"The Wheel of Fortune" - Season 2, Episode 66

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/10/65

Perhaps it's because footage actually exists of this serial, but I find The Crusade to deliver on the intrigue that Marco Polo promised. That it's a four-parter helps due to the faster pace, but I find the characters here more interesting and the stakes more dangerous. I found (the character) Marco Polo's actions and decisions somewhat random and dumb, but Saphadin is a much more rounded character. His motivations are clear, and he doesn't necessarily seem evil - and getting a Muslim character who is intelligent and not outright evil (and played very well by the actor), especially in the 1960s, is something rare and good (even if said actor is a white guy).

The other side's leaders, Richard and Joanna, are well-played and written as well. Joanna absolutely freaks out at Richard at the end of this episode (understandably), because she doesn't want to be married off to Saladin to end a war. The Doctor sympathizes with Richard, though, and doesn't warn Joanna of his plan - she finds out, anyway, though, from someone else, and the Doctor is blamed for it. After seeing how angry the King was with Joanna, it looks like our hero is in some trouble for tomorrow's episode...

Before that, though, the Doctor gets into a wonderful argument with the Earl of Leicester about using diplomacy, but the Earl asserts that after everyone's had a good chinwag, the soldiers have to go give their lives anyway to sort it all out. It seems the Doctor's stance on this doesn't change much in 2000 years - he gives a very similar, if more impassioned and desperate, speech in "The Zygon Inversion" in his twelfth incarnation. I don't entirely agree with him - if you'd like to read a very well-argued counterpoint to the Doctor, Jack Graham wrote a wonderful essay about why the politics and the Doctor's arguments in that story don't work here - though the scenes in this episode and "Zygon Inversion" are different in some respects, I think it all fits.


Vicki is still used strangely here. Her actual gender is revealed to everyone, and they all sort of shrug and say "okay" and that's that. She is amazing in the next serial, though, and I'm looking forward to the production team giving her something interesting to do (I really do love Vicki, and she's not quite as poorly used as Susan, but the production team sure has a problem with this type of companion so far, don't they?).

Barbara has some pretty good scenes, trying to hide from El Akir. Haroun saves her from El Akir's guards, and hides her in his house. He goes out to see if he can find a route for her to escape, but leaves his knife with her, telling her if the guards find them, to kill his daughter and herself to avoid the terrible things El Akir will do to them. This after he explains how El Akir coveted Haroun's other daughter, badly enough that when he was out, El Akir killed his wife and son and took the daughter, so Haroun has sworn revenge. Barbara doesn't end up having to use the knife, but it's a pretty dark moment when she considers it in the little closet she and Haroun's daughter are hiding in.

Isn't this better than Tegana just being an obvious traitor to Kublai Khan? It's all a lot more interesting than learning about condensation, that's for sure...

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Warlords"

"The Knight of Jaffa" - Season 2, Episode 65

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/03/65

I find it interesting how much comedy is used in the historicals so far. The Aztecs really only had the "I made cocoa and got engaged" moment, and Marco Polo was pretty dry throughout, but the Reign of Terror had the comedy jailer and that bit in the second episode where the Doctor works a road crew for a while. The Romans was entirely a comedy farce (if some bits of it aren't exactly hilarious today), and here in The Crusade, the Doctor steals clothes from the comedy clothes salesman in the first episode, and Vicki acts as though she's Victor for no apparent reason other than the comedy of it (it's supposed to be a reference to the practice of Shakespeare actors crossdressing as women because back then women weren't performers). Near the end of this episode, the clothes salesman comes and accuses the Doctor of stealing his wares (which is true), but the Doctor gets out of it by talking the salesman in circles and shooing him out. It's an amusing scene, but it's absolutely not realistic at all (which is fine, that isn't the point, of course).

I point it out because, up to this point, the historicals are getting better and better. It's not entirely down to the comedy - I find it difficult to enjoy the last historical, The Highlanders, and that's a comedy - but the plots are getting better constructed and more interesting (devotees of Marco Polo - that story is eclipsed by both this and the three historicals in the third season - yes, including The Gunfighters). The historicals may not have been popular with kids (it's easy to see why), but as a 31 year old, they are quite enjoyable. I've never been the type of fan to complain about how the historical needs to come back, but I wouldn't be bothered if it did.

We're set up for some problems over the next two episodes, though. Joanna, Richard's sister, is to be married to Saladin to end the war, but she has no idea of the plan and will freak out. I remember really enjoying Joanna's character, so I look forward to seeing her try to get out of the deal (and Richard losing it at her when she refuses). The pleasures in this episode, despite it missing, are many - Ian is knighted by Richard (I wish I could see William Russell act it - he should have been thrilled and honored considering the fame of the King who's giving him the title). The Doctor and Vicki, while not up to much, mess about and have a few chuckles. El Akir schemes and steals Barbara away from Saladin to add her to his harem, but she escapes. Actually, the last few minutes of this episode would be a welcome return, as they're almost entirely visual as Barbara tries to escape the city. Other than that, though, I'm still enjoying myself quite a bit and am looking forward to Monday's post.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Wheel of Fortune"

"The Lion" - Season 2, Episode 64

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/27/65

This is more like it.

I don't often comment on the directing on this blog, but looking at the episodes he'll go on to make for Doctor Who (along with Planet of Giants, which we've already seen), Douglas Camfield has an almost 100% hit rate for good episodes (I wish I could see more of the Daleks Masterplan to say he's batting a thousand, alas). The actors are on fine form here, too, but the sword fights near the beginning of the episode look pretty great. Compare the fight scenes here to the Aztecs, where Ian and Ixta roll around and hug awkwardly with a static camera in "The Warriors of Death." It's night and day - just when a fight looks like it could get awkward, it cuts to another piece of action elsewhere where something visually interesting is going on. I could do without the white actors playing Middle Eastern people, but that's not something the series will stop doing for a long while yet (and happened back in Marco Polo, as well).

Still, Julian Glover as King Richard is amazing, and despite being white, Saphadin as played by Rover Avon is menacing and interesting, and so far, fairly carefully done - he comes across as very competent and merciful, if it suits him. When El Akir says he can make Barbara walk across hot coals or through sharp sword tips, he asks Barbara how that sounds, and she says "it sounds like a punishment for a fool," and Saphadin agrees. "Who is the fool here?" he asks. "El Akir, I can devise my own pleasures," before implying that he'll make him do those awful things.

Watching the episodes in order, I have to say I've gotten sick of everyone who captures Barbara implying her captor could rape her. It's way too common and I'm not sure why it didn't stick out to me when I watched in the past (though I watched random episodes from the various Doctors, so it's pretty stark in order like this). Vicki, too, is underused so far, too - she gets a great turn in the next serial, but she's been pretty extraneous to events since she joined the TARDIS team (as I recall, David Whitaker actually does something with Vicki later on this episode. That means David Whitaker is the only writer so far to actually write for Vicki well, since he wrote her debut, The Rescue).

Really, though, what is good about this episode can be traced back to David Whitaker's deft characterization and plotting skills. I must note - this was the first episode of this watch through where I lost track of time and was surprised when the credits rolled. Despite having seen the episode before, I had gotten invested in it enough to forget the cliffhanger comes right after Richard says he will never trade with Saladin and Barbara can rot for all he cares. Whitaker does a great job sketching out all these characters quickly, even if Vicki is underused (and Ian, weirdly, is more stoic than usual. I think William Russell had an off week, because outside the fight scenes, he's a little too stiff).

