and the Silurians (Story #52)
Followed By:
