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"
No comments:
Post a Comment