Marco Polo - Five Hundred Eyes

After the enjoyable previous episode we get an episode that doesn’t quite match it. There is another narration from Marco Polo. There seems to be a bit more of the narration in this episode but it’s still a welcome part of the story as we get to know what’s going on inside Marco polo’s mind without him showing his true feelings to the others. After resting in the TARDIS to get away from the heat. The Doctor discovers that condensation has formed inside the TARDIS and due to this everyone can drink water. His excitement at this is extinguished by Marco Polo. Marco Polo’s lack of trust of the Doctor and his ‘caravan’ is starting to get a bit stale.

Zienia Merton gets a nice bit of dialogue where she gets to tell as story. She does it very well and I continue to be impressed with her performances despite the character not being specially interesting. Mark Eden doesn’t have a particularly strong episode here but I think that after two episodes it was only a matter of time before he comes back to the forefront of the story. Derren Nesbitt isn’t quite as menacing as he was in the previous episodes but like Eden, I think that he will come back in future episodes.

After his lack of presence in the previous episodes, William Hartnell makes up for it here. I thought that he was quite fun to listen to as he tries to pull the wool over Marco Polo’s eyes as he has another TARDIS key made after he gave the original to Polo. Barbara is suspicious of Tegana and whilst Ian, the Doctor and Susan listening to Ping-Cho, Barbara follows him. She’s very active in this episode as she is the to one that gets put into danger. Judging by the telesnaps, the scene in the caves would have looked very good. William Russell doesn’t have a whole lot to do. His most interesting contribution comes when he talks about the English translation of Assassin. Carole Ann Ford’s involvement is fairly good and at least she doesn’t act child like which has been a recurring theme in her performances in recent episodes. She shrieks at the end but its kind of justified.

It’s another episode where there’s an awful lot of not much happening but then once the action moves into the caves that it is where it became entertaining drama. The cliffhanger was ok. It had a certain amount of drama to it but not very much and it doesn’t work as well on audio. It ends with Susan screaming and noticing the eyes in the paintings are moving but to be honest it was Barbara’s predicament that I found more interesting. So far the story is continuing to maintain my interest, it didn’t have the same sort of excitement that the previous episode had but once it got going then I started to enjoy the episode more.

Marco Polo - The Singing Sands

The title is very appropriate as when the sandstorm hits, it does sound like singing. Bad singing, the sort you would get on X-Factor but it’s a good title. The story is where Tegana’s plan will come to fruition and after the reprise, the narration starts again and I like this one as it shows how grumpy the Doctor is. Susan is letting the situation get to her. There’s a hint of the old Susan in this first scene and Barbara is doing the mother thing by trying to reassure Susan. Ping-Cho’s purpose seems to be to interact with Susan as they both appear to be the same age. They act in this episode like two friends trying to sneak out of their parents home. It’s due to this that they see Tegana leaving and leads to the first proper dramatic moment in the story. Susan uses 1960’s terms like crazy to describe the moon.

The Doctor hardly ‘appears’ in this story, instead all we get is a brief moment at the end where we discover that the heat is getting to him. As his involvement is kept to a minimum it’s really Ian, Barbara and Susan that are left to push the story along. Susan and Ping-Cho are following Tegana but get caught in the sandstorm whilst Ian is playing chess with Marco Polo. Jacqueline Hill is sort of floating around in the background and doesn’t really get a good deal in this episode.

There’s a moment where Marco questions how he can thank Tegana for saving Ping-Cho’s life which is amusing as the viewer knows the truth about what’s going on. Tegana is a cracking villain. He is as my mom would call a nasty bag of washing. Not only has he caused the situation that everyone finds themselves in but when he get to the oasis he gets some water and goads Marco Polo to “come for it”.  He really deserves that ending and Tegan is brilliantly played by Derren Nesbitt though Mark Eden continues to impress as Marco Polo and I am even starting to like Zienia Merton as Ping-Cho. This episode was definelty more about the supporting cast that the regulars. Which isn’t a bad thing as with the episode length being what it is means that we can learn a bit more about them.

By the latter stages of the episode Tegana’s plan has had its desired effect and they have little water to travel the desert and they are travelling less and less. It’s a shame that this episode doesn’t exit at all on videotape as I think that it would be one of the most visually stunning. Even from the telesnaps that I am looking at whilst listening to this on CD, it looks like a top production and its good that the acting matches it.

The cliffhanger is very enjoyable and makes up the previous episode’s lack of tension. It does really make you question who they are going to survive with Tegana being less than helpful and the lack of water being a real issue. I am for the first time really excited about this story and feel that the rest of the episode can make me forget this is a pure historical and excite me with a cracking story.

 

Marco Polo - The Roof of the World

This is the first story that doesn’t exist on video. Instead we have to be satisfied with William Russell narrating. As a fan of the Big Finish releases featuring Russell, I always enjoy anything that he’s in.  After the cliffhanger where they discover a huge footprint it falls to Ian to break the news that it’s a normal footprint that has melted in the snow. After the very dramatic previous episodes. The mood is very different as they all seem to be happy in each other’s company. I like that even in middle of mass snow Ian and Barbara entertain the thought of being back on Earth. Even though there’s no actual indication that they are on earth but it’s a theme that runs through their time on the show.
There’s more problems with the TARDIS, however it’s not to the extent that it was in the previous two episodes. The Doctor hopes that by going to a ‘lower altitude’ they might be able to get the parts needed. The fact that they can’t just leave is the only way that they would be staying for the next seven weeks.

Nice moment where Ian is explaining the science of heat to Marco Polo. It’s probably the most amusing part for the regulars. As its effectively a introduction episode, the regulars don’t really stand out very much as they all put in the same sort of performances. The performances aren’t bad but it feels like they are still recovering from the previous two episodes.  Marco Polo shows an interest in the Doctor’s TARDIS in the beginning of his encounter with the TARDIS crew. He wont let the Doctor or any one else enter the TARDIS as the locals are suspicious of the TARDIS crew and in a rare sign of compassion, the Doctor agrees not to force the issue.

We learn of Marco’s intention and its that he wants to offer Khan the TARDIS so that he can go home. It’s hard to dislike Marco Polo as he is played brilliantly by Mark Eden. He doesn’t raise his voice or act intimidatingly but still poses power and isn’t someone that you can say no to..

