Story #17 - The Time Meddler (1965)

Harry -
And we're back.

Good to see our proper Doctor again, with his proper companions... although I miss the old ones.


Sarah -
After the diversion of the films, it’s more than a little bittersweet to return to a TARDIS with no Barbara and Ian. In my mind they’re still frolicking around London.

How about Vicki’s comment, “Well, they weren’t getting any younger were they?” Ouch! Thanks, Kiddo, that really softens the blow.


Harry -
After our little break, it almost feels as if we've missed an episode prior to "The Time Meddler." Steven's stowing aboard the TARDIS has ruffled nary a feather, and the Doctor gives him a guided tour. Steven is still acting a bit flaky, and Vicki seems bemused by it all.


Sarah -
They take it all in stride, don’t they? Even when they assume it must be a Dalek rambling around the living quarters. Note to self : when fighting a Dalek, be sure to bring your coat and shoe for defense. Oh never mind, it’s just Steven.

Steven’s skepticism about the TARDIS’ ability to travel through time is amusing and refreshing. With Barbara and Ian's departure, it’s good to have the power structure of the TARDIS shaken up a bit.


Harry -
It takes an awfully long time for this story to get going. Our new TARDIS team lands on a windswept beach that the Doctor quickly identifies as Northumbria. He and this companions split up for a spot of exploring, while a mysterious monk observes from afar.

I really like the sets here, interspersed with stock footage to bring Anglo-Saxon Northumbria to life in glorious black and white! The beach, the forest, the Local Village, all look very detailed and not-a-TV-studio lifelike.

But who is this monk fellow? Why is he snooping around, and what's the deal with his anachronistic wristwatch? Curiouser and curiouser...


Sarah -
The monk is mysterious enough, but I was positively gobsmacked by Alethea Charlton’s transportation from the stone age to the middle ages! The flirty Doctor pumps her for information while enjoying a horn of mead, but never bothers to ask how she got there. Good ‘ol 1066 – What a time to be alive!


Harry -
However briefly!


Sarah -
It’s a pity Barbara isn’t here, indeed.


Harry -
Yes, we're already seeing some familiar faces reappearing in Doctor Who as the second season winds down. Were it not for their fleeting moments on this show, we'd never be talking about these folks.


Sarah -
From 15 minutes of fame to an eternity of reverence…or at least being the answer to a trivia question.


Harry -
...or the subject of a Toby Hadoke blog.

At the risk of sounding pompous, I dare say this is a very important Doctor Who story. It shows us that we can move on with new companions who can step into the roles vacated by others, while the Doctor is now the undisputed focal point of every story. We still need the companions through whose eyes we see the adventures unfolding, but the parade of ever-changing companions is well under way.


Sarah -
Pompous? This is a blog, My Dear, pomp away!

I agree with your assessment. Steven and Vicki show us we can carry on without Barbara and Ian, just as the non-canonical movies show us that the Doctor doesn’t have to be William Hartnell.


Harry -
Also, this story expands the Whoniverse like never before. There are others like the Doctor who travel in time and space. There are other TARDISes! So it's not just one eccentric traveler with his little blue box. There could be dozens, maybe hundreds of them!


Sarah -
Isn’t it exciting? Even as a viewer of nearly thirty years, I’m nearly giddy at the discovery!


Harry -
Back to the story itself. I loved the Monk. It's a shame that this quirky mischief maker was never made a permanent recurring character as the Master would. He's a kind of middle ground between the heroic Doctor and evil Master. He just wants to mess around with things and have FUN! The "master plan" scene where the Doctor and Monk go face to face is a classic confrontation.

"Now now now, don't try and bamboozle me." I love that the Doctor said bamboozle.


Sarah -
Wouldn’t you love to see him pop up again to bamboozle the Doctor? Their scenes were brilliant and so much fun. Perhaps a future incarnation will travel back and rescue the Time Meddler.


Harry -
Who wouldn't want to live out their lives with a comedy roll-up checklist to guide them?


Sarah -
Nearly fell off the sofa laughing at that image.


Harry -
Steven and Vicki have great chemistry and work well as the new companions, as opposed to those two rather hapless vikings who get themselves killed.


Sarah -
Vicki is doing a nice job of filling Barbara’s role of clever girl and Steven is doing a good job of keeping up. That Viking-Saxon fight scene just may be the least interesting in Doctor Who history – and that’s saying something.

Speaking of the Vikings, weren’t they in a prog-rock band in the 70s? No? Well, they should have been.


