Story #19 - Mission to the Unknown (1965)

Harry -
Hmmm, those Daleks are up to something again...

But what? Just when it was getting good, the story was over. That was the longest prelude/prologue/teaser thing we've ever seen in Doctor Who. And I'm including the Moffat era.


Sarah -
What an odd little thing. I want to rush ahead to "The Daleks' Master Plan", but will restrain myself as best I can.


Harry -
I looked into what our friends Rob and Toby had to say, and they captured everything that was happening in my fevered mind after watching this story today.


Sarah -
It’s like consulting Holy Writ.  "And then Robert doth sayeth to Tobias..."


Harry -
Exactly!

Rob spoke highly of the concepts introduced in this brief piece. The Doctor as a saviour, evidenced by the destruction wrought when the Daleks are free to run riot. The sickening idea of the Varga thorn (grown in laboratories on Skaro) that poisons first the mind and then the body of its victim. And the notion that "The Daleks' Master Plan" is so epic that it is beyond epic -- it requires a couple of breaks in between so as not to utterly blow the minds of its viewers.


Sarah -
It’s definitely a foreshadowing of the current series concept of the Doctor being the only thing keeping the entire universe from spinning horribly out of control. No pressure or anything.

The moment when Marc “Space Security Service, licensed to kill” Cory, identified the Varga as having been created by the Daleks sent a little shiver down my spine. Such a creative little race of sociopaths they are.

Epic beyond epic is how I like my Doctor Who.


Harry -
Meanwhile, Toby joined in the speculation that surrounds the mysterious alien emissaries. Who are they? And who played whom?


Sarah -
This little bout of speculative geekery may just be my favorite section of the book so far.


Harry -
A while back, after watching this Loose Cannon recon for the first time, I did my own googling and found...

...this interesting attempt at solving the puzzle. (courtesy of Doctor Who Magazine)


Sarah -
Well now, that’s impressive. I love the mysteries that shroud these stories. Historians need something to keep themselves in work.


Harry -
I wonder how many of the alien delegate actors Toby has managed to meet in real life.  He seems to be highly skilled at that sort of thing.

For me, this episode is all about the Daleks and their grand alliance of intergalactic baddies aligned against the Doctor. Everything old is new again, right Moff?


Sarah -
Isn’t it though?

For all its brevity, the story of Cory, Garvey, and Lowery is a compelling one. Having to shoot one’s crewmate to save the rest of the crew isn’t a new story, but it’s handled well here. The who’s-going-to-be-next tension is palpable, even though we know Lowry will inevitably brush against that Varga. Poor guy has Red Shirt written all over him.


Harry -
Cory spoke with such a lovely, crisp RAF accent, you knew he'd be the last one standing.


Sarah -
The information we get from their story is tantalizing. It’s a thousand years since the Daleks invaded earth. (On the plus side, that’s a thousand years without Susan getting into a scrape!) More than 110 planets are controlled by the Daleks, which suggests more than a bit of appeasement by Earth, the current dominant force in the universe.


Harry -
Busy little sociopaths, those Daleks.  Like the obnoxious kid in school who was always racing ahead of the lessons.  No one gets behind that sort of thing.


Sarah -
Someone on Earth seems to have an inkling that the Daleks are up to something, sending Cory and his team to Kembel to have a look around. So many questions to have answered.


Harry -
Good thing Cory figured out how to use that archaic 20th Century tape recorder in time to record his message!


Sarah -
In addition to being the only story not to feature the Doctor or any of his companions, "Mission to the Unknown" also has the distinction of being Verity Lambert’s last story. What a swansong!


Harry -
Class.  Legend.  Mint.


Sarah -
Have we just managed to say more about this one-parter than the previous four-parter? Let’s hear it for a good story well told!


Harry -
Aye, twas quite excellent!


Sarah -
Lasting image: The Supervillans Conference

Favorite moment: The revelation of the Daleks master plan to conquer Earth

Best line: “The seven of us represent the greatest war force ever assembled. Conquest is assured!"

Doesn’t Malpha know that uttering this line is pretty much sealing his doom?

7/10


Harry -
"Tobias..."  (*still giggling*)

Lasting image: definitely the alien emissaries scheming around the table.

Favourite moment: Cory and the big-spool tape recorder.

Best line: "I suppose you've heard of the Daleks..."

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #20 - The Myth Makers...

Story #18 - Galaxy 4 (1965)

Sarah -
Season 3! My how time flies!

I have to admit, I’ve been terribly spoiled by all the complete stories we’ve been watching. It’s been a while since we’ve had a recon and I’m afraid it’s interfering with my enjoyment. It doesn’t help that the video was interrupted every other minute for an ad.

On the upside, I always love glimpses of life aboard the TARDIS. Vicki giving Steven a haircut is so homey. And Chumbleys are cute.

