Saturday 27th June 1964 - Doctor Who - The Unwilling Warriors

"We're very dependant on the Doctor. He leads and we follow."

Essentially

The Sensorites communicate telepathically through Susan and finally meet the Doctor and others face to face. The Doctor works out that it's all about the metal Molybdenum. Susan is taken down to the Sense Sphere.

Reactions and Thoughts

After watching this episode, I'm not sure who the "unwilling warriors" actually are. The Sensorites who come on board, striking fear or Ian who wields a wrentch threateningly? Or Barbara and Susan who send a telepathic message that they won't comply? Or all of them? It's a small point but left me puzzled.

I'm starting to notice two things about the show so far. One, that most of the stories involve being prevented from getting into the TARDIS. Two, that plot points frequently involve characters being trapped behind doors of some sort. Last episode ended with Barbara and Susan trapped behind one of the spaceship's large round doors and this week's episode ends with Susan being taken behind one of the spaceship's large round doors down to the nearby planet.

What's good about the start is the way that that eerie Sensorite floating outside the spaceship's window continues to help build a fear of Sensorites as something alien. We see them fully - briefly - after 5 minutes. They have very thin, circular feet.

The Doctor is concened that his human companions give into fear (of the alien) in the way that Maitland, Carol and Joe have become. He repeatedly tells Ian to maintain control: "Try and contain your emotions. Use self-control. Otherwise it confuses the brain and leaves it wide open to an attack by the Sensorites." The deranged John tells Barbara and Susan something similar, realising how the Sensorites have used hs fear of them to control him.

Susan tells Barbara about the Planet Esto, on an adventure before Totters Lane:

SUSAN:  Grandfather and I landed on a planet once called Esto. The plants there used thought transference. If you stood in between two of the plants, they set up a sort of screeching noise. Grandfather said it was because they were aware of another mind. 

Their plan is to think of something at the same time ("We defy you"). It seems to work - and hurts the Sensorites. But it also causes Susan to collapse.

The Sensorites use a handheld device to read minds. I'm not quite sure if this is to aid their natural mode of communication as they show that they can actually speak.  

The Doctor does a great deal of detective work this episode. He deduces that the Sense Sphere has valuable Molybdenum (and, helpfully tells us that it's an alloy used in steel-making. He correctly suspects that the Sensorites have held the humans and their spaceship because of this; they don't want their Molybdenum stolen.

Susan and Barbara have an exchange about their travels with Carol who is bemused by the TARDIS' companions:

CAROL: You're very strange people.
SUSAN: Are we?
CAROL: Well, you've come from nowhere and you seem to be going nowhere.
BARBARA: We're very dependant on the Doctor. He leads and we follow.
CAROL: Travel without a purpose?
BARBARA: Oh, no, there's a purpose in it. He's trying to get us back to our own time. On Earth.
CAROL: Oh, I see.
SUSAN: Isn't' it a better thing to travel hopefully than arrive? 

After Maitland and X are struck down by telepathic thoughts, Barbara and Ian go off in search of the Sensorites on the ship. Search corridors. When they encounter the Sensorites, Ian grabs a wrench and is cornered. Once again, we start to see a more violent side to Ian that appears to be developing:

BARBARA: Ian, no.
IAN: Why not? How else can I keep these creatures off?
BARBARA: Well, do you need to keep them off? Have they actually attacked you? Come on, John. Lock the door.
(John waves his hand in front of a lower electric eye)
JOHN: They can't open now.
BARBARA: It's strange they didn't harm you.
JOHN: No.
IAN: I think they were as frightened of me as I was of them.
BARBARA: They're not very aggressive, are they.
IAN: No. 

Susan becomes the telepathic means of communication between the Sensorites and the others (even though the Sensorites seem to be quite able to talk). Is this used in order to set up the cliffhanger?

More detective work by The Doctor: he deduces that the Sensorites have eyes that are dilated and that they would be frightened of the dark. It's a leap. 

This week's cliffhanger is the surprise that Susan has secretly agreed to go down to the Sense Sphere with the Sensorites so that the others aren't hurt. (And everyone seems too shocked to physically stop her!)

After All is Said and Done

It starts well with the continued build-up of tension to the meeting with the Sensorites. Much of the episode, however, seems a lot of waiting around. Susan has played more of a role in this episode than usual.

Next episode: Hidden Danger  

Saturday 20th June 1964 - Doctor Who - Strangers in Space

Note: My original plan to watch each episode weekly to coincide with the original airings in 1963-64 went wrong when I found that - during Marco Polo and The Keys of Marinus - I wasn't keeping up and, before I knew it, I was weeks and then months behind schedule. Part of this is my mad behaviour of reading extensively about each episode and also reading the First Doctor novels and listening to the Big Finish audios. I've decided to be kinder to myself and watch and blog about each episode as I feel like it and however I want. So there.

"Yes, it all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a, quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?" 

Essentially

The TARDIS travellers materialise on a spaceship where the human crew seem to be held captive and under telepathic control by mysterious aliens called Sensorites.  

Reactions and Thoughts

It's an engaging space-set science fiction episode. We seem to have alternating historical and science fiction adventures. Something I actually like. 

There's a lovely conversation at the start where the companions reflect on their adventures together:

IAN: There's one thing about it, Doctor. We're certainly different from when we started out with you.
SUSAN: That's funny. Grandfather and I were talking about that just before you came in. How you've both changed.
BARBARA: Well we've all changed.
SUSAN: Have I?
BARBARA: Yes.
DOCTOR: Yes, it all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a, quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?
IAN: Yes. We've had some pretty rough times and even that doesn't stop us. It's a wonderful thing, this ship of yours, Doctor. Taken us back to prehistoric times, the Daleks.
SUSAN: Marco Polo, Marinus.
BARBARA: And the Aztecs. 

