Written by Dennis Spooner | Directed by Henric Hirsch | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 09/05/64
The most important scene of the episode, to my mind, is when Barbara and Ian reunite at Jules' house. After their initial excitement of being reunited, Barbara wonders where Leon is. Ian seems to have picked up on Barbara's attraction to the man - he tries to dodge the question of where he'd been, hoping he wouldn't have to tell Barbara that Leon had been killed, and was also the traitor. I think it's sweet that he cares about her feelings in this way - it says to me that he cares about Barbara more than he lets on, too. When she rebukes him, Ian, in what I think is a bit of ugly jealousy, says "he got what he deserved," pissing Barbara off. They make up, later, and even Ian apologizes, but it's some deft characterization (assuming, as I do, that Ian and Barbara are or have already fallen in love).
The Doctor does his best at being clever back at the prison. He tricks the jailer into doing exactly what he wants him to, and this is how Barbara escapes (the jailer really is an idiot). Though why the Doctor says he can't be skulking after people in the clothes he's wearing when the jailer asks him why he didn't go after Barbara, then immediately suggests he follow Susan after they let her escape is beyond me.
And anyway, I'm sick of the characters being arrested and escaping again and again. Yes, characters in Doctor Who are arrested all the time - but when it's done well, each one is it's own interesting problem for them to solve. Here, it's involving the same villains in the same place, and the plot doesn't move forward until it decides to (here, at the end of the episode/beginning of the next episode). The Reign of Terror could have been much better than this, being set during the French Revolution and all, but it's really rather dull (and in some spots, downright stupid).
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Prisoners of Conciergerie"
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