The Time Meddler - A Battle of Wits

The penultimate episode of this story that I must be honest and say it has gone up in my estimation. Despite the quite good cliffhanger it quickly its not long before things settle down. There is a lot less action in this episode and a lot less going on that there has been in the previous two episodes. I like how the Monk has a to-do list. It’s such as childish thing to do. It also reminds the viewer what the Monk’s plans are and just how much he has to cram into two episodes.

I must say that William Hartnell is looking quite refreshed having come back of his holiday. Apart from one scene which he has with Alethea Charlton, all of his scenes are with Peter Butterworth. I think that their scenes were very funny and Peter Butterworth has been a revelation in this story because even though he’s the least menacing baddie in the shows history, he still manages to maintain my interest as an adversary of the Doctor’s. That’s more down to Butterworth than the writing.

The TARDIS appears to have been taken away by the tide. Knowing that this is a four part adventure, the idea of the TARDIS being washed away seems like a redundant thing to put in the story but at the time it must have been a genuine shock but nowadays its not so much of a shock but more of a plot point. It feels like a bit of the energy has left the story somehow. Not entirely sure how this happened. The Doctor and the Monk wander through the corridors. Vicki and Steven go from the monestary to the cliff and then back and that’s pretty much all they do.

There is a fair amount of violence in this episode. Admittedly its not Grand Theft Auto style violence but its not a typical sight to see the Doctor knock someone out with a stick. I suppose it’s the only bit of action in the episode as nothing else seems to happen here really.

When I first saw the cliffhanger I didn’t see it coming and I suspect those watching in 1965 would have been when they saw Vicki and Steven enter the Monk’s TARDIS. This is the first time that we see someone else have a time machine. Apart from the cliffhanger I must say that I was a little disappointed with this episode and felt like it was waiting for the final episode to come around. It’s good to have William Hartnell back.

The Chase - The Planet of Decision

It’s a sad moment in this journey. It’s the final time that Ian and Barbara would appear in Doctor Who. It’s also the episode where Peter Purves makes his second and more significant impression on the show. Purves plays Steven Taylor who has been a prisoner of the Mechanoids for 2 years on his own. His first scene was quite a good one as we learn a lot about the planet and what the mechanoids are.

The problem with the Mechanoids is that they are big and don’t really do much. They are also quite dim really because they allow Steven and the regulars to go to the roof and come up with a plan to try and escape. The bomb that the Doctor has spent several episodes is used in rather a limp way. It’s activated and then the Doctor leaves to the roof. When it does go off it doesn’t really do much apart from kill one Dalek. In fact the Mechanoids do more damage than that single bomb. The battle between the Daleks and the Mechanoids is rather well done and even though there are only a handful of Daleks and Mechanoids it does feel like an epic battle.

The plot point about Steven going back to get his silly mascot was a way of separating him from the regulars. I thought that the point of them leaving Steven to his fate was rather a harsh thing to do and I got the impression that under normal circumstances that they would have gone back for him. It seems to be a running theme of just leaving people behind as it happened to Vicki earlier in the story.

It’s really sad that William Russell and Jacqueline Hill leave in this episode and the Doctors reaction after being asked by Ian and Barbara doesn’t seem like acting on Hartnell’s part. If this had happened in the early days then the Doctor wouldn’t have acted like this and it’s a clear indication as to how much they mean to the Doctor that he goes a bit over the top. It’s not as emotional as when Carole Ann Ford left but it’s still a lovely departure for two of the finest companions in Doctor Who history.

This is the final time that William Hartnell’s Doctor will encounter the Daleks and out of the three stories it’s the one that isn’t well liked but I think that it’s a perfectly fine story. I would probably rate this as the second best Dalek story so far. As an episode its quite a good episode that has to do a lot in just 25 minutes as does it rather well. It doesn’t feel like its rushed and only the stuff with the bomb that has taken ages to construct is what lets the episode down. That said it’s a good end to a six part story that hasn’t dragged in my opinion. There aren’t many six part adventures that I can say that about.

The Chase - The Death of Doctor Who

The rubbish idea of getting someone else to play to duplicate Doctor is thrown at us as we get the reprise. The title is called ‘The Death of Doctor Who’ and its one of the most intriguing titles in the series so far. The action takes place on Mecanous and we get to the dark side of the planet where we only encounter the huge broccoli-like creatures. They are somewhat silly in design and they show their weakness quite quickly when the sunlight appears and they go running. There is another silly moment when they attack the Daleks.

One of the reasons why this whole plan of the two Doctors fails so miserably is that for most of the time its clear that someone else is playing the Doctor. It’s hard to suspend my disbelief to this extent and every time I see this episode I ask myself the question ‘Why didn’t they film the good Doctor’s stuff first and the duplicate Doctor’s stuff second?’ It might be a bit time consuming but it would have worked a lot better.

