Story #44 - The Dominators (1968)

Sarah -
Oh, Harry! Moving images! A whole story simply full of moving images! I hardly knew what to make of it.

Season Five has felt like a trudge through recon after recon. There were so many good stories, but the lack of video does wear one down after a while. I know we've not seen the last of the recons, but I feel as though a new day has dawned and the Sofa is soaking up the sunshine.


Harry -
A Doctor Who story we could actually watch on our tellys, with DVD extras! It was simply smashing, wasn't it old girl?


Sarah -
DON’T CALL ME OLD GIRL!


Harry -
Righto, sorry.

I was even willing to overlook the fact that the story is a bit of a clunker in the early going. We start off with the Dominators, two utterly miserable characters. One of them has a permanent scowl carved into his face, and the other wants to destroy everything in sight. Then again, if I had to skulk around wearing what appears to be a giant scallop shell I'd probably be pissed off too.


Sarah -
Rago and Toba were a delightful pair, weren’t they? One imagines the other Dominators sending them on this mission just to be rid of them.


Harry -
They did turn out to be a rather inept team.

As for the Dulcians, they are just as sartorially suspect - the males in particular wrapped in what look like very absorbent towels.


Sarah -
I couldn’t help but think that the Dulcians’ costumes made the Thals look modest. Cully barely seemed to register Zoe’s comment about the impracticality of their garments.

In the end, the Dulcians aren’t much more interesting than the Dominators.


Harry -
But the first ones we meet are a fun bunch, out for some adventure... on the Island of Death, that is. Uh oh!


Sarah -
The good times never stop – or quite start – for this gang. The scene where they become marooned on the island and attempt to seek assistance from the Dominators, only to be killed, was startling. Even the Daleks can’t match Toba’s psychopathic behavior.

The TARDIS crew, as they are wont to do, wander into this situation while attempting to find a beach for a bit of R&R. The Doctor’s memories of Dulkis are fond, which makes it unlikely that he encountered the Dominators on his last visit.

There was much about this story that reminded me of the Hartnell era. The debates about pacifism versus action could have been lifted directly from a First Doctor script.


Harry -
There was definitely a Hartnell vibe to this one.


Sarah -
Faced with the choice to fight, submit, or flee, the Dulcians just decide to wait.


Harry -
Oh gosh the Dulcian elders were a tedious lot. Their glacial approach to decision making was best summed up with lines like: "Better to do nothing than the wrong thing," and "Remaining passive is in itself a course of action." The Doctor's reaction was remarkably restrained.

That really is the whole story: pacifists vs. aggressors, with the Doctor and friends getting involved with a happy result. The simple storyline and wacky costumes leave much to be desired here.

Some credit is due to the actors. Rago and Toba are played like silly panto villains, one of them wanting to destroy everything, the other halting him at every turn. I did like Ronald Allen as Rago, especially the way he stared off into space while speaking, as if drowning in his own misery, stuck on this dustheap with a psychotic partner and a bunch of silly robots.


Sarah -
I found myself wondering why he did that, but I suspect you’ve nailed it on the head, Dear Harry.


Harry -
The Quarks! According to the DVD featurette (squee!) the Quarks were actually envisioned as the new Daleks, marketing possibilities and all. Thankfully, this did not come to pass. It was hilarious watching them get blown up though.


Sarah -
It’s hard to imagine them taking off as replacements. They don’t have the free will and sociopathic nature of the Daleks.


Harry -
So many great comic moments here. Rago's ongoing misery, the Doctor re-wiring the shuttle craft, "Action Jamie" romping about wreaking havoc. It's the small moments that keep this story from being a total dud. Zoe got a bit lost in the shuffle, but hopefully that won't be a regular occurrence.


Sarah -
The Doctor falling headfirst into the shuttle craft was a great image. Speaking of images, have you noticed how often Jamie finds himself atop a ladder while other characters stare up at him from below? Just sayin’…


Harry -
There were also several low-perspective shots of Jamie in action, believe me I was watching closely!


Sarah -
The scenes in episode two when the Doctor and Jamie pretend to be stupid while the Dominators administer their tests, is comic gold. "An unintelligent enemy is far less dangerous than an intelligent one, Jamie. Just act stupid. Do you think you can manage that?"

