Story #35 - The Faceless Ones (1967)

Sarah -
I like getting straight to the action – Police Box on the Runway! One can’t help but wonder, if an airplane was coming straight at you, wouldn’t one be safer in the TARDIS than dashing across the runway?


Harry -
Well, the Doctor decided that "Scatter!" was a better option, so everyone obliged. I love the opening minutes of this story - in fact, the entire first episode is a rush of action. Everyone scampering around Gatwick, with Bobbies and police motorcycles in pursuit, and 60s action music full on. Classic stuff.

It's interesting to contrast the pacey opening to the remarkably tepid finale - but I'm getting ahead of myself.


Sarah -
I'll resist the urge to get both of us ahead of ourselves.

In any case, the action begins and our heroes are immediately separated. Poor Polly encounters a bloke with a death ray and apparent alien overlord. Has no one told this guy that killing a cop is never a good idea and always dooms you in the end?


Harry -
It's poor Polly's turn to be separated from her friends and brainwashed. At least the writers kept a rotation going.


Sarah -
It's inevitable when you travel with the Doctor, isn't it?


Harry -
Indeed. Wasn't that Captain Blade a chilly bastard? His henchman Spencer too. Even though their plots seemed improvised and incoherent at times, at least their tone was consistent. They never strayed into histrionics - these were very "grown up" alien villains. Mysterious too - their secrets were teased out to the audience at just the right pace.


Sarah -
I love the calm, cool, and collected tone that all the aliens use. Positively menacing.


Harry -
My favourite 60s DW stories are the ones set in contemporary (for its day) London. The look, the sound, the classiness of it all - and the fact that they are now historicals in their own right. Wild.

Even though this adventure takes place at an aeroport, there is still an intimate feel to the story because everything takes place in only a handful of rooms. What I'm trying to say is, I really like this story!


Sarah -
I love this story! After the drudge of "The Macra Terror", I was more than ready for a great story and "The Faceless Ones" more than delivers!


Harry -
It's also an important story because of the big companions shift that takes place. After part two, Ben and Polly vanish and Jamie has the spotlight all to himself - that is, until the lass from Liverpool bursts onto the scene.


Sarah -
Remember, this is my first time watching "The Faceless Ones".


Harry -
Mine too.


Sarah -
I nearly jumped off my sofa when she first appeared…


Harry -
Me too!


Sarah -
...but more on that later.


Harry -
One of the most striking images of the story comes right after Polly is snatched away by Spencer, and the Doctor and Jamie are seen strolling amiably away, as if they've always been best mates. It's one of those moments where you suddenly realize that the show has made a Big Shift.


Sarah -
They’ve always been best mates, haven’t they?


Harry -
It was interesting to read Rob and Toby's notes on this story. I was unaware that Samantha Briggs was all-but the next companion, had Pauline Collins not turned the opportunity down. I'd love to hear her thoughts today, to find out whether she regrets the decision or not.


Sarah -
Oh my, I’ll have to dash off and read that. (Sorry, Rob and Toby, I try not to consult your work until I’ve gotten my thoughts down – don’t want to be unduly influenced.)


Harry -
Anyway, when Samantha first appeared at the Chameleon kiosk to question Polly, there was something familiar about her. It was driving me nuts until I realized where else I'd seen her (and no, I'm not talking about Shirley Valentine).


Sarah -
Because obviously you’re thinking of her dynamic performance as Sarah on Upstairs, Downstairs! That little minx! First Jean Marsh, then Pauline Collins! We’ll have to go more than two decades to see Simon Williams in "Remembrance of the Daleks" but it will be well worth the wait. Pauline Collins is a positive spitfire and brings all she’s got to the role of Samantha, she would have probably kicked the Doctor out and stolen the TARDIS eventually, so it’s probably best that she didn’t stick around.

Oh…wait…I suspect you were referring to an appearance Collins will make forty years hence, which merely backs up my point that she’s a absolute firecracker in any role she assumes!

Sorry, we were discussing something else, weren’t we? I get a little distracted when the subject of Upstairs, Downstairs comes up.


Harry -
A brilliant digression, Sarah!


Sarah -
If we had an Upstairs, Downstairs blog, I would probably digress about Doctor Who. (Hmm, now there’s an idea. We’ll need a project when we finish this one in ten or so years.)


Harry -
Hah! And yes, I was referring to Pauline's grand return to Doctor Who as Queen Victoria almost four decades later. I love seeing actors who return to DW.


Sarah -
It’s loads of fun.


Harry -
But we'll get to that story eventually (I hope!). Turning back to "The Faceless Ones" you can totally see how the combination of Jamie and Samantha was being positioned as the Doctor's companions moving forward. Both are strong characters who will go to the wall for people they care about, and they definitely have an eye for each other. A peck on the cheek from Jamie, and a full on kiss at the end. The Doctor might have had to pry those two apart every time the TARDIS landed. Oh my word!


Sarah -
Oh my smootchies! Even with the telesnaps, things were getting a little heated! Nice touch picking Sam’s pocket during a kiss.


Harry -
It's odd feeling deprived by something that didn't happen in 1967, and we only found out about now.


Sarah -
Still, we’ll always have Paris…and China…and Troy…and Kembel…and Skaro…and, oh you get the picture.


Harry -
This recap is turning into a Salman Rushdie novel for all its digressions! Anyway, as the Chameleons' plot is revealed, the action picks up aboard their mother ship - which in keeping with the era looks like an aeroport cocktail lounge.


Sarah -
Loved the airplane turning into a space ship!


Harry -
This for me was where things got very interesting. Each side is suddenly at the mercy of the other, and a stalemate ensues. Instead of outwitting the aliens or relying on a stroke of blind luck, the Doctor negotiates with them. And instead of shrieking and blowing things up, the aliens negotiate with the Doctor. That's how shit is supposed to go down every time! And yet, this is one of the only stories I can remember that ended this way - not with a BBC bang, but with calmness and diplomacy (under the threat of a big stick, but still).


