Day 20: Marco Polo - Assassin at Peking

The final part of this epic sees the all the loose plot strands neatly tied up. The story has to tie things up but also keep things going for 25 minutes. The Doctor has to play chess to win the TARDIS. It seems really odd to see the Doctor willing to sit down and do this. It’s probably only now that the show could we get the Doctor being so calm and not so crotchety. William Hartnell really does seem to have settled down in the role. It’s not something that I’ve really noticed before but over the last 20 episodes, William Hartnell has gone from being the harsh and rude person in An Unearthly Child to being the calm (ish) figure we got over the course of these seven episodes.

As good as Mark Eden has been over the last seven episodes. It’s been a tad bit frustrating with him not really deciding whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. One moment he’s refusing to let the Doctor and anyone else  inside the TARDIS and then helping them escape at the very end. It’s a very conflicted performance but at times I have quite liked Marco Polo. Martin Miller was very good in this episode just as he had been in the little that he was on screen in the previous episode. As the mighty Kublai Khan he was a character that at first seems like a very superior person and very serious but when we meet him he’s quite a humorous character. Derren Nesbitt goes out on a high as Tegana. You could say in this episode he got the point of his character (bad joke). However as I have mentioned in the previous episodes, I really liked the character and thought that he was a good villain. He’s been the most consistant character in the entire story. Zienia Merton is also worthy of a mention as she has done well with what hasn’t been the greatest role in the story. This was a good episode for her but it would have been nice to see the goodbye moment between Susan and Ping-Cho.

One thing that I have been impressed with over the course of the last seven episodes is the directing. Judging by the telesnaps this was another superbly directed episode and Waris Hussein has kept up his great track record. Some of the shots in this episode are very impressive and its hard to believe that this was achieved on a BBC budget. After seven weeks of what has at times been a pedestrian story, I’m glad that it has ended in a rather good manner. It was a solid ending to what was a really strong episode. It’s also going to be good to see something on DVD now after spending the last week having to listen to this story and look at the telesnaps which has helped but it can never replace the ability to enjoy a story by looking at it.

Day 19: Marco Polo - Mighty Kublai Khan

The penultimate episode of what has felt like an epic picks up when the regulars  go from all but Susan being in the TARDIS to them all being out of there. Most people would be frustrated with this scenario but to be honest it means that we get to spend more time in company of Marco Polo, Ping-Cho and also Ping-Cho. However the main problem with the episode is that it feels like its going through the motions. The early part of this episode does feel like a lot of just standing around and its only when Ian has to go and find the TARDIS that things feel like they are progressing. After weeks of talking about him, we finally get to meet the Mighty Kublai Khan and after weeks of talking about him we get to see him (via telesnaps) in the flesh and his outfit is what stands out in my mind. It’s clear that the budget mostly went on this costume alone but its highly impressive. It’s also a good performance from Martin Miller who as Khan is arguably the most eccentric member of the supporting cast.

The regulars have all been fairly consistent in recent episodes and the good run of form continues here. It’s difficult to say who is the best because they all have a good episode but I thought that Ian’s description of what the caravan can do and that their desire to get home isn’t just a question of geography but also time and for Ian the events of Marco Polo happened over seven hundred years in his past. Ian’s attempt to try and defend and shield Ping-Cho from Polo’s predictable rage is quite chivalrous but it’s all in vain.

The cliffhanger is another corker. It features Tegana who  just has to say “come” and he manages to make it sound menacing. That makes two in a row now for good cliffhangers and I think that it’s more to do with that I think that Derren Nesbitt is fantastic as Tegana and I keep going on about him so I wont carry on here. The writing from John Lucarotti has been fairly good here and it’s a below par episode from Waris Hussein which isn’t something that I say very often as his level of work is usually quite high.

‘Mighty Kublai Khan’ isn’t as strong as the previous episode but it’s still a good one. As the story starts to reach its finale, I must say that  overall the episode has impressed me more than it had done in recent years.

Marco Polo: Rider from Shang-Tu

The cliffhanger saw Ian about to attack a guard who it turns out had already been killed. The story very quickly moves on to the bandits that are meant to be attacking soon.  After they come and are quickly disbanded then the action sees Marco Polo and his band of merry (and not so merry) men and women travel to Cheng-Tu.  Judging by the telesnaps Cheng-Ting looks another nice place. The sets have on the whole been impressive and that is what makes the fact that this story only exits on audio so depressing because if this were to be on DVD or VHS then it would probably rank as one of the all time greats in Doctor Who. Barry Newberry has to be complemented on what he has achieved. Daphne Dare also deserves praise because even in the black and white pictures, her designs come off as the sort you would see on movies.