I was amused by the boulder-moving scene. There are so many bounder-moving scenes in the history of Doctor Who, but this is the first one where the perpetrator admits that there's really no point to shifting the boulders -- it's just an excuse to wear down the prisoners.


Harry -
The boulder scene was well-acted. Actually, most of the actors did an admirable job here, considering the material they had to work with. Johnson Bayly, for example, played the role of Balan with gravitas. His death scene was right out of the Royal Shakespeare Company.


Sarah -
Everyone was making the most of what they had, that’s for sure. It was amusing when the actors interviewed for the DVD all admitted that "The Dominators" really wasn’t the best of Doctor Who. Still, they all seemed to be pleased with their work in the end.


Harry -
Everyone was exceedingly, knowingly polite in the finest British tradition.

As our friends Rob and Toby point out, Patrick Troughton is often reduced to monkeying for the cameras here and I agree. It felt like he just wasn't taking things seriously at all, as if the whole story was a kind of farce.


Sarah -
Pity no one thought to let the Dominators in on the farce!


Harry -
Aye.  Ultimately, the story is too thin and sets and costumes too flimsy to hold this one up. I found amusement in the acting, rather than the adventure.


Sarah -
That sums it up nicely. There was plenty to amuse, but not much to hang on to.


Harry -
I didn't realise that the sonic screwdriver was being used as a magic wand so early in the show's history (instant blow-torch-disintegrator? Really??). This also tells me I've probably run out of nice things to say. Let us scamper like the Doctor and move on, Dear Sarah!


Sarah -
When I say run, Harry, RUN!


Harry -
Best line: "Jamie, it's a brilliant idea! It's so simple only you could have thought of it." OOF!

Favourite moment: Quarks getting blown up.

Lasting image: The Dominators' goofy costumes.

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line: “An unintelligent enemy is far less dangerous than an intelligent one, Jamie. Just act stupid. Do you think you can manage that?” Poor Jamie takes a lot in this story, doesn’t he?

Favorite moment: Jamie taunting the Quarks and pelting them with rocks. I suspect those Jamie action scenes tend to catch both of our attention.

Lasting Image: The Doctor and Jamie tangled up in wires on the shuttle.

5/10

Now, RUN!

Our marathon continues with Story #45 - The Mind Robber...

Story #43 - The Wheel in Space (1968)

Harry -
What a weird adventure. On the surface, it's very familiar: a Base-Under-Siege story, a dysfunctional multi-ethnic crew, Jamie eating/napping, Cybermen, and the Doctor biding his time before taking action.

But the details are so out of whack. Like, almost the entire first episode consists of the Doctor and Jamie exploring a derelict rocket. There's little dialogue, very little audio accompaniment, and because we only have a few telesnaps to go by, it's all a bit baffling.

One question: when the TARDIS was warning the Doctor before the fluid link broke, what image was it projecting on the scanner? I have no idea what that was.


Sarah -
I have no idea, either. That whole first episode was a bit of a blur with poor images and almost no dialogue. I know Jamie and the Doctor had a nice meal, but I don’t think that would be my first objective when landing on an unfamiliar spaceship.


Harry -
I checked. The first 19 minutes are entirely Jamie and the Doctor, accompanied by more electronic bleeps and bloops than a Radiohead album, leaving this recon watcher scratching his head.


Sarah -
Jamie wondering, “What do you think Victoria is doing now?” was sweet but awkward. The Doctor’s “time is relative” response was softer than telling Jamie that she’s been dead for centuries, I guess.

Then the Doctor is suddenly weakened. Do we know why?


Harry -
I'm not sure, but apparently there was a Servo Robot there too. According to an online summary:

"The robot detects the intruders and in response redirects the rocket from aimless wandering, sending it on a course, and the shock of change causes the Doctor to hit his head, briefly concussing him. When the robot becomes aggressive, Jamie destroys it, but the Doctor’s condition worsens and he collapses."

As our friend Toby put it, Tristan DeVere Cole may have directed the hell out of this episode in grand Kubrickian style... but probably not.


