Written by Terry Nation | Durected by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 02/01/64
The episode opens with Antodus cutting his rope and falling to his death, saving Ian's life. Ian pulls the rope up and looks at the frayed end, shaking in fear. We cut to the Dalek city, where the Doctor and Susan are chained to a wall. "This senseless, evil killing," the Doctor rages, as the Daleks prepare to irradiate Skaro. Pretty entertaining opening few scenes after the last episode's faffing about!
The torch that Ian, Barbara, and the remaining Thals are using is going out, and to preserve its power, they turn it off. Ian notices some natural light filtering through the cave and follows it to the exit to the Dalek city. This scene is very well lit - when the light goes out, the cast is almost - but not quite - silhouetted. Praising Doctor Who's lighting is not something I'll be doing much of in the classic era, outside some episodes of the black and white 1960s and early Fourth Doctor eras, mostly, so don't get used to it (the lighting is such a problem later on that it almost singlehandedly ruins some stories, or just about ruins them, anyway).
The Doctor, desperate to escape, tells the Daleks of his space/time ship. He offers to show the Daleks the TARDIS and to even help them build one! Whether he's serious or not, the Daleks don't believe him to be and tell him they will investigate his ship themselves after the Doctor is dead. The Doctor claims they'll need his help, and the Dalek, confident in his race's intelligence, tells him they'll figure it out, and the Doctor remains locked up. "Stop it, please!" the Doctor begs as a last resort. "Nothing can stop the Daleks!" is the reply he gets as the Daleks start their (somewhat comically overlong) 100 second countdown. I am trying to not read anything 'epic' into anything in these episodes, since they weren't created to set up some epic fight between the Doctor and the Daleks, but a scene where the Doctor reveals the nature of his travels to the Daleks, who in turn respond by basically saying "cool, we'll have that too, then," makes it hard not to think this series of episodes is the first shot in a long, terrible war (a time war, perhaps?).
The Daleks had detected Ian and the Thals' intrusion into the city, but aren't sure where they all are. Ian, Barbara, and the other Thals, desperate to get to the Dalek control room but unable to find it, are relieved when the Daleks announce, seemingly to the whole city, for all Daleks to go to the control room on level 10. Thanks, guys! They start sealing corridors, though, in an effort to trap Ian and his friends, and a few minutes are spent not trying to get crushed by doors as everyone tries to squeeze under it to get to the control room. They persevere, though, and as Ian and friends approach the control room, dodging Daleks as they go, I can't help but notice that the Daleks, who we've been told have excellent peripheral vision, do not seem to notice the humans or Thals as they hide in crevices in the wall that barely - and in some cases, don't at all - conceal them. Perhaps the Daleks get tunnel vision when panicked or stressed? That actually sounds believable, actually.
Upon reaching the control room, Barbara throws a rock at a Dalek (so awesome. I love Barbara) to get their attention while the others file in from behind. The Dalek hit by the rock barely misses his shot at Barbara, but a few of the Thals are shot down in the fracas. Weirdly, the group is able to overpower the Daleks with their bare hands (something we only see in this episode, as I'm pretty sure you need at least an electrified baseball bat to do any damage to Daleks in future episodes), by grabbing the eyestalks and plungers and trying to pry them off. The Daleks don't seem to want - or be able - to fire when this happens, because if they were, they'd have been able to easily kill most of their attackers, Ian and Barbara included. The humans and Thals are able to disable the Daleks power supply, ending the countdown and stopping the Daleks in their tracks. One Dalek begs the Doctor: "Stop our power from wasting or it will be the end of the Daleks!" The Doctor tells it he doesn't know how. The Dalek whimpers as the last of his power drains. "It's the end. The final war," Alydon says, as he examines a dead Dalek. Not by a long shot, Alydon. Your fellow Skarosans are going to terrorize the universe for a long time, and give the Doctor no end of trouble.
Later, outside the TARDIS, Alydon realizes he doesn't know who the Doctor actually is, and asks him. The Doctor dodges the question immediately, saying, "To rebuild a whole world, how I envy you." It's hard to imagine any other incarnation of the Doctor uttering that line, hm? Especially his immediate successor, who this first Doctor will eventually refer to as "the clown," who leaves as soon as he's either saved the day or tore down the oppressors of the world he's on. The Doctor goes on to mention how he used to be a pioneer amongst his own people once, but those days are behind him and he and his granddaughter are too far from home, so he must leave. I'm inclined to believe the Doctor is just lying, here, boasting to make himself seem more mysterious and important to the Thals, but part of me wants to think of this as a reference to the Doctor having been the Other, an idea that the New Adventures novels of the 1990s put forward, suggesting that the Doctor, along with Omega and Rassilon (two Time Lords we haven't seen yet - hell, we're more than five years from even hearing the words "Time Lords" on this show), all created Time Lord society and invented time travel together. No, no one working in the 1960s had any inkling of that idea, of course, but the Doctor, for all we know at this point, built the TARDIS and invented time travel anyway. Perhaps that's all what he meant. It fits with the "Other" retcon, anyway, even if it's utter nonsense considering the production of the time. Though I don't know if I'm 100% convinced this is the case, I just love indulging myself this bit of fanwank.
The Doctor then says "I never give advice. Never," and immediately proceeds to advise the Thals to search for truth, which they will find on Skaro, whereas the Doctor will find his truth out in the stars. We get a surprisingly intimate goodbye scene between Barbara and Ganatus, where he kisses her on her hand and she quickly kisses him on the lips before entering the TARDIS. Saucy!
The ship dematerializes, the Thals looking on in wonder at the ship just disappearing before their eyes. Inside, the ship seems to suffer a small explosion, knocking the four travelers off their feet, as the episode cuts to credits.
For all the stick I've given him, Terry Nation really knocks this episode out of the park, and I can see why the producers of the show keep coming back to him based on these. When he's not forced to pad out his episodes (which he's absolutely terrible at - some writers can do okay with it, Nation, not so much), he does a very good job. This serial ensured Doctor Who's popularity in the 1960s, and is probably the reason why we still have this show to this day. Though it drags in parts (mostly episode six and whenever the Thals are on screen, generally), it's easy to see why it was upon these seven episodes that the show built its legacy.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Edge of Destruction"
KAZIN WHO - One episode and one blog of Doctor Who every weekday
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
"The Ordeal" - Season 1, Episode 10
Written by Terry Nation | Durected by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/25/64
I wonder if this episode is called "The Ordeal" because that's what it feels like to the viewer? This is the first full episode that is basically all filler, where nothing much important happens and we're largely left where we were at the beginning of the episode.