It's warm and there's a genuine sense of camaraderie among the travellers (and no sense that Barbara and Ian want to go home). The Doctor mentions an earlier encounter with Henry VIII who threw a parsnip at him and sent him to the Tower of London. There's also a sense that they have had more adventures - or at least time - between leaving the Aztec temple and now. Barbara declares that she is over her experiences there which suggests time has passed.

They exit the TARDIS to find they are on a spaceshp and discover (what appear to be) two dead humans. The Doctor is immediately intrigued by the mystery but sensibly decides they should leave.  Before they return to the TARDIS, one of the humans (Maitland) moves and asks Ian to fetch a device he calls a heart resuscitator. Once Maitland and the other human, Carol, are revived they explain that they come from the 28th Century (where the southern half of England is a single city) and don't seem at all amazed that Ian and Barbara are from eight centuries earlier. They also disclose they are kept like prisoners by an alien race called Sensorites and not allowed to leave this part of space. The Sensorites use telepathy to control the humans.

While they talk, someone - a Sensorite - removes the locking mechanism from the TARDIS. Yet again the plot looks like them getting access to the TARDIS once again (hasn't this happened in the last four adventures?). Supposedly, the alien had taken the locking mechanism back to their planet though we don't hear the whining sound that accompanies the sensorite ships.

Just like the last adventure, the Doctor plays a far more dominant role in the episode while Ian has been gently shifted to a more supporting role. After some shaky cameras as the spaceship moves and then heads towards the Sensphere, the Doctor proves to be an able pilot and manages to avoid avoid planetary impact.

The Doctor doesn't jump to conclusions about the motives of the Sensorites:

DOCTOR:  You know, I think these Sensorites have found a way to take control of your minds.
IAN: Do you think they were deliberately trying to kill us, Doctor?
DOCTOR: No, no, I don't. I think it was an exercise in fear and power. 

Of course, Susan and Barbara go off on their own looking for water which leads them to being separated from the others (again!) and threatened by a monster - this time in the form of the deranged human, John the minerologist , whose mind has been "taken over" by the Sensorites. Carol adds to the threat by saying that John will be frightened of strangers and might become dangerous. In the end, John tells the women that he'll protect them.

I'm a little concerned about Ian in this episode. Had his experiences as an Aztec warrior encouraged a more ruthless, aggressive side of him to take hold. When he's cautioned by Maitland not to fight with the Sensorites he seems quite annoyed and says:

IAN: Why no violence? Surely we've got the right to protect ourselves? 

 The episode is right to hold off the revelation of what a Sensorite looks like until the end and has to be my favourite cliffhanger so far.

After All is Said and Done

It's a claustrophobic, intense episode where characters seem under attack from the telepathy of the Sensorites. The appearance of the disturbing alien outside the spaceship window is shocking and a great cliffhanger. (On the negative side, once again it's the guest actors who aren't very good - particularly the actor who plays Maitland in a wooden, unconvincing manner.)

Next episode:  The Unwilling Warriors 

First Doctor Novels

Between 1995 and 2002, Virgin and the BBC published 13 novels featuring the First Doctor and his companions. There was no order to the publications. Here's what I think is the reading order if you want to tackle the novels chronologically alongside the tv episodes:

1. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (VMA 12) - Between "Marco Polo" and "The Keys of Marinus"
2. The Witch Hunters (BBC PD 9) - After "The Reign of Terror" and "Planet of the Giants"
3. City at World's End (BBC PD 24) - Between "Reign of Terror" and "Planet of the Giants"
4. The Time Travellers (BBC PD 73) - Immediately after "Planet of the Giants"
   
5. Venusian Lullaby (VMA 3; Ian & Barbara) - Immediately after "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"
6. Byzantium! (BBC PD 43; Ian, Barbara & Vicki) - After "The Rescue"(?)
7. The Plotters (VMA 28; Ian, Barbara & Vicki) - Between "The Space Museum" and "The Chase"
8. The Eleventh Tiger (BBC PD 64; Ian, Barbara & Vicki) - Between "The Web Planet" and "The Crusade"
9. The Empire of Glass (VMA 16; Stephen & Vicki) - Between "The Time Meddler" and "Galaxy 4"
10. Salvation (BBC PD 17; Sephen & Dodo) - After "The Massacre"
11. Bunker Soldiers (BBC PD 38; Stephen & Dodo) - After "The Massacre"
12. The Man in the Velvet Mask (VMA 19; Dodo) - between "The Savages" and "The War Machines"
13. Ten Little Aliens (BBC PD 53; Ben & Polly) - Between "The Smugglers" and "The Tenth Planet"

Saturday 13th June 1964 - Doctor Who - The Day of Darkness

"You failed to save a civilisation, but at least you helped one man."

Essentially

Ian, Barbara, Susan and the Doctor escape in the TARDIS. The Aztec civilisation carries on.

Reactions and Thoughts

This historical adventure is concluded neatly and Barbara's efforts to save the Aztec civilisation from destruction by the colonising Spanish invaders fails.

We open with a montage of Ian climbing through dark, water-filled tunnels inside the temple before emerging in the chamber where the TARDIS had landed. He sets up the means the travellers have to re-open the temple and escape in the TARDIS. The tension of the episode largely resides in the efforts Ian and the Doctor go to to open the stone door again - which includes making a pulley wheel.

The Doctor is distraught at the thought of Ian drowning. Just think, it was only a matter of a couple of adventures ago that he considered tossing Ian and Barbara out into the vortex.

Barbara has learned the hard way that she doesn't have the ability to alter history. The Doctor, however, does assure her that her impact has been valuable on the level of a single person:

BARBARA: We failed.
DOCTOR: Yes, we did. We had to.
BARBARA: What's the point of travelling through time and space if we can't change anything? Nothing. Tlotoxl had to win.
DOCTOR: Yes.
BARBARA: And the one man I had respect for, I deceived. Poor Autloc. I gave him false hope and in the end he lost his faith.
DOCTOR: He found another faith, a better, and that's the good you've done. You failed to save a civilisation, but at least you helped one man.

