Saturday, 12 October 2013

The Moonbase - Episode 2

Today marks the 150th day into my Doctor Who journey. It’s been a bit of a struggle in recent weeks due to the large number of episodes that doesn’t exist on video or iTunes. My enjoyment continues in episode two and this is where the story really gets going. First thing that I notice on the crew of the Moonbase is the diversity of nationalities that work here. Of course it’s a British man that runs the base but at least Hobson treats the other well and they seem to get on with him and it creates a seemingly strong environment. Hobson is unwilling to believe that the Cybermen are back. Hobson is actually better than General Cutler in The Tenth Planet. In TTP, Cutler is unlikeable because he’s more focused on his son getting back to Earth whereas in this story Hobson is concerned about the entire planet. This atmospheric

There are some things that don’t quite work in this episode. Ben and Polly have become a couple of whingers especially Ben. Polly starts of the episode by screaming. Jamie is still forced to have a fever, he gets a few moments  where he is coherent but to be honest it doesn’t amount to very much. His best moment comes when he is zapped by the Cybermen but is left moments after. Another thing are the spacesuits which will probably be a bit of a repetitive comment as we approach the rest of the Troughton era. The Doctor has some moments of comedy when he’s trying to get samples to test. It’s mixed in with quite serious moments which is what is so good about Troughton’s Doctor. He does the best out of the regulars which might not be such as surprising statement. He acts like the Doctor and he plays it perfectly but with a hint of vulnerability. The Doctor gives his brilliant speech about evil fighting against everything they believe in. Its one of the best speeches in Doctor Who. Everytime that I hear it I think it gets better and its delivered in the same way as the speech that William Hartnell gave in ‘Inside the Spaceship’. He get better when we have the fact that he solves the mystery about what’s causing the black lines and the explanation is quite good as it’s the sugar. It explains why it doesn’t affect everyone.
We get a nice model shot which gives us a great impression that this isn’t just a studio (which obviously it is). There is still a wonderful claustrophobic feel to it despite the vastness of the spaceship. The black and white filming lends a bit of atmosphere to it along with everything else.

The cliffhanger is brilliant. They go from being quite happy that they have found the source of the plague but then it turns to tension when it becomes evident that one of the people lying down is in fact a Cybermen. Quite how half a dozen people managed to miss it I’m not quite sure. However it’s a great scene and the music helps to end the episode on a high. It’s a great episode and I’m really glad that it does exist on DVD.

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