Tales of the TARDIS

 Obviously I haven’t watched the omnibus versions of all these old Doctor Who stories I’ve seen countless times before, just the fabulous new scenes at the beginning and ends. So I’ll say only that the whole omnibus thing makes me nostalgic for the old days of BBC video. Also, The Mind Robber and The Time Meddler have never looked so good. And I’m pleased to see the extended cut was used for The Curse of Fenric.

Earthshock

“Oh, you got old.”

"You didn't."

Of course, we saw Tegan and the Fifth Doctor interact briefly in The Power of the Doctor and ditto for the Seventh Doctor and Ace. These pairings therefore make sense, and this and The Curse of Fenric are the obvious story choices for each respective pairing: bloody good, but also emotionally resonant for the characters. 

So what's going on? This first instalment has to do a bit of exposition on what a "Memory TARDIS" is- part of the TARDIS, although perhaps not a physical location as such. It feeds on memories, so a story has to be told. Wisely, it's all kept a bit vague, and at this point we simplyhandwave over how the Doctor looks visibly older than he was when we saw him succumb to Spectrox Toxaemia with all those heads whizzing around him.

We end with some nicely meta commentary as the two of them mourn Adric. "He loved you", insists Tegan, to which the Doctor responds "Yes, I realise that now." The characters are pretty much acknowledging that the episodic nature of the series back in those days didn't really allow for prolonged dwelling on the characters and their development- but it's not too late to remedy that. It's a lovely sentiment.

We also learn more about what Tegan went on to do, as with many former companions: campaign for environmental causes. Are you listening, Sunak?

The Mind Robber

"I think we're in Heaven."

"I hope not. I'm a very busy woman."

This one was absolutely necessary- the theft of Jamie and Zoe's memories by the Time Lords in The War Games was a truly monstrous crime. It's been left very late in the characters' lives, but at last that great wrong can be righted.

We learn that they've both led good lives- Jamie has fathered a massive family, while Zoe is now president. This one is just vibes, really, but it's lovely. And the chemistry between the actors is as wonderful as ever.

Vengeance on Varos

"The twenty-first century- it feels a lot like Varos."

Both Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are great here but... is it me, or is the chemistry not quite there? Regardless, this one is perhaps not so successful as the others, for reasons that are not really its fault. The decision to have Peri get married to barbarian king Yrcanos was always an outrage, a shameful treatment of a character who had meant so much. RTD has no choice but to spin this as Peri having achieved great things as a "Warrior Queen", but this isn't enough to wash away the sins of his prdedecessors within that very, very dysfunctional Doctor Who office of 1986. Nothing could.

It's good to see the Sixth Doctor rather less garishly dressed, though. It's also heartwarming to see them both resolve to go travelling again, though. So a Memory TARDIS can travel through time and space, maybe...

The Three Doctors

"Did you love him?"

Katy Manning is, of course, the obvious choice here, but who to pair her with? The only real choices from the era would have been John Levene or Richard Franklin and... yeah. So Daniel Anthony as Clyde Langer is the perfect choice. We get a bit more closure on The Sarah Jane Adventures: Clyde is a successful comic book creator; Luke and Sanjay are astronauts; Rani is an activist, like Tegan and Ace.

There's real heart to this one. A recently bereaved Jo is mourning her Cliff, and in a mood not to allow Clyde to miss his own chance for love. RTD does this sort of character stuff very well indeed, and it works.

The Time Meddler

"I mean, can you imagine the Doctor wearing something like this?"

The above is the best joke in all six of these, with Steven commenting on what we know to be the Sixth Doctor's inimitable fashion sense.

And this one is absolutely the best of the lot. Peter Purves is superb but Maureen O'Brien is absolutely wonderful. A couple of years may have passed but she is still absolutely, utterly, brilliantly Vicki, and a real joy.

Both of them are grandparents. Steven is a king. Yet Vicki's departure in The Myth Makers, while not the Peri level of bad, was pretty appalling, a girl from the twenty-fifth century settling in the time just after the Trojan Wars, a time with few creature comforts and much violence and hardships. But RTD very much emphasises that she's had a happy life regardless, and O'Brien's performance convinces us.

I love the ending, a nice touch.

The Curse of Fenric

"Time streams are funny things. In some, I regenerate. In others, I don't."

The above quote, I suppose, is the best we're going to get in terms of explaining why all these Doctors look visibly older. Best not to ask too many questions, I feel.

This one follows on nicely from The Power of the Doctor, and both characters get closure, with the Seventh Doctor admitting that his manipulations would, yust veeery occasionally, you understand, go a little bit too far. I love the revelation that Ace used to see her nan- Kathleen Dudman- in the nursing home. And yes... the Doctor was always a father figure to her.

So off they go on one more journey. This one was wonderful.

So there we are. Just a few minutes per story, yes, but the sort of nice little character moments that Doctor Who coudn't really do when it consisted of twenty-five minute serialised episodes. It's surprising how much of a delight this all is, considering that it isn't much material. But this is whetting my appetite nicely. I trust RTD.

Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

Temple of Secrets

"Oh, but you have killed this poor fellow!"

