Farewell, Great Macedon (2010)

Due to the success of the Sixth Doctor Lost stories, we now get some of the first Doctor Lost Stories. The thing about those adventures is that the two characters the stories were written for are still alive and its easier to tweak it to make it feel like a story from that time. The difference with this one is that as both William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill are no longer with us it essentially becomes a Companion Chronicle story. This story is a six part adventure written by Moris Farhi which was commissioned by then script editor David Whittaker to form part of the first season in 1964 though it didn’t get made.

The story is about how the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in Babylon where they meet Alexander the Great. However there is an attempt on Alexander’s life as well as the three people that would become king and the Doctor and his companions are framed for their murders. With the three successors dead it at this point when the Doctor and his friends get put on trial with the Doctor forced to walk over fire and Ian choosing to wrestle. The story works along the knowledge that is pointed out that Alexander does die and when that moment comes there is a desperate debate about whether the Doctor should try and put this off. Alexander suffers a slow death with the instinct desire for no one to save his life. Given the friendship that Alexander had worked up with the Doctor and his friends it was a difficult thing and well played by William Russell, Carole Ann Ford and John Dorney. It’s quite a familiar thing that the Doctor and his companions strike up a nice relationship with whoever they meet and that is the case in this.

I must say that all three actors did a superb job. Especially John Dorney who was just splendid as Alexander. The character of Alexander was likeable and was a character that you bought to life superbly by Dorney. Dorney’s best scenes came towards the end when his death was at the centre of the story. Carole Ann Ford and William Russell were also superb in this story and bought a lot of enthusiasm to the story. I have heard Russell read Target Novels that have been turned into audios and his companion chronicles. He is a great reader and has a voice that I could listen to for hours. Likewise with Carole Ann Ford who I think gives a great performance and at times seems to be putting in a better performance than Russell. Both Russell and Ford do a great job in pretending to be William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill. It’s never going to be an exact impersonation but they still do a good job.

The thing that strikes me about this is how much like a first Doctor story that it feels like. You could believe that it’s a story that has been wiped and only exists on audio that was made in 1964 as opposed to being made by Big Finish in 2010. Over the course of the three and a half hours the story moves at the sort of pace that the Hartnell era did in the early years. It’s not entirely perfect. The first 10 minutes were painfully slow and I wasn’t quite sure that this story was going to work. There was a lengthy scene which was introduced all the characters and I just kept hoping that the story would get going soon.

Farewell Great Macedon is a good story and it’s a shame that it never got made because I think it would be rated higher than other historical stories such as Marco Polo and The Aztecs. I think at times the episodes were slightly too long with no episode shorter than 30 minutes. There are some wonderful scenes between all three actors and even if this wasn’t released with the other story then it would still be worth the £20 that I paid. I think that this is one of the best Lost Stories that Big Finish have produced.

The Talons of Weng Chiang (1977)

The Talons of Weng-Chiang is the final story of the 14th season and is one of the best stories of the Tom Baker era. In fact it ranks quite highly in the DWM Mighty 200 survey. Written by Robert Holmes, this is another classic Hinchcliffe gothic story. As well as having Holmes write this story, it was directed by David Maloney. The story is set on Earth in Victorian London in 1890 where woman have being going missing. All the action in the early part takes place in a theatre run by Henry Gordon Jago.

The first sinister character we meet in Li H’sen Chang as played by John Bennett, from the moment he appeared on screen it was clear he was up to something. However it was Mr Sin that was more creepy as played by Deep Roy. The character was the Oddjob of Doctor Who with a sense that even though he was the smallest thing on screen, he could be the most deadly. Both of them were in the service of Magnus Greel, played brilliantly Michael Spice. He has to ware a truly gruesome mask which is revealed in a confrontation with Leela.

There is some wonderful outside filming which is obviously down to David Maloney. Possibly some of the finest of that era. It’s helped that filming it at night as it gives some tension to the show. Scarier things happen at night as opposed to the daytime. The scenes in the theatre were equally well directed and every frame has richness and its one of those rare occasions where it looks like money has been spent on it. Only the TARDIS console room would have ruined it. There are some memorable scenes in this story such as when Professor Litefoot has dinner/supper/tea whatever you want to call it with Leela. Who grabs a leg of meat and eats off the bone, after a few moments Professor Litefoot picks up a leg.

The cast was top notch in this. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson were on top form in this and especially so for Louise Jameson who had to pretend to be scared from a giant (if not realistic) rat. This story saw the first and only TV appearance of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot. They became a staple part of this story especially in the second part of the story. In fact it wouldn’t be until 2009 before they appeared in a companion chronicle before getting their own series. It’s credit to Christopher Benjamin & Trevor Baxter that they provide comedy in a very dark and grim situation.

This is a fine example of a great story, set design, acting, directing and most importantly high entertainment. Robert Holmes is at his best with this story, It was Philip Hinchcliffe’s final story as producer before being replaced by Graham Williams. The pressure that Mary Whitehouse had put on the show and the BBC caused this change in producers to take place. It’s a fine way to end your time on the show and rates as one of the best in Doctor Who history.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974)

I have mixed feelings about Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Written by Malcolm Hulke, this story comes in the final season for Jon Pertwee as the Doctor at a time when the quality of stories is far below what viewers had come to expect. The story sees the Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive on Earth finding the streets to be deserted. They are soon arrested accused of armed robbery. When they are cleared they find that Dinosaurs are appearing and disappearing which forces UNIT to evacuate London.

The main failing of this story are the dinosaurs. They’re just crap. Even a primary school kid could have done a better job and given that the story has Dinosaurs in the title then it’s a pretty big problem. Every time I was starting to get into the story the dinosaurs would appear and all that would go out of the window. The creation of the Dinosaurs was done by a freelancer who convinced Barry Letts that he could do it. Boy way he wrong. The first cliffhanger which exists only in black and white in part one looked ok but just looks awful when part two begins. That said there was one brief moment of when the Pterodactyl attacks the Doctor and Sarah Jane in the garage. That was good though it might have been down to the black and white quality.

When you take the Dinosaurs out of the review then this story is a corker. Which isn’t surprising considering that Hulke has written some cracking stories over the years. The idea that a group of scientists and military people are trying to create a new world with no pollution is quite a noble one but alas with most plans in Doctor Who, the way they went about it was totally the wrong way. You kind of sympathise with the characters even though one of the main scientist will be Nyder in a few years. The think that really throws a spanner in the works is the involvement of Captain Mike Yates. He had been a solid reliable figures throughout Pertwee’s time on the show and to put him in a position where he puts the Doctor’s life in peril is quite a shocking thing. Especially as we know that they are friends but Yates does have some morals and won’t allow the Doctor to be killed.

Parts of this story became a case of ‘who can you trust?’. With The Doctor and Sarah Jane being constantly thwarted in their attempts to understand what’s going on and even the Brigadier hits a brick wall on more than one occasion. The story soon sees the Sir Charles Grover capture Sarah Jane. After a hypnotic session, Sarah Jane wakes up on what appears a spaceship with crew who believe that they are travelling to a new world which is devoid of pollution. Essentially they are being conned and they spend all this time in the mock-up of a spaceship whilst the Professor Whittaker (Peter Miles) and Butler (Martin Jarvis) work on getting London evacuated.

Jon Pertwee does a good job. I think his best times were behind him and the departure of Katy Manning and the death of Roger Delgado have clearly had an effect on him. However he is professional and is still quintessentially the Doctor. Elisabeth Sladen is very strange in this story compared to her Tom Baker stories. She is still in her journalist phase and so she is in that suit which is more suiting the character, it’s just a shame that she didn’t stay like this throughout her time. The other characters are also very good. Peter Miles and Martin Jarvis are a sort of bickering couple and even though I have seen them in previous things and Miles goes to play Nyder I still believe in the characters. I also thought Carmen Silvera (previously in The Celestial Toymaker) was a wonderful bit of casting. Her role of Ruth went from believing absolutely in the setting she was in before changing once she found out the truth. However it was Richard Franklin that I found the best of the guest stars. Being on both sides of the fence meant that we got to see a different side to a UNIT officer. He had to basically lie to the Doctor’s face which must have been difficult.

If you take the Dinosaurs out of this story then it’s a bloody good adventure. Even at six parts it doesn’t seem to drag and that’s unusual for a six parter. However if you put the dinosaurs back then the story does lose a bit of sparkle. Invasion of the Dinosaurs should only be watched when you turn the TV to black and white then you will get a better response.

The Poison Sky (2008)

The first Sontaran story of the new series, with Wilfred choking to death in his car it was going to be interesting to see how the Doctor was going to get Wilfred out of it. The main problem with the new series two-parters is that very often the second part is not as good as the first. This story corrects that. Helen Raynor made a mistake with her Dalek two-parter the year before but has managed to keep her eye on the end and has written a story that is quite good.



Not only does the Doctor have to deal with the Sontarans but he has no TARDIS and also the cloned Martha. The story does think of the long time fan with a brief mention about Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (who was stranded in Peru) and then the mention of the Rutans who the Sontarans have been in a war with for an astonishing 50,000 years. The Sontaran’s are accused of cowardice which is the ultimate no-no. They plan to change the atmosphere of Earth so that they can breed billions of Sontarans.

If I had to pick this story up for something it would be for the cloned Martha. Unfortunately Freema Agyeman can’t do evil. I just can’t take her seriously when she was playing the evil Martha. The ending is quite abrupt, after an emotional scene with the Doctor, Donna and Martha before the door slams shut and the TARDIS takes flight effectively creating another cliffhanger to the next episode. On the whole, the story is quite good. I think that the re-design of the Sontarans is very good and Christopher Ryan is good as General Staal. They look muscular but it doesn’t look like padding which is a problem that dogged the previous designs. The masks that they have to wear are very impressive though the “they look like baked potatos” comment was obvious and had to be said. It’s obvious that they could afford to do masks for every Sontaran extra (like they couldn’t with the Judoon) but I think in retrospect that was a wise move because it made them to look more like soldiers.

