The penultimate episode sees things start to step up a gear. At the end of the previous episode we saw Tlotoxl gaud Barbara into trying to save Ian. The way that Barbara gets over Tlotoxl demand is quite clever. She puts a knife against his throat to stop Ixta. I thought that this was a great moment for Barbara and its quite a surprising moment where a regular is doing such as an aggressive act. There is a nice scene between Barbara and Autloc where she is trying to convince him that sacrifices aren’t needed. You can tell that Autloc is conflicted because he knows there is something not quite right but he cant quite face to go against Yetaxa.
The Doctor and Tlotoxl have a good scene where the Doctor basically tells Tlotoxl that if he wants proof that Barbara is a false goddess then they need to open up the tomb. It’s the first proper scene that the two have had together and it’s a good scene. John Ringham continues to put in a great performance as Tlotoxl and he takes the next step into madness when Tlotoxl plans to poison Barbara to prove she is a false goddess. Tlotoxl is like a dog with a bone as he is obsessed with proving the Barbara isn’t Yetaxa. Barbara admits that to Ytoxl that she isn’t the real Yetaxa. It was good that she finally admitted it. I think that this moment took place at the right time. The scene where Barbara is to drink the poison is good because had it not been for Ian then Barbara would have died and she subtlety manages to call Tlotoxl’s bluff by getting him to drink it and when he shows sign of reluctant then Barbara knows that its true.
The Doctor is very funny in this episode and it centres around his budding romance with Cameca. Unaware that cocoa has such meanings he offers to make her a drink. This leads to us learning that the Doctor has gotten engaged. The reaction when the Doctor is told by Cameca the look on his face is priceless. When Ian finds out it’s the first time that he has smiled since this story began. It’s a bit of humour in an otherwise sombre setting. The only time that the Doctor becomes serious is towards the end but its nice to see Hartnell showing his (dare I say it) human side and being quite normal.
There is another pre-filmed scene with Susan as Carole Ann Ford was still on holiday. She is still against the idea of being married to someone she doesn’t know. It’s a shame that Carole Ann Ford was on holiday as this is basically all she does in this story and it would have been nice had she had something more substantial. Though she did have a wonderful moment where she is looking to the side of the camera and is calling out for her grandfather. It’s well played by Ford.
They finally gain access to the tunnel that leads from the garden however it isn’t long before Ixta puts the stone back. There is a nice moment where Ixta is looking at the Doctor with a ‘we both know Ian is dead’. It’s a well directed scene as it means that they have to turn down the lights and that twinned with it being in black and white means that its very atmospheric. This leads to Ian being trapped as the waters are rising leading to the very real possibility of him drowning and it’s a great cliffhanger.
It was another very strong episode with some good performances from the regulars and the supporting actors. The action moves along at a nice pace and the story is interesting enough so that we forget about the slightly dodgy background cloths which really let the side down a bit. The final episode is going to compliment this story. Lucarotti has written a story which I think is stronger than ‘Marco Polo’.
The Doctor and Tlotoxl have a good scene where the Doctor basically tells Tlotoxl that if he wants proof that Barbara is a false goddess then they need to open up the tomb. It’s the first proper scene that the two have had together and it’s a good scene. John Ringham continues to put in a great performance as Tlotoxl and he takes the next step into madness when Tlotoxl plans to poison Barbara to prove she is a false goddess. Tlotoxl is like a dog with a bone as he is obsessed with proving the Barbara isn’t Yetaxa. Barbara admits that to Ytoxl that she isn’t the real Yetaxa. It was good that she finally admitted it. I think that this moment took place at the right time. The scene where Barbara is to drink the poison is good because had it not been for Ian then Barbara would have died and she subtlety manages to call Tlotoxl’s bluff by getting him to drink it and when he shows sign of reluctant then Barbara knows that its true.
The Doctor is very funny in this episode and it centres around his budding romance with Cameca. Unaware that cocoa has such meanings he offers to make her a drink. This leads to us learning that the Doctor has gotten engaged. The reaction when the Doctor is told by Cameca the look on his face is priceless. When Ian finds out it’s the first time that he has smiled since this story began. It’s a bit of humour in an otherwise sombre setting. The only time that the Doctor becomes serious is towards the end but its nice to see Hartnell showing his (dare I say it) human side and being quite normal.
There is another pre-filmed scene with Susan as Carole Ann Ford was still on holiday. She is still against the idea of being married to someone she doesn’t know. It’s a shame that Carole Ann Ford was on holiday as this is basically all she does in this story and it would have been nice had she had something more substantial. Though she did have a wonderful moment where she is looking to the side of the camera and is calling out for her grandfather. It’s well played by Ford.
They finally gain access to the tunnel that leads from the garden however it isn’t long before Ixta puts the stone back. There is a nice moment where Ixta is looking at the Doctor with a ‘we both know Ian is dead’. It’s a well directed scene as it means that they have to turn down the lights and that twinned with it being in black and white means that its very atmospheric. This leads to Ian being trapped as the waters are rising leading to the very real possibility of him drowning and it’s a great cliffhanger.
It was another very strong episode with some good performances from the regulars and the supporting actors. The action moves along at a nice pace and the story is interesting enough so that we forget about the slightly dodgy background cloths which really let the side down a bit. The final episode is going to compliment this story. Lucarotti has written a story which I think is stronger than ‘Marco Polo’.
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