Sarah -
I found myself trying to recall a story that was ended so amicably. I liked how in charge the Doctor was. Troughton has spent most of his time as the Doctor flying by the seat of his pants, which I love, but which doesn’t inspire the calm and control Hartnell often brought to the character.


Harry -
Of course, if every story ended this way, Doctor Who would have been cancelled after one season.


Sarah -
You’ve got a point there.


Harry -
It is an action show, after all. But I'm so glad we got an ending like this, even just once, to show that it doesn't always have to be explosions and death for all involved.


Sarah -
So civilized.


Harry -
This is easily the most "grown up" story we've seen so far, don't you think?


Sarah -
It’s definitely not kiddie TV!

I’d like to sprint back a bit and talk about the humans at the airport. I started off being amused by the crankiness of the Commandant, but really liked him by the end of the story. He’s such a stereotypical bureaucrat – focused on the job, humorless, unimaginative.


Harry -
Oh gosh, he was the perfect miserable bureaucrat. I know so many like him!


Sarah -
He has his boorish moments, like when his charming assistant, Jean, takes the initiative to phone the hotels where Chameleon flies, he yells at her for spending too much on calls. Still, Jane’s detective work gives them the break they need to figure out what’s going on. Eventually, he evolves enough to accept that there is more to the universe and eventually goes along with the Doctor’s plan, despite his initial reluctance.


Harry -
This was a fantastic, well fleshed-out six parter.


Sarah -
It’s probably time to get to the issue of this being Ben and Polly’s last story.


Harry -
*cue sad 60s music, laden with strings and faux harpsichords*


Sarah -
It’s a pity they were treated so shabbily – both in character and on the set. Dispatching of them in the second episode is just adding insult to injury.


Harry -
Toby's recap of the actors' departure was sad to read.


Sarah -
Early on, the Doctor and Jamie brush off Polly’s concerns, promising to look after her and ignoring her concerns over Ben’s absence. Then they don’t even notice when she’s kidnapped!

Her rejoinder to Spencer, “You don’t think my friends are just going to forget me like that, do you?” made me wonder just a bit as they seem to have done just that. Just two blokes out for a stroll are Our Jamie and the Doctor.

Then Polly gets replaced with posh, snooty Polly, who doesn’t know her friends.

Ben at least gets a bit to do before he’s dispatched. The scene with the Doctor, Jamie and Ben in the photo booth, having a secret conversation and pretending to take a photo whenever anyone tried to enter may just be the funniest scene of the entire series so far!


Harry -
I loved that last bit of group zaniness.


Sarah -
Ben then finds himself immobilized and it’s “Cheerio, Mate!”


Harry -
At least they got a final scene - and a well-done one at that. It would have been maddening if they had only been spoken of at the end, someone telling the Doctor that they had been seen jumping into a cab for London or something like that.


Sarah -
They had to have a final scene after the Dodo debacle!


Harry -
The goodbyes were emotional and well-played. A great chunk of fanhood likes to believe that Ben and Polly ended up sticking together, and I'm part of that group. They were very cute together.


Sarah -
I believe the mention of Polly and Ben in the Sarah Jane Adventures makes it canon that they stayed together. At the very least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. They were both excellent characters and I want them to have a happy fictional future together.

While it was sad for us, Polly and Ben's departure may be the most positive since Barbara and Ian.


Harry -
And in keeping with this wild chase of a story, we end with the TARDIS gone missing. OH MY WORD!


Sarah -
Indeed! Let's dash ahead to our next adventure, where I suspect we'll run into some old friends...

Best Line: “Ben can catch his ship and become an admiral and you, Polly, you can look after Ben.”

Favorite Moment: Polly and Ben’s final look back at the Doctor. I got teary-eyed.

Lasting Image: Smiling in the photo booth. I'm giggling again just thinking about it.

9/10


Harry -
Best Line: "It's a flying beastie!"

Favourite Moment: The TARDIS lands, everyone scatters and the adventure begins.

Lasting Image: Jamie and the Doctor strolling away together, a classic imagesfrom the Second Doctor era.

9/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #36 - The Evil of the Daleks...

Story #34 - The Macra Terror (1967)

Harry -
My word, it took forever to get through that one. Did I mention I'm developing a slow-boiling hate for recons?


Sarah -
Oh, My Dear Harry, it's like a slog through the thickest mud. It takes all my energy to stay positive.


Harry -
What struck me about "The Macra Terror" is that it is a feast for the senses. We were denied so many visuals here: the majorettes on parade, the Macra attacks, and Jamie's highland fling! Boo recons! Damn you BBC!

At least we had the full audio. And what a cacophony! Delia and Co. must have had a blast coming up with the incidental bits like the majorettes' music.


Sarah -
One suspects that 1966 is the year LSD hit the Beeb. The soundtrack is INSANE!

How I'd love to see the majorettes parade in motion.


Harry -
Looking beyond the frustrating stills and relentless noise, "The Macra Terror" is an interesting little adventure. At times, I found it a study in psychological terror, other times it was an anti-establishment satire.

The root of the story is a colony fallen under the control of parasitic insects, who utilize Orwellian tactics to keep the human colonists under control.

Enter the TARDIS crew, who take a flipping great fly swatter to the whole thing.


Sarah -
On a mission to irritate the baddies of the galaxy since 1963!


Harry -
Our friends Rob and Toby declare this story to be a classic. I'm not quite there, but I do agree with much they have to say. The Doctor is brilliant here, tweaking the nose of authority, throwing spanners into the works, and even awarding himself 10 out of 10s for his mathematical skills. Cheeky!


