Story #22 - The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve

After the epic adventure that was the Daleks' Master Plan, we return with yet another historical adventure with The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve.

Full disclosure here, the Massacre is by far my favorite First Doctor adventure so my review will hardly be very impartial.

After the events of the Daleks' Master Plan, The Doctor and Steven arrive in Paris in the year 1572.  It's the height of the French Wars of Religion and there's a great deal of tension between the majority Catholics and the Huguenots (French Protestants).

The Doctor seems very keen on meeting up with a certain apothecary by the name of Charles Preslin.  Steven remain behind at a tavern not far from where the Tardis is parked.   Because of the tensions between the Catholics and the Huguenots, there's a nightly curfew in Paris.  The curfew is coming up shortly, and The Doctor hasn't returned.  Steven ends up staying with some Huguenots, Gaston and Nicholas, that he has befriended while waiting for The Doctor.

Gaston, Nicholas and Steven run into a young serving girl, Anne Chaplet, on their journey back to Gaston and Nicolas' home.  Anne has overheard that there is a plot to massacre the Huguenots of Paris, such as was done most infamously several years ago in a town called Wassy.

Gaston and Nicholas decide to shelter the frightened young girl, and arrange to have her join the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny's staff, a highly placed Protestant minister.

The next day, Steven ventures to Preslin's shop, in hopes of finding The Doctor.   The Doctor is nowhere to be found and when he returns to the Huguenot residence, he shocked to discover that the Abbot of Ambrose, who's recently arrived in Paris looks exactly like The Doctor.   Steven is now on the run from the Huguenots, who are now convinced that Steven is a Catholic spy.

Steven, still believing that the Abbot of Ambrose is The Doctor, decides to venture to the Abbot's house.  There, he hears about a plot to kill the "Sea Beggar".  "The Sea Beggar", as is turns out is a codeword for Admiral de Coligny.  Steven tries to warn the Huguenots about the plot against "The Sea Beggar", but they are still suspicious of Steven.  With nowhere else to go, Steven decides to hide out in Preslin's shop.  Anne, however, has followed Steven as she's been dismissed from the Admiral's staff.

Steven and Anne go to the Abbot's residence and discovers the identity of the Sea Beggar, and also discovers that the Abbot is not The Doctor.  Armed with this knowledge, Steven and Anne escape the Abbot's residence and rush to warn the Huguenots of the plot.   The Marshal of France, Tavannes, who has been one of the powers behind the plot, has the Abbot killed for allowing Steven and Anne to escape.

Steven and Anne are too late with their warning.  The assassination attempt, however, fails to kill the Admiral but he's severely wounded.  Steven and Anne return to Preslin's shop, since they've got nowhere else to go.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, the real power in Paris has ordered that the Huguenots be massacred the next day, St. Bartholomew's Day.   Tavannes thinks that the Queen Mother has gone too far, but nonetheless follows his orders.

Much to the surprise of Steven, The Doctor returns to Preslin's shop early the next morning.  He tell Steven that they must leave Paris immediately.  The Doctor sends Anne to her aunt's house, warning her to remain inside the next day.  Steven and The Doctor make their way to the Tardis and depart Paris just as the Massacre begins at curfew.

A short ten-minute visit to modern-day Wimbledon closes out the story, and introduces us to our new companion, who is a modern day descendant of Anne who goes by the name of Dodo Chaplet.

The Massacre is a bit of an unusual story in that it deals with a subject that even modern-day Doctor Who has steered well clear of - religion.   The real Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day occured on August 23rd, 1572 and was believed to be instigated by Catherine de Medici.  It also took place two days after the attempted assassination of the Admiral de Coligny.  Therefore, much of the history in the story is factually correct, except for the fact that the real Massacre took place on St. Bartholomew's Day, rather than St. Bartholomew's Eve.  The Catholics and the Huguenots simply didn't trust and each other.  The Huguenots feared either being martyred for their religion, or being forced to convert to Catholicism.  The Catholics feared the growing power of the Huguenots, now that the future Henry IV (a Protestant) is now in the line of succession for the throne of France.  For you history buffs out there, Henry IV became famous for the line "Paris is well worth a Mass".  This line was in reference to his later conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism.

The fact that the Massacre tackles a rather touchy subject (religion) is perhaps one of the main reason I find this story so fascinating.  The Catholic leaders don't come off too well in this story, while the Huguenot leaders are seen (at least in this story) as much more sympathetic.   The Catholic leaders, especially the Queen Mother Catherine de Medici, play off Catholic fears of the Huguenots and cause one of the great massacres of the French Wars of Religion.  I think give the nature of the Massacre, it would have been rather difficult to write a version of this story that would engender some sympathy for the Catholic leadership.  Imagine if this story were filmed today, and I'm sure there would be some Catholics claiming that Doctor Who is somehow anti-Catholic.  Never mind historical accuracy, simply choosing to film this story (about a massacre of Protestants by Catholics) would be evidence enough for some.

The Massacre is also quite unusual in that The Doctor basically disappears for the middle two episodes of the story.  William Hartnell is still present, playing The Doctor's doppleganger the Abbot of Ambrose.  Because of this, it is Peter Purves' Steven who is the leading man in this story.  I think Peter handles being the leading man quite well. 

The Massacre is, by far, one of the darkest stories ever done by Doctor Who.  There can be no real happy ending, as the Massacre still occurs (as The Doctor would say, history must not be altered) and somewhere between 5,000 and 30,000 French Huguenots are killed, both inside and outside of Paris.   I think that a major reason they decided to have the new companion be a descendant of Anne Chaplet, the serving girl that Steven befriends during the story.  The new companion, Dodo Chaplet, is introduced to viewers at the end of episode four, in a short ten minute epilogue that takes place at Wimbledon Green in modern-day England.  This was the happy ending that one otherwise couldn't have for the Massacre. 

