I like getting straight to the action – Police Box on the Runway! One can’t help but wonder, if an airplane was coming straight at you, wouldn’t one be safer in the TARDIS than dashing across the runway?
Harry -
Well, the Doctor decided that "Scatter!" was a better option, so everyone obliged. I love the opening minutes of this story - in fact, the entire first episode is a rush of action. Everyone scampering around Gatwick, with Bobbies and police motorcycles in pursuit, and 60s action music full on. Classic stuff.
It's interesting to contrast the pacey opening to the remarkably tepid finale - but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sarah -
I'll resist the urge to get both of us ahead of ourselves.
In any case, the action begins and our heroes are immediately separated. Poor Polly encounters a bloke with a death ray and apparent alien overlord. Has no one told this guy that killing a cop is never a good idea and always dooms you in the end?
Harry -
It's poor Polly's turn to be separated from her friends and brainwashed. At least the writers kept a rotation going.
Sarah -
It's inevitable when you travel with the Doctor, isn't it?
Harry -
Indeed. Wasn't that Captain Blade a chilly bastard? His henchman Spencer too. Even though their plots seemed improvised and incoherent at times, at least their tone was consistent. They never strayed into histrionics - these were very "grown up" alien villains. Mysterious too - their secrets were teased out to the audience at just the right pace.
Sarah -
I love the calm, cool, and collected tone that all the aliens use. Positively menacing.
Harry -
My favourite 60s DW stories are the ones set in contemporary (for its day) London. The look, the sound, the classiness of it all - and the fact that they are now historicals in their own right. Wild.
Even though this adventure takes place at an aeroport, there is still an intimate feel to the story because everything takes place in only a handful of rooms. What I'm trying to say is, I really like this story!
Sarah -
I love this story! After the drudge of "The Macra Terror", I was more than ready for a great story and "The Faceless Ones" more than delivers!
Harry -
It's also an important story because of the big companions shift that takes place. After part two, Ben and Polly vanish and Jamie has the spotlight all to himself - that is, until the lass from Liverpool bursts onto the scene.
Sarah -
Remember, this is my first time watching "The Faceless Ones".
Harry -
Mine too.
Sarah -
I nearly jumped off my sofa when she first appeared…
Harry -
Me too!
Sarah -
...but more on that later.
Harry -
One of the most striking images of the story comes right after Polly is snatched away by Spencer, and the Doctor and Jamie are seen strolling amiably away, as if they've always been best mates. It's one of those moments where you suddenly realize that the show has made a Big Shift.
Sarah -
They’ve always been best mates, haven’t they?
Harry -
It was interesting to read Rob and Toby's notes on this story. I was unaware that Samantha Briggs was all-but the next companion, had Pauline Collins not turned the opportunity down. I'd love to hear her thoughts today, to find out whether she regrets the decision or not.
Sarah -
Oh my, I’ll have to dash off and read that. (Sorry, Rob and Toby, I try not to consult your work until I’ve gotten my thoughts down – don’t want to be unduly influenced.)
Harry -
Anyway, when Samantha first appeared at the Chameleon kiosk to question Polly, there was something familiar about her. It was driving me nuts until I realized where else I'd seen her (and no, I'm not talking about Shirley Valentine).
Sarah -
Because obviously you’re thinking of her dynamic performance as Sarah on Upstairs, Downstairs! That little minx! First Jean Marsh, then Pauline Collins! We’ll have to go more than two decades to see Simon Williams in "Remembrance of the Daleks" but it will be well worth the wait. Pauline Collins is a positive spitfire and brings all she’s got to the role of Samantha, she would have probably kicked the Doctor out and stolen the TARDIS eventually, so it’s probably best that she didn’t stick around.
Oh…wait…I suspect you were referring to an appearance Collins will make forty years hence, which merely backs up my point that she’s a absolute firecracker in any role she assumes!
Sorry, we were discussing something else, weren’t we? I get a little distracted when the subject of Upstairs, Downstairs comes up.
Harry -
A brilliant digression, Sarah!
Sarah -
If we had an Upstairs, Downstairs blog, I would probably digress about Doctor Who. (Hmm, now there’s an idea. We’ll need a project when we finish this one in ten or so years.)
Harry -
Hah! And yes, I was referring to Pauline's grand return to Doctor Who as Queen Victoria almost four decades later. I love seeing actors who return to DW.
Sarah -
It’s loads of fun.
Harry -
But we'll get to that story eventually (I hope!). Turning back to "The Faceless Ones" you can totally see how the combination of Jamie and Samantha was being positioned as the Doctor's companions moving forward. Both are strong characters who will go to the wall for people they care about, and they definitely have an eye for each other. A peck on the cheek from Jamie, and a full on kiss at the end. The Doctor might have had to pry those two apart every time the TARDIS landed. Oh my word!
Sarah -
Oh my smootchies! Even with the telesnaps, things were getting a little heated! Nice touch picking Sam’s pocket during a kiss.
Harry -
It's odd feeling deprived by something that didn't happen in 1967, and we only found out about now.
Sarah -
Still, we’ll always have Paris…and China…and Troy…and Kembel…and Skaro…and, oh you get the picture.
Harry -
This recap is turning into a Salman Rushdie novel for all its digressions! Anyway, as the Chameleons' plot is revealed, the action picks up aboard their mother ship - which in keeping with the era looks like an aeroport cocktail lounge.
Sarah -
Loved the airplane turning into a space ship!
Harry -
This for me was where things got very interesting. Each side is suddenly at the mercy of the other, and a stalemate ensues. Instead of outwitting the aliens or relying on a stroke of blind luck, the Doctor negotiates with them. And instead of shrieking and blowing things up, the aliens negotiate with the Doctor. That's how shit is supposed to go down every time! And yet, this is one of the only stories I can remember that ended this way - not with a BBC bang, but with calmness and diplomacy (under the threat of a big stick, but still).