"Yes, but in your name!"


It's clear from the start that we're in for a treat as the dialogue between Achilles and Hector is very funny indeed, as is the dialogue for the entire story. Odysseus is also great, cynical yet likeable, and a very contemporary interpretation of the character. I've always thought the comedy style of this episode to have a lot in common with the Beyond the Fringe, satire boom type comedy of the early to mid 60s. The treatment of the Trojan War here is very much the sort of thing I'd expect Pete, Dud and the other two to come up with, and there's no higher praise than that.

Basically, I'm going to spend this entire post gushing.

It's a very cynical yet also very modern view of war and "honour" we get here, with short shrift being given to any conception of war being at all glorious or honourable. Most of the characters are either cowards or fools. Even Menelaus isn't even that bothered about Helen's adultery; "If you must know I was heartily glad to see the back of her."

Already we can see that Hartnell is going to shine, as he always does in these types of stories.

Small Prophet, Quick Return

"Now don't be frightened, child. You shall die when I say so and not a moment before."


The Trojans turn out to be just as entertaining as the Greeks, and Max Adrian is excellent. In fact, the overall quality of the guest cast is exceptional throughout the story.

We "see" Vicki in the TARDIS wardrobe room- it's first "appearance". Oh, for some actual footage! And not for the first time, Vicki doesn't leave the TARDIS until some way into episode two.

The scene where Odysseus interrogates the Doctor and Steven is actually quite clever. For a start, he actually believes them when they tell him they're time travellers, both confounding our expectations and leaving us in no doubt that he's an extremely clever man underneath the cynicism. And although we already know what Odysseus' condition is going to be, and the plan the Doctor's going to inevitably come up with, the script milks our foreknowledge for maximum comic effect.

The scenes in Troy also sparkle, with the relationships between Priam, Paris and Cassandra being sketched out very economically through dialogue which also happens to be extremely witty: "You get back to the war. If you've not killed Achilles by nightfall I shall be seriously displeased". Priam's summing up of Cassandra, as having to predict the worst at all times as a sort of insurance policy to give her the "I told you so" factor at all times, is at the same time witty, accurate and dripping with dramatic irony.

The ensuing scene, with Paris very quietly shouting for Achilles and having to fight Steven is my favourite part of the story: "Well, I say, this sort of thing id just not done. Surely you'd rather die than be taken prisoner?"

A very effective cliffhanger, made all the more so by a very alarming title for the next episode.

Death of a Spy

"Woe to the House of Priam! Woe to the Trojans!"

"I think it's a bit late to say 'whoa' to the horse..."


Frances White is great as Casssandra, playing the character absolutely straight and being all the funnier for it. You can see why the Trojans pay her no attention.

It's nice to see the budding relationship between Vicki and Troilus getting some prior development, although it never quite seems convincing. There's nothing wrong with the way it's written or performed here, but it would have been nice to have some foreshadowing in earlier stories of Vicki's imminent departure.

Interesting line for a family show: "Upon my soul, you're making me as nervous as a Baccante at her first orgy"!

Horse of Destruction

"To be a prisoner of war is considered very bad form."


Katarina, rather surprisingly, only appears for the first time at the start of this episode.

I really have to praise the latest Loose Cannon recon here- not only are there lots of nice little touches (Frances White is shown with the hairstyle she presumably had in this story rather than I Clavdivs, no doubt through some technical jiggery-pokery) but there's a lot of moving footage, especially with scenes involving the horse in this episode.

There's plenty of wit still on show, but the episode is rather bleak and sombre, all the more so for being understated. The handling of Vicki's departure is interesting; we're not made privy to her final chat with the Doctor inside the TARDIS. Vicki's leaving everything behind to be with a bloke she's just met, from the 12th century BC, who thinks she's betrayed him, but the scene with Vicki and Troilus somehow works, and dammit, I cried. I'm sure Troilus and Cressida will be happy ever after, in no way eventually meeting a tragic fate.

Interesting final moments; Katarina's aboard the TARDIS more or less be accident, she's convinced she's going to die soon, and Steven's very badly hurt.


Overall, this is my new favourite story of all time. The dialogue was exquisite, and could almost have been written by Peter Cook. but unlike The Romans, another comedy, if of a very different sort, the regulars were in character and true to themselves throughout. Wonderful. I'd give it a 6/5 if I could.

Doctor Who: Galaxy Four

Four Hundred Dawns

"We have a small number of men, as many as we need, the rest we kill. They consume valuable food and fulfil no particular function."


The Loose Cannon recon for this story is great, with lots of creativity being used to give us as much moving footage as possible. This is the best done recon I've seen so far. Sadly, the quality of the original audio isn't as good, and what with my hearing being poor anyway I had trouble hearing much of this story. Still, an intriguing and entertaining episode one, as we've come to expect from the sci-fi stories. As always, we start with some nice character stuff, and it's nice to get the references to The Space Museum.

The Drahvins are clearly up to no good from the start, and I'm not just saying that because their doors make the same sounds as the ones in the Dalek city. They're very B-movie-esque alien Amazons, and if there's any serious comment about sexual politics here (I strongly doubt it) it's impossible to take it as such. Still, the Chumblies are great, and we get to see the Astral Map from The Web Planet again. Er, yay! Nice cliffhanger though- the TARDISeers are in more trouble than they'd realised...