Sadly, the Massacre is another one of the missing stories, so the only way to experience this is through the fan-made reconstructions, the audio soundtracks (my choice) or the Target novelization.  But I highly encourage you to take the time and experience this particular story.  The chance to see Steven play the leading man, William Hartnell's performance as the cold and calculating Abbot of Ambrose and the rather unusual subject matter make the Massacre a rather unique and interesting addition to the canon of Doctor Who.

Story #21 - The Daleks' Master Plan

The Daleks' Master Plan is the longest single story in the history of Doctor Who.

The Daleks' Master Plan was so long, that it is the only Doctor Who story where the novelization was divided into two books (Mission to the Unknown and The Mutation of Time, pictured above).

Sadly, most of the The Daleks' Master Plan is missing.  Only three episodes out of the twelve still exist in BBC's archives.  In order to experience this epic tale, I chose to read the novelization for the first half of the story, taking breaks to watch the still in existence episodes 2 and 5.  For the second half of the story, I watched the fan-made reconstructions of episodes 7-12, and taking a break from the reconstructions to watch the still in existence episode 10.

The Daleks' Master Plan continues on from the story of Mission to the Unknown.  The Tardis lands on Kembel, where The Doctor is most concerned about finding a way to treat Steven's injuries (sustained in the last adventure The Myth Makers).

Meanwhile, two Space Agents have also landed on Kembel.  One of the agents is killed by the Daleks, which allows the other agent to escape.  This agent, Bret Vyon, has discovered that the Guardian of the Solar System, Mavic Chen, is collaborating with the Daleks and is attempting to return to Earth and expose the plot.   Bret discovers the Tardis and demands that The Doctor take him to Earth.  The Doctor subdues Bret Vyon and restrains him.

The Doctor then leaves to discover what exactly the Daleks plans are.  The Doctor discovers Marc Cory's recording, which he takes with him.  Bret Vyon, meanwhile, is able to cure Steven's injuries with some field medicine that he's carrying.  Bret, Steven, Katarina and The Doctor eventually make plans to steal Mavic Chen's ship.   The Doctor, disguised as a one of the emissaries that they've recently overpowered, discovers the plot of the Daleks, which is to invade the solar system and use their new weapon, The Time Destructor.   The Doctor steals the taranium core of the Time Destructor and The Doctor returns to Mavic Chen's ship.

The travelers are waylaid and end up making a detour to Desperus, a prison planet.  Katarina sacrifices herself when she become trapped in an airlock with a convict holding her hostage.  After this, the travelers end up on Earth.  Mavic Chen has arrived before them, and has branded them as fugitives.  Bret Vyon is killed by his own sister, Sara Kingdom.  Sara captures The Doctor and Steven but before she can turn them over to the authorities, the three unwittingly become part of an experiment.  The three are sent to the planet Mira via "molecular dissemination".

The Daleks catch up to the travelers on Mira, but The Doctor and his companions manage to outwit the Daleks and steal their ship.  The ship returns to Kembel, where The Doctor hands over a "fake" taranium core to Mavic Chen and the Daleks.  The Doctor, Steven and Sara escape and return to the Tardis, resuming their travels.

At this point, the story breaks off into a one-off episode called The Feast of Steven.  The travelers end up on Earth, where they eventually end up in Hollywood during the heyday of silent film making.  Played for laughs, and aired at Christmas, The Feast of Steven is the first ever Doctor Who Christmas show.   A nice change of pace which I much appreciated.

The main story then resumes with the following episode.   A brief visit to a volcanic planet results in The Doctor and his companions meeting up with the Meddling Monk from The Time Meddler.  Determined to get revenge, The Meddling Monk attempts to lock The Doctor out of his Tardis, but The Doctor is able to repair the lock.

The travelers then arrive in ancient Egypt, followed by the Meddling Monk and The Daleks.  The Daleks capture Steven and Sara, and The Doctor is forced to hand over the real taranium core for their release.  The Doctor, however, is able to follow the Daleks by removing the directional control from the Meddling Monk's Tardis.  This plan works, but is shorted out as the two Tardises are not the same model.  The Meddling Monk, who had collaborated with the Daleks, is last seen on a icy planet vowing revenge against The Doctor, as he is now doomed to wander throughout time and space.

The final two episodes of the story show the Daleks turning on Mavic Chen and their other allies, which was the original plan of the Daleks to begin with.  The Doctor, meanwhile, is able to activate the Time Destructor, which causes time on Kembel to accelerate.   Steven and The Doctor make it back to the Tardis, but Sara (along with the Daleks) dies of the effects.

The first thing that was decided by the powers behind Doctor Who at the time was to write out the new companion Katarina.    It was felt at the time that having to explain everything that's going on during the show to Katarina would slow the show down and might possibly turn off viewers.  I view it as a missed opportunity, however.  Having a person from the past might have proved interesting, if the writers had been willing to put forth some effort.  After all, just a couple of years later, The Doctor would be traveling around with two companions from the past (granted, the not-so-distant past, but still).

Sara Kingdom (a return performance by Jean Marsh, who last appeared in The Crusade) is a bit more controversial.  Sara, as a character, isn't necessarily controversial, the controversy revolves on whether she should be considered a companion or not.   Many sources, including my own copy of The Doctor Who Programme Guide by Jean-Marc Lofficier list Sara Kingdom as a companion.  Other sources do not.  The revived series hasn't helped things much by listing one-off characters like Astrid Peth and Jackson Lake as companions.   Of course, there's also the issue of the UNIT regulars from the Third and Fourth Doctor eras like The Brigadier, Sgt. Benton and Capt. Yates. 

My definition of a companion has always been a character that appears in more than one story, and by that definition Sara Kingdom would not be considered a companion, just as I don't consider Astrid Peth or Jackson Lake to be full companions.   But the clear fact is that Sara Kingdom actually appears in more episodes of the Daleks' Master Plan than Katarina does during her entire tenure (five episodes over two stories) and this muddies the waters a bit, as I do consider Katarina to be a companion of The Doctor, however brief her tenure on the show.

