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"
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