I'll try my best to draw blood from this stone, though. The Daleks, rather than launching a neutron bomb right away, find out that they can't do so for 23 days (they don't have one built, apparently), so instead plan to use their nuclear reactors to flood the planet with radiation... tomorrow. For whatever reason, it can't be done today.
For the group travelling through the caves, there is so much filler. A few minutes is spent on Barbara lowering Gannatus down a hole and screwing it up, but he's fine. A few more minutes are spent on Antodus chickening out and wanting to go back, only to be stopped by a cave-in, and while it looks like he got hurt initially, he's fine. More cave "excitement" later...
The Doctor uses his TARDIS key to short circuit a Dalek device in the city. He tells Susan, in case it breaks, "I can always make another one if necessary," which is interesting since Susan said the keys are very complicated things in an earlier episode - or was that just the lock itself? - and also, do they have spare key materials with them, or would the Doctor have to fashion one out of material he finds on Skaro? We're never told, in any case, and it doesn't seem like they break the TARDIS key anyway. They break the relay or whatever it is, but the Daleks capture them afterwards.
While the Doctor and Susan are being told something the audience already knows (the above bit about the Daleks using their nuclear reactors to radiate the planet), the rest of the episode is spent on Ian's group crossing a gap. It is as boring as it sounds, with such electrifying dialogue as "Rope coming," and "tie it around yourself. Tighter!" and "get as big a run as you can before you jump," all more than once. It is the most boring scene in the show thus far. The last Thal to jump, Antodus, doesn't quite make it, and the episode ends with a literal cliffhanger, as Ian tries not to lose his grip on the rockface and slide down with Antodus to their deaths. This, at least, is interesting, but it should have come at the end of a scene that lasted maybe a minute tops, not what feels like half the damn episode.
This is a tough post, and there will be more like it in the future. Had Terry Nation only had to write six episodes, he might have been okay, with minimum filler, but this episode just drags. Watched separately from the episodes on either side of it, it's not too bad, but watching it like I did the first time, with the entirety of "The Daleks" in one go (as this set of seven episodes is known today), it is the dullest thing imaginable. This is by far the worst single episode of the series thus far. Luckily, tomorrow's episode is the end of "The Daleks," (and is quite a good episode, actually) and we'll be switching stories for a brisk two parter on Wednesday, so that will be nice.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Rescue"
I wonder if this episode is called "The Ordeal" because that's what it feels like to the viewer? This is the first full episode that is basically all filler, where nothing much important happens and we're largely left where we were at the beginning of the episode.
I'll try my best to draw blood from this stone, though. The Daleks, rather than launching a neutron bomb right away, find out that they can't do so for 23 days (they don't have one built, apparently), so instead plan to use their nuclear reactors to flood the planet with radiation... tomorrow. For whatever reason, it can't be done today.
For the group travelling through the caves, there is so much filler. A few minutes is spent on Barbara lowering Gannatus down a hole and screwing it up, but he's fine. A few more minutes are spent on Antodus chickening out and wanting to go back, only to be stopped by a cave-in, and while it looks like he got hurt initially, he's fine. More cave "excitement" later...
The Doctor uses his TARDIS key to short circuit a Dalek device in the city. He tells Susan, in case it breaks, "I can always make another one if necessary," which is interesting since Susan said the keys are very complicated things in an earlier episode - or was that just the lock itself? - and also, do they have spare key materials with them, or would the Doctor have to fashion one out of material he finds on Skaro? We're never told, in any case, and it doesn't seem like they break the TARDIS key anyway. They break the relay or whatever it is, but the Daleks capture them afterwards.
While the Doctor and Susan are being told something the audience already knows (the above bit about the Daleks using their nuclear reactors to radiate the planet), the rest of the episode is spent on Ian's group crossing a gap. It is as boring as it sounds, with such electrifying dialogue as "Rope coming," and "tie it around yourself. Tighter!" and "get as big a run as you can before you jump," all more than once. It is the most boring scene in the show thus far. The last Thal to jump, Antodus, doesn't quite make it, and the episode ends with a literal cliffhanger, as Ian tries not to lose his grip on the rockface and slide down with Antodus to their deaths. This, at least, is interesting, but it should have come at the end of a scene that lasted maybe a minute tops, not what feels like half the damn episode.
This is a tough post, and there will be more like it in the future. Had Terry Nation only had to write six episodes, he might have been okay, with minimum filler, but this episode just drags. Watched separately from the episodes on either side of it, it's not too bad, but watching it like I did the first time, with the entirety of "The Daleks" in one go (as this set of seven episodes is known today), it is the dullest thing imaginable. This is by far the worst single episode of the series thus far. Luckily, tomorrow's episode is the end of "The Daleks," (and is quite a good episode, actually) and we'll be switching stories for a brisk two parter on Wednesday, so that will be nice.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Rescue"
Monday, May 15, 2017
"The Expedition" - Season 1, Episode 9
Written by Terry Nation | Durected by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/18/64
I don't think I've praised the sound design as much as I should have for this set of episodes. The Dalek "hum" - I don't know what else to call it - that occurs in the background of every Dalek scene is an inspired choice, as is the super sci-fi sounding doors, and the incidental music is nice and creepy. Anyway, the Daleks can see the Thal camp via scanner all of a sudden, when before they couldn't - perhaps they've moved the camp closer to the city? They watch - but presumably can't hear - as Ian laments not being able to overcome his guilty conscience to use the Thals to get the fluid link back. Barbara, however, insists that he convince them to help the TARDIS crew.
The Doctor feels bad that his little ploy has resulted in the situation they find themselves in (it must be a different fuel link than the one Nardole pulled out in "Oxygen," because if not, then either that episode or this one makes no sense), and appears to apologize to Ian, but he calls him "Chesserman" - a line reading that I thought was a fluff, but appears to have been scripted because Ian laughs and says he'll only be mad if the Doctor keeps calling him the wrong name - "it's Chesterton!" They continue discussing their problem, and the Doctor says "This is no time for morals, they must fight for us." Barbara agrees, and the Doctor tells her he underestimated her, and he clearly is growing fond of Ms. Wright (not in a romantic way, I don't think... I think he sees her as a friend. At least I hope so). "We need action, not arguments!" the Doctor continues. No, this is not quite the hero Doctor we all know, given those last two lines I quoted. The Doctor is not action-averse, but arguing very quickly and cleverly becomes how he fights off the terrors of the universe, rather than fighting (and that only when necessary), so it's weird, still, to see him try to just run constantly.
