Story #10 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964)

Harry -
Is it possible to summarize this entire story with a single word?  Is "WOW" strong enough?  Is "EPIC" too cliché?  "CLASSIC?" "SENSATIONAL?" "MONUMENTAL?"

Obviously, I like it!

Right from the start, there is a different feel to this story. Rob and Toby noted it too. You just know -- from the title and the opening location shots and the music -- that this story is going to be big. And it is.


Sarah -
Bigger than big! The biggest! What’s not to love?


Harry -
We have seen nothing like this before. The TARDIS team scrambling around a ruined London. The foetid Thames, the crumbled Battersea Power Station, the ominous poster under the bridge. It's too late for the Doctor to stop the apocalypse, it has already happened.


Sarah -
My notes are full of exclamation points: Battersea! Thames! Dalek Ship! Poster!

The shot of the “It is forbidden to dump bodies into the river” poster while the Roboman walks into the river was brilliantly chilling. We don’t know what’s going on, but we know it’s bad.


Harry -
And you can sense the Doctor's anxiety early on. He's not relaxed at all. He's sniping at Susan, he's being snarky to Ian, and these moments of tension stoke the viewing experience.


Sarah -
I can’t disagree with The Doctor when he tells Susan, "What you need is a jolly good smacked bottom!"


Harry -
I always laugh at that line. Old school.


Sarah -
Who else would bring the bridge crashing down on the TARDIS?


Harry -
And twist her ankle AGAIN? As our heroes separate and explore, the reality of the situation becomes more evident. Robomen, spacecraft (delightfully wobbly spacecraft!), and, as the first cliffhanger arrives... Daleks!


Sarah -
Not just Daleks, but Daleks in the Thames! I nearly fell off the sofa with excitement! One might ask how Daleks can be underwater, but who’s going to split hairs when there are DALEKS IN THE THAMES!

The Doctor and Ian are taken captive by the Daleks, while Barbara and the limping Susan ally themselves with the resistance fighters. I loved Barbara’s chase after the man carrying Susan (Can you recall his name? I’m not sure anymore.) -- it looked and felt like a Goddard film, as did Barbara’s run around London with Dortmun and Jenny. So much great location work in this story!


Harry -
The "flight across London" sequence is one of my favourites in all of Doctor Who. Three-and-a-half minutes with no dialogue and loads of tension. The empty city looks amazing, especially with the Daleks creeping around. I'm not saying this just to big it up, but my heart starts to race whenever I watch that sequence. It's either that good, or I need more exercise.


Sarah -
The Daleks ruling over London was one of my favorite scenes. I couldn’t help thinking that they looked like tourists checking out all the sights!

Having already taken a swipe at Susan – albeit one of my last – I have to give her credit for the best line of the story, when Barbara says she can cook and Susan is asked, “What do you do?” Her cheeky response, “I eat” made me laugh out loud.


Harry -
That was cheeky fun. I wish Susan could have been more like that. Less scream, more snark.

There is so much going on in this story outside the main plot that I almost missed William Hartnell's absence from the fourth episode. While the absence was injury-related, it was a bit of luck in that it allowed the Susan-David relationship to develop in a believable way (in comparison to Leela's relationship with Red Pants Boy in "The Invasion of Time").


Sarah -
I agree about Susan and David. Their scenes were sweet, especially that smoochie fireside scene! I liked when Susan called the Doctor out and he responded by supporting David’s proposal – and then David diffuses the bomb and saves the day. Hooray!

I also didn’t realize that Hartnell didn’t appear in that episode until I read about it afterward.


Harry -
It's astonishing how much action they crammed into this story. Ian battling the mutant Slyther, Barbara plowing a truck through a line of Daleks, Susan being menaced by a baby reptile, etc. Even the Doctor puts a bit of stick about (literally!) when he clubs one of the Robomen with his walking stick.


Sarah -
Don’t forget Barbara the bomb thrower!


Harry -
The constant barrage of action exposes the fact that the story itself is a bit "style over substance." In fact, it's daft. The Daleks have invaded Earth with a scheme to hollow out the planet's core and install an engine so they can boot around the universe. What the hell?


Sarah -
The script really is rather weak, but Richard Martin’s direction saves the day. We also need to give a shout out to Francis Chagrin’s excellent music, especially during the flight across London. Not what you’d expect on Doctor Who!


Harry -
The only other weakness in this story was that everybody was guilty of some stilted acting at some point. The switch from contained studio to open locations gave the actors a lot more room to work with, and sometimes they seemed to not know quite what to do.


Sarah -
Excellent observation and spot on! I kept thinking that William Russell look uncomfortable, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Still, Ian did manage to thwart the Dalek plot in his suit and tie – you’ll never find a contemporary companion doing that.


Harry -
But this is minor quibbling. I could watch our heroes run, climb and battle all day. This six-parter was well filled in.


Sarah -
I loved seeing them out of the studio. It was exhilarating!


Harry -
Who exactly was the titular "Waking Ally" of the fifth episode? All I can think of is that it was the Robomen emerging from their mind-control, but that doesn't really happen until the next episode.


Sarah -
I was wondering that myself, but have no idea.

Other great moments include Barbara responding to a moment of crisis by making tea and, later, manipulating the Daleks, the Dalek attempting to question the mannequin, perhaps the lamest Doctor Who monster of all time (and that’s saying something!), the Slyther and – most importantly -- our first quarry!!!!!


Harry -
If there was any lingering doubt about Barbara's sheer excellence, this story should dispell it. Having been terrified in her first encounter with the Daleks, she is now jerking them around brilliantly.

And yeah, the Slyther looked like something they assembled from some rubbish found behind the studio.


Sarah -
It also had its touching moments, like Larry and his brother killing each other; and delightfully laughable moments – the Robomen chanting “Pull, Pull,” and Barbara and Jenny holding their manacles in place, Barbara and The Doctor imitating the Daleks giving orders to the Robomen.


Harry -
Sometimes you've just got to fight daft with more daft!


Sarah -
Exactly!

It’s interesting that Jenny’s character was originally considered as a replacement for Susan. I liked her gruff dependability.


Harry -
Not a fan of the pokey balaclava. Again, minor quibbles.


Sarah -
That was quite the look, wasn’t it?