Everyone in this story did a great job. David Tennant is on usual good form as is Catherine Tate who is showing how far the character of Donna has come since The Runaway Bride. It’s good how Donna and Martha didn’t bicker when they first met. Bernard Cribbins’ casting in this series is one of the best decisions of the RTD era. Cribbins gives a warm and friendly feel to proceedings when he is on screen. Ryan Sampson is a lot better in this second part as Luke Rattigan, he slowly starts to realise just what a monumental cock-up he’s made and puts it right at the end when he sacrifices himself and blows up the Sontarans battleship.

The Poison Sky is a great end to this two part story with a great script and some lovely directing. There was another blink and you’ll miss it appearance of Rose Tyler. Yet again I was hoping that something more would be revealed but congrats to RTD for not giving in an revealing too much.

The Faceless Ones (1967)

The Faceless Ones is sadly one of those stories that doesn’t exist in its entirety on film and it’s a massive shame because from what does exist, there are clear signs that this story would be one of the best Troughton stories had all the episodes exist. This story was written by David Ellis and the fantastic Malcolm Hulke. Who couldn’t write a poor story if his life depended on it. The story has a modern feeling and set at an airport.

The main ‘enemy’ of this story are the people of Chameleons Tours but as the story progresses, it turns out that their entire race have lost their identities and faces and are dying out. The story starts off with a death and the Doctor trying to get the airport authorities to take the matter serious. Slowly the authorities start to co-operate just as the Chameleon Tours’ plan get going. With a six part adventure, at some point the story is going to need something different or something fresh. In this story it’s Samantha Briggs (played by Pauline Collins), her brother is missing and wants to know what’s going on. With Ben and Polly out of the picture, Jamie needs someone to share his scenes with and Collins does the job well. As a mouthy scouser she soon becomes an immediate presence and it’s a shame that she doesn’t become a companion at the end.

I thought that Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines performed well in this story. But it was the supporting cast members that deserve a mention. Colin Gordon was brilliant as the Commandant. His refusal to accept what was going on in front of him was well acted. Also Bernard Kay did a great job being the voice of reason and common sense as Crossland. Kay is making his second appearance after previously appearing in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. As Crossland he gave the Doctor the benefit of the doubt even though he himself was 100% sure of things. The story has some wonderful cliffhangers. Cliffhanger #1 was a nice one because it was strangely mysterious. Though the Episode 3 is the best one, one moment there are passengers on the plane and then they just disappear with no weird noise or explosion. Just gone, I would love to have actually seen what that was like instead of listening to it.

This story marks the end of Polly and Ben’s involvement in the series It’s a shame that they didn’t get a better send off. It’s as if the production team remembered that they had more regulars than Patrick & Frazer and so there was a rush scene where once Polly and Ben realise that the TARDIS has landed on the exact day that they left Earth in The War Machines. It follows the equally bad exit for Dodo in that same story. The story does something quite strange where it leads into the next story ‘The Evil of the Daleks’. The TARDIS is stolen but the question is by whom.

David Ellis & Malcolm Hulke did a great job with this one. The Faceless Ones is a wonderful story and its just a shame that it doesn’t exist in its entirety on film as I think that it would rank higher than it did in the DWM Mighty 200.

Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)

Remembrance of the Daleks holds a special place in my heart. It’s the story that got me into Doctor Who. Watching it at school (for reasons I’m not sure) I saw Episode 2 and as it was set in a school I remember watching it and then instantly running out into the school playground and pretending there were these creatures around. I imagine that was in 1988 but it would be 1993 before I would watch this story in its entirety.

Watching this story today its easy for me to argue how this is the best Sylvester McCoy TV story. The story is set in 1963 with the implication that it’s around the time of An Unearthly Child. There is even a in-joke when the TV is playing and the announcer talks about a new show called Do…. and this was meant to be talking about Docctor Who which is just mind boggling. Anyway that isnt what the story is about. Its about two Dalek factions beating the hell out of each other with the Doctor and Ace in the middle. The story is about both Factions wanting the Hand of Omega. One faction is called the Imperials and they are lead by Davros or the Emperor as he’s referred to. The colours on a Dalek have never impressed me before but I think that the imperials are the most beautiful looking Daleks ever. Then there are the Renegades who’s colour scheme is more fitting to the older Daleks. These renegades are led by the Battle Computer which is powered by a little girl. The story was the first of McCoy’s second series so all that awfulness of the last season was gone and what we get from this story onwards is (forgive the pun) the real McCoy. With Mel gone and Ace now in we get a Doctor Who that feels more adult in content and less childish.

McCoy’s performance is his best so far not that that’s a massive compliment. The mystery surrounding his character begins in this story with the idea that he had something to do with the Hand of Omega.

Doctor: And didn’t we have problems with the prototype.

Ace: We?

Doctor: They

This brief scene does what Lost did so brilliantly well whilst it was on the tv. It gets the viewer curious and wants to know more. At this point Doctor Who fans would think they knew everything about their favourite Timelord yet that all changed. McCoy’s Doctor starts properly from this story as it would be impossible to imagine the scene between the Doctor and Davros taking place 12 months earlier. That scene was brilliantly played between McCoy and Terry Molloy. Speaking of Molloy, this was another great performance from him. This was his third outing and despite only really being involved in it for two episodes, those two episodes were played well. Molloy has now been playing Davros for 27 years and despite being the third actor to play the role, its weird when you see Michael Wisher or David Gooderson playing the role. This story is Sophie Aldred’s second story and is a vast improvement on Dragonfire. She had some wonderful scenes such as beating a Dalek up with a baseball bat. Aldred has only grown even after all these years.

As well as the battle between the two Dalek factions, the one thing that this story is famous for is being the first time that a Dalek is seen going upstairs. Of course there are the killjoys who like to point out that they were implied to have been flying in ‘The Chase’ and of course Davros was hovering in ‘Revelation of the Daleks’. But this is the first time that the Daleks themselves are scene hovering up the stairs. I can remember when I first saw it and was totally stunned by it. I actually think the effect is far more impressive than the one in ‘Dalek’ in 2005. Also another thing I love about this story are the explosions. There are some of the biggest explosions that I have ever seen in Doctor Who. Ever time I see those explosions I cheer. I just think that it the production teams way of saying ‘this is a new start’. They probably didn’t but I like to think this.

It’s very rare for all three cliffhangers to be of high quality. You would normally get one but in this story there were three of them. The first one is obvious with the Dalek climbing up the stairs, then the second saw three Daleks surround Ace whilst screaming ‘Exterminate’. Then there was the third with the Imperial Dalek ship landing in the school yard with the glass in the classroom occupied by the Doctor and company smashing all over the place. These are wonderful cliffhangers and would have had me wishing the next seven days would hurry up. With the creation of DVD/VHS it meant I only had to wait seconds. They were well devised by Aaronovitch and well directed by Andrew Morgan.

Remembrance of the Daleks is a brilliant story (just in case your were unclear!). Brilliant story with brilliant performances. It’s a brilliant start fro the Doctor/Ace relationship and Ben Aaronovitch should be congratulated on written a superb script. Best story of the 1988 series.

Mission to the Unknown (1965)

Mission to the Unknown is a single twenty-five minute episode that was broadcast as a teaser to The Daleks Masterplan. Broadcast before ‘The Myth Makers’ this story stands out because not one of the regular cast members makes an appearance.

This story focuses on Jeff Garvey, Marc Cory and Gordon Lowery who are stranded on the planet Kembel. Garvey gets killed by Cory. Corey then finds that Garvey had a Varga thorn at the back of his head. Soon after that Lowry gets a Varga thorn in his hand before turning into a Varga plant. He uncovers the Daleks plans and records a tape telling the authorities of the plans but is exterminated before it can be sent. Though the tape survives (for the Doctor to find is several weeks time).

Despite not having any of the regulars in it. The three guest stars do a good job. Barry Jackson (Jeff Garvey), Edward de Souza (Marc Corey) and Jeremy Young (Gordon Lowery) manage to make this slightly more than a play of the day or week or whatever those single episode dramas that the BBC did at that time were called.

Sadly this story doesn’t exist on video but thanks to someone recording the sound we now have an idea of what it was like. The reason why the story came about was due to Planet of Giants being cut from four episodes to three and it was also Terry Nation’s attempt to write a Dalek story without the Doctor thus potentially paving the way for a series in the US. This episode is relatively ok with some interesting characters and of course it has the Daleks.

The King's Demons (1983)

The King’s Demons is a two part story that marked the end of the 1983 season. It wasn’t intended to be this as it was planned for a four part adventure called ‘The Return’ which would have seen the return of the Daleks. However due to industrial action prevented this from being done. It followed after the Black Guardian Trilogy which was unfortunate. This story was written by Terrence Dudley who isn’t my favourite writer and unfortunately despite some impressive location filming at Bodiam Castlet this story isn’t anything spectacular. Set on Earth in 1215 in the court of King John of England.

This story sees the return of Anthony Ainley as the Master. He was last seen in Time-Flight which was the last story of the previous series. Everytime the Master returns his identity is hidden both in the Radio Times listings and also with make-up. Normally this works however the make-up job was so bad that it was obvious that Sir Giles Estram was the Master. Though the first line after he changes into the Master was quite funny.

Master: Oh my dear Doctor, You have been so naive!

The regular cast do a relatively good job despite the script. Peter Davison is the best (as you would expect) and his highlight was the sword fight that he has with the Master. It’s just a shame that he was wearing his cricketing outfit whilst he was doing it. Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson do their usual good job. The best of the supporting was Gerald Flood as King John. I liked the times that he was on screen. Flood not only did the role of King John but was the voice behind the worst creation in Doctor Who history – Kamelion. The character is fine when it's sitting down but is useless when it comes to moving about as it would be made clear in the documentaries it was a nightmare. How the Master thinks that it would convince anyone is beyond me. Over the years, I wondered what was behind the decision to go ahead with Kamelion. Only by the watching the documentary on the DVD was it explained and I just shook my head saying ‘Why?’. It looks stupid and it’s not hard to understand why it didn’t get another outing until Planet of Fire a year later.