Ian begins trying to convince the Thals to fight. When they keep refusing, he gets a little pissed - he first threatens to take the Skaro history... um, barrel?... to try to trade it with the Daleks for the fluid link. Alydon moves to stop him, but relents, so Ian realizes he must do something more drastic. He grabs Dyoni and says he'll trade her for the fluid link, and Alydon punches him. Ian: "so there is something you'll fight for."
We cut to the Daleks again, and one of them is tripping balls on the Thal anti-radiation drugs. He spins around in circles and says he's lost control, and gurgles a bit. It's kind of funny, to be honest. The other Daleks realize they've grown conditioned to the radiation and need it to live, as the reports come in that the Daleks they tested the drugs on have all died. Later, when they decide they'll use a neutron bomb to keep their planet safely irradiated for themselves, one says "We do not have to adapt to the environment. We will change the environment to suit us." That's basically it for the Daleks for this episode. Oh, wait - I must mention the cardboard Dalek cutouts strewn about the set in this episode. They're not bad when they face the camera directly, but when some are turned to the side, they are obvious, OBVIOUS fakes. I find them charming, though, I have to say. Cardboard cutouts in a sci-fi show! That's something we'll never see again.
Back at the Thal camp, a plan is being devised by the Doctor, Ian, and Alydon. They decide to cross the dangerous, mutant-filled lake to catch the Daleks by surprise. Some time passes in between scenes, and we see the group set up camp. Ian washes his face in the swamp - what the hell he's thinking, I have no idea. Did he not hear how some Thals got killed by mutants who live in the swamp? Surely risking your life to wash your face is not a risk you should be taking, Ian. Some creature rises up out of the swamp and seems to be ready to attack him, but he gets away. The next morning, after deciding to go through the pipeline in the mountains they just saw, one of the Thals goes to fill up their water bottles and is dragged into a pretty large whirlpool by something living in the swamp, and we cut to credits.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Ordeal"
I don't think I've praised the sound design as much as I should have for this set of episodes. The Dalek "hum" - I don't know what else to call it - that occurs in the background of every Dalek scene is an inspired choice, as is the super sci-fi sounding doors, and the incidental music is nice and creepy. Anyway, the Daleks can see the Thal camp via scanner all of a sudden, when before they couldn't - perhaps they've moved the camp closer to the city? They watch - but presumably can't hear - as Ian laments not being able to overcome his guilty conscience to use the Thals to get the fluid link back. Barbara, however, insists that he convince them to help the TARDIS crew.
The Doctor feels bad that his little ploy has resulted in the situation they find themselves in (it must be a different fuel link than the one Nardole pulled out in "Oxygen," because if not, then either that episode or this one makes no sense), and appears to apologize to Ian, but he calls him "Chesserman" - a line reading that I thought was a fluff, but appears to have been scripted because Ian laughs and says he'll only be mad if the Doctor keeps calling him the wrong name - "it's Chesterton!" They continue discussing their problem, and the Doctor says "This is no time for morals, they must fight for us." Barbara agrees, and the Doctor tells her he underestimated her, and he clearly is growing fond of Ms. Wright (not in a romantic way, I don't think... I think he sees her as a friend. At least I hope so). "We need action, not arguments!" the Doctor continues. No, this is not quite the hero Doctor we all know, given those last two lines I quoted. The Doctor is not action-averse, but arguing very quickly and cleverly becomes how he fights off the terrors of the universe, rather than fighting (and that only when necessary), so it's weird, still, to see him try to just run constantly.
Ian begins trying to convince the Thals to fight. When they keep refusing, he gets a little pissed - he first threatens to take the Skaro history... um, barrel?... to try to trade it with the Daleks for the fluid link. Alydon moves to stop him, but relents, so Ian realizes he must do something more drastic. He grabs Dyoni and says he'll trade her for the fluid link, and Alydon punches him. Ian: "so there is something you'll fight for."
We cut to the Daleks again, and one of them is tripping balls on the Thal anti-radiation drugs. He spins around in circles and says he's lost control, and gurgles a bit. It's kind of funny, to be honest. The other Daleks realize they've grown conditioned to the radiation and need it to live, as the reports come in that the Daleks they tested the drugs on have all died. Later, when they decide they'll use a neutron bomb to keep their planet safely irradiated for themselves, one says "We do not have to adapt to the environment. We will change the environment to suit us." That's basically it for the Daleks for this episode. Oh, wait - I must mention the cardboard Dalek cutouts strewn about the set in this episode. They're not bad when they face the camera directly, but when some are turned to the side, they are obvious, OBVIOUS fakes. I find them charming, though, I have to say. Cardboard cutouts in a sci-fi show! That's something we'll never see again.
Back at the Thal camp, a plan is being devised by the Doctor, Ian, and Alydon. They decide to cross the dangerous, mutant-filled lake to catch the Daleks by surprise. Some time passes in between scenes, and we see the group set up camp. Ian washes his face in the swamp - what the hell he's thinking, I have no idea. Did he not hear how some Thals got killed by mutants who live in the swamp? Surely risking your life to wash your face is not a risk you should be taking, Ian. Some creature rises up out of the swamp and seems to be ready to attack him, but he gets away. The next morning, after deciding to go through the pipeline in the mountains they just saw, one of the Thals goes to fill up their water bottles and is dragged into a pretty large whirlpool by something living in the swamp, and we cut to credits.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Ordeal"
Sunday, May 14, 2017
"The Ambush" - Season 1, Episode 8
Written by Terry Nation | Durected by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/11/64
Ian randomly figures out how to operate the Dalek machine he's in at the beginning of this episode. He whispers - in the Dalek voice, adorably - for everyone to go ahead of him, to act as though the Doctor, Susan, and Barbara are his prisoners. When they encounter the first real Dalek, it doesn't seem too concerned that there are only three of the prisoners, and doesn't bother to check with his superiors until after the group has left (surprising the Dalek didn't insist on calling it in). But I suppose it's because before it can report, Susan leaps in front of both the real and fake Dalek, turns away from the real one, and winks at Ian to play along (Susan is so inconsistently written. She seems fearless in the face of the Daleks, but wouldn't even run when she saw the Thal outside the TARDIS. Of course, maybe she wasn't afraid of him, she just fancied him, like I suggested before, so she opted not to run...).
When they try to board the lift in the next room - after the Doctor breaks the door they just went through - Ian can't get out of the Dalek because the upper half is stuck. The other three go up the lift with the plan to send it back down for Ian as they notice the Daleks are cutting through the door the Doctor broke. I'm not sure what the plan is, when they go up to the top floor of the city. Why not stop a few floors below that? What is at the top? Do they just want to see where they are through a window then find a way out? Do they have time to do that with the Daleks cutting through the door below? I realize they're winging it, but it just seems a bad plan all the way around.