Sarah -
I found myself trying to recall a story that was ended so amicably. I liked how in charge the Doctor was. Troughton has spent most of his time as the Doctor flying by the seat of his pants, which I love, but which doesn’t inspire the calm and control Hartnell often brought to the character.
Harry -
Of course, if every story ended this way, Doctor Who would have been cancelled after one season.
Sarah -
You’ve got a point there.
Harry -
It is an action show, after all. But I'm so glad we got an ending like this, even just once, to show that it doesn't always have to be explosions and death for all involved.
Sarah -
So civilized.
Harry -
This is easily the most "grown up" story we've seen so far, don't you think?
Sarah -
It’s definitely not kiddie TV!
I’d like to sprint back a bit and talk about the humans at the airport. I started off being amused by the crankiness of the Commandant, but really liked him by the end of the story. He’s such a stereotypical bureaucrat – focused on the job, humorless, unimaginative.
Harry -
Oh gosh, he was the perfect miserable bureaucrat. I know so many like him!
Sarah -
He has his boorish moments, like when his charming assistant, Jean, takes the initiative to phone the hotels where Chameleon flies, he yells at her for spending too much on calls. Still, Jane’s detective work gives them the break they need to figure out what’s going on. Eventually, he evolves enough to accept that there is more to the universe and eventually goes along with the Doctor’s plan, despite his initial reluctance.
Harry -
This was a fantastic, well fleshed-out six parter.
Sarah -
It’s probably time to get to the issue of this being Ben and Polly’s last story.
Harry -
*cue sad 60s music, laden with strings and faux harpsichords*
Sarah -
It’s a pity they were treated so shabbily – both in character and on the set. Dispatching of them in the second episode is just adding insult to injury.
Harry -
Toby's recap of the actors' departure was sad to read.
Sarah -
Early on, the Doctor and Jamie brush off Polly’s concerns, promising to look after her and ignoring her concerns over Ben’s absence. Then they don’t even notice when she’s kidnapped!
Her rejoinder to Spencer, “You don’t think my friends are just going to forget me like that, do you?” made me wonder just a bit as they seem to have done just that. Just two blokes out for a stroll are Our Jamie and the Doctor.
Then Polly gets replaced with posh, snooty Polly, who doesn’t know her friends.
Ben at least gets a bit to do before he’s dispatched. The scene with the Doctor, Jamie and Ben in the photo booth, having a secret conversation and pretending to take a photo whenever anyone tried to enter may just be the funniest scene of the entire series so far!
Harry -
I loved that last bit of group zaniness.
Sarah -
Ben then finds himself immobilized and it’s “Cheerio, Mate!”
Harry -
At least they got a final scene - and a well-done one at that. It would have been maddening if they had only been spoken of at the end, someone telling the Doctor that they had been seen jumping into a cab for London or something like that.
Sarah -
They had to have a final scene after the Dodo debacle!
Harry -
The goodbyes were emotional and well-played. A great chunk of fanhood likes to believe that Ben and Polly ended up sticking together, and I'm part of that group. They were very cute together.
Sarah -
I believe the mention of Polly and Ben in the Sarah Jane Adventures makes it canon that they stayed together. At the very least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. They were both excellent characters and I want them to have a happy fictional future together.
While it was sad for us, Polly and Ben's departure may be the most positive since Barbara and Ian.
Harry -
And in keeping with this wild chase of a story, we end with the TARDIS gone missing. OH MY WORD!
Sarah -
Indeed! Let's dash ahead to our next adventure, where I suspect we'll run into some old friends...
Best Line: “Ben can catch his ship and become an admiral and you, Polly, you can look after Ben.”
Favorite Moment: Polly and Ben’s final look back at the Doctor. I got teary-eyed.
Lasting Image: Smiling in the photo booth. I'm giggling again just thinking about it.
9/10
Harry -
Best Line: "It's a flying beastie!"
Favourite Moment: The TARDIS lands, everyone scatters and the adventure begins.
Lasting Image: Jamie and the Doctor strolling away together, a classic imagesfrom the Second Doctor era.
9/10
Our marathon continues with Story #36 - The Evil of the Daleks...
Beautiful thoughts! Ben and Polly were a great pair (and not just because Michael Craze, alas gone too soon, was a gorgeous man).
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, isn't it, how little logic there seems to be in the '60s companion casting? The initial teenage girl doesn't fit, so they replace her with... a teenage girl. Later, they decide they can't do much with a '60s chick like Dodo, so they replace her with... two '60s kids. And then when they decide they can't grow young people like Ben and Polly, they try to replace them with... Pauline Collins? It seems as if they were just throwing people into the mix and hoping one would stick. Odd, I find, but I'm one of those weird folk who enjoys every companion in the show. (Seriously, only Victoria and Mel are really traditional "screamers", and even they have more than their fair share of great character moments. When you think about it, there are only a handful of perky young female humans who travel with the Doctor, and most of them - Vicki, Zoe, Jo, Sarah Jane, Tegan, Peri, Ace, and even poor old "get the coffee" Pol - really could handle things when need be.)
Anyhow, looking forward to your next stop on the sofa!
Thanks for the comment. Your observations on companion casting are amusing and astute. We're both with you on finding things to like about all of the companions. We all like some more than others, of course, but each companion brings something new to the TARDIS. (That said, a bit less screaming would have placed Mel significantly higher on our list of favorite companions!)
DeleteThe great pity of the series is often the companions who seem to be dispatched before their time (Polly and Ben) or unceremoniously (Dodo).
But we're glad they kept Jamie!