Hedda Gabler (BBC TV Play, 1972)

 "Do it... beautifully."

This is my first experience of this particular Ibsen play, certainly one of his most admired, in any medium. And, whenever I'm blogging an adaptation of a play I've not previously seen, there's always going to be a certain ambiguity as to whether I'm blogging the play itself or this particular production. So be it.

Indeed, I suspect the fact that I was blown away by this subtle, nuanced tragedy, filled with so many deliciously subtle pieces of dialogue (especially that between the eponymous Hedda and Judge Brack), owes not only to Ibsen's sublime writing, which combines real psychological depth with a proto-modernist sensibility, but also to the cast and to Waris Hussein's restrained yet creative direction, never letting the play look so obviously cinematic as to take away from the play but using that restricted palette so very well.

But... well, I now begin to see why Hedda, as a part, can be seen as the female equivalent of Hamlet. On the one hand, she's an intelligent, capable woman trapped in the upper middle class society of 1890s Norway, where women have little agency of their own and have little opportunity to make their mark. On the other, she really is a monster- cynical, manipulative, hiding what looks to be something like narcissism beneath a pretty, feminine exterior. The last few scenes of the play pack quite a punch.

Janet Suzman is, of course, extraordinary here. Yet so are a very young Ian McKellen as George, the absent-minded academic husband, and especially Brendan Barry as the similarly monstrous Judge Brack. This production will linger in my mind for quite some time.

Doctor Who: Marco Polo. Or Journey to Cathay. Gah!

Phew! Seven episodes in one day...!


The Roof of the World

"I command you in the name of Kublai Khan!"


First up, I love Loose Cannon and I want to have their babies. Damn the physical impossibilities! There's no denying that the lack of footage, especially from this of all stories, detracts hugely from the experience. But the recon is quite magnificent. I particularly love the groovy colour title sequence, which rocks.

Hmm, shortly after the Fast Return Switch debacle it doesn't take much time for another serious problem to arise with the Ship. But this is top stuff. Mark Eden, and especially Derren Nesbitt, are immediately compelling. Right from the start the writing and acting are top-notch.

I love Susan's use of the word "fab". Clearly she went native somewhat during her time in the 60s.

Marco immediately comes across as an interesting and layered individual. He blatantly steals the caravan yet remains likeable to a degree, a credit to both Eden and Lucarotti, as this is going to have to be sustained for quite a while...

The Doctor's hysterical laughter is... most extraordinary! But it's most reassuring to see that the rift between him and the two schoolteachers appears to have gone.

Incidentally, anybody know exactly know exactly where the Plain of Pamir is? Somewhere in Central Asia near Samarkand? I don't recognise many of the geographical references in this story.

The Singing Sands

"The bones of many many men who thought they had enough [water] lie bleached in the desert sands..."


The dialogue in this story is wonderful. I love the double edged comments made by Tegana while Marco and Ian play chess: "It means 'The king is dead'"; "Marco, can you save your king?". Also wonderful is a line of Susan's: "One day, we'll know all the mysteries of the stars and stop our wanderings". This harks back to her desire to stay on Earth in An Unearthly Child- fundamentally Susan doesn't share the Doctor's wanderlust and eventually will opt for stability. Mind you, that still picture we constantly see of Susan gurning is a sauce of great amusement.

Blimey, the Doctor makes only a token (pre-filmed?) appearance in this episode. Marco is the central character for the moment, and an interesting one. He's the one with authority, but is fundamentally quite weak and credulous. The dynamics of this small, claustrophobic group of people, thrust together by chance, is compelling, especially as they're all so well written.

Oh, "Our fate rests with Tegana."- oh dear! A truly terrifying cliffhanger, the prospect of death by thirst. Something very real and horrific.

Five Hundred Eyes

"With such a caravan, Noghai would be invincible!"

The resolution to the cliffhanger, with the condensation, is very impressive indeed. The TARDIS crew now all suspect Tegana but Marco, for reasons essential to sustaining the plot, does not.

Nice that the slow pace allows us the digression on the hashashin (who of course foreshadow Tegana's behaviour in the final episode). Ping-Cho's performance is quite wonderful.

