A promising idea and a great cast don't help this rather muddled and slow story reach the potential it deserves. It's one of Pertwee's weaker stories.
Story: 6
This story is heavily inspired by the South-African apartheid, which is blatantly obvious. Like Colony in Space (1971) before it, it has a strong political message of human value, segregation and biases.
The Mutants is a character-driven space drama and its initial premise is more interesting than the one in Colony in Space. The only trouble is that the script doesn't do much with the premise and the story features lots of repetition and padding. This is another story that would have been better as a four-parter.
The last episode is the only truly exciting one, with the different parties getting together for a final confrontation.
Acting: 7
Paul Whitsun-Jones (who previously appeared in The Smugglers, 1966) appears as one of the more memorable marshal characters on the show. The Marshal of Solos is suspicious, meticulous and slightly arrogant and Whitsun-Jones plays him with great conviction. Geoffrey Palmer (one of only a few actors to appear both in the original and the revived series; he played a part in the 2007 episode Voyage of the Damned) also puts in a wholly great performance as the Administrator.
Garrick Hagon (Ky) varies from perfectly fine to wooden and over-the-top. His "WE WANT FREEDOM, AND WE WANT IT KNOW!" line from Episode One is a great example of overacting. James Mellor, who plays Varan, is wooden throughout, and increasingly so as the story progresses.
I've always loved George Pravda's appearances on the show. He appeared as the Chrustjov lookalike Paul Denes in The Enemy of the World (1968) and would appear again as the Castellan in The Deadly Assassin (1976). Here, he plays the wonderfully over-the-top Jaeger, and I love every second of his performance. Pravda is one of my favourite guest actors to appear on the show.
I also like John Hollis' minor role as Sondergaard. It's not particularly memorable, but they're something in it that makes it enjoyable. Maybe it's his eagerness and energy. Sadly, Hollister wasn't used in the show again.
The Doctor: 6
The Mutants is a pretty boring story for the Doctor. He's not the dashing action hero or the sassy scientist from his best stories.
That being said, the Doctor has a rather successful moment of triumph during the last episode.
The Companions: 5
After a string of great stories for Jo, this feels like another story where she isn't given anything to do, other than to hide, get captures and escape.
The Monster/Villain: 7
The titular mutants aren't the baddies here, even though they look hideous and seem aggressive. They're just wrongly understood beings.
The Marshal is the only really good character in the serial, and he makes for a pretty bombastic and memorable baddie. He's not the best one in the series, but among the better of the Pertwee era.
Production: 8
I rather like the set design for this episode, especially on board the Skybase. It looks like a colourful, futuristic playground on a cruise ship. It's quite possibly the best-designed spaceship on the series up to this point.
Episode 3 features some of the worst CSO work I've seen on the show. Not even a talented director such as Christopher Barry, who delivers some very fine shots throughout this serial, can save that crap.
The transformation scene in the final episode is one of the more ambitious and successful effects shots during the series' initial run and a great example of just how great of a visual director Christopher Barry was.
Pacing: 5
Unfortunately, since this is another six-parter filled with repetition and padding, it suffers from a slow pace and lack of variety. It fails to utilise the full potential of its premise, which makes it a minor chore to sit through.
Atmosphere: 5
This is one of the few serials that feel quite bland. It's not scary, sad it funny; it's not particularly exciting or educative. It has potential that never foes anywhere.
Episode 6 has some nice excitement and tension once the Doctor tries to prove he's right.
Impact: 4
Most likely meant as another attempt to twist the establishes formula of the Pertwee era, The Mutants did little to develop what has already been established.
Replay Value: 5
This story ranks quite low among Pertwee's stories and it isn't one I would rewatch any time soon, despite its good actors and interesting basic premise.
Random Observations:
The 1963-1964 story The Daleks was originally known under the title of The Mutants and is referred to as such by some sources even today (DWM among them). It was after the broadcast of this story that the nowadays mostly used title The Daleks was adopted.
From the file marked 'Actors Shared With Other Major Science Fiction Franchises': Sondergaard actor John Hollis is best known for his portrayal of Lobot, Lando Calrissian's right-hand man in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
From the file marked 'I'm Sure I've Seen That Somewhere Before': the opening sequence of Episode One is strikingly similar to the way several episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus opens...
Episode One also contains a rare occurrence of Jon Pertwee fluffing his lines. He says "I couldn't open it even if I wanted to" twice in a row when talking to Jo about the Time Lord's sphere.
From the file marked "Name-Dropping The Title Of The Show Just For Laughs': Another "Doctor ... who, did you say?" joke is inserted in the closing moments of the story.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParent2020-06-14T18:10:16Z
A promising idea and a great cast don't help this rather muddled and slow story reach the potential it deserves. It's one of Pertwee's weaker stories.