Harry -
Speaking of which, the obvious yet unshown murders and rape in this story were jarring for what is nominally a children's program. I liked these moments of blunt realism in what is otherwise a comedy story.


Sarah -
They were so unexpected in this little romp. Poor Alethea.

How about those closing images of the Doctor and companions? Heroic, yet kind of odd and uncomfortable.


Harry -
Very spacey stuff.


Sarah -
And, in closing, can I just say, “Eldred must live!” (Honestly, someone had to.)


Harry -
If you hadn't, I would have!


Sarah -
Lasting image - The checklist.

Favorite moment - “Don’t call me Doc!”

Best line - "That is the dematerialization control, and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it... Sheer poetry, dear boy! Now please stop bothering me!"

8/10


Harry -
Lasting image - The monk perched atop the windswept cliff.

Favourite moment - When Vicki and Steven discover the monk's TARDIS.

Best line - "What do you think it is, a space helmet for a cow?"

8/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #18 - Galaxy 4...

Story #16 - The Chase (1965)

Harry -
Well, there they go. The Doctor's accidental companions, and the two hippest public school teachers we'll ever know.


Sarah -
How I’ll miss them! Before we started this little project, I’d only seen a handful of Barbara and Ian stories and hadn’t developed any strong feelings about them. Now I’m heartbroken to see them go. Barbara, especially, has rocketed to the top of my list of favorite companions. What a gal! I wish she’d been my history teacher.


Harry -
I had forgotten how torn up the Doctor was over the departure of Ian and Barbara. His coping blanket of anger was amazing!


Sarah -
The Doctor’s response to be completely in character. I nearly started crying when he softened it with, “I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them, silly old fusspots.”

Sorry, who’s the silly old fusspot, Doctor?


Harry -
Right off the bat, our Toby has made his dislike of this story quite clear, and I can't disagree. If we were watching this back in 1965 for the first time, not knowing how much longer the show would continue airing, I'd argue that this was where Doctor Who jumped the proverbial shark.

"The Chase" is self-reverential to the point of dross. The Daleks are rolled out to re-enact some familiar scenes, the TARDIS crew lounge around like vacationers, and why bother travelling anymore when they can dial-up all of history on the Space-Time Visualiser? A sudden stagnation has set in.

When they finally stepped outside, Vicki's words are most alarming. She says "Are we going to explore now, then?" as if the concept has become so hum-drum that she greets it with indifference.

What the hell has happened to Doctor Who?


Sarah -
Now it’s your turn to be Toby! I’m going to be on Team Rob for this one and point out that, while The Chase clearly has its problems, there are more than enough excellent moments to make up for it.


Harry -
I thank your Rob for pulling me back from the abyss, and reminding me that, yes, there was much in this crazy romp of a story to enjoy (knowing that this was not a shark-jumping moment, and the show would in fact continue for over two decades).


Sarah -
How about that groovy title sequence – like something out of a Peter Sellers movie! The incidental music is positively spectacular. Dudley Simpson outdid himself!


Harry -
The music was very stand-out here, very fun 60s groove.


Sarah -
I appreciate a story that gets right to the point – Daleks and lots of them! How exciting to be the “greatest enemies” of the Daleks. That’s a bit of an achievement, isn’t it?


Harry -
The Thals didn't give them much competition up to that point.


Sarah -
Good point.

I loved Ian reading Monsters from Outer Space. ( The Doctor: “Do you mind if I dispatch you from your cowboys and Indians?” *giggle*) The historical flashbacks. Getting in a spot of sunbathing when one finds oneself on a new and mysterious planet. A never-ending shot of each and every Dalek leaving the control room. Glad we didn’t miss a moment of that!


Harry -
Looking back, you could argue that the first episode was padding, which sometimes comes in later in a story. But still, that fully-clothed sunbathing scene was so quintessentially English. I'm sure the Doctor averted his eyes from Barbara the entire time, staring straight into the sun if need be!


Sarah -
And, don’t forget Ian and Vicki scolding each other while fleeing monsters in the tunnels. Or, Vicki’s general loopiness during the entire first half of the story. I don’t know what was going on there, but she made me giggle.

The accent on the Empire State Building guide was brilliant and worth the price of admission. What a relief the Daleks didn’t vaporize that poor Alabaman! (Who, by the by, bears a striking resemblance to that Steven bloke they meet later in the story.)


Harry -
Morton Dill! The only person to scoff in the face of the Daleks, and survive!


Sarah -
Go Crimson Tide!