Then again, this is Doctor Who written by Terry Nation. The door is finally cut through and the Daleks immediately shoot Ian's Dalek... only to discover he's not in it. He was able to get out and into the lift just before they got through the door (incidentally, shouldn't the lifts have safety doors on them, what with the Daleks having eyestalks, plunger arms, and a whisk-gun, all at risk of being lopped off if they don't back themselves far enough into the lift? I suppose lift safety is not a priority for Daleks). When the Daleks start heading up the lift, Ian, Barbara, and Susan push what looks to be some abstract art down the shaft to destroy the lift (seriously guys, get safety doors). The Daleks having abstract art lying around is weird, too. Did they make it before they mutated? After? If after, how did they make it? What is it even doing there? Also I hope the TARDIS crew can find another way down to the ground floor so they can escape, hopefully that lift wasn't the only way up or down (since these Daleks most definitely can't use stairs, what with them needing static electricity floors and all. Perhaps there's a ramp/slide they can use if the lift is broken that we sadly don't get to see).
We then see the Thal Temmosus speaking to Alydon before he enters the city, chastising him for being afraid the Daleks are going to attack them: "Fear breeds hatred - and war." Clearly Clara hasn't been under this guy's bed.
The TARDIS crew seem to have found a way to the ground level, and are debating what to do. The Doctor wants to head immediately back to his ship: "We cannot jeopardize our lives getting involved in an affair that is none of our business." The Doctor's continual arguing about not getting involved is jarring, coming at this having seen future episodes first, but that's unfair to the Doctor here. He's not unreasonable for a normal person, but he's just not Hero Doctor yet. Barbara insists that it is their business since the Thals saved them all with their anti-radiation drugs. Ian stays to warn the Thals while everybody else heads back to the TARDIS.
Temmosus offers peace with the Daleks, shouting his intent before they emerge from their alcoves and kill him and a few other Thals (Ian shouts a bit to late that it's a trap). One of the Daleks shoots at Ian and misses, causing the wall it hits to bubble as though melting (pretty neat effect, it has to be said).
We then cut to the Thal camp, where Ian and the rest of the TARDIS crew are. The Doctor is reading up on the history of the planet, which is called Skaro. The Thals have 500,000 years of Skaro history on hand (I wonder if the Doctor came across any entries about Davros or the Time War?). Ian urges the Thals to fight the Daleks, but the Thals don't want to, as they've become pacifists. They can't comprehend why the Daleks would attack them. Ian says it's "a dislike for the unlike." I assume Ian took this from his experiences growing up in WWII England (I think that's where that phrase comes from, anyway. Googling it brought up some... questionable sites, so I didn't investigate that very much, my apologies). The Doctor explains that the Thals have mutated, but their mutation has "come full circle" and they are now back to the way they were. Uh, Doctor, that's not how mutation/evolution work (though, given the episode "Full Circle" years later, perhaps that is how evolution works in the world of Doctor Who). Regardless, he still wants to leave, and insists they do so, when Ian realizes he left the mercury fluid link in the Dalek city, and the episode ends.
That episode sure was written by Terry Nation, ayup. I don't want to make it seem like he's a total hack (yet) though, since again, he wrote these episodes very quickly, and knowing that, they come off pretty well. Like many Doctor Who episodes, if you look too closely, plot holes (or maybe just a lack of plot logic) abound, but oh well. I still largely enjoyed it.
"Doctor Who" puns: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Expedition"
Ian randomly figures out how to operate the Dalek machine he's in at the beginning of this episode. He whispers - in the Dalek voice, adorably - for everyone to go ahead of him, to act as though the Doctor, Susan, and Barbara are his prisoners. When they encounter the first real Dalek, it doesn't seem too concerned that there are only three of the prisoners, and doesn't bother to check with his superiors until after the group has left (surprising the Dalek didn't insist on calling it in). But I suppose it's because before it can report, Susan leaps in front of both the real and fake Dalek, turns away from the real one, and winks at Ian to play along (Susan is so inconsistently written. She seems fearless in the face of the Daleks, but wouldn't even run when she saw the Thal outside the TARDIS. Of course, maybe she wasn't afraid of him, she just fancied him, like I suggested before, so she opted not to run...).
When they try to board the lift in the next room - after the Doctor breaks the door they just went through - Ian can't get out of the Dalek because the upper half is stuck. The other three go up the lift with the plan to send it back down for Ian as they notice the Daleks are cutting through the door the Doctor broke. I'm not sure what the plan is, when they go up to the top floor of the city. Why not stop a few floors below that? What is at the top? Do they just want to see where they are through a window then find a way out? Do they have time to do that with the Daleks cutting through the door below? I realize they're winging it, but it just seems a bad plan all the way around.
Then again, this is Doctor Who written by Terry Nation. The door is finally cut through and the Daleks immediately shoot Ian's Dalek... only to discover he's not in it. He was able to get out and into the lift just before they got through the door (incidentally, shouldn't the lifts have safety doors on them, what with the Daleks having eyestalks, plunger arms, and a whisk-gun, all at risk of being lopped off if they don't back themselves far enough into the lift? I suppose lift safety is not a priority for Daleks). When the Daleks start heading up the lift, Ian, Barbara, and Susan push what looks to be some abstract art down the shaft to destroy the lift (seriously guys, get safety doors). The Daleks having abstract art lying around is weird, too. Did they make it before they mutated? After? If after, how did they make it? What is it even doing there? Also I hope the TARDIS crew can find another way down to the ground floor so they can escape, hopefully that lift wasn't the only way up or down (since these Daleks most definitely can't use stairs, what with them needing static electricity floors and all. Perhaps there's a ramp/slide they can use if the lift is broken that we sadly don't get to see).
We then see the Thal Temmosus speaking to Alydon before he enters the city, chastising him for being afraid the Daleks are going to attack them: "Fear breeds hatred - and war." Clearly Clara hasn't been under this guy's bed.
The TARDIS crew seem to have found a way to the ground level, and are debating what to do. The Doctor wants to head immediately back to his ship: "We cannot jeopardize our lives getting involved in an affair that is none of our business." The Doctor's continual arguing about not getting involved is jarring, coming at this having seen future episodes first, but that's unfair to the Doctor here. He's not unreasonable for a normal person, but he's just not Hero Doctor yet. Barbara insists that it is their business since the Thals saved them all with their anti-radiation drugs. Ian stays to warn the Thals while everybody else heads back to the TARDIS.
