LEGION OF IMPOSSIBILITIES

Saturday 25th April 1964 - Doctor Who - The Screaming Jungle

"It's coming again. The jungle is coming. When the whispering starts, it's death, I tell you. Death!"

A completely Doctor-less episode. 

We're after the third of five keys needed by Arbitan, the keeper of a mind-controlling device. This episode is has Ian and Barbara beset by accelerated-growth vegetation that whispers and screams psychically.  As an episode, its a little manic: full of screaming, revolving statues, moving vegetation and suddenly-dying monks. As Barbara observes, the whole place is a booby-trap.

We're also at the point where we can identify patterns in the storytelling: No one believes Susan when she encounters something; Ian tells Barbara to stay put and she goes exploring a tunnel and gets captured; Susan screams at the slightest things and requires comforting by Barbara; Ian ignores Barbara.

Somewhere in this episode is a story about how Darrius, the old man they encounter, has experimented with nature causing the aggressive, accelerated growth we witness. So much is happening that I didn't catch his name until the closing credits. There's an "escape-from-the-series of-locked-rooms" about this episode and - once again - budget doesn't allow any sense of establishing where we are: how extensive is the jungle? is the location behind the wall a city? a castle? a house?

Early in the episode Sabetha realises that the third key found by Barbara is fake. The dying Darrius tells Barbara and Ian that the fake key was used as "A system of mirrors. When the false key was taken I put my traps in motion. Only those warned by Arbitan could avoid them." It's a pity that Arbitan failed to tell anyone about this before he sent them on their quest.

I'm a little alarmed how easily Ian allowed Susan to use the transmat device and travel to the next location in the company of Altos and Sabetha, who they had only just met and had been mind-controlled for most of the episode. I could be kind and say that it's a result of Ian disraught over the loss of Barbara - and, indeed, Ian does some "Wlliam Hartnell darting-eyes" action to show his acute distress.

Next episode: The Snows of Terror.