No sooner has the TARDIS crew survived the trek across Cathay than they stumble into another quest story, this time on the planet Marinus.
I love the opening shot of the first episode: a nice bit of model work featuring the building where we will find Arbitan and the Conscience machine. From a contemporary point of view, it looks like a mega-resort on some Caribbean island.
Sarah -
One would expect that beginning with an awesome miniature and THE SEA OF DEATH across the scene can only lead to further awesomeness, however, one could also be easily mislead.
Trapped by cavemen, imprisoned by Daleks, driven mad in space, kidnapped by Marco Polo -- and now blackmailed by Arbitan and sent on a scavenger hunt to find his keys. A promising start that devolves into a Scooby-Doo episode.
Harry -
Marinus is a strange place: beaches made of glass and seas of acid. Despite the evident dangers and a close call with an acid pool, Susan rather stupidly wanders off, all the way to the distant building. Watching these stories in quick succession reinforces to me why I never really liked Susan. When we first met her in "An Unearthly Child," she towered over her fellow students, but in these subsequent adventures, she's very accident prone and immature.
Sarah -
As I've mentioned before, I do not get Susan. I understand that her role is to get into scrapes that will lead us to further adventures, but she was introduced to us as a much more interesting character. With the exception of a few scenes in "Marco Polo," I find her to be most tedious!
Harry -
Definitely.
Anyway, the crew all make it to the building, where they encounter Arbitan and the Voord (and some BBC TV crew who strayed into shot, yikes!).
Sarah -
I think half the crew makes a special appearance in this episode...not to mention the boom mics that seem to be a permanent fixture in the story. They should have slapped wet suits on them and made them Voord.
Harry -
The boom mic shadows are so ubiquitious in classic Who that I just accept them as part of the story -- think of them as being caused by some kind of overhanging devices attached to the TARDIS ceiling.
By this story, William Hartnell has settled into his portrayal of the Doctor. This is the curious, serious and whimsical Doctor we remember him as.
Sarah -
Having taken two weeks off for a vacation in the middle of the story, Hartnell was tan, rested and ready by his return in the fifth episode of the story. He's positively feisty by the fifth episode!
Speaking of, The Doctor seems to have acquired a new wig for this story. The locks were decidedly less-flowing.
Harry -
You'd think they'd have gotten matching wigs for the man, but there's the BBC budget for you (obligatory BBC budget dig!).
Going back to the contemporary point of view, I like seeing Ian still wearing an Oriental shirt, like he's just come home from holiday and wants to show off a bit.
Sarah -
Ian’s rocking the Chinese leisure wear! Or is he in fancy dress as one of Adam’s Ants? In any case, he is SO ready for the next Con.
Amusingly, Mr. Smith HATES Ian. Quite passionately, which is more than a little bit out of character. He finds Ian too pompous, officious, terse, and inexplicably self-assured. I tried to explain his better points, citing his man-of-action role in Marco Polo, but Mr. Smith was having none of it.
Harry -
Ian is either the coolest science teacher ever, or the nerdiest action hero ever. Jury's still out.
The Voord: a nice try by Terry Nation, but nowhere near as memorable or menacing as his previous villains. How menacing can you be in a costume that involves giant hood ornaments coming out of your forehead, and speed-inhibiting flippers? (We will see one of the Voord almost do a face-plant later in the story.)
Sarah -
Those costumes looked positively claustrophobic.
Now, let us return once again to my favorite subject of this first season -- my new best girlfriend, Barbara Wright. Yet again, she proves her excellence by seeing through illusions, smashing the alien overlords, feigning fear as the lamest stakes in the history of television threaten to slightly bump her while trapped under a fishing net, fighting off a rapist -- And can I just say WTF? Has anything like this happened elsewhere on Doctor Who? Is this not a children's program? -- and figuring out that Kala is lying. She is truly a woman for the ages.
Harry -
Barbara is far and away the lead character in each of the mini-adventures in this story.