Sarah -
Troughton's delightful performance helped me through the rather challenging recon. I laughed loudly at the Doctor's reaction to the grooming machine -- inserting himself into the muscle-toning machine to get properly messed up again!


Harry -
Madcap!

This time, it's Ben's turn to fall under the sway of the enemy via their nighttime brainwashing. I was genuinely angry with him for lacking the willpower of Polly and Jamie, but he still showed flashes of bravery, as when he rescued Polly from one of the Macra.


Sarah -
Poor Ben, always so solid and reliable. I felt so badly for him being the one to succumb to the Macra.


Harry -
And how about those Macra, eh? The stills and brief snippets of footage depict lumbering, claw-waving hulks with glowing headlights for eyes. I couldn't help but think of them as Volkswagons that had become sentient, not so much "crabs" as "bugs" if you know what I mean.


Sarah -
OMG, that's perfect. I guess they might be scary if one found oneself face to face...but not so much in the stills.


Harry -
I guess the pivotal scene was the "man behind the curtain" moment. This was when the Controller was revealled to be a confused old man, who was then attacked by a Macra. It's only the end of part two, and the façade of the colony has been ripped away. Yet the colonists are unfazed by what they've seen, and it's up to our heroes to overthrow the system once and for all.


Sarah -
It really takes a lot to get through to these colonists doesn't it?


Harry -
But not before Jamie gets caught in a gas-filled tunnel, Ben fights to overcome his subconscious indoctrination, and Polly and the Doctor figure out a solution.

I don't know. This is such a straightforward story, but the telling of it was so bizarre. Like Jamie making his way to the "glee club" practice room and dancing a highland fling. Crazy!


Sarah -
I kind of like the randomness of that whole thing.


Harry -
Kudos to the production crew for creating such a distinctly bizarre story! It was Doctor Who, The Prisoner and 1984 mashed into one.


Sarah -
I feel better knowing I wasn't the only one reminded of The Prisoner.


Harry -
Perhaps that could be our next marathon, sometime in the 2020s!


Sarah -
I'm not sure if it was me or the low-quality of the recon, but I just couldn't get caught up in this story. I was relieved when the "Stranger's Trophy" was presented and we could get the heck off that planet. We're not done with the Macra, mind you, but what's forty years between friends?


Harry -
Indeed!

I'm ready to wrap this one up.

Best line: In lieu of any particular zinger, I'm giving the award to Delia Derbyshire and her amazing score.

Favourite moment: The big party at the end. Everyone was in such great spirits before dancing away.

Lasting image: Ben and Polly clinging to each other in panto terror.

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line: I'll give this one to the Doctor : "Bad laws were made to be broken"

Favorite Moment: The Doctor getting cleaned up and immediately messed up again.

Lasting Image: The Highland Fling!

6/10

Our marathon continues with Story #35 - The Faceless Ones...

Story #33 - The Moonbase (1967)

Harry -
As we continue our calm, affable stroll along the corridor that is this marathon -- Rob and Toby having sprinted far off into the distance -- I love being able to revisit stories that I watched years ago. Like this one.


Sarah -
"Calm, affable stroll" makes me feel a bit less guilty for taking far too long to get through this story.


Harry -
Aye, it's no' a race, as Jamie might put it.


Sarah -
Not at our pace, Sunshine.


Harry -
What I meant to say was how the passage of time can create false impressions of Doctor Who stories not seen for a while. Like this one.

I was really looking forward to re-watching "The Moonbase", thinking it to be one of the most bestest Cybermen stories ever. Having watched it again, all those warm and fuzzy memories turned out to be deceiving.

That's not to say it's a bad story, it's just not the one I remembered.


Sarah -
This is my first viewing of "The Moonbase", but I know what you mean. I've had a similar experience with other Doctor Who stories.

It's not a bad story. A bit of a retread of "The Tenth Planet" in some ways, but not bad.


Harry -
A retread in many respects: TARDIS lands on the moon, crew explores and gets into the local moonbase, which is soon menaced by metal giants. Cue spacey-timpani score!


Sarah -
After the awful score of the last story, I have to say I thought "The Moonbase's" score was quite good.


Harry -
Unlike "The Tenth Planet," where the gruff General Cutler lorded over a stressed out crew, the crew of this moonbase is naive and overly friendly. Commander Hobson ("Hobby" to the lads) is like a baffled old uncle who can barely follow what's going on. The rest of the crew seem no less baffled at times.


Sarah -
Hard to believe these guys are in charge of the Earth's weather!


Harry -
Luckily the Doctor is there to... hold on, even the Doctor seems a bit quiet in the early going. Actually, this story seemed to take forever to get going. It's basically the Doctor and his friends welcomed to the moonbase with no alarm at all among the crew, an injured Jamie bleating on about the Phantom Piper, and a series of rather clumsy kidnappings. Not what I remembered at all.

I was shocked that the Cybermen didn't even speak until episode three!


Sarah -
That probably wasn't a bad thing. I couldn't really understand most of what they said, anyway. It was an improvement over their sing-songy voices in "The Tenth Planet", but hard to decipher at times.


Harry -
The new Cybervoices are evil! So evil! As a child, if I could make out what they were saying, I would have been terrified!

And I think that's what makes this the most kid-oriented DW story yet - the black-and-whiteness of it all, with loads of silliness. The Doctor does a lot of silly things here: crawling around and removing items of clothing from oblivious crew members, pretending to make awesome discoveries with science equipment, even having audible conversations with himself.


Sarah -
That was completely brilliant! I loved the Doctor's inner dialogue scene!


Harry -
The moonbase crew are assured of their silly status by way of those shower caps. Ben blends into the furniture while Jamie bleats on, so it's up to Polly to devise a concoction to thwart the Cybermen. It felt like watching the first season again, where some Actual Science featured in the story.


Sarah -
Benoit was my favorite member of the crew. If his outrageous accent wasn't enough to let us silly English k...niggets know he was FRAWNCH, the neck scarf was there to remove all doubt.


