The Ark - The Bomb

The final part of this story starts with the idea that the Doctor and Dodo might have to stay on refusis. This episode sees the Monoids about to land on refusis and its not long into the episode before we are reminded that the Monoid statue has a bomb in it. Its not as simple as that with there being the small matter of a coup in the Monoid camp and also the guardians trying to find the bomb. It's quite good how the viewer knows where the bomb is yet everyone in the story has no clue.

Its good how he Monoids turn on each other as it shows that they are just as another race is suseptical to this form of action. It's fun to watch and helps keep the action going for a few more minutes. Thereis a classic stor trait of someone who has betrayed their own kind gets killed b the people they worked for. It's not long before they are killed and the focus of the story shifts to getting back to the Ark and stopping the bomb.

When the story comes close to the end there's a moral message about how the guardians should be more respectful to the Monoids and vice versa. It's rare that the moral messages is so blatant like it is in this story. The story gets wrapped up quite well and it feels like its ended at just the right moment.

Despite being stuck with the guardians, Steven still tries to work out a way of getting free. He is helped by the fact that he doesn't have to put up with Dodo. William Hartnell has to work along side her and despite this he does put in a good performance. I'm perhaps being harsh to Jackie Lane because she's reduced to a background role in this episode. It's clear that the production seem to be regretting creating the character and that's why she does very little.

The model work doesn't look as good as it did in the previous episodes. the wires are clearly visible and it slightly ruins the effect. The effect of the statue being lifted by the refusion might look a bit cheap and primitive but its quite clever really and when it gets chucked out of the airlock it's done quite well. 

The cliffhanger is a cracker. The Doctor becomes invisible and declares it as a form of attack. It is a great way of leading us into the next story and ends what has been the best final episode of a story that I can remember. As a story it's quite good, its certainly better than I remember and I can't think why I thought any differently. Yes there is a rather cliched moral message and yes the guardians are silly and deserve what they get. However it doesn't detract from my newfound respect for this story.