And then, alas, it’s time to say goodbye to Susan. It’s been great, Kiddo, but I can’t say I’ll miss you. But, I did get a little teary-eyed at their separation. She was so determined to take care of The Doctor, despite her love for David. Now she gets to help rebuild a planet from the beginning, as she wished. But first, she’ll have to find some shoes.

The Doctor’s final words to Susan are that one day he will come back. And he did! Sort of…


Harry -
The Doctor's farewell to Susan has been replayed so often and I've seen it so many times it may have lost a bit of its impact. Seeing it here though, at the conclusion of the complete story following after a long buildup, dammit if I didn't get teary!

Well, those Daleks have been sent packing and the Earth can rebuild. Susan has got a new life ahead of her, and the TARDIS team are off. This has been the first great epic of Doctor Who. It almost felt like a 10-parter. I wouldn't have minded if it was. Big thumbs up to Richard Martin for bringing this amazing story to life.

Lasting image: the Dalek emerging from the Thames.

Favourite moment: Barbara, Jenny and Dortmun's flight across London.

Best line: I'm torn between the ridiculous ("What you need is a jolly good smacked bottom!") and the sublime ("One day I shall come back, yes, I shall come back...").

Rating: 9/10


Sarah -
And we’re off to our next adventure!

Lasting image: The Daleks touring London

Favourite moment: Can only be the flight across London.

Best line: I’ll give this last one to Susan, with, “I eat.”

Rating: 9/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #11 - The Rescue...

Story #9 - Planet of Giants (1964)

Harry -
We've made it, Sarah! We've made it to Season 2.


Sarah -
Season 2! Imagine that!


Harry -
Can we agree that this might have been the one Doctor Who story we knew the least about going in? I'd never seen it before, and couldn't even tell you how many parts there were to it.


Sarah -
It was a surprise for me, too. I only learned after watching it that it had been edited from four to three episodes, which explains some of the awkward transitions in the story.


Harry -
It looks like the Doctor and Ian enjoyed some time in the TARDIS wardrobe during the break. Ian has got some natty threads on, and check out the Doctor's flash cape. New hair too.


Sarah -
Everyone is looking fresh and ready for adventure. Well, except for Susan in those silly overalls.


Harry -
But some things do not change, and before the theme music has barely faded, the TARDIS console overheats. Danger! The doors open in midflight -- not long enough to jettison some of those clunky TARDIS furnishings, but enough to alarm the Doctor. It looked like "The Edge of Destruction" all over again. And things were going so well, those first few seconds...


Sarah -
Alarms blasting! Doors opening! Susan screaming! The Doctor mopping his brow! Chaos has returned to the TARDIS!


Harry -
And so our Travelers find themselves on a strange new planet, which turns out to be Earth, only they've gotten themselves miniaturized during the emergency landing.


Sarah -
You can’t go wrong with a story about folks shrinking down to size. Doesn’t every child imagine exploring the world in a miniaturized body? Absolutely classic.

The Doctor even seemed rather delighted about being shrunk; at first, anyway.


Harry -
Those "giant" sets. Let us admire them!


Sarah -
Oh yes, let’s!


Harry -
Matchboxes and attaché cases, telephones and sink plugs. The design crew really knocked it out of the park.

But I guess the highlight for viewers would be the "monsters." Giant ant! Giant bee! Giant dead guy!

The giant fly was revolting and terrifying. Flies are creepy enough in small size -- I can appreciate Barbara's horror at having a giant one land beside her and start giving her the eyes.


Sarah -
The sets were spectacular – and even more so, because we know how small the budget must have been.

The image of Barbara facing off the fly was wonderful. Still, I had a more extreme reaction to the dead ant Susan found. I find ants to be the creepiest of all insects, due to my suspicion that they’re the ones actually running the planet. But that’s another story…


Harry -
Had there been a giant spider, I may not have finished watching. I hate spiders!

Not sure if I liked the "film noir" storyline that played out while our tiny heroes scampered around. I was not impressed to see the man from the ministry get killed. And the Doctor's scheme to start a fire seemed utterly mad!


Sarah -
I’m still not clear on why The Doctor decided starting a fire was a good plan, but the explosion did foil the bad guys, I guess.

That whole story was a bit of a non-starter, but it gave us some nice moments – especially scene where The Doctor, Ian and Susan shout into the phone. That was genius.


Harry -
Geniusly kooky!


Sarah -
The nosey telephone operator saving the day was a nice touch, too.


Harry -
Barbara hiding her illness from the others struck me as uncharacteristic. Knowing how intelligent the Doctor is, surely she would have sought his help?


Sarah -
I was thinking that it was typical of Ian to not have been listening to Barbara when she touched the wheat. Still, it was surprising that Our Barbara kept it to herself – and no one seemed terribly concerned about the fact that she was doing so poorly.


Harry -
Well, it all turned out alright in the end. Overall, this was a light, fun story to kick off a new season.


Sarah -  
I found it somewhat disappointing and unsatisfying, despite some nice moments. Even Dear Dudley Simpson’s incidental music didn’t work for me; it was jarring and intrusive.

On a side note, it was interesting to watch this story in the “movie” format. (The only version we could locate.) Having grown up watching Doctor Who in the movie format on public television, it felt unusual when I saw my first story in the original serialized version on home video. I’ve not seen a movie version since “Survival” in 1989. In the meantime, I’ve gotten so used to the serialized format that the movie format seems just wrong. Perhaps that contributed to my disappointment in the story.


Harry -
Good ol' TVOntario used to broadcast Doctor Who in episodic format, but I have some old VHSes in "movie" format. The cliffhangers are usually obvious, but sometimes the editing dampens them, as it seemed to here.

Lasting image - Tiny Ian standing beside the murdered Mr. Farrow's face.

Favourite moment - the aerosol can explodes.

Best line - "Can! You! Hear! Us! Put! Us! Through! To! Police!"

Rating: 7/10


Sarah - 
Lasting image: Barbara facing off the fly.

Favorite moment: Ian, Susan and The Doctor shouting "Can! You! Hear! Us! Put! Us! Through! To! Police!" into the phone.

Best line: The Doctor’s final line – “Perhaps I shall know now where we are.”
(No doubt because I’m positively giddy about where were going next!)

Rating: 5/10

Our marathon continues with Story #10 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth...