Nice cliffhanger- the threat to Barbara is again grounded in the very real, with nothing of the fantastic about it. Strong stuff for Saturday teatime.

The Wall of Lies

"The old magician. How can you kill him?

"With a stake through the heart."

Interesting how Marco's authority over the travellers is undercut by his obvious guilt; we instinctively know that he will never carry out his threats to the travellers. A format of losing the TARDIS seems to be established, following on from Susan's comments about nearly losing the Ship on Quinnis in The Brink of Disaster. Incidentally, Susan is at no point annoying in this story, which is largely down to the writing. When given a script that can be played well, Carole Ann Ford puts in a good performance.

Marco proves easily swayed by Tegana's persuasiveness, but once again behind his bluster he knows he's in the wrong. His desperate "Obey me!" to Ping-Cho is very revealing. It has to be said though, the constant mistrust between Marco and the TARDIS crew, although well-executed, is also quite annoying.

This story seems to be taking a long time in terms of days- I wonder how long it takes chronologically?

Rider From Shang-Tu

"What does he think it is, a potting shed or something?"

Ian's plan with the bamboo is very clever indeed. As is the storytelling and characterisations- during the situation with the bandits it becomes clear that Marco makes no independent decisions aside from stealing the TARDIS, being buffeted this way and that by Ian and Tegana. Of course, Tegana is the more persuasive of the two...

Oh, a swordfight involving the Doctor! If only we had footage...

Great line by Tegana: "Work your magic against him if you will. But make no move against me." Derren Nesbitt is fantastic as Tegana, with a real silky menace in his delivery.

I love the minor characters introduced here, the wonderfully camp Wang-Lo and Kuiju with his eyepatch and the monkey on his shoulder! The incidental details in this story are wonderful. I'm sure there's a huge amount of visual texture we're missing- the sets seem magnificent, and this was directed by Waris Hussein...

The TARDIS crew attempting to escape is becoming boringly repetitive by now. We know perfectly well that Marco is too weak to follow through with his threats.

Mighty Kublai Khan

"And you don't believe me when I say I come from another time?"

"If I did, Ian, I would give you the key."


Ironic that the TARDIS is almost nicked by someone allied to neither Marco nor the Doctor. We get more of Wang-Lo's campness here, which come to think of it is quite interesting; gay sex would remain illegal in Britain for another three years after this story's broadcast, but there is still Julian and Sandy style campness in popular culture.

Very nice ending, with the frail Kublai Khan. Also, by a later definition, a somewhat Doctorish moment. Once again, an excellent cliffhanger.


Assassin at Peking

""What of I that the Khan should fear?"

"The power of persuasion."



Once again the dialogue sparkles- the Doctor's winnings at backgammon are hilarious, and the lines perfectly delivered by Hartnell. "All the commerce from Burma for one year" indeed...

Nice touch, that; as the Doctor loses his gamble with Kublai Khan for the TARDIS, he once again bursts into laughter. The Doctor has noticeably mellowed in this story. He's still far from the active hero, primarily being motivated by escape to the TARDIS with no thought for Tegana's designs, but nevertheless the real nastiness has gone.

Great scene as Kublai Khan effectively calls Marco on his weakness. It's also clear that he sees through Tegana's rhetoric; in spite of his physical frailties and genuine comical qualities he's no fool.

The greatest line in all of Doctor Who so far: Your beloved husband to be, so anxious to be worthy of your love, drank a potion of quicksilver and sulphur, the elixir of life and eternal youth... and expired."

Once again, a swordfight makes the lack of footage very apparent indeed. The conclusion satisfies, and Marco gets the last word: "No, my Lord, they will not believe half the things I have seen in Cathay."





Overall, then? Admittedly there are certain... challenges to watching a recon, and I won't pretend there weren't points where the photos inevitably became repetitive, or times where the lack of footage became especially frustrating. But the script and acting were magnificent. The dialogue, the acting, the characterisation- all were magnificent. Admittedly there were times where the dynamic between Marco and the crew vis-à-vis the TARDIS became repetitive and annoying, but then I did watch the whole thing in one go. It would have been churlish not to give this a much-deserved 5/5. The best yet.