I really need to get around to reading Whitaker's novelizations. He's definitely the most interesting writer so far, and he still has his best script ahead of him. I hate to keep bashing The Web Planet (irks me to agree with conventional fan wisdom, but I just don't like that serial), but this is a breath of fresh air after that mess. I'm certain the only two missing episodes of this season will be better than that (both of which fall in this serial, sadly - tomorrow's and Tuesday's).

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Knight of Jaffa"

"The Centre" - Season 2, Episode 63

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/20/65

Before I watched this last episode, I watched the making of documentary included on the DVD. In it, the various members of the production team are asked about the usual things, sets, costumes, etc. There are a few key takeaways from it - both Verity Lambert and Richard Martin insist on the serial being visual in nature, and how excited they were to take a shot at it. Lambert says she's proud of the ambition and she thinks the serial works. Martin isn't happy with it for the most part, but then he's a director and probably wouldn't have been satisfied unless it was perfect.

Maureen O'Brien, though, the actress who plays Vicki, is asked what she thinks it looks like, and she replies, with a bit of apprehension, "it's amateurish." I'm with O'Brien - I don't want to take away from the sense of pride the production team had of this serial, but they bit off more than they could chew. Some things look okay - the costumes are largely pretty good, which is impressive considering they're all ants, butterflies, and grubs - but the landscapes are dull and the Animus and her environs are pretty dumb looking. The plot is nonsense - in this episode, Vicki leaves the Isop-tope (the weapon that ultimately destroys the Animus) in the Doctor's Astral Map, which wasn't part of the plan. Why she does this, I have no idea. Luckily, Barbara happens along and finds it. The diversion group tries to get the attention of the main Zarbi force by surrounding a single Zarbi and screaming "Zarbi" at it. Why they do this, I have no idea. The Isop-tope is able to destroy the Animus when Barbara holds it close - we don't see anything happen, we don't hear anything happen, the Animus just dies. Why it does, I have no idea.

We're left with so many questions that could have potentially been answered in an interesting way, but weren't - why can the Animus use gold to control other creatures? Why can the Doctor's ring perform a similar function? How did the Animus arrive on Vortis? Do the Menoptra fly through space with some sort of ship? Are the Optera unevolved Menoptra? It just goes on and on. But the production team chose to focus on the visuals without paying much mind to the story, and it really suffers as a result. This is a shallow serial, and I take no pleasure in watching it (and probably never will again). I hate to slam a production fifty years later so hard, but I just can't stand this serial, and I've tried twice now to like it with an open mind.

On to better things, then.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Lion"

"Invasion" - Season 2, Episode 62

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/13/65

The plot continues to baffle. The Doctor can use his ring to control one of the Zarbi when it has the gold necklace thing around it. When he gives the ring to one of the Menoptra later so he can control "Zombo" (the name Vicki gave the Zarbi with the gold necklace on), the Menoptra asks the Doctor, "May I know it's secret?" and the Doctor replies "You may not."

Thanks for clearing that up, Doctor.

I think the Optera are the best thing about the serial. They're just as weird as everything else, but they have interesting dialogue that takes an extra second or two to decode. They do things like sacrificing themselves by shoving their heads into a wall to prevent deadly acid from spilling out and killing everyone. That is an image that got to me - Ian silently looking at Nemini's dead body sticking out the wall in wonder. That might be the most alien image in the entirety of Doctor Who - it's so baffling and strange and eerie. If I felt the way I did when looking at that image throughout the rest of the serial, it'd be a roaring success and would probably be something I rewatch regularly.

These entries are short, and I apologize for that - there's just not a ton to say. This is not something Doctor Who ever tries again, and it's so visual that there aren't many themes or anything to grapple with (and it being six episodes long, I've long since exhausted anything interesting to say about the vaseline on the camera or the costumes or whatnot). The Web Planet wraps up tomorrow, and frankly, I can't wait.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Centre"

"Crater of Needles" - Season 2, Episode 61

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/06/65

I don't know why Bill Strutton was never asked back to write Doctor Who. He went on to write more television into the 70s, so it's not like this was his only work, but... I can't help but feel that the production team didn't think this worked out, despite it's high viewership ratings.

I have nothing to base that on, of course, I'm just speculating, and perhaps projecting my own feelings about this serial onto the writer. People will take later episodes to task for being too ambitious, saying, for example, that Doctor Who should never have attempted to create a giant rat in The Talons of Weng-Chiang. That story is infamous for that huge rat, and while I don't care that much about the rat looking bad, I can't explain why people don't seem to hold this story as much to task. I admit - the costumes are okay, but why did Bill Strutton think the Doctor Who production team could create three different races of bugs, have them dance around and feel alien, and sometimes fly about the set? Sure, technically that all happens on screen, but it doesn't work - at least, not without a more interesting script. They made the serial, but then never asked Strutton back, I think, because he wrote something more ambitious than they wanted or could do.

Regarding this episode - I like the Optera so far. They're interesting, being a variation of Menoptra, likely less evolved forms of them. The way they speak holds my attention - clipped phrases containing weird metaphors, they're the first bit of this serial that I find interesting on some level. Yes, they're filler to get us to six episodes, but they have that weird goo they use to bind Ian and Vrestin, which is gross and something you'd think a primitive bug race would use.

I just find it hard to get a sense of who these creatures all are. They're supposed to be alien, I get that, but trying to care about their plight is difficult when I can't relate to them that well, if at all. Their invasion plot is fairly standard, so far, so it's not like that's catching my attention. Watching this in order, one a day as I've been doing, doesn't really help this episode not suck, though it's not as bad as in "movie" format (where you watch the whole thing in one go). There's just not a lot of interesting plot here, and the imagery got stale two episodes ago (though Menoptra flying around is adorable, I haven't got sick of that yet).

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

"Escape to Danger" - Season 2, Episode 60

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 02/27/65

The Animus asks the Doctor if he's a Menoptra, and if not, what he's doing on Vortis. The Doctor replies "We have strayed from our astral plane," which is a line that suggests something far more interesting than what we're seeing on screen. They don't appear to be in some sort of limbo or purgatory - they're just on a weird planet with giant insects. Still, it's a line I like, even if it doesn't fit with what's going on.

Though, we at least get more of an idea of what is going on in this episode. The Menoptra aren't actually invaders - both the Zarbi and Menoptra are native to Vortis, but the Zarbi were taken over by the Animus and forced to attack the Menoptra, driving them off planet (I can't even begin to imagine what a Menoptra space ship looks like, though who knows, maybe they can fly around in deep space). The Doctor is going to pretend to help the Animus locate the Menoptra invasion fleet with his astral map (again, the name suggests something far more interesting besides the "space map" it actually is) while Ian goes to find Barbara. Apparently, Vicki's button pushing when the Zarbi were moving the TARDIS seems to have reconnected the fluid link, providing the ship with power again (that's what the Doctor says, at least. Why didn't he think of that before?) so the astral map will work (which the Doctor tells Ian it's super important that it must never be unplugged from the relative dimension and space link, even though we've never seen the thing before).