Because of Barbara's influence, Autloc goes into "the wilderness" in order to separate himself from an Aztec society in whch he no longer believes. There, he believes, he will find truth.  At the very end, the "perfect sacrifice" that Tlotoxl conducts at the moment of the solar eclipse underlines that Aztec culture hasn't been altered - and there's a sense that the Aztecs have pretty much forgotten the TARDIS travellers.

Oh no! Ian finds a body (the unconscious Autloc) and is framed AGAIN. Let's hope this device doesn't get reused too often in the future.

The Doctor's relationship with Cameca ends. She realises he will leave and, despite her devotion to him, doesn't demand for him to stay or for him to take her with him. She helps Ian and Susan escape. Clearly, Cameca's devotion has an effect on the Doctor and, before he leaves, he goes back to retrieve the gem she had given him whch he'd left behind. It's quite touching.

Once more, the crude climactic fight scene fight between Ian and Ixta unfortunately exposes the theatricality of the wobbly scenery. There's an attempt to use the same sort of close-up shots and rapid editing to try and obscure this (as at the start of the episode with Ian in the tunnels) but it's not effective in distracting us from the painted backgrounds and scenery. At one point the actors accdently move the great stone where sacrifices are made.

Little time for goodbyes. The travellers escape n the TARDIS as soon as they can.

Our cliffhanger is another TARDIS conundrum: the ship is stationary but still moving!

After All is Said and Done

There's a real sense of challenge and adventure in all aspects of this four-part adventure which works hard despite the obvious confines and limitations of a BBC tv production of the time to evoke a sense of an unfamiliar historical culture and society. The (restricted) setting of the temple and the costumes look pretty good. The plotting is sharp with some great moments of tension and drama. Tlotoxl, despite his Richard III mannerisms, is a great villain. Ian and the Doctor perform their roles as hero and crafty-old schemer well. Barbara is magnificent throughout. (Susan is... on holiday in real life so not in the episodes much.)

Next episode: Strangers in Space.

Saturday 6th June 1964 - Doctor Who - The Bride of Sacrifice

"I made some cocoa and got engaged. Don't giggle, my boy, It's neither here nor there."

Essentially

Barbara saves Ian. The Doctor gets engaged. Susan breaks the law. Aztecs prepare for an eclipse.

Reactions and Thoughts

One of the strongest episodes of the series so far. Much more happens in this episode. 

We resolve last episode's cliffhanger - poisoned Ian about to be killed by Ixta - by Barbara holding a knife to Tlotoxl's throat and demanding that Ian is saved. Ixta isn't allowed to claim victory and is humilated. Rather than anger, Ixta demonstrates his fixation with knives then desires to be Ian's friend until he kills Ian.

Barbara is winning over Autloc to the idea of ending human sacrfices and, by the end of the episode, he has committed himself to her.

The Doctor continues to have some comic scenes. It's great to see the way that the Doctor deals with Tlotoxl ("Oh go away!") and shoos him away like a fly. Although the scenes with Cameca reveal a gentler side of the Doctor, his misunderstanding of her affections are played for laughs. Cameca is in love with him and when he makes her hot chocolate (signifiying a marriage proposal apparently) she accepts. The Doctor's look of horror when he realises what he has naively done is hilarious.

Tlotoxl recruits Tonila in a plan to try and poison Barbara as proof she's not divine. Tonila is less certain ("Destroy the gods and we destroy ourselves!") but goes along with it until Barbara smashes the poison cup and then chases him off. In a moment of strength, she admits that she is simply mortal but can deal with Tlotoxl's accusations - casusing him to scuttle away:

BARBARA: I am not Yetaxa.
TLOTOXL: False. False! I knew.
BARBARA: And who will believe you? I warn you, Tlotoxl, you say one word against me to the people and I'll have them destroy you. Destroy you!

There's a great scene just before that between Ian and Barbara where Ian tries to get Barbara to get some perspective about her attempts to alter Aztec society. In his argument, Ian is far more successful than the Doctor was at the start of last episode:

BARBARA: I'm sick and tired of all this arguing and quarrelling. First the Doctor and now you. Why can't you see what I'm trying to do?
IAN: I can.
BARBARA: Well you're not helping. Tlotoxl's evil and he'll make everyone else the same.
IAN: They are the same, Barbara. That's the whole point. You keep on insisting that Tlotoxl's the odd man out, but he isn't.
BARBARA: I don't believe it.
IAN: Well, you must. If only you could stand away from this thing, you'd see it clearly. Autloc's the extraordinary man here. He's the reasonable one, the civilised one, the one that's prepared to listen to advice. But he's one man, Barbara. One man.
BARBARA: Then everything I've tried to do. Oh, I thought I could alter them.
IAN: You can't fight a whole way of life, Barbara.
BARBARA: I suppose not. I've just been fooling myself. Ian, what can we do?
IAN: We can get into that tomb and leave them alone.

Ah, I see why the Perfect Victim was introduced last lesson. He's used in a scheme concocted by Tlotoxl to expose Barbara by forcing Susan to marry him and then being sacrificed with him at the eclipse. In her tearful refusal, Susan breaks Aztec law and must be punished.

The weak part of this episode is at the very end when Ian is trapped in the tomb. Presumably, he's frightened by the tunnel he's in filling up with water. We don't see that, just a foot and what looks like some water falling. There's no sense - other than Ian's terrified face - that he's in danger of drowning.

After All is Said and Done

Barbara's experience as a school teacher comes in very handy as she increasingly has to command and control the Aztecs. She's stood out this episode as a resilent, dogged character in ways we've not seen before. The Doctor gets himself in a romantic pickle. Susan breaks the law. Ian gets over beng poisoned, saves Barbara from being killed and ends up trapped inside the temple. Really engaging episode.