Harry -
That has to be one of my all-time favourite DW moments. I am not exaggerating to say that I replayed it a half-dozen times, roaring and wheezing with laughter.


Sarah -
It was Brilliant!!! Unfortunately, the Mary Celeste scene wasn’t as fun, as Barbara, once again, finds herself lusted after by a lout. The Dalek going overboard definitely saved the save the scene. Then it’s off to the house or horrors, or is it the dark recesses of the mind. Who knows, let’s just lose Vicki and move on.


Harry -
Another moment I found riotously funny was when the Doctor chided Ian for being jittery in the house of horrors -- then silently turned tail and fled when Frankenstein's monster awoke, while Ian stood frozen in shock.

Again, the show may not have survived if it relied on daffy comedy each week, but all this zaniness makes "The Chase" really unique among Dalek stories.


Sarah -
It was daffy – but ever so much fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.


Harry -
Had I been 10 years old watching this for the first time, the Daleks-Mechonoids battle would have been an epic for the ages, cartoony explosions notwithstanding! Wow! The Daleks facing off against another race of oddly shaped robot monsters. I don't think we see something like this again until the David Tennant era.


Sarah -
Mechonoids are cool!


Harry -
And then, having fled the burning city (and all-but-hurling poor Vicki from the roof!), our heroes fashion their escape amidst the chaos.

Harkening back to the start of our review, the Doctor's flustered anger was very touching. He clearly didn't want to say goodbye.


Sarah -
I understand, I didn’t want to say goodbye either. It’s been a great time, Barbara and Ian, and I shall miss you terribly and hope you have wonderful lives together!


Harry -
I'm sure they lived a long and happy life together, reminiscing about the funny old man and his police box, wondering if it was all a drug-induced hallucination, and spending the rest of their teaching careers warning students about the risks of party drugs. Farewell, Ian and Barbara!


Sarah -
Lasting image: The final romp through London montage. I nearly sobbed through the whole thing.

Favorite moment: Poor Barbara being told by the faux Doctor that Ian is dead and then the gallant Ian rushing to her defense when he turns out to be very much alive!

Best line: “We’ll pick them off one by one.” One last bit of bloodthirstyness from My Barbara!

Rating: 8/10


Harry -
Lasting image - Ian and the Doctor getting the bleep scared out of them by Frankenstein's monster.

Favourite moment - Daleks vs Mechonoids!

Best line - "You're from Earth." "No ma'am, I'm from Alabama."

Rating - 8/10

Our marathon continues with the first Peter Cushing movie: Dr. Who and the Daleks...

Story #15 - The Space Museum (1965)

Harry -
Here we are, the halfway point of the Hartnell era.  Before we get into the thick of things, can we acknowledge the lovely DVD extras that came with "The Space Museum"? Special guest analysis by Rob Shearman no less!


Sarah -
And Rob spent much of his time working to convince us that "The Space Museum" was worth watching!


Harry -
Rob's apologistic extra was a surprise. I had never viewed this story before and was not aware that it is (supposedly) unloved among fandom, but I loved it!

It's weird, it's wacky, and it is an utter send-up of Doctor Who to that point. It's like the story that Douglas Adams never wrote, until he wrote "The Pirate Planet".

The first episode is mysterious and fascinating. The opening scene in the TARDIS is almost a hallucination harkening back to "The Edge of Destruction." Our Travellers' find themselves in a new set of clothes without explanation, a shattered glass comes back together again, and the Doctor seems nonplussed by it all.


Sarah -
It must be commented upon that the first topic of discussion among our heroes was, once again, clothing!


Harry -
Things get a bit wibbly-wobbley timey-wimey when they enter the titular museum to find... themselves!

The foundation of this episode is hardly original. It's really the same old sequence of arrival - exploration - shock discovery, but maybe the sparseness of it all made it so rivetting. Were you not fascinated to know what the heck was going on here?


Sarah -
I definitely am a fan of wibbly-wobbley timey-wimey stuff and found myself thinking what a bang-up job Steven Moffat would do with this story – were he, say, older than four at the time.

I enjoyed the fact that our heroes couldn’t be quite sure if they were getting themselves into or out of the museum with their actions.


Harry -
I loved that the Museum was conceived as a triumphal display of conquests, brought together by a race of vanquishing warriors. And yet the museum itself is staffed by a bunch of pasty, pudgy bureaucrats who seem utterly bored with their situation. The place reeks of stagnation, in its empty corridors and dusty displays.