As we enter the latter half of the story, the action moves towards the meeting of Kublai Kahan in Cheng-Ting. The circuit that the Doctor has been spending an eternity working on is now fixed so the drama moves to trying to get back into the TARDIS as soon as possible. It seems that they’ve forgotten what Marco Polo has got planned.

This episode really gets going once they get to Cheng-Tu as we are introduced to some new characters which is what is needed after five episodes. Wang-Lo sounds like a comedy character and comes across as such. He’s played brilliantly by Gabor Baraker and what puts the icing on the cake is the way that the Doctor reacts to his news that he has had the TARDIS moved. William Hartnell had a nice comedy moment after encountering Wang-Lo, doing a rather funny impression. The relationship between Ping-Cho and Susan is put on show again when they are examining the fish in Cheng-Ting, trying to figure out which person looks like which fish. It’s made even more enjoyable to witness after Ping-Cho gives Susan the key that Marco Polo doesn’t want them to have.

Tegana continues to impress me and the way that he sees the TARDIS as his way of getting what he wants. I’ve gone on about how much I like Derren Nesbitt’s portrayl of the character so I wont carry on with him but I think that I find Mark Eden’s Marco Polo to be less grating that I have recently.

The cliffhanger was quite a good one. After wanting the regulars to get into the TARDIS they finally do but it was never going to be that straightforward because Susan gets left behind and cause by Tegana. The plot idea of having them so close to escaping and yet so far is something that is used in The Daleks when they are about to get away before they realise that the fluid link is in the Dalek city.

It’s certainly a lot more enjoyable than the previous episode. It’s not a coincidence that its because Waris Hussein is back in the directors chair as he does have a way of moving the story along at a quicker pace than John Crockett did. The whole episode just had a better vibe to it than the previous episode. The final two episodes should get the story back on track.

 

Marco Polo - Five Hundred Eyes

After the enjoyable previous episode we get an episode that doesn’t quite match it. There is another narration from Marco Polo. There seems to be a bit more of the narration in this episode but it’s still a welcome part of the story as we get to know what’s going on inside Marco polo’s mind without him showing his true feelings to the others. After resting in the TARDIS to get away from the heat. The Doctor discovers that condensation has formed inside the TARDIS and due to this everyone can drink water. His excitement at this is extinguished by Marco Polo. Marco Polo’s lack of trust of the Doctor and his ‘caravan’ is starting to get a bit stale.

Zienia Merton gets a nice bit of dialogue where she gets to tell as story. She does it very well and I continue to be impressed with her performances despite the character not being specially interesting. Mark Eden doesn’t have a particularly strong episode here but I think that after two episodes it was only a matter of time before he comes back to the forefront of the story. Derren Nesbitt isn’t quite as menacing as he was in the previous episodes but like Eden, I think that he will come back in future episodes.

After his lack of presence in the previous episodes, William Hartnell makes up for it here. I thought that he was quite fun to listen to as he tries to pull the wool over Marco Polo’s eyes as he has another TARDIS key made after he gave the original to Polo. Barbara is suspicious of Tegana and whilst Ian, the Doctor and Susan listening to Ping-Cho, Barbara follows him. She’s very active in this episode as she is the to one that gets put into danger. Judging by the telesnaps, the scene in the caves would have looked very good. William Russell doesn’t have a whole lot to do. His most interesting contribution comes when he talks about the English translation of Assassin. Carole Ann Ford’s involvement is fairly good and at least she doesn’t act child like which has been a recurring theme in her performances in recent episodes. She shrieks at the end but its kind of justified.

It’s another episode where there’s an awful lot of not much happening but then once the action moves into the caves that it is where it became entertaining drama. The cliffhanger was ok. It had a certain amount of drama to it but not very much and it doesn’t work as well on audio. It ends with Susan screaming and noticing the eyes in the paintings are moving but to be honest it was Barbara’s predicament that I found more interesting. So far the story is continuing to maintain my interest, it didn’t have the same sort of excitement that the previous episode had but once it got going then I started to enjoy the episode more.