There is a funny moment where the Ian fights what he thinks is the duplicate Doctor but is in fact the real Doctor. Again disbelief is hard to suspend when you can see the fake Doctor trying to mime William Hartnell’s lines. It is also quite fun to see both Doctors fighting each other. Thankfully they don’t drag this silliness out for too long and its quickly defeated. Now we can get back to the seriousness of the Daleks trying to kill the Doctor.

There’s a moment where the Doctor pretends to be the fake Doctor infront of the Daleks and it doesn’t work. I like it because its another example of how the Doctor has developed since Ian and Barbara first joined the show. It’s a selfless act and I think its one of the strongest moments for the Doctor.

It’s not until quite late in the episode that we discover the huge (and I do mean huge) city that stands above them. They decide that its where they have to get to and its where the final battle will take place. The cliffhanger is quite good as the regulars have to go with a giant robot. Normally they wouldn’t but with the Daleks about to attack them they have little choice. This is the first time that see them and they do look quite impressive.

With the exception of the fake Doctor and the Daleks, there aren’t any supporting artists. This means that the four regulars have to drive the story and they do it very well. I think that this episode is an improvement on the previous one and that’s a surprising statement considering for a good chunk of the story we had the fake Doctor storyline. It’s all shaping up for a great cliffhanger and I think that the departure of Ian and Barbara (and introduction of Steven Taylor) is going to be an enjoyable episode.

The Chase - Journey into Terror

We’ve reached the episode where they land at the haunted house. It does seem in the grand scheme of things, rather odd to include this in a Dalek story but actually it’s a nice bit of fun. It feels like this is the episode where the build up to the end starts to speed up. The title obviously refers to the haunted house but might also subtley refer to Vicki’s situation so what might seem like a throwaway title actually has two meanings.

This first part of the story takes place in what might look at first like a haunted house but its never really made clear whether it’s real or in the human mind. Are the people that the regulars encounter actors or monsters. There’s a moment when the Doctor and Ian encounter Frankenstein’s monster and you can clearly see a Dalek which isn’t suppose to be there. Now when I first saw this I thought (rather naively) that it was a stealth Dalek but in more recent times the obvious has come to light.

The light hearted-ness is somewhat cut short when the TARDIS leaves without Vicki and whilst the Daleks are being knocked about by Count Dracula (there’s a line I never thought I would write), she manages to get into the Daleks time machine. It’s sometime before the regulars even notice that Vicki isn’t with them. If I were Vicki I would be really hurt by that (and a bit miffed). We learn about a Dalek plan when we learn that they are planning on duplicating the Doctor (thus leading to one of the silliest ideas in Doctor Who).

The regulars (minus Vicki) come up with a  good plan of stealing the Daleks time machine so that they can go back to the haunted house and get Vicki back, obviously not knowing that she is on the Daleks machine. So they decide that the next planet is where they will fight the Daleks. At the same as they arrive, the Daleks duplicate is ready to operate. Sadly it looks nothing like William Hartnell and even  someone with bad eye sight would be able to tell the difference. It’s only the last shot that is of Hartnell. I cant understand why they could have come up with a better way of getting William Hartnell to play the duplicate. It ruins what is otherwise an ok plan. It’s a this stage that I started to lose a bit enthusiasm for this story but I still maintain that it’s a good story overall.

Day 74: The Chase - Flight Through Eternity

We learn that there is a device on the TARDIS that alerts them if someone is on the same time path. We also learn that the TARDIS takes 12 minutes to get itself together. I like the idea that it has to sort itself out instead of a quick departure. The Doctor talks about constructing the alert thing and whilst they couldn’t have known what the future producers and writers would do, it’s the first bit of discontinuity.

The first scene in the Daleks time machine isn’t quite the ideal scene that it should have been. There is the age old problem of dummy Daleks with a picture at the back of the scene. In fact I don’t really like the Dalek’s time machine from the look of it right down to the sound it makes when it lands and takes off. Compare the Daleks first scene to the regulars first scene its clear that the creator of the Daleks had an easier time coming up with good lines for humans than monsters.