The biggest issue with the Daleks' Master Plan is, quite simply, is that it's more a series of interconnected stories rather than a single long narrative.  In many ways, it similar to the much later Key to Time and Trial of a Time Lord arcs.  As such, it's difficult to give a rating to the story as a whole.

I will say that I enjoyed the Meddling Monk arc quite a bit, it was nice to see his character return.  Sadly, this would be the Meddling Monk's last appearance as well.  When it was decided to have another Time Lord match wits with The Doctor during the Third Doctor's time, the decision was made to replace the more jovial and humorous Meddling Monk with the much more evil and sinister Master.

I didn't enjoy the Desperus arc, as it really felt like a detour to the main story, though the sacrifice of Katarina was quite moving.  I did find the ending, where the Daleks become victims to their own device, very appropriate and appealed to my sense of justice.

Having experienced this story via both the Target novelization (for the first half) and the reconstructions (for the second half), I found the reconstructions a much more authentic way to enjoy the story.  The same hold true for the audio sountrack method, which is how I experienced the previous story The Myth Makers.  While I certainly appreciate the Target novelizations, one misses the interaction with the actors that one gets with the reconstructions and audio soundtracks.   But I wouldn't hesitate to suggest reading the novelization to experience The Daleks' Master Plan, as it's such an epic story.  

Story #20 - The Myth Makers

The Doctor and his companions travel to Troy and become involved in the events of the Trojan War in the Myth Makers.

The Doctor, Vicki and Steven arrive on the plains outside the city of Troy during the Trojan War.  The arrive during the epic one-on-one battle between Hector and Achilles.  Achilles kills Hector and believes The Doctor to be Zeus, king of the Gods.  The Doctor is forced to return with Achilles to the Greek camp.  Along the way, they are joined by Odysseus, who believes The Doctor to be a Trojan spy.

Steven and Vicki, who remained in the Tardis debate what to do.  Steven leave the Tardis, in hopes of rescuing The Doctor.  He is captured by the Greek spy Cyclops and taken to Odysseus.  The Tardis is found by the Trojans, who take it back with them to Troy with Vicki still inside.

The Greeks demand that The Doctor and Steven help them to defeat the Trojans before they will let him continue on his travels.  The Doctor attempts to devise a flying machine that will help the Greeks gain entrance into Troy.  Meanwhile, Vicki has emerged from the Tardis when the Trojans start debating on whether to burn the Tardis on a pyre, as is suggested by the Trojan prophet Cassandra.

King Priam renames Vicki, calling her Cressida.  Vicki, as Cressida, forms a romantic attachment to Priam's youngest son Troilus.  Steven, who has been sent out to fight Paris in Achilles' stead, is captured by Paris and the Trojans.  Vicki greets Steven, and is thus accused by Cassandra of being a Greek spy.  Steven and Vicki are thrown into the Trojan dungeon, where Vicki (as Cressida) is to come up with a idea on how to end the war.

The Doctor, still in the Greek camp, decides to use the ruse of the Trojan Horse when the flying machine idea doesn't work out.  The Doctor, Odysseus and a group of hand-picked Greek soldiers hide inside the horse, which is taken inside Troy.  As is does in the legendary story, the Greeks inside the horse come out during the night, open the gates and the sacking of Troy begins.

Priam, Paris and Cassandra are captured by Odysseus.  Odysseus kills Priam and Paris and Cassandra is given to the Greek leader Agamemnon.   Steven, who escaped the dungeon with Vicki's help, is injured fighting a Trojan soldier.  He is helped to the Tardis by Cassandra's handmaiden Katarina.  Meanwhile, Troilus, who has been looking for Steven outside the city, finds Achilles and kills him in one-on-one combat.  Troilus is injured during the combat.

Vicki has decided to stay behind as she's fallen in love with Troilus.   Vicki finds Troilus on the plain outside the city, where they are rescued by the arrival of Troilus' cousin Aeneas and together they escape the area.  The Doctor, the injured Steven and Katarina depart Troy in the Tardis.

The Myth Makers is yet another missing story, and I chose to listen to the audio version on CD (pictured above).   The Myth Makers keeps one on the edge of your seat up until the very end.  This time around, rather than simply being observers in major events, The Doctor and his companions are actual participants with The Doctor being the one who instigates the famous Trojan Horse ruse.  While any missing episodes are a real shame, this is such a good story that I'm really sorry that none of this still exists in the BBC archives. 

Vicki gets a nice send-off, and we get introduced to our newest companion Katarina.   Katarina was an interesting choice for a replacement for Vicki, but sadly she wouldn't be a companion for very long.

The Myth Makers show that, done correctly, a strictly historical story can be quite entertaining.  However, by this time in the show's run the historical was beginning to be phased out.  The science fiction stories would far outnumber the historical episodes this season as the science fiction stories simply garnered better ratings than the historical stories.  A bit of a shame, really, as the historical stories in series/season three are some of the best stories from the First Doctor era.

Story #19 - Mission to the Unknown

The nineteenth story, Mission to the Unknown, is probably the most unusual episode that exists in official Doctor Who canon.

Mission to the Unknown serves as an introduction to the upcoming epic adventure The Dalek's Masterplan.   What's so unusual about Mission to the Unknown is that for many years it was the shortest in-canon Doctor Who story (only one twenty five minute episode) and that it didn't feature The Doctor or any of his current companions.

Mission to the Unknown is no longer the shortest in-canon Doctor Who story, that record was taken away by the first Children in Need special in 2005, which takes place between the last full-length Ninth Doctor episode (The Parting of the Ways) and the first full-length Tenth Doctor episode (The Christmas Invasion).  However, Mission to the Unknown still holds the record for shortest in-canon Classic Who story.