Trap of Steel

"My Ship's not made of tin like this old trash!"


So far this story's quite good, dramatic and well-paced. I've often seen this story criticised because the Drahvins are so obviously the baddies, but although not judging by appearances is clearly a strong theme it's not this that's propelling the drama; it's the pressing need to escape from the imminent destruction of the planet that's the central fact here.

Hmm, so the Drahvins' doors have the sound of the Daleks', and the Rills' ship has the pulsating noise from Dalek ships. The Daleks are being most generous with their sound effects.

Air Lock

"We are not deaf, you know!"


It never fails to amuse me in these early stories how the episode starts with a cliffhanger reprise and then everything has to stop for the title and writer's credit to be displayed. Otherwise, not much to say about this episode. The first two episodes were quite engaging, but things are now beginning to flag. It doesn't really help that the script has no more surprises for us; we pretty much know what's going to happen from this point.

The Exploding Planet

"We respect you as we respect all life."


The speech to Steven by the rill is dull and patronising, as is much of this episode- the drama of how our heroes are going to escape the planet is largely gone, as no convincing obstacles are put in their way from this point. The moral of the story is all very good but the heavy-handed way it's conveyed- taking up much of this episode- is unnecessary and dull. Still, it's nice to see a full photo of a Rill.

Strange and interesting way of doing the cliffhanger, with Vicki making a random comment about a planet that happens to be on the scanner. Still, a Terry Nation episode next. oh look- it's set on a jungle planet.


This story actually works well and holds the attention for the first two episodes, but once the Doctor and Vicki start talking to the Rill the plot stops, as there are no more significant plot twists or threats to our heroes. Instead the time is filled with heavy-handed moralising. A shame, as there's still much to like about this story. 3/5.

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

The Watcher

"That is the dematerialising control and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it- sheer poetry, dear boy."

It's nice that we start with a chat between the Doctor and Vicki about Ian and Barbara. Suddenly the Doctor as well as Vicki is afraid of being alone.

Great to see Peter Butterworth, no less, as the Monk- our only major guest star so far to be heralded by stock footage of some waves.

We now have two companions from the future- and, incidentally, two northerners. Will their both hailing from future times do any harm to viewer identification in the long term, I wonder?

For the first time, the acronym TARDIS is explained by Vicki as "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space".

This is the greatest episode since The Keys of Marinus for lines from Hartnell: "What do you think it is, a space helmet for a cow?"; "I'm not a mountain goat and I prefer walking to any day. And I hate climbing."

Alethea Charlton appears again! Playing a very nice lady, addressed by the doctor as "Woman".

Nice bit of intrigue with the Monk obviously feeling for a wristwatch, followed up by Steven finding a wristwatch later. The Doctor's finding the gramophone ratchets this up even further. A genuine bit of mystery, and at last the sci-fi and historical elements are being mixed.

The Meddling Monk

"I don't think we've been as clever as we think we have."


We start the next morning, and the scene of the Monk making a rather modern-looking breakfast for the Doctor has made me come over all peckish. Bill Hartnell's off on his holidays again, I see!

I do wish everyone wouldn't keep calling it the 10th century! And as this is Northumbria they'd technically be Angles, not Saxons.

Some very nice stock footage of some Vikings there. Even once we get to the scenes shot for the programme it must be said their leader is sporting a rather impressive helmet.

The implied rape of Edith is rather jarring for a programme like this- not for the first time Dennis Spooner, while generally an excellent writer, misjudges the tone. Still, this aside it's all good stuff so far.

A Battle of Wits

"If I know the Doctor it's not going to be as simple as that."


It's Vicki who finds the secret passage in the Doctor's cell- she's great, and I'm liking her more and more. Meanwhile, the Doctor is telling a suddenly recovered Edith the next couple of months' worth of current affairs.

For the first time since the rape we see Sven and Ulf. Because of what they've done we instinctively know they won't finish the story alive.

The monk's chart detailing his plan is priceless, as is the Doctor persuading the Monk that his stick is in fact a "Winchester '73". "Well, as it happens, I happen to be a very curious fellow!"

Vicki's horrified to see the TARDIS submerged by the tide, although surely by now the viewer would have no fears on this score. Once again she's terrified of abandonment.

WHAT a cliffhanger- another TARDIS!

Checkmate

"It's a TARDIS! The Monk's got a TARDIS!"


So the Monk's from "50 years earlier" than the Doctor, and he's got a "Mark 4". No doubt this will all be picked up on in years to come.

Dennis Spooner has clearly changed his mind entirely on the mechanics of changing history since he scripted The Reign of Terror...! It's very noticeable, too, that the Doctor has changed over the last season, being very keen on sorting things out before returning to the Ship for entirely selfless reasons, although of course as the Monk is one of his own people he arguably has more reason to feel responsible.

Nice ending- the Monk gets his comeuppance, Steven's been fully initiated, and once again we end the season with a star field over the credits.