This episode is the first time we see Peter Purves in Doctor Who as the first point of the adventure is the Empire State building in New York. Purves plays Morton Dill who is your typical tourist that you would have come across if you have been on holiday. When you consider his performance in the final episode it’s a blatantly comedic role. It ends when he goes a bit mad after encountering two time machines landing and departing and encountering the Daleks. I’ll comment a bit more when Steven Taylor arrives but I thought that the Morton Dill character was quite fun and very tongue in cheek

The story finally becomes a chase. The first as mentioned is the Empire State Building which is quite a small set and sadly doesn’t have a proper background to show the surrounding ‘Ancient’ New York area. Though it could be argued that it was a foggy day I suppose. The second place that they land I the Mary Celeste which famously was discovered to have no crew. The set itself is quite good as its quite big and also have many levels to it. In this part, Barbara gets caught as a stowaway and Ian gets knocked out by Vicki then they leave and the Daleks arrive and scare everyone to jump overboard. It’s not until the end that Barbara realises that her love of boats led her to being on the Mary Celeste. It’s not really made obvious until the very end.

Something that happens in this episode that doesn’t get addressed is the clear image of the Dalek on a different level which clearly indicates that they can fly. It’s just that don’t see it on TV. It’s the first of two instances in this story.

The 12 minute lead has gone to 8 which is the cliffhanger and its not as effective as it could have been because of the music really. It’s a bit to upbeat for my liking and thought that they could have lowered the tone to create the right impression. As an episode its good that they have finally got to the chase part and considering they go through two different settings, its quite an achievement of what they actually get done in the episode. The episode is starting to pick up but the end of the story is getting close and we all know what that means.

Day 73: The Chase - The Death of Time

The episode starts off with the Dalek rising from the sand. After that moment the Doctor and Barbara come across the Aridians. There’s a nice shot where the Dalek is high up on the screen and the second Dalek comes in from the side at a lower angle. The Dalek location film is quite good and the best bit comes when the Dalek is coming towards the screen.

We get a nice bit of exposition as to what is going on. It seems quite a good battle between the Aridians and the Mya beast which gets even more complex when the Daleks arrive. The thing about the Aridians are going to hand the Doctor and Barbara over to the Daleks is something that you cant really blame the Aridians. They might look a bit silly but their characteristics are quite good.

There’s an odd moment after the explosion where Vicki appears to be laughing before becoming concerned. In fact out of the two groups it seems that Vicki and Ian have drawn the short straw in this episode as they don’t seem to do as much as the Doctor and Barbara. Ian gets to do a bit of action hero stuff when he helps come up with the plan to get past the Daleks.

This is the most blatant reference to the fact that the TARDIS is very difficult to destroy when the Daleks try to blow it up. Of course as the viewer is aware, it survived falling of a cliff in ‘The Romans’ so a short blast from some Dalek guns is going to be no problem.

The Mya beast isn’t particularly good as it just looks like a bloke in a suit. I suppose it serves a purpose and you can suspend your disbelief in the idea that its terrorising the Aridians but I cant say it’s the most impressive monster in Doctor Who history.

The Daleks spend a long time not really doing very much. They talk to each other but don’t get very far. They show up, threaten to attack the Aridians if they don’t hand over the Doctor and Barbara, get fooled by the regulars and shout at the camera. Not their finest 30 minutes.

The scene where they are trying to get in the TARDIS and get the Daleks out of the way is a bit of comedy but it is rather well done. It’s helped by the fact that the scene is at night and its helps create a mood.

The episode ends with the Dalek coming towards the screen ranting and raving. It was a good cliffhanger though unfortunately the episode wasn’t as good as I would have liked. There’s an awful lot of people just sitting or standing and talking. I just want the chase part of the story to start and thankfully that is what is about to happen.

Day 72: The Chase - The Executioners

The Daleks are back!! It’s their second story of the season after ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ which obviously saw the exit of Carole Ann Ford.  It’s the final story to feature William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. The Chase has a special place in my heart because it was one of the first stories that I owned on video when it was released with ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ back in the early 90’s. The episode starts off with the regulars floating around the time visualiser that the Doctor took in the previous story. It’s one of those things that gets mentioned but never gets used again. When was the last time you heard the fault locator mentioned?

There’s a nice exposition where Vicki tries to explain (without knowing it at the time) what the time visualizer is. It’s fun that after more than 70 episodes, Ian and Barbara still are none the wiser when it comes to what the Doctor is talking about. I always like the scenes that take place in the TARDIS as it feels like a second home. In the opening scene we get to see US President Abraham Lincoln, an encounter between Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare (which led to the idea of Hamlet being thought up) and also short clip of the Beatles (yes the very same). Apparently they were suppose to be involved a bit more than they were but their manager put a stop to it. To even get the clip was a move that would have been more fitting in the modern day era.

When the TARDIS crew land, they appear to be in the middle of a dessert which has two suns. The planet is called Aridious. There is a difference between the location filming and the studio stuff but the studio scenes were all quite good. It’s made to look bigger than it is due to Richard Martin’s direction and also Maureen O’Brien and William Russell do their best out of breathe acting. Also the scenes with the Doctor and Barbara help to create the illusion as the sand can be easily moved around to make it look different.