Harry -
I kept waiting for Nils, the so-called "mad Dane" to live up to his name, but it never happened, so Benoit's my favourite too.


Sarah -
Also, I could not get it out of my head that he looked like Mr. Bean and kept waiting for more silliness to ensue.

Ben's shirt is quite excellent.

Jamie is...well, he's Jamie, which is to say adorable.

It's Our Polly who rises to the challenge and saves the day. Barbara would be so proud! Who knew getting manicures could save the planet?


Harry -
The devising of the "Polly cocktail" was another great moment for her character. 


Back to the Cybermen. Unless I missed something, their whole plot could be summed up with the words "destroy everything." Such an unambiguous, kid-friendly story, it was practically panto.


Sarah -
Which is why Mr. Bean fits in so nicely.

Speaking of the set. Oh were we? I guess we are now.

Speaking of the set, I quite liked that modernist balloon sculpture that seemed to be an important part of controlling the Earth's weather. Speaking of the Earth's weather, I'm not quite liking this cold and wet Spring we're having so far. Those blokes on the moon are really shirking their responsibilities these days.

Oh, wait, we were actually talking about Cybermen weren't we? They've upgraded nicely in the few centuries since we last met them, haven't they?


Harry -
The giant headlamps have been steamlined nicely. I'm not a fan of those spikey gloves, or those wiffle balls attached to their bodies.

They are a tenacious lot, though their tactics leave a lot to be desired. For a race of "upgraded" beings, seeing them sneaking about like rats doesn't seem right. When they do attempt a frontal assault, their weaponry fails. As a final humiliation, the Doctor and friends send the Cybermen floating off into space. Hurrah everybody!


Sarah -
Some things just never turn out the way you plan, do they?

The Cybermen clearly need to work out some of the kinks and get back to us. It's nice to know there are always things we can count on in Doctor Who.


Harry -
Like wobbling sets... literally! I'm talking about the part two cliffhanger, when a Cyberman leaps off one of the beds in the medical room. Not only does the bed rock, but you can hear it go "WOB-BLE, WOB-BLEWOB-BLE, WOB-BLEWOB-BLEWOB-BLE" as the credits roll. Fantastic!


Sarah -
I was waiting for the bed to collapse and take the Cyberman with it!


Harry -
Overall, "The Moonbase" is a light romp with lots of fun moments, but not exactly a Cyberclassic.

Best line: The Cyberman's mocking "Clever, clever, clever."

Favourite moment: The sequence where, after a big buildup, the Cybermen's laser cannon fails to crack the moonbase dome, and they pack it up again with resignation.

Lasting image: Benoit working the gravitron controls in shower cap and scarf. Oh la la!

7/10


Sarah -
Best line: Jamie, having asked the Doctor to land someplace on purpose: "Oh, thank the lord for that. You know, Doctor, I'll never ask you to do that again."

Favourite moment: The Doctor's chat with himself.

Lasting image: It's got to be the shower cap!

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #34 - The Macra Terror...

Story #32 - The Underwater Menace (1967)

Sarah -
Are there any two words that warm a Whovian’s heart as quickly as “surviving episode"?


Harry -
Hurrah!


Sarah -
After soldiering on through recons for what seems like ages, it’s a delight to have an entire episode of footage – the earliest surviving episode of the Second Doctor’s era – in "The Underwater Menace." I know we’re focused on the stories, but it’s so much easier to enjoy a story when I can see what’s happening.


Harry -
I'm trying not to hate the recons because we still have many more to soldier through.

Check this out -- someone's found a way to find some humour in it:

LINK 


Sarah -
Love it!

The story gets off to a slow start in the first episode. It’s time for Jamie to acclimate to the TARDIS. The moment where they all suggest what they’d like to do next is fun – prehistoric monsters for the Doctor – but things drag a bit from there.


Harry -
I love the childlike/maniacal glee with which the Doctor hopes to encounter prehistoric monsters!


Sarah -
The TARDIS crew separates, as they are apparently contractually obligated to do, and end up almost immediately back together in an elevator taking them farther and farther beneath the sea.


Harry -
That all seemed a bit of filler. But I guess it was there to build up the mystery of Our Heroes whereabouts, to the big reveal...


Sarah -
I don’t think we’re in Cornwall, Polly! But where are they? The future? The past? Clever Polly has the answer. Having found at bracelet from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, she reckons they’re in 1970.


Harry -
That was so random!


Sarah -
But it’s the future! Disembarking from the lift, they’re given a dinner of plankton, which the Doctor eats with delight, prompting one the best lines of the story from Polly -- “I’ve never seem him go for food like this before; it’s usually hats.” It would be a pity to go an episode without a hat reference, wouldn’t it?


Harry -
I laughed.


Sarah -
Who wouldn’t? Speaking of tropes, it’s been a while since we’ve had a human sacrifice, so let’s toss in a high priest who has been alerted by the goddess that visitors are coming. What would Yetaxa have to say about the TARDIS crew being fed to a pool of sharks?


Harry -
Yeah, here's where the story suddenly accelerates into bizzaro land. Can I just say that the Atlantean fashions are my favourite costumes so far? Especially the fish-head masks. I loved them!


Sarah -
It was a good look.


Harry -
And did you notice who played the high priest Lolem? It was Peter Stephens, who played Cyril the naughty schoolboy in "The Celestial Toymaker." Now he's all grown up and leading sacrifice rituals!


Sarah -
I did not! How far Cyril has come. Unfortunately for Lolem, the story sprints past him. Fortunately for everyone else, the Doctor has heard the name of Professor Zaroff, the greatest scientific genius since Leonardo, mentioned and manages to get a serving girl to carry a message to him – a note that is signed Dr. W. (Just trying to stir up some trouble by bringing that up…)


Harry -
The showmakers were so inconsistent with how to reference the Doctor during these early years, it's no wonder the debate has raged on to the present day. But back to Zaroff.


