Skip to content

DVD Review: DOCTOR WHO – THE ARK IN SPACE

Written By:

Paul Mount
doctor-who-ark-in-space-review

Review: Doctor Who – The Ark In Space (Special Edition) / Cert: PG / Director: Rodney Bennett / Screenplay: Robert Holmes / Starring: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter / Release Date: February 18th

Tom Baker’s second serial was an abrupt change of pace for Doctor Who and a huge culture shock for viewers following Robot, which maintained the style and flavour of his predecessor, Jon Pertwee. The show’s new firebrand producer, Philip Hinchcliffe, was keen to move the series away from the plastic maggots, dinosaurs and spiders of yore into a darker, more serious direction, and The Ark In Space was the hugely successful result.


The TARDIS lands on a deserted space station thousands of years into the future, where the Doctor finds the remains of humanity in deep suspended animation following a solar flare cataclysm which has rendered the Earth uninhabitable. He discovers that the station’s operating systems have been compromised by invading space insects called the Wirrn who plan to lay claim to the now-habitable Earth by transforming their sleeping human hosts into bugs like themselves.

Despite its shoestring budget, The Ark in Space is a gold-plated Doctor Who classic, a base-under-siege story in the show’s grand style, with a group of humans trapped in an enclosed environment and threatened by a hostile alien force, but more realistic and urgent than any that went before. This time, the threat isn’t a bunch of stuntmen in big green monster suits. The Wirrn are space locusts and they come with all the creepy trappings of insect infestation; a vicious grub on the loose, slime trails across the floor and even some Doctor Who-style body horror as the station’s revived commander, Noah, is transmogrified into a Wirrn courtesy of lots and lots of bubble wrap and a can of green paint. It’s a taut, well-written tale – Robert Holmes at close to his best – and there’s a stifling sense of isolation and claustrophobia in Roger Murray-Leach’s brilliantly designed sets which actually manage to give a sense of scale and size to the Nerva Beacon despite the mere pennies available to realise them. Freed from the show’s Earth-bound storylines, Tom Baker flies out from under Pertwee’s shadow and his performance here sees him getting the balance absolutely right between the Doctor as the hero and the Doctor as the unpredictable, slightly dangerous alien.

The Ark in Space was the launchpad for a whole new style of Doctor Who in the ’70s, the UNIT soldiers and rubber monsters of the previous era quickly left behind as the series, for a while at least, became proper science fiction with slightly higher ambitions than just sending the kids scurrying behind the sofa. This brilliant new 2-disc set – the latest in the BBC’s current run of special editions – finally does justice to one of the very best stories in the show’s history.

Extras: Audio Commentary/ ‘Making of’ documentary/ History of Doctor Who books documentary / Interview with the set designer / Footage of Tom Baker visiting Northern Ireland in the 1970s / Silent footage from filming of Baker’s debut ‘Robot’ / Trailers

Paul Mount

You May Also Like...

andy and barbara muschietti, aka the muschiettis, teaming with skydance for horror label nocturna

The Muschiettis Launch Horror Label NOCTURNA With Skydance

The It-team are joining forces with Skydance to launch a brand new horror division named Nocturna, THR reports. The brother-sister filmmaking duo known as the Muschiettis – Andy and Barbara
Read More
patty jenkins returns to the star wars film rogue squadron

Patty Jenkins Returns With STAR WARS’ ROGUE SQUADRON Film

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has given an encouraging update on what was presumed to be a dead project, stating that she’s back in active development on her Star Wars
Read More

Comic Book CAPITAL P Launched

Capital P Book One is the first part of a twelve-issue comic book maxi-series from writer Sam Gardner Jr and artist Jerome Canty. The official tag line is “A hero
Read More
neve campbell as sidney prescott in scream

Neve Campbell Returns To SCREAM Franchise

In an unexpected turn of events, Neve Campbell is confirmed to be returning to the Scream franchise, after several upsets to the production of Scream VII. It’s particularly surprising news
Read More

The First Trailer for THE CROW is Here

The highly anticipated remake of The Crow has its first trailer, which you can check out below. The film stars Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven and FKA Twigs as Shelly
Read More

Submit Your Film to THE RAY HARRYHAUSEN AWARDS

The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation is once again holding an awards programme to recognise excellence in the field of stop-motion effects. This year’s submission fees have also been reduced!
Read More