After the reprise from the previous episodes, its nearly the half way mark (15:07) before the Daleks appear again. It’s clear from their first scene that they are effectively on a revenge trip with reference to the previous Dalek adventure which if that really was their intention then it’s a bit unfair on Vicki who wasn’t even with them in that adventure. At the end of their scene where they go into their time capsule its clear that they are just walking through the door into nothing because that is all it seems to be. Slightly disappointing.

The action that takes place in the tunnels are rather well done and are well lit. It’s just as well that I like them as we will see more of them in the next episode.

The cliffhanger is rather good but is quite similar to the ending of ‘World’s End’. In that episode the Dalek comes out of the Thames and in this the Dalek rises out of the sand. I remember the first time that I saw this episode how cool that seemed and even when its clear that the ending is a rehash of another cliffhanger it still doesn’t lose any appeal. It’s a good opening episode and another thing that it has in common with other Doctor Who stories is that it the regulars don’t encounter anyone in the first episode of the story. It’s good that they get to enjoy (or not in Ian and Vicki’s case) the surroundings.

Day 71: The Space Museum - The Final Phase

The final episode of this story starts with what Ian actually saw when he walked into the room. The Doctor is asleep in some sort of chamber. Normally when the Doctor is in this situation it would lead to him being written out for the next episode but as this is the final episode of the story that is not going to happen. After spending several moments of talking about how the Doctor was cold in the machine but was still conscious we are reminded about the mystery of how the regulars ended up in the cabinet. Had you forgotten about it? I know I did so it was a nice reminder. Barbara spends the first 10 minutes of the episode doing very little before reuniting with Vicki and the Xerons. It’s nice to have the regulars are reunited. I’ve discovered that I actually like this foursome more than the previous.

The moment of revelation that the regulars don’t necessarily have to change their behaviour to prevent themselves from being in the cabinets but the others is a nice one in the story. The revolution that Vicki helped start is what they hope will change their fortune. The revolution itself doesn’t actually last that long and they seem to spend more time preparing for the revolution than the fighting itself. Actually the Xerons don’t really seem that good, try as I might I just find myself not really caring about their petty dismay at the Moroks. Maybe if there were some older people in the group then they might have worked more as the good guys. Normally if I don’t like the good guys then I side with the baddies but even the Moroks are poor. They are slightly more menacing in this episode but it’s a bit too late.

The answer as to what caused the different time track and the mystery of the regulars in the cabinets seemed to be a bit of an add on but it was quite a similar answer to what caused the problems in ‘Inside the Spaceship’. It was a satisfactory ending to the episode and it was good how the Xerons decided to dismantle most of the things in the museum and the Doctor takes something to put in the TARDIS which becomes integral to the next story. The final scene must have been a surprise for viewers in 1965. A Dalek was seen briefly in the first episode but to see one in all its menace must have come as a shock and they would have been wanting the next Saturday to come.  

Day 70: The Space Museum - The Search

After the mystery of the opening episode and the humour of the second. It seems that its been replaced with nothing. We get to see how the Morok’s really don’t like one another and are even quite nasty to each other whereas the Xerons are still a hiding around trying to stage a revolution against the Moroks. The regulars have all now split up with the Doctor being prepared for the museum, Vicki having some lunch, Barbara hides then tries to get out of a room before being gassed and Ian is walking around threatening people.

I don’t know whether it’s the fact that I’m not really in the mood for this episode or what but I am hard pressed to remember what is going on in the early part. It only really gets interesting when Vicki becomes more involved and helps the Xerons gain access to the armoury. She gets to use a bit of her feistiness and also her intelligence and it makes up for the poor way she was treated in the previous episodes. In this episode she has to try and get around a truth machine that is blocking the Xerons from the guns. It does raise the purpose of a machine that can be changed so quickly.

The cliffhanger is quite a good one because all we see is Ian looking in the camera’s direction and simply saying “Doctor”. We don’t see him but it paints a wonderful image as to what we will see in the final episode. I cant say that I was as bowled over by this episode as I was by the previous two. It picked up the final half but the first half was lacking in any excitement.

Day 69: The Space Museum - The Dimensions of Time

After the very intruiging opening episode, it was down to business and this is where I was worried that things were going to go downhill. It’s in this episode where we get to encounter the locals. We are introduced to the people called the Moroks. They are dressed in white who are very weary of their surroundings which are broken. Then we meet the people who are dressed in black who are noticeable for having two sets of eyebrows with the top lot being more ridiculous.