Doctor Who: An Unearthly 100,000BC of Gum

And so it properly begins...

An Unearthly Child

"This doesn't roll along on wheels, you know!"

There are many small differences from the pilot episode here, but I feel by far the most significant is the Kenneth Williams impression at the start*. Doctor Who just wouldn't have turned out quite as good without this, I feel...

The direction shows the same brilliance we saw in the pilot, although downsides include the contents of the junkyard (not as visually impressive) and Susan's dancing (marginally less funky this time round, I feel). But the real big change here is the character of the Doctor. Yes, a lot of the lines are different, but it's largely the subtly different way that William Hartnell pitches his performance that makes him crucially that much more likeable. The chuckle is less sinister, and the absent-mindedness is played up so as to soften the edges of the character.

The Doctor's line about the "savage mind" of the "Red Indian" raised an eyebrow. Appropriate in a series from 1963 that we get such a Mad Men moment...

One connection I've never made before is the scene in the classroom when Susan insists to Ian that she can't just use A, B and C to represent the three dimensions. Apparently D (time) and E ("space!") are also needed. Could this be foreshadowing the dimensions of the TARDIS interior, with the bigger inside being evidence of an extra dimension, "E"?

Feel free to give me a virtual slap if that was overly pretentious.

A brilliant episode, probably one of my favourite pieces of drama ever.

The Cave of Skulls

"Just open the doors, Dr Foreman!"

"Eh? Doctor Who? What are you talking about?"


The cavemen we see here are very stereotypical, with no attempt at accurately depicting the palaeolithic. But then again this is allegory, not history as such, so perhaps we shouldn't judge it on those terms. This isn't really a historical, but a socio-political allegorical play (this is very theatre-influenced telly, more Armchair Theatre than Forbidden Planet) with the tribe as a very simplified microcosm of society. No doubt there'll be some political overtones along later! The language used by the cavemen is very interesting- very heightened and stylised, with a definite rhythm and everyone articulating their thoughts very directly. All the Stone Age figures are very childlike- Za is particular seems to be basically all id.

Incidentally, are they eating their meat raw without fire? Is this safe?

The scene where Ian and Barbara leave the TARDIS and step into an unknown environment for the first time is wonderfully written and performed. Some great dialogue: "If you could touch the alien sands and hear the cries of strange birds and watch them wheel in another sky, would that satisfy you?"

The exterior scenes are cleverly shot, with the angles not making it too obvious what a small studio this was all being filmed in! Although that obvious polystyrene rock in the cave is a bit unfortunate.

The Doctor smokes the coolest pipe I have ever seen. But unfortunate consequences follow, leading to Susan going hysterical. This is the point where she starts to really annoy me for the first time...

Oh, and "Fire will kill us all in the end!" Bit of a nuclear weapons subtext here, methinks!

Overall, great drama, and in my opinion totally undeserving of its reputation as a boring runaround so far- the story's on course for a 5/5. But we shall see...






*As pointed out in the Discontinuity Guide. It's particularly hard to review this story without unknowingly plagiarising other people, I've read so many reviews over the years...

The Forest of Fear

"Fear makes companions of all of us, Miss Wright."

Ian says "split right open", not "split open!" They obviously redid the reprise! This manages to look impressive in spite of clearly not being overburdened with cash, and lot of that is down to Waris Hussein's direction. By avoiding wide shots and being clever with his camera angles he even manages to make tiny Lime Grove not look absurd when supposed to be a forest.

Barbara's been the most level-headed character, so it's genuinely shocking when she becomes hysterical, really bringing home the situation they're all in. It must be said, Jacqueline Hill does hysterical acting slightly better than Carole Ann Ford.

We now have a power struggle between Ian and the Doctor (the males, I notice!) over leadership of their "tribe"; by now it's clear that the TARDIS "tribe" and Za's tribe are being written to parallel each other in some rather interesting ways.

Interesting how Hur is shown to be both brighter and more courageous than Za; she manipulates him into following the escaped prisoners.

