Mon 2 Jan 2017
A Movie Review by Jonathan Lewis: DOOMWATCH (1972).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[6] Comments
DOOMWATCH. Tigon Films, UK, 1972. Released in the US as Island of the Ghouls, AVCO Embassy Pictures, 1976. Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson, John Paul, Simon Oates, Jean Trend, George Sanders. Screenwriters: Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis. Director: Peter Sasdy.
Based on the popular BBC television series of the same name, Doomwatch follows the work of the eponymous fictional British government scientific agency tasked with investigating environmental threats. In this feature length theatrical release from Tigon British Film Productions, actors John Paul and Simon Oates reprise their roles as Dr. Spencer Quist and Dr. John Ridge, respectively.
But the star of the proceedings is Scottish actor Ian Bannen who portrays Dr. Del Shaw, an intense man who doesn’t easily take no for an answer when it comes to his investigations. The plot follows Dr. Shaw as he probes into strange goings on occurring on Balfe, an isolated island off Cornwall. Initially sent there by Doomwatch to investigate pollution, he soon discovers that the islanders are not only an odd, insular sort, but also that they are hiding something dark and disturbing. His suspicions are readily confirmed when he encounters a dog that is unusually violent and a child’s body buried in a local forest.
But what is really happening on Balfe? The locals seem to believe that somehow they are the victims of a cosmic hex or divine judgment.
Good scientist that he is, Shaw thinks this is just superstitious and religious hokum. So he enlists schoolteacher Victoria Brown (Judy Geeson), an outsider to the island community who has been working as an educator there, to find out why the townsfolk are so darn secretive.
As it turns out, the mystery itself is more captivating than the ultimate revelation. [SPOILER ALERT.] Many of the islanders are suffering from a disease caused by exposure to a toxic stew of chemicals and radioactive waste dumped in the local fishing grounds by an unscrupulous waste disposal company and the British Navy. This is nothing remotely supernatural happening on Balfe. Just all too human behavior: fear in the face of human villainy and greed.
January 2nd, 2017 at 5:09 pm
I should mention that, even though it was a theatrical release, it very much feels like a made for TV movie.
January 2nd, 2017 at 8:24 pm
The novelization by the screenwriters was unusually well done as well.
January 3rd, 2017 at 2:22 am
David: The novelization?! I had no idea that there was one! I’m a bit of DOOMWATCH fan, and I have the three novels done by Pedler/David during the ’70s, but this one is new to me. Could you give me a bit more info, as I’m really excited now.
January 3rd, 2017 at 9:48 am
This must be it:
Doomwatch : the world in danger /​ based on 3 stories from the B.B.C. television series by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis ; edited by Gordon Walsh.
Published
London : Longman, 1975.
Physical Description
90 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.
January 3rd, 2017 at 9:52 am
Unless perhaps this reference on Wikipedia is what David has in mind:
“Pedler and Davis re-used the plot of the first episode of the series, The Plastic Eaters, for their 1971 novel Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater, although this was not officially a Doomwatch novel and did not contain the characters from the series. The book also re-used the Radio Times cover photograph of a melted plastic aeroplane in a briefcase.”
And here’s more on the previous book:
“In 1975, Longman Education published Doomwatch – The World in Danger, a simplified adaptation of the episodes The Plastic Eaters, The Red Sky, and Survival Code.”
January 3rd, 2017 at 12:05 pm
I have MUTANT:59 and BRAINRACK and THE DYNOSTAR MENACE, plus the Longman book. The way that David phrased it, I thought that he was talking about a novelisation of the movie version rather than these other books. BRAINRACK includes a segment where a nuclear power station in the Orkney Islands goes critical and the islanders have to be evacuated, which does read quite like elements of the movie. The TV series yielded very little in the way of spin-offs at the time, which is rather strange as it was very popular. If there was a tie-in novelisation for the film it would be a major discovery for the fans.