I like the line where the Doctor wants to talk to the Animus and says "drop this hairdryer or whatever it is," dismissing this being that has his life in it's hands as ridiculous, which is always fun. The Zarbi are also afraid of the Doctor's specimen that Vicki brings out - it's not explained in this episode why, exactly, but I assume it's because he's got a small dead bug?

Who even knows with this serial. I'll be honest, like the first time I watched it, it's testing my patience. The visuals, while interesting, do not support two and a half hours of this. This episode is better than the first two - plot is happening! - but this is still very weak.

And the second season was going so well, too...

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Crater of Needles"

"The Zarbi" - Season 2, Episode 59

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 02/20/65

Sandifer is absolutely correct - the point of this serial is 100% about the weird visuals.

What else could it be? We get a few more scraps of information about what's going on in this episode. According to the Doctor, they're on Vortis, and he's heard of the Menoptra when he discovers one of their spent chrysalis (which we find out are the butterfly creatures that Barbara interacts with in this episode). The Doctor doesn't seem to have heard of the Zarbi (the beeping ant creatures), however. Why he might have heard of one and not the other is unknown at this point.

The Zarbi use gold to control any creature they want, which is why they were able to lure Barbara out of the ship (I guess we should be thankful none of the TARDIS crew have any gold fillings). The Menoptra seem to be fighting the Zarbi, and apparently have an invasion fleet in space. We don't know if either group of aliens are good or bad yet.

That's about it. Somehow I've watched forty-two minutes or so of this serial and that's all I could tell you about the plot so far. The audience is clearly supposed to just enjoy - or, more likely, be freaked out by - the visuals. It's not as though they're not striking - some of the camera angles are actually pretty good for this weird landscape populated with giant ants and butterflies - but six episodes of this is just too much. Like most Doctor Who serials, I bet this would be a lot more watchable if it were only four episodes long.

Can you imagine what this serial would be like if it were missing, though? The recon subtitles would just be "???" for the majority of it, I bet.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Escape to Danger"

"The Web Planet" - Season 2, Episode 58

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 02/13/65

We've arrived at the most watched episode of 1960s Doctor Who - and it holds that record as the most watched Who episode ever until Tom Baker's second serial, "The Ark in Space." The British public tuned in in droves to watch this entire serial - the first episode got the highest ratings, but it's pretty consistent throughout, not dipping below 10 million viewers until the second episode of the next story.

I point that out because, try as I might, I struggle through this story. Sandifer's post about this one is informative and persuasive, but even after rereading that post before watching the first episode of the serial, I struggled to enjoy it. The visuals are unique, there's no way around that - and if the visuals, designed to freak out the audience, are the entire point of the serial like Sandifer suggests, then it's a success. I do find them creepy.

I just... there's so much that annoys me. The Zarbi (the ant like aliens not named until the next episode) beep and chirp in such a grating tone, I had to turn the volume down a few notches to not annoy my wife in the next room (and I don't blame her - it's a terrible sound). The plot, thus far, is as thin as it can be - the TARDIS crew has been pulled down to the planet, there are ant people running around, and something is going on with the bracelet Barbara got from Nero pulling her outside the TARDIS. To be fair, this is how a lot of First Doctor first episodes go, so I wouldn't hold that against the serial normally, but there's just not a lot going on otherwise. The visuals hold my interest for a bit, and I will grant you the vaseline over the camera lens actually does do a good job of making the planet look eerie (and the constant echo makes it sound like they're in a cave, which is strange since they're clearly outside, the night sky above them).

So instead, I just find the serial frustrating. I should be more interested in what sort of power could drain the TARDIS of it's power. I want to ask, if the Doctor's ring is not merely for decoration but can power the ship, why did he trade it for the French Regional Officer uniform in The Reign of Terror? How does Vicki learn enough to get a certificate in medicine, physics, and chemistry from just one hour per week of learning when she was ten (machines, apparently. It's not explained how that works)?

To say something nice about the serial, I like the scene when the Doctor asks Ian for his tie (which is tied around his waist like a belt for some reason... that's also very odd, why wouldn't Ian have grabbed a belt from the TARDIS wardrobe if he likes his tie so much?):

Ian: "I hope my pants stay up,"
Doctor: (dismissively) "Well, that's your affair, not mine."

I am going to try to enjoy this serial. I'm trying to follow Sandifer's advice and try to appreciate the visuals and weirdness of the serial for the sake of it. I don't even mind the so-called unconvincing costumes and sets - there's no way to make all that look good today, much less in 1965, so that's not it. It just doesn't coalesce for me, as much as I want it to. I would probably love the serial if the plot wasn't so lacking, given some of the later visuals and dialogue (the quoted bit from one of the later episodes with the ant putting it's head through a wall in Sandifer's entry is an interesting, weird scene), but as is, this is the lone stinker of the second season for me.

I hope I change my tune over the next few entries.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Zarbi"

"Inferno" - Season 2, Episode 57

Written by Dennis Spooner | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 02/06/65

Though I really didn't like the last episode, I must admit I still like the Romans as a whole a great deal. Setting aside Nero's grossness (as best one can, anyway, as he's still too much), there's a lot to like in this episode. The plot gets a little weird - it relies on Nero being completely stupid and forgetful (which, I suppose, works, considering how he really was, at least as far as we know).

However, Delos not lopping off Ian's head and attacking Nero is a bit of a stretch. I know these two are friends, but he has a way out - and he doesn't take it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that he didn't - he's a brave man, and luckily for him as a guest actor, he survives. I wonder what he got up to after Ian and his friends take off...

I like the bit where Barbara admits she hit Ian on the head with the vase, causing all of their problems - other than Ian getting a little rough about it, I buy that they're just joking around (and he doesn't actually hurt her, he just pretends like he's going to. I think. I hope. I... choose to believe?). It at least suggests, like the first episode, that they're more than just friends.

Tavius being a Christian is something I wonder about. I have no problem with someone having faith in whatever deity they do, and I don't even mind religion in general being present in Doctor Who. It's just that... this seems to suggest that being a Christian is firmly the right way to be, and that we should laud Tavius for being one. Even at this stage, I find it odd and disconcerting to have the show imply Christian morality is the only way for a person to be good. I'm reading into it a bit much, I grant you, but what is the point of having a blog if you can't do just that? If anything, I'd have preferred Tavius helping the Doctor because of his Christian beliefs be set up a little better, or to have Christianity's persecution at the time be central to the plot. Here, it's just sort of tacked on and there simply to be sentimental, which strikes me as a bit pointless.

As for the Doctor being responsible for burning Rome to the ground - I choose to believe he did change history. He does it all the time, as it is, and wouldn't it be delightful to see the exact moment where he realizes he has that power? I think that's here, even though he's clearly changed the past already. To have his co-conspirator be Vicki delights me as well - for all Vicki gets some underwritten episodes, when her qualities shine through, she's great. She's a quiet anarchist, and she's infected the Doctor, who laughs like a pyromaniac as he realizes he's the reason Rome burns.

So, "The Romans" is good watching, I think (Nero chasing Barbara around aside). The writing has improved leaps and bounds, it seems, here in the second season, and long may it continue. Unfortunately, the next serial may end the streak...