The Doctor is much more than the antihero of legend here; he's seriously nasty to a degree not often acknowledged, and hard to accept as the Doctor we would get to know- this is more reminiscent of the Doctor of the pilot. He shows no empathy for the injured Za, is impatient with the others when they tend to him and, most noticeably, seems to almost give up in despair in the Cave of Skulls. Babs gets a great line: "You treat everybody and everything as something less important than yourself!" It's Ian and Barbara who are the heroes of this programme.

Hur does not understand the concept of altruism, and is genuinely confused as to why they are helping Za. But the Doctor's attitude is not far removed. Whether or not he means to kill Za, it's certainly performed that way. the look Ian gives the Doctor afterwards seems to leave little room for doubt. This is a very different Doctor, and it's genuinely hard to imagine it can be the same character. These unpleasant aspects won't so much be developed as quietly dropped later.

A character called "Old woman", eh? Could Anthony Coburn not think of a name?

The Firemaker

"Kal is not stronger than the whole tribe".

Suddenly, the Doctor starts being useful- his trick with the knife is very clever. Kal's a bit thick really, whereas Za is shown as capable of learning things.

Oh look- it's a fight, and the first of many rather obvious film sequences. It's also patently obvious that Ka and Za are not interacting with any of the others. But of course Za comes out on top- he has learned the value of community while Kal is still stuck in the selfish individualism of the tribe. There's a definite theme of community versus individualism going on here and we can see it in the dynamics of the TARDIS tribe as much as Za's- both tribes gradually learn these lessons throughout the story. It's often said that the plot of this story is basically escape, get recaptured, escape, get recaptured. But that's missing the point- the real story is both the TARDIS crew and the tribe learning to depend on each other rather than just themselves. I don't know why, but I somehow suspect Anthony Coburn was not exactly an ardent Thatcherite.

Hee hee. They're just running on the spot while being brushed with twigs. An oddly unnecessary embarrassing moment.

An historic moment- the very first TARDIS dematerialisation as seen from outside! Although it's unfortunate that most of the following TARDIS interior scene takes place in front of what is clearly a cardboard photographic blow-up of the TARDIS roundels! You can get away with so much in black and white...

Tsk... bloody Susan and her radiation gauge! Bet she was the one in charge at Chernobyl...




Overall, a fantastic start. It's often said that the last three episodes are a dull runaround, but I found them gripping throughout with excellent writing, direction and performances. Perhaps the tone was a bit off for a family show at times, and the characterisation of the Doctor seriously misguided, but I won't argue with the quality of the drama. Easily a 5/5.

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child (Pilot Episode)

"I knew this sort of thing would happen, you stupid child!"

This was quite wonderful. Brilliantly directed by Waris Hussein- the first scene fades into the second scene by a dissolve, which I suspect we won't be seeing again for quite some time. You also see that in the early scene with Ian and the wonderful Babs in the classroom that the clever camera angles and positioning almost distract you from the fact that all of this is basically exposition. But the script is good enough to get away with it.

Incidentally, Susan is a better dancer than I am. And I flatter myself in saying that's quite something. Also, she manages to look quite sinister whilst strutting said funky stuff, which is quite an achievement.

Jacqueline Hill slightly fluffs her line when Barbara is in the car with Ian outside 76 Totters Lane but, hey, this was filmed as live. Overall I feel the reputation the pilot has for fluffs and mistakes is overblown- very little was noticeable, and the... incident... on entering the TARDIS I shall gloss over.

Oh, Ian has no matches... but why should such an incidental detail be pointed out...?

The Doctor comes across as very sinister and villainous, and this, I suspect, is what Sydney Newman was unhappy with. A number of the Doctor's lines appear here which would later be cut, most of which make him appear supercilious and sinister. Some are great, though: "You and your companion would be footprints in a time where you were not supposed to have walked". William Hartnell's performance is pitched quite differently from what we would later see. His laugh is really quite sinister.

Both the TARDIS sound when Ian and Babs first enter and the dematerialisation sound are both rather more avant-garde and clearly influenced by Stockhausen than we would come to expect. But then again, it was the 1960s!

Overall, brilliant. Of course, the Doctor came across as too nasty and this had to be changed. But as a piece of drama, magnificent. The pilot...5/5.