Since Mission to the Unknown is completely missing from the BBC archives, I chose to experience this story via the Target novelization.   Chapters Two and Three of the Target novelization to the Dalek's Masterplan Part I-Mission to the Unknown contain the relevant novelization of the episode.

The story takes place in a jungle on Kembel.   Three men from Earth have crash landed on the planet and are attempting to contact a rendevous ship.  One of the men, Garvey has been stung by thorn from a Varga plant that grows on Kembel, and the poison is slowly turning him into a Varga plant.

Marc Cory, discovering that Garvey has been stung by a Varga thorn, kills Garvey and warns the third man, Lowery, to avoid being stung as well as he would have to kill him as well.  Cory then reveals to Lowery that he's a member of the Space Security Service and that he is investigating reports that the Daleks have a base on Kembel.  The Varga plants are native to the Dalek's homeworld, and a clue that perhaps the Daleks do have a base on Kembel.

Lowery is stung by a Varga thorn but tries to hide this fact from Cory.  Meanwhile, the Daleks and their allies are holding a meeting at the Dalek base, where it is decided to approve plans for invading Earth.   The Daleks destroy the Earth spaceship, and Cory kills Lowery, after discovering that he has been infected by the Varga thorn.  The Daleks eventually catch up with Cory and exterminate him, but not until Cory has recorded a message about what exactly is going on here on Kembel.

Mission to the Unknown does serve as a decent prequel to the Daleks' Masterplan, but why was it sandwiched in between two unrelated stories (Galaxy 4 and The Myth-Makers)? Wouldn't it have made much more sense to air this after the Myth-Makers, just prior to airing the first episode of the Daleks' Masterplan?

Mission to the Unknown doesn't work very well as a stand-alone story, however and if one was around back in 1960s, one would have had to wait five weeks for the payoff with the first episode of the Daleks' Masterplan.   Mission to the Unknown was an unusual experiment, but the fact that this was never tried again I think says a great deal about how well the idea was received by audiences. 

Story #18 - Galaxy 4

The third series/season begins with a trip to Galaxy 4, where The Doctor and his companions get caught in the middle of a long-running war.

The Tardis lands on a desert-like planet.   The Doctor, Steven and Vicki encounter a small robot, which Vicki dubs a Chumbley.     The Chumbley is subsequently disabled by a group of patrolling Drahvians.  The Drahvians, who come from the planet Drahvia in Galaxy 4, inform the time travelers that the Chumbleys are the robot servants of a race of aliens known as the Rills.  The Drahvians and the Rill have been at war with each other for many years.  The Drahvians' spaceship met a Rill spaceship just above this planet (which, we also learn, is also in Galaxy 4) and both shot each other down and crash landed here.

The planet will shortly be destroyed, and the Drahvian ship cannot be repaired.  The Drahvians have placed their hopes on capturing the Rill ship, which they believe has been repaired.  The Drahvians send The Doctor and Vicki to capture the Rill ship and defeat the Rills.  Steven is held as a hostage to ensure compliance.

Steven attempts to escape, but gets trapped in an air lock with the air slowly being sucked out, trapped between the Drahvians in the ship and a Chumbley robot outside.  Meanwhile, The Doctor and Vicki meet with the Rills and discover that the Rills have been and are willing to take the Drahvians with them on their ship.  The Drahvians have refused the Rills' offer, preferring to remain in a state of war with the Rills.

The Doctor and Vicki, having learned the truth of the relationship between the Drahvians and the Rills return to the Drahvian spaceship and rescue Steven from the air lock.  The three time travelers return to the Rill ship, which lacks enough power to effect a liftoff from the planet.  The Doctor gives the Rill ship a jump start from the Tardis, and the Rills' ship takes off.  The Rills leave a Chumbley robot to escort The Doctor and his companions back to the Tardis.  The Drahvians, foiled in their attempts to capture the Rill ship as well as the Tardis, perish when the planet is destroyed.

Galaxy Four, for many years, was thought to be a completely missing, with the exception of a few clips.  The third episode of this story, entitled Air Lock, was found recently and returned to the BBC archive.  The special edition DVD of the Aztecs includes the recently found Air Lock, along with a telesnap reconstruction of the three missing episodes. 

The reconstruction was pretty good, and a great way to frame the found episode Air Lock.   It's great that we now have Air Lock in any case, since much of the third series/season (and the following fourth and fifth series/seasons) are missing.   It's not often that Doctor Who fans get to see an episode of Doctor Who that hasn't been seen in decades and Air Lock definitely didn't disappoint.

The rest of the story doesn't disappoint, either.  Galaxy 4 is one of those episodes where the moral is simply this, beware of appearances.  The Drahvians look appealing to a human eye, since they are humanoid.  However, their beauty is belied by their actions.  The Drahvian's leader, Maaga, is cold and ruthless and reveals her true intentions when she attempts to kill Steven in the air lock.   The Rills, despite being less appealing to the human eye, are by far the more sympathetic of the two alien races.

I know there were some complaints about releasing the Galaxy 4/Air Lock story as part of the Aztecs Special Edition DVD.   I certainly understand those complaints, as I don't often buy the Special Edition DVDs myself, as I just can't justify re-buying material I already have.   Perhaps the better way to look at it is this way: you're buying Galaxy 4, including the newly found Air Lock, and getting the Aztecs Special Edition as a bonus feature.    I wouldn't hesitate is buying this, as I found Galaxy 4 well worth the price of admission.  

Series/Season Two Wrap-Up

With the Time Meddler, we've come to the end of the second series/season of Doctor Who.   

Overall, this series/season was a real roller-coaster ride, much more so than the first series/season.  Planet of Giants and the Dalek Invasion of Earth did get things started off on a strong note.  However, things really took a dip with The Rescue, The Romans and The Web Planet.   The Space Museum and The Chase, however highlighted a much stronger second half.   The two stories are simply some of the best from the First Doctor era.