Temmosus offers peace with the Daleks, shouting his intent before they emerge from their alcoves and kill him and a few other Thals (Ian shouts a bit to late that it's a trap). One of the Daleks shoots at Ian and misses, causing the wall it hits to bubble as though melting (pretty neat effect, it has to be said).
We then cut to the Thal camp, where Ian and the rest of the TARDIS crew are. The Doctor is reading up on the history of the planet, which is called Skaro. The Thals have 500,000 years of Skaro history on hand (I wonder if the Doctor came across any entries about Davros or the Time War?). Ian urges the Thals to fight the Daleks, but the Thals don't want to, as they've become pacifists. They can't comprehend why the Daleks would attack them. Ian says it's "a dislike for the unlike." I assume Ian took this from his experiences growing up in WWII England (I think that's where that phrase comes from, anyway. Googling it brought up some... questionable sites, so I didn't investigate that very much, my apologies). The Doctor explains that the Thals have mutated, but their mutation has "come full circle" and they are now back to the way they were. Uh, Doctor, that's not how mutation/evolution work (though, given the episode "Full Circle" years later, perhaps that is how evolution works in the world of Doctor Who). Regardless, he still wants to leave, and insists they do so, when Ian realizes he left the mercury fluid link in the Dalek city, and the episode ends.
That episode sure was written by Terry Nation, ayup. I don't want to make it seem like he's a total hack (yet) though, since again, he wrote these episodes very quickly, and knowing that, they come off pretty well. Like many Doctor Who episodes, if you look too closely, plot holes (or maybe just a lack of plot logic) abound, but oh well. I still largely enjoyed it.
"Doctor Who" puns: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Expedition"
Saturday, May 13, 2017
"The Escape" - Season 1, Episode 7
Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 01/04/64
When Susan leaves the ship, she immediately sees a tall, very serious looking man. She drops to her knees and asks him who he is - he tells her he's a Thal, apparently one of the race the Daleks said were mutants. Susan says they're not mutated, they're "perfect." Tall, blonde, white men are apparently perfect according to Terry Nation (and, as has been pointed out elsewhere, having a Jewish actress say that line is... weird, at best, especially considering how much of this story wraps itself in WWII themes). Both the Thals and Daleks were unaware the other race survived until the Doctor and friends showed up, apparently. The Daleks can't leave their city, so that I understand, but wouldn't the Thals have explored the city for food or something? Of course, it's been centuries since the war, apparently, so maybe they've been taught since birth to avoid the city. Where do they get their drugs from, anyway?
When Susan returns with the two sets of drugs Alydon the Thal gave her, the Daleks let her keep the extra set, even though in the last episode they said they'd let their prisoners die. Susan explains the Thal backstory in a lot of expository dialogue that I'm sure annoyed the hell out of Carole Ann Ford (you've got seven episodes to drip feed us these details, Terry, and you shove giant monologues in small scenes). She then says she wants to help the Thals, and I imagine it's because she fancies Alydon. We find out the Thals want a treaty with the Daleks. We're told by the Thals that the Daleks used to be philosophers (a weird origin story, especially considering Genesis of the Daleks later). A female Thal, Dyoni, complains when she hears that Alydon gave the drugs to Susan, "It would have been better to give them to a man," and she storms off. I read this as a sexist comment at first, but I think it's supposed to be jealousy. We then get the following:
Alydon: "We're all working towards the same end."
Ganatus: "Now there's a double meaning for you!"
Holy-! That's pretty ribald for Doctor Who of the classic series! Kudos to Terry Nation for working that one in.
To unite the two races, the plan is for Susan to write a note and sign it with her name, so the Thals know it's genuine and she's not being coerced. They dictate the note to Susan, in an amusing little scene where she writes the note as the Daleks dictate it. It's the first time the Daleks look a little silly, and they're charming as hell. When one Dalek asks what the last word on the page means, he says "Su... san?" and Susan laughs at him. Carole Ann Ford does not get enough chances to portray her character as "unearthly" outside of that first episode, but her laughing at wildly inappropriate times is pretty alien. I wish they developed her more in this direction rather than have her scream most of the time like she ends up doing. Anyway, the Daleks regain their composure with one of them saying "We have the note now," with a second Dalek slapping Susan with it's plunger (now there's a double meaning for you! ...nevermind) as if to say, "yeah, Susan. We're the bosses," which I loved.
The TARDIS team acts together to break the camera in their prison room, but are unable to convince the Daleks that it was an accident. Still, it allows them to come up with a plan of escape. The Doctor makes quite a logical leap and suggests the Daleks operate on static electricity they draw from the floor, and so the plan is to disable one by pushing it onto the plastic cloak Susan brought back from the Thals. This works perfectly - though I have no idea why the Dalek didn't fire off a bunch of shots before they powered him down, as he had ample opportunity to.
Barbara's suspicion from last episode proves correct as Ian and the Doctor remove the Dalek creature from its 'machine' (they aren't calling them 'casings,' yet) using the aforementioned cloak. Ian gets in the Dalek to try to further trick their captors - strangely, when he speaks, he doesn't just shout "Exterminate!" or "Silence!" like Clara does in "The Witch's Familiar." The group leaves the room as the Dalek creature - looking like a small, almost fist sized octopus-type creature begins crawling out of the cloak, and we cut to credits.
"Doctor Who" Puns: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Ambush"
When Susan leaves the ship, she immediately sees a tall, very serious looking man. She drops to her knees and asks him who he is - he tells her he's a Thal, apparently one of the race the Daleks said were mutants. Susan says they're not mutated, they're "perfect." Tall, blonde, white men are apparently perfect according to Terry Nation (and, as has been pointed out elsewhere, having a Jewish actress say that line is... weird, at best, especially considering how much of this story wraps itself in WWII themes). Both the Thals and Daleks were unaware the other race survived until the Doctor and friends showed up, apparently. The Daleks can't leave their city, so that I understand, but wouldn't the Thals have explored the city for food or something? Of course, it's been centuries since the war, apparently, so maybe they've been taught since birth to avoid the city. Where do they get their drugs from, anyway?
When Susan returns with the two sets of drugs Alydon the Thal gave her, the Daleks let her keep the extra set, even though in the last episode they said they'd let their prisoners die. Susan explains the Thal backstory in a lot of expository dialogue that I'm sure annoyed the hell out of Carole Ann Ford (you've got seven episodes to drip feed us these details, Terry, and you shove giant monologues in small scenes). She then says she wants to help the Thals, and I imagine it's because she fancies Alydon. We find out the Thals want a treaty with the Daleks. We're told by the Thals that the Daleks used to be philosophers (a weird origin story, especially considering Genesis of the Daleks later). A female Thal, Dyoni, complains when she hears that Alydon gave the drugs to Susan, "It would have been better to give them to a man," and she storms off. I read this as a sexist comment at first, but I think it's supposed to be jealousy. We then get the following:
Alydon: "We're all working towards the same end."