The King’s Demons only saving grace is that its two episodes long. Had it been four then it would have been much worse. Terence Dudley’s script doesn’t have anything that stands out and is a poor way to end the series. Tony Virgo did an ok job but struggled with a script that doesn’t have anything good about it. It’s not the worst story that has ever been as this story is watchable however after a consistently good series its’s a shame this doesn’t stand up to the rest.

The Armageddon Factor (1979)

So it comes down to this. After 20 weeks, we are down to the final six weeks where the final segment of the key will be found and the quest is over. The story marks the final appaearance of Mary Tamm as Romana before Lalla Ward takes over in Destiny of the Daleks. The story was written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin and was given the hard task of finding an fitting end to this epic series. However this story came at the end when as was the case with Doctor Who in the 1970’s, the budget had pretty much run out and this story was no different.

The Doctor and Romana arrive on the planet Atrios which is at war with neighbouring planet Zeos. They meet the Marshal of Atrios who is slightly unbalanced. The story seems is good when its about the Marshal and the battle between Atrios and Zeos but then it got replaced with a slow tedious story. The actual segment is something that I thought was quite interesting. We’ve had a planet and a monster as segments for the key but this time it’s the ultimate part when its actually Princess Astra. Princess Astra is pushed into the middle of the story but no one clues on to what importance that she has in the search for the segment. Despite all the doom and gloom, there is a bit of humour. The humour comes in the form of Drax a guy from Gallifrey who has developed a cockney accent. Barry Jackson (Drax) does a great job and has some great scenes with the Doctor. One of the best scenes in the entire piece is when the Doctor and Romana are in the TARDIS talking to what looks like the White Guardian but is in fact the Black Guardian. You can tell that the Doctor knows instantly that its not the White Guardian and plays it perfectly.

Lalla Ward put in a performance which is surprising if you see her performances as Romana before this. She is a lot less confident and brave as Astra. She must have convinced Graham Williams because after this she was offered the role of Romana. It’s quite odd watching Romana I and II in the same scenes even though of course Lalla Ward isnt Roman yet. Mary Tamm puts in another solid performance in her final outing. It’s a shame that she didn’t want to do another series because I think that the character would have developed even more than it had already done in this season. It’s a shame that Mary Tamm didn’t get to do a regenerations scene. The one at the beginning of Destiny doesn’t really count as we don’t seem Tamm at any point. She was a great companion and her reading of a Companion Chronicle in 2009 shows why she is so good. We also get a great performance from William Squire as the shadow. I loved every scene that he was in and that was partly down to his voice but also down to the costume he was wearing. It added to the grim setting he was in.

Linking an entire season with a single story arc isn’t anything odd now a days. In fact it would seem odd when they don’t use it. However it must have annoyed the viewers when the Doctor broke up the key to time after spending five months looking for the different segments. It’s a shame that this story wasn’t as good as it should have been. I just found the last half of the story to be so slow and tedious that I was glad when it got to the end and it moved into the TARDIS. Despite everything I think that there are good things in the story and its one of those that you would have to be ready for and not watch it like I did at 11.30 at night after spending the rest of the day watching the rest of the series.

The Key to Time series was a bold experiment for the series and it wasn’t until 1986 that this style got used in the classic series. Graham Williams and Anthony Read did a great job of producing six stories that stayed true to the series but made sense in relation to the Key to Time story arc.

The Stones of Blood (1978)

The Stones of Blood is a very special story. It is the 100th Doctor Who story and is also the third story in the Key to Time series. After a slightly disappointing previous story, it was important that the series got back to doing what it does best and that’s scaring little kids. This is the first of two stories in this series to be written by David Fisher and to be honest it’s difficult to choose the best between the two. This story has a modern (at the time of transmission) setting which I always like.

The main baddy is Cessair of Diplos who uses the Stones as her heavies. The Stones are simple yet effective. All they do is move along the ground in a way that is probably similar to the weaping angels and they also glow as they move. There is one moment when a couple who are camping in the woods encounter the stone and when one touches it she’s dies. Another grim moment. Their clearly not intelligent as one is tricked over the cliff by the Doctor waving his coat in front of it.

The first half of the story deals with a circle of stones which has something about it. It appears that it is a mini Stonehenge which attracts druids. The second half of the story strangly moves into a trial which could see the Doctor executed for breaking the seal on a door which contains the Megara. Vivien Fay is leading the case for the prosecution. It takes a while for her true identity to come out. But due to a clever quick thinking by the Doctor, Vivien is knocked unconscious and it allows the Megara to find out find out she is really Cessair of Diplos and what is wanted for. The cliffhanger to episode one was very well realised by just using Mary Tamm. She can hear the Doctor but there is no sign of him. At the very last second something pushes her over the cliff and we’re left to think that it’s the Doctor. Apparently it was intended for us to see the Doctor but Tom Baker objected and actually I think it would have been a less effective ending.

Another story and another set of wonderful actors. Susan Engel is just brilliant as Vivien Fay. From the moment she appeared on screen it was clear there was something odd about her. Nearly stabbing the Doctor with a tripod stand is hardly the best way to introduce yourself to someone. From that moment on she becomes even better as her true colours are revealed she becomes one of the best baddies of this series. Beatrix Lehmann was just a delight to watch as Professor Rumford. She has such a presence on screen and she has an innocence about her yet manages to act in defiance when she is needed to. Tom Baker puts in a reined in performance. It’s not quite as comedic as it has been and deals with the situation more sensibly. Mary Tamm puts in her best performance despite wearing that awful hat. The bickering between the two characters is less evident that in previous stories and it seems that their relationship is bedding down.

To sum up this story I’ll repeat something I mentioned earlier. The story is simple yet effective. The first half of this story seems to have to deal with druids and stones that can kill and then it moves on into hyperspace. With impressive sets (especially the Hyperspace ship), The Stones of Blood is a highly enjoyable story.

The Sontaran Experiment (1975)

The Sontaran Experiment is a story that was a rush job when an initial six part story fell apart and something was needed to come after the four part story ‘The Ark in Space’. The result is this story. It sees the return (oddly enough) of the Sontarans after their very good debut story in The Time Warrior. This entire story is set outside with no one second of studio recording on offer. It’s written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin (writers of the Wallace and Gromit stories and creators of K9) which means that we’re going to get a good story.

The story is set on an abandoned Earth from the Nerva Beacon. All they find is a single Sontaran who is performing tests on some colonists. The Experiment that the Sontaran is performing is to see the strategic point of the Earth. Considering the story is only two episodes long, the Doctor, Harry and Sarah spend a lot of time apart but the story still feels like its moving forward. The story is very dark and it fits in well with the Philip Hinchcliffe era which is pretty much dark and gothic in every story. At one point we come across someone who is close to death.

Unusually I found Sarah to be very annoying. I cant put my finger on it but there is something that doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe it’s that stupid yellow outfit she’s got on. Practical it may be but visually, its not good. Tom Baker is good in this story throughout. It’s only his third story but he has nailed his Doctor down. This is the story where Tom Baker broke his collar bone which meant that the fight sequence between the Doctor and Styre had to be performed by Terry Walsh. It’s a shame that we only get close-up shots of Baker because I think that the fight might have been a bigger deal. But as it stands it’s a perfectly fine scene.

Baker and Martin have written a good story that is helped out a lot by the outdoor filming. Had it been set in a studio then it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good. Rodney Bennett has done a brilliant job as the director managing to make the drama and tension fit perfectly into 50 minutes. He uses the surroundings effectively and that is one of the reasons why I love this story. The fact that the story is set outside gives the story a different feel to it and it’s a shame that the story was only two episodes long. The Sontaran Experiment is a sharp story that has good characters and also some good direction. The scenery is just wonderful to look at and the fact it’s in the middle of nowhere (pretty much) means that the basic setting is solidified.

The Ribos Operation (1978)

The Ribos Operation is the first part of the Key to Time series. The first time that an entire series would have a theme. This series was Graham Williams’ second series as producer and Anthony Read’s first full series as Script Editor. The story is written by Robert Holmes who is one of the best writers that Doctor Who ever had. This story is only one of two stories that is entirely studio based. It starts off with a set up for the entire series. The TARDIS loses power and the Doctor joins the White Guardian who looks like he’s living in a wine vineyard in France. Then there is a nice little scene which introduces Romana. The search for the first segment sees the Doctor and Romana arrive on Ribos just as a con-artist called Garron is trying to sell a medieval planet to the Graff Vynda-K. Ribos is a horrible planet which is snow ridden. The inhabitants of the planet are quite primitive with seekers and people living in the concourse.

The Romana character is very snobbish which isn’t anything like a character that Doctor Who has ever had. The snobbishness does get toned down in future stories but in this one it basically Romana pretending that she is better and clever than the Doctor. Mary Tamm is very good as the first incarnation of Romana. She looks like she’s in the wrong show. It looks like she should be appearing in a glamorous ITV drama not a BBC Sci-Fi show. The character does seem a bit two dimensional in the early stages of the story but she does develop by the end. It’s nice to see the Doctor not getting on with his companion. I don’t know whether there was a tension between the two actors but it does give this first story the impression that they are not friends but two people set on a mission that have to put up with each other.

There’s a solid group of actors in this (aside from Baker and Tamm). Iain Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt are a great double act (a Robert Holmes trick) and their early scenes are very comedic. Paul Seed plays the Graff Vynda-K like a spoilt brat who has been deprived of something he feels should be his and throws a wobbler. Robert Keegan is actually quite believable as a deputy in the form of Sholakh. He seems more like a military man than the Graff Vynda-K does. There’s a nice return appearance from Prentis Hancock. Previously seen in Planet of the Daleks. I always find his performances to be highly enjoyable.