The Doctor’s reaction is quite strange as he starts laughing, had this happened eight episodes ago then there would have been a different response. Unusual bit of narration by Marco Polo. I like it as it gives a different feel to the story and feels like the series has found its feet and is comfortable in trying something new. It also shows what Marco Polo is thinking because we wouldn’t find out otherwise.

The cliffhanger doesn’t have the dramatic tension that I would have come to expect from a Dalek episode or even one of two of the An Unearthly Child episodes.  Tegana and a Mongol soldier are hatching a plan to kill Marco Polo and the others by poisoning the water and take the ‘caravan’ and bring Kublai Khan to his knees. It sets up the rest of the story rather well . As the story is seven episodes long, the story has the chance to take its time with the plot. The problem with this story existing on audio is that its difficult to really enjoy it. Whereas with a Big Finish audio it doesn’t have to worry about that. As it is, the opening episode is perfectly fine but it’s a pure historical adventure and that’s ok but historicals aren’t particularly well liked in Doctor Who circles. I think their ok as long as we can see them.

Inside the Spaceship - The Brink of Disaster

The previous episode saw the Doctor being grabbed around his neck, its resolved with Ian falling to the ground. This episode is about what is causing the problems. The Doctor is still not trusting Ian and Barbara and threatens to throw them off his ship. The friction added with the mystery about what is causing the weird atmosphere is one of the best things in the story.

Barbara is the one that is continuing to be the one that is trying to work things out.  She thinks that they have been given nothing but clues and put things together. Jacqueline Hill puts in another solid performance and maintains her dignity and is wonderful in the show. When Susan enters the console room she’s quite mysterious but then reverts back to her normal self. It’s great to see Carole Ann Ford get something else to do apart from shriek. She can get away with due to the plot. It’s probably going to be her best story in her time on the show. William Russell spends a large portion of the story trying to recover from falling on the floor after nearly strangling the Doctor. Russell makes way so that Jacqueline Hill and William Hartnell can shine and even with what he does its still good. William Hartnell is on fine form in this episode. The scene where the console room has plunged into the darkness and the camera focuses/zooms in on William Hartnell and his speech is one of the best moments in Doctor Who. It’s a brilliant speech and whilst I don’t understand exactly what he was saying, it was done in such a way that it wasn’t what he said but more how he said it that was why it worked.

The fault locator shows that everything is wrong. This means that the fault locator is absolutely no use whatsoever. The Doctor soon realises that something is wrong though there is the impending sense that he cant do anything about it. Soon the realisation that that the TARDIS is trying to give them clues, leads the to the Doctor not liking the idea with that notion. The idea that the TARDIS is a living thing might be perfectly normal now but back then it was something quite original. The realisation that they only have 10 minutes to survive is something that works only because of Barbara and the Doctor’s reaction. There is a nice moment between the Doctor and Ian where they are acting like comrades instead of two people pecking at each other. The dialogue is snappy and it switches from one person to another in this part of the story.

The problems have come from the fast return switch which hasn’t released itself. I like the idea that the reason for all the problems was due to a switch. What slightly ruins it is the fact that FAST RETURN is written in felt tip on the console. Now with 2013 CGI that could easily rectified but in 1964 it probably wasn’t as easy but it’s something that provides material in books and documentaries on the story.  When the problem has been resolved things go back to normal. The humming is a welcome return as is the light. It’s good to light things properly but 50 minutes of near darkness it’s good that light has been bought back to Doctor Who. Nice bit of exposition by the Doctor when he explains what happened to Susan.

The reaction of Barbara after the Doctor says that they owe her their lives is superb as Barbara seems emotional drained after what has happened. I like the scene where the Doctor tries to make up with Barbara. It is a nice moment as it repairs the damage that was done over the course of the story and by the end they have made up and it seems that the who team has made up and is stronger than the one that debuted thirteen episodes.

The cliffhanger is quite interesting. Susan and Barbara are outside and show the Doctor and Ian via the scanner of a rather large footprint. The mystery of what caused the footprint is the big selling point for ‘The Roof of the World’. It’s a good cliffhanger and reminds me of the cliffhanger for An Unearthly Child where it’s not clear who or what caused the shadow. 

As an episode it was really good and everyone was on fine form. The scene with Hartnell in darkness is a great scene and as a two part adventure, it served a purpose and it wasn’t just to give the production of Marco Polo a two week breather, it was to change and solidify the relationship of the TARDIS crew an it does it in a wonderful way.

Inside the Spaceship: The Edge of Destruction

The Edge of Destruction is one of my favourites ever. The cliffhanger from the previous episode had Ian, the Doctor and Susan in the console room before being thrown to the ground and a white light blinding the screen. After the a few moments everyone wakes up acting a bit strange. Barbara was the only one who wasn’t in the console room at the time so apart from a bit of forgetfulness she seems the be the best out of them all. A noticeable thing in the early stages is the lack of the humming that we have come to expect.

The early theory is that something or someone has got inside the TARDIS after they discover the doors are open. Considering we don’t hear or see anything it’s not a theory that works but the actors perform like they believe it. We have a moment where the TARDIS scanner is apparently showing them pictures of what is outside and we learn that the there was an adventure before ‘An Unearthly Child’ (this forms the story Qunnis released by Big Finish in 2010). Another strange thing that the TARDIS is doing is opening the doors and when someone moves towards them like Ian does a couple of times they then close.

William Hartnell is superb in this episode. I like how as Ian puts it he is playing the perfect butler just moments after accusing them of terrible things. He gives a solid performance though he is slightly undermined by the silly bandage around his head for a cut we don’t know how he got considering he wasn’t by the console when he fell. Ian is acting very strange, almost un-Ian like. The delivery of his lines is cold and dare I say it alien. After spending seven weeks in various versions of being a hero, William Russell gets to play a different part of his character and over the course of the episode goes through a wide ranging emotions and deals with it well. Susan is child like but given the weird circumstances that she finds herself in then it’s perfectly fine. That does change after about 12 minutes when she starts to act weirdly and is dressed in a black gown and it’s the best performance from Carole Ann Ford so far. They all have a pain at the back of their heads which is first noticed by Barbara. Barbara really shines in this episode because she stands up to the Doctor and is the one that tries to solve the puzzle. With Ian behaving oddly, it means she’s the sensible one. Barbara’s best scene was when she stands up to the Doctor after being accused and pointing out that the Doctor owes a lot to her and Ian. It’s one of the best scenes in the episode.

