"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"