The problem that there is with this story is that it does feel all over the place. First there is the story of the Doctor and Romana looking for the first segment of the Key. Then there is Garron and Unstoffe trying to con the Graff Vynda-K and then there is the story of the Graff who has been deposed on his own planet and is seeking revenge. Then there was the cliffhanger to Episode two, firstly Paul Seed (Vynda-K) looks directly at the screen with no real authority. Then it’s another four or five seconds before there’s a close-up of Tom Baker’s face.

The Ribos Operation is a reasonable opener. It suffers from being studio bound as there isn’t the impression of scale that perhaps it should have had. Robert Holmes has done a good job with the script and George Spenton-Foster does a reasonable job in keeping the majority of the action going.

The Power of Kroll (1979)

The Power of Kroll is the penultimate story in the Key to Time series and is perhaps the most ambitious. It’s the second story to be written by Robert Holmes (after The Ribos Operation) and is memorable because it had at that point the biggest monster seen on Doctor Who and it also saw John Leeson (voice of K9) make a physical appearance as Dugeen.

The story is set on one of the moons of Delta Magna, Delta Three which sits a protein collection and manufacturing refinery. There is a group of humans and are at war with ‘swampies’ who are inhabitants of the moon that are green. As with a Robert Holmes script there is a double act that the closest that there is the Varlik and Rohm-Dutt partnership. The story soon moves to the rising of Kroll which has been woken up by the refinery. The one thing that this season has been good for are the cliffhangers. This story was no different. The cliffhanger to part one was a bit silly because had it been a creature (obviously not going to be Kroll) then that’s one thing but as it turned out it was just someone dressed up like a giant crab.

Tom Baker and Mary Tamm did another good job together and they didn’t have the annoyance of K9 to deal with. Mary Tamm managed to continue Romana’s good fashion sense as she was suitably dressed for the setting of the story. The guest cast is worthy of a mention as they all did a sterling job. I’ve mentioned John Leeson who character of Dugeen always seemed to be the sane one. Neil McCarthy returns to the show after playing Barnham in ‘The Mind of Evil’ in 1971. In this he plays the very paranoid leader of the refinery Thawn. McCarthy makes him from the outset someone who is going to make a massive mistake which will threaten the lives of everyone on the refinery. Philip Madoc is someone else who makes a return to Doctor Who. His most recent appearance had been in ‘The Brain of Morbius’ and you just know when Philip Madoc’s name is on the credits of a story that you’re going to get a wonderful performance.

The realisation of Kroll is actually quite good. There are some impressive shots of it as it comes out of the water and the tentacles that grab people also add the full scale of the monster. For a relatively small budgeted show like Doctor Who they did a good job making it look like they did. It was good how they decided that it was Kroll that would make up the Fifth segment of the Key. Equally good about how they worked this out in the actual scene.

The Power of Kroll is my favourite story from the Key to Time series. The act it’s largely set outdoors is always something I like. I do wonder whether it was wise to make the swampies green especially as it turns out it was difficult to get off the actors skin. I think that as with most stories of this season, the location filming was one of the best things in the story. One word for the Power of Kroll – Wonderful.

The Pirate Planet (1978)

The Pirate Planet is the second part of the Key to Time series written by for by Douglas Adams, who was behind the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and also served as script editor for the 1979/80 series. It’s clear that had another script been available then The Pirate Planet would never have been made. This was when Tom Baker’s Doctor was starting to get a bit too comedic for my likening. The story is set on the planet Calufrax where the people of that planet are living in ‘perpetual prosperity’. There is a group of people with weird power called the Mentiads. The planet is run by a captain who is a pirate. The Doctor discovers that they have arrived on a hollowed-out planet called Zanak which dematerialises around planets and consumes them. The captain is actually been controlled by the person who appears to be a nurse but is actually the ancient tyrant Queen Xanxia who uses the resources that they get from the planets to achieve immortality.

The main character in this (apart from the Doctor and Romana) was the Captain, brilliantly played by Bruce Purchase. His is just border-line OTT but is still entertaining whenever he is on the screen. The parrot was also funny but I knew that when I first saw the parrot that there was going to be a dual between it and K9 and I wasn’t disappointed. Andrew Robertson plays Mr Fibuli as the dogsbody who seems to just be there to be shouted at by the Captain but does seem to know what he’s doing. The only other character that really stood out was the Nurse (played by Rosalind Lloyd) who does a tremendous job of seeming insignificant at the beginning of the story but does become quite important towards the end. Tom Baker and Mary Tamm both put in good performances. Tom Baker’s was a bit to comedic at times for my liking but he redeemed himself with the screen between the Doctor and the captain surrounded by all the planets that had been consumed. It was reminisant of his early days as the Doctor before the comedy took over. Mary Tamm’s performance was a little less snobbish in this than in The Ribos Operation. There was a little bit at the beginning but once of Zanak, she toned it down.

The scenes set outside were very good and showed what was lacking in the previous story. A bit of outside filming always livens up a story and the stuff filmed inside the caves in what was meant to represent Calufrax was even better. It summed up perfect the grimness of the truth when it was realised by the Doctor. Not everything in this story was good. The problem with this story is that its not as good as it could have been. The Mentiads are a group of people I could have done with out. The look of them was stupid and the look on their face suggested that they haven’t had a good nights sleep for months. Also they were just irritating for 99% of the time that they were on screen. The effects that were used when the guards were firing guns looked naff. The only time that the story was interesting was when it was on the bridge and dealing with the grim reality of Zanak.

The Pirate Planet is the weakest of the Key to Time series. When I first saw this I really didn’t like it as I thought it was quite dull. In recent times though I have re-evaluated it and found that apart from one or two bits, the story works quite well. Douglas Adams’ story has some flashes of brilliance and shows why his work is held in such high regards.

The Androids of Tara (1978)

The search for the fourth segment takes the Doctor and Romana to Tara. Unusually whereas it wasn’t until the last minute that they found the third segment it took 7 minutes and 45 seconds to find the fourth segment. This is the second story to come from David Fisher following his previous story. This story benefits like The Stones of Blood from some wonderful location filming which seems to have capitalised on the lovely weather.

The Doctor and Romana are in the middle of a political war between Count Grendel and Prince Reynart. Grendel has a plan and that is to kidnap the king so that when it comes to corona ting him he wont be there and that means Grendel can step up and wed Princess Strella before killing her and becoming ruler of Tara. Strella is identical to Romana and at that leads to obvious not knowing which is the real Romana and which one isn’t. There is one wonderful moment where the Doctor goes fencing with Grendel. It’s the first time since The Sea Devils in 1972 I think since we saw this. It was a surprise because I didn’t think that the fourth Doctor did that.

The acting in this was top notch yet again. Tom Baker puts in his best performance of the series so far. Mixing humour with seriousness, Baker seems to be having a ball and I thought he did well. Likewise with Mary Tamm who aside from looking very very fashionable in that purple outfit. Tamm has to double her acting as she plays Romana and Princess Strella. The character of Strella was not that different from what I could tell to Romana. I did like the scenes where Romana had to talk to in one scene to the Princess and in another to the android. Both were well directed and used the technology well. Peter Jeffrey puts in a great performance as Count Grendel. It’s not the most original character by Jeffrey pulls it off and makes it somehow a nasty character. Neville Jason also does a good job as Prince Reynart. His performance as the Prince was matched with his brief speeches as the android Prince. Both of them did well against each other which is always good. Simon Lack is someone else that I thought did a good job as Zadek, Lack had previously appeared in the Jon Pertwee story ‘The Mind of Evil’ is a dependable actor and did the job in this as a solid member of the Prince’s security team.

Another story and another memorable cliffhanger, however I don’t think for the right reasons. Episode two was quite shocking the first time I saw it. The Doctor appears to have killed or seriously harmed Romana but as we see in Episode 3, its infact an android but the thought that it was the real Romana was scary one. I also thought Episode three was quite memorable because it shows Grendel throwing a spear into the android Prince before jumping over the banister and fleeing with Romana. The filming was also impressive as Leeds Castle in Kent (??) doubles for Grendel’s castle. Unusually for Doctor Who (or at least it seems it) there is some genuine night filming. Not in a studio with the lights turned off or actual outside filming but with effects applied to create the impression of darkness but actual night time filming. This gives the story a different feel.

The Androids of Tara is a thrilling story. The story wasn’t really about the segment as that was dealt with so quickly but more about trying to survive a political war. David Fisher has written a rip roaring script with plenty of strong characters and some wonderful scenery and that one is thanks to Michael Hayes who makes full use of Leeds Castle. A top story that would have been just as good without the search for the fourth segment of the key to time. Good stuff.

The Moonbase (1967)

The Moonbase is a story that sadly no longer exists in its entirety on film. This story was featured on the Lost in Time DVD with the two parts that exist mixed in with the two that don’t. This was the first time that the Second Doctor encountered the Cybermen and it was an impressive outing. The story does have similarities to The Tenth Planet in that the Doctor and his friends arrive in an isolated place that is under attack from the Cybermen that is about as similar as it gets really. I just love the claustrophobic feel of this story as it’s not like anyone can just walk out and travel to the next village or vice versa.

The writer’s (Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis) have done a great job in writing a story that continuously keeps the drama and tension up through out the four episodes. In fact they wrote on of the best quotes in Doctor Who history.

“There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought!”

I like the different nationalities that are represented. It creates the impression that in 2070 (when this story is set). All nationalities are working together in relative peace with the strong British leader not standing for any nonscene. In fact Hobbs is a more likeable version of General Cutler in The Tenth Planet. The reason why he is better is that there isnt the emotional thing that Cutler had with his son. Hobbs is still sceptical of the Doctor at the beginning but comes round to his way of thinking once the Cybermen move into the story.