Ganatus: "Now there's a double meaning for you!"
Holy-! That's pretty ribald for Doctor Who of the classic series! Kudos to Terry Nation for working that one in.
To unite the two races, the plan is for Susan to write a note and sign it with her name, so the Thals know it's genuine and she's not being coerced. They dictate the note to Susan, in an amusing little scene where she writes the note as the Daleks dictate it. It's the first time the Daleks look a little silly, and they're charming as hell. When one Dalek asks what the last word on the page means, he says "Su... san?" and Susan laughs at him. Carole Ann Ford does not get enough chances to portray her character as "unearthly" outside of that first episode, but her laughing at wildly inappropriate times is pretty alien. I wish they developed her more in this direction rather than have her scream most of the time like she ends up doing. Anyway, the Daleks regain their composure with one of them saying "We have the note now," with a second Dalek slapping Susan with it's plunger (now there's a double meaning for you! ...nevermind) as if to say, "yeah, Susan. We're the bosses," which I loved.
The TARDIS team acts together to break the camera in their prison room, but are unable to convince the Daleks that it was an accident. Still, it allows them to come up with a plan of escape. The Doctor makes quite a logical leap and suggests the Daleks operate on static electricity they draw from the floor, and so the plan is to disable one by pushing it onto the plastic cloak Susan brought back from the Thals. This works perfectly - though I have no idea why the Dalek didn't fire off a bunch of shots before they powered him down, as he had ample opportunity to.
Barbara's suspicion from last episode proves correct as Ian and the Doctor remove the Dalek creature from its 'machine' (they aren't calling them 'casings,' yet) using the aforementioned cloak. Ian gets in the Dalek to try to further trick their captors - strangely, when he speaks, he doesn't just shout "Exterminate!" or "Silence!" like Clara does in "The Witch's Familiar." The group leaves the room as the Dalek creature - looking like a small, almost fist sized octopus-type creature begins crawling out of the cloak, and we cut to credits.
"Doctor Who" Puns: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Ambush"
Friday, May 12, 2017
"The Survivors" - Season 1, Episode 6
Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/28/63
Fitting that the last episode of Doctor Who's first year on television introduces the Daleks in full. Sure, no one making the show at the time knew the importance of this episode, but the number of viewers jumped millions for the next episode, so clearly there was buzz surrounding this one. So, we start with the observation by the Doctor that the ink on the printout he's looking at is still wet (good ol' retro-futurism - printers existing in space years and years in the future - ha!). But clearly this means something is still living here (the viewer knows this, considering the cliffhanger from last episode). They find a Geiger counter, and realize they've all got radiation poisoning (quite a threat for the first futuristic episode of a science fiction show, I must say). The Doctor says they have to get back to the ship, but in doing so, admits there's nothing wrong with it and they can leave any time - he just wanted to explore the city. Ian is understandably pissed. But he's holding the fluid link - and refuses to give it back to the Doctor if they don't go look for Barbara, and Susan agrees with him (which the Doctor is not happy about). They leave the room, and we see them.
There are four of them, all facing the door. There's a moment of silence, as if the two groups are sizing each other up, before one of the Daleks (as of yet unnamed onscreen) tells the group, very unemotionally, to follow him. Ian tries to run the other direction, and is shot and his legs are temporarily paralyzed. The three are taken to a cell, where Barbara is already locked up.
As they're discussing what is going on, Barbara wonders if there's anything "inside" the creatures. Susan tries to stifle a laugh, as if Barbara couldn't be farther from the truth. Well, Susan, as we'll see soon, you're wrong! Curious, though, why Barbara thinks that. Perhaps she's not a big sci-fi fan and isn't really aware of robots, or thinks such a thing couldn't possibly exist? I take it by Susan's laugh that she thinks they're robots, so clearly robots must exist in this universe, even if we haven't seen any yet.
The Daleks, for whatever reason, assume the Doctor is the leader of the group, and take him out of the cell for questioning. They make him kneel before them (okay, they tell him to sit, but Hartnell kneels instead, but it just seems so much more epic to think the Daleks forced the Doctor to kneel before them on their first meeting, doesn't it?), where the Daleks and the Doctor start learning about each other. The Daleks think the Doctor is a Thal, an ancient enemy of the Daleks, and the Doctor finds out how the world they're on became irradiated - a nuclear war between the Daleks and the Thals. The Daleks think the Thals must be horribly mutated - but since they consider the Doctor is a Thal, what do they think Thals should actually look like? When the Doctor mentions the TARDIS, one Dalek says "TARDIS? He is becoming delirious. I do not understand his words." This means this is definitely the first time the Doctor and the Daleks have met (which is fitting, since, you know, it is in production order, too).
The Doctor explains this to his fellow adventurers, and unfortunately Hartnell utters his most major line fluff yet, "anti-radiation gloves. Er, drugs." This one seems to be retconned by fans as just occurring because the Doctor is super sick from the radiation (and is gently mocked in Mark Gatiss' "An Adventure in Space and Time" fifty years later).
The drugs that were left outside the TARDIS in the last episode must be the anti-radiation drugs the Daleks mentioned the Thals having, so Susan must go back and get them since she's least affected by the radiation so far. She explains that she or the Doctor must unlock the TARDIS, because there's 21 different holes in the TARDIS lock, and if you get it wrong, the lock will melt. The Doctor is way more worried about security in his first incarnation than later ones, it seems, considering he just has to snap his fingers to open the TARDIS doors in the future (though we've only seen the Doctor open with a snap of the fingers for the Doctor and Clara thus far that I can remember). So, Susan leaves to go get the drugs. We're shown the Daleks plotting to just take the drugs from Susan when she gets back for their own use, saying they'll let the prisoners die.
Susan runs in place while production staff hit her with branches and scroll a background behind her for a bit, she reaches the TARDIS, and the credits roll as she heads out the door to reunite with her friends.