Sarah -
Ah, so that’s what happened. Just when I found myself confused beyond belief, we find ourselves in a familiar control room and I feel as safe as one can in the Doctor Who universe.


Harry -
Yes, this is more like it. A space crew showing early hints of stress and strain - sparked of course by a paranoid controller. You have to wonder about the future, when the most jumpy, suspicious and impulsive character is always in charge.


Sarah -
The future? Sounds familiar now.


Harry -
Hah!

I liked the bit where Jarvis started getting edgy and he said: "People are just... EDGY" in a very edgy voice. What a reassuring figure!


Sarah -
I think that might explain the crew’s shifting accents.


Harry -
The rest of the crew seem collegial enough, calling each other by their first names, even showing flashes of romance.


Sarah -
Oh, Leo and Tanya! Things are getting a little steamy for teatime!

Leo: “If you get scared, I’ll let you hold my hand.”
Tanya: “I’m serious.”
Leo: “So am I.”
Sarah: “Good Grief.”


Harry -
And here's our Zoe! So literal and logical, but still able to laugh at Jamie's kilt.


Sarah -
Zoe! How adorably annoying she is. She’s obviously brilliant, but you can see how most of the crew keep her at a bit of an arm’s length. No one likes a smarty-pants.

I love the way she toys with Jamie and how uncomfortable it makes him.


Harry -
Until he threatens her with a spanking. Oh my, Sixties telly!

Back to seriousness. It was neat how Zoe was introduced as a human who has been trained (maybe even brainwashed) to be as dispassionate as possible, almost a machine. When she says "I want to feel things as well," she becomes the counterpoint to everything the Cybermen strive for. Nicely done.


Sarah -
Zoe’s character development is handled so adroitly. We know she’s TARDIS-bound when she says, “I’ve been created for some false kind of existence. What have I got left? A blind reliance on facts and logic.”

What did you think of Dr. Gemma Corwin? She’s very much in the Megan Jones model – smart, confident, scientific. I really liked her and found her selfless death to be particularly tragic. I would have liked more Gemma, but her appeal wasn’t lost on the production team – we’ll see more of her type in the not-too-distant future!


Harry -
Gemma was fantastic, boldly stepping up just as Jarvis broke down. It was horrible seeing her lifeless body on the video screen.


Sarah -
Did you realize, Dear Harry, that there’s another first in this story? When Dr. Corwin asks Jamie what the Doctor’s name is, he looks around and sees the name John Smith on a piece of equipment – and so the Doctor’s alias is born!


Harry -
So many Doctor Who staples being set down in Season Five!


Sarah -
Speaking of being born, Cybermen hatch from balloons? I have to be honest, I had no idea what was actually happening at the end of episode two. It was only in episode three that I realized we were facing a Cybermen story.


Harry -
Again, the whole Cybermen hatching thing might have been the director's attempt at stylish brilliance. It was different, anyway.


Sarah -
It had a certain sense of style, I’ll admit.


Harry -
I liked how the first two episodes revolved around the anxiety - for us as the viewers - that the TARDIS might be blown up by the X-ray laser. Once the Cybermen appear (er, both of them), the story settles into a kind of default plot. Cybermen creeping around picking off victims while the Doctor pieces everything together and tries to convince the crew of the true menace. This story was very "samey". Kind of a "greatest hits" of the Troughton era so far. In that, there wasn't much that was new or exciting about it. The Cybermen were there, but didn't do much and their plot made no sense to me at all.


Sarah -
They really need to work harder on that plan to take over, Earth. Nothing ever seems to go the way they want it to.


Harry -
It's unfortunate because visually, these are my favourite Cybermen. Their facemasks are almost cute looking, and this will be the last design before those big circular things get clamped onto the sides of their heads. Their tinny voices force you to listen. Too bad they were kind of wasted here.


Sarah -
One of the biggest problems I had with the story was not being able to understand the Cybermen or the light bulb to which they reported. Maybe it was a cunning plan. Who would know?

