Doctor Who review: Charles Darwin meets the Silurians in Bloodtide
By James Aggas
The Sixth Doctor meets a young Charles Darwin and encounters the Silurians once again, in the classic Doctor Who audio Bloodtide…
After watching the Doctor’s first encounter with Homo Reptilia in Doctor Who and the Silurians, I wanted to revisit another adventure featuring the iconic monsters. Not The Sea Devils, as I plan to watch that as a part of my ongoing re-watch of Jon Pertwee’s classic stories. And definitely not Warriors of the Deep, which is definitely their weakest story on-screen.
Instead, I had a re-listen to the very early Big Finish audio Bloodtide. Featuring the Sixth Doctor and his companion Evelyn Smythe, it features the two arriving on the Galapagos Islands in the nineteenth century. Not only do they encounter a group of Silurians that have reawakened on one of the islands, but Evelyn also meets one of her heroes: Charles Darwin…
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin and the Silurians. This is such a New Series idea for a historical that it’s amazing to think this was made almost four years before. That’s not a criticism, just a comment that historicals in the New Series (a) always have a “celebrity” historical figure, and (b) feature either a monster or something more sci-fi than just the time travelers themselves. (Although admittedly, that was true for many historicals of the Classic Series after the Sixties.)
Unsurprisingly, there’s as much of a focus on Darwin himself as there is on the Silurians. Darwin meeting these iconic Doctor Who monsters is a brilliant idea, particularly as it’s just when he’s discovering the idea of evolution.
Miles Richardson does an absolutely brilliant job as Darwin. Through Jonathan Morris’s excellent script (the first he wrote for Big Finish, in fact), Richardson clearly gets across the image of a man who is discovering new thoughts and ideas at the price of his faith.
Overall, the Silurians are used rather well in Bloodtide.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
The Silurians
As for the Silurians themselves, Morris handles them rather well. They’re clearly the monsters of the story, but they still retain an element of their complexity, particularly with Tulok. It’s made clear from the very start of the story that his views are dangerous, even for his own race.
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Morris’s story also introduces us to a few new elements of Silurian mythology, such as their distinct connection to humanity. At the same time, Morris also improves on some old ideas, too. Ideas that may not have worked so well on television, but work much better on audio. One in particular is used rather effectively as the story’s second cliffhanger…
Bloodtide is an audio that balances a good monster story with some interesting exploration of evolution. How Charles Darwin is portrayed and how he came to discover such ideas is handled particularly well. While the Silurians do have a key role in the story, they don’t overshadow Darwin’s natural genius. An early Big Finish story that still holds up extremely well.
Next. The original Silurian story is still the best. dark
Have you listened to Bloodtide? What did you think of it as a Silurian story? Do you think Charles Darwin should appear in a TV story? Let us know in the comments below.