There is the question as to what events led to them being in the cabinets. They decide to spend a portion of the episode walking through corridors and its not long before they are separated. I like how the next time we return to Xerons the Doctor has managed to tie up one of them. It seems quite like the Doctor that he might look like an old man he is quite sprite and the scene is made even more humorous when his hiding spot is revealed to be inside the Dalek seen in the previous episode. The Xerons are the nicer ones but they are a bit limp and its easy to see why they appear to be the oppressed. The Moroks have got hold of the Doctor and claim that they can get the information from the Doctor because of a chair that he uses but the Doctor is too clever for them. At this moment it doesn’t really make sense why the two groups seem to be at odds with each other though based on what we had seen in the episode its clear that the men in white are bad and the men in black are good.

Ian is quite irritable which is quite unlike him. I like how this is a different side to the character that’s quite a breath of fresh air. Even Barbara isn’t immune from being a bit hot tempered. That’s not to say that its all serious. There’s a lot more humour in this episode which has replaced the mystery. Barbara seems quite concerned about Ian destroying a ‘good cardigan’ and Ian is trying to tear it with his teeth. The problem that the trio of Ian, Barbara and Vicki have is that all they do in this episode is walk around a lot. Only the Doctor gets to do something different

The episode still has the feel of a mystery but some of it has been replaced with humour. The story has never had the best of reputations but I must say that my opinion is starting to change. I don’t think it’s a classic story but its still enjoyable.

Day 68: The Space Museum - The Space Museum

The Space Museum is one of those stories that has gotten a bad rap of fans over the years even though I’m not entirely sure why. After a somewhat run of disappointing stories it seems on the evidence of this episode that the bad run is over. The story starts off with the regulars frozen on the spot and when they start moving again they look somewhat different. The whole episode is about mysteries and the first one occurs within the first 90 seconds of the episode. They have changed their clothes without realising it. Other mysteries include the glass of water that Vicki drops, the fact that they done leave any footprints when they are walking on the sands, the fact the guards don’t react when Vicki sneezes.

The idea of a museum in space is quite a fun one as it’s no different from a normal museum. Its an empty museum except for some guards who appear in white and some other people who appear in black. Neither group interact with the regulars which I thought was an interesting and brave decision. This debut story from Glyn Jones is steeped in mystery and that’s why I think for the first time since ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ that I have become enthusiastic about a story.

There are some nice effects used in this episode. First comes when Vicki drops the glass of water and it gets reversed and ends up back in her hand. It’s one of those moments that must have seemed magical back in 1965. Then there is the moment when Vicki puts her hand through an exhibit. It’s quite a basic effect but it still looks good and helped add to the mystery.

There’s a nice moment when we see a Dalek and its seems like a marker point to keep them in the viewers mind as they will return in a few episodes. I like how Vicki comments that the Dalek looks friendly. As the regulars don’t interact with the supporting cast and we don’t hear from them it means that it’s the regulars that move the story. They all work well together but there was a moment where the Doctor talks to Vicki about not touching any of the artefacts like she was a five year old. I felt like we had gone back twelve months to how Susan was treated by the Doctor, Ian and Barbara. She’s even dressed like a child which is rather disappointing as I had high hopes that they would learn from their mistakes and make Vicki a stronger person but based on the evidence of the last couple of episodes that doesn’t look like this is the case.

The moment when the regulars look at themselves standing in the display cabinets. It raises the question as to how they got there.  There is a moment where there are stills of things that have happened which is basically a highlights package of the episode. Footprints start to appear and the cabinets disappear so weirdly by the end of the episode they have ‘arrived’ on the planet Xeros. The episode is a very good one but I know in my hear that the rest of the story isn’t going to be like this but lets just enjoy the moment of a solidly written episode with great performances and smooth direction.

Day 67: The Crusade - The Warlords

I have decided to go and listen to the CD with the narration and to be honest it didn’t really make that much difference because I found that all the pacing had gone from this episode. It seems that this episode has become a history lesson which wouldn’t normally be a problem but its not the most exciting moment in history. There are things that don’t make sense such as Joanna. Erm where did she go, what happened? What was the point of all those wonderful scenes in the previous episode?  The scenes between Richard and Joanna were the highlights of that episode and yet the fact that she isn’t here means that the scenes were meaningless really.

After only appearing in a pre-filmed scene it was nice to have William Russell play a more substantial role in the story and it was actually quite a good moment but sadly the lack of any images means that its lost to telesnaps and its not quite as good as it could have been but that’s not down to the show itself.

The episode was a disappointing end to what was an ok story. The episode decided to do some strange things which just stand out for being odd and not for being important or dynamic. The story was written by David Whittaker who is a good writer and its clear at several points throughout this four part story that its nowhere near as bad as ‘The Web Planet’. The lack of Joanna is what actually made this episode weak. As a four part adventure it was just the right length and the characters that were put into the story were in various ways were quite good but alas it’s a period of history that I’m not keen on and so it wont be in my top 5 pure historicals.