The early part of the story is about the mystery of what or who is killing the crew of the base. It’s not revealed straight away that it’s the Cybermen and that’s very clever by the writers. Morris Barry as the director also does a great job creating some visually stunning moments like when the Cybermen are walking across the service of the moon. It’s the perfect point to comment on the new design of the Cybermen. In their first outing they still looked human but with bits and bobs glued onto them. In The Moonbase, they look a lot more mechanical. I do like this design because it looks like some money has been spent on it whereas the old design whilst I think is a nice design does look cheap.

The regular characters are still finding their feet as it was Patrick Troughton’s fourth story and it was the second one with Jamie as a companion and it’s the classic ‘crowded TARDIS’ syndrome where Jamie is sidelined. He spends the first half of the story either in a coma or suffering from a fever. This is the story where Polly actually shines for once as she comes up with the polly-cocktail. Patrick Troughton is quite good despite this still being early in his run. There’s a sense that the Doctor isnt always the smart figure that he later becomes when it takes him such a long time to figure out what is going on. Michael Craze is sort of in the middle of the action which is a shame really.

The Moonbase is a fine story has some strong characters, good sets, good directing and also some cracking music. This was the golden era for the Cybermen because of all their encounters with the Doctors over the years, it’s the Troughton stories that are the best and this story has to be in the Top 3.

The Green Death (1973)

The Green Death is a story that was one of the first that I remember buying on good old VHS. It was just before the TV Movie aired in 1996. Back then it was split into two tapes but thankfully it’s been put on one disc for its DVD release. The story is just as impressive today as it was back in 1996. The Green Death is as political as you would want Doctor Who to get. The story is set in a Welsh mining village where the local big bad company ‘Global Chemicals’ has been pumping its waste down the mine creating giant maggots. There you have the bad guys lead by Stevens who as it turns out is being controlled by something else.

The special effects are hit and miss if I am being totally honest. I think that the maggots are really good. Despite some of them being inflated condoms (if that’s the truth) the effect is quite good and you could believe that they are giant maggots. Also I thought the effect of the people infected by the green ‘oil’ was brilliantly realised. It’s very impressive considering that it’s probably a basic effect. If I had an issue with this story it’s that the actual imagination of B.O.S.S left a lot to be desired. A CSO screen with a wavy line isn’t what I was hoping the real bad guy would be like. Then again I suppose it’s the best they could do with the budget they had in 1973.

I was really impressed with Jerome Willis as Stevens. He started off as who we thought was the baddie because he was the head of Global Chemicals and that was really good because you end up despising him and wanting the Doctor to defeat him but then you feel sorry just before he’s about to die. It’s the typical journey for most baddies. Tony Adams was very good as Elgin who was Steven’s deputy. He was the good guy within the company because he seemed to have morals. It was a shame that he was taken ill during the recording because I felt that the character had more to offer the story.

This is the final story for Jo Grant as played by Katy Manning. Her exit was prepared with her romance with Clifford Jones very obvious throughout the six episodes. Her final scene was heartbreaking. Not because Jo was leaving but because you could feel the pain that the Doctor was feeling and Jo was sad when the Doctor left without saying goodbye. Credit to Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning for the superb way they played this. Their friendship on screen was genuine and it showed. The final shot of the Doctor driving across the landscape with the sun setting was the perfect way to end the story and the season.

The Green Death is a wonderful story and despite the environmental slant to the story it doesn’t strangle you and spoil the rest of the story. It’s one of the highlights of the Pertwee era.

Horror of Fang Rock (1977)

Horror of Fang Rock is the first story of Season 15 and it’s a corker. Written by former Script Editor Terrance Dicks, what we have in this story is the only Doctor Who story where everyone but the regular characters die. Despite Graham Williams being the producer after Philip Hinchcliffe had been removed by BBC chiefs, this still feels like a Hinchcliffe product. Robert Holmes is still the script editor at this time so there is still a dark element to the story.

The story is set in a Lighthouse on the island of Fang Rock which isn’t working properly due to fog. It also coincides with the arrival of the Rutan who sneaks on the crew of the lighthouse and kills of the crew one by one. Then there is the arrival of a posh passengers of a luxury yacht. One of the crew is a sneaky Lord Palmerdale who caused the yacht to crash. That’s the B-Plot that is introduced mid-way through the story. The Rutan is discovered and is trying to summon the mother ship. It takes Diamonds and the last surviving crew member (Vincent) to finish off the Rutan.

One thing I love about this story is that it has the isolated base effect. Like The Moonbase, The Tenth Planet & the Tomb of the Cybermen, this story has that claustrophobic feel which is helped by the cramp lighthouse condition. The crew of the lighthouse were nice characters but it was when the passengers of the yacht came on board that we had the Upstairs Downstairs feeling to it. I quite like both set of characters with Vincent (John Abbott) being the best one whereas with the posh side I thought Colonel Skinsale (Alan Rowe) was the best of that group. I was chuffed when Leela slapped Adelaide (Annette Woollett) because I just found the character an annoyance and it could have been toned down a bit.

The character of Rutan was a nice creation by Dicks but was slightly disappointing in design. It gives me no pleasure in saying this that the Rutan looks like a bit of snot. The voice was good though as it did sound alien and was effective. The scene where the Doctor and the Rutan talk on the stairs was one of the many highlights. With the presence of the Rutan we got to learn of the war that the Sontarans were having. It’s a shame that the Rutans never got to appear on TV because a Sontaran/Rutan battle would have been a cracking story. The Rutan’s would have to wait until 2009 before returning in the Big Finish adventure ‘Castle of Fear’.

Tom Baker and Louise Jameson were very good in this. The Doctor shows a fallible side when he locks the Rutan in the lighthouse instead of out and Leela thrives in the battle against the Rutan. Her best moment was obviously when she slaps Adelaide and her clothing is better in this as she wears the lighthouse crew’s clothing to replace what she was wearing at the beginning. Their relationship is settling down now and as it shows. It’s a long way from Face of Evil the previous year.

The Horror of Fang Rock ranks as one of my favourite stories because it has everything that I would want from a Doctor Who story. It’s not surprising for me to say that it is a good solid script because it comes from Terrance Dicks who oversaw some really strong stories as Script Editor. Paddy Russell did a good job of making the same five sets interesting still after four episodes. Russell keeps the action cranked up to 11 and shows why she was a top director.

The Sensorites (1964)

EPISODE 1- STRANGERS IN SPACE


Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 20 June 1964

The Sensorites is one of those stories that when I first saw it was bowled over by. It’s another long story but written by Peter R Newman and my advise to anyone reading this would be to buy the DVD and watch the documentary about him as its one of the saddest and most impressive documentaries that I remember seeing on a Doctor Who DVD. There is a mystery about whether they have landed or not. There is a nice moment when they talk about how they have all changed since that very first episode. Amazingly its been eight months since the series started and its almost like they are reminiscing with the audience about how far they have all come since that very first episode .The moment where they walk from the TARDIS into the spaceship control room was a nice bit of continuity.

It seems like the two people they encounter are dead and its quite a sombre opening. After accepting the fact that they are dead there is a surprising moment when the chap starts to move. It turns out that they were in a deep sleep.

The woman is called Carol and the man is called Maitland and their story is that the ship is by a planet called the Sense-sphere. They don’t kill them but actually go to the trouble feeding them. They don’t sound like your typical alien. It’s at this moment that we learn that Susan has telepathic abilities. It starts when she senses something. This isn’t really given much time to settle in our minds but its enough to encourage the regulars to leave and go back to the TARDIS. The taking of the lock seems like another excuse to prevent the regulars from leaving. It’s similar to what was used in ‘The Keys of Marinus’. When Barbara smells something burning I don’t get why they don’t think to check the TARDIS or how they could miss the Sense-sphere taking the lock of the TARDIS. It’s not that great a distance to the TARDIS.

The first shot of the Sense-sphere isn’t a good one as its clearly a glove. It’s good that we don’t get a good full look of them. All we get is a glove and their head. By not showing us the full creature its making the viewer want to seem them all that much more.

There is regular mention of a third member of the crew called John. He seemed to be the worst affected by what the Sensorites have been doing and seems to be lurking around parts of the ship that Maitland and Carol don’t go to. In fact they don’t seem to have any urge to look for him until they realise that Susan and Barbara are missing. This is when the story starts to get going because it becomes very tense and atmospheric. It is Barbara and Susan that get separated and are the first to encounter John. He doesn’t exactly come out of it very well. Both Carole Ann Ford and Jacqueline Hill do very well in this story.

There’s a fun moment when they are trying to get through a door to get to Susan and Barbara with the smallest device ever. It wouldn’t get you into a can of beans let alone a door.

The cliffhanger was brilliant and it was the first time since An Unearthly Child: Episode 1 that I was genuinely stunned by what I saw. It was a Sensorite popping up into the window and its must have been great to think what was going to happen in the next episode. Despite not much happening in this episode I still enjoyed it. I thought the introduction of Carol and Maitland were good additions and helped interact with the regulars. A good opening episode.

EPISODE 2 – THE UNWILLING WARRIORS

Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 27 Junr 1964

After the great cliffhanger in ‘Strangers in Space’ we get our first proper glimpse of the Sensorites. It’s just as well that this story was made in black and white because I think in colour they don’t quite have the same impact that they do in monochrome. Something I never commented on in the cliffhanger was how I liked that out of the Doctor, Ian, Maitland and Carol. It was only Ian that walked around like he was the most mentally strongest of the four.

There is a moment when John is talking to thin air but he is looking just to the side of the camera. It’s a nice moment. Stephen Dartnell gives a superb performance and it helps add to the tension. It’s good who they have turned the one person who has been affected the most by the Sensorites and as a result is more strange, is the one that they turn to for help. They are still using that stupid little laser blaster to get through the door. Still cant believe they are using something so ridiculously small.

Barbara and Susan continue to be a good double act in the early part of this episode. Working together to calm John down. Susan is the one that comes up with the idea of telepathy and talks about a previous adventure that they have. She talks about the planet Esto. Susan’s involvement in this story is becoming stronger and its nice to see Susan to become better written for after the inconsistent recent episodes.