Marco Polo - The Singing Sands

The title is very appropriate as when the sandstorm hits, it does sound like singing. Bad singing, the sort you would get on X-Factor but it’s a good title. The story is where Tegana’s plan will come to fruition and after the reprise, the narration starts again and I like this one as it shows how grumpy the Doctor is. Susan is letting the situation get to her. There’s a hint of the old Susan in this first scene and Barbara is doing the mother thing by trying to reassure Susan. Ping-Cho’s purpose seems to be to interact with Susan as they both appear to be the same age. They act in this episode like two friends trying to sneak out of their parents home. It’s due to this that they see Tegana leaving and leads to the first proper dramatic moment in the story. Susan uses 1960’s terms like crazy to describe the moon.

The Doctor hardly ‘appears’ in this story, instead all we get is a brief moment at the end where we discover that the heat is getting to him. As his involvement is kept to a minimum it’s really Ian, Barbara and Susan that are left to push the story along. Susan and Ping-Cho are following Tegana but get caught in the sandstorm whilst Ian is playing chess with Marco Polo. Jacqueline Hill is sort of floating around in the background and doesn’t really get a good deal in this episode.

There’s a moment where Marco questions how he can thank Tegana for saving Ping-Cho’s life which is amusing as the viewer knows the truth about what’s going on. Tegana is a cracking villain. He is as my mom would call a nasty bag of washing. Not only has he caused the situation that everyone finds themselves in but when he get to the oasis he gets some water and goads Marco Polo to “come for it”.  He really deserves that ending and Tegan is brilliantly played by Derren Nesbitt though Mark Eden continues to impress as Marco Polo and I am even starting to like Zienia Merton as Ping-Cho. This episode was definelty more about the supporting cast that the regulars. Which isn’t a bad thing as with the episode length being what it is means that we can learn a bit more about them.

By the latter stages of the episode Tegana’s plan has had its desired effect and they have little water to travel the desert and they are travelling less and less. It’s a shame that this episode doesn’t exit at all on videotape as I think that it would be one of the most visually stunning. Even from the telesnaps that I am looking at whilst listening to this on CD, it looks like a top production and its good that the acting matches it.

The cliffhanger is very enjoyable and makes up the previous episode’s lack of tension. It does really make you question who they are going to survive with Tegana being less than helpful and the lack of water being a real issue. I am for the first time really excited about this story and feel that the rest of the episode can make me forget this is a pure historical and excite me with a cracking story.

 

Marco Polo - The Roof of the World

This is the first story that doesn’t exist on video. Instead we have to be satisfied with William Russell narrating. As a fan of the Big Finish releases featuring Russell, I always enjoy anything that he’s in.  After the cliffhanger where they discover a huge footprint it falls to Ian to break the news that it’s a normal footprint that has melted in the snow. After the very dramatic previous episodes. The mood is very different as they all seem to be happy in each other’s company. I like that even in middle of mass snow Ian and Barbara entertain the thought of being back on Earth. Even though there’s no actual indication that they are on earth but it’s a theme that runs through their time on the show.
There’s more problems with the TARDIS, however it’s not to the extent that it was in the previous two episodes. The Doctor hopes that by going to a ‘lower altitude’ they might be able to get the parts needed. The fact that they can’t just leave is the only way that they would be staying for the next seven weeks.

Nice moment where Ian is explaining the science of heat to Marco Polo. It’s probably the most amusing part for the regulars. As its effectively a introduction episode, the regulars don’t really stand out very much as they all put in the same sort of performances. The performances aren’t bad but it feels like they are still recovering from the previous two episodes.  Marco Polo shows an interest in the Doctor’s TARDIS in the beginning of his encounter with the TARDIS crew. He wont let the Doctor or any one else enter the TARDIS as the locals are suspicious of the TARDIS crew and in a rare sign of compassion, the Doctor agrees not to force the issue.

We learn of Marco’s intention and its that he wants to offer Khan the TARDIS so that he can go home. It’s hard to dislike Marco Polo as he is played brilliantly by Mark Eden. He doesn’t raise his voice or act intimidatingly but still poses power and isn’t someone that you can say no to..

The Doctor’s reaction is quite strange as he starts laughing, had this happened eight episodes ago then there would have been a different response. Unusual bit of narration by Marco Polo. I like it as it gives a different feel to the story and feels like the series has found its feet and is comfortable in trying something new. It also shows what Marco Polo is thinking because we wouldn’t find out otherwise.

