Doctor Who: The Savages

by Ian Stuart Black, William Hartnell (Narrator), Peter Purves (Narrator)

When the TARDIS materialises on an alien planet, the Doctor insists that he and his companions have arrived in the far future. Steven and Dodo think otherwise, however, after they encounter a band of cave-dwelling primitives who are terrified of strangers. The travellers soon discover that the planet's population is divided into two castes, and that the professed idyll of the Elders — who inhabit a technologically advanced city — seems oddly dependent upon the unsophisticated Savages.

Whilst the Elders' leader, Jano, welcomes the Doctor into their society, Dodo stumbles upon a dark secret at the heart of the community. The truth behind the Elders' great knowledge is eventually revealed, and the Doctor sees it as his duty to end a terrible case of exploitation. Yet Jano has plans of his own for the Doctor...

With the Doctor's faithful companion Steven discovering that events on this planet will irrevocably shape his destiny, The Savages marks the final appearance in the programme of Peter Purves, who also provides the linking narration for this release.

William Hartnell stars as the First Doctor in this exclusive recording of a 'lost' television adventure, with linking narration by Peter Purves.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

2 pages, Audio CD

First published June 18, 1966

About the author

Ian Stuart Black was a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Both his 1959 novel In the Wake of a Stranger and his 1962 novel about the Cyprus emergency The High Bright Sun were made into films, Black writing the screenplays in each case.

He also wrote scripts for several British television programmes from the 1950s to the 1970s, including The Invisible Man and Sir Francis Drake (for which he was also story editor), as well as Danger Man (on which he served as associate producer) and Star Maidens.

In addition, he wrote three stories for Doctor Who in 1965 and 1966. These stories were The Savages and The War Machines (with Kit Pedler and Pat Dunlop) for William Hartnell's Doctor; and The Macra Terror for Patrick Troughton. He novelised all three stories for Target Books.

His final credit was for a half-hour supernatural drama called House of Glass, which was made by Television South in 1991.

He was the father of actress Isobel Black.

Reviews

[Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adventure with Steven and Dodo. Reading/listening through the First Doctor's works that I can find, is educational. I know so very little about Hartnell's tenure; I had no idea he had other companions other than his granddaughter and the two teachers.

This is another case of Doctor fighting for the rights of the under-dog, the maligned, and disenfranchised. In the midst of listening, I realized how much the series did color my own perceptions about how Life should be.
The title speaks to the name of a group within the show, yet, serves as a clever reminder of 'who IS the savage?'.
Having an upper class dependent upon a lower class first reminded me of Time Machine, then morphed into Dark Crystal for 'draining the life' from them. I liked the twist when they performed on the Doctor.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun radio drama!

[David Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a particularly interesting story which perhaps touches on deeper significance. This lost episode has a unique setting that contrasts an advanced civilization with "the savages" who live in caves. Since I experienced this by audio without accompanying visuals it was initially unclear if the story intended to portray social commentary on race as a conversation ahead of its time. Through additional research I find the original title "The White Savages" puts a twist on this morality tale. It is possible that the Sci-Fi theme was able to slip a criticism of British Imperialisim to air on the BBC. This adventure has important themes which deserve to be discussed and I hope this surviving recording can be adapted into new recreations so that the earliest anti-racist episode of Doctor Who can be brought to light. Delightful depth and intriguing story!

[Candyce Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this is your first introduction to the Doctor Who universe and accompanying mythos, I'm not sure that you're going to enjoy it very much. Translating the soundtrack from a multi-part television show, a heavily visual medium, into an audiobook, or to be more apt a radio-type program, isn't very seamless. A narrator provides audio descriptions of the some of the visual elements we're missing from the audio version, but the narrator was not ideal, to be honest, and is the reason for the reduction of a star in my rating.

If you have already seen the episodes or already have quite a bit of nostalgia for Doctor Who, then you'll love this, but it wouldn't be a good introduction otherwise.

[Margaret Massey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought that this story might have aged badly, given the title, but I needn't have worried. Outstanding story dealing with the evils of apartheid. An absolute tour de force from William Hartnell , particularly in Episode 2, where he rails against the system. Great performance from the Jano character actor too, when he possesses the Doctor's life force.