Story: 6
This story is heavily inspired by the South-African apartheid, which is blatantly obvious. Like Colony in Space (1971) before it, it has a strong political message of human value, segregation and biases.
The Mutants is a character-driven space drama and its initial premise is more interesting than the one in Colony in Space. The only trouble is that the script doesn't do much with the premise and the story features lots of repetition and padding. This is another story that would have been better as a four-parter.
The last episode is the only truly exciting one, with the different parties getting together for a final confrontation.
Acting: 7
Paul Whitsun-Jones (who previously appeared in The Smugglers, 1966) appears as one of the more memorable marshal characters on the show. The Marshal of Solos is suspicious, meticulous and slightly arrogant and Whitsun-Jones plays him with great conviction. Geoffrey Palmer (one of only a few actors to appear both in the original and the revived series; he played a part in the 2007 episode Voyage of the Damned) also puts in a wholly great performance as the Administrator.
Garrick Hagon (Ky) varies from perfectly fine to wooden and over-the-top. His "WE WANT FREEDOM, AND WE WANT IT KNOW!" line from Episode One is a great example of overacting. James Mellor, who plays Varan, is wooden throughout, and increasingly so as the story progresses.
I've always loved George Pravda's appearances on the show. He appeared as the Chrustjov lookalike Paul Denes in The Enemy of the World (1968) and would appear again as the Castellan in The Deadly Assassin (1976). Here, he plays the wonderfully over-the-top Jaeger, and I love every second of his performance. Pravda is one of my favourite guest actors to appear on the show.
I also like John Hollis' minor role as Sondergaard. It's not particularly memorable, but they're something in it that makes it enjoyable. Maybe it's his eagerness and energy. Sadly, Hollister wasn't used in the show again.
The Doctor: 6
The Mutants is a pretty boring story for the Doctor. He's not the dashing action hero or the sassy scientist from his best stories.
That being said, the Doctor has a rather successful moment of triumph during the last episode.
The Companions: 5
After a string of great stories for Jo, this feels like another story where she isn't given anything to do, other than to hide, get captures and escape.
The Monster/Villain: 7
The titular mutants aren't the baddies here, even though they look hideous and seem aggressive. They're just wrongly understood beings.
The Marshal is the only really good character in the serial, and he makes for a pretty bombastic and memorable baddie. He's not the best one in the series, but among the better of the Pertwee era.
Production: 8
I rather like the set design for this episode, especially on board the Skybase. It looks like a colourful, futuristic playground on a cruise ship. It's quite possibly the best-designed spaceship on the series up to this point.
Episode 3 features some of the worst CSO work I've seen on the show. Not even a talented director such as Christopher Barry, who delivers some very fine shots throughout this serial, can save that crap.
The transformation scene in the final episode is one of the more ambitious and successful effects shots during the series' initial run and a great example of just how great of a visual director Christopher Barry was.
Pacing: 5
Unfortunately, since this is another six-parter filled with repetition and padding, it suffers from a slow pace and lack of variety. It fails to utilise the full potential of its premise, which makes it a minor chore to sit through.
Atmosphere: 5
This is one of the few serials that feel quite bland. It's not scary, sad it funny; it's not particularly exciting or educative. It has potential that never foes anywhere.
Episode 6 has some nice excitement and tension once the Doctor tries to prove he's right.
Impact: 4
Most likely meant as another attempt to twist the establishes formula of the Pertwee era, The Mutants did little to develop what has already been established.
Replay Value: 5
This story ranks quite low among Pertwee's stories and it isn't one I would rewatch any time soon, despite its good actors and interesting basic premise.
Random Observations:
The 1963-1964 story The Daleks was originally known under the title of The Mutants and is referred to as such by some sources even today (DWM among them). It was after the broadcast of this story that the nowadays mostly used title The Daleks was adopted.
From the file marked 'Actors Shared With Other Major Science Fiction Franchises': Sondergaard actor John Hollis is best known for his portrayal of Lobot, Lando Calrissian's right-hand man in The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
From the file marked 'I'm Sure I've Seen That Somewhere Before': the opening sequence of Episode One is strikingly similar to the way several episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus opens...
Episode One also contains a rare occurrence of Jon Pertwee fluffing his lines. He says "I couldn't open it even if I wanted to" twice in a row when talking to Jo about the Time Lord's sphere.
From the file marked "Name-Dropping The Title Of The Show Just For Laughs': Another "Doctor ... who, did you say?" joke is inserted in the closing moments of the story.
Score: 58/120