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Web Planet"

"Conspiracy" - Season 2, Episode 56

Written by Dennis Spooner | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/30/65

We arrive at the first episode of the second season that I don't like, and it's purely for ideological reasons.

Like I've said, this serial is a comedy. It's flagged as such from the resolution of the cliffhanger from "Flashpoint." There are several instances in this episode where it works okay - mostly in the second half. And for a certain type of person, it probably works in the first half, too, but not for me.

Most of the first half of the episode is Nero chasing Barbara around the palace so he can rape her. There's no sense sugar-coating it - that's what's happening. And it's played for comedy. Sandifer makes some good points in his post about it - but he doesn't take Nero "sleazily hitting on" Barbara far enough. Yes, I understand what's going on here - the point of Nero chasing Barbara around is to give the audience a scene straight out of Looney Tunes, where Elmer Fudd chases Bugs Bunny through a bunch of doors, Bugs improbably entering and exiting ones at such a pace that Elmer Fudd eventually runs into a wall or passes out from confusion or something, that sort of thing. This is done in the Tenth Doctor episode "Love and Monsters," as well - some monster is chasing the Doctor and Rose through a bunch of doors in a warehouse as Elton looks on incredulously. The thing is, it actually works there - because the Doctor and Rose are not being chased by a lech trying to get in their pants. I can't get behind a "joke" or a "funny scene" where the heart of it, the entire reason the scene is able to exist, is a woman running from a rapist.

I get it - Spooner is going for Looney Tunes, not playing up Nero's desire for Barbara. All of it is supposed to characterize Nero for the audience as a foul, disgusting pig, too - we're supposed to hate him. It's just too much for me. I mean, I wouldn't accuse Spooner of being a disgusting misogynist. It's just one of those things that absolutely ruins the episode for me.

It's not that there's nothing to like about it - the scene where the Doctor makes a fool out of Nero to get out of paying the lyre. Like Sandifer mentions, the idea of a professional poisoner is pretty cute. The vaudevillian scene in the sauna where Nero has to point the sword the Doctor's holding in a different direction every few seconds is charming (if archaic even for 1965's standards). And I do mostly like the serial overall - this episode stings because of the awful runaround with Barbara and Nero, but I can't fault it for being poorly plotted or boring (a pair of descriptors that I would apply to other Hartnell serials, perhaps even one that's coming up very soon).

That Nero gives Barbara a gold bracelet that becomes part of the plot of the next serial bothers me a bit, simply because Nero's foul nature taints the next serial, in a way. I know, it's not like Nero's in the next serial, but I wish Barbara had just picked the blasted thing up rather than it be a gift from Nero.

Perhaps it's the political climate we're in, now, that makes this episode sting worse. Who knows.

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

"All Roads Lead to Rome" - Season 2, Episode 55

Written by Dennis Spooner | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/23/65

The Doctor, it turns out, can fight pretty well - far from the awkward sword swings we've seen in the past, here, the Doctor overpowers his would-be assassin with ease, and laughs and taunts him throughout, which is a bit surprising. After all, the whole point of William Russell's casting is for him to do the strenuous physical things such as fighting and whatnot. It's not something we see often in Hartnell's tenure - really, it's not something we see regularly until Pertwee - but the Doctor can defend himself well (no mention of Venusian aikido yet, though - here, he claims he trained the "Mountain Mauler of Montana," which was apparently an ad-lib by Hartnell and is not a real person, so far as I can Google).

Remember, though - this is a comedy serial, so even after displaying his martial prowess, the Doctor still cannot remember his assumed identity's name, needing to be reminded by Vicki more than once in this episode what it is. We also get a well-written scene where the Doctor shoos Vicki away from a slave auction that is starting up, just before Barbara is put on stage, meaning they all miss each other (for the first time of many in this serial). This works on several levels - the Doctor shoos Vicki away because he doesn't want her to see the ugliness of a slave auction, so the Doctor is being sweet in preventing her from seeing such a disturbing sight, but it's also farce, because they all miss each other (just as Hartnell goes off screen, Barbara is hauled on stage in the background). There are problematic parts of this serial - those mostly start in the next episode - but so far, this is an enjoyable romp through antiquity.

The Doctor and Vicki are barely taking their situation seriously - they are clearly enjoying themselves, sending Nero up to his face (not that the doofus realizes it). Unlike Dennis Spooner's last serial about France, I know about the famous person in this episode - and Nero is not someone you take lightly, since he's probably the nuttiest of Rome's emperors (probably one of the most dangerous, as a result). Still, it's hard to be too scared of him as a viewer - the first thing he does when he comes on screen is belch (and the Doctor quietly mocking him for it to Vicki is adorable).

Ian and Barbara, however, are having a hell of a time - Ian's apparently going to fight lions in the coliseum in the next episode, and Barbara is a slave in Nero's palace. The problematic bits of this serial rear their head in this episode, slightly - during the slave auction, one of the potential buyers strokes Barbara's leg, and she kicks him, prompting gross laughter from the men gathered. Tavius isn't too forward, but it's fairly clear he bought Barbara for her looks - Barbara is uncomfortable when he puts his hand on her shoulder, as if she expects him to go farther.

I'll talk about it more in Monday's post, but the fourth episode of The Keys of Marinus ("The Snows of Terror") is about as far as I can stomach implied rape in this show. Just when the fur trapper in that episode is about to cross a line and make things uncomfortable, the episode moves on and it's not too bad. If it were limited to what happened in this episode, this serial wouldn't bother me in this regard either - but Nero takes things too far for a children's show in the next two episodes. No, it's not explicit or anything, but "Barbara is on the verge of getting raped" for two episodes is not a plot point I'm a fan of, even if Nero would act the way he does in this serial in real life.

At least everything besides that particular plot point is enjoyable. You can't have everything, I guess.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Monday: "Conspiracy"

"The Slave Traders" - Season 2, Episode 54

Written by Dennis Spooner | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/16/65

Dennis Spooner figures out how he best writes for Doctor Who here. His last historical, the season one finale "The Reign of Terror," didn't quite work - first of all, it was stretched out to six episodes and didn't have nearly enough plot to show for it, and it also failed to be at least funny in any way. This - the serial fans call "The Romans" - is funny. It's obvious from the start - the cliffhanger of the TARDIS falling segues into seeing Ian, presumably passed out, making the viewer wonder if he's hurt. Turns out he was just napping - everything is fine, and the Doctor is watering some plants nearby. The episode does this sort of thing several times - most notably when the Vicki points out the Doctor can't remember the name of the man he's been mistaken for, when the soldier, just offscreen, says - just at that moment, implausibly - "Are you ready, Maximus Pettulian?"

Even the scene where Ian and Barbara get captured by the titular slave traders is comedic - it looks as though they're going to be able to overpower their captors, but then Barbara, aiming for one of the slave traders but missing, knocks Ian out by breaking a flower vase over his head.

All of the above after the Doctor, talking to Ian at the beginning of the episode, has an exchange that reminds me, of all things, of how the Eleventh Doctor spoke. Ian asks him where Barbara and Vicki are, and the Doctor starts talking about Roman aqueducts and pipes, then without prompt and seemingly without context, says they've gone to the market. Ian has no idea what he's talking about and the Doctor explains he's just given him a perfectly straightforward answer as to where Barbara and Vicki are. Besides being funny - again, this is a comedic episode - that is exactly the tone of much of the Eleventh Doctor's era.