This series/season also see the first cast changes, as the original companions Susan, Barbara and Ian all leave at various times.   Susan leaves at the end of the Dalek Invasion of Earth, and is replaced by the orphan Vicki in the following story The Rescue.   For this first change in companions, they did play things a bit safe, as both Susan and Vicki were young teenage girls.

The writers, however seemed to have had a better handle on writing for Vicki, and overall I found her character to be a breath of fresh air.   Maureen O'brien, who played Vicki, had some great chemistry with William Hartnell and this came across on-screen. 

Ian and Barbara stay through the Chase, and are replaced by Steven Taylor.   Steven is really just learning the ropes in the Time Meddler.  At the beginning of the Time Meddler, Steven doesn't even believe that the Tardis is a time machine or that he and his fellow travelers are now in the year 1066.  This new team of The Doctor, Vicki and Steven wouldn't last too long, however, as further cast changes would be taking place in the next series/season as well.

Rating the stories from Series/Season Two -

1. The Space Museum
2. The Chase
3. The Dalek Invasion of Earth
4. The Crusade
5. The Time Meddler
6. Planet of Giants
7. The Romans
8. The Rescue
9. The Web Planet

This series/season is, by far, the most intact of all the black and white series/seasons.  Only two episodes of the Crusade are missing from the BBC archives, and the audio soundtrack of both episodes are available on the Lost in Time DVD.  Therefore, if you'd like to experience an entire series/season of the early black and white Doctor Who, this is the one to do that with.

For those who rather simply have a sample of this series/season offering, I'd recommend starting with The Dalek Invasion of Earth, jumping ahead to the Space Museum and finishing off with The Chase.  The Crusade (if one can stand listening to the audio soundtracks of the two missing episodes) and The Time Meddler are also quite good, but not quite on the same level.

Up next, I'll be starting my reviews of the stories from series/season three, beginning with a review of Galaxy Four, including the recently found third episode of that particular story Air Lock.

Story #17 - The Time Meddler

For the first time, we meet up with another fellow Time Lord besides The Doctor and Susan, in the Time Meddler.

The Doctor and Vicki discover that Steven has stowed away on the Tardis, much to their surprise as they believed that he had perished with the destruction of the Mechanoid city at the end of the previous story, The Chase.

The Tardis lands in England in 1066.  Steven doesn't believe that the year is 1066, and several items that the travelers find over the course of their adventure, such as a wristwatch and a gun, only reinforce this belief.

The Tardis has landed on the beach underneath some cliffs.  The Doctor ventures off to find an easier place to climb to the top of the cliffs.  Meanwhile, Steven and Vicki climb the cliffs and plan on meeting up with the Doctor once they are on top.  After all have left the Tardis, a Monk approaches the Tardis who seems quite interested in it.

The Doctor visits a small nearby village, and discovers that Edward the Confessor has died, and Harold Godwinson is currently king of England, just prior to the battles of Stamford Bridge (where Harold beats back a Viking invasion force) and Hastings (where William the Conqueror defeats and kills Harold).

Some of the villagers are suspicious of The Doctor, as they fear he might be a spy for the Vikings.  The Doctor decides to visit the local monastery, which has only been recently re-occupied.  Once there, The Doctor discovers that the Monk is alone, but is also not from this time as the Monk is using a gramophone to play the Gregorian chants that are heard from the monastery.  The Monk then captures The Doctor and imprisons him.  However, the Doctor is able to escape and returns to the village.

Steven and Vicki have gone in search of The Doctor and, after learning from the villagers that The Doctor visited the monastery, decide to sneak in and find him.   They don't find The Doctor, but they do find the escape tunnel that was used by The Doctor in his own escape.

Meanwhile, an advance party of Vikings, lands on the coast.  The Viking's plans are to kill anyone who might warn the local population of their imminent invasion.  The Vikings are found by some of the villagers, and only two manage to escape.  The two escaped Vikings make their way to the monastery.

The Monk befriends the Vikings, in hopes of luring them into a trap, where he can destroy the invasion force with some modern-day weapons that he's brought.  With no Viking invasion force, Harold would thus not need to travel north to defeat them, and Harold would have a fresh army when he faced William at Hastings.

Steven and Vicki discover that the Monk is another time traveler, of the same race as The Doctor, when the stumble upon the Monk's Tardis at the monastery.   The Doctor and the Monk also arrive at the Monk's Tardis, wherein the Monk reveals the details of his plan.  The Monk hopes that by helping Harold prevail against William the Conqueror, he will be able to wield great influence at Harold's court.

The Monk's plans are thwarted, however, as the villagers discover that the Vikings are now holed up in the monastery.  The villagers free The Doctor, Steven and Vicki who have been tied up by the Monk and the Vikings soldiers.  The Vikings and the Monk make an attempt to escape.  The Monk is able to evade capture but the Vikings are caught and killed by the villagers. 

After having been freed by the villagers, The Doctor removes the dimensional control from the Monk's Tardis.  The Tardis thus becomes unusable as the interior is too small to enter.  The Monk is now trapped in the year 1066.

Finally meeting another Time Lord (the term is not yet used in this serial), beyond The Doctor and his grand daughter Susan, was quite interesting.  The Doctor seems to be enjoying matching wits with his fellow Time Lord, but is adamant that history cannot be changed.  The Monk is very much self-serving and has no qualms about changing history.  It's clear that part of his motivation for changing history is because, as he even says, "it's fun". 

The final fate of the Vikings, who are killed off by the villagers, is something that I found a bit surprising for what was considered at the time to be a children's (or family) show.  A children's show would never be able to get away with that nowadays. 

The Time Meddler is also the first time that we see what has become the model for historical adventures, particularly in the modern-day show.  While the story might take place in history, there is also an extra-terrestrial or monstrous threat as well.  In this story, the extra-terrestrial threat is, of course, the Monk.  In this case, it works well within the setting.

While not necessarily up to the level of The Space Museum and The Chase, this was a fun episode and a great way to end the second series/season of Doctor Who.  