Story #8 - The Reign of Terror (1964)

Sarah -
Citizen! Perhaps we were a bit too light-hearted at the end of “The Sensorites,” forgetting The Doctor’s decision to unload Barbara and Ian. Did we not understand the pain Ian’s affront caused The Doctor? How could we treat his delicate and sensitive ego so carelessly?

He’s so injured, he even lands the TARDIS with nary a sound.

But wait! Our travelers know the way to a Time Lord’s hearts is to flatter his ego and they lay it on until The Doctor nearly purrs with delight. Still, facts must be faced and it’s back to 20th Century England…or not!

Hooray! Another adventure!


Harry -
Here we are, Citizen -- the end of the first season of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The end of the first season. It's hard to believe.


Harry -
It has been quite the thrill ride, and how better to wrap up an unforgettable journey than for the Doctor to finally bring Ian and Barbara back home?

It took several tries, but the Doctor kept at it. It's funny to remember that this Doctor is the youngest of them all -- while his future regenerations will make him appear progressively younger, this Doctor was the one who could barely pilot the TARDIS, and still had much to learn.

But let's not jump too far ahead. For now, after some brusque moments, our present Doctor agrees to go out for a goodbye drink in London with his Earth friends. A charming and poignant moment.

Woops! It's France, and the adventure continues. Welcome to the Reign of Terror!


Sarah -
Watching everyone preparing to say goodbye was touching. It was hard to imagine seeing this 1964 and thinking that it could be the end of Barbara and Ian’s time in the TARDIS. Fortunately, we don’t have to say farewell yet – and who doesn’t love a chance to play dress up?


Harry -
No sooner has the TARDIS team sorted out where exactly they are, than they are hurled into the whirlwind of history. Events, my dear Sarah, events are about to overtake them!

According to Susan, this is the Doctor's favourite period in the history of Earth. Seriously? For all his admiration, the Doctor gets off to a poor start, knocked out and then trapped in a burning farmhouse while his companions are whisked away by French soldiers. Not the most auspicious of beginnings, but we have five more episodes ahead of us.


Sarah -
One would expect The Doctor to be better prepared for his favorite period in Earth’s history, no?

That said, Hartnell is spectacular in this entire episode! After the unfortunate burning farmhouse incident, the scenes with the small boy are charming. The Doctor is at his avuncular best. He happens upon the road crew without any papers to prove his identity – if there was ever a time he needed psychic paper! – and sets about lying to, stealing from, and assaulting the overseer. And the whole scene is hysterical!


Harry -
We’ve never seen the Doctor so violent before. He brains the “Road Works Overseer” with a spade (!) and later will brain the jailer with a bottle. Even though it was supposedly played as comedy, the Doctor comes off as a violent bastard. Perhaps he got caught up in the spirit of the times.


Sarah -
Well, one does like to fit in.

Of course, the comedic highlight has to be the jailer, but I jump ahead of myself. We haven’t even reached Paris yet!

The story takes a while to let us know where it’s going. D'Argenson and Rouvray seem like they might be important, but are quickly shot by the revolutionaries. Honestly, I can’t blame them for shooting Rouvray after his obnoxious assertion of is upper-class twitishness. Next time, one might want to avoid dismissing the folks with guns as “peasants.”

Our Travelers find themselves behind bars yet again, and even take a moment to remember tales of previous incarceration. I was delighted by Barbara’s spunk as she reminds Susan that they have to make their own opportunities, as Susan settles into despair yet again. There was a point when I yelled, “Pull yourself together, Susan!” just before Barbara said the same thing. Great minds think alike, although I may have also slugged Susan just to shut her up!


Harry -
Good grief, Susan and her whining! I yelled at the telly too, but with much stronger language than you.


Sarah -
Barbara's poise when dealing with the loutish jailer is commendable. Can you remember any other companion being so harassed by sexual predators while traveling with The Doctor? Fortunately, Barbara is more than up to the challenge of dispatching the oafs.


Harry -
It's astonishing how much shit Barbara has had to put up with -- from all sides!


Sarah -
It seems it was William Russell’s turn to go on holiday, which explains all his stand-alone scenes in jail. I found myself holding my breath during the key-retrieval scene; oh the stress!


Harry -
What I like most about this story is that there is no one real villain to the piece. Not a constant one, anyway. The TARDIS team continue to get swept along by the tide of history. Events, dear Sarah, events! They encounter soldiers, revolutionaries, and anti-revolutionaries. I liked how they were just on the periphery of things, not close enough to influence history, but close enough to watch it unfolding. They weren’t there to stop something from happening, or to change the course of history. For these six episodes, their greatest goal was simply to survive and be reunited.


Sarah -
This was one of my favorite things about the story, which will be reflected in my final rating. Bring on the ambiguity! Of course, it may just be my History degree talking.


Harry -
Poor Barbara -- even Ian got on her nerves, leading to a wonderful line:

"You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."

The passion of the history teacher!


Sarah -
This was my single favorite moment. (See previous reference to History degree.) Ian attempts to sort her out, but I’m firmly with Barbara on this one!

I did disagree with Barbara’s willingness to let the doctor use leeches on Susan. Hello, Barbara, remember that whole 20th century thing? Leeches, indeed!


Harry -
The Doctor finally makes his way to Paris and acquires the provincial officer’s disguise. Fancy! Made him look stylish during his encounter with Robespierre. It was a nice little set piece, in an adventure that felt like an ongoing series of set pieces.


Sarah -
I quite enjoyed this scene. Hartnell was delightful – clever and manipulative, and perhaps a little too smart for his own good. I loved the tailor telling The Doctor that his clothing was little better than fancy dress. SNAP! And, honestly, have we seen a better hat in all the years of Doctor Who?

The Robespierre scene was disappointing, as was Napoleon’s. I can’t help but think that it would have been better to leave these historical figures out of the story if their appearances were going to be so perfunctory.


Harry -
Robespierre and Napoleon were both diminished by their appearances here. Neither actor was able to make his character seem larger-than-life -- they should have been chewing the scenery. They might have been served better by either not being seen at all, or only given brief non-speaking cameos.

It was a bit disappointing, though, that we never got a resolution to the ongoing gag about how the Doctor escaped the burning farmhouse. He brushed aside both Barbara and Susan when they asked him, building the anticipation for a great Hartnellian yarn at the end (ie. total BS on the fly), but we never got it.