Sarah -
Could they have been any more tedious. You could even tell how much they bored each other.


Harry -
Perhaps by the sheer might of their pompadours, they are able to suppress a nascent rebellion by a gaggle of reedy English Lit students. A rebellion much talked about, but little acted upon. Hell, the kids manage to capture the Doctor for all of six seconds before he whups their arses and escapes by hiding in the Dalek casing. Sad, really.

Only when the Doctor is captured by the Moroks does his situation become grave. I absolutely loved his seated confrontation with the head Morok (again, they are so pasty and pudgy that their confrontations require seating).

When the Doctor is condemned to be taken to the preparation room, we get a huge sting of spacey-psychedelic sound. Love, love, loved it.


Sarah -
If you want a revolution, you need to call in the big guns – VICKI!!!!!


Harry -
Of course, the girl in the pristine "Alice" dress would be the one who whips up a rebellion!


Sarah -
Of course! Her smile of delight when she got into the armory was the highlight of the entire story for me. Imagine, simply telling the truth gets you what you’re after. What a concept.


Harry -
I can't decide if this story is subversive or just plain silly, but I love it all the same because of moments like that.


Sarah -
The Xerons were so boring, I imagine Vicki leading the revolution just to break up the tedium. Are they capable of anything besides putting their hands on their hips?

I like the fun fact that Jeremy Bulloch, who played Tor, went on to play Boba Fett in the Star Wars films. I seem to recall he made good use of his hands-on-hips move in that role, too. One can always spot a true artist at work.


Harry -
I did not know that! 

Another thing I liked about the design here, was that everything was so delightfully analogue. They even had to pull the doors open.

Nor could they gas anyone properly. It felt like Barbara and Dako spent most of episodes three and four being gassed. Weakest gas ever!

Overall, I liked this story more than fandom seems to want me to. It was wacky, self-aware, and downright silly whilst maintaining a façade of total seriousness. It just had to be a parody, hadn't it?


Sarah -
I didn't enjoy it as much as you, but it had some nice moments.

Lasting image: The Doctor in the Dalek – does any other image come close?

Favorite moment: Vicki smiling in triumph when she gets the guns.

Best line: “They’re gone.” “Yes, My Dear, but we’ve arrived!”

Rating: 6/10


Harry -
Lasting image: the Moroks and their pompadours.

Favourite moment: the episode one cliffhanger, especially because of the spacey-psychedelic sting. (And to go a bit "Toby" for a moment, I'm frustrated that this piece was not included on the CD: Doctor Who at the Radiophonic Workshop, Volume 1: The Early Years 1963-1969. Nor were there any music credits given other than to Ron Grainer for the main theme. Bah!)

Best line: I agree with your selection. Wonderfully timey-wimey.

Rating: 8/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #16 - The Chase...

Story #14 - The Crusade (1965)

Sarah -
I return to my post with renewed zeal after the Web Planet debacle!

It’s non-canonical but can we discuss the Ian Chesterton introduction to the reconstruction? “He was old when I was young.” Delightful. Delightful.


Harry -
That's quite the manner house the school teacher has acquired, complete with suit of armour. I loved it!


Sarah -
Ah, the middle ages. What a time to be alive!


Harry -
However briefly!


Sarah -
Given my fondness for the Angevins, I’ve been looking forward to this for a while.


Harry -
Given the weird sludge of the previous story, I have too.


Sarah -
Richard himself, beloved third son of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the queen for whom my daughter is named, and Henry II, my personal favorite monarch. I’ll try not to judge the playing fast and loose with the actual facts too harshly, but I will say that Richard is ALL WRONG. Was that too harsh?


Harry -
I will bow to your expertise on the matter. I'm too preoccupied with gawking at the actors in blackface.


Sarah -
Oh, meanwhile, look, the TARDIS has arrived. (And, I must note, Vicki looks positively delighted to be … wherever this is. And, look, Barbara’s got an fancy new ‘do!) Our chums immediately find themselves in the thick of things. Ian is set upon and gets himself into a sword fight -- and Barbara is spirited away! So, what else is new?


Harry -
Here's where the story derailed for me, which is to say, almost immediately. I wonder if this is where the stereotypical Doctor Who plot of "Arrival - Separation - Quest - Reunion" became entrenched. Still, the opening battle scene was pretty wild.


Sarah -
Barbara’s missing, but proper wardrobe is the first order of business! Barbara’s clothes are already causing a scene around Jaffa. And, of course, It doesn’t take the Doctor long to start pilfering a new wardrobe for himself and Vicki.