There is a nice theory about why the Sensorites are doing what they are doing and why John’s hair has turned white. Ian surmises that John has discovered something and they are trying to stop him or the team from going down to the sense-sphere. It’s all down to fear and that they don’t want the humans to go back to earth and bring other to ravage their world. When its explained you sort of understand why they have felt the need to act the way they have and it explains why they don’t actually harm them even though they are effectively kept prisoner.

Ian’s first encounter with the Sensorites is a good one as he is prepared to get violent if he needs to. It’s perhaps the downside of being the action hero of the group that he instantly resorts to this instead of trying to talk and reason with them. William Russell is good in this episode and has some good scenes. As does William Hartnell who’s best moment comes when he is standing up to the Sensorites. It was quite interesting to note that in the previous episode he was having a go a Maitland for the laser being so slow on the door yet in this episode he is a lot more calmer because he understand that anger leaves them open to attack.

Mervyn Pinfield’s direction is very good as he keeps it very tense for large parts of the story. At times it feels claustrophobic and Raymond Cusick does a good job in creating some good sets. The lighting was another thing that helped to create a wonderful spaceship and that credit goes to Peter Murray who keeps it light in the main control room but when it came to the corridor and the sleeping quarters it is a different matter and the lighting makes it look menacing.

We get the first proper encounter between the humans and the Sensorites. The Sensorites want them to stay on the sense-sphere where they will live there until they die but the humans don’t want that and there is a nice moment when the Doctor uses his anger to hurt the Sensorites.

Susan’s telepathy comes into proper use towards the end when the Sensorites contact her directly. Apparently the Sensorites and Susan work out a plan that leads to her going with the Sensorites and the humans surviving. It comes out of the blue and that is what makes it a good cliffhanger. The episode as a whole was good because it continued the atmospheric tension that we saw in the first episode and didn’t just put it to one side now that the introduction episode is out of the way but instead built on it. This story is just as good as I remember thinking the first time I saw it.

EPISODE 3 – HIDDEN DANGER

Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 11 July 1964

The start of the episode sees the regulars trying to prevent Susan from going with the Sensorites. There is a nice moment of the Doctor, Susan and Barbara are teaming against Susan. We get the first bit of proper friction between the Doctor and Susan. It’s the first time that Susan has defied her grandfather and it causes the Doctor to be angry in a way that we haven’t really seen before. Ian thinks that Susan has been hypnotised by the Sensorites but Barbara tells him that she’s just growing up. Considering that she’s an alien and they haven’t really talked about alien things how would Barbara know she’s growing up.

The Doctor has another reason why he doesn’t like the Sensorites and that’s because he feels they are turning his granddaughter against him. It doesn’t really last long but it seems to be the reason why everybody goes to the sense-sphere. There is a plot contrivance to explain Jacqueline Hill’s holiday and that is she is staying up with Maitland whilst everyone else goes to the sense-sphere.

We get to learn about why the Sensorites aren’t quite trusting of humans. Due to a previous human encounter the Sensorites on their planet are dying. It makes the reason why the Sensorites do what they do more understanding and you can sympathise with them. We finally get to see something other than the spaceship and we get to encounter more Sensorites. A downside the characters show themselves in this story as we get to see their feet. They look like ducks feet.

The sets for the Sensorites is quite good. It’s a lot brighter than the spaceship and so it is a nice warming place to visit. The sets are done so that it feels like a big place and not just a couple of sets put next to each other. There is a sense of scale and its good to get out of the confines of the spaceship.

They all look the same as the only difference is the black sash that some of them wear. Otherwise there is no way of telling them apart which is going to be difficult but there is a minor difference because some are a bit portly and some are slimmer.

It’s good that the Sensorites are just as distrusting to people that they don’t know just like humans can be. This fear is something that runs through the episode quite blatantly and it’s not something that’s been explored like this before. John has the ability to tell who is evil and who isn’t and despite not really being in the episode that much his involvement is quite good and he’s been the most consistent thing in the story.

No sooner have the humans arrived than someone is trying to kill them. The city administrator is going all the way to try and kill the humans. Just when it looks like that the regulars are going to kill them they are stopped by the First Elder. However it’s just seems to delay the inevitable as Ian becomes ill. After moments of coughing he just stands up and collapses to the floor and we are told he is dying.

It’s a really good cliffhanger as it puts Ian in genuine danger. Unlike in the Aztecs when he was in the tunnel filled with water I think if I were watching this for the first time then I would wonder whether Ian was going to make it. I thought that the episode was a transitional one as we move from the spaceship to the Sensorites home world and its good that there seems like a purpose to it but also a genuine menace. Best episode of the story.

EPISODE 4 – THE DAY OF DARKNESS

Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 13 June 1964

This is the first time that Jacqueline Hill hasn’t featured at any point in an episode. Barbara is still on the spaceship and with Ian sick for most of the episode. He’s up on his feet by the end of the episode but he’s not 100%. The race against death that the title suggests is more of a sprint as its dealt with relatively quickly and Ian is up and about by the 2/3 mark. The Doctor is quick to figure out what might be causing Ian’s encounter with the floor.

The First Elder is quite trusting of the humans yet the Second Elder isn’t so keen. There is a nice split with some wanting to work with the humans and let them have what they need whilst some think that they shouldn’t be allowed this courtesy. It’s an interesting bit of conflict and it plays out well in the episode. The City Administrator jokes about not being able to tell the humans apart and that they don’t carry any signs of position. This is a theme of the episode and it is Carol that gives the city administrator a way of tricking the humans. The City Administrator works quick to come up with a plan.

William Hartnell seems to be in his prime in this episode as he goes from being angry at the First and Second Elders but then progresses to being the scientist. It’s good when the Doctor isn’t just satisfied with finding a cure but finding out the source of the problem and goes on an expedition. As William Russell is playing the patient for most of the episode it falls to Carole Ann Ford to be one of the people driving the story and she does it well and the partnership between Hartnell and Ford is one of the best things about this episode.

There is a nice montage where they are trying to find out where the poisoned water is coming from. It’s not something that we have seen before but it helps pass the time.

The City Administrator stages a coup d'etat when he steals the sash of the First Elder after he goes on a rant about the Doctor pretending to look for a cure and Ian pretending to be ill. He also manages to intercept the antidote. Now this could have led to another episode of trying to find the cure but its quickly resolved and it doesn’t hold up the story. It’s strange that with so little really happening the episode moves along at a good pace.

The last part of the story sees the Doctor venture into the caverns where he starts to suspect that this isn’t just a case of water poisoning. There is a myth about there being monsters in the caverns. The Doctor is rather blasé about these so called monsters and so goes straight into the darkness without so much as a care in the world.

The cliffhanger is a cracker. The Doctor is in a very dimly lit tunnel and comes across a possible conclusion to his mission and the light focuses on his face as he is ‘looking’ at a roar. Who knows what is making that noise. This story is impressing me just as much as it did when I have watched it in one go in the past.

 

EPISODE 5 – KIDNAP

Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 25 July 1964

The reprise is noticeably different from what we saw at the end of the previous episode. The question still remains as to what is causing that noise. I’m surprised at how dimly lit the tunnel scenes are. What makes it more striking is when the camera is focused on Ian and Susan we hear the Doctor scream out in terror which is something that I never thought I would witness. The early stages of the episode are quite exiciting and it’s down to the lighting and also the performances from the regulars. This is the second episode that Jacqueline Hill doesn’t appear though they do at least mention Barbara. At least they have remembered there is someone else in the group though they don’t actually mention Maitland which is a shame because the character was a good one and what he went through a lot with Carol yet isn’t regarded very highly as we don’t hear from him again.

John is still undergoing treatment in what looks like the weirdest hairdryer in existence. This means that John isn’t really allowed to do very much which is a shame really after he was so strong in the early episodes. Carol also suffers from not having a great deal to do as she has to play nurse to John. When John recovers you can tell this has happened because his hair is normal and now he is better his involvement is more important. He can reveal the City Administrator/Second Elder as the traitor.

The City Administrator really takes a leap in the utterly nasty stakes. His fear of the humans is getting to be quite silly (but in a good way). When the real Second Elder is killed by the City Administrator it looks like his plan has gone up the spout but the City Administrator comes up with a new plan on the spot. It led to the Doctor suggesting that the City Administrator becomes Second Elder. It’s not long before the regulars realise that they made a mistake by suggesting the City Administrator be promoted but by then its too late. It’s not long before the Doctor and Ian go back to the acquaduct but thanks to the new Second Elder the weapons they have don’t work all we see from them for this episode. The cliffhanger actually features Carol who is walking around the city and a hand (clearly a sensorite) covers up her mouth and pulls out of shot. This is a good cliffhanger and quite a shocking one considering it’s a family show. It’s another solid episode as it feels like things are starting to move to a climax with John getting better and the City Administrator/Second Elder’s plans taking strength, the final episode has a lot to live up to and my enjoyment in this episode was quite high.

EPISODE 6 – KIDNAP

Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 1 August 1964

The final episode has to finish the story in a satisfactory way. Carol is forced to write a note saying that she is going up to the ship but it doesn’t fool Barbara, Susan and John. Barbara finally returns and she seems to stroll right back into the action. It is clear that Jacqueline Hill has been somewhere sunny as she looks a lot more tanned than she did the last time we saw her. The spaceship must have quite the tanning booth. I like the moment when the First Elder tries to reassure Susan that no danger will come to Ian and the Doctor and then it cuts to them realising that the guns they have are useless as is the map that they were given.

After the rather atmospheric lighting that was used for some of the earlier tunnel scenes, it’s sad to notice that they lighting has been bought up a bit. Not enough to ruin it but noticeably enough. It would have helped the scene work if the lights were turned down as the sets did look quite ordinary. The Doctor and Ian encounter someone from the crashed ship. I was personally expecting just one or two people but what we get here are several of them. They are the ones that have been poisoning the Sensorites. They have been living in the caves so that the Sensorites don’t read their minds. They look like an erratic bunch.