Story #16 - The Chase

The Daleks return for the second time this season in The Chase.

As the Tardis leaves Xeros after the events of the Space Museum, the Doctor reveals a new gadget that he picked up from the Space Museum.  The gadget, called a Space-Time Visualizer, allows one to view any event throughout space and time.  The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki play around with the visualizer a bit, watching Abraham Lincoln give the Gettysburg address, William Shakespeare meeting Queen Elizabeth and The Beatles performing Ticket to Ride on Top of the Pops.

The Beatles clip is the main reason that I own the British DVD of this particular story.  The American Region 1 DVD does not include the Beatles clip due to the music rights being too expensive.   Normally, I buy the American DVDs, since I live in the US and they're simply easier to acquire.  However, I also don't like edited DVDs and I would have been rather unsatisfied with the edited American DVD.

I also think that while I do support music artists and rights holders to receive the money that they are due, they also need to be realistic about how much they charge for the rights to use their music.  Remember the furor about them changing all the music on WKRP in Cincinnati for the first season DVD release?  Remember how it didn't sell very well?   The cost of the music rights doomed the DVD release of WKRP, and it's unlikely that we'll see the rest of the series released on DVD.  The music rights holders simply want too much money for the studios to make money on the DVD project.  In the case of The Chase, the entire scene is excised because buying the rights to the Beatles song would have been cost-prohibitive and the BBC would not have been able to make a profit on the DVD.   In the end, the only real people hurt by these decisions are the fans, who would rather have unedited DVDs of their favorite shows.

Rant over, now back to my review of The Chase.

The Daleks have begun tracking the Tardis, and begin following it in their own time machine.   After playing around with the visualizer, the Tardis has landed on the planet Aridius.  Ian and Vicki go off to explore, while The Doctor and Barbara remain near the ship.  They later see the Daleks traveling to Aridius to intercept and exterminate them.   Barbara and The Doctor go off to look for Ian and Vicki, who have fallen into the hands of the native Aridians.  The Daleks, who have since arrived on Aridius demand the handover of the time travelers or they will exterminate the Aridians.   The Aridians, who have also found Barbara and The Doctor as well, agree to the Daleks demands.

The Aridians are attacked by the native Mire Beasts just prior to the handover of the time travelers, which allows them to escape.   The Daleks, who have in the meantime found the Tardis and are guarding it, fall for a trick devised by Ian and The Doctor, which allows them to enter the Tardis and escape Aridius.

The next couple of episodes feature the Tardis and the Dalek's timeship chasing one another through various locations around the universe.  Locations visited include the Empire State Building, the Mary Celeste and most humorously, a sideshow horror house featuring robots of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.  Vicki gets separated from the rest at the horror house, and stows away on the Dalek's timeship.

The final two episodes take place on Mechanus, a jungle planet that features a large city on pillars above the jungle.  Vicki is reunited with her fellow time travelers on Mechanus, and warns her fellow time travelers that the Daleks have built a duplicate robot Doctor to eliminate them.  The Doctor is able to disable the robot duplicate, but the travelers them find themselves trapped inside a cave with the Daleks just outside.  At this point, the inhabitants of the city above, the Mechanoids, arrive to help the travelers escape the Daleks.  The Mechanoids are not all that benign, however as they plan on keeping the time travelers as exhibits in a zoo.   Inside their cage, they meet Steven Taylor, an earth astronaut who's been held by the Mechanoids for quite a while.

The Daleks attack the Mechanoids in order to retrieve the time travelers, and both the Mechanoids and the Daleks are wiped out.  Meanwhile, the Doctor and his companions escape the city by means of a cable strung down from the city to the ground below.  Ian and Barbara, using the Dalek timeship, return home to Earth. The Doctor and Vicki watch the return of Ian and Barbara to Earth, and then resume their travels, unbeknownst to them that they have a stowaway Steven Taylor onboard as well.

The Chase, while perhaps not as epic as the earlier Dalek stories, is quite fun.  The humor, most unusual in Dalek stories, works quite well.   The depature of Ian and Barbara is quite classy, and it's nice to see the montage of them running around London after their adventures with The Doctor.  All in all, I found the Chase to be quite entertaining.

Story #15 - The Space Museum

The Doctor and his companion arrive on the planet Xeros, only to discover to their horror that they've become exhibits in a space museum that is located on the planet.

The first thing I'm sure you'll notice is that the British DVD cover is displayed here, rather than the American DVD cover.  The Space Museum, when it was released on DVD, was part of a box set.  This box set featured both The Space Museum and it's follow up story, The Chase.  The follow-up to this story, The Chase, features some edits on the American DVD that I found to be unacceptable so I chose to buy the British DVDs when I visited the United Kingdom in 2011.  When I review The Chase, I'll talk about the edits made to the American DVD, and why I chose to buy the British DVD version.  But for now, let's talk about the Space Museum.

The Doctor and his companions arrive on the planet Xeros.  During their explorations, they discover what turns out to be a giant space museum.  They also discover that the curators of the museum can't see or hear them.  It seems that a fault in the Tardis has caused the travelers to jump a bit into the future, where they discover to their horror that they've become exhibits in the museum.  After making this discovery, time catches up to the travelers, and they become visible to the curators.

The museum, part of the Morok empire, is mostly forlorn and forgotten by the general Morok population.  The travelers attempt to avoid capture by the Moroks and their leader, Lobos.  Meanwhile, the Moroks have enslaved the native population who are known as the Xerons.

Vicki makes contact with the Xerons and their leader Tor who is played by a very young Jeremy Bulloch, best known as Boba Fett from the original Star Wars trilogy.  Tor and his fellow Xerons want to start a revolution and throw off the yoke of the Moroks.

What is interesting about The Space Museum is the fact that The Doctor and his companions constantly question whether what they are doing is going to change history, thus avoiding the fate of becoming exhibits in the museum.  Or can the travelers, through their actions, change their fate?