Next episode: The Day of Darkness

Saturday 30th May 1964 - Doctor Who - The Warriors of Death

"Your heart is young too, Doctor."

Essentially

The Doctor warns Barbara she can't alter time. Susan learns how to be a good Aztec housewife. Ian fights Ixta.

Thoughts and Reactions

We're straight into the Doctor berating Barbara for her "meddling". For the Doctor, it is more than changing history on a grand scale; the Doctor wants Barbara to see the person effect of her attempts to alter the Aztec culture ("Don't you realise he wanted to be offered to the gods? It made him feel one.").

Most of the episode continues with the situations established last time. Tlotoxl doesn't believe that Barbara is a god and directly challenges her authority. Ian challenges the warrior, Ixta. The Doctor schemes in order to work out a way of re-entering the temple - mainly by flirtng with Cameca, the Aztec widow. Susan is in a seminary learning the Code of the Good Housewife which gives her the opportunity of resisting the idea of an arranged marriage (we've been here before).

The drama of the episode comes from the Doctor being fooled into making a poison by Ixta which is then used to drug Ian. Presumably this is supposed to be a comedy of misunderstanding - especially when, close to the end, Doctor interrupts Ian and Ixta's fight saying "Don't let him scratch you!" which gives Ixta the opportunty to scratch Ian. 

Ian has been pretty stoic in this adventure and has little dialogue. He humiliates Ixta by rendering him unconscious with his thumb before having to fight for his life in a weakened state at the end.

Despite the Doctor's warnings to Barbara about meddling, she continues to try and influence Autloc (the Doctor actually told her to set Autloc against Tlotoxl):

BARBARA: Famine, drought and disaster will come, and more and more sacrifices will be made. I see a time when ten thousand will die in one day.
AUTLOC: Where will it end, Yetaxa?
BARBARA: In total destruction. Your civilisation will pass forever from the land.
AUTLOC: You prophesy our doom.
BARBARA: Yes.
AUTLOC: Let me think upon these words, Great Spirit.

My only gripe about this episode is the rather strange scene where a character called the Perfect Victim and a Captain are introduced for no apparent reason than to have an exchange with Tlotoxl and Ixta and then they leave.

Again we end with Tlotoxl meanacing. He taunts Barbara to save Ian if she is really a god.

After All Is Said and Done

It's an episode for watching out for the detail of sets and costumes and soaking up the Aztec culture on screen. Knowing how limited the funds for making the show in 1964 were, it's remarkable how quickly I forgot this was all being filmed in a tv studio. It's also delightful to see how the Doctor delights in his scheming and the look of horror on his face when things don't go how he planned. Enjoyable episode.

Next episode: The Bride of Sacrifice.

 

Saturday 23rd May 1964 - Doctor Who - The Temple of Evil

 

"But you can't rewrite history. Not one line."

 

Essentially

The TARDIS lands inside an Aztec tomb. Barbara is mistaken as the reincarnation of a god. Ian joins the Aztec army. Susan joins a seminary. The Doctor spends time in a garden for old people.

Thoughts and Reactions 

Thankfully, we're straight into the action. While we have a (model) longshot of the TARDIS dematerialise from Marinus, we don't see the arrival or the exterior of the Aztec temple or city. Barbara and Susan leave the TARDIS alone - presumably because Barbara is so excited about being in an era she has knowledge and interest about - and they find themselves inside an Aztec tomb. Barbara gives a brief account of Aztec history and helps herself to a bracelet. Susan goes back and Barbara is captured. The priest who finds her, Autloc, notices that Barbara wears the bracelet and decides she's the reincarnation of their god, Yetaxa.

The Doctor comes out angrily insisting he told them not to go off on their own. Ian and the Doctor view the Aztec city which we vaguely see in the distance (unlike on Skaro we don't get a model shot) and find them locked out of the tomb and separated from the TARDIS. I'm beginning to suspect that returning to the TARDIS is going to be a recurring plot point in the show.

 

Autloc, high priest, arrives again - ths time much friendlier, welcoming the Doctor, Ian and Susan. At the same time we meet the "butcher" priest, Tlotoxl, who does his best Olivier playing Richard III: "He demands blood. And he shall have it."

 

The Doctor seems to have a grim enjoyment about what's happening, almost delighting in pointing out to Ian macabre aspects of the Aztec culture. Is it me, or is the Doctor far more energised than he's been so far. He stands proudly without any sense of the feeble old man we've seen so far.

 

When they meet Barbara again she is the reincarnation of Yetaxa and behaves regally, clearly enjoying her role as a goddess. The Doctor advises that they all play along with the Aztecs in order to find a way of gaining entry to the tomb and the TARDIS.

 

Tlotoxl takes Ian off to make him some sort of warrior. There's a hilariously awful fight scene which ends with the violent warror, Ixta, telling Ian he will slay him. Ian seems paralysed with culture shock.

 

The Doctor spends time in the Garden of Peace and meets Cameca, an older Aztec woman who offers to introduce the Doctor to the son of the builder of the temple. He seems quite taken with the woman. Chesterton, in full warrior outfit arrives and tells the Doctor that he has to participate in human sacrifice.

 

At this point the Doctor insists on non-interference in the Aztec culture (" If human sacrifice is essential here and it's their tradition, then let them get on with it. But for our sakes, don't interfere."). Ian appears to comply - maybe he learned his lessons during their escapades in Marco Polo. 

 

Barbara is not so willing. She tells him: "It's no good, Doctor, my mind's made up. This is the beginning of the end of the Sun God...  Don't you see? If I could start the destruction of everything that's evil here, then everything that is good would survive when Cortes lands.") Barbara seems to think that she can mitigate the impact of Spanish colonialism (there's obvious some pro-colonialism going on here - as if the impact of the Spanish on the Aztecs would have been reduced simply by stopping human sacrifice!).