Day 66: The Crusade - The Wheel of Fortune

Ah, back to DVD for the third episode. How I regretted not listening to the narrated CD for ‘The Knight of Jaffa. I missed the bit in episode two where Vicki has to pretend to be a boy. However its something that doesn’t really last long as Joanna overhears Vicki and the Doctor talking which thankfully puts an end to this rather silly part of the plot.

William Russell only appears in this episode in pre-filmed scenes. This happened back in ‘The Reign of Terror’. There is another fight scene between Ian and some random man. Like in the Reign of Terror, Chesterton doesn’t actually say anything. His involvement in the episode is very small and despite its being short its still a good performance from Russell. I like the relationship between the Doctor and Vicki, it feels more like the relationship that the Doctor had with Susan in the early days of the show. However an issue that I have is that they have very little to do in the story. The most that really happens is that Vicki is found out to be a girl and gets a costume change. Not much, it seems that she is suffering the same as Susan except without the shrieking.

Barbara is left with the possibility of being taking a life or even her own. This horrifies Barbara and is in keeping with her character. Though there is a moment where it’s clear that she’s giving it some clear thought. It’s a great performance from Jacqueline Hill and possibly one of the finest that she has given for sometime (possibly even ever).

It’s good to see Julian Glover again and he is rather good and gets a nice speech in his first scene in the episode. He is a great actor and the role of King Richard doesn’t exactly seem like the greatest that there has ever been on TV but Glover manages to make something of it and I liked the character and performance. Despite being introduced in the previous episode, this episode is the first time that we see Jean Marsh in the flesh. It’s hard to see Jean Marsh without thinking about Sara Kingdom. It’s a shame really because as Joanna it’s a strong performance. The scene between Marsh and Glover is one of the finest in the episode. It elevates the episode from a standard episode to something resembling theatre.

The final episode is another lost episode and whereas there I listened to the narrated free episode on DVD, I will listen to the CD. This episode started off a bit slow but soon picked up and whilst its not the finest episode of Doctor Who ever it is still way better than ‘The Web Planet’.

Day 65: The Crusade - The Knight of Jaffa

For the first time since Marco Polo, I am forced to enjoy an episode on audio. Now unlike Marco Polo, this story features on the Lost in Time DVD boxset released a few year back. The episode exists with narration but I decided to listen to it without the narration wanting a different experience. The story continues with the search to try and get Barbara back.

In headlines from this episode. Ian is knighted and becomes Sir Ian Chesterton. That’s it basically, I don’t think much else happened here but Ian is the first companion to be given such an honour. It would be 45 years before a companion of the Doctor’s would get another honour. Sir Ian does have a nice ring to it. The episode marks the first appearance of Jean Marsh who would have an important part in the history of Doctor Who. Here she plays Princess Joanna, she has some nice interaction with King Richard and its nice to hear Jean Marsh in action. Julian Glover continues to impress me as he still comes across as likeable even if he is slightly childish. He would rather be back at home but situations dictate that this can’t happen. I must admit that from what I heard of this episode I don’t really think that Maureen O’Brien and William Hartnell had that much to do.

I don’t know if it was the fact that I didn’t have the narrated version of this episode or not but I just didn’t get this episode as much as ‘The Lion’. There didn’t seem to be as much happening in this episode and it was one of those were there was a lot of talking and not much else. That said its one of the best episodes that feature tons of talking that Doctor Who has done so its still a lot better than the Web Planet. I’m still enjoying this story though I will be listening to the narrated version when I get to ‘The Warlords’.

Day 64: The Crusade - The Lion

Oh well, its that time again. It’s time for another pure historical story.  However after the dull previous six episodes, I am so worn down after ‘The Web Planet’ that I actually welcome this story. The only immediate downside to this story is that it’s another story that is entirely filmed in a studio with no location filming. ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth: Flashpoint’ was the last time that there were any filming outside.

Julian Glover joins the show. He would go on to be in the first Indiana Jones movie and would return to star alongside Tom Baker’s Doctor. Here he plays the King or Richard the Lionheart as he was also known. He is instantly likeable as Glover has a soft but noticeable screen presence. However by the cliffhanger his mood has soured somewhat and is reluctant to help the Doctor. This is basically what the story is going to be about which might not be the most exciting but after spending the last six episodes not understanding what was going on it was nice that we got a clear idea of what is going on.

