User Reviews

Review for all 6 episodes:

Similar in lots of ways to the previous season's Colony in Space this involves the Doctor again being sent on a mission to a human colony on an alien planet. This time the mission is to deliver a pod with unknown contents to someone on the planet. The recipient is unknown too but the pod will only open for the correct person. On arrival the Doctor is caught up in dispute and death with a megalomaniac human 'overlord' leading a campaign to gain control of the planet whilst the native people of the planet fight for independence. There are also mutants on the planet surface and dangerous gas increasingly making the atmosphere outside the base unbreathable. The similarity in story and style is not quite by its quality as this story has a few issues but it is still an OK story overall.

One criticism levelled at this is that it seems pointless for the Time Lords to send The Doctor when they could surely just send the pod to its recipient but this is unfair because The Doctor clearly says later in the story that he has been sent for the purpose of helping to return the planet to its natural state and life cycle.

The main theme is very clearly based around imperialism with Earth's treatment of the native people compared to British rule in Africa, India etc. This is well written and thoughtful in its political ideas but the script and story are mixed. There is some strong dialogue and interesting ideas but also some poor scripting and plodding storytelling as it is dragged out over 6 episodes. There are also unimpressive costumes and sets although I actually like the mutant creatures apart from their eyes, they are quite fun. The story picks up a bit more quality for the 6th and final episode after dragging on a bit with a quite tense and exciting finale.

The interesting political plot elements and ecological aspects are a plus. Geoffrey Palmer is excellent in episode 1 adding real quality as the administrator and there are good performances from Paul Whitsun-Jones as the Marshal and John Hollis (who appears later in the story) as Sondergaard well as Pertwee as The Doctor. The planet itself is well realised too. There is a lot of good in this production, particularly in episodes 1 and 6. There are some bad aspects of padding, poor costumes and some weak, repetetive scenes.

Overall a mix of good and not so good elements makes an OK but very unexceptional story.

My ratings: Part 1 - 7.5/10, Part 2 - 6.5/10, Part 3 - 7/10, Part 4 - 7.5/10, Part 5 - 7/10, Part 6 - 7.5/10. Overall - 7.17/10.

The Investigators arrive on Solos following Jo's request for their help.

The Mutants feels as if it has gone on for ages, I had to space it out over a week, as I find it hard to concentrate on.

Part six sadly is a poor conclusion, the story has been so incredibly drawn out, that it's been hard to maintain an interest in it.

The Marshal is a very poor foe, he's a one dimensional, ranting megalomaniac, there was no imagination shown with him at all, he just shouts....

I'll applaud it for the ambition, they truly went for it with the special effects, and although it looks dated now, I can imagine it looked great in 1972, it's a shame this wasn't done over four episodes.

All avenues have truly been exhausted, The Marshal has run out of rants, Jo and co have been locked up for the last time, even The Doctor's chin has been rubbed for the umpteenth time, this final instalment crawls over the finish line, with nothing to offer.

I'm glad The Mutants has its fans, and as for the early episodes, it's not bad, the trouble is that they repeat the ideas constantly, and when you reach parts five and six, you are just exhausted by the repetition.

4/10.

There is an interesting story here. We have themes of colonialism, ideas of evolution, ideas of manufacturing changes to that process and planets, and the idea of the Time Lords somehow trying to reach back into events which have occurred and influence them; all of these things offer potential. But then the serial starts with the old man from Monty Python running through the mist. From here onwards we get a fairly simple tale that is oddly told in quite an convoluted and stretched out manner. As with other serials where British Colonialism is clearly the root of the story, there is a certain reluctance to do anything that may be taken as justifying or explaining those on the British side. The previous season had a similar plot in Colony in Space and this had similar problems – everything is so very black and white, with no suggestion of subtlety.

While this is perhaps culturally and politically understandable, it does not make for a particularly interesting or engaging serial. The villain is bad, the natives are good, and thus the story is written. It plays out pretty simply, however in order to make such a simple good/evil story play out over 6 episodes, we get a lot of these ideas added. Unfortunately it does feel like they were added to fill time, so they do not seem to need to be there, and as a result they do not really work or provide much for thought or interest. A lot is actually included here but all of it is half-done and only contributes to the serial feeling messy and surprisingly quite dull.

It is a shame because the previous serial was really very enjoyable, and this one being a move back into space offered another change of pace, however it is the script that kills it from the start. The performances don't help much either. The main two of Pertwee and Manning are perfectly fine, but the supporting characters are poor. Palmer is a short but interesting find; Whitsun-Jones hams it up but not in a fun way, Pravda, Coll, Mellor and others play it all very obvious and flat; however all the so-so supporting performers can relax because they have a distraction in the form of Rick James. James is notable for being a comparatively rare piece of casting for a black actor in a major role in Doctor Who at the time; unfortunately he is also notable for being terrible – okay his lines are mostly poor, but he is painfully wooden and unconvincing throughout, often being funny by virtue of how weak he is.

The simplicity of the plot is understandable, but this 6-parter clutters it with a complexity that it has no interest in servicing, and indeed has no business with. The result is a rather plodding serial which is basic despite all the fuss. The mutants are creatures are well designed and interesting as an idea (as indeed is much of the material) but it is mostly going nowhere since it is the script that weighs it all down with low ambition and no development.