"The Space Museum" - Season 2, Episode 68

Written by Glyn Jones | Directed by Mervyn Pinfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/24/65

I wonder what Steven Moffat thinks about this episode. It's only sorta timey-wimey, but it's fairly complicated for what the show has done thus far. The TARDIS apparently "jumps a time track" which gets our heroes lost in the fourth dimension. Basically, they're walking around an adventure they haven't had yet, and seeing that they lost. The best moment in the episode (which should have been the cliffhanger, frankly) is when they see themselves in cases, having been made into museum exhibits. The four of them stand in their cases, blankly staring out of them, clearly dead (though that's never stated, what else could they be?). It's a pretty creepy moment and is absolutely baffling on the first watch.

Glyn Jones, who doesn't write for Doctor Who again after this serial (though he does show up as an actor, playing a Sontaran in "The Sontaran Experiment"), writes a few good lines in the beginning. When the TARDIS "jumps the time track," our heroes wake up in different clothes, which understandably freaks Ian and Barbara out:

Ian: "Doctor, we've got our clothes on!"
Doctor: "Well, I should hope so, dear boy, I should hope so!"
Barbara: "No, Doctor, our regular clothes!"

That would have flew right over kid's heads, I'm sure, but adults may have chuckled at it (not that it's extremely titillating or offensive or anything). The Doctor isn't very bothered by it, though, strangely. Jones seeds some interesting bits throughout the episode that add to the mystery of what's going on - the glass Vicki drops leaps back up and mends itself before her eyes, they aren't leaving footprints in the sand, the guards can't see or hear them (and they can't hear the guards), and they even see a Dalek exhibit! I love the Dalek showing up - I assume kids seeing this thought the Daleks would end up being behind everything in this episode, so they would have waited with baited breath for weeks only to be let down (next serial, kids). Even knowing what's going on, the episode still watches pretty well. I wish the classic series would mess about with time and dimensions like this more often ("Mawdryn Undead" being my favorite), but seeing it this early on is great.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Dimensions of Time"

"The Warlords" - Season 2, Episode 67

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/17/65

This one is strange. There are a few loose ends we don't see tied up on screen - whatever Richard's fate, it's hinted at by the Doctor, but he bids them leave and we never see him again. Saladin and Sapahadin do not appear in this episode, so we never find out what happens with William des Preaux. We do see what happens to El Akir, and while his fate is satisfying, it's odd that his plot is the only one resolved. I wish we could have seen more of Joanna as well (she doesn't appear in this episode, either). Yes, history records what happened to most of these people, I'm sure, but for a children's show, not giving us some sort of ending is unsatisfying.

Still, it's a fun episode - Ian gets tortured with ants (by a vaguely racist caricature with an almost comedy Indian accent), Barbara helps free El Akir's harem (at least, I assume - this is another missing episode, and the captions don't say anything about their fate). Haroun's plot strand comes to a satisfying end when he kills El Akir and rescues his daughter. Ian gets to be clever and tricks the Earl of Leicester into thinking he's a real knight with a grievance against the Doctor, which lets them all get away in the TARDIS.

I think this episode got away from Whitaker. It actually feels like it should have gone on longer - odd for a four parter in the 1960s, but there it is. It feels rushed at the end because of the loose plot threads. It's still well made TV, but it's a noticeable drop in quality compared to the first three episodes, sadly. Still, The Crusade is a good serial and is worth watching, and it's a shame half of it is missing.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Space Museum"

"The Wheel of Fortune" - Season 2, Episode 66

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/10/65

Perhaps it's because footage actually exists of this serial, but I find The Crusade to deliver on the intrigue that Marco Polo promised. That it's a four-parter helps due to the faster pace, but I find the characters here more interesting and the stakes more dangerous. I found (the character) Marco Polo's actions and decisions somewhat random and dumb, but Saphadin is a much more rounded character. His motivations are clear, and he doesn't necessarily seem evil - and getting a Muslim character who is intelligent and not outright evil (and played very well by the actor), especially in the 1960s, is something rare and good (even if said actor is a white guy).

The other side's leaders, Richard and Joanna, are well-played and written as well. Joanna absolutely freaks out at Richard at the end of this episode (understandably), because she doesn't want to be married off to Saladin to end a war. The Doctor sympathizes with Richard, though, and doesn't warn Joanna of his plan - she finds out, anyway, though, from someone else, and the Doctor is blamed for it. After seeing how angry the King was with Joanna, it looks like our hero is in some trouble for tomorrow's episode...

Before that, though, the Doctor gets into a wonderful argument with the Earl of Leicester about using diplomacy, but the Earl asserts that after everyone's had a good chinwag, the soldiers have to go give their lives anyway to sort it all out. It seems the Doctor's stance on this doesn't change much in 2000 years - he gives a very similar, if more impassioned and desperate, speech in "The Zygon Inversion" in his twelfth incarnation. I don't entirely agree with him - if you'd like to read a very well-argued counterpoint to the Doctor, Jack Graham wrote a wonderful essay about why the politics and the Doctor's arguments in that story don't work here - though the scenes in this episode and "Zygon Inversion" are different in some respects, I think it all fits.