Harry -
I think the Doctor-Vicki tandem is underrated. They have a whale of a time together, no matter what the circumstances.


Sarah -
I’ve been thinking about that, too. They always seem delighted with each other’s company, which, I guess, carries them through the life-threatening situations. The moment when Vicki confessed that she was worried about being left behind by the Doctor was touching and made me realize that, unlike Barbara and Ian, she has no one to go back home to.

Joanna is a good choice for Barbara to impersonate. Joanna had spunk! And spunk is just what Babs will need to get out of this scrape. Arrived in a box, indeed. She’s clearly not helping herself by recounting their adventures. And, still, there are more clothing comments.

Speaking of clothing, nice Robin Hood look on Vicki.


Harry -
Or is that "Bob?"


Sarah -
I doubt anything we write on this blog is going to make me laugh as hard as the “Bob” reference!

And, now that we’ve brought up Blackadder, I have to observe that it did a better job with history than this story. I doubt Richard was the temper-throwing type. His brothers were the experts in that behavior. Nor do I imagine him having a hissy fit over the death of a friend.


Harry -
The "court" scenes were delivered in a very Shakespearean manner, which was both good and bad. Good in that the actors could really crank it up, but bad in that these scenes felt very stilted and unnatural, like a bad school play.


Sarah -
I must say, I’ve grown quite fond of reconstructions.... Ooooooo! Look! Jean Marsh as Joanna! All these years and I never knew she had been on Doctor Who. My Dearest Rose! Oh, the times we had at 165 Eaton Place…


Harry -
The best is yet to come...


Sarah -
Sorry? What?


Harry -
Spoilers! Anyway, back to the school play...


Sarah -
Oh yes, Coeur de Leon. Back to that…Ian has been styled Sir Ian. Pretty fancy for a Chemistry teacher.


Harry -
Safe to say he's the coolest Chemistry teacher ever!


Sarah -
And, Barbara is missing again. The things she endures. Honestly, has any other companion ever been so troubled by the men she encounter while traveling with the Doctor?


Harry -
Okay, here's where I will deliver my Angry Rant. It's not that Barbara suffers the indignity of another round of capture-escape-recapture, it's that the whole story feels like a mad, careening rush.

We barely get to meet some of these characters before they disappear from the story. And characters who play a huge role are absent from the start, so we only meet them briefly. This story is screaming out to be a six parter. How did we get stuck with six drawn-out episodes of "The Web Planet" while "The Crusade" is a harshly truncated epic that never was?

I badly wanted to see more of characters like sombre Saladin, or the gleefully maniacal Ibrahim. Maybe there were just too many characters and not enough screen time to go around?


Sarah -
Say it, Brother! I so wanted to love this historical, but it just never happened.

Lasting image: Ian in bondage, but I think it was the threat of ants that cemented the image for me. I really, really hate ants – and here they are again! Three times in one season is more than enough for me, thank you very much.

Favorite moment: Joanna telling Richard off.

Best line: “I am no sack of flour to be given in exchange.” Nice performance by Jean Marsh. Joanna would have made an excellent companion.

Rating: 5/10


Harry -
Alas, so much potential went unfulfilled here. I wanted so much more from this.

Lasting image: Maureen O'Brien as Young Bob.

Favourite moment: Joanna's explosive confrontation with Richard!

Best line: Joanna ponders the mysterious Doctor: "There's something new in you, yet something older than the sky itself."

Rating: 4/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #15 - The Space Museum...

Story #13 - The Web Planet (1965)

Sarah -
Well, now, that was quite...something. Where does one begin?


Harry -
We could begin by lamenting the fact that this story is in black and white. Can you imagine the mind-altering technicolour dreamscape that might have been?

I was reminded of an infamous episode of the 60s Spider-Man cartoon: Revolt in the Fifth Dimension. It's one of the most psychedelic things ever seen on a mainstream programme: a sequence of surreal images bathed in vibrant purples, greens and reds. Check it out, and imagine a version of "The Web Planet" like this.


Sarah -
Good point. Some color and hallucinogens would definitely have helped.


Harry -
Even in black and white, this is Doctor Who breaking new ground again. Not much happens in the first episode -- essentially the TARDIS lands and the crew have a look around. The episode is more a visual treat, from the cheezy looking set to the smearing on the camera lenses, to the Doctor's white hat. I wonder if he has more of them in an assortment of colours!

The aliens are something else. Ambitious concepts, creative designs, 1960s BBC quality. Oh my!

