"A Race Against Death" - Season 1, Episode 34

Written by Peter R. Newman | Directed by Mervyn Pinfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 07/18/64


Watching the entirety of Doctor Who again, this time in order, is an interesting experience in many ways. I'm re-evaluating stories I've only seen once, and this serial is the second in a row where I've largely changed my mind about it. I didn't rate the last serial, The Aztecs, very highly before - but on a rewatch, I noticed things it did very well and it's quality compared to what surrounds it is impressive. The Sensorites, sadly, is going in the other direction - here we have a fairly dull episode where every plot beat is telegraphed well in advance and are very obvious.


Take Carol speaking to the City Administrator, for example - she mentions how she'd be unable to tell any of the Sensorites apart if they didn't have distinctive clothing. The City Administrator, in response, says "I never thought of that," in a super obvious way. Gee, I wonder what's coming next? Will the City Administrator pose as someone else to further his own ends? Sure enough, he captures the Second Elder and takes his sash. Voila! He's now the Second Elder (it's odd that even the Sensorites can't tell each other apart very well).


Otherwise, this episode is just moving pieces into place for the next one. The Doctor goes to explore the aqueduct and Ian and Susan follow him. It hasn't played the card where we find out how the water has been poisoned, yet, though there have been a few clues throughout the past couple episodes, but not many enough to have a satisfying payoff.


One production thing I want to mention - moving a giant spotlight around to correspond to the Doctor's flashlight has to be a giant pain - shoutout to the guy who had that job.


But yes, otherwise, there's just not much going on here. I'm not sure why I liked the serial the first time through - perhaps it's the Sensorite mask design? I love how each one is visually distinct. Usually alien creatures on Doctor Who are identical - I didn't think we'd buck the trend so early on, here.


"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Kidnap"