The Hungry Earth

Dear Gary—

The Silurians are the best Classic Who monster reboot yet. Mind you, the first few minutes into The Hungry Earth as Mo gets pulled under the ground I’m thinking: Tractators! Even the title of the episode has echoes of Frontios. The ominous statement, “The earth is hungry,” from that long ago serial has its counterpart here in, “The graves eat people.”  It is an eerie set-up that doesn’t quite live up to its promise; the main problem being that the entire episode itself is clearly a set-up and as such it drags a bit.

There is some decent tension, and the shadowy forms of Silurians in the darkened cemetery are especially effective. However when it comes to the twelve minutes our heroes have to prepare for the ascending unknown, any sense of suspense is diffused when you consider that what they do in those twelve minutes is laughably impossible. Two and a half minutes are used up by the Doctor, Nasreen and Tony Mack (love that name by the way—it rolls off the tongue and I just can’t refer to the man as simply Tony or Mr. Mack; it must be Tony Mack; just as Don Ameche is never Don or Mr. Ameche) gathering up vital equipment, making their way out of the building, climbing a hill, and meeting up with Rory. In reality that would take at least ten minutes, but in Doctor Who time it is only two and one half. The remaining nine and one half minutes are even more ridiculous, with the gang setting up surveillance equipment (a job that would represent at least half a day’s work for a team of experienced professionals), with Elliot creating a complete crayon map of the area, with Ambrose rounding up a mini arsenal of weapons, and with the Doctor in each of these places interacting and explaining and finding time to chat. At no time does anyone seem particularly rushed or possessed with a sense of urgency. The only way they can do everything they do in those twelve minutes is if the Doctor cheats and takes them back in time in the TARDIS.

As a set-up, though, The Hungry Earth does a nice job of introducing our guest cast, complete with incidental details that provide character depth, like Elliot’s dyslexia. Elliot also serves to illicit some quiet pockets of feeling from the Doctor. Elliot asks if the Doctor ever misses his home, and with a simple, “So much,” Matt Smith manages to convey a deep sense of loss and longing that is heartbreaking. Alaya also draws out the Doctor: “No, you’re really not,” the Doctor tells her when she claims to be the last of her species, “because I’m the last of my species and I know how it sits in a heart.” Tony Mack and Nasreen are memorable as well, and the establishment of their relationship is simple, direct, and effective.

The role of Ambrose is more complex and simplistic at the same time; and I’m not sure, Gary, if I can do this justice, especially without jumping ahead to the second part of this two part story. If The Hungry Earth is the set-up for Cold Blood, Ambrose is the set-up for the plot mechanics.

Let me start with an extremely minor point.

Ambrose to Rory in graveyard: “It’s a family plot, see. My Aunt Gladys died six years ago. Her husband, Alun, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down. There’s not many of us left up here now.”

Elliot: “Mum, he doesn’t care about that.”

Every time I see this episode this tiny bit of dialogue jumps out at me and I’m never sure why. What strikes me first is Elliot’s “he doesn’t care about that” response.  I think now that it telegraphs Ambrose’s role as set-up woman. This snippet of a scene that ultimately goes nowhere and is forgotten exists largely to give Rory something to do and to separate him from the Doctor and Amy. The part about the graves eating people is eerie but we have the direct evidence of first Mo and then Amy being dragged underground so it is unnecessary. The one tiny bit of new information is provided by Ambrose as she prattles on about things nobody is interested in, and that is that the area surrounding our arena of action is practically deserted.

Which leads me off into a side shoot—this major drill site is not only abandoned of dwellings but also only requires a three-man crew (or two-man, one-woman crew) to operate. It also appears to be a private endeavor and I’m not sure where Nasreen and/or Tony Mack came up with the pile of cash for this massive feat. But I digress.

Back to Ambrose.

Ambrose is set up as a loving mother and concerned daughter (not so much caring wife—she occasionally throws an afterthought towards Mo but for the most part it is Elliot and Tony Mack who take front and center in her mind).  However there is little sympathy given this motivation. Through the eyes of the show this is merely an excuse for her actions. Her real raison d’être is to propel the plot.

It is not a coincidence, therefore, that she is the impetus for the Doctor to give his pacifist manifesto: “No, no weapons. It’s not the way I do things.” It is perfectly reasonable for Ambrose to collect weapons in their defense. But not in the eyes of the Doctor; not in the eyes of the show; and not, by extension, in the eyes of the viewer.

This brings me to another aside and back to the Silurians. The Silurians always bring out the pacifist in the Doctor. Regardless of the countless enemies the Doctor has defeated and destroyed and decimated; regardless of the Doctor’s claim to Elliot about monsters, “No they’re scared of me;” the Doctor always rings out the cry for peace and diplomacy whenever the Silurians enter the scene. As if on cue.

And so this two part story as set up by The Hungry Earth is about the Doctor once again trying to broker a peace between the Earth’s current residents and its ancient inhabitants and with Ambrose poised to be the spoiler. We have hostages on either side—Amy, Mo, and Elliot underground and Alaya up top. We have a giant drill aimed at the heart of the Silurian civilization and an army of sleeping Silurians waiting to march again. It is simple and classic; tried and true.

It has its good moments and its bad, often intermixed. Like a terrified Amy waking up in a glass coffin. For the most part she pulls off a reasonably believable scared defiance; until that is the final “Shush.” At that point she turns into a tantrum throwing teen incensed that her parents are shushing her. Like the impossible twelve minutes, it diffuses the tension. Not that we ever really believe anything bad will happen to Amy. Even the Doctor’s and Rory’s concern for her welfare is muted.

Muted. That sums up The Hungry Earth. It has all the elements of a good thriller but it never quite succeeds at it.

Finally, to sum up and set up, we have these stirring words from the Doctor:

“While I’m gone, you four people, in this church, in this corner of planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity.”

Not exactly the best of Doctor Who, but Matt Smith delivers them beautifully.

And so I leave you, Gary, with Ambrose set up to not be the best of humanity and the Doctor set up to expect the best of humanity and the audience set up for the second of this two part story, not expecting it to be the best of Doctor Who but hoping at the very least that like its predecessor it will be good enough.