The first appearance of a Menoptra was quite mindblowing. Their halting speech and stylized hand movements were awkward at first, but I got used to them. And I loved the wings!


Sarah -
Wings are cool!


Harry -
The Zarbi were not as cool. The design was cheap looking and it must have been a pain in the arse for the actors to lurch around with a giant exoskeleton on their backs.

Speaking of acting, or lack thereof, I loved William Russell in this story. He plays each scene with a look of bemusement on his face, as if the actor and the character he plays are both thinking "what the hell am I doing here with these ridiculous giant insects?"


Sarah -
I have to agree on Russell. I imagine it would have been difficult to keep a straight face in some of those scenes. I really enjoyed Ian in these scenes.


Harry -
The story is really slow to get started. Once the drama starts to pick up in episode two, I liked the music that was used. It reminded me of some of the pieces from A Clockwork Orange.

What was your first reaction to the alien characters?


Sarah -
The costumes were definitely super-neat-o. The ants, of course, made me want to flee (see "Planet of Giants" discussion for more information on my ant phobia), but the Mentropa were awesome. Imagine how warm those costumes must have been under the studio lights.


Harry -
Not much really happens for most of the story. There's just enough here for a decent four parter, but not enough for six.


Sarah -
I was a bit overwhelmed by other things while trying to watch this story, which no doubt influenced my viewing. As much as I tried, I just couldn't get into the story. It seemed to move as slowly as the Menoptra spoke!


Harry -
Just when you get over the giant moths and ants, along come the grunting grubs! Or are they leaping larvae? And who was that little cockroach critter? What a zoo!


Sarah -
What was with the cheesy psuedo-Spanish accent from the cockroach?


Harry -
Yeesh.  I've been mentally reviewing the story again, and the whole thing -- the look, the tone, the action -- all of it is infused with weirdness. And weirdest of all is the Animus, a disembodied voice that communicates, as the Doctor put it, via a salon hair dryer. The voice is mysterious, but never really as menacing as it is made out to be.


Sarah -
Yeah, the Big Bad never felt that big nor bad. You're correct that it would have been a better four parter. There were so many places where it just felt so drawn out and tedious.

Would it be wrong to jump to the finish here?


Harry -
No. I don't have much else to say. Thin story, interesting concepts but a weak execution, and the actors seemed to be going through the motions, for the most part (those who weren't doing all those hand motions anyway).


Sarah -
Lasting image: The Doctor in the "hair dryer."

Favorite moment: Vicki's reaction when Barbara tells her the bracelet came from Nero. (Telling that my favorite moment comes from another story, no?)

Best line: “One of these days I’m going to have a jolly good spring clean around here." I liked Barbara's little moment of domesticity in the midst of crisis.

Rating: 4/10


Harry -
Lasting image: Ian hanging around with one of the Menoptra.

Favourite moment: the Menoptra invasion scene.

Best line: "Apart from rubbing our back legs together like some sort of grasshopper, I doubt that we could get on speaking terms with them." The Doctor puts it bluntly.

Rating: Our first real dud! 4/10


 

 


Our marathon continues with Story #14 - The Crusade...

Story #12 - The Romans (1965)

Harry -
Just when you thought Doctor Who might be settling into a comfy template, along comes "The Romans."


Sarah -
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your sofas! I come to discuss "The Romans" – a story I enjoyed even more than anticipated.


Harry -
We meet up with a TARDIS crew having a positively languorous time in an ancient Roman villa. It turns out that they have been chilling out for almost a month! Who cares about London, don't worry about the TARDIS, pass the grapes. I love it! I'm envious!


Sarah -
Ancient Rome and the living is easy – grapes, wine, fancy duds, and trips to the marketplace! The Doctor is in fine form once again. Hartnell is utterly delightful in the opening scenes, living the high life. I love him more with each story.


Harry -
Almost the entire first episode is taken up with Ian and Barbara drinking, frolicking and lounging (as Rob notes, there is definitely a relationship there if there wasn't before!).


Sarah -
I loved their scenes! There’s all kinds of hubba-hubba going on below the surface, isn’t there? On top of that, they both look fabulous – especially after Barbara gives Ian his makeover. (And, can I just mention Ian’s excellent gams?)


Harry -
I love it when we get glimpses of Ian's gams!

*ahem*

Tearing himself away from Barbara's exotic cooking (she can do it all!), the Doctor sets off for what he deems "a few days" and takes Vicki along. From this point on, the story breaks into parallel plots involving mistaken identity, capture and escape, danger and hilarity.