The other thing that leaps out at me, and did the first time I watched it, is how comfortable Ian and Barbara are with each other. Barbara does his hair up to look more Roman, they flirt a bit and drink wine together, even falling asleep near each other. I don't remember if it was in Sandifer's blog or in About Time, but one of those two put forth that Ian and Barbara look "post-coital," and I don't think anyone could disagree. If they weren't an item before this episode, they are now, to hell with whatever William Russell's thoughts on romance between the two (Jacqueline Hill, in one of the few interviews she did about Doctor Who, did say she thought Ian and Barbara were together. I agree with her. And given this episode, I don't see how anyone couldn't).

I'm settling into a pattern in this season - I knew before watching it in order that it had the biggest stretch of my favorite First Doctor stories, but I'm impressed at how enjoyable the entire season has been so far. This is excellent stuff. Hartnell has settled into his somewhat absent-minded, goofy old man mode, which is the First Doctor at his best. He's charming and funny, and not an angry old coward like he was sometimes in the first season. Fans often debate the exact moment when Hartnell becomes "The Doctor" as we've come to know the character - some argue it's during Marco Polo (I don't), some during The Sensorites when he decides to stay and help rather than leave the first chance he gets... For my money, it's the beginning of season two. Watching the show in order has made his characterization stand out - he's much, much different, here, and was so during Planet of Giants. It's not an exact moment, but he feels much more like the character we get for the next fifty years in this season.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "All Roads Lead to Rome"

"Desperate Measures" - Season 2, Episode 53

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/09/65

The shot where Ian and the Doctor stand on the edge of the "cliff," six feet above Sandy the herbivore, doesn't work. I have a lot of patience for dodgy special effects or costumes for the most part, but I can't stand shots like that - it's clearly ill-advised, showing the Doctor and Ian aren't actually in any particular danger, especially after last episode where they acted as though they were above a chasm that was hundreds of feet deep. Barry should have shot it so it didn't show the lack of a drop, and maybe added a line or two about how deep it was again, but instead we get a cliff that's about as dangerous as falling into an empty shallow pool.

Still, that's really my only complaint about the episode (I find Ian's line calling Koquillion "Kocky-licky" - which is how that's spelled according to the subtitles, I checked - merely baffling, if a little funny, not bad). Barbara makes a rare bad judgment call and shoots poor Vicki's pet Sandy, which scared Barbara but was completely harmless. Vicki gets a pretty good scene of righteous anger at Barbara, who, to her credit, takes the anger well.

William Hartnell gets to absolutely turn on the charm in this episode, though. He shoos Ian and Barbara outside to talk to Vicki, and they have an adorable little heart to heart. He explains to Vicki why Barbara did what she did, and that she only did it because she feared for Vicki's safety. He might have even done the same! Vicki responds "No, you haven't got the sort of face that kills things," which is probably the most complimentary thing you could say to the Doctor. He clearly warms up to her and tells her he's going to go talk to Bennett.

When he does, he discovers a cassette deck (still in use in the 25th century, it seems), which contains recordings of Bennett saying "you can't come in," and the like, and also an intercom system he uses to listen to whatever Vicki is doing. Before leaving through the trap door he finds, he hears Vicki talking to Ian and Barbara over the intercom system, hearing Vicki apologize to Barbara (the Doctor's words clearly having had an effect on her) and Ian and Barbara explaining that they're time travelers. After accusing Ian and Barbara of pulling her leg, she wonders why the Doctor wears such silly clothes if he is a time traveler. And the Doctor isn't offended in any way! He just chuckles to himself as he continues to figure out what's going on with Bennett.

Turns out, Bennett killed everyone else on the spaceship since he had been arrested for killing someone in the crew. Apparently, Vicki didn't know about it, so he didn't kill her, and decided to dress up as Koquillion and use her as a witness, so the people on Earth wouldn't know he murdered anyone. He also apparently wiped out the entire population of Dido (according to the Doctor, about 100 people, so Bennett really is a piece of work) to cover his tracks. The Doctor lucks out when two Dido people emerge from the shadows in the room he confronts Bennett in - the two Dido people force Bennett to run out a door, but falling to his death when he does so (I assume that door doesn't lead to the "cliff" Ian and the Doctor started the episode on, instead one that's, you know, actually dangerous). Bennett missed a few Dido people, apparently.

The Doctor is left by the Dido people in front of his ship, and is found offscreen by Ian, Barbara, and Vicki. The Doctor decides to tell Vicki about what happened, and offers to take her with him in what is the first TARDIS "seduction," if you will (not sexually, just the Doctor trying to seduce someone into traveling with him). She doesn't say "it's bigger on the inside," but definitely notices the difference of dimensions right away and is impressed. The Doctor promises her plenty of adventure, and she accepts, much to Ian and Barbara's delight. The episode ends with the TARDIS materializing on some cliff somewhere and falling off, causing its inhabitants to be thrown about the console room.

I've heard this episode gets some flack for being "an obvious mystery," referring to the Koquillion part of the plot. Rewatching it, I specifically looked for clues that Bennett was Koquillion, and you don't get any until a few minutes into the second episode, and it's not like it's obvious. If anything, the clue at the beginning of the episode points more to Bennett being in league with Koquillion, not actually him. Noticing that we never see Koquillion and Bennett on screen together and concluding that Bennett must be Koquillion is a bit of a leap. It's also barely the focus of the episode, which is more about Vicki joining the TARDIS than anything.

So far, in my book, David Whitaker is two for two for stories where he's the credited writer. I wonder how long he can keep up his streak...

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Slave Traders"

"The Powerful Enemy" - Season 2, Episode 52

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/02/65

Doctor Who opens 1965 with a story written by the former script editor, author of Edge of Destruction last season (a story that is flawed, but one which I do love). When I said before that I was sure that he wrote the last few scenes in the last episode, this episode makes me feel more strongly that I was right. The man writes some great stuff! The Doctor in particular gets some great scenes. He's weirdly in a good mood (if a little sleepy to start), considering Susan left. He forgot about it for a second there, as he started to ask for her help before realizing she was gone and going quiet. Barbara sweetly asks him to show her how to open the doors, recognizing that the Doctor likes to give orders and teach people. They don't dwell on Susan; the Doctor has that one scene and Barbara and Ian wonder a bit at what Susan is up to, and then they move on, Susan going unmentioned again until 1983, if I remember correctly. During that conversation, Ian begins to lightly mock the Doctor, saying "he's not getting any younger, is he?" (He will, Ian, he will). The Doctor pops back out of the TARDIS to tell him that he can still hear him, and Ian clams up and he and Barbara go exploring. I like that the Doctor doesn't go off on Ian - last season, he'd have ranted at him, calling him ungrateful and disrespectful and such - but he's clearly comfortable enough with Ian and Barbara that he can let little things slide, now.

My favorite scene of the episode is when the Doctor is alone in the ship, figuring out that he's been to the planet they've landed on before - Dido. He wonders aloud if he should tell Ian that he meant to land there, then remembers he was a sleep when the TARDIS landed and realizes Ian wouldn't believe him, so he decides not to. It's a charming little scene that doesn't add anything to the plot, but really fills in the character of the Doctor - he's not a bad man, but he isn't above a little petty lie to try to impress Ian (who, like I mentioned above, had just gotten done making fun of him).