There’s a nice sword/fist fight between Ian and some baddie. It’s always good when Ian gets to do something. William Russell’s time on the show can be summed up by a recent (ish) Doctor Who Magazine cover which proclaims that Ian Chesterton is ‘Doctor Who’s First Action Hero’. That is very true. Something else that’s quite fun to think about in this episode is that back in the 1950’s, William Russell appeared in ‘The Adventures of Sir Lancelot’ so was use to appearing in this time period. It takes less than five minutes for Barbara to be kidnapped. She pretends to be the fake King’s sister and when the truth has been revealed then Barbara tells of her adventures involving meeting Nero in Rome. Despite this madness, she is allowed to have lunch.

Visually the story manages to still look good considering it’s just a forest. The thing about the sets in this story si that it doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as ‘The Web Planet’. Something that can be classed as the ‘elephant in the room’ and that is white actor being ‘blacked up’. In 2013 it seems wrong but it’s the way that television was made back then and thankfully that’s changed.

It’s a good first episode and my enthusiasm for the show has returned after just one episode. The cliffhanger did come out of nowhere and I was so involved in the scene that I didn’t realise that the episode was coming to an end. That’s a good sign that the episode is working. The episode does a good job of giving the regulars a reason why they cant just get back in the TARDIS, it shows us what the next four episodes are going to be about and it does the job very well.

Day 63: The Web Planet - The Centre

The final episode of ‘The Web Planet’. Oh how I thought it would never end. The episode starts off with the great image of the Doctor and Vicki covered in the web. The most padded story in Doctor Who history continues to do what it has done for the previous episodes and that is to fill the running time with a lot of Zarbi and Menoptra nonsense.  Another thing that was a let down was the Animus. After several episodes of being a mysterious and at times creepy voice, it was a shame that it was a big light bulb with some tentacles. It looked like a massive mess.

Unfortunately despite my best efforts I didn’t actually understand what was going on. There was a lot of impressive visual scenes but sadly it seemed to just continue to confuse me. The one crumb of comfort in this story is that visually it works. There were some good moments when the Menoptra were flying through the air and the idea to have some new lense on the camera to give a different impression also helped make this story stand out even though at times its been a bit overpowering. The landscape of Vortis was also well realised and even though seeing it for six episodes might have got a bit repetitive there have been worst sets in the show.

As far as the human performances go, in this episode they were perfectly fine and whilst none of them shone in their usual way they did the best that they could with what was quite frankly a rubbish script.

I am so relieved to have got to the end of ‘The Web Planet’ by far the worst story in Doctor Who so far and even when you consider that it was a complicated story to produce and also very ambitious. Sadly if the budget had been bigger and the running time much shorter then it would have been a different result but sadly ‘The Web Planet’ is what it is. A elongated mess of a story.

Day 62: The Web Planet - Invasion

The penultimate episode of this serial is perhaps the most action packed that there has been so far. It’s a shame that its taken 100 minutes to get to this point. It’s been a real struggle to find positive things to say and write anything near my 500 word target about each episode. The story sees the Menoptra’s fight against the Zarbi step up a gear. There is a lot of action that has been going on with Barbara leading the fight from her side and Ian not exactly missing from the action.

The thing about six part adventures is that by the 2/3 point the story needs to shift to have any chance of being even an average story. Thankfully Bill Strutton realises that he needs to get a riggle on with the plot and so it feels from the very beginning that the plot is building towards something. I still find it frustrating that the Zarbi only communicate through that awful high pitched noise and wish that there was something else that they could do. The Menoptra are also rather disappointing but at least they have a voice and can communicate in a sensible way. Something else that is lacking from this story and most immediate this episode is that there is no incidental music. The music is there to make you feel something but if there is nothing there then your left with whats on the screen and in this case its not very much. I cant write a more detailed review because apart from the odd moment I cant recall what actually happened.

The cliffhanger is visually a stunning one. The Doctor and Vicki clutching each other whilst they get covered in the web stuff is a great image and one that ended the episode in fine style. Whilst the episode is the best so far it doesn’t change my opinion of the story as a whole. It’s too long and there is way too much padding for my liking.

Day 61: The Web Planet - Crater of Needles

It’s incredible to think that this episode got the second highest rating during this story of 13 million. 13 million! It’s mind bogging but this episode finally moves to the crater of needles which has been mentioned several times. After the almost stationery feel of the story it seems that this episode is where things start to pick up. There is a good moment when Barbara is told about the prison and there is a sense of the battle between the Zarbi and the Menoptra. After the Zarbi and the Menoptra being separated it was nice to see them interact and also another thing about the Zarbi was that we get to see them with a weapon. Quite how we were suppose to find them menacing when they just made a noise at people yet didn’t seem to have any way of stunning or killing people was one of many flaws with the creatures. There are a new set of creatures that are introduced to this episode and the are apparently simpler than either the Zarbi or the Menoptra. Frankly they look like a bit of a late addition and also look rather stupid.