Sarah -
Zaroff stops the sacrifice to avoid, in the Doctor’s words, having “a modern scientific mind like mine sacrificed to heathen idol.” Zaroff likes the Doctor’s sense of humor, and decides to let him hang around, revealing his ultimate plan to raise Atlantis from the sea. Meanwhile, Jamie and Ben are sent to the mines and Polly is to be converted to being a fish person.

Whew! I take it back, this story doesn’t get off to a slow start – it jams a whole story into the first episode!


Harry -
Yeah, the second half of this episode was non-stop weirdness. From the mystery setting and era, to the peculiar coupling of Atlanteans and modern scientists. Ancient rituals in one room, mad science operations in the next.

Is it any wonder Jamie says barely a word during all of this? I picture him standing at the back, brow furrowed, wondering just what the feck is going on here.


Sarah -
Oh, Jamie. I’m not going to lie – the highlight of the surviving episode for me was Jamie in the wet suit. I got a little light-headed, much as I did when Frazer Hines explained to me at Chicago TARDIS that he was wearing a shirt he had worn back on the series. I know he was saying words, but all I remember was a slight ringing in my ears. If I recall, that was when I passed out and you rolled me under the table out of harm’s way. I can’t thank you enough for the assist, Dear Harry.


Harry -
I'm there to help, Old Girl.


Sarah -
Don’t call me Old Girl!

Sorry, what were we discussing? Oh yes, Zaroff’s plans to drain ocean and blow up the world for the achievement of it. For a show that’s about a time-traveling scientist, there are some seriously wacked-out scientists mucking about. Still, Doctor is good at humoring them – or at least mixing gasses to overtake them.


Harry -
Zaroff is compelling in a "James Bond supervillain" sort of way, but also frustrating in that there seems to be so much delicious backstory to him, but we never learn any of it. I might have to check out the Target novelisation.


Sarah -
Have you got that one?


Harry -
No, but I'm tempted to fish around online for one.

Another compelling character is the servant girl, Ara. She's everywhere! Carrying messages, helping our friends, creating diversions, what an amazing person!


Sarah -
The hardest working maid in Atlantis!


Harry -
I still can't get my head around how bizarre this story is. Let's just backup a bit. The TARDIS lands on a volcanic island, where a seemingly modern elevator takes them down a shaft to Atlantis. Could the Atlanteans not ride the shaft to the surface? Could Zaroff or Damon not have arranged to bring them to the modern world? Why the heck did they remain sequestered down there?


Sarah -
And why did they have such bushy eyebrows?


Harry -
And why, despite the Doctor's warning, does King Thous have complete faith in Zaroff?

Then there's the plankton-farming Fish People. Utterly bizarro! I can't handle this!


Sarah -
And we haven’t even started discussing the Fish People ballet yet! If we only get one surviving episode, I’m so happy it’s the one with the ballet. It’s INSANE!


Harry -
This episode reminded me of "The Web Planet", where you have the writers coming up with amazing concepts, but the production crew unable to pull it off.

And I've never liked those fish-eyed costumes. They creep me out.


Sarah -
I liked shipwreck survivors Sean and Jacko, even if Sean was a walking stereotype – all he needed was a pint of Jameson’s to complete the role. “It will take a great gift of the gab to win them over.” “Well, you are Irish.” Thanks Doctor, after that he can sing them his version of Danny Boy!


Harry -
Oh my! Throw in Zaroff as the Balkan gangster and we've got something to offend everyone!


Sarah -
The Doctor gets to dress up again! His gypsy look with sunglasses was particularly fetching. It was perfect for the madcap little romp around the market.


Harry -
The story descends into complete folly during that scene. I couldn't take it seriously after that -- and I barely did before!


Sarah -
I have to call out the music in this story. It’s just awful – like a bad silent movie.


Harry -
Yeah, maybe it was overloud or something, but I found it interfered with the story.


Sarah -
It was horribly intrusive.


Harry -
And when I say "story", do we still have one by the time we get to episode four? "The Underwater Menace" has dissolved into a ceaseless romp round Atlantis, our heroes chasing and being chased by comic baddies.

And after all that, Zaroff suddenly pulls out the most evil looking pistol we've yet to see on Doctor Who. He had a gun the whole time! So while he was engaging in swordplay, and hauling Polly around, and faking heart attacks, he could have just pulled a gun the whole time. AARGH!


Sarah -
This story is completely INSANE and I kind of love it. I know it’s not terribly well-respected in fandom, but I really quite enjoyed it – despite all its failings. Or maybe because of them.

I desperately hope they will “build a new Atlantis without gods and without fish people.”


Harry -
Oh those Atlanteans, what a passive bunch of drips!

Hey Sarah, you know what would have made this story awesome?


Sarah -
What's that?


Harry -
Prehistoric monsters!


Sarah -
Fact!

So, Our Heroes find themselves back in the TARDIS, where Jamie says he feels safe, despite his suspicion that the Doctor can’t control it. The Doctor replies that he can make it go where he wants, but has just never wanted to. The words are barely out of his mouth before things go wrong…

Best line: Sean, on the beach: “I can’t believe it – flamin’ English police box.”

Favorite moment: The tussle in the marketplace

Lasting image: The wacky fish people ballet

6/10


Harry -
Best line: I was going to go with "NOTHING IN DE VORLD KEN STOP ME NIAOWWW!" but I almost teared up right at the end, as Ben and the Doctor made their way out of the tunnels and Ben said, in a heartbreaking tone: "Doctor, what about Polly?" The cockney sailor really does care!

Favourite moment: the Dance of the Fish People

Lasting image: the Atlanteans' costumes

5/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #33 - The Moonbase...