When they're trying to get out of the cave later, the Doctor and Ian hear a roar from the chasm below. The Doctor asks, "Did you hear that?" and Ian points the flashlight at the Doctor, prompting the Doctor to angrily slap the flashlight down and and testily tell Ian "Don't shine that on me, shine it down there!" It's a funny little scene that Hartnell does not get enough of during his tenure, but something he excels at (I wish I could see Hartnell doing comedy somewhere, I bet he'd be good at it. A pity he was cast as tough army guys all the time).

Most importantly, we meet Vicki for the first time in this episode, the first person to join the show as a companion full time since the first episode. We don't know that yet - there is nothing in this episode that suggests Vicki will be leaving with the Doctor and his friends. We meet Bennett, the other survivor of the crashed ship Vicki arrived on, and Koquillion, a supposed native of the planet who is terrorizing Vicki and Bennett, and who supposedly killed the rest of the crew of their ship.

Vicki is probably my favorite Hartnell companion next to Barbara. She gets some great scenes in the show, stuff that you don't see coming when you watch this episode - she mostly seems like a generic Doctor Who guest actor. I find it interesting how the show plays with this - I don't know if there were any announcements at the time as to who would be playing the new companion (there were apparently promotional shots taken of the cast, but I don't know when they were taken or when they went out, so I have no idea if the British public knew she was the new companion when this aired or not). However, watching the show in order like I am (and in 2017, with an enormous amount of hindsight), it strikes me how someone who didn't keep up with casting announcements wouldn't think anything of this character yet.

But anyway - this is a good episode. I've said it before, but second season Hartnell is almost always great - the one serial that was a clunker for me is still interesting in it's failure, so this will be a fun season to write about (and hopefully to read).

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Desperate Measures"

"Flashpoint" - Season 2, Episode 51

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/26/64

This, to me, is Doctor Who's first "event" episode. Not that anyone watching this the first time knew that going in (unless they read somewhere that Carole Ann Ford was leaving the show - I have no idea how widely reported that sort of thing was at the time). A lot is going on here - Susan is left on Earth because the Doctor realizes she's a woman now and he can't provide everything she needs. David Whitaker, the script editor for the show, is handing over his position to Dennis Spooner until the last serial of this season. This is important because it's my firm belief that he wrote some of the best scenes of this series so far, including the final scene of this episode.

It all starts with a close up of Ian's crotch with his legs splayed open. It's not the intent of the scene, I'm sure, but the camera lingers right with his crotch centered in the shot as we wait for a trap door to open below. Seriously, a foot or two lower and it wouldn't be so prominent. It's fine, though, he's wearing pants, so it's not like we see anything... sexy. It has to be weird for William Russell to see that scene (whenever he watched it last, anyway) - I'm sure he was quite annoyed with the cameraman for that one.

The Daleks reveal their inspiration when one of them, after being told all the humans must be killed, shouts out "the final solution!" The Daleks being space Nazis gets more explicit as the series goes on. Adorably, when she and Barbara get captured, Jenny has to pull a Dalek by the plunger to direct it where to go, since the operator inside clearly can't see where he's supposed to be going (or missed his cue, or both). Also, the last Dalek to leave the room should see the Doctor hiding just outside the door - his eyestalk is pointed right at him! Hartnell pretends not to notice and plays the scene brilliantly anyway. But we'll get to him in a bit.

Barbara's idea about turning the Robomen against the Daleks works! She and the Doctor yell into the control unit for the Robomen to rebel against the Daleks. Hartnell's Dalek impression is pretty good - Barbara's is terrible though, it's actually pretty funny how bad it is (can't win them all, Jacqueline Hill, though you're batting like .750 in my book). Ian's wood jams the bomb tube, which causes the whole place to explode (I mean actual lumber, here - he propped some up in the bomb loading tube, causing it to jam, blowing the base sky high).

Then we get to the final set of scenes, and they are remarkably well acted by everybody, Hartnell especially. Susan's shoe has a hole in it, and the Doctor says he'll fix it, and that he must check the ship. But he falters as he enters - he's clearly struggling with something, upset by his interaction with Susan. He's steeling himself that this may be the last time he sees her. Susan doesn't know it, but the Doctor knows her feelings for David, and he decides to leave her on Earth. Susan wouldn't have left her grandfather by her own choice, so the Doctor decides for her (wrongly, it could be argued. Still, at least this is set up by the preceding episodes - I choose to believe the Doctor saw Susan and David making out in "The Waking Ally."). "One day, I shall come back," he says to her, via the TARDIS... loudspeaker, or something. She can hear him outside the TARDIS, anyway, somehow. "Yes, I shall come back," he promises, and to date, 53 years and 36 seasons later, he hasn't (yes, he sees her in the Five Doctors, but whatever, that episode is barely coherent). Susan's reaction is pretty grim - she's clearly not very happy about the decision, despite her love for David. Funeral organs play as she walks off screen for the last time, having dropped her TARDIS key, now useless, since the Doctor has dematerialized.

It's all very well done, and I'm glad Susan, the Doctor's only family we've seen to date, got an earned exit. It is a little abrupt, but given what happens to - let me just check the list, here - Vicki, Steven, Dodo, Polly, Ben, Victoria, Liz, Harry, Leela, both Romanas, Nyssa, Peri, Mel, and arguably Ace (since she didn't get an on screen ending), it's pretty dang good (we'll get to them in time, of course, but my point is, all of them had endings that were either hostile to the characters themselves and/or not set up or earned in any way).

And I credit all of that to David Whitaker. I'm finding that I've underrated Terry Nation as a writer, especially in the First Doctor era, but he is not good enough to write the ending we get here. David Whitaker isn't done on Doctor Who - he writes the next serial, in fact - but his time as the guiding voice of the show ends with this episode, and he goes out with a banger. The last scenes are written with a care the show doesn't usually get, so I'd imagine Whitaker had something like it in mind for a while in the lead up to this episode. His best Doctor Who work is in the future, too - he's the writer of my favorite classic series serial, for one (I'll tell you which one that is when we get there). But, hats off to script editor David Whitaker - I haven't talked about you much thus far, but I suspect most of the better scenes we've seen have had you involved in more than just a spellchecker capacity.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Powerful Enemy"

"The Waking Ally" - Season 2, Episode 50

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/19/64

Alright, this is definitely one of the best Hartnell serials, especially viewed in context with the rest of them. Having seen this serial in order with the rest, and not in isolation as my first taste of a First Doctor story, I can really appreciate what it brings to the table.

First of all, it is daft. Throughout the first season, there was some sort of attempt to make the show educational in some way - not always, and it wasn't the entire point of the show, but it was there. The educational remit rears its head occasionally after this, but I don't even see the point after airing this episode. Aliens invading earth is far-fetched enough - but the reason the Daleks are doing it is to hollow out the Earth and pilot it around the universe. This is the weirdest plot ever - the Daleks already have spaceships! Why make a giant Earth-shaped one? Is it just sheer hubris? The Doctor seems to think so, but how he figured out the Daleks are doing anything of the sort is beyond me (perhaps it's explained in the next episode - kidding, it won't be). Maybe the Doctor is already aware that given the right circumstances, a TARDIS can tow a planet - or twenty-two - through space, like his tenth incarnation will do eventually. Or, Terry Nation is a charmingly lazy writer who doesn't give a flip about scientific accuracy.

