“Survival” is the last adventure of the twentysixth season and the “Doctor Who” classic series series finale which aired in 1989. It follows “The Curse of Fenric” and it’s a three parts adventure written by Rona Munro and directed by Alan Wareing.

The story

The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) brings Ace (Sophie Aldred) to Perivale, where she grew up. That London suburb has never been particularly welcoming and vital but the situation seems to have become even worse. Ace tries to contact her old friends but most of them seems to have recently disappeared and noone knows what happened to them.

The Doctor notices a strange black cat and tries to follow it in order to understand if it’s connected with the strange disappearances. Ace is pursued by a strange feline creature appeared out of nowhere that teleports her to another planet where the Master is controlling its inhabitants for his own purposes.

Extras

This DVD is rich in extras: in fact it’s a 2-DVD edition though the adventure is composed of three pats and there’s no Special Edition. There are typical contents such as production subtitles, the Radio Times Billings and a gallery of pictures from this adventure.

There are comments in the adventure alternative audio track by protagonists Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred and script editor Andrew Cartmel.

Cat Flap – The Making of Survival. A documentary in two parts for a total of about an hour about the production of this adventure.

Deleted and Extended Scenes. Over nine-minute of scenes cut in part or completely in the editing stage.

Out-takes. Some moments recorded during the production of this adventure.

Continuities. Several of the original BBC promos for this adventure.

5.1 Sound. The option to activate a new soundtrack composed by Mark Ayres in its Dolby Digital 5.1 version.

Music-only Option. The option to watch this adventure with the soundtrack in an isolated audio track.

Endgame. A documentary almost 45 minutes long explaining the reasons why the classic “Doctor Who” series was canceled. It includes the explanation given by Peter Cregeen, the BBC executive who in fact was responsible for that act.

Search Out Science. A 1990 school program with the Doctor and Ace.

Little Girl Lost. A retrospective on the developments of the character of Ace through the adventures she was part of.

Destiny of the Doctors. Anthony Ainley’s last appearance in the role of the Master in a 1997 video game.

Script editor Andrew Cartmel met Rona Munro at a BBC workshop for writers and when he discovered her enthusiasm for “Doctor Who” he invited her to submit her ideas for an adventure. Munro proposed the concept of the Cheetah people, which pleased Cartmel and producer John Nathan-Turner, who asked her to also include the Master in the story that became “Survival”.

The theme of Darwinism and survival of the fittest was already covered in “Ghost Light“, in “Survival” the so-called Social Darwinism is shown with the mistake of interpreting the Darwinian concept as the survival of the strongest or at least of the best fighter.

The story isn’t very subtle in showing Paterson, a self-defense instructor convinced that in this world we must be able to fight to survive. Once transported to the world of the Cheetah people, Paterson seems really inadequate for the situation. Things go better to the Master, who is ruthless but uses his intelligence to fight, but on the planet of the Cheetah people he gets contaminated by their ferocity.

This new element adds something to the Master, who in the ’80s had been rather one-dimensional in his appearances as a megalomaniac in search for the absolute power and a vendetta against the Doctor. In “Survival” the Master must first control himself and the feral instincts acquired on the Cheetah planet and this makes him a strong element of this adventure.

The contrast between the Master and the Doctor is stronger than ever. In “Survival” there are moments in which Sylvester McCoy’s performance is over the top and yet I find the moment when he screams: “If we fight like animals, we’ll die like animals!” really effective. Even for the most manipulating Doctor it’s difficult to maintain control of a situation in which a feral instinct seems to take over.

If the story isn’t very subtle maybe it’s because three episodes weren’t enough to develop it properly. There are several unclear elements such as the exact relationship between the Cheetah people and their planet and an explanation of their ability to teleport to Earth. There’s some reference to the history of the planet, but too little.

“Survival” also has some other flaws, such as the use of an unconvincing mechanical cat, the motorcycle duel and the fact that the Cheetah people don’t really look threatening. On the other hand, their planet has an impressive sky, definitely one of the best special effects seen in the classic “Doctor Who” series.

“Survival” is the third adventure in the trilogy dedicated to Ace, who in this case is back to her origins. In this case, she must also deal with her dark side, made stronger when she’s contaminated on the Cheetah planet. Ace has changed since she’s been taken away from Perivale and you can see it when she meets her old friends again on the Cheetah planet and she’s much more prepared than them to face the situation.

“Survival” is the final adventure in the classic “Doctor Who” series, although it wasn’t the last one filmed. When producer John Nathan-Turner discovered that the series would’ve been suspended indefinitely, he had Sylvester McCoy record the monologue that was dubbed over the closing scene.

For years “Doctor Who” had been a source of embarrassment for the BBC executives, who had tolerated it only as long as the series had a good audience. In the course of the ’80s they strangled it with budget constraints and shifts in the schedule. The mini-DVD box set also offers a comprehensive explanation on the way in which the series was brought to its suspension.

The last season of the classic “Doctor Who” series was of good quality despite everything but the audience was no longer that of the good times. However, there was still a fan base and in subsequent years many novels related to the series were published. In 1996 a TV movie was produced, although its quality wasn’t exactly excellent, and Big Finish started producing audio adventures.

In 2005, a new “Doctor Who” TV series started and its big success among old and new fans proves that the problem was within the BBC. The Doctor regenerates but never really dies.

Despite its flaws, I think “Survival” is a good adventure and the extras in the DVDs are really interesting for the many information they provide about the end of the classic “Doctor Who” series. Especially for the historical importance of the events related to this adventure I think this mini-box set is a must-have for anyone interested in the series.