 

It's actually Susan who calls for the sacrifice to stop and encourages Barbara prevents the sacrifice at the last possible moment. There's a bit of a Monty Python moment when the Aztec to be sacrificed complains about not being killed and then leaps off the temple to his death. Cue awful film footage of clouds and lightning. It rains.

 

The end of the episode is great: Tlotoxl looks straight at the camera and tells us that Barbara is a false god and he will destroy her.

After All Is Said and Done

This is more like it! After the protracted weirdness of the Planet Marinus we're back to a historical adventure on Earth. It's an enjoyable, compelling episode enhanced by great sets and costumes. (The actors playing Aztecs seem to be performing their best RSC roles, though - but it does add some stage drama to what we see.) It's hard to avoid the pro-colonialism extolled by Barbara and the Doctor's macabre focus on the unpleasant aspects of the Aztec culture though.

 

Next episode: The Warriors of Death

 

 

Saturday 16th May 1964 - Doctor Who - The Keys of Marinus

 

 

"I don't believe that man was made to be controlled by machines. Machines can make laws, but they cannot preserve justice. Only human beings can do that."

 

Huh?

 

Barbara is saved. Ian is saved. Altos is saved. Sabetha is saved. Unfortunately, Arbitan, the keeper of the Conscience of Marinus has been killed since we lat saw him in The Sea of Death and the Voord have taken occupied his island. The Yartek and the Voord are all destroyed.

 

The whole adventure has been a mess and straight after the prolonged Marco Polo, it's been a bit of a chore watching. I understand that this adventure was a last-minute replacement for scripts that could be made at this point. Terry Nation, the writer, appears to have turned in a pile of plot ideas and that the producers just went with them all and compressed them into five episodes. That's the feeling I've got from this anyhow. At any point over this adventure you could stop and consider how interesting and engaging what's happening could POTENTIALLY be (acid seas, bizarre alien creatures in rubber suits, mind-controlling super-computers, illusory cities, accelerated plant growth, frozen knights... and so on). And, for some reason, they don't even bother to re-hire the actor who played Arbitan at the beginning to make an appearance so there's no proper closure. Everything just blows up.

 

If I had watched this back in 1964, I would be starting to think that I could find better things to do with my time. Let's hope the next adventure, The Aztecs, is better.

 

Next episode: The Temple of Evil 

 

Saturday 9th May 1964 - Doctor Who - Sentence of Death

 

 

DOCTOR: Well, you, my child, and Barbara, can be my detectives. And you, my friend.  
IAN: Yes. What can I do, Doctor?  
DOCTOR: Trust me.

This episode suffers from having no sense of establishing the city (country?) in which events happen. It starts in the locked room where Ian is knocked unconscious and the key stolen. We are shown a few other locations: a courtroom, a reception area and the home of one of the villains, Ayden. If only the model of a futuristic city state was shown. Other than the first episode, The Sea of Death,  we've not had any exterior establishing shots and, for me, it affects my belief in Marinus being a coherent world. I suppose after the lengthy journey across China depicted in maps, the producers wanted something different so we get transmat wrist-devices and absolutely no sense that this is all one planet.

Ian is the victim here and, for the first time, we see the Doctor effectively taking charge and running to Ian's rescue. The script does a good job of portraying Ian's naivety in assuming that the legal system in this place is that of mid-twentieth century Britain. He's shocked when Tarron, one of the guardians (presumably military police) tells hime: "I mean that you are already guilty of this crime. The burden of defence is entirely yours. You must prove without any shadow of doubt that you are innocent, otherwise... you will die."

We also see Terry Nation presenting another story (after Daleks) involving a visibly authoritarian quasi-fascist regime. It's something that he'll develop most fully in Blake's 7. Here we have Nazi-like insignia and sinister military outfits (even worn by the "good" characters like Tarron). The judges of the tribunal are less militaristic and have more of a "futuristic" vibe.

I'm not sure about the slightly-futuristic nature of the world this episode takes place in. It's all a little 1960s bureaucratic office-world with some fancy pretend-scientific stylings. Phones look like microphones. There's an "authro-ray" scanner that checks identities, a weapon that kills with a flash and something called psychometry which Tarron helpfully explains as: "Experts are able to divine from an object the characteristics of the person who last had contact with that object." In this sort-of futuristic setting, we do have a lingering shot of a keyholes and handle of a very ordinary doorhandle.

My chief complaint with this episode is the awful performances of some of the actors. Altos, for instance, is told that his friend, Eprin, was the person murdered at the start of the episode. Althos has no emotional reaction and willingly follows the Doctor's instructions with a smile. The villian, Ayden, twice makes the same mistake of blurting out in a way that makes him look not only guilty but also incredibly stupid.

What IS delightful is the return of the Doctor. He commands every scene he's in. (From a narrative point of view, it shows how far he's developed his relationship with Ian and Barbara.) The Doctor revels in being not only legal defence for Ian but also guiding the investigation into the murder and theft of they key. The scene in which the Doctor reenacts the muder with Susan and Barbara is, in my opinion, the best we've seen. (Though, again narratively we have no idea what the Doctor's been up to while his companions have been having their adventures. Barbara and Susan are in the city(?) for two days during Ian's arrest before the Doctor appears. No one seems to wonder where he's been.)

In case the viewers have forgotten the purpose of this adventure (it was a month ago that this started), a random character (Kara, the wife of the villainous Ayden) reminds why the Keys of Marinus are important: "Because there are only five of them in the entire universe. It was brought to the city years ago by a man called Arbitan. It was the sworn duty of the Elders to protect it."

I wasn't expecting the sudden left-turn in the story when Ian is still found guilty and sentenced to death. And I didn't notice that Susan had disappeared at the end which set up the cliff-hanger where Barbara receives a note warning her of another death followed by Susan's phone call. Susan's been kidnapped and tells Barbara: "They're going to kill me."