Sarah -
Good point. The Doctor’s scenes with the jailer almost made up for it. I nearly fell out laughing when The Doctor told the Guard, “It’s a pity you’re surrounded by such fools,” and the jailer thought he had at last found an ally. The tradition of low-level employees as comic relief continues as the jailer quickly adjusts to the changing waters.


Harry -
I guess we'll have to assume that the Doctor managed to stagger outside to safety before the roof collapsed, then passed out. Although it wouldn't have been surprising if the young boy dragged him outside and the Doctor didn't want to own up to it.

I wasn't so much a fan of the buffoonish jailor, and his scenes were the ones I enjoyed the least. Maybe in a story that was packed with betrayals and double-crossings, I found his predictability uninteresting?


Sarah -
Didn’t you love it when Ian told Colbert the truth about time travel? I guess Ian was fortunate that Colbert didn’t live much longer.


Harry -
Ian's revelation to Colbert was stunning. I imagine he expected to be scoffed at, but Colbert's quick demise was tidy end to it -- no consequences for Ian's action there.


Sarah -
Oh, we haven’t mentioned Lemaitre yet, have we? I imagine there’s a good reason for that. He was a bit on the dullish side, but I became slightly fond of Jules.


Harry -
Lemaitre was neither truly villain nor hero, like everyone else in the story.

I loved the TARDIS team coping with the swirling maelstrom they were caught in. This may not have been their best outing, but this is still a great historical. I'd so love to see the present Doctor, Amy and Rory in a pure historical like this. The Nu Who tendency towards "celebrity historicals with an SF monster" is starting to grate on me.


Sarah -
I have to agree.  The formula is wearing thin.

Lasting image – The Doctor’s first appearance in his plumage!

Favorite moment – Barbara telling Ian, "You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."

Best line - “We can’t stem the tide, but at least we can stop being carried away with the flood.”

Rating: 8/10


Harry -
Lasting image - Beautiful plumage, mais oui!

Favourite moment - the Doctor's nasty and violent encounter with the Road Works Supervisor.

Best line - "Paris, eh? Hmm. A hundred miles or so, either way is to be expected. After all it's only a fraction of the distance we've covered. It's quite accurate, in fact." Some fantastic BSing from the Doctor when they discover they aren't in London.

Rating: 7/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #9 - Planet of Giants...

Story #7 - The Sensorites (1964)

Sarah -
It all begins with such promise as our group of traveling chums share a moment of reflection on their many adventures. Barbara assures us she's "got over all that" kerfuffle with the Aztecs, The Doctor tells a mildly amusing anecdote about Henry VIII (I'm telling you, The Doctor and his Royals obsession -- will it never end?), and we're on to the next adventure!


Harry -
The First Doctor and Susan met Henry VIII: this makes me want to take up fan fiction just to write that adventure!

Susan also mentions an adventure with some telepathic plants on the planet Esto or something like that. This leads to revelations that she and the Doctor both possess telepathic abilities, as we will see demonstrated as the story goes on. An interesting new characteristic, though one that didn't get much play after this story.


Sarah -
Our Travelers find themselves on a space ship littered with what seem to be dead bodies and overly dramatic music. When Barbara said she "can sense something," I assumed it was the heavy hand of composer Norman Kay. When Ian pronounces Maitland dead, the Bahm-Bahm of the music nearly knocked me off my sofa.


Harry -
The musical stings in this story were a bit overdone. BAHM-BAHM!


Sarah -
But wait, they're not dead after all, and Our Heroes spring into action, lending support where they can -- and decided to bugger off when they conclude that, oh well, there's really not much they can do. If only someone hadn't absconded with the TARDIS lock.

OK, I'm being a bit glib. In retrospect, so much happens in this first episode that I'd almost remembered it as two parts.


Harry -
A lot happens, but the best moment of the first episode is when nothing happens at all. There's that long silence as everyone anticipates the first appearance of the aliens. And there's one now! Peeping into the ship! BAHM-BAHM!

I'm struggling to imagine how I might have reacted to the Sensorites if I was seeing them for the first time, in 1964. Men in bodysuits with awkward circular feet, with furry faces beneath egg-head craniums. Creepy? Goofy? Somewhere in between?


Sarah -
I kept thinking that the they looked like the Whos-down-in-Whoville, but that's my jaded modern sensibility. There were so many references to them looking exactly the same, except that the didn't really, did they?


Harry -
After the reveal, the action moves down to the Sense-Sphere, which appears to be the set of a 1960s game show -- huge drapes and arches, big polka dotted panels, and a kiddie pool fountain. I love how everyone acts around the pool, glancing at it, but never saying anything about it. They all do their own silent take: "Oh, here's a random kiddie pool fountain, nice."

The story. Is there much to it, beyond the obvious themes? By that I mean... xenophobia and racism, BAHM-BAHM!

Are we both being glib with this one? I've focused more on the kiddie pool than anything else.

One other point I wanted to make was that The Sensorites is the first story that really felt stale. We've seen myriad alien races on DW and other shows, and the Sensorites look terribly dated even if they might have been new and weird for 1964.

Same goes for the story. It is really of its time, lacking in nuance, and, like the images themselves, very black and white. By the time we got to the bonkers Earth crew living in the aqueducts, I'd kind of switched off.


Sarah -
That was odd, wasn't it? I have to give props to John Bailey for his wonderful turn as the Commander. That, and the return of the lovely Barbara and her stunning outfit gave the story a bit of a lift at the end.


Harry -
The roaring standoff between Susan and the Doctor was pretty wild, though.


Sarah -
This was perhaps the most interesting development. Our Little Susan is growing up and Grandfather is not ready for it so she turns to Barbra as her natural ally. It was a nice scene.


Harry -
Nice foreshadowing too.  We found the one bit of depth in this story!


Sarah -
And now I'm ready to move on!

Lasting image - The Sensorite at the window in episode one.

Favorite moment – The superior officer twit commander in the aqueducts.

Best line - "I learned not to meddle in other people's affairs years ago."
Of course you did, Doctor, of course you did!

Rating: 5/10


Harry -
Lasting image - I want to say the kiddie pool, but let's go with John's constant face of trauma.  That was hella trauma.