Vicki is still used strangely here. Her actual gender is revealed to everyone, and they all sort of shrug and say "okay" and that's that. She is amazing in the next serial, though, and I'm looking forward to the production team giving her something interesting to do (I really do love Vicki, and she's not quite as poorly used as Susan, but the production team sure has a problem with this type of companion so far, don't they?).

Barbara has some pretty good scenes, trying to hide from El Akir. Haroun saves her from El Akir's guards, and hides her in his house. He goes out to see if he can find a route for her to escape, but leaves his knife with her, telling her if the guards find them, to kill his daughter and herself to avoid the terrible things El Akir will do to them. This after he explains how El Akir coveted Haroun's other daughter, badly enough that when he was out, El Akir killed his wife and son and took the daughter, so Haroun has sworn revenge. Barbara doesn't end up having to use the knife, but it's a pretty dark moment when she considers it in the little closet she and Haroun's daughter are hiding in.

Isn't this better than Tegana just being an obvious traitor to Kublai Khan? It's all a lot more interesting than learning about condensation, that's for sure...

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Warlords"

"The Knight of Jaffa" - Season 2, Episode 65

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 04/03/65

I find it interesting how much comedy is used in the historicals so far. The Aztecs really only had the "I made cocoa and got engaged" moment, and Marco Polo was pretty dry throughout, but the Reign of Terror had the comedy jailer and that bit in the second episode where the Doctor works a road crew for a while. The Romans was entirely a comedy farce (if some bits of it aren't exactly hilarious today), and here in The Crusade, the Doctor steals clothes from the comedy clothes salesman in the first episode, and Vicki acts as though she's Victor for no apparent reason other than the comedy of it (it's supposed to be a reference to the practice of Shakespeare actors crossdressing as women because back then women weren't performers). Near the end of this episode, the clothes salesman comes and accuses the Doctor of stealing his wares (which is true), but the Doctor gets out of it by talking the salesman in circles and shooing him out. It's an amusing scene, but it's absolutely not realistic at all (which is fine, that isn't the point, of course).

I point it out because, up to this point, the historicals are getting better and better. It's not entirely down to the comedy - I find it difficult to enjoy the last historical, The Highlanders, and that's a comedy - but the plots are getting better constructed and more interesting (devotees of Marco Polo - that story is eclipsed by both this and the three historicals in the third season - yes, including The Gunfighters). The historicals may not have been popular with kids (it's easy to see why), but as a 31 year old, they are quite enjoyable. I've never been the type of fan to complain about how the historical needs to come back, but I wouldn't be bothered if it did.

We're set up for some problems over the next two episodes, though. Joanna, Richard's sister, is to be married to Saladin to end the war, but she has no idea of the plan and will freak out. I remember really enjoying Joanna's character, so I look forward to seeing her try to get out of the deal (and Richard losing it at her when she refuses). The pleasures in this episode, despite it missing, are many - Ian is knighted by Richard (I wish I could see William Russell act it - he should have been thrilled and honored considering the fame of the King who's giving him the title). The Doctor and Vicki, while not up to much, mess about and have a few chuckles. El Akir schemes and steals Barbara away from Saladin to add her to his harem, but she escapes. Actually, the last few minutes of this episode would be a welcome return, as they're almost entirely visual as Barbara tries to escape the city. Other than that, though, I'm still enjoying myself quite a bit and am looking forward to Monday's post.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Wheel of Fortune"

"The Lion" - Season 2, Episode 64

Written by David Whitaker | Directed by Douglas Camfield | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/27/65

This is more like it.

I don't often comment on the directing on this blog, but looking at the episodes he'll go on to make for Doctor Who (along with Planet of Giants, which we've already seen), Douglas Camfield has an almost 100% hit rate for good episodes (I wish I could see more of the Daleks Masterplan to say he's batting a thousand, alas). The actors are on fine form here, too, but the sword fights near the beginning of the episode look pretty great. Compare the fight scenes here to the Aztecs, where Ian and Ixta roll around and hug awkwardly with a static camera in "The Warriors of Death." It's night and day - just when a fight looks like it could get awkward, it cuts to another piece of action elsewhere where something visually interesting is going on. I could do without the white actors playing Middle Eastern people, but that's not something the series will stop doing for a long while yet (and happened back in Marco Polo, as well).

Still, Julian Glover as King Richard is amazing, and despite being white, Saphadin as played by Rover Avon is menacing and interesting, and so far, fairly carefully done - he comes across as very competent and merciful, if it suits him. When El Akir says he can make Barbara walk across hot coals or through sharp sword tips, he asks Barbara how that sounds, and she says "it sounds like a punishment for a fool," and Saphadin agrees. "Who is the fool here?" he asks. "El Akir, I can devise my own pleasures," before implying that he'll make him do those awful things.