Another thing that really bothered me was the Doctor’s callous behavior towards Jamie when he sent him back for the time vector generator. He wrongly blames Jamie for having lost it and then claims “I’m too busy and you’re the only one who knows what it looks like.”


Harry -
I do not like when the Doctor manipulates Jamie like that. 

Ultimately, this story brings together the trio that will feature in Season Six: the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. Troughton and Hines are well-established as a comedic pair, with fun exchanges like this:

Doctor: "What's the thing that we need to survive, which the Cybermen don't?"
Jamie: "Food."
Doctor: "Always thinking of your stomach, aren't you? No, air Jamie, air."

Throw in smarty-pants Zoe and it's gold!


Sarah -
I’m eagerly looking forward to Season Six! And look, no waiting!


Harry -
You know how I keep hinting that I hoped the director did really well with this story? Well, by the time we get to the surviving Episode Six, we really get to see his work. And, well, he worked with what he had, right?


Sarah -
It’s really all we can ask.


Harry -
Nice use of lava lamps on the Wheel - we haven't seen those since the Peter Cushing movies!


Sarah -
I was just going to mention them – excellent addition to the set.


Harry -
Jamie and Zoe "swimming" through space was an interesting visual, and they managed to make the Cybermen look like silver giants. Their confrontation with the Doctor was great. Their curling-iron shaped spaceship was not.


Sarah -
I liked how the Cybermen flapped their hands like truncated fins when they walked in space. It was a nice alien touch.


Harry -
To cap off this weird story, we get a weird ending. Zoe, all logic and reason, decides to stow away aboard the TARDIS and hide in a conveniently placed chest.


Sarah -
At least she didn’t knock some kid on the head and claim she needed a policeman before stowing away.


Harry -
Very true.


Sarah -
And the Doctor was pleased to have her along, I think.


Harry -
The Doctor then presents her with a recap of someone dying in "The Evil of the Daleks."

Close up on Wendy Padbury, looking blank and stoic... and scene - cue credits. Weird!


Sarah -
What was with that? Such a weak final scene for the series. I guess we’re supposed to be distracted by the image of Leo and Tanya being seconds from shagging on the control room consol and not worry about the Daleks…who won’t even be showing up in the next story.


Harry -
Best line: Jamie mothering the Doctor early on: "Now listen you, no more gallivanting about until I say so, alright?"

Favourite moment: The Cybermats attack Kemel. A hilariously over-acted death scene.

Lasting image: those sleek and cute Cybermen.

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line: Doctor to Zoe: “Logic merely allows one to be wrong with authority”

Favorite Moment: I don’t think I was supposed to laugh at the Cybermat attack…but I did.

Lasting image: Zoe and Jamie in their space suits once they were inside. They both looked kind of bad ass.

6/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #44 - The Dominators...

Story #42 - Fury from the Deep (1968)

Sarah -
Harry, you’ll never guess the most interesting thing I discovered about this serial. It was airing when Your Sarah was born! Not likely that it was airing anywhere near the South Side of Chicago, but still, it’s a bit exciting. In a nerdy sort of way, I’ll admit.


Harry -
It's your birthday story. Huzzah! Did you wish for an end to these infernal recons? Woops, there's me projecting again.


Sarah -
Just three more, Dear Harry!

Want to know the most exciting thing I learned from this serial? Sonic screwdrivers can be used to remove screws. Imagine that!


Harry -
Ah, the debut of the sonic. So subtle here. Little did the producers know it would eventually become the magic wand with which the Doctor could resolve entire plotlines in a moment, never mind open a particularly tricky box.


Sarah -
Other than these exciting tidbits, it’s pretty much Base Under Siege all over again. Oh, look, there’s a paranoid base commander bullying his entire staff, while an unseen menace closes in. Haven’t we seen this all before?


Harry -
This is all getting a bit Groundhog Day, isn't it?


Sarah -
Groundhog Day? If only I could figure out a way to work in a Ned Ryerson reference!


Harry -
TARDIS lands on Earth - Doctor and friends engage in playful frolic - they get accosted and dragged before a bullying commander as the real menace draws nearer.

I had to laugh when even Jamie and Victoria seemed baffled (almost annoyed) to be back on Earth again.