This quandry makes The Space Museum facinating to watch, and is by far my favorite of the second series/season.  I'm not going to say much more, other than if you're any sort of Doctor Who fan, this is one story that you need to watch.  A real winner!

Story #14 - The Crusade

The Tardis lands in the middle of the Holy Land during the time of the Crusades.

The Crusade is the second of the missing stories (sadly, there are a lot more of these to come throughout the First and Second Doctor era).  Unlike the first missing story, Marco Polo, two of the episodes still exist and were made available on the Lost in Time DVD (see picture).   Additionally, the DVD provides linking narration, provided by William Christopher (in character as Ian Chesterton).   The audio portion of the missing episodes 2 and 4 are also provided on the DVD so that one may listen to the entire storyline.

Having recently watched this story a couple of month ago prior to starting my marathon viewing, I decided to watch the existing episodes with the provided linking narration by William Christopher as Ian, rather than listening to the entire audio soundtrack of the missing episodes.   Let me just say that while I appreciate having the linking narration (and it's nice seeing William Christopher in character again as Ian), I think the actual audio soundtracks are definitely the way to go.  The linking narration simply doesn't go into enough detail, particularly in regard to some of the may subplots.

The Crusade begins with the Tardis landing in a wooded area just outside of Jaffa.  A Saracen raid is taking place, led by the Saracen El Akir.  The Saracen's objective is to kidnap King Richard the Lion-Hearted, who it so happens is visiting the wood.   While the Saracens fail in their mission, they do kidnap Barbara and an English noblemen, William des Preaux, who pretends to be Richard to protect the king.  Meanwhile, The Doctor, Ian and Vicki rescue another English noblemen, William de Tornebu, and return with him to visit the King.

King Richard eventually decides to knight Ian as "Sir Ian of Jaffa", who is sent off as an emissary to Saladin, the leader of the Saracens.  Ian is to offer the hand of his sister Joanna, in marraige to Saladin's brother Saphadin.  In addition, Ian will try to rescue the kidnapped Barbara.  Ian is waylaid on the way to visit Saladin by bandits, but eventually is able to trick the bandits and escape.

Barbara, however, is kidnapped a second time by El Akir and taken to his home.  Barbara, however is rescued by a man named Haroun ed-Din, whose wife and daughter have been taken by El Akir.  El Akir's soldiers search for the missing Barbara, and eventually recapture her.  She escapes a second time, this time hiding in El Akir's harem with the help of Haroun's daughter Maimuna.  El Akir eventually finds both Barbara and Maimuna and intends on killing them.  However, Haroun finds them in the nick of time and kills El Akir.  Haroun and Maimuna are joyfully reunited.

Barbara and Ian are then reunited and make their way back to the Tardis.  Meanwhile, The Doctor and Vicki have been trying to survive the intrigues of King Richard's court.  Joanna has informed her brother the King that she will not consent to marry Saphadin, which infuriates the King.   The Doctor is eventually accused of being a spy and is sentenced to death.  Ian, in disguise as "Sir Ian of Jaffa", rescues The Doctor under the pretense of being his executioner.  The travelers then make their way back to the Tardis and resume their travels.

I haven't often mentioned guest stars in my reviews, but the duo of Julian Glover (the lead baddie in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs) are simply wonderful as King Richard and his sister Joanna.  You can just feel the tension when Joanna tells the King that she refuses to marry Saladin's brother. 

The Crusade is top-notch Doctor Who, and after the three less than stellar stories that preceded it, a real breath of fresh air. 

  

Story #13 - The Web Planet

The Tardis is drawn to the planet Volaris, when it must do battle with the Zarbi and their master the Animus in The Web Planet.

The Tardis is inexplicably drawn toward the planet Volaris.  The Doctor and Ian leave the Tardis to try and find out what is holding the Tardis on Volaris.

The Zarbi, a race of  giant ant-like aliens at first compel Barbara to leave the Tardis using hypnosis.  Barbara meets three members of the Menoptra, a race of bee-like aliens, who break the hypnosis.  While the Menoptra debate what they are to do with Barbara, she escapes only to be captured by the Zarbi, who force her to reveal the location of the Menoptra.  The Zarbi kill one of the Menoptrans, take one prisoner while the third is able to escape.

The Zarbi also take the Tardis to their headquarters, along with Vicki who has remained inside the Tardis.  The Doctor and Ian discover the theft of the Tardis, and track the Zarbi to their headquarters.   The Doctor is able to contact the Animus, the force which controls the Zarbi and hold the Tardis on Volaris.  The Animus desires information on a planned invasion of Volaris by the Menoptra.  If The Doctor provides this information, it will allow the Tardis and her passengers to leave.  The Doctor, not trusting the Animus, uses stalling tactics to buy for time.  Meanwhile, The Doctor also arranges for Ian to escape so that he can search for Barbara.

Meanwhile, Barbara and the one surviving Menoptran, Hrorstar, have been taken to the Crater of Needles.  They, along with other slaves are used as forced labor.   Ian, having escaped, runs into another Menoptran, Vrestin, who tells Ian that the Menoptra are native to the planet Volaris.  Vrestin also tell Ian that at one time the Menoptra and the Zarbi lived at peace with one another, but when the force known as the Animus appeared on the scene, it enslaved the Zarbi and forced the Menoptra to flee to one of the many moons surrounding Volaris.

Despite The Doctor's stalling tactics, the Animus eventually learns the location of the Menoptran invasion, which is the Crater of Needles.  The invasion is beaten back, which much loss on the Menoptran side.  The Doctor, having since escaped the Zarbi headquarters, devises a strategy to attack and destroy the Animus.  Barbara and the Menoptra will lead an attack on the Zarbi headquarters as a diversion, while The Doctor and Vicki will sneak in by another way to use the isop-tope device made by the Menoptra to destroy the Animus.