We get our first ever reference to the Doctor and Susan’s home world. It’s a lovely description and the look on Susan’s face shows how she really wants to be back there. Then in the final scene in the TARDIS sees Susan wanting to belong somewhere seems to start the path of her departure.

There’s a nice bit of teamwork between Ian and the Doctor. Everytime there is a moment like this I am reminded of their first encounters which were anything but friendly. The partnership of John and Barbara was good as well. I thought that this was another good episode for Susan as she was quite important in the story and normally her being side-lined would have been perfectly fine because she would be annoying but here its different because she’s being used in a good way and actually contributing something. Quite why it could have been the other way around isn’t quite clear but it wouldn’t have changed how well they all worked.

When Ian and the Doctor encounter the leader of the group there is an attempt to convince them that they have won their war against the Sensorites. They had gone made and this is what led them to try and poison the Sensorites and they believed that they were at war. The humans were stunned and they disappeared onto the ship. That was basically how it ended.

There are several instances of people fluffing their lines. No one seems to be immune to a bit of fluffing. I’m not sure for the reason and normally its not really an issue but here there seems to be so much that it almost becomes amusing. The ending of the episode sees the Doctor throwing a hissy fit after the Doctor makes a joke about the Doctor not knowing where they are going and this just moments after he admits that the TARDIS has a mind of its own.

I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with this episode as I don’t think that the story gave the ending that it should have done. It seemed like they should have spent more time with the humans in the tunnel because it seems like so much time waiting to get to this moment that when they turned up it seemed rushed. The performances were good and its was nice to have Jacqueline Hill back in the story. As a six part adventure I still like it for the reasons I did when I first saw it. It’s got some good characters and some atmospheric moments. Well worth the time and effort.

The Keys of Marinus (1964)

EPISODE 1 – THE SEA OF DEATH
Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 11 April 1964

After spending seven episodes, it’s time to go and do something different. After a pure historical the show needed to go into space and it seems that they decided to go to Terry Nation to write this six part story due to his success of the Daleks story. The story opens up with a nice model shot of the island. The interaction between the regulars is very calming which is in contrast to the beginning of the series. There’s a nice line from Barbara about colour television which was funny as the story was filmed and broadcast in monochrome. This scene is also the start of several ‘Hartnellisms’ that became part of his time on the show.  When they leave the TARDIS they discover

Susan sees the sea and instantly want to go for a swim. Despite being told not to by the Doctor, she decides that she is going to go for a paddle in a small bit of water but she was stopped before she could put a toe in. Her reaction to the shoe dissolving in the acid water was a slight over reaction. After a good run of episodes where she was well written for and put in some good performances it seems like she taken a step back. However just when I started to despair, she redeems herself and her performances for the rest of the episode are better.

The mysterious figure shows an interest in the TARDIS which his hand gliding over the lock. The mystery is made easier somewhat when we actually get to see ‘him’.  It turns out that they are called the Voord and are intruders to the island. One of them has already perished by a tear in their suit and a leak of acid into the tube that they travel in. It’s not the greatest enemy in the history of television because they seem to be killed fairly easily.

We are introduced to the conscience of Marinus, it’s a powerful thing and has the potential to cause problems. The Voords are interested. There’s a nice bit of exposition from Arbitan. We then learn what the course of the next five episodes would be about. The conscience is controlled by 5 keys and Arbitan wants the regulars to go and find the keys for him but they decline. Instead of just letting them leave, Arbitan puts a force field around the TARDIS. There’s a nice bit of acting from the regulars which requires all the regulars being exact in how wide the force field is.

When they realise that they don’t have any other choice but to help Arbitan on his way, the regulars find that they don’t have to go in those tube. There’s a neat trick of getting the regulars from one set to another and that’s by a wrist watch and they all stand in front of a black cloth so that a bit of special effects can be done. It is quite good and must have seemed like cutting edge in 1964. After all disappearing Arbitan is killed by one of the Voords which is a bit of an odd thing because its okay if you watch this story in one go or as I am doing watching over six days because I will remember this but back in 1964 would people remember this six weeks after it had happened? I doubt it.

There are problems with this episode. There is a shot when Ian says look and we get to see the city is a little bit of dodgy editing because it doesn’t gel together very well.  Then some of the set designs aren’t as good as they could have been. In ‘The Daleks’ it was clear that some of the backgrounds were cloths but it was hidden quite well. Here it’s quite obvious that the actors couldn’t walk any futher on or they would walk through the cloth. There is also a moment where the Voord falls into the acid but it’s not very convincing as it looks like a cardboard cut-out.  Then there is the small matter of the cliffhanger scene. The Doctor, Susan and Ian arrive but they are standing in front of a bit of garden furniture. The cliffhanger is quite good because there is a wrist watch that belonged to Barbara but not Barbara and the comment from Ian that it has blood on it is meant to strike some concern and in 1964 it must have done but here in 2013 it doesn’t have the same effect.

The opening episode of this story is enjoyable. Yes there are problems with this story and some plot holes that you could drive a bus through but I still think there is a lot to like in this episode and it’s nice to know what the point of the story is so early on. So you can sit back and enjoy the rest of the story.

EPISODE 2 – THE VELVET WEB
Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 18 April 1964

The reprise is slightly different with Ian’s reaction to the blood having being slightly less than it was at the cliffhanger and the Doctor’s reaction being non-existent. The background which looked like garden furniture was there purely to disguise what was behind it which was a posh looking lounge. When they do reunite with Barbara, she is living quite the lifestyle with servants and she gets to live like a queen. Everything seems to be going well but it’s the old adage of life in that if it’s too good to be true then it usually is and Ian is naturally mistrusting of all the hospitality. Everyone else is quite willing to ask for their biggest wish. Even when Susan wants an expensive dress it’s no problem and The Doctor wants a brand new laboratory and new instruments. Everything seems to be going well until they sleep when some strange rock is put on their foreheads. Except the one placed on Barbara’s head falls off and she is the only one that hears the incredible sound that follows.

When she does wake up there is the extraordinary moment when Barbara sees that the room they are in isn’t as nice as when we saw it but its all decaying with the nice gown made for Susan is just a rag. We are now in the situation where its Barbara versus the rest of the regulars and when she is hiding from Altos she breaks down and cries. There is a strange thing when Altos is looking around for Barbara but doesn’t see her when she couldn’t be more obvious if she were waving her arms in the air. That said it doesn’t really diminish her performance and it’s the first time in several episodes where I feel like she’s been given something solid to do.

Altos is the first most significant supporting cast member of the episode. There is something quite creepy about him from the very first moment that we meet him. Robin Phillips is quite good as Altos and when the alien influence has gone he is a character that is good to have around and his involvement the rest of the story is a good thing. We get to meet Sabetha who is Arbitan’s daughter. She is the one that puts the rocks on the regulars heads but were not meant to feel anything bad towards her as she is under the influence of the brain creatures. It’s a good performance from Katherine Schofield.

We get to see the alien menace that has cause the Doctor, Ian and Barbara to be brainwashed. They are small things and it’s quite hard to believe how they could ever accomplish whatever it was that they wanted to do. Jacqueline Hill has to hit the tubes with the aliens but only hits one yet the rest of the aliens die.

Ian having his hands round Barbara’s throat isn’t a sight I thought I would have seen. It does show just how much the power that these alien threats have over the regulars. William Russell gets to do a bit of emotionless acting as he lures Barbara to the weird creatures. It’s great to see William Russell and William Hartnell are pretending to see a wonderful laboratory but are in fact are seeing an empty room and the Doctor picks up a manky mug having to pretend that it’s a wonderful piece of scientific equipment.

The cliffhanger was a little bit weak because it didn’t have the same sort of drama to what we had at the end of the previous episode. Susan being scared is hardly a big incentive to tune into the next episode. As an episode it felt like a mini episode that was distracting us from the main story and trying to pass the time until we get to the central plot. It’s not that this episode is mediocre but all this episode seems to achieve is to introduce Sabetha and Altos and also explaining why we won’t be seeing much of the Doctor in the next episode.

EPISODE 3 – THE SCREAMING JUNGLE
Originally Broadcast on BBC – Saturday 25 April 1964

The Screaming Jungle is a very historic episode in Doctor Who. It’s the first time that William Hartnell doesn’t appear at all. He was on holiday so it means that it’s the three regulars with Altos and Sabetha who are moving the story forward.  When we get back to Susan, the ‘screaming’ has stopped yet Susan looks like she is having a nervous breakdown. It falls to Barbara to do her teacher role and calm Susan down. Ian is still wearing his outfit from Marco Polo, I know that this isn’t a fashion review but it would be nice if Ian could have got a change of clothes somehow.

Barbara shows signs of rebelling or at least her desire to rebel with the Dresden china line. I thought this was a nice moment as it’s the first time since The Expedition way back in The Daleks that Barbara entertains the thought of defying Ian. It’s a shame that it never goes beyond this. Susan is really annoying in this episode. It’s worst when part of the foliage just touches Susan’s leg and she cries like its about to kill her. A total over reaction in my opinion. Thankfully she’s not in the episode very much as she gets to jump ahead. It takes them less than six minutes to find the micro-key or what we think is the key. It seems like the idea to include the fake key was something to keep the story going until the end of the episode.

By the ten minute mark, Atos, Sabetha and Susan have all jumped on ahead whilst Ian tries to find the real key and Barbara. It doesn’t take long to find Barbara as she saves Ian from almost being decapitated. With it being just Ian and Barbara, it means that they get most of the action and there’s a nice bit where Barbara is about to be killed whilst Ian is trapped. Then we meet a figure who has set the traps and has hidden the real micro-key. He gives them a code which they must try and figure out what it means and how it will lead them to the micro-key. After searching for ages and with the forest starting to attack them they finally find it.

