The Faceless Ones

When The Faceless Ones was announced as the next exciting animation project from BBC Studios, a secret little bit of me thought, “Oh no, not that one?” It’s a show that has never been hailed as a classic. It’s not even much talked about. Indeed, its matters of interest to the roving fan are usually summed up in one sentence: It’s the one at Gatwick Airport where Ben and Polly leave cackhandedly. It’s just possible that an early appearance from Pauline Collins could liven up this tale’s reputation and sense of invitation but even then, discussion usually reverts to talk of her now sadly absent millinery stylings. There’s a paucity of publicity photos related to the story and the aliens are one of the show’s least visible, least celebrated examples. Was this a fair summation of the merits of The Faceless Ones? A rightly forgotten, average 60s tale not even visibly promoted by its makers at the time? Or was the animation set to suddenly reveal a hitherto unnoticed classic? The answer, as is so often the case, lies somewhere in between.

The first thing most obviously noticeable about The Faceless Ones is the insane pace of the first ten minutes. It makes no bones about setting up what will be the status quo for the next four episodes. Polly is captured, the Commandant established, the Chameleon Tours boys are definitely wrong ‘uns. There’s an escape-from-a-landing-plane, a police chase, a very quick murder, a kidnapping and some verbal-sparring all in the first third of the episode. There’s a looming sense of dread-mystery hanging over this almost-noir suspense thriller of a first episode. Watching the Chameleon Tours men escort their bandaged patient through Departures is the stuff of classic film and puts one in mind of The Invisible Man. The final shot of the episode and the alien, its back to us, is a true spine-tingler and that moment, along with the eerily beautiful climax of Episode Four mark the story’s pinnacles.

However, once the status quo is established, its writers David Ellis and the usually reliable Malcolm Hulke, don’t really know what to do with it. There are repetitive scenes in the bland sets which really start to test the patience. When in Episode Three, the irritating Commandant asks yet again for the Doctor’s passport, there’s a definite feeling of treading water and we ache for the story to move into second gear. The self-imposed obstructions, such as the dratted passport business or Samantha Briggs being essentially put on hold by everyone she speaks to, hinder the narrative progress and there’s a feeling that very little of value is being learned in the time available. The mysteries are not enough to sustain themselves and their answers – when they come - are fairly facile. The Chameleons believe themselves to be the cleverest species in the universe, but they are easily taken in by the Doctor’s tricks and haven’t considered that a car park full of comatose youngsters might attract attention. They bicker like children and have formed petty cliques amongst themselves. They hardly behave in the most intelligent manner. But then again, neither do the relatives of any of the 50,000 missing passengers, excepting Samantha.

The story does pick up when we reach the Chameleon spaceship but even then, the irritating ambient sound, like a wet finger on a wine glass, evaporates any tension that might be had aboard the celestial vessel. Take the Episode Five cliffhanger: finally, the Doctor is face-to-faceless with his aggressors and… it’s all just so irredeemably flat. Donald Pickering delivers a disengaged vocal performance (presumably predicting that one day he’d have a cartoon face with as much expression to match), alongside another clearly uninspired Bernard Kay, for some reason equating Scotland Yard with a rubbish Scots accent, which he never loses even as the Chameleon Director, despite the fact that Jamie loses his rubbish Scots accent. The overthrow of the Chameleons however is in fact an uncharacteristically mature engagement with the alien menace for Doctor Who, putting intelligence and care at the centre of the winning formula. Lots happens in Episode Six, meaning that the otherwise slow-burner is bookended by two fast-paced instalments which work far better than the tepid remainder.

What The Faceless Ones does do particularly well is make the Doctor the star of the show. This is perhaps the first story to feature Patrick Troughton as we remember him nowadays, butting heads with officials, scheming whilst playing the clown and showing a certainty of tone, tightrope walking his mercurial balance between humour and tension. He is, in short, magnificent here and acts his co-stars into a corner. The only person to come out of this with as much dignity intact is Wanda Ventham. It’s certainly not the unceremoniously dumped Ben and Polly, who do at least enjoy a touching farewell which ends the story on a high note.

The animation itself is perhaps not quite as immediately impressive as The Macra Terror last year but it has far less scope to work with and a more difficult job. Unlike Macra with its alien colony interiors, outdoor terrain and gloomy mineshafts, this story’s sets are simple, sparse and dull – a series of grey box rooms. We also spend lots of time in each of them and it’s to the animators’ credits that they manage to avoid the pictures feeling as repetitive as the dialogue. Character models are strong (and we have a far better Polly!) although if I have a slight niggle it’s that the haircuts look rather like hats, wobbling atop the jaunty heads. Frankly though, this level of animation was far beyond my imagination even five years ago. Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable. I can’t quite believe I have four ways to watch The Faceless Ones, a story perhaps less deserving than most to have enjoyed the treatment. Now, I did notice a Leatherman van in Episode One. Is there just a chance that this animation crew have been prepping The Evil of the Daleks too? Now, that might elicit a rather different response on announcement: “Oh yes, it’s that one!”

For now though, I’ve got three more ways to watch The Faceless Ones and even though it might be a rough diamond, there are still many elements to enjoy, not least the faultless Patrick Troughton. Dare we imagine that one day, perhaps soon, we’ll be able to watch, nay marathon, the whole of his era? We can hope!

6/10

JH