3: Running scared in The Forest of Fear

Previous episode: The Cave of Skulls

Imagine yourself on the first Thursday in December 1963, the new Radio Times has come out and you look to see what it says about the new adventure serial Doctor Who. This episode is called The Forest of Fear.

That’s it. That’s all the information we’re given.

The previous episode, The Cave of Skulls, ended on a cliffhanger with our heroes – well, we think they are, but we’re really not sure about that Doctor Who yet – in another perilous situation.

Being left to wonder how they will get out of it and then have to enter the dreaded Forest of Fear means imaginations run overtime. Especially as the only way for original viewers to replay the previous episode is to remember as much as they can.

Even in 1981, most viewers will not have had the luxury of rewatching at leisure as The Five Faces repeat season came at a time when most households had yet to rent or buy a video recorder.

So, imaginations in overdrive … what happens next?

What happens in The Forest of Fear?

Gathered around the small tellybox, at 5.15pm on Saturday, December 7, the still strange and haunting opening theme kicks in and the delicious wait for the resolution of those questions and the start of some new ones.

The strange clouds in the title sequence – which like the music is unlike anything else on British television at the time – dissolve into an eerie image of some skulls, and then cutting to a brow-beaten Doctor Who apologising to his fellow travellers. He’s cutting a forlorn and almost embarrassing figure rather than the ‘superhero’, super scientist if you will, that will eventually regenerate into.

The Doctor’s next lines see him berating Ian and Barbara for attempting to untie the bonds that hold them. This enigmatic character has a spaceship in a junkyard, knowledge far advanced of both the cavemen and the 20th century schoolteachers and yet here he is a scaredy cat, unable to think of solutions and seems to be accepting of his fate.

It is Ian the science teacher who looks for solutions, while Susan seems to have blind faith in her grandfather to find answers. Given they travelled widely before landing in Totters Lane, where did they go?

Despite this, they keep trying and in a short aside with Barbara, the Doctor gives one of the first quotable quotes from the show in a neat piece of dialogue that helps us understand what is happening to the quartet: “fear makes companions of us all”. So that’s where we get the title companions from…

Meanwhile the Tribe of Gum are sleeping, but the Old Woman (Eileen Way) comes to the rescue, breaking into the cave where the Tardis team are kept, warning them not to make fire. Why is she so afraid of progress? Why does she want to stop people from moving forward? It seems even in the stone age people hark back to a mythical golden age even if it hurts them.

As she helps the travellers escape, she is discovered by Za who knocks her out.  

Doctor Who was filmed in one of the smallest studios the BBC had, and the team flee from the cave back to the Tardis on a tiny set, but it is convincing mainly because the four main cast are such strong actors. Ian and The Doctor row over who leads the party and is a neat bit of powerplay between those we can trust and identify with: Ian and Barbara, and those we don’t: The Doctor and Susan.

Again, showing up the meagre set and budget, Za and Hur sell the illusion that they have been attacked by a wild animal by just screams and sound. Tell, but don’t show, and it is just as effective.

What follows next shows the compassion from Ian and Barbara, tending to Za’s wounds while asking the Doctor to help by getting antiseptic from the Tardis. Here, we learn that our anti-hero is not a Doctor of medicine and he is also dead against befriending the tribe by helping. Why is he such a cantankerous, stubborn and unhelpful so-and-so? It makes little sense now, but back then it’s another mystery for viewers to ponder on.

As Ian, Barbara and Susan create a stretcher to take Za to the Tardis, they question the Doctor for not helping. In turn, the Doctor grabs a rock and makes a motion as if to crack the head of Za. It is disconcerting to see the lead of the series be so unlikable.

Meanwhile, back at the tribe, Hur tells them Za killed the Old Woman – the first on screen death – and persuades them to head to the Tardis to capture the travellers with the secret of fire.

The episode ends with the Tardis in sight, but the travellers way blocked by the tribe armed with spears. The final image is of a determined Hur, grim and in no mood for taking prisoners. Trapped, it’s going to be a long week to find out if there is going to be a happy ending.

Then again, is next week going to be the final part of this story? The Radio Times wasn’t telling, so how could we know?

Next time: The Firemaker

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