The Daleks are a great bit of design by Ray Cusick, and it's a shame he didn't get more fame and fortune for creating 50% of the bit that's interesting about the Daleks (their design. The other 50% is their voices. Sorry, Terry Nation! I think you'll be fine with how much money you make during your lifetime, and your estate beyond). I can see why people tuned in next week, though - this is a tense episode, not just because of the awful radiation poisoning, but seriously, what the hell are those things?! Even after you're given some backstory about them, they are still weird and unsettling. As much as Daleks become overused throughout both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, when they do work, they work very, very well.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Escape"
Fitting that the last episode of Doctor Who's first year on television introduces the Daleks in full. Sure, no one making the show at the time knew the importance of this episode, but the number of viewers jumped millions for the next episode, so clearly there was buzz surrounding this one. So, we start with the observation by the Doctor that the ink on the printout he's looking at is still wet (good ol' retro-futurism - printers existing in space years and years in the future - ha!). But clearly this means something is still living here (the viewer knows this, considering the cliffhanger from last episode). They find a Geiger counter, and realize they've all got radiation poisoning (quite a threat for the first futuristic episode of a science fiction show, I must say). The Doctor says they have to get back to the ship, but in doing so, admits there's nothing wrong with it and they can leave any time - he just wanted to explore the city. Ian is understandably pissed. But he's holding the fluid link - and refuses to give it back to the Doctor if they don't go look for Barbara, and Susan agrees with him (which the Doctor is not happy about). They leave the room, and we see them.
There are four of them, all facing the door. There's a moment of silence, as if the two groups are sizing each other up, before one of the Daleks (as of yet unnamed onscreen) tells the group, very unemotionally, to follow him. Ian tries to run the other direction, and is shot and his legs are temporarily paralyzed. The three are taken to a cell, where Barbara is already locked up.
As they're discussing what is going on, Barbara wonders if there's anything "inside" the creatures. Susan tries to stifle a laugh, as if Barbara couldn't be farther from the truth. Well, Susan, as we'll see soon, you're wrong! Curious, though, why Barbara thinks that. Perhaps she's not a big sci-fi fan and isn't really aware of robots, or thinks such a thing couldn't possibly exist? I take it by Susan's laugh that she thinks they're robots, so clearly robots must exist in this universe, even if we haven't seen any yet.
The Daleks, for whatever reason, assume the Doctor is the leader of the group, and take him out of the cell for questioning. They make him kneel before them (okay, they tell him to sit, but Hartnell kneels instead, but it just seems so much more epic to think the Daleks forced the Doctor to kneel before them on their first meeting, doesn't it?), where the Daleks and the Doctor start learning about each other. The Daleks think the Doctor is a Thal, an ancient enemy of the Daleks, and the Doctor finds out how the world they're on became irradiated - a nuclear war between the Daleks and the Thals. The Daleks think the Thals must be horribly mutated - but since they consider the Doctor is a Thal, what do they think Thals should actually look like? When the Doctor mentions the TARDIS, one Dalek says "TARDIS? He is becoming delirious. I do not understand his words." This means this is definitely the first time the Doctor and the Daleks have met (which is fitting, since, you know, it is in production order, too).
The Doctor explains this to his fellow adventurers, and unfortunately Hartnell utters his most major line fluff yet, "anti-radiation gloves. Er, drugs." This one seems to be retconned by fans as just occurring because the Doctor is super sick from the radiation (and is gently mocked in Mark Gatiss' "An Adventure in Space and Time" fifty years later).
The drugs that were left outside the TARDIS in the last episode must be the anti-radiation drugs the Daleks mentioned the Thals having, so Susan must go back and get them since she's least affected by the radiation so far. She explains that she or the Doctor must unlock the TARDIS, because there's 21 different holes in the TARDIS lock, and if you get it wrong, the lock will melt. The Doctor is way more worried about security in his first incarnation than later ones, it seems, considering he just has to snap his fingers to open the TARDIS doors in the future (though we've only seen the Doctor open with a snap of the fingers for the Doctor and Clara thus far that I can remember). So, Susan leaves to go get the drugs. We're shown the Daleks plotting to just take the drugs from Susan when she gets back for their own use, saying they'll let the prisoners die.
Susan runs in place while production staff hit her with branches and scroll a background behind her for a bit, she reaches the TARDIS, and the credits roll as she heads out the door to reunite with her friends.
The Daleks are a great bit of design by Ray Cusick, and it's a shame he didn't get more fame and fortune for creating 50% of the bit that's interesting about the Daleks (their design. The other 50% is their voices. Sorry, Terry Nation! I think you'll be fine with how much money you make during your lifetime, and your estate beyond). I can see why people tuned in next week, though - this is a tense episode, not just because of the awful radiation poisoning, but seriously, what the hell are those things?! Even after you're given some backstory about them, they are still weird and unsettling. As much as Daleks become overused throughout both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, when they do work, they work very, very well.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Escape"
Thursday, May 11, 2017
"The Dead Planet" - Season 1, Episode 5
Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin and Christopher Barry | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 12/21/63
We get our first taste of sci-fi besides the TARDIS when the group steps out to explore a petrified jungle, which is still, more than fifty years later, a really cool image. Ian suggests he and Barbara should keep an eye on the Doctor, since "he seems to have a knack for getting himself in trouble," which is basically the Doctor's Wikipedia entry up to this point, really. Barbara jokes that she thinks the Doctor is overdue for an injury, which is cute.
Meanwhile, the girl who lit a skull on fire and showed everyone how cool it looked last episode is now enthralled by a flower. Which is fine, there's nothing wrong with liking both things, it just seems weird. Barbara screams when she sees what turns out to be a dead metal creature (second time that Barbara has screamed at an animal corpse she's found). After the Doctor explains it's a metal creature and seems to say it may have hunted its prey using magnetism (?), Barbara sits down, frustrated, and says to Ian, "There's nothing here to rely on. Nothing," to which he responds with a smile, "There's me." Ian, you sly dog, you (I firmly believe Ian and Barbara become an item during their travels with the Doctor, which I'll talk more about during the first episode of the Romans, "The Slave Trader"). Barbara then goes on to read her own Wikipedia entry: "I'm a very unwilling adventurer." Terry Nation, as we'll see, does not do well with dialogue in Doctor Who, generally (he does write some good episodes, though, it must be said. His First Doctor work is more good than bad, he doesn't write for the Second Doctor at all, his Third Doctor work is unwatchable, for me, he peaks with his first Fourth Doctor script, then writes boring crap the last few times he writes for the series).
We get a shot of a gorgeously built model city, which I'm a big fan of. The glimpse of the city in the background when the group travels there later is intriguing, too. Ian and the Doctor continue to grapple for leadership of this little group when the Doctor says he'll explore the city alone, but Ian won't let him because he's the only one that can fly the ship. Susan gets scared again on their way back to the TARDIS when she feels someone try to grab her. The Doctor can't seem to comfort her, so he asks for Barbara's help, which is one of those scenes where the TARDIS crew starts to bond in some way, which I find nice (we'll see more of this between the Doctor and Barbara as the show continues, cementing Barbara as my favorite First Doctor companion, since Hartnell and Hill are very good in nearly every scene they're in together). The Doctor explains he's sometimes frustrated by the difference in age between he and Susan (he must get over it when travels later, though, since he'll be hanging out with teens and twenty-somethings for most of his travels as he ages by hundreds of years).