Story #31 - The Highlanders (1966-67)

Sarah -
Ah, here we are, good old Earth. Ben knows immediately that's he back in the United Kingdom. Home Sweet Home -- or is it? Sadly, he's not arrived just in time for the Cup Final. Rather he's found himself in the aftermath of the battle of Culloden in 1746. Polly's comment that he never gives up hope is particularly endearing, given the circumstances.


Harry -
What an opening. The tumult of battle, the bloodshed and anguish, where else would we be but Earth, unfortunately?


Sarah -
Troughton tears into the role in this story. He's a wild man -- redefining and remaking the Doctor before our eyes. He can't wait to begin the next adventure and inserts himself into history with no concern for the havoc he may cause. He dons the Tam o'Shanter, dismisses romantic piffle, directs Ben to cock a pistol and Polly to confiscate swords, and impersonates a German doctor all in the first episode. I love spending time with the Second Doctor!


Harry -
I love how Patrick Troughton leaps into the role with the zeal of a character actor. He was much more restrained and mysterious in the previous story. Defeating the Daleks seems to have unleashed this Doctor at last.


Sarah -
The Daleks will do that to you.


Harry -
I think the production team's creation of some gimmicky characteristics for this new Doctor seemed a bit forced. Most notably the obsession with headwear. He's said "I should like a hat like that" at least thrice in his first two stories.


Sarah -
Let’s not underestimate the importance of some good headgear, Dear Harry.


Harry -
Then there's the "master of the half-arsed disguise" gimmick, but more on that later.

This is quite the wild and wooly opening episode. The atmosphere and pace of events are frantic. Battle, death, capture, even a mini-cliffhanger at the makeshift gallows. The Doctor and his friends are being thrown every which way.

There was even time for a brief moment of Pythonesque humour to remind us that this is still Doctor Who and not just any old period drama. It's the scene where the Redcoat sergeant captures the Doctor and Ben:

SERGEANT: Surrender in the King's name!

BEN: Blimey, it's good to hear a London voice again.

SERGEANT: Silence, you rebel dog!

BEN: Rebel? What are you talking about? I'm no rebel! Me and the Doctor here, have just arrived.

SERGEANT: Deserter, then. You'll hang just the same.

...at which point the Doctor bursts in with that absurd Dr. Strangelove accent. Hilarious!


Sarah -
Loved it! When you find yourself in a sticky situation, there’s nothing better than whipping out the German accent!

Polly and Kirsty get their own subplot when they land in a pit. She had one of my favorite lines when Kirsty started crying yet again – “Do the women of your age do nothing but cry?” The scenes with Ffinch were priceless – Polly was completely in charge of the situation, that little 20th Century minx.


Harry -
This is Polly's best story by far. She really takes the initiative when you'd think the tough Scottish lass would have been the one to do so.


Sarah -
And then we meet the corrupt Solicitor Grey and his Gentleman’s Gentleman Perkins.


Harry -
Boo!  Hiss!


Sarah -
It’s pretty clear he doesn’t have the Scottish prisoners’ best interests at heart when he saves them from the gallows, but we’re not sure what he’s up to until the prisoners are loaded on the ships for passage to the West Indies. Ben is the first one to figure out that they’re to be sold into slavery – staying awake during history class has finally paid off for Our Ben!

I quite liked Perkins. His impudence towards Grey is almost endearing, “A little wine for your cold hear, Lawyer?” I appreciated that he ended up on the boat to France with the Highlanders – at least until the political winds shift.


Harry -
Incredibly, the majority of the story is all about rescuing the rebels from the slave ship. The story is so simple, but the rapid rotation of different scenes and characters gives it a fast-paced feel. The atmosphere in the ship's hold was well done -- lots of groaning and coughing, and everyone projecting the sense that it was a rank and awful place. Despite the awkwardness of watching a recon, "The Highlanders" has that "big period drama" sort of air to it.


Sarah -
It does, and it will be our last one for a while.


Harry -
Sadly so. This historical was decent, but far from being the best of them.

One character who seemed really out of place was the exaggeratedly piratey Captain Trask, who felt like a leftover from "The Smugglers." His telesnap facial expressions were comical, rather than menacing.


Sarah -
Maybe it’s one of those performances better lost to the ravages of the BBC.


Harry -
Speaking of comical, our new Doctor seems to enjoy fancy dress. What did you think of his array of "disguises", if that's the proper term? German doctor, old woman, injured soldier... it seemed a bit over the top to have that many disguises.


Sarah -
He’s having a great time, isn’t he? Troughton is definitely game for whatever they toss at him.


Harry -
There's another thing I can't imagine William Hartnell ever doing. The First Doctor had a presence about him that didn't require elaborate costuming to make himself believeable. When he did take to period dress like Roman togas or cowboy hats, it was more to fit in with the local surroundings, not to deceive people.

But Patrick Troughton has so much fun with his little deceptions that it's hard to slag him for it!


Sarah -
And Polly got to play dress-up, too – her prostitute disguise was more than a little effective.

When he and Polly are finally reunited, the Doctor is disinclined to do anything to rescue Ben and settles in for a bit of a kip. It’s something we’ll see the Doctor do in the future, but it still feels a bit heartless.


Harry -
That was bizarre. This Doctor is nutty!

I wonder at what point it was decided to make Jamie a part of the TARDIS crew. He doesn't stand out all that much here, so his joining the TARDIS crew is something of a surprise. After all, it was Alexander who charged out to face the redcoats, and Ben who had to escape the episode three cliffhanger, and Polly who dominated the subplot.


Sarah -
I’d like to take a moment to point out that we’ve gotten this far in the story without mentioning Jamie. It all the restraint I could muster to not shout his name from the beginning of this post. It’s hard to imagine why he got to become the next companion, but I am ever so delighted that he did!