Overall, top stuff. A great central idea, well-executed and acted, with lots of good character stuff and a bit of intrigue as to the Doctor's origins. An easy 5/5.

Doctor Who: The Chase

The Executioners

"Is it good?"

"Yes, it's a bit far-fetched."


Nice to get another direct follow-on from the previous story, in fact an entire cliffhanger. Some nice character stuff at the start, with Vicki being very adolescent. Once the Time / Space Visualiser is switched on we get some scenes with Abraham Lincoln and Will Shakespeare but these are soon eclipsed by what is surely the highlight of the show so far: Ian strutting his funky stuff.

More episode one planet exploration ensues, with a great line from Ian which can only be appreciated by watching the stories in order: "At least it's not a pool of acid!" Meanwhile, Barbara, engaging in some fully clothed sunbathing with the Doctor, gets a great line of her own: "No, not that awful noise, the other one!".

Dialogue by the Daleks seems to place this story not long after their conquest of the Earth. I'll be holding Dalek continuity to this later. Arguably this story is the first time Dalek speech patterns have finally settled into their final and recognisable form.

Some silly talk about castles from Vicki is followed by a fantastic cliffhanger as a Dalek rises from the sands.

The Death of Time

"Don't stand there screaming, you fool- run!"

"Don't stand there gaping, you nit- come on!"


How very convenient the Daleks are there to locate the TARDIS- our heroes would have had trouble finding it otherwise. I love the thick Dalek! Although it must be said that their ruthless killing of their Aridian sense instantly restores any lost sense of menace; these are still Nazis, in spite of the more frequent injections of humour.

I shall be kind and not dwell on the awfulness of the Mire Beast, that fearful papier-mâché horror...

Nice line once again from Barbara as Ian pilfers her cardigan: "Oh no, not again!".

Flight Through Eternity

"You've come all over in blue spots."


The above quote from Morton Dill seems to confirm the colours of the Daleks we see in photographs to be, ahem, canon. Another interesting line from the Doctor: "It's my time ??? detector. It's been in the TARDIS ever since I constructed it." Is the Doctor claiming here that he made the Ship himself?

Cue stock footage of New York, and once again Ian and Barbara appear on twentieth century earth but are unable to stay. As for Morton Dill- words fail me!

The Mary Celeste scene is good fun, although of course I suspect it bears no relation whatsoever to the historical facts. Still, this episode may well consist entirely of filler, but it's all good fun. Oh look, Ian gets hit over the head again...

Journey Into Terror

"Where's your spirit of adventure?"

"It died a slow and painful death when those bats came out of the rafters".


At this point the story hits a lull, and starts to remind me of things I didn't like about The Keys of Marinus; the house of horrors stuff just lasts too long. Interesting comment by Ian though- "Daleks don't like stairs!" I think this is the first mention of this hoary old cliché in the show itself, although no doubt it would not have gone unmentioned by the contemporary media. The exhibits are seemingly more powerful than the Daleks, which is the wrong kind of silly.

Vicki gets left behind, just as she feared in The Crusade. This is quite a shocking moment. Almost as shocking is the amount of time her fellow TARDISeers take to realise! Still, Vicki shows her greatness by stowing away on the Daleks' time machine. Only a few stories in, and I'm getting to really like Vicki.

The Daleks' robot is a bit rubbish, isn't it? They're using Edmund Warwick in long-shot and Hartnell in close-up in an absurdly blatant way. Why use Warwick at all when Hartnell isn't on screen?

The Death of Doctor Who

"Advance and attack! Attack and destroy! Destroy and rejoice!"

So, another jungle, and our second planet named after its predominant feature? See below! Nice forest, although unfortunately you can clearly see the flat studio floor.

Oh, and incidentally, the title of this episode clearly proves that Hartnell is playing a character called Doctor Who. *ducks*

I'm not seriously trying to defend the imposter robot fiasco (the whole thing's blatant filler anyway). But at least the use of Warwick helps the viewer to tell which is which.

Oh look, an alien city in a Terry Nation script! I love the Dalek with a compass type thing instead of a sucker, mind.

Planet of Decision

"You'll end up as a couple of burnt cinders floating around in Spain."


I don't know about you, but I can't understand a word the Mechanoids are saying. Fortunately we have Ben Gunn lookalike Steven Taylor to do the exposition. He gets a great line: "Help yourself to a piece of eternity."

My, how convenient that there should be a convenient length of cable for our heroes to use in their escape!

Oh dear..."Am exterminated! Am exterminated!"

Steven clearly has his priorities right- Hi Fi the Panda is clearly more important than ensuring Vicki doesn't plunge to her doom. These scenes are extremely vertigo-inducing, especially when Ian nearly slips over.

Cue a massive fight between the Daleks and the "Mechons" in which all the Daleks die. Why does this mean the story is over? Why don't the Daleks keep sending time machines?

It's a real wrench after all this time to have to say goodbye to Ian and Barbara. They were truly magnificent, and arguably up to The Dalek Invasion of Earth they were the real stars of the show. The leaving scene is good, and the scenes of them back on Earth are fun, but I was left wanting more. This departure scene felt like far more of an afterthought than Susan's did, which was a crying shame. Jacqueline hill and William Russell- you were magnificent!