We get to see a bit more of the TARDIS in this story as we get to see the sleeping quarters. Admittedly its only the lounge and the sunbeds but it still good to see more than the console room. On the back of designing the Daleks, Raymond Cusick does a great job of creating the extended TARDIS sets with next to no money. So the sunbeds do look a bit out of place but it’s better and less silly than it could have done.

The scene with Susan and the scissors is one of the scenes that got Verity Lambert into trouble and it’s easy to see why. Not only is it because scissors are an easily obtained item but also it’s a superbly acted scene between William Russell and Carole Ann Ford. Richard Martin can’t really do anything special like he did in ‘The Daleks’ but he still manages to create a great episode and does have some moments of brilliance especially with the clock and Barbara’s watch melting.

what I like about this episode is how the relationship between all four characters breaks down in a spectacular way. There has always been friction between Ian and Barbara and the Doctor but Susan has always been there to calm things down but when she starts to side with her grandfather. The Doctor accuses Ian and Barbara of tampering the ship.

The final minute of the episode is fantastic. The music along with Hartnell wandering from room to room checking of Ian and Barbara before going over to the console and before he gets chance to do anything a pair of hands appear from behind him and we don’t see who it is. Now we are still to believe that someone or something has got into the TARDIS but as I don’t buy that I knew that the hands must have been Ian’s and that works as a much better cliffhanger because we have two of the series regulars who as a viewer we are suppose to like are now at each others throats. This was a great cliffhanger.

As an episode it was atmospheric and almost like a play with only two real sets and just the four regulars. One of the reasons why I love these two episodes is that there is great character development and we get to see different sides of the characters than what we had seen in the previous 11 weeks.

 

The Daleks - The Rescue

The final episode and we left Ian literally on a cliff trying not to get pulled down with Antodus. Despite being thoroughly annoying, Antodus gives his own life, whether he knows that he has no hope or he’s trying to save Ian’s life is unclear but it’s a nice end to a character that I haven’t rated very highly. Ian’s party have suffered loss and despite being on the verge of heading back, they discover that they have been travelling near the pipes all the time. When they get back into the city, it’s not long before their presence is felt. This is also the first episode that a Dalek has been seen moving about the corridors.

The Daleks want to go out of the city and think that the bomb will be their best chance. That’s basically their goal in this episode and all is going well until Ian and company storm the room. After the bomb has been stopped their source of power has been also been knocked out and just a they are about to die they plea with the Doctor to help and the Doctor tells him that even if he wanted to he doesn’t know how.

The Doctor and Susan are now tied up in the Daleks control room. In a last final desperate attempt, the Doctor tells the Daleks about the TARDIS. This doesn’t work and what we get is a wonderful bit of tension as the countdown continues and Ian and the rest have to try and disrupt the countdown whilst not being killed by the Daleks. Neither William Hartnell or Carole Ann Ford do much for large chunks of the episode as they are tied up. What little they do is good but it’s Hartnell who has the better dialogue. Carole Ann Ford almost gets a child-free like performance in this episode. But there is a moment where she is wearing something from the Thals, does a spin and then childishly falls to the floor.

William Russell is very good in this episode being the driving force of the party to get through the last bit of the cave. The look on his face when he’s peering through the wall into the room with the pipes was fun too see. Jacqueline Hill was also very good in this episode as she throws herself into some of the more dramatic moments such as when the doors are about to slam down and manages to squeeze herself through the small gap. The romance between herself and Ganatus is short lived and sadly comes to an end and it’s a shame because even though it’s never really been looked at in any way it’s been a nice thing that they have both performed well with.

As a final episode it seems almost like the journey for the fluid link was almost forgotten as the rescue took centre stage. It’s only referred to at the very end of the battle in the control room. Even then it’s not a big thing that the last four episodes have been about getting this fluid link. The battle was rather well done, it was your typical fight with Thals coming down from the ceiling before being gunned down. There is a wonderful final shot of the dead Daleks in their control room it’s the first time there has been any real silence in the story and it’s a wonderful moment, it shows that even in a mini war like what we got there is still losses on both sides even though the Thals came out on top.

The cliffhanger was a fantastic one. Everything is seemingly carrying on as normal but then the Doctor, Ian and Susan (Barbara walks off screen) are thrown to the floor with a white light blinding the screen. At the time it must have been as impressive ending as ‘The Dead Planet’. As an episode ‘The Rescue’ is a really good episode with some good scenes and good performances. Over the course of the last seven episodes the characters have developed nicely with some strong performances from all four regulars. Even the supporting cast have been good even though they aren’t quite given the best costumes in the world. The first encounter with the Daleks is what every Doctor Who story after it will be compared against.

The Daleks - The Ordeal

The penultimate episode is where the trek really gets interesting. The long pause before the they react has been cut down which I’m glad because it was a really odd moment. Now we get to see the other party but at the beginning all they don’t seem to achieve as much in this episode as Ian’s party. I prefer the Doctor’s party because no one is annoying. The party that Ian and Barbara are with is filled with slightly annoying people. I’m not a big fan of Antodus. I think he always been a bit wet and does nothing but bring everybody down. It just gets worse when part of the cave comes down. It’s not necessarily the fault of Marcus Hammond but the character doesn’t really serve a purpose. His falling off the cliff and having trouble to hold is the beginning of the end for the character and Antodus isn’t a Thal that will be missed. Ganatus and Barbara’s romance continues to grow. When he has fallen to the bottom of the cave he seems more concerned with Barbara’s wellbeing.

 

There are something’s in this episode which make me go mmmm. I always find the line “We wont use one of the customs on your planet…..ladies first!”. We never hear anyone use it so it’s a bit odd that someone from Skaro knows this. Either it was in a deleted scene or other people from earth have been on Skaro. Another thing that I find odd is the scene where the Doctor and Susan are shortening out the circuit and whilst the Doctor is praising himself at what he has done, they don’t seem the Daleks coming towards them.  The Daleks are tiny things that blend into the background so it’s a bit hard to believe that they didn’t see them coming.

The Daleks are menacing in this episode as their plan to nuke the planet for their own ends starts to gather pace with the only issue being time. There is a moment where they are doing the Nazi salute and it’s a powerful image and one that matches up with their opinions on the thals. This doesn’t come until near the end of the episode but at least we don’t get the cardboard cutout Daleks.