Favourite moment - the 30 seconds of silence before we first see a Sensorite

Best line - "Your story is a tissue of lies."
Haven't heard that term before.  Must be an old Sensorite saying.

Rating: 5/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #8 - The Reign of Terror...

Story #6 - The Aztecs (1964)

Harry -
Let’s get right to it, there’s a blizzard about to hit and I need to move some canned goods down to the cellar.


Sarah -
The Upper Midwest is gripped by Stormageddon 2011 and I'm already missing the balmy setting of "The Aztecs."


Harry -
To borrow a sporting parlance, “The Aztecs” is a tale of two halves.

I found the first two episodes slow-moving with surprisingly little going on after the main and secondary plotlines are first introduced. The camera work was shoddy at times.


Sarah -
Wait, isn't that part of the charm?


Harry -
True, but it can still be jarring at times. The final two episodes more than make up for it. Riveting stuff, interestingly shot, and the story brought to a brilliant conclusion. It felt like they switched not just directors but the entire production company in mid-story, the contrast was so striking.


Sarah -
Sorry, but how have we gotten this far without the mention of Tlotoxl? John Ringham just may have turned in the best Doctor Who performance ever. Oh, I was skeptical at first – convinced that he was merely a frustrated thespian who never had the opportunity to show the world his Richard III – but he soon won me over with the depth and consistency of his most excellent performance.


Harry -
Speaking of mean old Uncle Dicky... in keeping with the varied and experimental nature of Season 1’s stories, “The Aztecs” offers us Doctor Who as a BBC Shakespeare teleplay. It had that feel to it. Tight sets, a small cast always in each other’s faces, and a great moral quandary at the heart of it.

The story revolves around Barbara and her attempt to alter history on a grand scale by overturning the fundamental religious beliefs of the Aztecs. Her intentions are met with disapproval from all sides, with only Susan and Ian offering (somewhat passive) support.

The Doctor is adamant – history cannot be rewritten, despite Barbara’s good intentions.

Sarah -
Barbara, Barbara, Barbara, what were you thinking? History cannot be rewritten … except when the viewers don’t know the history. (Take the Thals, for example.) Still, has Barbara rewritten their history, or just confirmed it? Might the Aztec empire still exist today if it weren’t for a meddling English history teacher?


Harry -
Autloc is respectful but puzzled, trying to understand why the reincarnated High Priest Yetaxa would return to refute their age-old beliefs and rites.

Tlotoxl is utterly contemptuous of this newcomer, who dares to challenge the ways of the gods, as well as his own standing as the High Priest of Sacrifice.


Sarah -
But, as Ian points out, Autloc is the outlier. Tlotoxl’s behavior is entirely appropriate for his culture. And, have I mentioned he’s utterly fabulous?


Harry -
It is a dangerous game that Barbara plays and it would have been fascinating to watch the story progress. Only, it didn’t. Once the players were introduced, the story seemed to drag. Scenes were overly long, and often marred by poor camerawork. During the first human sacrifice – a critical moment – there is one whopping great camera wobble that pulled me right out of the story, back to the BBC set, wondering how in hell they wouldn’t have re-shot such a pivotal scene.

Another pulled-me-out-of-the-story moment was Ixta donning what appears to be a cheetah mask. Were there cheetahs in ancient Mexico? Maybe some similarly spotted jungle cat? I have to do some Googling.


Sarah -
It is a dangerous game and she plays it so boldly. I loved the moment when she tells Tlotoxl that she’s not a god and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it. The way she plays everyone off against each other is quite cunning, coming from Our Barbara.

The first episode was a little too similar to the Velvet Web – Barbara showing up before everyone else and settling into the moment with nary a blink. Still, she looks great in the costume. The Aztecs had some awesome headgear. Even Ian got in on the action.

On a technical note, I’m sure the black and white helped, but I found the sets quite excellent. The backdrops were clearly backdrops, but they looks fabulous and sold me on the story.


Harry -
The third and fourth episodes of this story are something else. Each of the one-on-one moments feature some crackling lines. There’s even a moment of humour to break the tension, played perfectly by Hartnell and Russell:

“Where did you get hold of this?”
“My fiancé.”
“I see. [beat] Your WHAT?”

Sarah -
That old heartbreaker and his wicked charm! As much as he’s clearly manipulating Cameca for information about the temple, I don’t doubt that there’s something there. I love that he was constantly being shuttled back to the garden with all the other plus-52s. Talk about being put out to pasture!

Ian, meanwhile, gets to put his fighting skills, which one assumes he picked up while doing his National Service, to the test.


Harry -
Indiana Chesterton!


Sarah -
His fight scenes with Ixta have to be among the least interesting in television history. That said, I appreciated when he stood his ground in the final episode, knowing that he must face Ixta before leaving in the TARDIS.

Susan has the strangest storyline of all. Wisked away to the seminary, she once again excels as the excellent student. Then she almost gets married off to Ixta and inadvertently slags off the entire Aztec empire. Oops.


Harry -
Yes, Susan’s seminary plotline was weird. I mean seriously, her entire adventure consisted of being kept in a small room by herself, with the occasional spot quiz from Autloc. Weird!


Sarah -
Apparently, it was Carole Ann Ford’s turn to be on holiday and her scenes in the second and third episodes were pre-filmed.


Harry -
You are Toby to my Rob!


Sarah -

I'm clearly the Toby in this relationship!


Harry -
As the various conflicts in the story race to their resolution, this story surprises with an ending where the goodies end up suffering the most, and the baddies come out on top.

Cameca, having been used and mislead by the Doctor, suffers a broken heart.

The Doctor, realizing what he has done to her, is saddened and guilty.

Barbara is depressed, her optimistic efforts having been crushed. (I loved how, after she was repeatedly berated by the Doctor, Ian put it to her more gently: “You can’t fight a whole way of life, Barbara.”)

Most tragic of all is Autloc, a gentle soul who ends up losing his faith, left to wander the wilderness.

Tlotoxl wins the day! The hunched, sneering antagonist, who – like Tegana before him – was merely playing out his role in that culture at that time. As the Doctor concludes, Tlotoxl had to win in order to preserve history (which is the one bit of hypocritical rubbish throughout Doctor Who – the most important rule, yet the one that is most often broken).