The performances from the regulars is better and its nice that Jacqueline Hill made a return. I thought that William Hartnell had a good episode and he and Maureen O’Brien managed to appear to do quite a lot without really doing very much. Hartnell tinkers around with the map thing, talks to O’Brien and then goes for the hairdryer treatment. William Russell and Jacqueline Hill are on good form and do slightly more in this episode than Hartnell or O’Brien.

There are some good shots that have been achieved by Richard Martin. There are some more shots of the Menoptra flying around and its rather well done. The thing about the effect done to the screen was good in episode one but has started to get annoying because it seems to be getting out of hand. Instead of a light smudge in the first episode we get pretty much a full screen of smudge. It’s a better episode than the previous one but that’s not really saying much. So far the story is exactly as I remember this and I don’t think anything will ever change. If this had been a four part story then maybe this might have been a better story but at six it’s a big stretch.

Day 59: The Web Planet - The Zarbi

The Zarbi is when any goodwill towards this story well and truly goes out of the window. After the idea that the TARDIS has disappeared it turns out in reality that its just being moved by the Zarbi. Vicki does suffer quite a lot in this episode and she seems to have been sidelined for most of the running time. Even Barbara seems to have suffered a bit but not to the extent of Vicki. Barbara is being possessed by giant bumble bees. They look quite good and are named as Menoptras but they seem a bit to weak in my opinion. It’s quite easy to see why and how the Zarbi are the superior creature in this story. The TARDIS has been moved and all Vicki does in the early part of the episode sees her just pretending to sway from side to side.

In terms of trying to explain what was going on in this episode is difficult to do because I just couldn’t follow what was going on and whilst I found the Doctor and Ian’s part in the story to be most interesting but that’s not really saying much because there is so little going on. Also another problem with the episode is that they seem to be using the same set trying to pretend that it’s a different part of the planet but its clearly the same.

The first time that it gets remotely interesting is at the quarter hour mark where Vicki is able to get out of the TARDIS and meets up with the Doctor and Ian. There is a funny moment where the Doctor is trying to communicate with the Zarbi by waving his arms around and pointing at every Zarbi in shot. William Hartnell seems to give the best performance and I like the final shot of the episode where the cylinder hangs over the Doctor’s head and a voice starts talking to him.

The cliffhanger was quite good but by this point I had completely lost track of what was actually going on. There are moments in this story which are quite good but its mixed in with a lot of nonsense which ruins the whole story. There is one thing that can be said in a positive way and that it is a brave thing for the show to do but sadly its not enough to save this story.

Day 58: The Web Planet - The Web Planet

The Web Planet is a story that has never been in my top 100 because I have felt that it was dull and just a six part story with giant bees and ants. Watching it a day at a time is hopefully going to make me reappraise it. The opening scene set in the TARDIS is a strange one because its been so long since anything more than a brief moment has taken place in the console room that when you first see what is now in the console room which kind of distracts you from the story.

It’s not long before the Zarbi are introduced and my attempt to have any goodwill towards the story is already tested. Thankfully their involvement is kept to a minimum and instead we have another episode where its just the companion. There’s a lovely moment when the Doctor points out to Ian that the ring he wears isn’t just a decorative item. Was that the same ring he gave away in ‘The Reign of Terror’? Oh how the story would have been different if he didn’t have the ring.

It was good how they managed to maintain the interest between both plot strands. The stuff between the Doctor and Ian was good because they are investigating the mystery of what caused the interference to the TARDIS. The stuff between Vicki and Barbara was also well done but that was down to Maureen O’Brien and Jacqueline Hill who work well together. The scene where Barbara and Vicki are talking is an interesting one. Barbara has had to put up with ideas of her generation been seen as primitive and backwards and its nice that she defends her generation. It’s during this scene that Barbara finally informs Vicki that she and Ian both met Nero which Vicki finds hard to believe. It’s nice how Vicki has kept some of her character even after ‘The Rescue’ ended.

There are some interesting things that happen in this episode. Effects wise there is definetly a different feel to it with the stuff outside of the TARDIS having this sort of smudge effect around the characters. It’s most noticeable on the Doctor and Ian with their white jackets and does go a bit over the top during the scene where they hear Vicki calling Barbara. Another thing I like is the spinning console. It does seem like something that was a spur of the moment thing which isn’t a bad thing cause it looks rather cool.

The cliffhanger is a great one because it sees Vicki somehow operating the TARDIS and it spears that the TARDIS has moved much to the dismay of the Doctor. It’s a great question that must have run in the minds of the viewers which would have festered for seven days. Where has the TARDIS gone? It’s one of the better endings to an episode for some time. I’m not quite sure whether my opinion of this story will change as my reaction when I saw the Zarbi was the same as its always been. Time will only tell…