In "The Velvet Web", she sees through the mind-control façade foisted upon the others by the brain monsters, and she is the one who destroys them. In "The Screaming Jungle", she is the one who calms down Susan's hysterics, and (inadvertently) finds the hidden lair where the key is kept. In "The Snows of Terror," Barbara fights off the trapper (whose intentions of rape are clearly implied), and in the final two episodes she gets to team up with the Doctor for a spot of clever detective work. She rules this story!
What I really like about "The Keys of Marinus", despite it being mostly poo-pooed by Rob & Toby, is that it veers Doctor Who in yet another new direction. This time out we have a very fast-moving piece, and each episode serves as a self-contained adventure, like an old Saturday movie-house serial.
The story itself is not the greatest. It's a quest to assemble the pieces for a machine that will control people's minds -- a machine whose destruction is deemed appropriate at the end of the story, coupled with a little speech about the dangers of machines. Whaaa?
But as with so much Doctor Who, if you focus on the things you like, and conclude that the things you don't like don't count, then it's a winner!
Sarah -
The real problem with this story lies in the writing. I'm fine with the concept of each episode being an adventure, but it just never adds up in the end. Our Heroes are kidnapped and forced to find the keys to a machine that subverts free will and each has a scrape with death while trying to find them. When the machine is destroyed in the end, they all just shrug it off and move along.
Harry -
Maybe this Terry Nation kid should go back to writing Daleks. He might be on to something there...
Sarah -
Significantly, this is the first adventure for adventure's sake. There's no mention of Barbara and Ian trying to get back home; they're just off on another lark, it seems.
Harry -
Back to Ian again, this is not his best story. Though initially suspicious in "The Velvet Web", he ends up brainwashed and attacks Barbara. I'll give him "The Screaming Jungle" because he comes to Barbara's aid and sorts out the scientific code. In "The Snows of Terror", Ian does some more rescuing, but gets outwitted by the trapper more than once -- the same trapper than any five-year-old viewer would have concluded was "bad news" the moment he appeared onscreen. And he almost fell for Yartek's hoodie ruse. Come on, Mr. Chesterton!
A word on Altos and Sabetha. I really liked these secondary characters. More memorable than any of the Thals, they made a cute couple in the end. And I can't say I didn't enjoy watching Altos dash about in his cape and Y-fronts. I'm glad that as early as its first season, Doctor Who was providing something "for the uncles" too. Hah!
Sarah -
Poor Altos must have been freezing his stuff off in "The Snows of Terror"!
Altos and Sabetha were sweet. I really liked the final shot when Barbara says she'll miss them and Ian beckons her into the TARDIS. Watching their relationship develop out of the confines of school has been delightful.
Harry -
If you had a favourite single episode in "The Keys of Marinus" which would it be?
Sarah -
If I had to choose one favorite, I'd go with "Sentence of Death," which contains some excellent moments. I especially enjoyed Hartnell in this episode. The Doctor was downright spunky in his investigation of the murder and defense of Ian. And, it was nice to see him again after two episodes of Barbara and Ian taking the lead.
Harry -
I'd pick "The Snows of Terror" just above "The Velvet Web". The former is very grown-up and sobering, up until the keystone knights thaw out.
Sarah -
I also liked the shift in perspective in "The Velvet Web" -- Susan's dress being beautiful from her point of view, but tattered rags from Barbara's, and, of course, The Doctor admiring the lab that was an empty room containing only a rusty tin cup.
Harry -
Good point about the camera perspectives in "The Velvet Web." DW often gets knocked for wobbly sets and rushed productions, but not enough praise goes to the occasional director who adds some flair to the show. Props to John Gorrie on this one.
Lasting image - the opening model shot of the island and pyramid building.
Favourite moment - the Doctor's lively crime scene reconstruction with Barbara and Susan.
Best line - Ian: "In a moment I've got to go in there and face an accusation of murder. I need a man to defend me." Doctor: "I am that man."
Rating: 7/10
Sarah -
Lasting image - The Doctor holding his tin cup!
Favorite moment - Barbara lounging on the chaise, cool as a cucumber, when everyone else arrives in Morphoton.
Best line - "I am that man." Classic Doctor moment!
Rating: 6/10
Our marathon continues with Story #6 - The Aztecs...
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