Sarah -
There wouldn’t be a show if that rule weren’t broken!


Harry -
Do you wonder if the Doctor ever thinks about Cameca?


Sarah -
Of course. Perhaps he went back for a visit…


Harry -
I’m sure there’s a fanfic for that.

Do you think this is the story where Barbara starts thinking about going home again?


Sarah -
It would be hard not to after all that, don’t you think?


Harry -
I could write on and on about this story, but let’s wrap things up before the power cuts out.


Sarah -
Lasting image - The Doctor’s face when he discovers he’s engaged!

Favorite moment – Every moment Tlotoxl is on screen.

Best line - "Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged..."

Rating: 8/10


Harry -
Lasting image: Barbara resplendent as Yetaxa.

Favourite moment: the Doctor and Cameca’s sweet courtship in the garden.

Best line: “Was ever such a potion brewed? In bliss is quenched my thirsty heart.” Cameca, sipping cocoa with the Doctor, delivers a line right out of Shakespeare.

After a slow and wobbly start (6/10), “The Aztecs” comes to life at the midway point and gives us a great finish (8/10).

Rating: 7/10

 

 


Our marathon continues with Story #7 - The Sensorites...

Story #5 - The Keys of Marinus (1964)

Harry -
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...

Story #4 - Marco Polo (1964)

Sarah -

Our first lost episode! The wiping of "Marco Polo" has to be one of the great tragedies in the history of Doctor Who. I had previously watched the synopsis included on the "Edge of Destruction" DVD, but it did not prepare me for this marvelous story. If this seven-parter can be carried by the soundtrack and photographs, imagine watching the original! My heart breaks at our loss.


Harry -
Let us offer the Salute of Rassilon to the fine folks behind the Loose Cannon Doctor Who Reconstructions, who have enabled us to hear and partially see the lost stories at their original length. A 30-minute reconstruction of a seven-parter can't help but be painfully abridged.


Sarah -
All Hail Loose Cannon Productions! This project would not be possible without their fine work.


Harry -

I spent a bit of each morning last week watching "Marco Polo". Just one or two episodes a day, it made for an excellent week.

As the story begins the TARDIS continues to malfunction, leaving the crew in the hands of fate. They meet up with a mixed group, neither entirely heroes nor villains. This is the murky dynamic that will be explored, twisted and resolved over the next seven episodes.


Sarah -
Everyone is at the top of their game. And, the complex narrative and moral ambiguity of the story are especially remarkable when you consider that this was a series aimed at children.

We begin as we ended "The Edge of Destruction" – with a giant footprint. Is this a Yeti story, an alien ice planet? No, it’s 13th Century Cathay and The Doctor is in a testy mood. A burnt-out circuit in the TARDIS deactivates the lighting, heating and water supply. Oh No! What are we to do?

But wait, there are some travelers who may wish to help us, as long as we’re not evil spirits sent to deceive them…

Our introduction to the fierce warlord Tegana, the most interesting human baddie we’ve met so far, is startling. And then there’s Marco Polo! I love the women’s reaction: Susan: "Who is he, Barbara?"

Barbara: "I was asking myself the same question."

Hubba Hubba!

Marco’s narration over the map is an excellent device and has the advantage of being charmingly low-budget.

Mark Eden and Derren Nesbitt are note-perfect as Marco Polo and Tegana. Tegana’s cool contempt is terrifying, even as he charms and deceives Marco. One does wonder, however, why he bothered with the poison. Did I miss something or did that plot point lead nowhere?

Hartnell is a joy in Marco’s tent -- swinging from old crank to charming flirt when Ping-Cho serves her soup. Then there’s his hysterical laughter when Marco reveals his plan to take the TARDIS. Of course, Tegana has plans of his own.

And, once again, the TARDIS crew finds themselves unwilling pawns in the schemes of others.


Harry -
I agree that this is a very grown-up story right from the start. Tegana wants to do away with the strangers, but out of culture shock rather than bloodlust. At no point in this story will he lapse into moustachio-twirling panto villainry. He is simply acting out the role one would expect from a cautious emissary and a calculating warrior. (Yes, the poison was a brief notion and never really seemed a viable threat to anyone.)

As for Marco, he doesn't leap off the screen like the swashbuckling historic character I was expecting (despite his dishy Errol Flynn looks!). To me, Marco's character is "charismatically ambiguous". He plays his cards very close to his chest. The less he says to the newcomers, the more I want him to speak and reveal what he really thinks of the situation. This is where his brilliantly-conceived journal comes in.

"I wonder what the strangers' reaction will be when I tell them what I propose to do..."

So! Marco is not to be the hero of the story, but will play the role of kidnapper who will lead the TARDIS crew on a journey that may spell their doom.

The map graphics are endearingly low-budget, but effective.

In episode two, the caravan sets off to cross the Gobi desert, the TARDIS now seized by Marco as a gift he will present to Kublai Khan in Shang-Tu.

Here we have the first of William Hartnell's occasional lengthy absences from a story (which occurred from time to time when he would go on holiday!). To explain it away in the story, apparently the Doctor is sulking! I love this.


Sarah -
Having The Doctor spend most of this episode sulking off camera is brilliant. I laughed when Marco called him "difficult and bad tempered." Yep, that’s Our Doctor!


Harry -
The caravan makes camp and Ian and Marco engage in a game of chess, an obvious metaphor for the head-games that are being played out among many sides in this story. Marco is constantly the focal point for antagonism, whether it is between himself and Tegana, Ian, the Doctor, or even Ping-Cho, whom he is delivering to an arranged marriage.


Sarah -
The chess scene is so well-played by Marco, Ian and Tegana. Tegana is already starting to play the others off against one another. He’s so smooth – I wish I could see Derren Nesbitt in motion.Tegana – "Can you save your king?"

Marco – "I think so, Tegana."

Chilling.


Harry -
The highlight of this episode is the sandstorm. I'm sure it sounded better than it looked on film, but Susan and Ping-Cho's terror is quite gripping.

I like the fact that journals have made something of a return to the new Doctor Who. John Smith kept his Journal of Impossible Things, and River Song has her spoiler-packed blue diary.

The journal-map feature of "Marco Polo" is also a way of cutting through a lot of travel time and meshing the key scenes together. This story seems to take place over the course of many weeks if not months.


