2.4: The Romans

November 27, 2013 by Ronald Hayden

Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Vicki, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), Dennis Spooner (Writer), Christopher Barry (Director)
Season 2

What's the rating?

Must See.

What's interesting about it?

The opening of the story plays with our expectations. As usual, something goes wrong with the TARDIS -- in this case, it lands on the edge of a cliff, then falls off -- but instead of the story we've come to expect, with our time travelers rushing out to see what the situation is and getting swept up into some life-and-death drama, we fade to them vacationing in a Roman villa, apparently without a care in the world. They've been here a month and are having a fine time, eating feasts, tending a garden, and shopping at the local market. Best of all, no explanation is offered until well into the story; the episode is half over before the question of dealing with the TARDIS is even brought up.

After several little unusual quips and comedic plays on words, it becomes clear that the opening of the story was only the start of tweaking with the now-established Doctor Who formula. It's as if we're now in a Tom Stoppard play, and the usual serious tone is to be set aside this time around.

The time travelers are then split up, with The Doctor and Vicki going their way, and Barbara and Ian being kidnapped and engaged in their own story lines. This is a good formula for the series, as it allows for more variety in the storytelling.

But before being kidnapped, we see Barbara and Ian luxuriating with food near a fountain, in a pose that many fans insist means they've just "done it". Have they? Well, you be the judge:

Barbara and Ian subsequently have a terrible time of it, carted off as slaves and generally knocked about, while The Doctor and Vicki are having the time of their lives while frequently missing crossing paths with their friends by mere seconds. All the criss-crossing of characters is like a version of the play Noises Off, but with Nero in the mix.

Oddly, we discover The Doctor loves a brawl! And he's excited to be the target of an assassination attempt -- after all, "My dear, it was an accepted thing in this age to hire an assassin!" Between assassination, poisoning, and the general tone, there are an interesting number of parallels with the must-see mini-series I, Claudius.

Overall a somewhat wacky story, and as I understand it this was the end of the historical stories for quite a while. Well, if so, this is a fine send-off!

How has your opinion changed?

I originally rated this as just Worth Watching. But with time and distance I continue to think of this story often enough fondly enough that it's silly not to say it's a Must See.

It's just too enjoyable to be missed by any fan of the series.

How about the DVD extras?

The "making of" documentary, What has 'The Romans' ever done for us?, is worth watching. The Blue Peter episode is also interesting.

What are others saying?

The Writer's Room podcast #4 (Dennis Spooner)
The Memory Cheats podcast #88

How can I see it?

2.3: The Rescue

November 14, 2013 by Ronald Hayden

Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Vicki, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), David Whitaker (Writer)
Season 2

What's the rating?

Worth Watching.

What's interesting about it?

At two episodes, this is an unusually tight and concise story. As a fan of concision, I approve.

This is the first ever story after a companion has left show -- Susan, The Doctor's grand-daughter, in this case -- and we see The Doctor struggling to deal with this fact, calling out to her involuntarily when he needs her help. And we find The Doctor seeming to need an extra-ordinary amount of sleep; in an unprecedented move he sleeps through the landing of the TARDIS, then instead of launching into their next adventure, decides to immediately take a nap. Then he comments on how his hand-writing "gets worse and worse" -- it's as if this Doctor is preparing for the end of his run, though that's not the case.

Upon landing on the planet Dido, the time travelers encounter a broken space ship. The story is mysterious, with an impenetrable alien and two human survivors of a space ship crash who are being kept prisoner of the alien. As in The Sensorites, again we have the theme of people being held prisoner and treated like Children.

But, The Doctor has been her before, so he's not concerned, as he knows the natives are completely peaceful...but something has happened in the meantime that makes the locals dangerous.

This is the introduction of Vicki, the replacement companion for Susan -- Vicki, by the way, is not short for Victoria, as she makes clear.

Overall this is a fine episode, setting up plenty of meaty mystery that makes us want to see what exactly is going on with the planet Dido. The solution is satisfying, and the new companion is promising.

The "Making of" documentary on the DVD is quite interesting as well, and worth watching once you've seen the story.

How has your opinion changed?

I originally rated this as Must See and The Romans as just Worth Watching. What was I thinking?

Well, after getting much more of the show under my belt, I realized that there was no question I would tell someone new to the show that they must see The Romans but no longer found this one as compelling.

Unfortunately, it's largely a sign of how the show ended up treating companions. Early on it seemed a big deal to have departures and arrivals, but given that the show stopped acting that way, it quickly becomes commonplace to have companions appearing and disappearing and so it's harder to treat an episode as special just for that reason.

What are others saying?

Hoo on Who podcast #71

How can I see it?

2.2: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

November 09, 2013 by Ronald Hayden

Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), Terry Nation (Writer), Richard Martin (Director)
Season 2

What's the rating?

Must See.

What's interesting about it?

My favorite Doctor Who story so far, and one of my favorite of all time.

This is the story that let me know that even early Doctor Who could rock. There's no need to make excuses for this story or the presentation. (Well, maybe a couple of excuses for the original "flying saucer on a string" special effects, but you can now choose to watch a snazzier CGI version of the effects if you wish.)

Compared to the claustrophobic sets and the small feel of typical Doctor Who stories resulting from budget and time constraints, Invasion is a shockingly ambitious story and setting. As in, the Daleks have invaded actual Earth (where Earth equals London, of course) and we see them ruling over the actual London, not some $10-dollar model version of the city.

The opening sequence is perhaps the most arresting and intriguing of any in the Who canon. We first see this sign, rather amazing in itself for a children's show, a callback to the years of The Plague:

And then a man in strange headgear ripping off a neck-collar and drowning himself in the Thames. What is this madness?