When Barbara is climbing to grab the key there are two human hands and it’s like a big arrow is drawing the viewers’ attention to the hands. Not sure whether it was intentional but it seems like a bit of an odd thing.

Performance wise, everyone does quite well. Susan seems to have gone backwards in recent episodes and it feels like an awfully long time ago since ‘Inside the Spaceship’. It’s a shame for Carole Ann Ford and its easy to understand why she became frustrated with the role and didn’t last long in the show. It seems like her character is somewhat poorly written for and yet Barbara and Ian are given the stronger things to do. I think the fact that William Hartnell isn’t in this episode means that William Russell and Jacqueline Hill get to take centre stage and thrive under it.

the cliffhanger was marginally better except that it replaced screaming with snow. It must be really cold as it doesn’t take Barbara or Ian to feel the effects of the snow.  It was an ok episode which picked up once it was just Ian and Barbara. The thing about this episode is that there isn’t a lot of moment geographically speaking. Credit to Terry Nation for managing to make 25 minutes fly with not a lot happening.

EPISODE 4 – THE SNOWS OF TERROR
Originally Broadcast on BBC 1 – Saturday 2 May 1964

With a lack of snow but just the sound effects, Barbara and Ian react brilliantly to the cold. They are rescued by a large bearded man who at first seems like a nice person. Vasor is a man who asks Barbara if she fears him and when she says no he then says that he killed a bear with his hands. The way that Vasor tells Barbara about the warming of their hands is an odd thing because you would expect Ian and Barbara to have known that. We discover that Atos has been there before him but when Ian finds him he discovers that Atos’ hands have been tied together. It’s at this moment that we all know Vasor’s true colours and how sneaky is really is.

Barbara is left with him and she does a good job of standing up to him though that only last for so long. Jacqueline Hill is good in this episode though once she fends off Vasor she doesn’t really do anything. William Russell gets to be the big hero and leads the group to find Sabetha and Susan and then to get back to the hut after finding the micro-key. It’s always fun when William Russell gets to do the sort of things he does here because he seems to thrive in it. This is the second episode where there is no Doctor. To be honest I think that due to the introduction of Sabetha and Atos, the gap that has been left by William Hartnell has been filled well by Katherine Schofield and Robin Phillips.

It’s 10 minutes before we are reunited with Sabetha and Susan. I must admit I was missing Susan despite how backward the character has been in recent weeks. There is a nice sense of a sisterly relationship between Sabetha and Susan. It’s a bit like Ping-Cho and Susan in ‘Marco Polo’. Quite amusingly, Susan is the first one that goes over the newly constructed ‘bridge’.  I thought that this was her strongest episode for a while and Carole Ann Ford is very good as a result.

The sets in the Ice Caves are quite good. I’ve been a bit disappointed with the sets in recent episdoes and this is the first time in a while that I have been impressed with what I have seen on screen. It seems like a vast area and not just a couple of sets knocked up together.

When they do find the key it turn out that it’s in a block of ice and it becomes a group task to try and melt the ice. It’s just a matter of waiting for the ice to melt and then they can try and get over. There is a ‘threat’ which are the four figures guarding the ice and they aren’t particularly noticed by the characters. The ‘guards’ that are standing by the block of ice try their best to stay absolutely still but don’t quite manage it. I cant quite believe that they are very dangerous even when they are breaking their way into Vasor’s hut I don’t think that there is anything to them. Vassor gets the cumupance that he deserves when he seems to die of fear.  It’s a good way to tie up the loose ends. He was well played by Francis De Wolff who plays it just right between sinister and slightly clichéd.

The cliffhanger is the best one of the story so far. They all jump but we only see Ian who after discovering a body on the floor gets knocked out before the micro-key is taken out of an alarmed cabinet. There is a certain mystery about who the person was on the floor and who is the person that has knocked Ian out and took the micro-key. It’s a good episode with plenty of interesting things going to and I didn’t find myself bored at any point during the episode, largely due to Vasor who I found to be an entertaining character (much in the same way as Tegana did in Marco Polo). I think that the cliffhanger shows that the final two episodes are going to be interesting and the return of the Doctor is imminent.

EPISODE 5 – SENTENCE OF DEATH
Originally Broadcast on BBC 1 – Saturday 9 May 1964

In this era of the show, it wasn’t clear to the viewer when a story started and when it finished. So for the 1964 viewer, this was effectively the first in a two part episode. At the end of the previous episode, Ian has been knocked out and is by a dead body. Tarron’s introduction into the story is quite odd as he is casually sitting in a chair waiting for Ian to wake up. He is the one that has to investigate the murder and quizzes Ian. I love the serious moment of music when Ian is told he will be charged with murder. It quickly comes and goes and just seems like a comedy moment. The legal system is that Ian is guilty until proven innocent. This means that there is a greater sense to prove that Ian didn’t murder anyone. There is still no sign of Susan, Barbara, Sabetha and Atos. When they do finally make an appearance there is no explanation as to why they weren’t with Ian when he discovered the body.

The Doctor makes his first appearance since The Velvet Web and it’s like a massive sense of relief. When he comes back, William Hartnell instantly throws himself into the story and instantly decides that he is going to defend Ian. We learn that before we saw him he had arranged with Eprim who was going to give him the micro-key and it was his body that we saw at the beginning of the episode. He was also a friend of Atos. Hartnell loves the opportunity of being the lawyer. His body language is very amusing. It’s good to have him back. Carole Ann Ford and Jacqueline Hill get to do their Cagney and Lacey impression (several years before the duo were on TV) when they start asking questions.  Being the accused means that William Russell doesn’t get to do very much but at least Ian is in the focus of the story and so he is always on screen. It’s good to have the regulars back together. I do love the scene where they are re-enacting the scene of the crime. It seems weird that they stop the story to basically go through what we already know

Eyesen is a dodgy character. He is the one that just has to continuing with the assumption that Ian is guilty. Even though he doesn’t do anything sneaky, its clear just by the way that Donald Pickering is performing that there is something about him which wont help the regulars. The fact that Ayden is the one involved is revealed relatively quickly. Ayden makes a bid for freedom and he is easily caught by Barbara and Susan and just as he is about to name who helped him he is killed but it’s not clear how.

Kala is instantly a character that oozes badness. She doesn’t show it in this episode but its clear that she will do something. We are thrown off the scent by her being there when Ayden is killed and she sobs.Susan is captured and to be honest I hadn’t noticed that she was gone. I was so involved with the court action I didn’t notice she had left. When her voice sounds its quite a surprise and it leads to the cliffhanger which is another good one because there is the mystery of who has got Susan and what will they do with her.

This is another good episode where despite the action taking place in the same area it moves along at a really good pace and there are characters that are well written and it sets up the final episode nicely because it’s a question of having to get Ian cleared of the charges and get the keys back to Arbitan. I think that having the regulars back together seems to have bought a bit of familiarity back to the story. An enjoyable 25 minutes.

EPISODE 6 – THE KEYS OF MARINUS
Originally Broadcast on BBC 1 – Saturday 16 May 1964

The final part of this story has to do two things and do it in only 25 minutes. At the end of the previous episode, Susan have been kidnapped by someone. With Susan out of the picture at the beginning and Ian in custody, it falls to Barbara, Sabetha and Altos play the Scooby gang with Barbara as the leader. Carla drops herself in it when she says about them being worried after speaking to Susan but its several moments before Barbara twigs. When she does manage to make it back to Carla’s apartment it’s just in time to stop Carla killing Susan. It’s a great moment when they all try and overpower her. Despite admitting being involved, Carla pretends that Ian was the one she was working with. This seemed like it was delaying moving the story onwards for just a couple of moments.

The key was in the mace and the Doctor knew all along. When I first saw this episode I didn’t see it coming and now I come to think of it, I wonder whether Terry Nation had that in mind when he wrote the episode because there is never any indication that it was so close. Half this story is taken up with tying up the loose ends of getting Ian off the execution.  With Ian about to be executed, the Doctor is very solemn when we first see him. It’s the first time that we have seen the Doctor like this and it shows how much they have all changed since that very first episode. Minutes later when he sees that there is a way out to help Ian, his mood changes greatly.

When the action returns to the Voords we find that Altos and Sabetha have been captured. One thing we learn is that the lead Voord is in fact called Yartek. Yartek is pretending to be Arbitan. The fact that he doesn’t show his face to Ian and Susan should have raised alarm bells but Ian doesn’t show that’s anything wrong but he gives Yartek the wrong micro-key and this will cause the area to blow up. The Voord haven’t been the greatest creation because apart from the first episode and this one they didn’t really serve the part as a threat. Had things been thought of differently then it would have been better to move the Voord’s into the other episodes.

The central performances have all been good in this episode. However it was William Hartnell that I was most impressed with largely due to his scene where he’s very sad about the thought of Ian’s impending death. Though I was also impressed with Jacqueline Hill who started off really well in this episode. Hopefully I will never see Ian in that outfit that has worn for at least 10 episodes. If he wears it any longer then we can class it as a companion. The goodbye scene is a sad one really. After six episodes with these supporting characters it was sad to say goodbye and that shows how good they have been because normally they would be annoying. There’s a nice moment when Barbara says she will miss them and Ian says ‘come on’ in a way that implies he is telling her to pull herself together.

Oddly there’s no cliffhanger. It just fades to black and tells us the name of the next episode. It’s odd after 25 cliffhangers that we suddenly don’t get one. As an episode it was two in one really. The change happened at just the right time and the second half happened at just the right time. The story ended in a good way though I would have been annoyed that after all that time spent looking for the micro-key and then for it just to be destroyed must seem like a waste of time.

As a six part story it’s been good overall. At times it’s felt a bit stagnant but overall its moved along at a good pace with some good characters and some good writing. The sets have been of a good standing and the directing has also been solid. I have always liked this episode but I have appreciated this six part adventure in a whole new way. Something about it worked quite well and it never dragged.