Sarah -
This story finally gives Susan a chance to do more than scream or yell, "Oh, Grandfather!" Her developing friendship with Ping-Cho is a sweet depiction of two homesick teenage girls. How perfect that they get to play Nancy Drew and set off after Tegana. Nancy Drew, of course, would have been considerably more quiet than the two of them. Could they have possibly made more noise?

Speaking of noise, the sound design of the storm is positively brilliant – and the lack any moving images may have made it more terrifying.

One thing I really liked about this part of the story is how it all hinges on the primal need for water. Our travelers have been threatened by so many things, but their biggest threat now is the simple lack of water…and, of course, Tegana.


Harry -
In two episodes, this story has packed more punch than many other stories in the history of the show. I agree with Rob Shearman's suggestion that Sydney Newman could have built an entire series around the journey of Marco Polo's caravan.

Onward!


Sarah -
Hooray for condensation! Having been allowed back into the TARDIS after a fainting spell (and another "Oh, Grandfather!" from Susan), The Doctor is able to capture the moisture forming inside the TARDIS after a cold night. The explanation is worked in so seamlessly that it would be easy for the children watching not to realize that they were learning science.

A favorite moment was The Doctor complaining about the "rushing about" everyone is doing at the oasis, when he wants to get to work on the TARDIS.


Harry -
The teachable moments in early Doctor Who were part of the brief that Sydney Newman set down, which was a very Canadian thing to do. Everything we produce up here has to have some educational value, no matter how notional it may seen. Hockey games? What better way to learn about Scandinavia. Canadian made sitcoms? Let us immerse ourselves in our nation's rich cultural diversity. Every other show on Canadian TV? Let us immerse ourselves in America's rich cultural diversity.

It's too bad the show moved away from this. Imagine David Tennant's scene with Donna at the Shadow Proclamation..."Donna, come on, think: Earth, there must have been some sort of warning. Was there anything happening back in your day, like... electrical storms, freak weather, patterns in the... sky?"

"Well, how should I know? Um, no. I don't-- I don't think so. No."

"Oh, OK, nevermind."

"Although, there were the bees disappearing."

"The bees disappearing. The BEES disappearing. Sayyyy... Donna, did you know that because of its unique composition and chemical properties, honey is suitable for long term storage and is easily assimilated even after long preservation?"

"Wha?"

"Honey, and objects immersed in honey, have been preserved for decades and even centuries."

"That's... great."

"Now where were we? Oh yeah, the BEES disappearing..."


Sarah -
I would love to see Catherine Tate’s reaction to that!

Meanwhile, back in Cathay, our clever Barbara reads the signs at the Oasis and realizes there were probably no bandits. Her suspicion of Tegana grows, leading her to follow him to the Cave of Five Hundred Eyes, where she finds herself trapped again. First the Daleks, now this!


Harry -
My admiration for Barbara grows with each episode we've been watching. We are only on the fourth story of Doctor Who, but she has been put through hell! How many times has her life been imperiled already, but she bounces back each time. She is a rock.

It is also interesting how much the Doctor's lack of dominant screen time doesn't hinder this story. This is truly Marco's tale.


Sarah -
Barbara may just be my new favorite companion!

It is impressive that the story carries on so well without The Doctor. Of course, things heat up when he's on screen. Calling Marco a "poor, pathetic, stupid savage" was definitely a high point!

The tension between everyone at this point in the story is so intense that Ian starts breaking plates. When chem. teachers start smashing crockery, you know things are spiraling out of control! Poor Ian, when he’s ready to play the hero, the guard turns out to already be dead. Still, he does get to use the bamboo trick, which is right clever.


Harry -
I have neglected to say much about Ping-Cho. It's too bad that in a story like this, with a web of tension criss-crossing between so many characters, her straightforward plight seemed an afterthought. Maybe that's why the resolution of her story -- though a happy ending -- seemed a bit of a happy coincidence.


Sarah -
I really liked the whole sequence of Ping-Cho stealing the key and her rationalization that it was OK because she wasn't "telling" Susan where it was. Her homesickness is so great that she has to help Susan, who is, of course, tripped up by her promise to say goodbye to Ping-Cho before leaving. And so, the TARDIS crew is foiled yet again in their attempts to escape.

And then it's Ping-Cho's turn to escape. It seems no one in this story is where they actually want to be. Still, the return to the way station means that we get to see Wang-lo again, which brings me no small amount of joy.

The upside of all the failed escape plans is that we get to meet the Mighty Kublai Khan! How wonderful is it when he and The Doctor commiserate about age and their many complaints? Hartnell's charm in these scenes is endearing.


Harry -
The Doctor really did act like a cantankerous brat for most of this story, flashes of his old arrogance returning. Who would have thought it would have been the "mighty" Kublai Khan that he bonded with? He totally mellowed out after that.

Speaking of Khan, this brings us to the new batch of characters we meet in the second half of "Marco Polo." Unfortunately they are a bit camp, but not too over the top: the big gay landlord Wang-Lo (oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!), the one-eyed bandit Kuiju (was his monkey also evil?), and Khan himself -- not the menacing war chief that Marco made us out to imagine, but a doddering old man with some kind of Slavic accent. What the hell?

Knowing some of the über-campy characters that still await us on this marathon, these three are quite tame and forgiveable.


Sarah -
Back at the summer palace, Marco Polo and Tegana have a sword fight, Tegana kills himself, Marco returns the TARDIS key to its proper owners, and as a bonus Ping-Cho's fiancee is dead. Hooray -- and we're off to the next adventure!

I LOVED this story. With The Doctor sulking, resting, and such, each of the companions was given a lot to do. Marco was distant yet compelling, Tegana sinister, and Ping-Cho sweet as can be. I can only wonder if we would like it more or less with video.

Lasting image – The TARDIS strapped on the wagon for transport.

Favorite moment – This is tough, given all the excellent moments, but I think I'll go with The Doctor laughing after losing the TARDIS at backgammon.

Best line – "'I couldn't place it in the hanging-garden, now could I?' What does he think it is? A potting shed, or something?" – The Doctor mocking Wang-Lo. I laughed out loud.

Rating: 9/10


Harry -
I want to go and light some bamboo on fire. Probably not the reaction that Sydney Newman envisioned?

