Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death (1970) - Written Review

Doctor Who was at the height of its popularity in the 1970s, with two of the most iconic Doctors and some of the most memorable stories and villains throughout the decade. Of course this means that many episodes are over-hyped and while most are four-parters, very early on at least the series preferred seven-part stories, such as Doctor Who and the Silurians, Inferno and the subject of today's review: The Ambassadors of Death.
If you're new to the classic series formula, I doubt you'd find much enjoyment out of this. It's definitely a product of its time, with the low production values hindering the episode from being as cinematic as it deserves, and its clearly been made to fit the seven-part structure as opposed to being a very long story in the first place. This does mean that most of the cliffhangers are quite poorly-executed, and the resolution is normally a little anti-climactic. The whole thing runs at 170 minutes long and at points it does feel it. As someone who is used to this formula though, I don't mind, and I have to admit that The Ambassadors of Death is much better paced than, say, The Daleks [AKA: The Dead Planet]. It's very dialogue-heavy, and there are a number of things which could have easily been cut but that somewhat adds to the charm of it all. It's such a shame then that such a long story gets resolved so quickly. The day is saved and The Doctor just leaves. It lacks much resolution to the story, and is almost a cliffhanger ending in itself!
The story also has the odd editing choice of cutting mid-way through the opening titles to show a recap of the end of the previous part, but it always feels out-of-place and you do wonder if it should have been a pre-credits scene. At first its a nice novelty but after a while that novelty wears thin.
The story itself, however, is a perfect example of early 70s Who where the main villains are in fact humans and the aliens have little presence. In The Ambassadors of Death, the aliens - unnamed in the serial - are actually good! Who'd of thought it? Of course this means that young children watching this get very few scary monster moments, though when they do occur they are suitably creepy. A scene involving companion Liz Shaw trapped in a radiation chamber with the titular Ambassadors is a definite highlight, and the sound design of the eerie breathing racks up the tension further.
Jon Pertwee commands the screen as per usual and there is a fun little scene to open a rather heavy story involving time travel - something the story only includes to help resolve a cliffhanger later on - and of course there is a wonderful 70s feel to it that just can't quite be matched.
Overall, The Ambassadors of Death is near-perfect 70s Who, with a great story, scary moments, a frankly bizarre score and plenty of nostalgic memories for those who watched the show at the time. It has its faults, I'll admit, but it does deserve a strong 9/10.