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"
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