Harry -
I'm glad the production crew took a flyer and decided to throw him into the mix, because Jamie will turn out to be one of the Doctor's best companions. I'd love to see a historical character joining the current Doctor -- we're stuck in a bit of a "21st century British lasses" rut at the moment.


Sarah -
Aren’t we though? I would love a historical or alien companion next. I guess we’ll see where they go with Jenna-Louise Coleman, but I don’t hold out much hope.


Harry -
Patience, Dear Sarah. Have faith in the Moff!


Sarah -
Best line: The Doctor, when Polly sees his gun, "It’s not loaded; they’re dangerous things."

Favorite moment: Polly outwitting Ffinch.

Lasting image: The Doctor in drag.

7/10


Harry -
Best line: "I've never seen a silent lawyer before."

Favourite moment: the Doctor launches into his German disguise.

Lasting image: Trask's crazy pirate faces. YARRRR!

7/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #32 - The Underwater Menace...

Story #30 - The Power of the Daleks (1966)

Harry -
Well. There it is.


Sarah -
There it is, indeed. Our first regeneration!


Harry -
Would the internet have survived it? Thousands of online posters screaming "I DON'T LIKE IT! CHANGE IT BACK!" which we see every time something new happens on our favourite show. I'm glad Doctor Who was allowed to grow in a simpler time. A calmer time.


Sarah -
I don't even want to try to imagine it. Everyone would be out on the ledge, waiting to be talked back in. Oh the drama!


Harry -
The post-regeneration scene is calm. Almost too calm, as if the actors didn't know what to do. There's Patrick Troughton, mucking about and behaving even more mysteriously than his predecessor. There's Ben and Polly, doing... well I'm not sure what they were doing for the most part, as the reconstruction I watched was hampered by long silences and very few screen images.

What did you think of Troughton's opening scene?


Sarah -
Every time I watch a regeneration scene, it's like meeting an old friend for the first time.


Harry -
That's kind of timey-wimey!


Sarah -
Isn't it, though? Every Doctor is so new, yet so familiar. I love Troughton's mystery, the way he refers to "The Doctor" in the third person, the 500-year diary. Ben and Polly's confusion is probably what the original viewers experienced. Who is this guy? What happened to the Doctor? What's going on?

Also, I love that the recorder appears within the first 8 minutes!


Harry -
The 500-Year Diary is one of my favourite props.

Ben is notably cranky about the whole affair, but Polly's taking it in stride -- good on her.


Sarah -
Ben is the cranky fan complaining about the good old days -- Polly's the fan who's up for anything!


Harry -
Exactly!


Sarah -
I loved this exchange between Ben and the Doctor:

Ben: "Who are we?"
Doctor: "Don't you know?"

There are wonderful little comedic moments like this throughout the story -- lines that I can't imagine Hartnell pulling off as effectively.

“I never talk nonsense. Well, hardly never.” Can you imagine our First Doctor ever saying that?


Harry -
No, but I'm glad the new Doctor got off on a positive footing, despite all the initial mystery. It's crucial for any new Doctor to get off on a good footing with the audience. We'll see many hit-and-miss examples of this in the future.

For now, we soon settle into a more comfortable place. The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS to explore a strange gurgly planet, and on cue, his companions are separated from him. Then in quick order, we get violence and murder, mistaken identities, and A Mysterious Space Capsule (delightfully curvy and shiny). Hey, it's Doctor Who again!


Sarah -
With a whole new demeanor. The first Doctor would never say, "When I say run, run like a rabbit!" Or do it, for that matter.


Harry -
And to seal the deal with any remaining skeptics out there, we have Daleks. Is everyone down from the ledge now?


Sarah -
Honestly, unless it involves Manhattan in the 1930s, you just can't go wrong with a Dalek story.

Interesting aside, this is the first Dalek story not to be written or co-written by Terry Nation -- another change! It's also the first "... of the Daleks" title, and we know there are many more to come! I'll stop being all Toby now, but I'll have more to say later.


Harry -
What immediately grabbed me about this story was how many elements from it have been echoed in the Dalek stories of the new era:

• Daleks hidden inside a mysterious capsule -- we see this again in "Army of Ghosts / Doomsday", with the Genesis Ark.
• A Dalek being brought back to life by humans -- seen again when Rose lends her DNA to one in "Dalek."
• Sneaky Daleks pretending to be docile servants -- Yup, it's "Victory of the Daleks" all over again. Er... you know what I mean. Timey-wimey.

Sarah -
This is what happens when you let the fans take over production. Isn't it brilliant?

I started to amuse myself by imagining the Daleks' staccato chants as their affirming mantras:

I AM YOUR SERVANT
WE WILL CONQUER
WE WILL GET OUR POWER


Harry -
Everyone needs a mantra, even the diabolical.


Sarah -
All that's lacking is a Dalek guru telling them to believe in themselves and they can do anything!


Harry -
Speaking of rampant self-believers, why is it that the scientists - who you'd think they'd at least try to paint in a positive light - are once again shown as blinkered, gullible and inadvertently the bringers of destruction?


Sarah -
I think it's because everyone is so intent on their own agenda, with no sense of the larger issues facing them. They only hear what they want to hear. We know that a Dalek saying, "We are your...friends." should strike fear in their hearts, but they want to believe. At least I think Lesterson wanted to believe it -- I was slightly overcome by a fit of giggles at the line.

Anywho, the same thing happened in "The Tenth Planet" -- and will happen again and again as we roll along here.


Harry -
Every time Lesterson delights in the marvels of these servile Daleks, I want to reach through the screen and smack him. Every kid in Britain must have been ready to deal him a blow to the chops.


Sarah -
I'm sure when they watched it, they were yelling at the telly as much as we were yelling at our computers. Why won't they ever listen to us?


Harry -
Who knows. I was glad that midway through the story, Ben finally warmed up to the Doctor. This Doctor. Though, it did feel a bit odd for Jamie not to be around, didn't it?


