Written by Anthony Coburn | Directed by Waris Hussein | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/07/63
Despite having quite a bit of room in their cave, the cavemen and women sure sleep close together. Having seen several episodes of Sense8 recently, I was waiting for them to wake up and have a stinky caveman orgy (sorry for the puerile humor, you'll have to get used to it, I'm afraid). There's an interesting shot by Waris Hussein early in the episode - when it cuts back to the Doctor and co. after the old woman makes for the Cave of Skulls, the shot looks to be peering in from one of the crevices the skulls are lodged in (Waris is yet again fighting tooth and nail trying to make the episode as dynamic looking as possible, and he does an admirable job with it). Ian accuses the Doctor of "just sitting there and criticizing" while he tries to cut his hands free - though I think Ian is exaggerating a bit because the Doctor suggests using different bones across the room, which look sharper to him than the ones Ian is using. Then, of course, we get the following famous exchange:
Barbara: "I never once thought you were afraid."
The Doctor: "Fear, it makes companions of us all. That's right."
Barbara: "I never thought you'd help us."
The Doctor: "Fear is with all of us and always will be. Just like that other sensation that lives with it. Your companion referred to it. Hope! Hope, Ms. Wright!"
Nearly 51 years later, on September 15th, 2014, we see Clara Oswald in a barn with a young boy, assumed to be the first Doctor, we get these lines from Jenna Coleman:
Clara: "Listen. This is just a dream. But very clever people can hear dreams, so please just listen. I know you're afraid, but being afraid is all right. Because didn't anybody ever tell you? Fear is a superpower. Fear can make you faster, and cleverer, and stronger, and one day, you're going to come back to this barn, and on that day, you're going to be very afraid indeed. But that's okay, because if you're very wise, and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind. It doesn't matter if there's nothing under the bed, or in the dark, so long as you know it's okay to be afraid of it. So listen. If you listen to nothing else, listen to this. You're always going to be afraid, even if you learn to hide it. Fear is like... a companion. A constant companion, always there. But that's okay. Because fear can bring us together. Fear can bring you home. I'm going to leave you something just so you always remember. Fear makes companions of us all."
Setting aside whether or not anyone is upset Moffat made Clara the most important companion of all (I could care less, to be honest), I love these scenes. It seems the Doctor remembered bits of this "dream" of the strange woman under his bed, and quoted part of it to Barbara. Yes, this is a retcon, but it's a retcon I love dearly (and Moffat leaves room for the Doctor himself - or some other Doctor Who writer in the future - to connect fear with hope. For all people complain about Clara "creating" the Doctor's morality - the most important bit of "The Cave of Skulls," quote, to me, is the line about hope, which Clara didn't give him). I think these two scenes work beautifully together. Even though, as we'll see, the Doctor is still just a bit too afraid for his own good. Anyway, back to 1963...
The old woman sets the group free, and the four of them take off, trying to get back to the TARDIS. The Doctor, short of breath, insists "I'm not so young, you know," - maybe not in this body, Doctor, but you've got a very, very long life ahead of you. Barbara freaks out harder than we see her later on, which is a bit sad to see - Susan seems more the type to lose it at the sight of a dead boar. We later get the following line from Barbara, directed at the Doctor: "You treat everybody and everything as less important than yourself," which is a pretty good kneejerk impression of any incarnation of the Doctor, frankly (even though she's ultimately wrong about all but this particular incarnation of the Doctor in this particular point in his life). Oh, and also, during a cut back to the cavemen, one of them refers to the woman who wants to be with Za as "Hur." Can Anthony Coburn not think of a better name for the women in this story? "Old woman" and "Hur," good job. I bet the unnamed women in the background are "Shee" and "Gur-el." Sheesh.
Za gets attacked by an animal and Barbara and Susan insist on helping him stay alive. While they and Ian attempt to build a stretcher, the Doctor picks up a rock, seemingly intent on killing Za to expedite the party's escape. When Ian stops him, the Doctor claims he wanted Za to draw them a map to get back to the TARDIS. You're not fooling anyone, Doctor. And Ian, don't act so high and mighty at stopping the Doctor from killing him, because had Barbara and Susan not demanded to stop and help Za, you'd have left him to die, too.
The episode ends with the revelation that Ka has killed the old woman, and gone to guard the TARDIS to prevent the "creatures" from escaping and taking the secret of fire with them. I really enjoyed this episode, too. Tomorrow, we'll wrap up Doctor Who's first "story!"
"Doctor Who" Puns so Far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Firemaker"
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