The Doctor and company connect up with rebels fighting against the Daleks, and this is a group of unusually well-realized characters who have been through hell, have an impossible job to do, and have little time to coddle the time travelers; instead, they immediately make them sign up for the daily work roster!

Much of the story occurs outdoors around London, which provides a documentary-feel to the affair, punctuated by music in a thrilling percussion-driven avant-garde style. A re-telling of The Blitz, an event very familiar to Brits of the time, the story is gripping, and there's just one really terribly-executed monster to remind us that this is Doctor Who after all.

It's also Susan's last episode, and as such she's the first companion to have an exit scene, a particularly effective exit at that. The Doctor and Susan have an emotional and affectionate conversation, in which The Doctor realizes it's time to let his granddaughter live her own life, a complete reversal from his attitude in The Sensorites. He then takes most inconceivably difficult action of a parent by pushing her away to live her own life, refusing to allow her on the Tardis at the end of the story. I'm tempted to quote his parting speech, but it's the best dialogue in the show so far and you should experience it on your own.

So Susan got to be an interesting character only in the first episode of the show and the last in which she appeared. It's a crime they didn't do more with her, but at least we have this.

If you haven't seen any classic Doctor Who and none of the previous story descriptions has attracted you, then I say this is a great place to start your journey.

How can I see it?

2.1: Planet of The Giants

November 09, 2013 by Ronald Hayden

Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), Louis Marks (Writer)
Season 2

What's the rating?

Kid's Stuff.

What's interesting about it?

Planned as the first story of the first season, the concept of the time travelers as 1-inch high people in the normal world was restored to start off the second season. As the first episode of the season, the cast was returning after six weeks off, and it shows. They are refreshed and looking a bit different from the last story, particularly Susan's hair and Ian's suit. The Doctor's new cape is an unfortunate regression in his clothing.

Fortunately the cape seems to be quickly dropped for future stories. So let's just pretend it never happened.

In an unusual bit of visual comedy, directly after Susan and The Doctor conclude they have been shrunk, we get a shot pulling back from the Tardis to show they are correct, and have been trapped in the stone walkway of a yard. This shot has no point of view, so it's direct communication from the director to the viewer, including us in a joke on the time travelers.

The music is like it's from another show, every bit emphasizing comedy elements of the story in a rather head-bashing manner that belongs in a Warner Brothers cartoon. The props are surprisingly good, including the giant insects, which is odd given what's coming up in the execrable Web Planet.

The story was filmed in four parts, but cut down to three for broadcast. The DVD has a reconstruction of the missing episode, though I don't know how useful that episode is in that I didn't notice anything missing. It just made for a refreshingly tighter story than usual.

I've mentioned a number of times the disappointment of Carole Ann Ford with her character Susan; the best thing about this DVD is a modern-day interview with Mrs. Ford in which she tells her side of the story. Also worth watching is the interview with Verity Lambert, before she died. I recommend watching these after the next story, Carole Ann Ford's last appearance.

Ultimately I think it's for the best that this wasn't done as the first story of the show. It's the most clearly child-centered story done so far, similar to shows that would come along in the U.S. such as The Land of the Lost. Though to give Land due credit, the characters there actually did feel like they were in the same space as the dinosaurs and such around them. Unfortunately for this story, while the large props are impressive, the use of a projection screen to try and put the tiny characters in the giant world doesn't work.

If everything had started with this, I'm not sure Doctor Who would have developed into more than a typical kid's affair, to be remembered fondly by a few after a short stint, but never to become what it is today.

What are others saying?

Others are a bit more kind to this one than I am...

How can I see it?

1.8: The Reign of Terror

November 01, 2013 by Ronald Hayden

Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Susan, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Creators: Verity Lambert (Producer), Dennis Spooner (Writer)
Season 1

What's the rating?

Worth Watching.

What's interesting about it?

The last story of the first season, this is a callback to the book on the French Revolution that Susan commented on in the first story, An Unearthly Child. It takes place during what is The Doctor's inexplicable "favorite period in the history of Earth". The first three episodes are as filmed, two are lost and reconstructed as animation using the original soundtrack, and the last episode is back to film. The animation, primitive as it is, is a good way to present missing episodes; much preferable to the "show a new snapshot every few seconds" approach taken for Marco Polo.

The story is admirable for not sugar-coating the events or the time. Even the first episode contains unexpected and dark brutality (again making it strange how this was ever considered a "kid's show"), and throughout the story it's clear this is a time and place where no particular value is placed on human life.

It's not science fiction -- it's strictly historical and seems reasonably accurate -- but it might as well be science fiction, given the insane and unbelievable events that occurred at this point in history. This story is the perfect expression of the producers' intent for every other story to be an educational historical. It admirably jumps into the events of the time without spurious commentary, and from there one thing happens after another, which is how the best stories work.

I feel for Carole Anne Ford as Susan, who, having joined Doctor Who to play an independent intelligent alien teenager of the future, is forced here to actually get up on a bed and scream pathetically about how there are rats in her prison cell. Were the producers intentionally prodding her with a stick? Regardless, she would leave the series not long from now, never happy with how her character had developed.

The story prompted me to do some reading on Wikipedia, and perhaps the most interesting sentence ever written is this about Robespierre, who plays an important part in the story:

"His reputation has gone through cycles...In recent decades his reputation has suffered from his association with radical purification of politics by killing his enemies."

Check out my summary of Season 1, in which I don't kill any enemies, but I do leave a few stories behind to their own fate.

What are others saying?

Wife in Space (score: 4/10)
The Writer's Room podcast #4 (Dennis Spooner)
Tin Dog podcast #293