Then again, Tegana committing ritual suicide seems a bit much for a kids' programme!

Well, pyromania and impalements aside, this was a fantastic story. I loved our week spent in Cathay!

Lasting image - the white line making its way across the map.

Favourite moment - Kublai Khan appears.

Best line - from Marco's journal: "...the old Doctor continually shows his disapproval of my action by being both difficult and bad-tempered. For three days now, during which time we have covered no more than 30 miles, I have had to endure his insults."

Rating: 9/10

 




Our marathon continues with Story #5 - The Keys of Marinus...

       

Story #3 - The Edge of Destruction (1964)

Harry -
Admit it! I know it was you! You took the last Orangina out of the freezer. You sabotaged my refreshment!

Now I have nothing to sip while viewing this two-part surrealist film, "The Edge of Destruction."

Look at these four people. They seemed to be a team. Now look at them. Disoriented and confused, with achy necks.

My throat, so dry. Thief! I have decided to throw you off this blog for your duplicity. Now go and stand a quarter distance closer to the camera and in profile while I watch some more.

The situation is affecting these people in different ways. The Young Girl is having psychotic fits. Her Grandfather lies unmoving on the floor. The Man is puzzled, but the Woman is strangely unconcerned:

"What's he doing there?"

"Oh, he's cut his head."

They leave Grandfather on the floor.

Where is this, exactly? These camera angles, they are unfamiliar and unique. We will never see shots like these again.

This place, it is some kind of minimalist furniture store. There's a chair here, some ugly art over there, and in the next room is the most uncomfortable bed ever designed. The Young Girl hates this bed. She hates it! She hates it! Why won't it die?!

Eerie music means some weird shit is going down back in the main room. Oh, it's just Grandfather back on his feet, nifty new headband, anyone for some classic SF jargon?

"It's the planet Quinnis in the Fourth Universe."

Sure it is, Pops. Why don't you have a lie down. The Young Girl has prepared a freshly killed bed for you.

Who can sleep at a time like this? When my tormentor has made off with the last Orangina. Don't think I haven't forgotten! You are fired from the Internet at the end of this story!

That is, if anyone is still alive at the end of this story. It's all coming apart. Paranoia and accusations. Grandfather creeping around while everyone sleeps. Anger and violence. This group is disintegrating, as might the entire furniture store. The clocks are already melting!

The Woman obviously read Art History. She delivers a brilliant discourse on the influence of subconscious Oedipal guilt and the role of Marxist animals in the early dreamscape paintings of Salvador Dali.

This spurs Grandfather to deliver a brilliant discourse on everything in the entire universe, hee hee ha ha!

But it's not about who can shout louder anymore.

And I suppose it's not about who stole whose Orangina anymore.

I may have been a bit shouty myself back there, and I can see you are hurt. But I really think you're really swell, and you have wonderfully good taste in shoes. What I'm trying to say is, you have wonderfully good taste in shoes.

Are we good again? Wanna go play in the snow with me?


Sarah -
“Tell Your Disappointment to Suck It; I'm Doing a Bottle Episode!” -- Jeff Winger, Community

I have a weakness for bottle episodes. Yes, they're cheap. But, done well, they can produce amazing television -- Hawkeye and Houlihan trapped behind enemy lines; Archie and Meathead locked in the bar storage room; Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in the desert with a dead battery in their meth-cooking RV; Bayliss and Pembleton grilling the arabber, in what had to be the most exhausting hour of television ever (I was ready to confess!); Paulie and Christopher stalked through the woods by a psychopathic Russian; even Doctor Who's "Midnight." I could go on, but will stop before I expose myself even more as someone who watches far too much television.

This is all to say that I'm a sucker for a well-executed bottle episode – which would not be Edge of Destruction. Still, it's hard not to enjoy the absolute madcap nature of this story. It's as if all the actors have just walked in the door to workshop their characters and have decided to try on every possibility.

Is Susan a hysterical mess or perhaps inhabited by an alien? And what did that bed ever do to her?

Has the alien jumped from Susan to Ian -- or is he suffering from a concussion? Perhaps he's hoping to cash in on the coming zombie craze by working on his moves now or just waiting to get into that fetching Gilbert and Sullivan cloak.

Will The Doctor get them out of this mess or toss Barbara and Ian into the endless void of space?

Barbara literally saves the day -- for the viewer and the occupants of the TARDIS. I have no idea what she was talking about, but I’ll move forward, comfortable in the knowledge that she continues to be the utterly brilliant companion I find her to be. She gave The Doctor what for and he had to apologize for being a big fat Gallifreyan jerk. I’ll forgive the melty clock freakout, because I was feeling a bit screamy by this point, myself. Barbara saved this episode for me – and put everyone else to shame in the TARDIS loungewear.

With the spring – a spring? This was all about a spring? – repaired and order restored, here’s your damn Orangina, which has not been laced with a sleeping draught, for your information. I’m so going to pummel you when we get out into that snow.

Lasting image – Susan cradling the scissors.

Favorite moment – Barbara telling off The Doctor.

Best line - "Accuse us! You ought to go down on your knees and thank us! Gratitude's the last thing you'll ever have... or any sort of common sense either!"

Rating: The first episode is a delightful mess, but the actors rally in the second, more of a team and ready for their next adventure, so I’ll go with an overall 6/10.


Harry - Let's never fight again.

Lasting image - the TARDIS doors swinging open on their own. Creepy!

Favourite moment - After the TARDIS team's relationship was literally taken to the "edge of destruction", Barbara and the Doctor make up. This moment marks a shift for the Doctor from self-interested bastard to thoughtful leader of a team. (Makes you wonder how horribly he must have treated other people up to that point in his timeline.)

Best line - the Doctor's speech on the creation of a galaxy, culminating in his outburst of laughter. Deep down, he's just a science geek! Three stories in, we finally see the Doctor we will come to know and love.

Rating - an utterly mad story, unforgettable for its weirdness. I liked the fact that all this hysteria was prompted by a wonky spring. A cheeky resolution and one that they pulled off. I can even forgive the handwritten "Fast Return" label on the console. 7/10

I think we should watch the rest of this marathon in TARDIS loungewear.


           
 

Our marathon continues with Story #4 - Marco Polo...