"Strangers in Space" - Season 1, Episode 31

Written by Peter R. Newman | Directed by Mervyn Pinfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 06/20/64


Despite the last episode seemingly leading immediately into this one, Barbara says she's "over" the Aztecs already. How?! She was broken up about it just a few minutes ago. I suppose some time could have passed between the two episodes - when the Doctor starts flying the ship when they leave Mexico, he's alone, and there's a fade to black. Perhaps a few hours or days pass... Still, though, this is indicative of a problem Doctor Who faces throughout its entire classic run. Once a serial is over, the characters move on, barely remarking - if they remark at all - on what just happened. The worst example of this is Time-Flight in the early 80s, but that's a long ways away. For now, Barbara has moved on, and the Doctor's brief dalliance with Cameca is never mentioned again.


At least everyone is enjoying themselves, now! "Yes, it all started out as a mild curiosity in a junkyard, and now it's turned out to be quite a, quite a great spirit of adventure, don't you think?" the Doctor asks. They then recite, briefly, what they've been through (some of which become fandoms name for the mentioned stories, such as "The Daleks" or "Marco Polo"). The Doctor also mentions meeting Henry VIII - and making him angry enough to send them to the Tower of London, where the TARDIS was. Susan confirms this, so it seems like the Doctor isn't lying about it... I wonder if Big Finish has done an audio about this, because if so, I haven't heard it (I know the Sixth Doctor met him at one point, but I don't remember the First Doctor doing so). Anyway, it's another rare mention of stuff the Doctor got up to before An Unearthly Child - something we won't hear much more about in the actual show itself, since Susan is going to be leaving in a few serials. The series quickly looks to its future and doesn't fill much in about its past, which is ultimately a good thing, really.

The design on the spaceship is gorgeous, it has to be said. I love retro futurism. Unfortunately, the set is lit far too brightly, so the feeling of dread they were probably going for as the TARDIS crew examines what they think are corpses is nonexistent. It's too bad, too, because having no explanation for several minutes and a darkened set would have gone a long way to making things creepier.

Maitland, the captain of the ship, doesn't seem too fazed to learn that the travelers come from the 20th century - perhaps time travel is possible in their time? I don't know why Peter R. Newman included the bits about when they're all from, it's just awkward and the ship crew not being bothered that people from 800 years ago are interacting with them never feels right. Newman does get some cute dialogue in, though - the Doctor insists "there's not an ounce of curiosity" in him and then immediately asks more questions about what happened on the ship, and Ian and Barbara laugh.

The Sensorites are able to do what the Voord couldn't, and remove the lock from the TARDIS. This, apparently, means the TARDIS crew cannot get in. Breaking down the door would disrupt the inner dimensions of the TARDIS, so they need to get the lock back, somehow. So far, the TARDIS hasn't been flyable because the Doctor removed a fluid link, a switch got stuck, all the systems just completely shut down, a force field was put around it, the ship gets trapped in a tomb out of their reach, and now the lock is removed. Barbara wonders why they ever leave the ship, and it's a great question. Well, in universe, it is, anyway - clearly they leave the ship because there wouldn't be a television show otherwise. Anyway, I look forward to the writers realizing they don't have to break the ship or make it inaccessible for the crew to have adventures - it's straining credulity at this point.

The back half of this episode has some mildly interesting scenes, but there's not much to say about them, I don't think. The Doctor flying the ship out of colliding with the Sense-sphere would be entertaining if it weren't so static - he just says what he's doing and moves his hands a little. Still, I like that the Doctor is a skilled pilot, apparently, even if he can't quite figure out the TARDIS, yet. The women are forced to cook for the men, and Ian bugs them about when it'll be done, even. Shut up, Ian, cook it yourself (he's not a total jerk about it, but the scene grates nonetheless). John, the other crew member, seems possessed at first, then cries a lot. A Sensorite appears on the outside of the ship to close the episode - he looks like a stereotypical Area 51 alien with a scraggy beard.

I like this serial a lot - but mostly when it's on the Sense-sphere. The spaceship episodes aren't bad by any means, but they're a little dull. This is one of those episodes that I'm glad isn't missing - it would be awful to get through without the images.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Unwilling Warriors"