Overall, well... very uneven. The middle episodes were all filler and much of the story was overly silly and poorly realised. Still, it was often intentionally funny and had nice character moments. I enjoyed watching it, if not always for the right reasons, so I'll be kind and let it scrape a 3/5.

Doctor Who: The Space Museum

The Space Museum

"You wouldn't say that, young lady, if we ever meet [the Daleks] again. Which to say the least is very unlikely."


Nice opening model shots, and an intriguing conceptual mystery from the start. The Doctor's continual refusal to explain is most amusing. Vicki's dropped glass un-breaking and jumping back into her hands deepens the mystery, and it's good to see the food machine again. It's also great to see the Dalek, and Vicki's lines about the Dalek invasion happened over three hundred years ago is our first explicit suggestion that all the TARDIS's landings in the future take place in the same timeline which should in theory be internally consistent.

This is a great episode driven by fantastic concepts, for once making actual use of the time travel premise of the show. Great cliffhanger, too.

The Dimensions of Time

"Chesterton, this is no time to be playing cowboys and Indians!"


Suddenly this story is looking a lot less visually interesting, with some very dull corridors and costumes. The actors playing the Xerons don't exactly imbue them with charisma either. The time travel concepts now fade into the background, although the TARDISeers' attempt to avoid their preordained fate will remain as an intriguing element.

The Doctor namedrops James Watt here, although Jacqueline Hill has to prompt Hartnell for the line. Nice line from Barbara: "All the doors and corridors are exactly alike." No doubt this is the one and only time we'll be hearing such sentiments...

The Doctor'd monocle is very cool indeed, but is very quickly topped by his antics in the Dalek. This story may look dull, and have Xerons in it, but otherwise I must admit it's keeping me interested.

The Search

"It's nothing to do with me! I'm just a simple soldier!"

So, no Doctor in this episode! it's good to see Vicki getting a chance to shine though. Her attitude is great: "Sitting here planning and dreaming of a revolution isn't going to bring your planet back!" It's rather arresting to see this revolution taking the form of acquiring guns though- certainly not something you'd see in later eras!

Why do the Xerons, just because they're the goodies, have to be a perfectly peaceful people, free from all want? Can't they be allowed just one tiny flaw?

The Final Phase

"Have any arms fallen into Xeron hands?"


Vicki continues to be great here, effectively directing the revolution. We get a nice ending, with the TARDISeers all imprisoned but Vicki's already ensured their release- she's the real star of the story.

The last scene comes as a real surprise though- Daleks! With a time machine! And now with vertical slats- it seems that the lost old style Dalek we saw was the one in the exhibition.


Overall, I quite enjoyed this. The first episode was great, with the others not being as good (par for the course for the science fiction stories so far), but a lot of the dullness was the fault of the design and some of the guest actors- the script was good throughout. This is nowhere near as boring as its reputation- a solid 3/5.

Doctor Who: The Crusade

The Lion

"I have a hopeful heart and, which is better, a lucky king."


I'm watching this on a combo of the video release and Loose Cannon, so the first thing I see is the nice little intro by William Russell. He looks very young and sprightly for his age.

This is the paciest start yet; no TARDIs intro scene. The TARDISeers step right into a forest (once again the pokiness of Lime Grove is cleverly obscured) and straight into trouble. Ian, and even more excellently the Doctor, are thrust into swordfights while Barbara is kidnapped within seconds- is this a record? The greatness of the dialogue is established very early: "A king at liberty may give commands. A captured one obeys them."

The Doctor's very naughty in this episode, what with the blatant thieving. Still, I love the way Hartnell plays it.

This is a very strong first episode, and the dialogue appeals hugely to a Shakespeare obsessive like myself. Nice referencing of Arabian Nights by Barbara- the show's still fulfilling its educational remit.

The Knight of Jaffa

"By my father's name, you have wit, old man."


"Your heart calls for England, Richard!" says Joanna. Of course, in reality he didn't give a damn about the place, but I'll let that pass as frankly this is great. Also, Richard's "This bloodletting must stop!" is a bit rich coming from him but, again, the historical inaccuracies aren't bothering me as I'm too preoccupied with the general excellence of everything.

Nice to see Bernard Kay again, playing Saladin. And also nice to see that the Saracens are as blessed with exalted dialogue as the English Normans. Also interesting to see that Walter Randall, who was frankly rubbish in The Aztecs, seems to be doing a much better job as El Akir.

The Doctor's managing to get out of stealing the clothes last episode is most amusing, and once again most excellently played by Hartnell.

Once again, Barbara's in dire peril, and of an unusually dark and adult kind, to boot. But once again she's irrepressible, and tries to escape. Yay!

The Wheel of Fortune

"There's something new in you, yet something older than the sky itself."

Vicki doesn't exactly look like a boy here, but of course, along with the style of the dialogue, this merely signals that, just as The Romans was a farce, this story is in the style of Elizabethan theatre.