Sarah -
You should know by now that nothing is beyond the scope of Barbara Wright! She can do anything!

The Doctor rolls with every situation he encounters on the road, never flustered or worried. Vicki is delightful. I couldn’t help but think that Susan would be falling off a cliff or something when the Doctor assumed the identity of Maximus Pettulian.


Harry -
*bursts out laughing*

"OH GRANDFATHER!!!!"


Sarah -
I love Vicki’s mischievous look of amusement whenever the Doctor explains things to her. It’s as if she sees through his bluster and completely understands him.


Harry -
She's a sharp one beneath that pixie exterior.

In the second episode, our heroes are all thrust into unpleasant situations. Well, other than the Doctor apparently. Do my eyes deceive me or did we just see a William Hartnell fight scene? And he kicked ass, laughing all the way!


Sarah -
Never underestimate the Doctor! He doesn’t have to play the action hero often, but stands at the ready when called upon. “I am so constantly outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction of the gentle art of fisticuffs.” Classic!


Harry -
I loved the final flip at the end just as Vicki entered.

Meanwhile, Barbara is captured by slave traders, and Ian is made a galley slave. The idle frivolity of the previous episode seems long gone all of a sudden.


Sarah -
Alas, no one who travels in the TARDIS is allowed a Roman holiday, after all.


Harry -
By the midway point of the story, I would argue that "The Romans" is still delivering what we are coming to expect from a Hartnell historical. I never would have predicted what would come next...


Sarah -
I never would have expected it to turn into a drawing room comedy!


Harry -
...and cue the theme music from Benny Hill!


Sarah -
*bursts out laughing *


Harry -
As soon as Nero enters the scene, this story descends into a farce of the highest order. The Roman Caesar chasing Barbara for a smooch. The Doctor's brazen lyre pantomime. Nero's servant oh-so-typically dropping dead from the poison draught. It's buffoonery, utter buffoonery!


Sarah -
The lyre concert was a highlight. Hartnell looked like he was having the time of his life. Meanwhile, Barbara finds herself manhandled yet again! Honestly, the thing a girl has to put up with. While I’m usually one to tut-tut about things like this, I found myself enjoying the buffoonish Nero.


Harry -
And yet, we can't entirely enjoy ourselves. Ian survives a shipwreck only to be locked up in a Roman prison. Barbara becomes the target of a murder attempt. The going is still rough for the regulars, and yet, Nero's outlandish caricature dominates. It was as if the story couldn't decide what it wanted to be.


Sarah -
It was all over the place, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly. I gasped when it seemed that Nero had stabbed Barbara, but had actually killed the guard standing next to her. Not my Barbara!


Harry -
A couple of things that I really liked about this story:

First, the numerous strands of the Doctor and Vicki, Ian and Barbara all diverging, then almost converging in Rome, then diverging again only to be reunited back at the villa. I loved all those near misses among the characters.


Sarah -
That was one of my favorite things about the story – so well orchestrated!


Harry -
Second, I liked that everyone got into the spirit of things by donning local dress. That feature was more-or-less dropped after the early years of Doctor Who, but I wish we could see more of that, BBC wardrobe budgets be damned!


Sarah -
The costumes were great, weren’t they? I enjoyed Vicki calling the Doctor out on lecturing her about how they weren’t supposed to influence history after he set the map on fire. Her cheeky, “Alright, you have it your way; I’ll have it mine,” endeared her to me.

The final scene in the villa was wonderfully cozy, everyone teasing and chastising each other. What a merry band! An utterly delightful story.


Harry -
As a comedy story, it's pretty good. I don't think I would show this one to a new viewer, because it would leave the impression that Doctor Who was a silly romp, and not a serious science fiction program, which must be taken seriously at all times (bluster bluster).


Sarah -
I'm feeling more generous -- and gave up caring about new viewers decades ago!


Harry -
Lasting image: Nero's ridiculous faces!

Favourite moment: the Doctor laughing through his entire fight scene.

Best line: "Oh, something else I forgot to tell you. I think I’ve poisoned Nero." Vicki puts it so nonchalantly.

Rating: 7/10


Sarah -
Vicki is excellent and I can't wait to see more of her!

Lasting image: The Doctor’s Lyre concert!

Favorite moment: All the near misses in the corridors.

Best line: “I am so constantly outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction of the gentle art of fisticuffs.”

Rating: 8/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #13 - The Web Planet...