Otherwise, Drahvins…blah, blah, blah…Rills…blah, blah, blah. BOR-ING!!!!!!!!!!!


Harry -
Wow, this was dire from the get-go. My own viewing notes include the word "BOOOORING!" in all-caps.

How boring was this? So boring that when Steven had a long lie-down for most of the third episode, I was jealous of him.


Sarah -
I feel much better knowing it wasn’t just me. Even the actors seem bored.


Harry -
Numerous factors marred the viewing of this story. Normally I don't mind the recons, but the scarcity and repetition of story images made for a very weak collection of stills to stare at. The sound quality is very poor, making the dialogue hard to understand at times.

The story itself is a crashing bore: How to Bludgeon the Viewer With a 'Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder' theme for four episodes using no subtlety. Oh dear, I did not like this at all!

And another thing that irked me: there's a moment where our heroes are watching the TARDIS scanner, observing as a Chumbley chumbles around outside the TARDIS. HOW CAN THE TARDIS VIEW ITSELF ON ITS OWN SCANNER?

Oh dear, oh dear.


Sarah -
I’ve been desperately trying to figure out favorite images, moments, etc., but I just don’t think they exist.

Oh, wait, Vicki had a good line: “I noted, observed, collated, concluded, and then I threw a rock.” Good work, Vicki!

There it is, and now I’m off to do some summery outdoorsy things.

2/10


Harry -
I have not got much else to say about this story either. The surviving images and audio don't lend it many positives. You're right, everyone sounds really bored, other than the mellifluous Rill.

Lasting image: the Chumbley chumbling around the TARDIS.

Favourite moment: the Rill reveal, only because something HAPPENED.

Best line: I can't think of anything but the Chumbley sounds!

Let's get back outside.

3/10


Sarah -
Three?  You're so generous!


Harry -
Could be sunstroke?

Our marathon continues with Story #19 - Mission to the Unknown...

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...

Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966)

Harry -
Not sure how I feel about this one. It was big and shiny and noisy, but I found myself checking the clock through most of it. That is, when the over-the-top musical score wasn't drowning out my own thoughts.


Sarah -
Sorry, I couldn't hear you over that groovy score.

I have to admit that I started nodding off about 20 minutes in. It's, well, a little dull whenever there isn't a red dalek on screen to distract one.


Harry -
I do love a Red Dalek.


Sarah -
I take back everything I said about this Susan being better. She causes just as much trouble as the other one -- crashing beams to the ground and all.


Harry -
You've hit upon the problem with these films. It's a bunch of slightly (or entirely new) characters doing familiar things (or things that are entirely new). The result is a loud, colourful mish-mashed jackalope of a thing.

Anyway, let's get to the good stuff:

PC Tom Campbell, what a joy. Bernard Cribbins plays an everyman caught up in the bizarro world of Doctor Who. And instead of playing it as a buffoon as was "Ian" in the previous film, he manages to lend some weight to the role. He's not just stumbling into things for laughs, he's stumbling into things whilst trying to survive a dire situation. I found a difference, anyway.


Sarah -
Who knew Wilf was holding out on us? Much better than the bumbling so-called Ian – and, as a bonus, quite dishy!


Harry -
The Gold Dalek. Wowwwww! (insert various drooling / bouncing / humping smileys here)


Sarah -
You need one for your collection.


Harry -
One performance that really stood out was Philip Madoc as the back-stabbing collaborator, Brockley. I love the way he speaks, and we have much to look forward to from him in real Who to come!


Sarah -
So much towards which we can look forward. He brought more to his role than most of the rest of the cast put together.


Harry -
That, unfortunately, sums up the good for me.


Sarah -
You were generous, My Dear.


Harry -
The bad, let's just get to it:

The music score was overwhelmingly intrusive. Too loud, too abrupt to shift gears in mid-scene, and generally annoying.


Sarah -
I’m sure I missed entire scenes of action because I couldn’t concentrate with all that racket going on. You know what I missed? That long, wacky chase around London. It would have at least worked with the clamorous music.


Harry -
The Doctor's niece? Louise?? What???


Sarah -
Apparently, the Who family tree has many branches.


Harry -
Generally, the story raced along without developing any of the characters we are familiar with. The newly created characters were barely given anything to do. Overall, it was loud and colourful, but I just didn't like this!

My biggest disappointment here was the attempt to re-create one of the most iconic moments in Who to that point (and we all knew it was coming): the emergence of a Dalek from the Thames. Instead of a slow reveal, this Dalek practically waterskiied out of the water, barely giving the Doctor any time to register a reaction. Augh. I'm just glad this is over and we can get back to the real goods.


Sarah -
Talk about a wasted opportunity! Actually, that describes most of this movie, so let’s move along. There’s nothing for us here!


Harry -
I miss the old Who!