Interestingly, we get our first bit of characterisation for Vicki since The Rescue; she says to the Doctor "You wouldn't go off and leave me, would you?". We're reminded of how rootless and vulnerable she is, perhaps even over-dependent. Still, there's no denying by this point that Vicki has a much more superficial characterisation than even Susan did, great as Maureen O'Brien's performance is.

Barbara gets a horrible dilemma as Haroun gives her a knife to kill Saliya and herself if necessary- this is a horrible dilemma, but fantastic drama, and once again Jacqueline Hill shows us what an excellent actress she is.

The debate at court over Richard's plan to marry Joanna to Saphadin is another dramatic, well-written, well-acted and, as we shall see, pivotal scene. The dialogue between the Doctor and the Earl of Leicester sparkles, although the Doctor is a bit gratuitously insulting: "You stupid butcher! Can you think of nothing else but killing, hmm?" Leicester replies with a wonderful line; "When you men of eloquence have stunned each other with your words, we, the soldiers, have to face it out." The Doctor's in an awkward position, though: he's sworn to tell Joanna of her brother's plans for her, and has now found out, but he's damned if he tells her and damned if he doesn't. And, it must be said, from a contemporary perspective it's unsettling to see the Doctor supporting what is in effect a forced marriage, even set against the potential cost to countless lives. Cue excellence from Jean Marsh.

We only see Sir Ian in a single film sequence. By now, I've become a seasoned veteran at spotting cast holidays.

In the event it's Leicester, not the Doctor, who tells Joanna of Richard's plans, but it doesn't matter- through his rash promise to Joanna he ends up alienating both parties.

The ending is quite disturbingly dark: "The only pleasure left for you is death. And death is very far away".

The Warlords

"I must see Jerusalem. I must."


El Akir is extremely sadistic, disturbing, and, surprisingly, reasonably well acted by Walter Randall of all people. Ibrahim, meanwhile, is merely an annoying stereotype, and this is the fault of actor Tutte Lemkow rather than the script. Still, Sir Ian faces a gruesome fate, being slowly eaten by ants.

King Richard, in conversation with the Doctor and Vicki, turns out to be cleverer than we might have supposed; he knows of Leicester's duplicity but needs him for the upcoming war. This conversation has an interesting postscript as the Doctor states that "history must take its course". It seems this story sides with The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror in The Great Changing History Debate, and they're all going to team up to give The Romans a good kicking.

Nice that Haroun's daughter Maimuna turns out to be one of the women who saves Barbara in the harem- the plot threads are all very neatly tied up.

The way the story ends, with Sir Ian's quick thinking allowing our heroes to return to the Ship, is most amusing. Nice little Billy-fluff at the end; "Oh, my good woman! Why don't you go and have a cup of... tea or something?"

Ooh, we end with another cliffhanger!


Overall, it was quite fitting that the... challenge... that was The Web Planet should be followed by the best story so far not to have been written by John Lucarotti. Quite sublime, its main fault being that, almost uniquely, for a four part story it seemed too short.

Doctor Who: The Web Planet

The Web Planet

"Chesterton! What are you doing, dear boy? Fiddling and gaping over there! Come over here and learn something!"


This instantly looks eerie and weird, with the sets, the Zarbi and the beeping. The episode is very creepy and atmospheric, with the strange planet affecting the Ship. It's interesting here how the Doctor's ring suddenly assumes a significance it hasn't really had before. You get to see an awful lot of the TARDIS interior without roundels here- what's that bit that Barbara spring cleans.

I like how the ring given to Barbara by Nero in the previous story becomes important in this one. There's a real sense of all this being one big adventure.

It's an effective ending with a nice build-up, with both Barbara walking into the acid (shades of Marinus!) and the TARDIS disappearing.

The Zarbi

"Really, you must learn to pay attention, dear boy. How on Earth do you expect to ever learn anything from our time together if you don't listen to a word I say?"



Well, the resolution to Barbara’s cliffhanger is a bit of a cop-out, but then I suppose it had to be. The resolution to the TARDIS disappearing works though. Interesting once again that the interior of the Ship is affected by external movement.

The Menoptra are interesting, their movement being very stylised. The whole look of this story may have dated, but if you accept it in the spirit of a theatrical production rather than an attempt at being cinematic the design is actually quite effective.

Vicki leaves the TARDIS halfway through part two of a story- is this a record?

I’m not sure about the ecosystem of Vortis- surely giant insects would need more oxygen in the atmosphere, not less? And how come such a barren world can support such large creatures?

This is still entertaining, but by the end it’s looking a bit worrying that we have a full four episodes left!



It might be a few days until I post about the next parts, but that’s because of general Christmas chaos- the story hasn’t defeated me!

Escape to Danger

"Come on- drop this hairdryer or whatever it is!"


Love the title- so bad it's good! Also loving the way the fluid link gets another mention as Vicki fortuitously realigns it. I wonder if we'll hear of it again? on the other hand, the line "If only Barbara were here we could go" signals we've now reached a point equivalent to The Daleks: The Expedition in that from now on everything will feel padded and give off a sense of treading water until the end, and it's only episode three. Which is a shame, as the design and even much of the dialogue in this story is often wonderful.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Doctor telling the Animus that "I have great secrets in my ship. We could help you" may feel out of character from a contemporary perspective but by this point it's hardly out of keeping. More surprising is the fact that the Menoptra's realising the Doctor (albeit under coercion) has betrayed the landing point of the invasion is not followed up when they finally meet. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.