Sarah -
I laughed out loud at Jamie's, "It's always England!" Spoken like a true Scotsman.

There are some nice touches to the story. I quite liked the relationship between Harris and Maggie. We haven’t seen many families in our travels, have we?


Harry -
Such a lovely couple.


Sarah -
I kind of loved Maggie's outfit. And her hair. Fabulous hair!


Harry -
Love the hair!


Sarah -
Somehow, the sudden appearance of domesticity was almost shocking in the science-fiction world we’ve been inhabiting.

I also loved Oak and Quill. Thank you, Australian censors, for preserving the clip when they attack Mrs. Harris with poison gas. It was wonderfully creepy. I only wish we got to see more of Oak and Quill in action.


Harry -
Ah yes, the famous image of Mr. Quill's face. Probably would have freaked me out as a child. Now I only snickered at the thought that these two sinister characters were attacking poor Mrs. Harris with their bad breath.


Sarah -
I have to admit that really freaked me out. There was something very ordinary about it, which made it more sinister.


Harry -
We are giving this story a bit of a rough ride, but I really liked the atmosphere. Something about the Doctor skipping around a room full of white coats, trying to warn them of danger, always makes me smile.


Sarah -
Lucky for him, he gets to do it so often, isn't it? It amuses me how each successive set of scientists is suspicious of the Doctor, but always end up filling him in on the entire situation before the second episode is over.


Harry -
The musical score is excellent here, experimental and edgy and a nice compliment to the setting.


Sarah -
The clanging music during the gas attack definitely contributed to the scene. Dudley Simpson has outdone himself!


Harry -
Best of all is the lurking menace, more heard than seen. The nasty bits of seaweed hint at a greater monster thumping around in those pipes. The ominous threat is best summed up by Van Lutyens at the end of episode two:

"Mr. Robson there is something alive in the pipeline... It's down there, in the darkness... in the pipeline... waiting."

Errm... I'll be behind the sofa if you need me!


Sarah -
This is where the story just didn't quite work for me. Maybe it's the recon, but the thumping kept sounding to me like a party going on at the neighbors. I couldn't shake the image that the monsters were just holding a rave and it would all be better if the Doctor brought along some glow sticks.


Harry -
It was a very rapid heartbeat.


Sarah -
Maybe the succession of similar stories is finally getting to me.

Speaking of similarities, have we not met Robson before? If memory serves, he was calling himself Hobson then, but it’s all the same, really. The arrival of Megan Jones was a nice surprise for the era. She was clearly in charge, but also brought a humanity to Robson that he would not have been able to achieve on his own!


Harry -
Ms. Jones definitely put some stick about - a refreshing change! We also got treated to a wacky helicopter ride courtesy of the Doctor. It seemed somewhat out of place here, but maybe they got a two-for-one rental deal on the helicopter from "The Enemy of the World."


Sarah -
Ha! I was thinking the same thing!

In any case, let's raise our glasses to Victoria in her final story. She really gets short shrift in fandom, which I think is unfair. The fact that most of her episodes are lost doesn't help things, but she’s a stronger character than one would expect. In this episode, she gets to use her science background, reminding us that she’s not just a Victorian-era damsel in distress. She’s the educated daughter of an esteemed scientist, with a quick wit and sharp intelligence. Also, her screaming came in quite handy in this story.


Harry -
Likely the only story (pending Mel) where the enemy is routed thanks to the companion's screams. Gosh that was a wacky ending, everyone survives (including Quill offscreen), with a lusty "hoorah!" from the cast as even Van Lutyens is found to be alive and well. HOORAH!

Anyway, it was clear for most of the story that this would be Victoria's farewell. It's fun to travel with the Doctor, but there is a cost that every companion must pay. Victoria was strong enough to decide when she'd had enough.


Sarah -
Her relationship with Jamie is sweet, and not likely one that either of them would have been able to experience in their own times. Their final scene together was heartbreaking in its tenderness. I will miss Victoria and hope she’ll be happy in 1960s England.


Harry -
I liked Victoria, and it's too bad she only stuck around for one season. At least she got an extended goodbye. Not the first seaside parting we'll see...