William Hartnell is great in this episode, his particular gem of a scene comes when the Doctor and Susan have are sitting on the floor and the Daleks tell them the plan and he says “That’s sheer murder”. After a couple of episodes where he’s not had much to do he finally gets given something good from the start of the episode to the end and he very good. Even his hair has calmed down since the early episodes. William Russell doesn’t have much heroic things to do but he is still a good presence in the episode. Leading the party through the caves he has become the leader of the ‘B Team’. Carole Ann Ford is good in what is becoming a wildly inconsistent character. Susan doesn’t come across like a child and instead acts perfectly normally. Granted she does spend a large portion of the episode attached to William Hartnell’s arm but as a performance it can’t be faulted. Jacqueline Hill has some more stuff to do in this episode and its not just to become love interest but there’s a nice moment where she says that Ian told them something and Ganatus says “Do you always do what Ian tells you to?” and it’s the reactions that she gives which seems to suggest that she has been blindly following his orders and Ganatus has made her realise.

Some clever directing shots where the shot of looking down at Ganatus is done by placing a mirror above the actor at the appropriate height and just moving the camera and filming up. Then there the shot of Ian’s party walking through the cave, the shot is simple but still impressive. The cave scenes are wonderfully dark and atmospheric. I thought that it was a Christopher Barry episode but it was actually a Richard Martin episode and he does very well.

The cliffhanger is literally a cliffhanger. The last shot is of Ian struggling to keep a grip of a tiny rock. It’s the best cliffhanger since ‘The Dead Planet’. As an episode it’s a lot more active than the previous episode. Whereas in ‘The Expedition’ there was a lot of sitting around talking, here they are always on the move and the plot seems to move on a lot more than in previous episodes. The writing and directing were all very good in this episode. Looking forward to the final episode.

 

The Daleks - The Expedition

As the title suggests, this story is about an expedition and its where the regulars attempt to retrieve the fluid link from the city.  The first half is basically the regulars arguing with each other about whether Ian should try to talk the Thals into helping them and then decide that the Thals can only help them if they want to help them.  Ian isn’t willing to push too hard in convincing the Thals to sacrifice their lives as he doesn’t want the deaths on his conscious. It’s quite funny when they are trekking through the jungle when its clear that Ian hasn’t exactly dressed for a journey of this. The plan to try and retrieve the fluid link is to split into two parties. This is the first time that the regulars have been split up. Ian and Barbara go through the caves and the Doctor and Susan have the seemingly easier job of going to the front of the city.

I was really impressed with William Russell. The scene where he’s trying to convince the Thals to fight and provoke Alydon into combat was a good scene.  The most surprising thing about Susan in this episode is that she climbed the tree and didn’t sprain her ankle. Apart from Carole Ann Ford didn’t really have much to do which is presumably why the best thing they could get her to do was to climb a tree. Jacqueline Hill starts off with not much to do but there is a romance that starts in this episode between Barbara and Ganatus. William Hartnell has a good scene where he acknowledges that his little attempt to see the city has backfired spectacularly. Thought it was a good moment from Hartnell and it was well supported by Russell.

It’s good that we get a bit more from the Daleks in this episode. The Daleks figure out that the anti-radiation drugs are lethal to them so they decide that the only way to survive is to drop another bomb. I think that its gives the journey of the regulars and thals a greater sense of urgency. I noted in the previous episode about the lack of Daleks in the story and they do seem to have addressed that issue to a certain degree but its not as successful as it was perhaps intended to be.

Alydon is a character of principal and despite striking one of the main characters, its not enough to dislike the character. He gives a great speech where he talks about not being ashamed to die but being ashamed to fight. The fact that the rest of the Thals are willing to support him without any sense of dissension shows that he is very strong character. My opinion of Dyoni has improved quite a lot as I thought that her reaction to Alydon hitting Ian was quite good. Virginia Wetherell has been given a pretty standard role and she has done well with it.

There is another unusual shot with the camera positioned right by the sucker arm. It’s another Christopher Barry episode and another episode where his distinct style is on show here. There is the moment where a Dalek is reacting badly to the drugs and the camera is zooming in and out. It’s quite a good effect though its slightly ruined by the shot of the cardboard cut out daleks.

The cliffhanger was a good one. Elyon is at the lake and the weird looking monster is about to grab him. We don’t see that as presumably the BBC budget wouldn’t have stretched to it. There is an awkward where Ian and Ganatus don’t seem to move until they do spring into action and thus the episode ends. I quite like this episode. It’s like the Daleks story is split into two sections and the section part is now starting with the long trek, I thought that the dialogue was very good and the directing something to behold. With the final two episodes coming, I think that my opinion of this story hasn’t really changed. I’ve appreciated the directing a lot more and whilst I have always thought that Christopher Barry is a good director but these couple of episodes have confirmed it. The writing has also been quite good if the action has been a little slow at times but I’ve been pleased with it so far.

The Daleks - The Ambush

After a less than impressive cliffhanger the story starts with the regulars trying to get out of the city. The first bit of tension comes when the Doctor, Susan and Barbara are trying to get Ian out of the empty Dalek. They can’t get it open and this is whilst the daleks are trying to burn their way through the door. The first thing they try to do is to move Ian into the lift but we learn that they can magnetise the floor. The next few moments are quite good as there is the possibility that the Daleks will get through before he can get the latch open. There is some noticeable special effects in this episode. The effect of the regulars in the lift is rather well done.

I described the Thals as naïve but to be fair they are more desperate that naïve because they are desperate for food. They are reluctant to get involved in any fighting which is quite nice but when its against something as cruel and twisted as the Daleks then it effectively means that they have no hope. Ian summed it up best when he thought the reason why the Daleks were the way they were was because of dislike for the unlike.

It’s very much an ensemble piece this episode because no one really stands out in any way. Susan does go a bit like a child when she shrieks that they should go back down the lift to get Ian. She seems to take a step back after the previous episode. It was good when she tried to create a diversion for fearing that the Daleks would rumble their plan. William Russell gets to be a hero again as he decides to go and warn the Thals however it’s a bit unfortunate he leaves it for as long as he does before warning them. Jacqueline Hill puts in a perfectly fine performance but doesn’t really have much to do. It’s a shame really but

The scene where the Daleks are waiting for the Thals is actually my favourite part of the entire episode. It’s so well done as the directing makes it more dramatic along with the music. You are instantly aware of what’s about to happen and the impending inevitability of what will happen makes for a great scene. Christopher Barry returns to the directing chair for this episode and it shows as at one point the camera is behind a Dalek that seems to be looking out behind the wall which is seeing the Thals wonder into the room.

