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
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