Next episode: The Keys of Marinus

 

Saturday 2nd May 1964 - Doctor Who - The Snows of Terror

 

 

"Are you afraid of me?"

 

A claustrophobic, threatening episode that has a fairy-tale, nightmarish quality. An episode full of snow, woods, wolves, frozen caves and ice soldiers. Events take place in darkness of the course of a few hours. 

 

It is the character of Vasos who seemingly rescues Barbara and Ian that dominates this episode. A large, bearded hunter clad in furs, Vasos uses the situation the in which the travellers find themselves for his own advantage - to aquire the valuable their valuable belongings and for sexual gratification. (Although the show has so far hinted at sexual threats towards Barbara in particular, here we have here explicitly having to defend herself with a knife from Vasos' assault.) He is monstrous and menaces throughout until he is eventually killed by the "demons" he fears.

The plot is quite limited: Ian goes in search of Althos, returns to save Barbara from Vasos, searches for Susan and Sabetha, finds the next key they are searching for, fights the frozen ice soldiers and escapes. I doubt I'm the first person to notice a similarity with the Crystal Maze. The production team make a good effort of using their limited budget into building sets that are effective. I'm not sure that a hot water pipe would resurrect the frozen ice soldiers. (And I'm not even going to question why an alien world has medieval knights and wolves.)

Once again, the Doctor is missing (gone ahead in the story) and the episode suffers from not having him present. Everything is a little rushed and frantic.

The cliff-hanger has Ian discovering a body and knocked unconscious while a mysterious figure steals what looks like the final key.

Much like the last episode, The Screaming Jungle, there's a sense here that the storytelling is too condensed. Rather than rush through some very interesting characters and situations, it's almost that a multiple-episode adventure would have been better.  

 

Next episode: Sentence of Death 

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.

Saturday 18th April 1964 - Doctor Who - The Velvet Web

 

Saturday 18th April 1964 - Doctor Who - The Velvet Web

 

 

"You are in the city of Morphoton. Our people are perhaps the most contented in the universe. Nothing they desire is denied them."

This was actually quite fun. There’s a dream-like quality to this episode that works really effectively (and manages to overcome the obvious deficiencies with the set) - with the caution that what we see on screen can't really be trusted.

After being concerned about Barbara’s blood on the (transmat) device, the Doctor, Susan and Ian find her in a luxurious palace being attended upon by servants. (It’s one of those Dionysian worlds that original Star Trek would later perfect.) Some sort of alarm goes off when the travellers enter the place that Barbara is which is later revealed to affect their perceptions.

In the very short few minutes that Barbara is separated from the others, she changes clothes and is pampered while reclining on a chase longue. The travellers are offered food such as pomegranates and truffles which are foods clearly hallucinated (who knows what they were really eating!).

They've arrived in the city of Morphoton, where their every wish is seemingly fulfilled. At first Ian and the Doctor are skeptical but the promise of a cutting-edge laboratory win them over. Susan is easily seduced by a silk dress.

Behind the deception are brains with eyes on stalks in bell jars who use a power they call mesmeron. These brains have evolved beyond their bodies but need to ensnare visitors to serve as slaves ("We are the masters of this place. Our brains out-grew our bodies. It is our intelligence that has created this whole city, but we need the help of the human body to feed us and to carry out our orders."). Somno-discs are placed on the foreheads of sleeping travellers which cause them to be hypnotised into perceiving the city as beautiful when it's much the opposite.   

Not much is made of the quest that the travellers are on for Arbitan until the very end when the Doctor decides to split from the others and jump ahead (presumably, in real life, Hartnell was off on holiday and looks pretty happy about it, too). The Doctor must - after the months that they spent together travelling with Marco Polo - have finally developed enough trust in Ian and Barbara to let Susan stay with them. Up until now, the Doctor would have been protective of his grand-daughter and kept her close.

The travellers pick up Altos, Artiban's courier and Sabetha (Arbitan's daughter who had the second key in the form of a medallion... I think; you have to assume this as we're not told anything about the key explicitly) to accompany them. This time, Susan (transmats) goes ahead and the episode ends with her screaming her head off in the... Screaming Forest!

It would have been good to see establishing shots of Morphoton in order to get an idea of where they were. We rely on what the characters tell us and some diegetic sounds of disorder when the influence of the brains is removed. Even a model of the city from distance (both illusory and then as it actually looks). I like the attempts that are made to show things from Barbara's point of view when she is no longer under the influence of the brains - especially the creepy way that Altos comes to speak to her and the way she sees herself and the others. I'm also shocked by the violence she shows in attacking and, presumably, killing the brains. Perhaps the trauma of being captured in the Cave of Five Eyes finally shows itself.

Next episode: The Screaming Jungle

 

Saturday 11th April 1964 - Doctor Who - The Sea of Death

 "Yes, and all our knowledge culminated in the manufacture of this. At the time, it was called the Conscience of Marinus. Marinus, that is the name of our planet. At first, this machine was simply a judge and jury that was never wrong, and unfair. And then we added to it, improved on it, made it more and more sophisticated so that finally it became possible to radiate its power and influence the minds of men throughout the planet. They no longer had to decide what was wrong or right. The machine decided for them."

"Who stabbed the Voord?" rather than "What's happened to Barbara?" is what I was asking at the end of this episode. This is our second alien planet adventure after Skaro and Marinus, a planet with an acid sea, and beaches of glass with crystalline rocks makes an engaging setting, though eerily similar to the start of The Dead Planet. As does the immense, foreboding building at the centre of the island. (I'm going to say that the miniatures used in this episode look rubbish and then pass quickly on.)