Lasting image: the funky dual-rotation Dalek spaceship

Favourite moment: The end credits (bit harsh?)

Best line: Bernard Cribbins assigning himself an OBE, 45 years before it actually happened!

5/10


Sarah -
Lasting image: Cribbins on the bench with the Robomen

Favourite moment: The Robomen-fix-themselves-a-spot-of-tea scene was awkwardly amusing

Best line: Bernard Cribbins’ OBE line made me giggle!

4/10

 

Our proper marathon returns with Story #17 - The Time Meddler...

Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)

Sarah -
I have to admit I wasn't entirely confident about our decision to take a break from the series to watch the non-canonical Peter Cushing films, but I'm glad we did. I've always meant to get around to watching them, and this was the perfect opportunity.


Harry -
If our Rob and Toby could do it, so can we. The last time I watched this film was over 15 years ago, on a VHS, still living in my parents' house (yoiks!).


Sarah -
It's not entirely successful, but this bizarro alternate Doctor Who universe is definitely colorful! I was slightly hypnotized by the end of the credit sequence, but managed to regain myself for the beginning of the story.


Harry -
"Alternate Universe" describes this Who to a tee. It's a familiar story, with familiar characters, but so strangely different. The opening credits were like something from a Blake Edwards movie.


Sarah -
Things that don't work:

The Doctor is human? What's the point of that? Also, his name is actually Dr. Who -- like the Whos down in Whoville? And he does so little; the character isn't very well-defined...or even interesting.

Barbara seems to be there just to hang around and look good. Whatever.

The character of "Ian" is a complete doofus. I wanted the Daleks to exterminate him as soon as possible.

The Thals may have been a tad dull in the series, but they did suggest a certain level of dishiness that just doesn't work in color. They looked like a traveling clown circus instead of pacifist survivors.


Harry -
Making the Doctor a human immediately erases so much of the mystique that enveloped the TV character. Here, he's just an absent-minded professor type, progenitor of a family of brainiacs it seems. I do like that baby blue scarf tho.

I didn't take to any of the other characters, to be honest. Barbara (the Doctor's other granddaughter!) was a stock character to put it kindly. Susan was spunky and brave, but lacking any kind of warmth or humour. Ian... good grief. A ridiculous clutz? Awful, just awful.

Ooh yeah, were those Thals campy or what? They were painted halfway to an all-git-out drag party.


Sarah -
Things that work:

Susan. I really liked this Susan! She's what I initially expected Susan Foreman to be -- smart, spunky, resourceful. Instead, we got a season of screaming, falling, and generally annoying behavior. The decision to make Susan an actual child, rather than a young adult referred to as a child, was a good one. No one would have made it off the Planet Skaro without her! Excellent work by Roberta Tovey. She owed this movie for me.


Harry -
We'll have to agree to disagree on this one.


Sarah -
I was trying desperately to be positive about something!

The Daleks. I admit, it's hard to go wrong with Daleks -- unless you create a Dalek-human hybrid, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anywho, Daleks in screaming color = awesome! As cheesy as it was, I liked the long Dalek exposition conversations. They were straight out of a Scooby Doo cartoon, but long Dalek conversations are cool.


Harry -
Oh those Daleks. Full colour, shiny, candy-like Daleks. I loved them! Giant toys ready to whip the children of 60s Britain into a frenzy of want! Do you remember the one and only thing I zeroed in on at our first convention together?


Sarah -
How could I forget!


Harry -
Apart from that, my personal stars of this movie were the Three Gratuitous Lava Lamps -- each a different colour, and with no apparent function but to "groovify" the Daleks' awesome control room.


Sarah -
The lava lamps were undoubtedly the highlight of the entire film. Could Daleks possibly be cooler?


Harry -
Now I want some lava lamps.  Maybe three! 

I do have to hand it to the producers for upping the scale of Doctor Who. Big, bright sets, like nothing we've seen before. I did like that aspect of the movie. The brief scene that showed the Dalek rally - their own little "Nuremburg" moment - really grabbed me. Something about that many Daleks all massed together, it was another thing we've never seen on the TV show to this point.

Can't say much else about this, other than reiterating the weirdness of it all.

Lasting image - Black Dalek and Red Dalek scheming away.

Favourite moment - The couple of times when Peter Cushing winked at one of his friends. Those were the moments when he briefly made the character his own, and not just an echo of William Hartnell.

Best line - honestly, nothing really jumped out here, maybe because we've heard so much of it before. If anything, Cushing's affected accent kept grabbing my attention.

Oh, and I wouldn't have minded this Ian getting exterminated either. Awful!

6 / 10


Sarah -
Lasting image - Lava Lamps!!!!!

Favourite moment - The Dalek scheming.

Best line - I got nothing here.

5 / 10

Our marathon continues with the second Peter Cushing movie: Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D....

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...