Sarah -
Yes, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!


Harry -
As our friend Rob pointed out, this six-parter makes for some delicious character development. The middle episodes have very little action, but loads of petty squabbling and conspiring among the colony crew.

The only flaw to the side story of the rebel mutiny is that we don't really get a sense for why they are rebelling. So much of the story is in the immediate, that we are given little backstory about the colony to go on. At one point, even a Dalek seems baffled as to why humans would kill one another. That was a stinging jab.


Sarah -
It is not a good sign to have one's species called out on moral grounds by a Dalek, is it?

There was a point, which I believe was enhanced by the somewhat sketchy reconstruction, when I kind of lost track of who belonged to which faction and why they were all fighting each other.


Harry -
As the Dalek menace grew, the human factions grew more confused. Maybe the rebellion was purely lust for power? Bragen certainly radiates that.


Sarah -
Ah, Bragen. When my stream of thought started wandering, I found myself wondering why he looked so familiar. A quick trip to the TARDIS Index File answered my question -- he was Marcus Scarman in "Pyramids of Mars".


Harry -
Yes! Scarman!


Sarah -
With that off my mind, I did my best to re-focus on the muddled political intrigue.


Harry -
This story is all about people pretending to be what they are not. From the Doctor to the Daleks to the conspirators. The only honest person is the ill-fated governor, who dutifully tramped out to do his tours of the perimiter while all hell broke loose back at HQ.


Sarah -
Good point. I felt badly for the governor. He didn't seem a bad bloke.


Harry -
Here's where things really kick into high gear. Lesterson observes Daleks being assembled, he realizes he's been had, the Daleks are mass producing -- and he literally snaps. I can't remember someone falling apart quite so suddenly and dramatically in Doctor Who.

Having assembled a small army, or so those cardboard cutouts would have us believe, the Daleks run riot! The mantras are now a battle cry, ready to bring destruction to the entire colony. Will those foolish humans rise above pettiness to confront the menace that has been under their noses all this time?


Sarah -
Of course they will, but only with the Doctor and his companions there to lend moral support!

I loved the multiplying Daleks. It's the kind of cheap effect that always led to derision by non-fans, but is an important part of my love of the series.


Harry -
Whimsical now.  It's like something you'd see in a fan film.


Sarah -
The Daleks defeated, our heroes slip away in the TARDIS... just as a Dalek eye stalk rises to watch them go.


Harry -
Yes, we knew all along that the Doctor would be proven correct, but at a terrible cost. I can't remember another story where the Daleks go on that kind of extended rampage. Shot after shot of dead bodies, it was a bit overwhelming. But it was followed up with that fantastic Dalek destruction sequence and reasonably happy ending. What an exhausting story!


Sarah -
"The Power of the Daleks" is a wonderful start to the Troughton era.


Harry -
Yes, they really nailed it.


Sarah -
I'm so looking forward to the adventures ahead!


Harry -
Me too!  Did I get through this story without mentioning Jamie? Oh, guess not.


Sarah -
I would be disappointed if you hadn't!

Best line: "We are your...friends."

Favorite moment: "Run like a Rabbit!"

Lasting image: The multiplying Daleks.

8/10


Harry -
Best line: "Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy!"

Favourite moment: Lesterson watches in horror as new Daleks are assembled.

Lasting image: Menacing massed cardboard Daleks.

9/10

Our marathon continues with Story #30 - The Highlanders...

The Hartnell Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
Before we move on to "The Power of the Daleks", let's take one more look at the Hartnell era, for old times' sake.

I've grown quite fond of the First Doctor, probably because he is the most enigmatic of them all. In any given story, he could be brave, cautious, cranky, noble, passionate, sensitive or just plain giggly. Sometimes all in the same scene! But he always maintained an aura of mystery about him, which I love.


Sarah -
As I mentioned at the end of our discussion of The Tenth Planet, I had only seen the first three Hartnell stories going into this project, so watching these stories has been a wonderful revelation for me.

I don't recall WTTW ever showing Hartnell stories back in the 80s, so the only glimpse I ever got of him was from The Three Doctors. "So, you're my replacements -- a dandy and a clown" is still among my all-time favorite Doctor Who lines. The First Doctor was so mysterious and elusive for me -- and continues to be after finally watching all his stories. I positively love William Hartnell's Doctor!

And then there are the companions. I never expected to come out of this viewing with a new favorite companion, but it's hard to top Barbara Wright. There was no doubt about whom I was going to cosplay at Chicago TARDIS last year -- even if I knew most of the attendees wouldn't know who the heck I was! Hopefully I sold some folks on going back to get to know Our Barbara.


Harry -
Barbara was a fantastic companion and a great influence on the Doctor. They both seemed to open each other's eyes to new ideas and new ways of seeing things.

I wasn't much of a Steven fan before, but I have a new appreciation for him and for Peter Purves. In an odd way, the unevenness of Steven's character made him more fascinating. You never knew if the bold adventuring Steven or the passively observing Steven would show up from one story to the next.


Sarah -
I will always cling to your Dodo theory: "She is mad. Leave her be."


Harry -
I have already mentioned how much I love Ben and Polly, and I'm glad we still have them with us for the time being.

As the show found its footing, and before it settled into comfortable patterns, we were treated to some really wacked-out stories in the Hartnell era. I'm thinking of "The Edge of Destruction", "The Web Planet" and "The Space Museum." I'd love to see this kind of experimental weirdness brought to new Who.


Sarah -
I love seeing where so many of the conventions of the show began. This has been a fantastic experience and I'm so happy we got to share it!


Harry -
And so, as the enigma lies on the TARDIS floor and the TARDIS goes wild, the special effects kick in and a new era beckons!


Sarah -
Onward to the Second Doctor!


Harry -
Cue theme music!