Well, there they go. The Doctor's accidental companions, and the two hippest public school teachers we'll ever know.
Sarah -
How I’ll miss them! Before we started this little project, I’d only seen a handful of Barbara and Ian stories and hadn’t developed any strong feelings about them. Now I’m heartbroken to see them go. Barbara, especially, has rocketed to the top of my list of favorite companions. What a gal! I wish she’d been my history teacher.
Harry -
I had forgotten how torn up the Doctor was over the departure of Ian and Barbara. His coping blanket of anger was amazing!
Sarah -
The Doctor’s response to be completely in character. I nearly started crying when he softened it with, “I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them, silly old fusspots.”
Sorry, who’s the silly old fusspot, Doctor?
Harry -
Right off the bat, our Toby has made his dislike of this story quite clear, and I can't disagree. If we were watching this back in 1965 for the first time, not knowing how much longer the show would continue airing, I'd argue that this was where Doctor Who jumped the proverbial shark.
"The Chase" is self-reverential to the point of dross. The Daleks are rolled out to re-enact some familiar scenes, the TARDIS crew lounge around like vacationers, and why bother travelling anymore when they can dial-up all of history on the Space-Time Visualiser? A sudden stagnation has set in.
When they finally stepped outside, Vicki's words are most alarming. She says "Are we going to explore now, then?" as if the concept has become so hum-drum that she greets it with indifference.
What the hell has happened to Doctor Who?
Sarah -
Now it’s your turn to be Toby! I’m going to be on Team Rob for this one and point out that, while The Chase clearly has its problems, there are more than enough excellent moments to make up for it.
Harry -
I thank your Rob for pulling me back from the abyss, and reminding me that, yes, there was much in this crazy romp of a story to enjoy (knowing that this was not a shark-jumping moment, and the show would in fact continue for over two decades).
Sarah -
How about that groovy title sequence – like something out of a Peter Sellers movie! The incidental music is positively spectacular. Dudley Simpson outdid himself!
Harry -
The music was very stand-out here, very fun 60s groove.
Sarah -
I appreciate a story that gets right to the point – Daleks and lots of them! How exciting to be the “greatest enemies” of the Daleks. That’s a bit of an achievement, isn’t it?
Harry -
The Thals didn't give them much competition up to that point.
Sarah -
Good point.
I loved Ian reading Monsters from Outer Space. ( The Doctor: “Do you mind if I dispatch you from your cowboys and Indians?” *giggle*) The historical flashbacks. Getting in a spot of sunbathing when one finds oneself on a new and mysterious planet. A never-ending shot of each and every Dalek leaving the control room. Glad we didn’t miss a moment of that!
Harry -
Looking back, you could argue that the first episode was padding, which sometimes comes in later in a story. But still, that fully-clothed sunbathing scene was so quintessentially English. I'm sure the Doctor averted his eyes from Barbara the entire time, staring straight into the sun if need be!
Sarah -
And, don’t forget Ian and Vicki scolding each other while fleeing monsters in the tunnels. Or, Vicki’s general loopiness during the entire first half of the story. I don’t know what was going on there, but she made me giggle.
The accent on the Empire State Building guide was brilliant and worth the price of admission. What a relief the Daleks didn’t vaporize that poor Alabaman! (Who, by the by, bears a striking resemblance to that Steven bloke they meet later in the story.)
Harry -
Morton Dill! The only person to scoff in the face of the Daleks, and survive!
Sarah -
Go Crimson Tide!
Harry -
That has to be one of my all-time favourite DW moments. I am not exaggerating to say that I replayed it a half-dozen times, roaring and wheezing with laughter.
Sarah -
It was Brilliant!!! Unfortunately, the Mary Celeste scene wasn’t as fun, as Barbara, once again, finds herself lusted after by a lout. The Dalek going overboard definitely saved the save the scene. Then it’s off to the house or horrors, or is it the dark recesses of the mind. Who knows, let’s just lose Vicki and move on.
Harry -
Another moment I found riotously funny was when the Doctor chided Ian for being jittery in the house of horrors -- then silently turned tail and fled when Frankenstein's monster awoke, while Ian stood frozen in shock.
Again, the show may not have survived if it relied on daffy comedy each week, but all this zaniness makes "The Chase" really unique among Dalek stories.
Sarah -
It was daffy – but ever so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Harry -
Had I been 10 years old watching this for the first time, the Daleks-Mechonoids battle would have been an epic for the ages, cartoony explosions notwithstanding! Wow! The Daleks facing off against another race of oddly shaped robot monsters. I don't think we see something like this again until the David Tennant era.
Sarah -
Mechonoids are cool!
Harry -
And then, having fled the burning city (and all-but-hurling poor Vicki from the roof!), our heroes fashion their escape amidst the chaos.
Harkening back to the start of our review, the Doctor's flustered anger was very touching. He clearly didn't want to say goodbye.
Sarah -
I understand, I didn’t want to say goodbye either. It’s been a great time, Barbara and Ian, and I shall miss you terribly and hope you have wonderful lives together!
Harry -
I'm sure they lived a long and happy life together, reminiscing about the funny old man and his police box, wondering if it was all a drug-induced hallucination, and spending the rest of their teaching careers warning students about the risks of party drugs. Farewell, Ian and Barbara!
Sarah -
Lasting image: The final romp through London montage. I nearly sobbed through the whole thing.
Favorite moment: Poor Barbara being told by the faux Doctor that Ian is dead and then the gallant Ian rushing to her defense when he turns out to be very much alive!
Best line: “We’ll pick them off one by one.” One last bit of bloodthirstyness from My Barbara!
Rating: 8/10
Harry -
Lasting image - Ian and the Doctor getting the bleep scared out of them by Frankenstein's monster.
Favourite moment - Daleks vs Mechonoids!
Best line - "You're from Earth." "No ma'am, I'm from Alabama."
Rating - 8/10
Our marathon continues with the first Peter Cushing movie: Dr. Who and the Daleks...
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