The TARDIS materialises on a cold desert world and the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara are captured by the Tribe of Gum, a small group of palaeolithic cave people who are desperate to learn the secret of making fire. After last week's mid-20th Century London setting (and futuristic interior TARDIS), the move to a prehistoric environment is an effective contrast. Although we assume that this is Earth there's no reason that this is another planet experiencing an ice age.
Despite this being the Doctor's new companions' first adventure, it's the primitive human society which is the focus of this episode. Dark scenes in the caves are claustrophobic and rely on close-ups of faces and bodies crushed in on each other. Climate change is an existential threat and the tribe are divided by Za and Kal's rivalry for leadership (and for the female, Hur). Za declares that "The leader is the one who makes fire" and the necessity of this important function is repeated. Za articulates his view of leadership as spilling blood and making others bow.
Yet the desire to acquire the knowledge of making fire is rejected by the Old Mother, one of the tribe who believes that they should not abandon their traditional non-fire ways of survival (although the suggestion is that the tribe have always had fire; the knowledge of fore-making has been carefully restricted only to male leaders). Old Mother is a fatalistic character who simply accepts their awful lot in life and doesn't accept they should struggle to change things. In fact, the cave people have little control over their existence. The ice age that has already wiped out many of their numbers and the survivors spend their time seeming to squabble and endure attack from tigers that enter their caves at night. They feel that their god, the Orb, has abandoned them. What existence they have is brutal and violent, full of screaming, arguing, violent attacks, eating raw flesh and skeletons (they seem to share their living space with a charnel store, the "Cave of Skulls" of the next episode).
I'm left with the impression that this episode is about the loss of control/agency. The Doctor loses control quite soon and we see a change in character when he apologises to his companions. His TARDIS isn't working (the yearometer is faulty and the ship doesn't alter its appearance). He is easily captured and loses his belongings. He even becomes fearful and desperate as a prisoner and terrified about being killed. For most of this episode, the Doctor continues to come across as a somewhat self-serving and sinister figure. When threatened, he offers to make all the fire the tribe wants (but has lost his matches!). In fact the Doctor actually looks terrified. His eyes roll and he looks about desperately for a means of escape. At this point he's
I like that, even after a journey in the TARDIS, Ian still maintains disbelief ("It's impossible to accept" seems to be his position at this point.) His disorientation manifests as a hurt head. Susan continues to behave like a young teen: she falls to pieces when the Doctor disappears. Ian's role seems more prominent and, at this point, he seems to be developing into the main character.
Things we find out: the TARDIS light flashes when it travels and shortly after landing; the Doctor uses a "yearometer" to tell him when he is; the TARDIS is supposed to alter shape but remains looking like police box; the Doctor acts as a scientist, carries a geigermeter and examines rocks; the Doctor smokes a pipe; the Doctor carries a satchel and a notebook containing key-codes to machines and on places visited.
We also get the first of the "Doctor Who?" jokes when Ian names the Doctor as "Doctor Foreman".
The episode ends withe Doctor and his companions bound at the wrists and ankles and imprisoned in the Cave of Skulls. The cliffhanger ending is very sudden: Ian points out that all the skulls have been split open. There's no time to think about the implications of this episode before the title for next week is shown.
Next Week: The Forest of Fear.
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