The cliffhanger doesn’t have the dramatic tension that I would have come to expect from a Dalek episode or even one of two of the An Unearthly Child episodes.  Tegana and a Mongol soldier are hatching a plan to kill Marco Polo and the others by poisoning the water and take the ‘caravan’ and bring Kublai Khan to his knees. It sets up the rest of the story rather well . As the story is seven episodes long, the story has the chance to take its time with the plot. The problem with this story existing on audio is that its difficult to really enjoy it. Whereas with a Big Finish audio it doesn’t have to worry about that. As it is, the opening episode is perfectly fine but it’s a pure historical adventure and that’s ok but historicals aren’t particularly well liked in Doctor Who circles. I think their ok as long as we can see them.

An Unearthly Child - The Firemaker

The final part of this introduction to Doctor Who after nearly getting into the TARDIS, the crew are captured and taken back to the cave. When they do get back to the cave there is a nice bit of teamwork between the Doctor and Ian, it’s made even nice when Ian makes sure Za knows that the Doctor is the leader. The first eight or nine minutes bumble along and there is nothing really exciting that grabs the attention but then at nine minute mark the power struggle takes centre stage. It’s been bubbling along for the previous two episodes but here it intensifies when fire has been made. We have our first big action sequence and it doesn’t involve any of the regular crew. It’s between Za and Kal It’s quite a violent  encounter  buts its well worked out.  The reactions from the regulars help make that scene even more graphic.

There is a last minute plot device to crank up the tension when after Ian has made fire for Za, he refuses to let them go and the TARDIS crew are still trapped. However it’s a short lived imprisonment because they discover a way to get out. Susan is the one that works out how make the cavemen scared. It might have been Ian that worked out the finer details but its still Susan who starts the ball rolling. Considering how for the last two episodes she has been whining and acting like a kid but here that has all disappeared. The cavemen are pretty easy to scare and so it’s a plan that works well. It’s a wonderful image of the skulls being on fire, it’s quite a well realised image that is helped because its black and white television.

The central performances are all consistently good for the first time since the first episode. The Doctor is less grumpy and frosty than he has been and William Hartnell performs very well. It’s quite good how he has become more dishevelled as the story has progressed and has mellowed since the first episode. Carole Ann Ford has had a good episode, not only does she come up with the idea but she doesn’t go hysterical and is good to watch. Jacqueline Hill puts in a good performance after her brief moment of hysterics she is the strong figure that we know she can be and Hill can play that well. William Russell’s most significant contribution to the story is when Ian makes fire. It’s not to say that he wasn’t very good but I don’t it was his finest episode. In the  supporting cast Alethea Charlton has become the star of the story with her stunning performance in the past three episodes. She started off quietly but soon became an important member of the story and she was strong until the very end.

Visually the story has been very good and continues here. The cave scenes have been the heart of the story and it was made very well. The scene where the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are running back to the TARDIS and being chased is done in a rather odd way. Just static shots of each of the regulars with branches hitting them in the faces. I know that it was a means to an end because they probably didn’t have the space to do a running scene but it just doesn’t sit as well as the rest of the story.

It’s good how when the TARDIS takes off, Barbara and Ian think/hope that the Doctor will take them back to 1963 but it’s not going to be that simple. The sense of desperation from Ian and Barbara shows that a trip back in time isn’t going to make them want to go travelling with the Doctor which is what happens pretty much every time that someone new joins the show. When they do land the world that they have landed on doesn’t look like Earth and the cliffhanger ends with the radiation detector hitting danger just after Susan has checked it when it was normal.

As an episode it’s half a good episode but spends an awful long time to get into gear. When it does though its really good and the second half is what saves this episode. As a story, I had always thought that it was one quarter very good and three quarters ok. However having watched them over four days I must say that its half a good story and half ok.  The first and third episodes are enjoyable and the second and final episode sort of let the side down but it definelty a good start to the journey of the Doctor.

RATING 

An Unearthly Child - The Forest of Fear

The Doctor opens the episode apologising for getting them trapped. It’s probably the nicest that the Doctor would be for a while. As he drastically changes throughout the episode. The story in this episode sees the TARDIS crew trying to desperately escape from the cave and get back to the TARDIS however as the power struggle in the tribe gets worse and worse it heightens up the tension for the Doctor and co. There is a wonderful quote in the early part of this episode “Fear makes companions of us all” is a wonderful quote from the Doctor.