The security in the city isn’t very good as the regulars can run about without encountering a single Dalek. There have been four or five Daleks on screen yet no attempt has been made to make it seem like there are many more. As for the Daleks themselves they don’t feature as much as they have previously as the action takes place between the regulars and the Thals. After learning a bit about their history and talking the Thals into fighting the Daleks they decide to leave but they realise that Ian doesn’t have the fluid link and it’s still in the city.

The cliffhanger for this episode was much better than the previous two. There is a real sense of dredd knowing that they will have to go back into the city and the attempt to try and get the Thals fighting will have more importance in future episodes. The episode was another one where there is an awful lot of sitting down or walking from one place to another. The title was very apt and related very well to the episode. It’s only the section where Ian is in the Dalek and they are trying to get out of the city that really seemed any good but it wasn’t a terrible episode as we learnt a bit more about the history of Skaro.

 

The Daleks - The Escape

The next instalment is where the story really picks up as we get a full sense of the conflict that happens on Skaro. After the rather ordinary cliffhanger the story picks up quickly when Susan encounters her first Thal. We get our first look at the Thals and its at this point that learn that the Thals aren’t mutants but are human looking. Alydon is the name of the first Thal and the handing over of the cloak seems like a gentlemanly act but it becomes a subtle plot device. It’s not long before the TARDIS crew are getting better. It’s perhaps the best because we couldn’t really have had more time given to them suffering from radiation sickness.

 

Susan wants to help the Thals even when she’s locked up. I thought it was a nice selfless moment because even though she’s trapped she wants to help others which is a nice character trait.

I thought a good scene took place between two Daleks as there is a bit of team bonding going on. Nice bit of complimenting each other on letting the TARDIS crew live. The Daleks don’t seem to be particularly menacing as all they really do is talk and bring food in to the prisoners. They shoot themselves in the foot (if they had one) when they let slip that they know the TARDIS crew want to help the Thals.

The Thals are quite naïve, still believing that they can work with the Daleks. At time they are quite annoying with only Alydon being good on screen. John Lee is a good on screen presence and is the best one out of the speaking Thals that we encounter. It’s quite good writing by Terry Nation to make it seem like a totally one sided battle as the Daleks have technology and weapons that can kill without them getting a scratch whereas the Thals are the exact opposite.

 

The scene where they fake an argument and break the camera in their cell was comedic.  Hartnell’s attempt at acting up is quite amusing. The whole sequence where they finally get to put the Dalek out of action was a nice scene and after a lot of sitting down we got something to enjoy. We don’t get a proper look at the creature inside the casing but William Russell and William Hartnell both do a good job in conveying the horrible mess that must be in there. It’s probably best not to have seen something because it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it would be in our imagination.

At the half way point they stumble across the fact that the floor is metal and it’s the way that the Daleks move about. It’s a good moment as it shows that there is a way of defeating the Daleks or Dalek in this case and its not long before they become unstuck.  It’s the first time since ‘The Cave of Skulls’ that they have had to work together to solve the problem. Ian comes up with a plan to get their way out of the cell.  Barbara is quite resourceful here by making mud with the dirt on Susan’s shoe.

No one really stood out as far as the regulars were concerned. William Hartnell’s hair doesn’t seem as mad as previous episodes but again he doesn’t do a great deal. He becomes more involved in the latter stages of the episode but he wasn’t the best one in the episode. This was Carole Ann Ford’s episode as she stopped being told to be child like and acted more mature. Jacqueline Hill suffered like the Doctor and only really came into her own once the plan to escape started. William Russell got to be a bit heroic when he had to help the Daleks’ sucker arm reach his neck but at least he got to do something apart from sit down. Nice moment with Ian and the Doctor working together. It makes a change from previous episodes and it shows that things are changing between these two.

It’s another disappointing cliffhanger I’m afraid. All that we have is the claw of whatever was inside and then it fades to black. Rather lacklustre after the dramatic attempt to escape the cell. As an episode it was quite a good one as we are introduced to some more characters and the circumstances of both sides became a lot more interesting.

RATING

 

 

The Daleks - The Survivors

After the last episode, people up and down the country must have been wondering what was on the end of that sink plunger. However they decided that we would have to wait a little longer to find out as we return to the Doctor, Ian and Susan who are still looking for Barbara. They are much weaker than they were in the previous episode and it’s not long before they discover the Geiger counter (or the Skaro equivalent) and figure out that they are suffering from radiation poisoning. It’s also at this point that the Doctor confesses that there is nothing wrong with the fluid link like a child confessing to their parents that they have broken the family vase.

 

It’s nearly 5 minutes before we get our first site of the Daleks. But when we do we’re not just treated to one, but to several and their monotonous voice must have struck fear into many people. We are also treated to what happens when people don’t follow their instructions and William Russell becomes the first person ever to feel the effects of the Daleks’ gun. It’s a shame they didn’t have the catchphrase ‘Exterminate’ yet. The effect was simple but effective.

After Ian has been struck down we are told that it’s not permanent so it’s nice to know that they can change the setting on their gun. Barbara is reunited with the Doctor, Ian and Susan and their cell is quite big but sparse. Nice bit of humour when Barbara notes that there isn’t much furniture and Ian responds by saying that it doesn’t help very much.

We find out that there are the metal creatures and they are fighting against Thals. We get a nice bit of history about the war and when the Daleks are talking about the Thals we learn just as much about the Daleks as we do about the Thals because the Daleks tell the Doctor that the Thals must be horribly mutated and this creates a nice bit of drama as one of the regulars are being told to go back into the forest. This is done during the first encounter between the Doctor and the Daleks. Quite a historical episode yet its wonderfully standard. The Doctor is weak and yet the Daleks don’t really care.  