There's a lot to talk about in this episode, actually. The Doctor points out how against violence he is again - when David goes to kill one of the Robomen they just overpowered, the Doctor stops him and says "I never take life unless my own is immediately threatened." This... isn't always the case, but the Doctor's morality has evolved since An Unearthly Child (it could be argued that he was going to kill the caveman to save himself, there, but his life was not "immediately threatened," so I don't count it).

Nation continues to sell how bad it is for humans on Earth by having Barbara and Jenny sold out to the Daleks by two women they happen across while looking for shelter for the night. The women take the food from their backpack, sit them down, and one of them goes to get the Daleks. The older woman justifies this by saying they'd have eventually been caught by the Daleks anyway, and turning them in meant the Daleks gave the two women food (in case you're wondering why the Daleks don't take these two women, apparently they make clothes for the men at the mine, and the Daleks find it easier to just give them food then make them Robowomen, I guess).

The men and women working at the mine are hurt, tired, and weak, too, as we see when Ian and Larry watch from a hiding place. They stumble in, many holding each other as they do so, dirty, skinny, and dressed in rags. The Daleks are an awful invader. We get a tragic scene as Larry recognizes his brother Phil who had been turned into a Roboman - and when he tries to snap him out of it, Phil shoots him. As Larry falls on and dies on Phil, the Robomen helmet falls off Phil's head and he recognizes his brother, saying his name, before he, too, dies. It's a quick scene, and it's very well done and sad.

Elsewhere, though, Susan's having a grand old time. David brings a fish in from offscreen and tries to startle Susan with it - she tackles him and they wrestle for a bit, clearly flirting. The actually kiss for a second, too - before the Doctor returns from wherever he was and they break apart, embarrassed. It's unclear if the Doctor saw them kissing, yet.

Barbara is awesome in this serial. She tells the Daleks she has the plans that will be used in a rebellion against the Daleks, and hands them Dortmun's acid bomb plans in the hopes that they'll take her to the Supreme Dalek.

To cap off the episode, we learn about "Project Degravitate," the plan to drive the Earth around like a spaceship I outlined above. Ian, listening in what looks like some weird piece of semi-hollow Dalek furniture, is surprised to learn that he's actually in the capsule that will explode to open the final shaft to the Earth's core. And he got locked inside it! Whoops. It's a bit cheesy and contrived for this to happen, but it's enjoyable enough. Ridiculous as this serial is, I can see why it got made into a movie...

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

"The End of Tomorrow" - Season 2, Episode 49

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/12/64

I'm not sure I follow why Susan and David leave the Doctor, then go to meet up with him later. Perhaps the Doctor got up and walked somewhere? In this episode, it just seems like Susan and David go in a giant circle for no reason (it's been a while since I've seen this serial - I don't remember this particular plot point).

Anyway, that acid dissolving the bomb lid looked nice, didn't it? Sure seemed like a dumb idea on David's part, though. Glad it worked out... I don't actually know how they pulled that one off. Sure beats the stock footage of people mining for about a minute, though it's not that intrusive (I think it was included because this episode clocks in at just over 23 minutes - without the mining, it'd be like 22 including the credits. That won't do, will it?).

Barbara driving a fire truck through four Daleks, and enjoying it, is a high point for her character. God, I love Barbara so much. She is not your average history teacher, that's for sure. The scene is filmed pretty well, too - I'm not sure why Hadoke gives Martin so much flak in Running Through Corridors for this serial (though I have yet to read this episode's entry). I think Martin has done a bang-up job, here. Then again, I've never worked in any sort of drama production, so what do I know.

Alligators in sewers are an odd choice. I suppose it's playing off the old playground tale that they live in there. A shame that the only "alligator" in this episode is clearly a tiny lizard, played to look like an alligator (and the lizard they picked opens its mouth at one point on screen, showing that it has no teeth). You can't blame Martin for that - maybe they'd have been better off not using a shot where it opens it's mouth, but then I wonder if Martin even shot that scene, or if it was stock footage or something.

They're subtly setting up Susan's departure, still - David suggests she stay and help rebuild Earth once the Daleks are overthrown, and she seems to indicate she wants to. It's a little to subtle for it's own good, but it can't be said her leaving comes out of nowhere (though how the Doctor goes about it is a bit out of nowhere, if I recall correctly).

Meanwhile at the mine, Ian and friend (can't remember his name) are menaced by a Slyther, which is apparently the "black Dalek's" pet. It's just a guy in a rubber tree suit, and a poor one at that. It sounds pretty creepy, though, I'll give them that. Odd that a Dalek has a pet - we know them later on to be completely unsympathetic to any creature that isn't a Dalek. Perhaps it's some proto-Cult of Skaro Dalek or something (doubtful, but funny to think about).

I'm looking forward to our group meeting up again. A full episode of traveling is about as much as I can take - not that this episode was terrible or anything, but just that if the next episode is similar, I'll probably end up panning it (I really wish I remembered this serial better. Must not have been paying attention very well my first time through).

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Waking Ally"

"Day of Reckoning" - Season 2, Episode 48

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/05/64

I will never tire of humans tipping over Daleks like cows. It never gets old!

I'm really enjoying this serial so far. Terry Nation does an admirable job of setting up how dire Earth's situation is on a minuscule budget. The location filming helps - it's kind of crazy, seeing a Dalek patrol the streets near Westminster. Those scenes are a bit excessive, but I suppose the tradition is set here for Doctor Who doing gratuitous shots of the city they're filming in. City of Death does this too, that serial being set in Paris. The music is a little more interesting, there - here in Dalek Invasion of Earth, we get a pretty repetitive drumbeat over almost two minutes of footage of Barbara pushing a man in a wheelchair around the city, running from the Daleks. Still, I enjoyed it - and at least here, there's a little more urgency as to why we're seeing what we are - in City of Death, it's just the Doctor and Romana crossing the street a lot.

I'm sad Craddock got robotized and eventually electrocuted. I liked the poor bugger, dumb as he was. Rewatching this, I note with interest the hints being dropped throughout the serial that something is going on with Susan. The Doctor asks her if she's disrespecting his authority at one point, then when David returns from scouting, he asks for the Doctor's advice, all nice and politely. The Doctor, charmed, suggests Susan's idea, which Susan appreciates. There's also a scene where Susan and David linger a bit, faces an inch apart - it's fleeting, but knowing like I do that Susan eventually marries this dude, I almost expected them to kiss*.

