Doomwatch (1972) – 88 Films’ Tigon Collection

Director: Peter Sasdy
Screenplay: Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis, Clive Exton
Starring: Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson, John Paul, Simon Oates, Jean Trend, Joby Blanchard, George Sanders, Percy Hebert, Shelagh Fraser, Geoffrey Keen
Year: 1972
Country: United Kingdom
BBFC Certification: 12 (formerly A)
Duration: 92 mins

On a remote coastal island, strange behaviour amongst the locals coincides with the dispatch from government eco-monitoring agency Doomwatch of Dr. Del Shaw (Ian Bannen) to investigate possible side effects from a tanker spill. Upon arrival in the village, he finds the locals absolutely set against the outside world and him as the representative of it. However, the secrets of the village start to reveal themselves to Shaw, eventually with the aid of schoolteacher Victoria Brown (Judy Geeson), while the regular Doomwatch team work from their lab to find the scientific evidence for what is changing the villagers into something that looks inhuman…

The TV show Doomwatch is arguably one of the last of a list of fine telefantasy/retro-SF series awaiting a rehabilitation or further remake (Channel 5 had a go with a 1999 TV movie written by SF/fantasy writer Ian McDonald). While only lasting a few seasons (1970-2), and now best known for ambitious but poor special effects (this was the era of Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor, with the brightly-lit shot-on-video contrasting strongly with shot-on-film exteriors, plus the overuse of Chroma-key for special effects) – most fans of classic Brit genre telly can talk about the awful chroma-key done around a ‘giant’ rat rather than the show as a whole – it actually sets a template far more in keeping with The X-Files (Jean Trend’s Dr. Fay Chantry, also glimpsed in this film version, is very Scully-esque) and more recently Eleventh Hour (both the UK and US versions). From the brilliant minds of Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, creators of the Cybermen for Doctor Who, Doomwatch allowed them to push out the boat on science vs. bureaucratic SNAFUs and corporate malfeasance, focused on environmental issues. Modern viewers may find both the effects and the science laughable now, but this was SCIENCE fiction, starting from real world ideas to then speculatively push into entertaining avenues.

While this is more a Tigon feature than a proper Doomwatch film, it still holds an honourable place in the pantheon of British TV series-based features (e.g. Quatermass 1-3, The Sweeney 1 and 2, Porridge), resolutely avoiding the usual pitfalls of the ‘extended episode’ with new leads, better effects work and good location work, while still being hampered by budget in a manner not a million miles away from the TV show. New Doomwatch member Dr Del Shaw is introduced without fanfare, and while the faces familiar to the audience are woven into the narrative, the film rests on Bannen’s shoulders, and he rises to the occasion as a driven but sympathetic lead character, ideals tempered by realism yet still full of anger at those who would cause harm to innocents through incompetence or greed. I would have happily watched a sequel with him. Meanwhile, Drs Quist, Ridge, Chantry and Mr Bradley are re-moulded here as ‘backroom boys’ rather than the leads, although their interplay is the same as in the series, in particular John Paul’s superb Quist. For me, he’s up there with Quatermass, Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes and John Steed as a classic British hero, a combination of passion, intelligence, ethics and a sense of justice rooted in that most English of notions, ‘fair play’, and I wish he had had more to do in this film. He still makes his presence felt, however, magnetic in every scene he’s in.

The islanders are a classic British folk horror bunch, but the film is careful not to vilify or sneer at them. Shaw is frustrated by the vicar, the policeman, the bar lady and the schoolteacher in his initial attempts to fulfil his brief, all traditional stalwarts of a British village, representatives of some sort of authority. One of the two most famous faces in the film, Judy Geeson plays the teacher, a fellow mainlander but who has embedded more into the village and at first keeps Shaw at a distance from both the villagers and herself. Almost too late she becomes his ally.

While the film has the good sense to move between the village, Doomwatch HQ, Naval Command (where we see the other famous face, George Sanders, as the Admiral), individual corporate sites and underwater investigations, and starts to really move once a clearer idea of what afflicts the villagers and a potential cause for it, the thing that hampers greater development of tension is the tendency of the film to pull back from each suspenseful encounter. Shaw discovers a body in the woods, but the moment the policeman agrees to return with him we know it will be missing. Lovely compositions indoors with afflicted villagers in the shadows or off camera talking to their loved ones, the latters’ acting conveying the horror, almost never lead to any kind of reveal or scary glimpse that might hint at the deformities developing. It’s hard to say if this is the fault of the script, the director (who is featured in the extras) or the limits of shooting time and budget, but the film only feels like it really takes off in the final ten minutes or so. The wonderful score by 60s rock & jazz musician John Scott does a lot of the heavy lifting in that sense, but is strong in and of itself. The ending is grown-up, saddening, and a tad cynical, in the best way possible, and that redeems much of the preceding longueurs.

Director Peter Sasdy (well known for his Hammer work as well as other classics of telefantasy such as The Stone Tape and Return of the Saint) expresses pride in the many aspects of the film in his video introduction, as do various surviving crew members featured in the BTS doc, and deservedly so. Sadly it never quite takes off the way the best episodes of the series did, and so never launched a big screen franchise. One thing it does make clear is that, if shot entirely on film, Quist and co. would be far better remembered in cult TV circles than is the case now. That said, looking at the world outside my window as I write, with tornado warnings in Bedfordshire, torrential rain and flooding across the U.K., dumping of raw sewage into our coastal waters and rivers, fracking, and so much more, I wish a Doomwatch agency existed led by someone as driven as Dr. Quist with a Dr. Shaw out there confronting bureaucrats, industrialists and unscrupulous traders.

Doomwatch is released on a BD-25 Blu-ray by 88 Films as part of their Tigon Collection as of this week (commencing 30/09/2024). The 1080p HD video and original uncompressed 2.0 monaural soundtrack audio are probably as good as this will ever look, even as it is fuzzy with thick grain and quite soft in places because of that. Colours however are generally very good, as are textures – the seventies wool and corduroy in particular stand out.

Given we received a check disk only, we can’t comment on the sleeve and poster. However, the video introduction, interview with series regular Trend and BTS featurette are first-class, reminding us that the show was a prime-time success in its initial run, with professionals enthused to work on a feature adap. Trend expresses what I am sure many fans of the show will have felt about seeing the regular team narratively sidelined, but has happy memories of filming and meeting the new stars. Both Trend and Sasdy express a sense of sort of sad pride that Doomwatch was ahead of its time, and it is hard not to agree.
Sasdy goes into further detail about the shoot and his direction in his commentary, and this pairs nicely with experts/fans Kim Newman and Sean Hogan teaming up on the other. As with other commentators that Newman has recorded with regularly (Alan Jones, Stephen Jones, Barry Forshaw), this release shows that he and Hogan will not be running out of steam any time soon on any label’s release, entertaining and informing us to their usual high standard. I cannot express what a joy it is to see the names of these commentators on an upcoming release, as it’s a guarantee of a good time. All in all, just the right amount of high quality extras for such a film.

Where to watch Doomwatch (1972)