The central performances are all very good. I love how William Hartnell’s hair seems to have a mind of its own. It’s all up in the air in an attempt to show the viewer that he’s affected by the radiation. Hartnell is good in this because the Doctor has to take some responsibility for them being sick and captured and he does this very well. The Doctor seems to be affected the most by the radiation. Apart from his scene with the Daleks, he doesn’t really do very much in the episode. William Russell puts in another good performance. Despite being sick, Ian is willing to go out to get the anti-radiation drugs. He feels like it should be his responsibility to get the drugs even though he can barely walk. Carole Ann Ford is very good in this episode and it might be more to do with how childish Susan has been in recent episodes. Apart from her reaction to the Daleks (which is a perfectly natural reaction), she is perfectly fine and Carole Ann Ford is given something decent to do. She’s given the cliffhanger all to herself which she does well with. Sadly Barbara isn’t given much to do in this episode. She spends all of it locked up and when they are reunited, she has got worse. Jacqueline Hill has to basically do capture and suffering from radiation sickness type acting which she does perfectly fine but it wasn’t her finest episode but it’s more to do with the writing than the actress herself.

Despite this being the sixth episode in the show we learn that there is a defence mechanism on the TARDIS lock. This plot point serves a purpose here but it’s never mentioned again. It means that Susan has to go and it forces the character to do something she probably wouldn’t have done normally.

This is another well directed episode. There are some shots in the Dalek Command Room where the camera is sitting on the floor means that we are looking up at the Daleks. There were a couple of shots like this. The shot where it starts on the regulars but pulls back to show them surrounded by many Daleks is one of my favourites.  There is a curious return of the static shot whilst the actor is running on the spot. This time its Carole Ann Ford and I still think it’s a rather curious way of filming.

The final couple of minutes are focused on Susan as she makes her return to the TARDIS. It’s perhaps the most screen time she’s had to herself since the show started and together with the directing it’s a scene.  As cliffhangers go, it’s the weakest one so far. Susan exiting the TARDIS and then it fades to black. It’s not the worse cliffhanger in Doctor Who history but after 5 cliffhangers which have all been strong it’s a shame that this one falls a bit short of what we have come to expect. As an episode it only really has one selling point and that was finding out what was on the end of the sink plunger and there was an awful lot of sitting around talking with not much in the way of activity. A good episode but not as much fun as the previous episode

RATING

 

The Daleks - The Dead Planet

So this is the story that sealed Doctor Who’s fate. After 4 weeks of fighting cavemen, the Doctor and company fight the most popular monsters in Doctor Who. It’s the first visit on an alien world and whilst we don’t know the name of the planet (well they didn’t at the time), its another congratulations that go to set designers who have done well in creating an impressive cave/jungle set and now create a very atmospheric dead jungle. It’s the first episode to be written by Terry Nation. A comedy writer writing for what was considered a children show much have seemed like a bizarre thing at the time.

The baron landscape is curious to the Doctor and his scientific mind is again on show here. The effect used to achieve the first alien world is quite good as it’s meant to represent night its noticeable when the effect is faded out and the studio lights act for the daytime.  Music does a lot of good in the early stages of the episode. It’s noticeably different from ‘An Unearthly Child’.  There is a bit of pottering around in the opening minutes with everyone making a comment about where they are but at 4 minutes and 31 seconds is when we witness our first alien in five weeks. Ok so it’s not a mobile one and it looks a bit silly but its an important milestone in Doctor Who history.

The friendship between Barbara and Ian is very moving in one their earlier scenes. They have been forced into their adventure and they take comfort in knowing that the other is just as scared as they are even if they don’t show as much as the other does. Things seem to be heading towards them going abck to the city before Ian discovers the city and the first shot is really good and that twined with the regulars makes for a great shot. The Doctor’s determination to investigate the city is what moves the story on and we see a sneaky side to the Doctor. The determination is made even stronger when they hear the tapping on the TARDIS door. I do find it odd that no one saw the Doctor duck out of sight just moments before the TARDIS becomes faulty. The fault is a lack of mercury and by a strange coincidence the only place that might have it is in the city.

I like all the scenes in the TARDIS as it makes it seem more than just a vehicle to go from time to time but actually somewhere that the Doctor and Susan call home. There is another great scene between Ian and the Doctor in the fault locator which starts off with Ian being friendly but soon descends into a less than friendly encounter. The food machine is one of those gems that sadly doesn’t get used much after this era of the show. Being the BBC they cant do product placement so instead go for what look like blocks of cheese in tin foil but it’s a fun to think this is how people eat food in the future by mixing food components like you mix two colours to make a third. Another fun thing that we discover in the TARDIS is the fault locator. Again like the food machine it doesn’t last very long but it helps make the ship seem more than just a ship.

The headache is something that seems quite trivial. It’s rested for a while and then when they start to investigate the city they all start to become tired. This isn’t given much time as it will be important in future episodes but these points are placed in the viewers mind to festered until they are mentioned again.

The central performances are all good on the whole. William Hartnell has mellowed some more but there are flashes of defiance at several points during this episode, they are usually aimed at Ian or Barbara and its good how its down to the Doctor’s meddling that affects what happens in the remaining six episodes. Barbara is exasperated at not being back on Earth. She is the one who should refusal to go down to the city and seems to pick up in the scene where she is talking to Susan. Jacqueline Hill really impresses me when she is walking around the corridors and the fear and other emotions are etched on her face and it’s a really good performance from her. Ian is a lot stronger and seems to be keeping it together. He gets to be a bit of an a hero when he taps a container with a stick. William Russell keeps it relatively calm throughout the episode and doesn’t really have a great deal to do in this story. Carole Ann Ford moves from good to bad in this episode the scene where Susan is on her own as they are making their way back to the TARDIS and she is looking at a flower was a lovely moment and was well acted by Carole Ann Ford. The mystery of who the hand belongs to on what was called a dead world is one of the first mysteries in the story and is made more dramatic by Ford’s performance but then some of Susan’s body language and the way that Carole Ann Ford’s delivery of some lines is quite child like and its frustrating because Carole Ann Ford is reduced to sitting at a desk drawing like a naughty child and being looked down at by Barbara.

Some of the directing is really well done and its helped especially by the sets of the city. There’s a shot with Barbara walking through the corridors where the camera appears to be at an angle and then when she’s investigating a room she puts her hand on the camera to convince the viewer that she’s not in a studio. Christopher Barry’s debut episode in Doctor Who . Something I haven’t noticed really until now is that like the first episode of ‘An Unearthly Child’ its really just the regulars that appear and no one else. The fact that its just the regulars is not noticeable really because their performances are so good and the writing and directing don’t allow you think that.