 

It’s not been mentioned before but the set designs are quite good. It’s not really evident that it’s been filmed in a studio. The cave sets in particular are well designed and have a claustrophobic feel to them which is I know what you would want from a cave but it’s lit quite badly and that helps to create the right impression.

Ian’s role as the action man of the group is established in part three as he is the one who’s hopes of setting them free rely upon. He becomes the one who is quite resourceful and is always trying to come up with ways of helping someone. Russell has been a strong presence in these episodes whether its having the argument with the Doctor in the previous episode or being resourceful.  It’s Barbara’s turn to be the hysterical one. After two episodes of being the strong one taking things in her stride, she then becomes the one that just screams and cries during the course of the episode. Her decision to go and help Hur after Za has been attacked might seem like a stupid thing to do but it recovers Barbara from being the hysterical one and establishes the character as a caring person. 

The Old Woman doesn’t want the Doctor to make fire. It’s a curious request considering how much everyone else wants it. It’s a shame when she dies cause I thought that she was a really good character and well played. Eileen Way has been one of the gems of this story but I think that her usefulness has run its course but its still a shame when a good character gets written out. Za and Hur are really good in this as Za’s desperation intensifies and Hur is doing everything she can to help him. Za does raise a good point about why Hur did nothing when Old Mother took Za’s rock. Apart from that she is really good and even Za is quite good.

The middle section of the episode is the highlight of the episode because it’s a good chase sequence with Za and Hur chasing Ian, Barbara, Susan and the Doctor. It’s halted when Hur gets attacked by something which we don’t see (presumably a tiger or a lion). The moment when the Doctor picks up a rock and is clearly going to kill Hur is something that you wouldn’t associate with the character. It shows the darker side of the character and its quite a surprising thing because he of course would play the grand father figure quite well in the rest of his time on the show and he continues to be the anti-grandfather. Hartnell’s performance is very good  and is the best out of the regular characters.

The cliffhanger was quite good. Just when we think that the Doctor and the rest have made it back to the TARDIS then they encounter some of the tribe who come out of the darkness its quite well done and then when Ian tells the other to go back they face more trouble in the form of Kal. The look on his face is very serious as his power in the tribe grows. I thought that this was a much improved episode on Cave of Skulls. For one, the title actually has some meaning here as most of the story takes place in the forest and there is a certain amount of fear. The final episode is set up nicely by what goes on in this episode.

 

RATING

An Unearthly Child - The Cave of Skulls

After the introduction episode we get to the main part of the story and our first introduction into a different world. We find out what the shadowy figure was from the cliffhanger. It’s a rather gormless looking individual. It’s a  case of the mind perhaps creating a more impressive answer than what we could possibly have expected. It would perhaps have been better to have a look in the TARDIS before we get to meet the clan. The first voices we hear in this episode are from the clan. It’s nearly 3 ½ minutes before we get back to the TARDIS and in that scene we get to basically understand what the next three episodes will be about. When we go back to the TARDIS there is a dramatic near four minute scene where Ian and the Doctor square up to discover the finer points of science. Despite what must have been a turbulent journey, Ian is still reluctant to accept what’s going on.

A nice scene in the TARDIS takes place concerning the name of the Doctor. Doctor Foreman is the name mistakenly given by Barbara as to the identity of Susan’s grandfather. With Ian being the first to question just what the Doctor’s real name is (a question still being asked 50 years on).When we leave the TARDIS we learn another thing about the show and that’s the TARDIS is suppose to change shape and blend in with its surroundings. It’s also rather odd to see the Doctor actually doing some scientific research into the surroundings. Normally the episode starts and the Doctor and crew are off and away so its nice to see the Doctor doing some research.

The central performances are noticeably different from the first episode. William Hartnell plays the Doctor really well in this episode as the Doctor is less frosty in this episode despite his stand-off with Ian. William Russell is putting a good performance. I like how confident Ian thinks he is that the Doctor is a charlatan. Even after stepping out of the TARDIS he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. This continuous refusal to believe what’s in front of him would normally be quite annoying but with Russell its good. Carole Ann Ford does the best that she can but Susan’s still hysterical. She’s degraded quickly. Barbara is playing the mother figure, it’s quite surprising just how quickly these two characters have been bedded down but I still think that Jacqueline Hill is a very good actress and Barbara is the stronger written character out of the two. The TARDIS crew that we have now do the finest ‘pretending to be frozen in a baking hot studio’ acting I think I’ve ever seen

The problems with this story become evident in this episode. The cave storyline is rather pedestrian and dull compared to the more interesting storyline with the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Essentially it’s a power struggle with the leader being the one who can make fire. The only character that is of any interest is Old Mother. Old Mother is clearly someone who revels from Za not being able to make fire. Eileen Way is clearly having fun despite looking haggard and grim.

