The Space Pirates - Episode 2

This is the last time that I will be digging out my Lost in Time DVD set. It’s been useful over the last eight months but all good things must come to an end. The first thing I notice is that one of the crew members looks like he’s escaped from a Beatles convention. There are some curious costumes that the supporting cast are given which are screaming the 1960’s. The next thing that I notice is that unusually in space there are no stars. I liked it and thought that it gave a great impression that they aren’t just round the corner from Earth or any planets in the solar system.

This is where the wheels of this particular cart start to fall off. We are introduced to Milo Clancy who looks like he’s come out of a 1960’s Western. When we first meet him he’s having breakfast and eating an egg. Clancy is thought to be an Argonite pirate or working with them. He is portrayed as someone who might be old but has the potential to have quite a temper and isn’t weak and feeble.

It’s seven minutes before we get one word of dialogue from the Doctor. The regulars spend that time just ‘sleeping’. It’s another five minutes before we get a proper scene from them. So in nearly 45 minutes of the story we’ve had less than 17-18 minutes featuring the stars. We get a nice little explanation and demonstration from Patrick Troughton about the different sections that were broken up. I love the moment when the Doctor tells Zoe to not be a pessimist. This is the first time that there’s been a telling off like this. This comes after the Doctor has a plan to get the sections back but if he gets it wrong then they will be flung into space and this is what happens and at this point it seems lie there is no hope of rescue.

The one thing that I liked about this episode were the models. They looked slick and rather well done. It’s not cheap looking which isn’t normally the case in 1960’s Doctor Who.

The cliffhanger is really good and I just wish that the rest of the episodes exist. Clancy has shot Jamie and Zoe thinks he is dead. Obviously we know that he’s not dead and that he will feature in the next episode but it’s a cracking reason why we should tune in to the next episode. I think that whilst there were some good moments, this was a rather dull episode. There was an awful lot of talking about how Clancy was some sort of master-criminal. It was only when the regulars appeared on screen that I found myself interested in the story and I fear that the next four episodes will follow the same pattern. Oh well, lets just get through it and it will soon be over.