We then get a boring scene where the show explains how the travelers stay alive on the TARDIS - there's a food dispenser, and we're "treated" to a scene where the TARDIS crew eats bacon and eggs in the form of what look like little candy bars or something. This scene could have been reduced to a single line of dialogue, but Terry Nation was asked to write these episodes very quickly, and we've got six more to go after this one, so buck up for some boring stuff in a few of these episodes!
The Doctor seems to break his ship on purpose to convince everyone to accompany him to the city, and we get our first mention of the TARDISs mercury fluid links, which I guarantee you David Whitaker put in there (tip of the hat to Phil Sandifer's lovely TARDIS Eruditorum, which goes into great detail on Whitaker's quirks as a writer and argues he's the true first creative visionary for the show, which I agree with). Ian realizes the Doctor is up to something, yet he can't do anything about it as he doesn't know how the ship works, so they all agree to go explore the city at first light to try to find mercury to fix the fluid link.
After finding a container that has vials of random fluid in it - none of them mercury, it seems, to Ian's dismay, I'm sure - the TARDIS crew travels to the city (which still looks cool). Ian suggests they split up to explore, and I yearn for someone who is aware of television/movie tropes like Bill to mock him for it. Everyone wanders around, exploring for a bit (including one scene where Jacqueline Hill puts her hand over the camera lens, which must be the only time in Doctor Who where that happens - I like it). The episode ends with Barbara screaming while she's menaced by a plunger!
It's so strange, that's the first glimpse we have of a Dalek - a first person shot from its perspective where we don't actually see a full Dalek until the next episode. Knowing how important they become to the show (as I understand it, their popularity was what kept the show in production beyond the first few serials), it's quaint how they're introduced. It's good, don't get me wrong, just very strange seeing these creatures that are in some ways more famous than the main character of this show introduced with just a shot of their goofy plunger arm.
"Doctor Who" Puns so Far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Survivors"
We get our first taste of sci-fi besides the TARDIS when the group steps out to explore a petrified jungle, which is still, more than fifty years later, a really cool image. Ian suggests he and Barbara should keep an eye on the Doctor, since "he seems to have a knack for getting himself in trouble," which is basically the Doctor's Wikipedia entry up to this point, really. Barbara jokes that she thinks the Doctor is overdue for an injury, which is cute.
Meanwhile, the girl who lit a skull on fire and showed everyone how cool it looked last episode is now enthralled by a flower. Which is fine, there's nothing wrong with liking both things, it just seems weird. Barbara screams when she sees what turns out to be a dead metal creature (second time that Barbara has screamed at an animal corpse she's found). After the Doctor explains it's a metal creature and seems to say it may have hunted its prey using magnetism (?), Barbara sits down, frustrated, and says to Ian, "There's nothing here to rely on. Nothing," to which he responds with a smile, "There's me." Ian, you sly dog, you (I firmly believe Ian and Barbara become an item during their travels with the Doctor, which I'll talk more about during the first episode of the Romans, "The Slave Trader"). Barbara then goes on to read her own Wikipedia entry: "I'm a very unwilling adventurer." Terry Nation, as we'll see, does not do well with dialogue in Doctor Who, generally (he does write some good episodes, though, it must be said. His First Doctor work is more good than bad, he doesn't write for the Second Doctor at all, his Third Doctor work is unwatchable, for me, he peaks with his first Fourth Doctor script, then writes boring crap the last few times he writes for the series).
We get a shot of a gorgeously built model city, which I'm a big fan of. The glimpse of the city in the background when the group travels there later is intriguing, too. Ian and the Doctor continue to grapple for leadership of this little group when the Doctor says he'll explore the city alone, but Ian won't let him because he's the only one that can fly the ship. Susan gets scared again on their way back to the TARDIS when she feels someone try to grab her. The Doctor can't seem to comfort her, so he asks for Barbara's help, which is one of those scenes where the TARDIS crew starts to bond in some way, which I find nice (we'll see more of this between the Doctor and Barbara as the show continues, cementing Barbara as my favorite First Doctor companion, since Hartnell and Hill are very good in nearly every scene they're in together). The Doctor explains he's sometimes frustrated by the difference in age between he and Susan (he must get over it when travels later, though, since he'll be hanging out with teens and twenty-somethings for most of his travels as he ages by hundreds of years).
We then get a boring scene where the show explains how the travelers stay alive on the TARDIS - there's a food dispenser, and we're "treated" to a scene where the TARDIS crew eats bacon and eggs in the form of what look like little candy bars or something. This scene could have been reduced to a single line of dialogue, but Terry Nation was asked to write these episodes very quickly, and we've got six more to go after this one, so buck up for some boring stuff in a few of these episodes!
The Doctor seems to break his ship on purpose to convince everyone to accompany him to the city, and we get our first mention of the TARDISs mercury fluid links, which I guarantee you David Whitaker put in there (tip of the hat to Phil Sandifer's lovely TARDIS Eruditorum, which goes into great detail on Whitaker's quirks as a writer and argues he's the true first creative visionary for the show, which I agree with). Ian realizes the Doctor is up to something, yet he can't do anything about it as he doesn't know how the ship works, so they all agree to go explore the city at first light to try to find mercury to fix the fluid link.
After finding a container that has vials of random fluid in it - none of them mercury, it seems, to Ian's dismay, I'm sure - the TARDIS crew travels to the city (which still looks cool). Ian suggests they split up to explore, and I yearn for someone who is aware of television/movie tropes like Bill to mock him for it. Everyone wanders around, exploring for a bit (including one scene where Jacqueline Hill puts her hand over the camera lens, which must be the only time in Doctor Who where that happens - I like it). The episode ends with Barbara screaming while she's menaced by a plunger!
It's so strange, that's the first glimpse we have of a Dalek - a first person shot from its perspective where we don't actually see a full Dalek until the next episode. Knowing how important they become to the show (as I understand it, their popularity was what kept the show in production beyond the first few serials), it's quaint how they're introduced. It's good, don't get me wrong, just very strange seeing these creatures that are in some ways more famous than the main character of this show introduced with just a shot of their goofy plunger arm.
"Doctor Who" Puns so Far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Survivors"
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