An interesting fact about the TARDIS is relayed to Ian by the Doctor- the time and relative dimension link, apparently, must under no circumstances be broken. Which means, in practice, that it should never be, er, unplugged...

Barbara's not in this episode, and frankly I miss her. And already the Zarbi are becoming familiar enough to seem comical rather than threatening. The Doctor's mind games with the Animus are interesting, I suppose, but this is beginning to drag. It looks great, but it's becoming very dull.

Crater of Needles

"Yes. That is the... question, isn't it?"


Barbara! Yay! She and her Menoptra mates get to do a lot of standing around talking considering they're supposed to be slave labourers. Er, "Isop-tope"?

It's cool that with the Optera we now have beetles to add to ants (Zarbi) and wasps (Menoptra). Although this whole section of the plot is of course pure padding and openly so.

I can't emphasise enough how weird it is to see Martin Jarvis as a Menoptra. Although "see" is perhaps not the word as I was forewarned. But still...

The plot is now reaching a glacial pace. The Animus has now rumbled the Doctor's cunning procrastination, but he and Vicki "will be dealt with when the invasion has been repelled". Although it's rather alarming when they're both apparently lobotomised by having those gold things round their necks.

Amusing to see that, although a mass invasion of Menoptra is taking place on the plateau, we never see more than two Menoptra on screen at once.

Invasion

"Hilio, the Menoptra have no wisdom for war".


The situation is dire at this point, there seems to be no hope, but rather awfully I don't much care by this point as the story is just dragging so much. Which feels in some ways an awful thing to say as much of the design is magnificent and much of the dialogue is wonderful, of which more shortly.

It's most interesting how the Doctor's ring gains an enormous significance in this story which it never has before: "...I can control that necklace with this power of my ring." I hope we see this developed.

The Menoptra, although by this point beginning to truly annoy as ineffective drama queens, are given some wonderful dialogue in this episode'; they speak of "song-spinners". But even better is the dialogue of the otherwise insufferable Optera: "A silent wall! We must make mouths in it with our weapons. Then it will speak more light".

The Centre

"What Vortis is, I am. What you are, I become".


The centre of the Animus looks great in the way this story often does, by which I mean on the level of design rather than any modern notion of special effects. But then "realism" in the context of something this fantastic, on television in 1965, could not have been the intent; take it as intended and the look of this story is a wonderfully successful experiment. Which is a shame, frankly, as it drags so. It's noticeable in these final scenes how poorly served the character of Vicki has been.

Interesting, though, that the Animus should specifically target Earth to "take from man his mastery of space". but, er, why exactly does the Animus die?


Overall, well... the design and elements of the dialogue are so wonderful, and the first episode so genuinely eerie, that I thought long and hard for reasons not to give the story a 1/5. But I couldn't- the plot just drags and the alien characters just don't function as dramatic characters. Which is a shame: the experiment may not have succeeded other than on the visual level, but I'm glad it was attempted.

Doctor Who: The Romans

The Slave Traders

"There's a great difference between resting and... being sort of bone idle."


So, falling off a cliff can be felt inside the Ship. No doubt this will be adhered to with absolute consistency from now on.

The early scenes are fun, and do the important job of establishing Vicki very quickly by having a whole month pass. One comment by Barbara to Vicki raises an eyebrow though- "Are you any good at dressmaking?". 1964 suddenly feels a long time ago- I'm reminded of the episode of Torchwood with the time travellers from the 1950s.

Hartnell mispronounces Ian's surname for the first time in ages, but generally spends the whole story being superb. If there's one thing he does really well, it's comedy. It's also noticeable how differently he acts towards Vicki than towards Susan- much more fond and indulgent, with none of the friction we're used to, continuing the process of the Doctor becoming ever more likeable.

Dennis Spooner seems to have officially founded Ian and Barbara shipping here; they're clearly a couple by now. I love the "fridge" line. It's very noticeable that Spooner has produced a much more overtly comedic script than with The Reign of Terror, using tragic elements to counterbalance the comedy rather than vice versa.

All Roads Lead to Rome

"You know, I'm so consistently outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfactions of the art, the gentle art, of fisticuffs!"


The Doctor's fight with Ascaris is hilarious, played with perfect comic timing by Hartnell. With this episode it becomes clear that the story is to be a tightly plotted farce, with the TARDISeers forever just missing each other. The story is not without a sense of threat, but it never loses the sense of being a comedy, and ends up being fun and undemanding to watch.

Conspiracy

"Now, close your eyes and Nero will give you a big surprise!"

"Pardon?!"


Vicki's very innocent, isn't she? She's the only character forever protected from any threat or unpleasantness, able to walk around completely impervious, casually poisoning Nero along the way. Not only Maureen O'Brien but the entire cast plays it brilliantly- Hartnell, the actor playing Tigillinus with such brilliant physical comedy, and Derek Francis as Nero. The scene with Nero forcing Tigillinus to taste his poisoned drink is comedy gold, as is the entire scene with the Doctor's lyre playing.