 

The cliffhanger is the one that is most iconic in the show’s history and whilst it might look very impressive on TV (and it does), it loses a certain amount of mystic when you realise that it was just a sink plunger being held by someone out of shot. That said it is an impressive cliffhanger that is matched only by the cliffhanger from ‘An Unearthly Child’. It’s an episode that doesn’t really get going until the 15 minute mark in which case it builds up nicely and reaches a fitting end to the episode.

 

RATING

 

An Unearthly Child - The Firemaker

The final part of this introduction to Doctor Who after nearly getting into the TARDIS, the crew are captured and taken back to the cave. When they do get back to the cave there is a nice bit of teamwork between the Doctor and Ian, it’s made even nice when Ian makes sure Za knows that the Doctor is the leader. The first eight or nine minutes bumble along and there is nothing really exciting that grabs the attention but then at nine minute mark the power struggle takes centre stage. It’s been bubbling along for the previous two episodes but here it intensifies when fire has been made. We have our first big action sequence and it doesn’t involve any of the regular crew. It’s between Za and Kal It’s quite a violent  encounter  buts its well worked out.  The reactions from the regulars help make that scene even more graphic.

There is a last minute plot device to crank up the tension when after Ian has made fire for Za, he refuses to let them go and the TARDIS crew are still trapped. However it’s a short lived imprisonment because they discover a way to get out. Susan is the one that works out how make the cavemen scared. It might have been Ian that worked out the finer details but its still Susan who starts the ball rolling. Considering how for the last two episodes she has been whining and acting like a kid but here that has all disappeared. The cavemen are pretty easy to scare and so it’s a plan that works well. It’s a wonderful image of the skulls being on fire, it’s quite a well realised image that is helped because its black and white television.

The central performances are all consistently good for the first time since the first episode. The Doctor is less grumpy and frosty than he has been and William Hartnell performs very well. It’s quite good how he has become more dishevelled as the story has progressed and has mellowed since the first episode. Carole Ann Ford has had a good episode, not only does she come up with the idea but she doesn’t go hysterical and is good to watch. Jacqueline Hill puts in a good performance after her brief moment of hysterics she is the strong figure that we know she can be and Hill can play that well. William Russell’s most significant contribution to the story is when Ian makes fire. It’s not to say that he wasn’t very good but I don’t it was his finest episode. In the  supporting cast Alethea Charlton has become the star of the story with her stunning performance in the past three episodes. She started off quietly but soon became an important member of the story and she was strong until the very end.

Visually the story has been very good and continues here. The cave scenes have been the heart of the story and it was made very well. The scene where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are running back to the TARDIS and being chased is done in a rather odd way. Just static shots of each of the regulars with branches hitting them in the faces. I know that it was a means to an end because they probably didn’t have the space to do a running scene but it just doesn’t sit as well as the rest of the story.

It’s good how when the TARDIS takes off, Barbara and Ian think/hope that the Doctor will take them back to 1963 but it’s not going to be that simple. The sense of desperation from Ian and Barbara shows that a trip back in time isn’t going to make them want to go travelling with the Doctor which is what happens pretty much every time that someone new joins the show. When they do land the world that they have landed on doesn’t look like Earth and the cliffhanger ends with the radiation detector hitting danger just after Susan has checked it when it was normal.

As an episode it’s half a good episode but spends an awful long time to get into gear. When it does though its really good and the second half is what saves this episode. As a story, I had always thought that it was one quarter very good and three quarters ok. However having watched them over four days I must say that its half a good story and half ok.  The first and third episodes are enjoyable and the second and final episode sort of let the side down but it definelty a good start to the journey of the Doctor.

RATING 

An Unearthly Child - The Forest of Fear

The Doctor opens the episode apologising for getting them trapped. It’s probably the nicest that the Doctor would be for a while. As he drastically changes throughout the episode. The story in this episode sees the TARDIS crew trying to desperately escape from the cave and get back to the TARDIS however as the power struggle in the tribe gets worse and worse it heightens up the tension for the Doctor and co. There is a wonderful quote in the early part of this episode “Fear makes companions of us all” is a wonderful quote from the Doctor.

 

It’s not been mentioned before but the set designs are quite good. It’s not really evident that it’s been filmed in a studio. The cave sets in particular are well designed and have a claustrophobic feel to them which is I know what you would want from a cave but it’s lit quite badly and that helps to create the right impression.

Ian’s role as the action man of the group is established in part three as he is the one who’s hopes of setting them free rely upon. He becomes the one who is quite resourceful and is always trying to come up with ways of helping someone. Russell has been a strong presence in these episodes whether its having the argument with the Doctor in the previous episode or being resourceful.  It’s Barbara’s turn to be the hysterical one. After two episodes of being the strong one taking things in her stride, she then becomes the one that just screams and cries during the course of the episode. Her decision to go and help Hur after Za has been attacked might seem like a stupid thing to do but it recovers Barbara from being the hysterical one and establishes the character as a caring person. 

The Old Woman doesn’t want the Doctor to make fire. It’s a curious request considering how much everyone else wants it. It’s a shame when she dies cause I thought that she was a really good character and well played. Eileen Way has been one of the gems of this story but I think that her usefulness has run its course but its still a shame when a good character gets written out. Za and Hur are really good in this as Za’s desperation intensifies and Hur is doing everything she can to help him. Za does raise a good point about why Hur did nothing when Old Mother took Za’s rock. Apart from that she is really good and even Za is quite good.

The middle section of the episode is the highlight of the episode because it’s a good chase sequence with Za and Hur chasing Ian, Barbara, Susan and the Doctor. It’s halted when Hur gets attacked by something which we don’t see (presumably a tiger or a lion). The moment when the Doctor picks up a rock and is clearly going to kill Hur is something that you wouldn’t associate with the character. It shows the darker side of the character and its quite a surprising thing because he of course would play the grand father figure quite well in the rest of his time on the show and he continues to be the anti-grandfather. Hartnell’s performance is very good  and is the best out of the regular characters.

The cliffhanger was quite good. Just when we think that the Doctor and the rest have made it back to the TARDIS then they encounter some of the tribe who come out of the darkness its quite well done and then when Ian tells the other to go back they face more trouble in the form of Kal. The look on his face is very serious as his power in the tribe grows. I thought that this was a much improved episode on Cave of Skulls. For one, the title actually has some meaning here as most of the story takes place in the forest and there is a certain amount of fear. The final episode is set up nicely by what goes on in this episode.

