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.