The Voord are the series second alien race and very different from the robot-like daleks. arrive at the island in a sea of acid in torpedo-like vehicles. They are human-like, clad in acid-proof diving suits with large helmets sporting an antenna. In this episode we don't see they out of the diving suits so we have no idea whether they are human or - as I suspect - insect-like creatures. Though Arbitan does refer to Yartek, the leader of the Voords as a man. Although they travel together in a group to the island, the Voord split up and try to gain access to the building. We find out later it's because they want access to the "Conscience" a machine at the heart of the building that, when working, controls the minds of everyone on Marinus.

Was it the ostensibly peaceful Arbitan who killed the Voord? Doesn't he pretend NOT to see Susan when he's weirdly wandering the corridors.

There's the usual splitting up, getting lost/captured and being held captive. The travellers encounter the monk-like Arbitan who shows them the Conscience and implores them to begin a quest on his behalf to recover the missing parts of the Conscience so it can operate once more. (Sounds like a video game to me.) When the travellers refuse, Arbitan traps the TARDIS inside a force field and demands that they undertake the quest in order to be allowed to leave Marinus. It's interesting that regaining access to the TARDIS becomes dominant in this adventure. Very much like Marco Polo. (I wonder how many "future" early adventures will do the same?) I'm not sure I trust Arbtan and - yes, of course - his mention of a missing daughter presumably is to set up a meeting in a future episode,

Arbitan provides the travellers with a wrist-worn portable transmat (though just referred to an a "device" onscreen) and the cepisode's cliffhanger comes when Barbara travels using the device and, when the others appear, has disappeared.

I guess that by the time The Keys of Marinus was written and went into production, the BBC knew that they had a hit show on their hands and wanted to re-capture some of the excitement of the Doctor's encounter with the daleks. I enjoyed this (with the caveat that much of my enjoyment with the episode came from it not being a reconsctruction from telesnaps.)

So... who did stab that Voord?

Next episode: The Velvet Web.

Saturday 4th April 1964 - Assassin at Peking

"But what is the truth? I wonder where they are now? The past or the future?"

It's all a little hectic and rushed.

Bah! The sword fight between Tegana and Ian which looked like it would happen at the end of last episode is broken up by the arrival of Ling-Tau and the Khan's soldiers. We have to wait to the end of this episode to see a fight between Tegana and Marco Polo.

It's the role of the Doctor that is interesting in this episode. We see him being manipulative and cunning but without any of the sinister, malicious edge evident in earlier stories - or even the bad-temper he showed at the start of this adventure. When he loses the game of backgammon to the Khan he is sanguine about the loss of the TARDIS and accepts defeat with a smile (I wonder, too, whether he allowed the Khan to beat him - or, alternatively, that the Khan allowed the Doctor to amount sizeable winnings in order to legitimately win the TARDIS from him). The Khan is a useful character as he displays many of the Doctor's qualities. I like the Khan a great deal: he has a sense of humour, intelligence and much self-knowledge. His cheerful reply to Polo's apology for giving the Doctor they key to the TARDIS at the end - "If you hadn't, the old man would have won it at backgammon" - shows his wisdom and grace which was distinct from his declarations about "humbling" his enemies.

This final episode is a rushed series of scenes that cover old ground - Tegana's treachery, Polo's longing to go home, Polo's trust in the Doctor and his companions, Ping-Chu's enforced marriage - that are brought to a climax in the assassination attempt on the Khan (the first we have heard of this plan) and the duel between Tegana and Polo. In the confusion at the end, the companions escape in the TARDIS.

There's an odd, caustic humour evident in this episode shown especially in the scene where the Khan tells Ping-Chu: "Your beloved husband-to-be, so anxious to be worthy of your love, drank a potion of quicksilver and sulphur, the elixir of life and eternal youth, and expired." For Ping-Chu's situation to be resolved off-screen so suddenly probably has more to do with the realisation the writer had that there was no more time in which to properly resolve this story thread.

I 've mixed feelings about this story and happy to be moving on to a new adventure. While there are scenes that I like, I haven't enjoyed it as a whole adventure. Maybe seven episodes is too long. My opinion hasn't been helped by watching the episodes as Loose Cannon reconstructions. Loose Cannon have done a marvellous job with recreating episodes out of photos and audio - seen especially in the reconstruction of the sword fight between Tegana and Polo - but I feel that the strengths of this story were in the sets and costumes plus the epic sense of journey across a vast distance. I'm reading the Target novelisation of Marco Polo at the moment and I'm enjoying that mode of experiencing this adventure far more. I'm more than willing to accept that I'm just wrong about this.

Marco Polo has been held in high esteem by long-time fans of the show. John Peel described it as "Gorgeous, fast, tense, funny and filled with character and feel for the period - Marco Polo is one of the true classics of television."

Next episode: The Sea of Death.

Saturday 28th March 1964 - Doctor Who - Mighty Kublai Khan

"You are asking me to believe that your caravan can defy the passage of the sun? Move not merely from one place to another, but from today into tomorrow, today into yesterday? No, Ian. That I cannot accept."

More travelling, more female characters wandering off into danger alone, more of Tegana's treachery.

An attempted escape by the Doctor and his companions is foiled once again and the episode considers how a desire to get home is a motivator for most of the characters: for the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara the TARDIS is their home (or way home), for Marco Polo the gift of the TARDIS is a means of escaping his service to the Khan and returning home to Venice and, now, Ping-Chu's attempted escape from an arranged marriage by journey home to Samarkand.

Ian returns to Cheng-Ting to retrieve Ping-Chu. She implores him not to take her back and I found myself wondering whether Ian would actually do so (fortunately he's beset by the issue of the stolen TARDIS).  Has Ian's idealism been tempered by the months of travelling across Cathay and failed attempts at escape? Would he actually hand Ping-Chu over to be forced into an arranged marriage. Elsewhere in the episode, Barbara talks about trusting Ian - but I'm not so sure. We see a lot of scenes in which Marco Polo and Ian show a similarity in situation and outlook. One difference is clearly noted by Polo when he says "What is important is the fact that you are capable of lying".