Sadly for Susan, she gets a meta line: "I've never really had any identity," she tells David. True, you haven't, besides screaming a lot and hiding your face when trouble comes your way. It's a shame for Carole Ann Ford, because I think she's a good actress - but Susan is not a good character. Actually, there's another meta line in this episode - when Barbara tells Jenny that the Doctor can't possibly be dead, she replies, "He doesn't wear some sort of invisible shield, does he?" Yes, he does, Jenny, it's called a plot shield. The Doctor surely can't die in his own television show! ...said Doctor Who fans, prior to October 29th, 1966.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The End of Tomorrow"

*In several Big Finish audios, the Eighth Doctor goes back and visits his granddaughter (and at one point, she and her son Alex visit the TARDIS for Christmas). These are very strange audios, as McGann, while happy to see her, doesn't play his Doctor as that bothered that he's regenerated seven times since he last saw her (well, okay, he saw her on Gallifrey in the Five Doctors, but that's even weirder, because half the Doctor's incarnations barely acknowledge Susan, and even the Fifth Doctor basically says "sup" to her before pissing off to save the day. But that's another post). Alex, meanwhile, is an unfortunate character. He's underwritten in the few audios he's in, and he quickly becomes a heroic sacrifice, and it's hard for there to be any gravity to it since he's not a character we're all familiar with very much. It'd be nice to see a Susan episode written well someday. Fingers crossed for the Christmas 2017 special...

"The Daleks" - Season 2, Episode 47

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 11/28/64

*A note regarding the title of this episode: when I refer to "The Daleks" in the future, I'll be referring to the serial from the first season with the commonly accepted overall title of "The Daleks," not this episode. This will not the first of these types of disclaimers.*

Almost one year since the debut of the show, Doctor Who has embarked on the height of it's popularity in the 1960s. The cliffhanger for the last episode was the Dalek rising out of the Thames - and it may never be explained what the Dalek was doing in there, but I have to hand it to Terry Nation - that's a hell of a cliffhanger, especially considering how popular the Daleks were at the time.

I give Nation credit - he does very well in these first two episodes. He writes the Doctor well. When he first encounters the Daleks in this episode, the Doctor is not afraid - he openly taunts them. "We are the masters of Earth," the Dalek says to him. "Not for long," the Doctor replies, which... Hartnell doesn't get many scenes where you want to fist bump, but I have to imagine a kid in the 1960s would be absolutely thrilled. The Dalek, meanwhile, seems shaken, repeating that they're the masters of Earth to himself as though he has to convince himself that's so.

The Daleks don't recognize the Doctor, yet, crucially. They're not yet archenemies, though this story is likely where that changes. The Doctor mentions to Ian when they saw them last, the Daleks were a million years in the future, so it stands to reason these Daleks don't know them. The Daleks have yet to invent time travel, it seems. Of course, trying to lay out the timeline of the Daleks meeting the Doctor is an impossible nightmare, given later stories, so I won't be going out of my way to try to figure that out.

Nation really plays up the sadistic evil of the Daleks in this episode. The Dalek invasion plan isn't to come in guns blazing, possibly suffering losses - it's to bombard the Earth with meteorites and plague, then swoop in and take over while the people on the planet are weakened. It's mentioned that several nations (one of the Dalek even mentions specific races) were completely wiped out. Asia, Africa, and South America are all mentioned as having been destroyed, which troubles me, since, you know... those are all predominantly non-white. I don't know much about Terry Nation, but I wish he'd have thrown North America in there instead of South, wouldn't make me wonder at possible racism...

The scene where the Doctor and Ian break out of the Dalek jail cell while Craddock mocks them for trying is great. It seems contrived, but we find out the Daleks put the key inside the cell with them to test the Doctor anyway. But before he solves the puzzle, Craddock makes disparaging comments, seemingly having given up. The Doctor, impatient with him, tells him to stop being a pessimist and to get out of his way. Once the puzzle is solved, Craddock immediately changes his tune, and leaps up to assist the two. The Doctor shoves a magnet in his hands with a dismissive "hold that and shut up, will you?" Hartnell doesn't get many lines like this, but he absolutely shines when he does.

I like the touch that Barbara came up with the Robomen disguise plan to attack the saucer. I also love that we get to watch this 1960s schoolteacher bung bombs at a flying saucer.

Nation does well for himself, here, like I said. For all that Raymond Cusick is responsible for how awesome the Dalek design is, I'm coming around to Nation's skills as a writer. He has some obvious flaws - and he'll get lazy in the early 70s - but the man had a talent for coming up with some good sci-fi ideas.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Day of Reckoning"

"World's End" - Season 2, Episode 46

Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 11/21/64

The return of Terry Nation for the second season also brings us the first recurring villain in the series. They return here in style - the episode takes its time explaining the nature of the world the TARDIS crew have landed in. They figure out fairly quickly that they're on Earth, particularly London, but something is wrong. We, the viewer, have seen a man with a strange head adornment willingly walk into a river and a sign that reads "It is Forbidden to Dump Bodies in the River," creepy as that is. Ian points out that if one wanted to dump a body, the location the TARDIS landed in, under a bridge next to the river, would be a good place do it (thought about that much, Ian?).

Speaking of the TARDIS, the writers are still grappling with the idea that the TARDIS crew don't want to explore. Nation has Susan cause a collapse of girders around the TARDIS so they can't get in, trapping them. She also hurts her ankle, and the Doctor is upset with her, telling her she needs a good spanking (not in a sexual way, of course, but still, weird). Susan is being infantilized, possibly because she's leaving at the end of this serial, to show the Doctor has learned she's an adult (though I don't remember this serial well, perhaps I'm wrong about this).

While Barbara takes care of Susan and her hurt ankle, the Doctor and Ian wander off to go look for something to get through the rubble to the TARDIS with. Along the way, they climb some stairs and Ian says to the Doctor "Be careful!" and he tetchily responds with "I'm not a half-wit," written for someone who knows Hartnell's strengths, it seems. While exploring a warehouse, they discover they're in the year 2164 and that Battersea Power Station has lost two of its chimneys. "Must have gone to nuclear power," Ian wonders. They find a body with a knife in it's back in a box nearby. What is going on, here? What has happened to future Earth to cause all this destruction?

The Daleks!

The creatures that debuted last season to such popularity here return with a cliffhanger ending where a Dalek rises out of the Thames. It's an iconic shot - it's as gonzo and daring as any shot ever gets in the classic series, and it's effective (never mind what the Dalek was doing down there, who knows) even today. This is after we've seen a flying saucer go over the London skyline, which is a strange enough shot for this series, considering we haven't been to England (other than wherever Planet of Giants took place) since the first serial, and seeing an alien ship fly past the London skyline is new.

The Doctor is becoming more and more fully formed, here. Ian just wants to leave as soon as possible, but the Doctor is curious. He even asks Ian why he's not curious to find out what's going on. The Doctor no longer wants to just observe, he wants to get involved, find out what is going on, and help. He's not fully cooked yet, but he's a lot closer than he was a year ago.

Susan gets a pretty good line in this episode, and it's played well by Carole Ann Ford. When David, one of the humans who finds Susan and Barbara and brings them to their safehouse, asks Barbara if she can cook, she replies she can. When he asks Susan what she does, she responds with a look of indignation, "I eat," which is about as smartassed as her character ever gets. It's a shame she'll be gone at the end of this serial - while the character is ill-conceived and usually not given anything worthwhile to do by the writers, Carole Ann Ford can act pretty well when given good material.

So far, Terry Nation is doing pretty well for himself. I've got issues with him as a writer (see the Keys of Marinus entries for plenty of examples), but he writes Hartnell stories pretty well. This episode is as engaging as the last several he'd written, and while he won't stick to being consistently good, he's nice to have back.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Daleks"