Story #11 - The Rescue (1965)

Sarah -
Well now, that was a sprightly little thing. Not the greatest story ever told, but very effective character-driven storytelling to introduce us to our new companion!


Harry -
After the wild action ride of "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", this two-part quickie lets us all catch our breath. It's a nice little bridge between the Susan and Vicki eras.


Sarah -
It’s a nice little palate cleanser, isn’t it? We begin with the TARDIS landing, but cut quickly to the view of a crashed ship. In the ship, we meet Vicki – V-I-C-K-I – and could she be more adorable? Well, no, of course she could not!


Harry -
I agree. She's fab!


Sarah -
She’s cute, spunky, adorable and enthusiastic, with a great sense of style.


Harry -
And fab!


Sarah -
Very fab! Unfortunately, the only other human around seems to be a major crank named Bennett and we know we don’t like him! (That being the Royal We and all…)


Harry -
There's something about Bennett that rubs us the wrong way immediately. You can almost see the cloud hanging over his head.


Sarah -
Vicki is excited because it seems their rescue ship has landed.


Harry -
If someone was coming to take me away from Bennett, I'd be excited too!


Sarah -
Bennett warns her to watch out for Koquillion, but we haven’t met Koquillion yet.


Harry -
Seriously, this guy projects "ulterior motives" like nobody's business.


Sarah -
Meanwhile, back at the TARDIS, the Doctor seems to have slept through the landing. Barbara and Ian wake him and he’s sleepy and flustered, which leads to one of Hartnell’s most charming scenes yet. I just wanted to hug him when Barbara tells him that the trembling has stopped and he responds “My Dear, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”


Harry -
That was comedy gold!


Sarah -
Barbara’s solicitude when he starts to give Susan a direction to open the door is so sweet. As a bonus, she finally gets to learn how to open the door. And then the Doctor is all charming again when he reminds Barbara and Ian that he can hear everything they’re saying!


Harry -
The old fellow will be fine. Look at his one-on-one moments with Vicki in the ship -- he's already assuming the mantle of grandfatherly protector.

As for Bennett, our suspicions prove true. The guy is warped! My favourite moment of the story is the Doctor's confrontation with "Koquillion" in the Didonian Hall of Judgement. The production crew managed to make the space look vast and mysterious. I love the quick cut from the close up of the Doctor as he calls out Bennett, to Bennett emerging from the darkness behind the Doctor. The end is rapidly approaching for one of them!


Sarah -
That was a great scene! All the sets were wonderful, but the Hall of Judgement was particularly effective. I loved that the Doctor gets to play the action hero, even if he does need the Didonians to save him in the end.


Harry -
What did you think of Koquillion's getup? It seemed terribly impractical, unless you just wanted to shuffle around freaking people out.


Sarah -
It’s a pretty violent costume for a people to whom violence is an alien concept.


Harry -
Could be worse. You could be the poor soul who had to haul themselves around in the Sandy costume. Poor Sandy!


Sarah -
Poor Sandy, indeed. The exciting watch-the-Doctor-and-Ian-try-not-to-fall-off-the-edge scene was a little less than exciting, no?


Harry -
When they did the cutback to the wide shot, I laughed out loud at the "dangerous" 5 foot drop to Sandy below. From the Slyther to Sandy, this is a bit of a weak patch for monsters.

I wish we had been keeping a count, but Barbara is becoming something of a killing machine. Keep the guns away from her!


Sarah -
How can she ever go back to the classroom?

And the Doctor, after telling Vicki she looks a mess, becomes appropriately solicitous of her. Vicki and Barbara even make up for the killing of Sandy. So, our new companion is invited aboard the TARDIS!


Harry -
I'm looking forward to Vicki's stories. She seems more sure of foot than Susan.


Sarah -
All is well until the TARDIS materializes on the edge of a cliff. Onward and downward to our next adventure!


Harry -
Overall, this was a neat little vignette. I can't rate it too highly because it didn't particularly blow me away, but at least Vicki's on board now. Onward! And downward!


Sarah -
Lasting image: Barbara shooting the gun.

Favourite moment: The Doctor confronting Koquillion/Bennett in the Hall of Judgement.

Best line: "My Dear, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”

Rating: 7/10


Harry -
Lasting image: Koquillion's first appearance beside the TARDIS.

Favourite moment: The Doctor-Bennett showdown.

Best line: "You wiped out an entire civilisation just to save your own skin. You're insane!" The Doctor's disgust was palpable.

Rating: 6/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #12 - The Romans...

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...