 

RATING

An Unearthly Child - The Cave of Skulls

After the introduction episode we get to the main part of the story and our first introduction into a different world. We find out what the shadowy figure was from the cliffhanger. It’s a rather gormless looking individual. It’s a  case of the mind perhaps creating a more impressive answer than what we could possibly have expected. It would perhaps have been better to have a look in the TARDIS before we get to meet the clan. The first voices we hear in this episode are from the clan. It’s nearly 3 ½ minutes before we get back to the TARDIS and in that scene we get to basically understand what the next three episodes will be about. When we go back to the TARDIS there is a dramatic near four minute scene where Ian and the Doctor square up to discover the finer points of science. Despite what must have been a turbulent journey, Ian is still reluctant to accept what’s going on.

A nice scene in the TARDIS takes place concerning the name of the Doctor. Doctor Foreman is the name mistakenly given by Barbara as to the identity of Susan’s grandfather. With Ian being the first to question just what the Doctor’s real name is (a question still being asked 50 years on).When we leave the TARDIS we learn another thing about the show and that’s the TARDIS is suppose to change shape and blend in with its surroundings. It’s also rather odd to see the Doctor actually doing some scientific research into the surroundings. Normally the episode starts and the Doctor and crew are off and away so its nice to see the Doctor doing some research.

The central performances are noticeably different from the first episode. William Hartnell plays the Doctor really well in this episode as the Doctor is less frosty in this episode despite his stand-off with Ian. William Russell is putting a good performance. I like how confident Ian thinks he is that the Doctor is a charlatan. Even after stepping out of the TARDIS he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. This continuous refusal to believe what’s in front of him would normally be quite annoying but with Russell its good. Carole Ann Ford does the best that she can but Susan’s still hysterical. She’s degraded quickly. Barbara is playing the mother figure, it’s quite surprising just how quickly these two characters have been bedded down but I still think that Jacqueline Hill is a very good actress and Barbara is the stronger written character out of the two. The TARDIS crew that we have now do the finest ‘pretending to be frozen in a baking hot studio’ acting I think I’ve ever seen

The problems with this story become evident in this episode. The cave storyline is rather pedestrian and dull compared to the more interesting storyline with the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Essentially it’s a power struggle with the leader being the one who can make fire. The only character that is of any interest is Old Mother. Old Mother is clearly someone who revels from Za not being able to make fire. Eileen Way is clearly having fun despite looking haggard and grim.

The only time that the cave clan become interesting is when the Doctor gets bought in a then it leads to quite a dramatic rescue by Ian, Barbara and Susan with an even better moment where the Doctor tries to save Ian’s life. But it’s a futile attempt as it leads them to the first prison cell scene of Doctor Who.  Considering the  episode is called ‘The Cave of Skulls’ it quite bizarre then that its 23 minutes before the story moves into the cave. The cliffhanger is quite good as at the time it must have been quite grim because the camera focuses on a skull with a hole in it and the idea that you would have to wait a whole week to see whether your new favourite characters would have a hole in their head after just three weeks is quite nice.

The Cave of Skulls isn’t quite as good as An Unearthly Child but there are still some elements that are entertaining.

RATING

An Unearthly Child - An Unearthly Child

Very atmospheric opening. Foggy with the eerie theme tune helping to create a wonderful effect.

The camera in a seemingly following forcing its way into the Junkyard just like Barbara and Ian are about to, thought it was a nice metaphor. It feels weird that the story starts off in ‘contemporary’ London, Doctor Who would obviously return to Earth in the modern day but considering its mostly a non-earth series it has a different feel to the rest of the story. Ian and Barbara’s introduction seems like two natural teachers with a friendship. It’s very low key.

In their first scene it is Barbara who is the driving force into discovering the mystery about Susan. In the scene where Ian and Barbara are in the car it’s interesting how Barbara is the one that can sense there is something odd about the area. Susan’s introduction is really good. The way that she says that she likes walking through the fog as it’s mysterious. There is a moment when Susan is listening to John Smith and the Common Men. It’s odd how the John Smith gag seems to come from The Wheel in Space but this is the first mention of John Smith so this episode is the birth of the John Smith joke but it would be four years before it became part of the character. I thought the French Revolution reference was quite fortuitous as it would form the final story of this opening series.

The scenes where Ian and Barbara talk about their encounters with her are quite rare for the show as flashbacks don’t form part of the narrative until the new series and there good as we only see Susan but only hear Ian and Barbara so its as if we are the ones confronting Susan. Hartnell’s first appearance comes at the 11 minute mark which shows that this is really Ian and Barbara’s episode. Hartnell isn’t the warm and grandfather like figure that we know he becomes. In many respects he is the anti-grandfather figure. When they are in the TARDIS, he is very reluctant to explain himself to Ian and Barbara and won’t let them leave fearing that they will tell people.

Ian and Barbara’s first encounter in the TARDIS control room is our first encounter and it’s a superb introduction.  The console room might not have the grand scale that the new series console does but it still an impressive room. They are trying to use human logic to what they are experiencing and it’s a futile venture.  After Barbara leading the curiosity, its Ian who now leads the mission to try and understand where they are. Ian’s inability to try and understand what’s going on is fun to watch. Barbara still thinks its some sort of trick and she seems to be dealing with it a lot more than Ian.

After a superb start for Susan, she quickly resorts to being the child of the group. When she wants to leave the Doctor and live her life on earth. She seems to throw a mini-tantrum when they says this and its perhaps the only time (apart from Inside the Spaceship) that she shrugs off the child image and acts like an alien.  The cast do some fine wobbling acting when the TARDIS ‘takes off’. The panning out shot of London along with the ‘time vortex’ from the title sequence is as best an attempt to create the impression to the viewer that the TARDIS isn’t in a junkyard in November 1963.

The Cliffhanger is absolutely brilliant. A shadow appearing out of shot is one of my favourite cliffhangers in Doctor Who. This was an wonderful episode. It started off very well and continued to maintain my interest. Even though there are other people in the episode they don’t have an impact on the story and so its one of the rare occasions in Doctor Who where it’s just the main cast that are involved and it’s a clever move which helps establish that this isn’t your typical drama.


Rating