After so many episodes, the travellers FINALLY arrive at their destination: the summer palace of the Khan. All the pomp and ceremony of the audience with the Khan becomes bathos when the Doctor is unable to kowtow because of his painful back (from riding a horse) and the small, hobbling Khan who suffers from gout. The Khan takes a liking to the Doctor - a fellow elderly man suffering with pain - and we have the start of a comic double-act which is emphasised by the off-camera groans that Hartnell and Martin Miller (Kublai Khan) make. Helpfully, Susan laughs to ensure that the viewers at home know this is intentionally funny.

Ian's and Ping-Chu's side-quest to retrieve the TARDIS is quickly resolved when they discovers the eye-patched, Kuiji at campfire on the Karakorum Road and come face-to-face with a sword-wielding Tegana. Having the companions on their own, joining other characters in adventures away from the Doctor is something I'd like to see more.

The climax of this episode is great: Tegana's FINALLY been definitively exposed as a villain and we're going to FINALLY see a fight between him and Ian.

Next episode: Assassin at Peking

Saturday 21st March 1964 - Doctor Who - Rider from Shang-tu

"IAN: Marco, I wish I could explain to you how important the Tardis is to us.  
POLO: And I wish I could explain to you, Ian, how important it is to me."

After a couple of episodes with a more purposeful plot, we're back to more travelling. Nothing has altered: the Doctor and his companions are still prisoners, Tegana is still plotting to kill everyone and steal the TARDIS, they are still journeying to meet Kublai Khan.

At the start, Ian alerts Marco Polo to the impending bandit attack and fights bravely which restores some trust in the Doctor and his companions. After more travelling - broken by the arrival of a messenger who has ridden on horseback 300 miles in a single day - the episode ends with an attempt to escape in the TARDIS which results in Susan being captured by Tegana.

There are some moments that add a little (unnecessary?) texture to the episode: a touching scene between Susan and Ping-Chu watching goldfish and an oddly humorous scene involving the inn-keeper, Wang-Lu, who has the TARDIS stored in the stables rather than spoil the gardens.

After a couple of episodes where the Doctor has played an energetic leading role, he's back to sleeping again. Barbara barely says or does anything (maybe she's still traumatised by being held by the mongol bandits in the Cave of 500 Eyes?).

I'm not sure what Susan was doing at the end which caused her to be caught by Tegana. The Loose Cannon telesnaps made it hard to understand why she was wandering around. Was she following Tegana? Hiding from him? (I also wonder if it's because I'm watching a series of stills that I'm prevented from enjoying this story more.)

Next episode: Mighty Kublai Khan.

Saturday 14th March 1964 - The Wall of Lies

 

"Put that key in the lock, Polo, and you will destroy the ship... You need more than a key to enter my ship. You need knowledge. Knowledge you will never possess."

This is better. The tensions between Tegana, Marco Polo and the Doctor and his companions comes to a head. The pace is stepped up and the episode is better for it. Barbara is rescued. Suspicions abound. The Doctor repairs the TARDIS and prepares to leave. Tegana plans a murderous attack, intending to put a stake through the Doctor's heart. A plan to present Tegana unfavourably backfires and the Doctor and his companions lose what little freedom they have. Ian escapes only to find that Tegana's intended attack has already begun.

It seems to me that the Doctor is playing a much more prominent role in the show now. Ian is, of course, still the one who seems to problem-solve - but it's the Doctor that dominates the scenes he's in. Notice that Doctor doesn't have to go away and have a rest. He even physically stands up to Polo. The Doctor Who Production Diary: The Hartnell Years records Hartnell as being incapacitated with influenza at the start of Marco Polo and having a reduced, "token" role in the early episodes (early February 1964 recordings). Hartnell appears fully recovered by this episode.

Tegana also stands out for his moustatche-twitching villainy. By the end of this episode not only has he convinced Marco Polo to mistrust the Doctor and his companions but also plan an attack which seems to be underway by the time the credits roll.

We are, however, half-way through this adventure and I'm hoping that the attack on the guard represents a change to the repetitive episodes we've seen on this adventure.

Next episode: Rider from Shang Tu

Saturday 7th March 1964 - Five Hundred Eyes

Saturday 7th March 1964 - Five Hundred Eyes

"You crafty old fox."

It's an episode that starts in a bright, waterless desert and ends in a dark, wet cave system. William Hartnell is back and brings a little relief to the episode which is more or less the same as the last one: the caravan moves from one place to another. It's the Doctor that saves Marco Polo's caravan from dehydration: condensation forms overnight inside the TARDIS. (I'm at a loss to see how this happens to the TARDIS. Maybe they left the door open?). We find a rejuvenated Doctor who is up to his scheming ways once more. He's passed off another key to Marco Polo and intends to use the real one to gain access to the TARDIS so he can covertly repair the broken circuit.

We have more voice-overs by Marco Polo to accompany the caravan's progress. I guess we have to assume that this journey takes days and possibly weeks.

The episode seems to want to draw a comparison between the Hashasins of the Cave of 500 Eyes and the actions of Tegana and the conspirators he meets. It's the only reason I can think of for including such a long scene in which Ping-Chu tells the story of Ala-eddin, the Old Man of the Mountains.

It's only in the third act of the episode that things get more interesting. Barbara, already suspicious of Tehana, follows him out of the city and into the Cave of 500 Eyes. Barbara on her own is something we've seen before and, doubtlessly, will see again. We learn that Tegana is working for someone called Noghai (I must have forgotten this as I though Tegana was after the TARDIS for his own). I expected the cliff-hanger to be when Barbara is grabbed from behind but - no - we have another sequence in which the Doctor, Susan and Peng-Chu enter the caves and, after finding Barbara's handkerchief, Susan screams when she sees moving eyes in a carved face.

Next episode: The Wall of Lies.