Sarah -
Spoilers, Dear Harry, spoilers!


Harry -
Overall I didn't mind this story. It offers several hints at the direction the show is about to move towards: lots of Earth-bound stories, lots of sciencey settings, experimental music and lots of action outside the studio. I can't wait!

I might have given this one a higher ranking were it not for the limitations of the recon. How many left again?


Sarah -
Threeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best Line: "Jamie, you wouldn’t let me go down there on my own, would you?”
That’s our cleverly manipulative Doctor!

Favorite Moment: Victoria and Jamie’s tender farewell.

Lasting Image: The Oak and Quill gas attack!

6/10


Harry -
Best Line: "It's down there, in the darkness... in the pipeline... waiting."

Favourite Moment: Robson's meltdown.

Lasting Image: Maggie Harris walks into the sea.

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #43 - The Wheel in Space...

Story #41 - The Web of Fear (1968)

Harry -
Before we dive into this one, Sarah, can I point out that we have passed the midway point of the Troughton era? Just the other day, it seems, we were watching him sneak around in crafty disguises and obsess over hats. Feels like another era entirely.


Sarah -
Oh my, time truly does fly when you’re having fun! This story is a perfect mid-point. I’m just going to tell you right now that I loved it! This was my first time watching The Web of Fear. I had planned to dash off the first two episodes and go about my business, but ended up watching the entire thing in one day.


Harry -
After the monster-free and dialogue-heavy slog of "The Enemy of the World", I welcomed this story.


Sarah -
There’s nothing like running into old friends – and enemies! Professor Travers and his yeti are back, thirty or so years after we met them in Tibet. We also get to meet an old friend for the first time, but more on that later.

The opening scenes in the TARDIS are wonderful. After the struggle to close the doors and right the ship following Salamader’s ejection, everything just gets so homey. The Doctor munching on a sandwich while Jamie tries to get him to focus on the flashing light on the TARDIS control. Victoria emerging in what she perceives as a fetching outfit, only to be ignored by Jamie, who gets a nudge from the Doctor before he grunts a compliment. Considering his obsession with her wardrobe in past stories, you’d think he’d show more interest, eh? Because the stories are always set somewhere new, we need these scenes to establish the characters and string the stories together.


Harry -
Only Patrick Troughton could make eating a sandwich so amusing.


Sarah -
That he could!

Back to the flashing light, it seems to be related to the TARDIS being stopped and covered with a web-like substance that eventually disappears. The TARDIS eventually materializes in the Covent Garden Underground Station. I found myself wondering how they got permission to film in the Underground, but it was all a set! Nice work by David Myerscough-Jones, I must say.


Harry -
The Underground scenes were wonderfully atmospheric. The same goes for the opening scene between Julius Silverstein and the Traverses. The heated exchange between Edward and Julius was intensely acted and maybe just a bit silly with the facial expressions, but I liked it.


Sarah -
It set the tone wonderfully!


Harry -
Meanwhile, our travelers find themselves in a mysterious, post-apocalyptic London enveloped in silence, littered with corpses and swarming with soldiers. Paranoia and suspicion immediately set in.


Sarah -
The creepy atmosphere continues, in our underground base under siege!


Harry -
We have another "Doctor Lite" episode in part two, but it wasn't that much of a hindrance. Jamie and Victoria's encounters with Travers and with the military kept me in thrall.


Sarah -
I almost didn’t notice the Doctor’s absence. Jamie and Victoria are more than enough to keep one’s attention.


Harry -
Just when the story might have started to flag, a tall, enigmatic Colonel appears on the scene to shake things up again...


Sarah -
Did you squee with joy and jump out of your chair just a little bit, like I did?


Harry -
That voice - it was perfect from the first.

I had never seen Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart's first appearance in Doctor Who, and this was not what I expected. He's as much a suspect as several other characters that the Doctor believes is in league with the Great Intelligence. Not one character stops to demand Lethbridge-Stewart's official credentials or get a full explanation of his purpose. He operates with crisp command and a voice of authority and everyone falls in line.


Sarah -
It’s an epically momentous event…and no one knows it! The Colonel (how wrong does it feel to type that) sweeps in with pure authority – how could they not fall in line?