Another namedrop from the Doctor here, this time Hans Christian Anderson.

Inferno

"I've got a friend who specialises in trouble. He dives in and usually finds a way."


I'm not sure the business about Nero setting fire to Rome is good history, but it's certainly good farce. The fun doesn't let up in the final episode- my favourite bit is the Doctor's punning to Nero on his imminent mauling in the arena. Of course, the Doctor, in changing history, seems to contradict what we were told in both The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror. But it's worth it for the moment when the Doctor starts chuckling insanely and the laughter then segues into Nero's.

The end is priceless, with the Doctor believing Ian and Barbara to have been carousing in the villa all this time. Once again Ian and Barbara seem very couply.


Overall, it may not have been big or clever but it was fun, and an admirably constructed farce. 4/5.

Doctor Who: The Rescue

The Powerful Enemy

"But Doctor, the trembling's stopped!"

Oh, my dear, I'm so glad you're feeling better."



At last we hear the TARDIS dematerialisation sound from outside as the TARDIS lands. It's fitting that this should happen for the first time in this story, which seems to signal that the series has come to a few definite conclusions about its format.

It's very noticeable that the aesthetics of spacecraft in this story are very Gerry Anderson- a nice bit of Sixtiesness. The first person we meet inside it is Vicki, and she's immediately likeable.

This story is so much more comfortable with the basic tropes of futuristic science fiction than, say, The Sensorites. The basic situation surrounding the ship and its situation is dealt with so much more casually, with an absence of clumsy phrasings.

The Doctor states that "We haven't had much luck with these caves during our travels" as he heads back into the TARDIS for a nap. Surely the most postmodern and self-referential line so far. The early scenes between the Doctor and Ian and Barbara are as well written and performed as we've come to expect for such scenes by now. It's a nice touch when the Doctor half asks Susan to open the doors and Barbara gently offers to take her place. Hartnell plays the Doctor's grieving for Susan brilliantly.

Koquillion looks either fantastic or risible. I can't quite decide which.

So, the Doctor's been on this world before: "It'll be rather nice to meet these people again after all these years". "Years"? He's been travelling for quite a while then. With Susan? How old was she when they started? There's another interesting comment he makes to Ian in relation to medicine: It's a pity I didn't get that degree".

Koquillion is quite horrible to poor Vicki. I like her a lot; bolshie yet vulnerable, and looking very sixties with a hint of Scouse to match.

Everything about this story- the confident writing, acting and design, the Stockhausenesque incidental music-evokes freshness and confidence, the sense of a new start. There's not even a single mispronunciation of "Chesterton" throughout, but then again throughout all the stories so far there have been far fewer than received wisdom might suggest.

This Bennett seems a bit of a dodgy chap, and doesn't seem too pleased to see Barbara. I wonder why that should be?

It's most amusing how the Doctor refers to a "great chasm" which is just out of shot. The cliffhanger- the most obvious man in a costume yet- is less than great, but so far this story has been very good indeed.



Desperate Measures

"You destroyed a whole planet to save your own skin. You're insane."


Ian grabs a blade tightly with his hand before telling the Doctor they're "razor sharp"!

Barbara continues to be great, hardly having been around five minutes before she suggests overpowering Koquillion. Bennett's not keen, oddly...

Maureen O'Brien does a good job with the Sandy sequence; it would have been so easy for Vicki to seem wet and annoying here, but the balance is just right. And instantly the chemistry between O'Brien and Hartnell is there. A nice Billy-fluff here: "You must believe what Barbara did. try and understand, my dear. And why she did it." The Doctor is now firmly established as a kindly old buffer; a little curmudgeonly, perhaps, but fundamentally a nice old man.

The reactions to Vicki's line "1963? but that means you're about 500 years old!" are priceless. Ian cracks up, and Barbara's face is a sight to behold. It's often said that characterisation was dwelled upon less in the old series than the new, but scenes like this show that in the early stories that wasn't the case at all.

As the Doctor discovers the clues to Bennett's villainy we hear the music from the Daleks' city. Bennett's plan is full of plot holes but they don't matter; this is pacey and entertaining enough to mean they only reveal themselves on multiple viewings. it's sleight of hand, but the plot holes are glossed over successfully enough.

The confrontation scene at the end, with Bennett facing the Doctor alone, shows the Doctor unmistakably cast as hero, a statement of intent from the pen of the script editor. Once again there's a sense that some thought has been given to the programme's format after the experiments of the first year, and certain things are being more firmly defined. This is the fully-formed First Doctor; a kindly, sometimes irascible old scientist who roams the cosmos righting wrongs.

Grr! BBC video have edited out the cliffhanger and the "next episode" caption. It's enough to make me go all nostalgic for the DWM letters pages of the early 90s.



Overall, a very nice little character piece which I enjoyed a lot. An awful lot, in fact. It may not be the biggest or most epic story, but it's been one of my favourites so far, and so it gets a full 5/5. I notice I'm the only one to rank it so highly at the moment though- anybody care to join me?