Watching the episodes in order, I have to say I've gotten sick of everyone who captures Barbara implying her captor could rape her. It's way too common and I'm not sure why it didn't stick out to me when I watched in the past (though I watched random episodes from the various Doctors, so it's pretty stark in order like this). Vicki, too, is underused so far, too - she gets a great turn in the next serial, but she's been pretty extraneous to events since she joined the TARDIS team (as I recall, David Whitaker actually does something with Vicki later on this episode. That means David Whitaker is the only writer so far to actually write for Vicki well, since he wrote her debut, The Rescue).

Really, though, what is good about this episode can be traced back to David Whitaker's deft characterization and plotting skills. I must note - this was the first episode of this watch through where I lost track of time and was surprised when the credits rolled. Despite having seen the episode before, I had gotten invested in it enough to forget the cliffhanger comes right after Richard says he will never trade with Saladin and Barbara can rot for all he cares. Whitaker does a great job sketching out all these characters quickly, even if Vicki is underused (and Ian, weirdly, is more stoic than usual. I think William Russell had an off week, because outside the fight scenes, he's a little too stiff).

I really need to get around to reading Whitaker's novelizations. He's definitely the most interesting writer so far, and he still has his best script ahead of him. I hate to keep bashing The Web Planet (irks me to agree with conventional fan wisdom, but I just don't like that serial), but this is a breath of fresh air after that mess. I'm certain the only two missing episodes of this season will be better than that (both of which fall in this serial, sadly - tomorrow's and Tuesday's).

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Knight of Jaffa"

"The Centre" - Season 2, Episode 63

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/20/65

Before I watched this last episode, I watched the making of documentary included on the DVD. In it, the various members of the production team are asked about the usual things, sets, costumes, etc. There are a few key takeaways from it - both Verity Lambert and Richard Martin insist on the serial being visual in nature, and how excited they were to take a shot at it. Lambert says she's proud of the ambition and she thinks the serial works. Martin isn't happy with it for the most part, but then he's a director and probably wouldn't have been satisfied unless it was perfect.

Maureen O'Brien, though, the actress who plays Vicki, is asked what she thinks it looks like, and she replies, with a bit of apprehension, "it's amateurish." I'm with O'Brien - I don't want to take away from the sense of pride the production team had of this serial, but they bit off more than they could chew. Some things look okay - the costumes are largely pretty good, which is impressive considering they're all ants, butterflies, and grubs - but the landscapes are dull and the Animus and her environs are pretty dumb looking. The plot is nonsense - in this episode, Vicki leaves the Isop-tope (the weapon that ultimately destroys the Animus) in the Doctor's Astral Map, which wasn't part of the plan. Why she does this, I have no idea. Luckily, Barbara happens along and finds it. The diversion group tries to get the attention of the main Zarbi force by surrounding a single Zarbi and screaming "Zarbi" at it. Why they do this, I have no idea. The Isop-tope is able to destroy the Animus when Barbara holds it close - we don't see anything happen, we don't hear anything happen, the Animus just dies. Why it does, I have no idea.

We're left with so many questions that could have potentially been answered in an interesting way, but weren't - why can the Animus use gold to control other creatures? Why can the Doctor's ring perform a similar function? How did the Animus arrive on Vortis? Do the Menoptra fly through space with some sort of ship? Are the Optera unevolved Menoptra? It just goes on and on. But the production team chose to focus on the visuals without paying much mind to the story, and it really suffers as a result. This is a shallow serial, and I take no pleasure in watching it (and probably never will again). I hate to slam a production fifty years later so hard, but I just can't stand this serial, and I've tried twice now to like it with an open mind.

On to better things, then.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Lion"

"Invasion" - Season 2, Episode 62

Written by Bill Strutton | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 03/13/65

The plot continues to baffle. The Doctor can use his ring to control one of the Zarbi when it has the gold necklace thing around it. When he gives the ring to one of the Menoptra later so he can control "Zombo" (the name Vicki gave the Zarbi with the gold necklace on), the Menoptra asks the Doctor, "May I know it's secret?" and the Doctor replies "You may not."

Thanks for clearing that up, Doctor.

I think the Optera are the best thing about the serial. They're just as weird as everything else, but they have interesting dialogue that takes an extra second or two to decode. They do things like sacrificing themselves by shoving their heads into a wall to prevent deadly acid from spilling out and killing everyone. That is an image that got to me - Ian silently looking at Nemini's dead body sticking out the wall in wonder. That might be the most alien image in the entirety of Doctor Who - it's so baffling and strange and eerie. If I felt the way I did when looking at that image throughout the rest of the serial, it'd be a roaring success and would probably be something I rewatch regularly.

These entries are short, and I apologize for that - there's just not a ton to say. This is not something Doctor Who ever tries again, and it's so visual that there aren't many themes or anything to grapple with (and it being six episodes long, I've long since exhausted anything interesting to say about the vaseline on the camera or the costumes or whatnot). The Web Planet wraps up tomorrow, and frankly, I can't wait.

"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "The Centre"