I really liked the cloud of suspicion hanging over everyone. We, of course, know that Lethbridge-Stewart isn’t the plant, but no one else does – so he’s just as, if not more, suspicious than everyone else.


Harry -
I'm pretty sure UNIT is not even mentioned in this story. I wonder if writers Haisman and Lincoln or producer Peter Bryant had any inkling of the iconic character they were creating - one whose name has been carried down to the very latest Doctor Who story!


Sarah -
Nope, we’re pre-UNIT! Nicholas Courtney had no idea what he was getting into, did he? Instead of a few weeks of work, he got forty years of being one of the most beloved characters on Doctor Who. I appreciate how fully formed The Brig (Yeah, I said it) is from the beginning.


Harry -
His familiar character traits are present from the very start.


Sarah -
Back to "The Web of Fear", can you think of a story that has had as high a body count as this one?


Harry -
At times it was hard to tell from watching the recon, but there was that one epic gun battle with the Yeti that seemed to go on for half an episode. In fact, part four starts with a Yeti attack, features that long battle, and ends with another Yeti attack. Epic!


Sarah -
It seemed to never stop!


Harry -
While part four allowed everyone a chance to regroup and plan how to combat the Great Intelligence, part five offered us the chilling confrontation when it possessed Travers and spoke through him. His whispery horror voice brought me right back to those eerie scenes with Padmasambhava in Tibet.


Sarah -
Chilling is the perfect word to describe the scene. Poor Travers.


Harry -
Perhaps the most horrifying moment of the entire story was after the Great Intelligence announced that it wanted to absorb the Doctor's brain, and he told Jamie and Victoria that they'd have to look after him in a child-like state. Too awful to contemplate.


Sarah -
Not to mention that they would be trapped in that time and place, which was not their own, unless they could figure out how to pilot the TARDIS!


Harry -
There's a real feeling of everyone being pinned down in a corner in this story. They literally are, with the fungus slowly surrounding the base and the Yeti barging around terrorizing everyone, it seems as though all is lost. But leave it to the Doctor and his tinkering. He works well with Anne Travers to take control of a Yeti. Before I forget, I liked how the Yeti in this story made growling sounds - even though it didn't make them any less adorably cuddly.


Sarah -
We haven’t talked about Anne Travers yet! How smashing is she? The soldiers clearly don’t know how to deal with a female scientist, but she handles them with aplomb:

Soldier : "What's a girl like you doing in a job like this?"

Anne Travers : "Well, when I was a little girl I thought I'd like to be a scientist, so I became a scientist."

SNAP! You go, Girl!

The Doctor, of course, treats her as the brilliant scientist she is.


Harry -
Very much a proto-Liz Shaw, is Anne Travers.

At the end, we get another peculiar ending, which seems to be a pattern in the Troughton era that I hadn't noticed before. Instead of a clean defeat of the Great Intelligence, it is merely foiled and allowed to escape. The Doctor had intended to reverse its plot and do the absorbing - his despair when the plan went awry was surprising. He genuinely went wild on everyone.


Sarah -
Interesting observation about the ending. That has happened a lot in the Second Doctor era, hasn’t it?

The Doctor’s reaction to his plan being thwarted was disconcerting, and will be one of the many things I remember from this story. I thought he was going to start banging heads together!


Harry -
Anyway, another story ends happily, but with the sense that the Doctor got by more on luck and happenstance than cleverness... or is that what this Doctor wants everyone to believe? Well, no time to mull it over, the TARDIS is already on its way to another adventure!


Sarah -
Onward!

Best Line: "Oh, I shouldn't think so for a moment." (The Doctor’s response to Victoria asking if it’s safe.)

Favorite Moment: Meeting the Brig for the first time!

Lasting Image: Yetis in the Underground!

9/10


Harry -
Best Line: "I expect you're wondering who the devil I am, eh?" Not really, Brig!

Favourite Moment: The "Colonel" sweeps into the story.

Lasting Image: Travers and Silverstein pulling faces at each other.

9/10

Our marathon continues with Story #42 - Fury From the Deep...