Doctor Who/Recap/S3/E09 The Savages

"Oppose you! Indeed I am going to oppose you - just as in the same way that I oppose the Daleks, or any other menace to common humanity!"

- The Doctor

Another Sci-fi staple here as an apparently utopian society hides a dark secret. In this case, the civilised, advanced Elders are remaining that way only by draining the life force of the other inhabitants of the planet, The Savages.

The Doctor is outraged, but powerless to intervene when some of his own life-force is drained by Jano, leader of the Elders. With it, however, Jano absorbs some of the Doctor's conscience and knowledge, and destroys the life-force transference lab.

Steven stays behind to become the leader of the newly-united Elders and Savages.

A reconstruction can be found here.

Tropes

 * Grand Theft Me: a novel variation. The Elders steal the "life energy" of the savages to improve themselves via "energy transfer". When they steal the Doctor's energy and test the results on Jano, he begins to talk and act like the Doctor, and even gains the Doctor's code of ethics. It was his intention to gain the Doctor's knowledge only, but he got a lot more in the bargain.
 * Human Resources
 * Lost Aesop - The advanced race was originally supposed to be played by actors in blackface (the story's original title was "The White Savages") as a parable about apartheid era South Africa. This got dropped except for the city's leader Jano.
 * Nubile Savage - Nanina, whose fur leotard could almost give Leela a run for her money.
 * Town with a Dark Secret
 * Utopia Justifies the Means
 * You Are in Command Now