47 Years Later, An Iconic Doctor Who Epic Relies On One Secret Weapon
Let’s talk about the “most important punch in history.”
The character actor Tom Chadbon has passed away at 80 years old. While Chadbon’s career was long and impressive, with appearances in more than one version of Sherlock Holmes, Game of Thrones, Blake’s 7 and more, for many sci-fi fans he is probably best remembered as Duggan, a private investigator from the legendary 1979 Doctor Who serial “City of Death,” written by Douglas Adams (under the pseudonym David Agnew). In “City of Death,” Duggan delivers the “most important punch in history” by knocking out an alien, and ensuring that the human race exists in the first place. Forty-seven years later, “City of Death” is not only a stand-out Doctor Who epic, thanks in large part to the whip-smart writing from Adams, but it’s also got the perfect guest companion.
Chadbon’s passing is a good enough reason to revisit this excellent serial, and what you’ll find when you do is just how essential his role is to the famous story. Without Duggan, this, perhaps the best of Tom Baker’s Who adventures, wouldn’t work at all.
Famously, “City of Death” deals with what seems to be an art heist story that reveals itself to be a truly timey wimey Who epic. The story finds the Doctor (Tom Baker) meeting Leonardo da Vinci, and, along with Time Lady Romana (Lalla Ward) and private detective Duggan (Chadbon), eventually ending up back in Earth’s prehistory, 400 million years prior. Contemporary Who fans will see many of the show’s tropes perfected here, including the idea of mixing a predestination paradox with the notion of one person getting fragmented into various versions throughout time. There’s also plenty of Douglas Adams whimsy here, as the primary goal of the alien known as Scaroth (Julian Glover) is mostly just to alter the entire course of history, all with the purpose of fixing one broken spacecraft and getting the hell off the planet.
Perfectly paced, with plenty of humor mixed with slick plot twists, “City of Death” also relies on Duggan to provide the Doctor with much-needed muscle. In Parts 1 and 2 of “City of Death,” the Doctor admonishes Duggan every time the detective punches somebody out or throws his body into the fray. And yet, in Part 4, when Duggan punches out Scaroth, the human race is saved, and the day is won. The writing trick from Adams here is a clever misdirection: From the very beginning, this guest character — who is not the regular companion of the Doctor — is blundering around, knocking down brick walls, breaking glass, breaking bottles, and brandishing antique chairs. Romana and the Doctor are annoyed at Duggan’s simple, brutish ways, but, in terms of the nitty-gritty of the plot, nothing in the episode could happen without him, nor could the episode reach its unexpected but inevitable conclusion.
Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, and Tom Chadbon in “City of Death.”
Duggan is, in another type of story, like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark during the famous scene with the sword fighter; he’s too tired for anything fancy, so he just shoots his gun. Fans know that this is the opposite of the ethos of Doctor Who, and from William Hartnell to Ncuti Gatwa, the Doctor loves to eschew brutality. But, just like the 7th Doctor needed Ace and her explosives, or the 9th Doctor needed Captain Jack and his sonic pistol, Duggan is the muscle that drives the action of this Who story, and gives the entire caper a bit of a pulpy quality.
Without Duggan and Tom Chadbon’s straightforward, workman-like performance, nothing in “City of Death” would make sense. It’s a reminder that even the quirkiest sci-fi stories need straightforward action, and that sometimes clever TV writing can cut both ways. “City of Death” lets the Doctor remain the Doctor and keep his ethics and morals, while he and Romana get to mock Duggan throughout all four episodes. But, in the end, Adams makes Duggan the true hero of “City of Death,” turning the butt of a running joke into a moment of triumph.