The only time that the cave clan become interesting is when the Doctor gets bought in a then it leads to quite a dramatic rescue by Ian, Barbara and Susan with an even better moment where the Doctor tries to save Ian’s life. But it’s a futile attempt as it leads them to the first prison cell scene of Doctor Who.  Considering the  episode is called ‘The Cave of Skulls’ it quite bizarre then that its 23 minutes before the story moves into the cave. The cliffhanger is quite good as at the time it must have been quite grim because the camera focuses on a skull with a hole in it and the idea that you would have to wait a whole week to see whether your new favourite characters would have a hole in their head after just three weeks is quite nice.

The Cave of Skulls isn’t quite as good as An Unearthly Child but there are still some elements that are entertaining.

RATING

An Unearthly Child - An Unearthly Child

Very atmospheric opening. Foggy with the eerie theme tune helping to create a wonderful effect.

The camera in a seemingly following forcing its way into the Junkyard just like Barbara and Ian are about to, thought it was a nice metaphor. It feels weird that the story starts off in ‘contemporary’ London, Doctor Who would obviously return to Earth in the modern day but considering its mostly a non-earth series it has a different feel to the rest of the story. Ian and Barbara’s introduction seems like two natural teachers with a friendship. It’s very low key.

In their first scene it is Barbara who is the driving force into discovering the mystery about Susan. In the scene where Ian and Barbara are in the car it’s interesting how Barbara is the one that can sense there is something odd about the area. Susan’s introduction is really good. The way that she says that she likes walking through the fog as it’s mysterious. There is a moment when Susan is listening to John Smith and the Common Men. It’s odd how the John Smith gag seems to come from The Wheel in Space but this is the first mention of John Smith so this episode is the birth of the John Smith joke but it would be four years before it became part of the character. I thought the French Revolution reference was quite fortuitous as it would form the final story of this opening series.

The scenes where Ian and Barbara talk about their encounters with her are quite rare for the show as flashbacks don’t form part of the narrative until the new series and there good as we only see Susan but only hear Ian and Barbara so its as if we are the ones confronting Susan. Hartnell’s first appearance comes at the 11 minute mark which shows that this is really Ian and Barbara’s episode. Hartnell isn’t the warm and grandfather like figure that we know he becomes. In many respects he is the anti-grandfather figure. When they are in the TARDIS, he is very reluctant to explain himself to Ian and Barbara and won’t let them leave fearing that they will tell people.

Ian and Barbara’s first encounter in the TARDIS control room is our first encounter and it’s a superb introduction.  The console room might not have the grand scale that the new series console does but it still an impressive room. They are trying to use human logic to what they are experiencing and it’s a futile venture.  After Barbara leading the curiosity, its Ian who now leads the mission to try and understand where they are. Ian’s inability to try and understand what’s going on is fun to watch. Barbara still thinks its some sort of trick and she seems to be dealing with it a lot more than Ian.

After a superb start for Susan, she quickly resorts to being the child of the group. When she wants to leave the Doctor and live her life on earth. She seems to throw a mini-tantrum when they says this and its perhaps the only time (apart from Inside the Spaceship) that she shrugs off the child image and acts like an alien.  The cast do some fine wobbling acting when the TARDIS ‘takes off’. The panning out shot of London along with the ‘time vortex’ from the title sequence is as best an attempt to create the impression to the viewer that the TARDIS isn’t in a junkyard in November 1963.

The Cliffhanger is absolutely brilliant. A shadow appearing out of shot is one of my favourite cliffhangers in Doctor Who. This was an wonderful episode. It started off very well and continued to maintain my interest. Even though there are other people in the episode they don’t have an impact on the story and so its one of the rare occasions in Doctor Who where it’s just the main cast that are involved and it’s a clever move which helps establish that this isn’t your typical drama.


Rating