Ian, meanwhile, has discovered that some of the Menoptra had retreated underground after the arrival of the Animus, are now call themselves the Optera.  They have evolved to the point where they no longer have wings and view the Menoptra as gods.  Ian, along with Vrestin, are able to convince the Optera to help and lead Ian and Vrestin to the Zarbi headquarters, where they attack the Animus from underneath.

The Doctor and Vicki fail in the part of the mission and are captured by the Animus.  Barbara, Ian and the Menoptra arrive in time for Barbara to activate the Menoptran device, and the Animus is destroyed.  With the Animus destroyed, the Zarbi are now free of its control.  The Menoptra, along with the Optera, will attempt to rebuild their planet.

The biggest problem that I had with the Web Planet is that no explanation is given as to what exactly is the Animus.  Was the Animus native to Volaris, or was it an alien presence which somehow got trapped on the planet?   The other big problem with the story is it really takes far too long to get where it is going, this is one of those six episode stories that might have worked much better had it been shortened to perhaps four episodes.  

I will say that I did enjoy The Web Planet more than either of the previous two stories.  However, that isn't saying too much since I didn't think overly much of either The Rescue or The Romans.  The Web Planet is simply below average Doctor Who and none of these three stories should be considered highlights of this particular series/season.

Story #12 - The Romans

After three sci-fi themed stories, we return to the historical story with The Romans.

At the end of the previous story, The Rescue, the Tardis lands rather precariously on the side of a cliff.  The Tardis is seen as falling off the cliff.  The Romans begins with The Doctor and his companions Ian, Barbara and Vicki living it up at a Roman villa outside a village not too far from the city of Rome, in the time of the Emperor Nero.

After reassuring everyone that the Tardis is still in working order despite its fall from the cliffside, The Doctor decides to visit Rome, and takes Vicki along.  Ian and Barbara remain behind at the villa, but are soon set upon by slave traders and sold into slavery.  Ian ends up first as a galley slave, then eventually as a gladiator.  Barbara, meanwhile, is bought by Tavius, who is responsible for the staffing of the Emperor's household, where Barbara will become the handmaiden of the Empress.

The Doctor, meanwhile, discovers the dead body of a musician by the name of Maximus Pettulian.  Shortly after discovering the body, The Doctor is mistaken for Maximus.   Nero had ordered Maximus to be discreetly murdered as he is jealous of any fellow musicians, and the Roman Centurion who has mistaken The Doctor for Maximus attempts to fulfill his orders.  The Doctor foils the attempt, and makes his way to Rome with Vicki. 

Nero welcomes The Doctor, as he can't have The Doctor murdered while he's staying at the Emperor's palace without causing problems.   Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara, who are already in Rome are unaware of The Doctor's presence.  The Doctor is forced to give a musical performance, wherein he plays nothing but the audience, including Nero, of course won't admit that they've heard nothing.  The Doctor quips, afterwards, that he was the one who gave the idea of The Emperor's New Clothes to Hans Christian Anderson centuries later.

Nero, however, is enraged and attempts to have The Doctor killed.  When confronted by Nero, The Doctor ends up setting fire to Nero's plans to rebuild Rome.   This gives Nero an idea, which puts in motion the events that lead to Nero's burning of Rome.  Under the cover of the fire, The Doctor and his companions escape Rome and return to the villa and it's revealed that Tavius, who aids in Barbara and Ian's escape, is a Christian.  One of the last shots of Rome that we see is Nero playing a lyre while watching the city burn.

The problem I had with the Romans is Derek Francis' portrayal of the Emperor Nero.  In this story, Nero is written and portrayed as a skirt chasing buffoon.   I found it hard to believe that this version of Nero would even have the intelligence to come up with grand plans for rebuilding Rome.  He spends the better part of one of the episodes chasing Barbara around, with Barbara trying to avoid him.  The Empress, played by Kay Patrick, comes off as jealous and controlling and thoroughly unlikable.  

I'll admit the reference to the Emperor's New Clothes was clever, but in the end the attempts to make this episode somewhat humorous just didn't work for me.  Once the broadly played Nero arrives on the scene, the story fall apart.  If the writers and Derek Francis had chosen to play Nero as a more serious and menacing individual, thus upping the suspense and the danger that The Doctor and his companions faced, then The Romans might have really worked.  As it is, The Romans is, to put it quite simply, below average Doctor Who. 

Story #11 - The Rescue

We get introduced to a new companion, and make a visit to the world of Dido in The Rescue.

The Tardis lands on the planet Dido, which The Doctor claims to have visited before.  Ian and Barbara, while out exploring the cave that the Tardis has landed in, are menaced and later attacked by the alien creature Koquillion on the ledge of a cliff.  Barbara falls off the cliff during the attack, but Ian is able to beat off Koquillion's attack and return to the Tardis to elicit The Doctor's help.

Barbara makes her way to a crashed spaceship that was seen earlier in the episode.  There, she finds a teenage girl by the name of Vicki.  Vicki and Bennett, who appears to be crippled by his injuries, are all that is left of the crew of the spaceship.   The crew are kept as virtual prisoners in the ship by Koquillion, who claims that the natives of Dido would kill them if not for his protection.  A rescue ship is on the way to rescue both Vicki and Bennett.

Ian and The Doctor make their way out of the cave and to the spaceship.  Once there, it's revealed that Koquillion and Bennett are one and the same, as Bennett is using the ruse to cover up his crimes of murdering not only the entire spaceship crew but also the native Didoans.  A surprise appearance by a couple of native Didoans, who apparently were not all dead and Koquillion/Bennett is defeated.  Vicki joins the Tardis crew, as the Didoans prevent the rescue ship from landing.

Despite what sounds like an interesting story, the reality is that The Rescue simply exists to introduce us to the new companion Vicki.   The whole Koquillion/Bennett twist is something I could see coming from a mile away, and truthfully it just isn't that interesting.  The surprise appearance by the native Didoans seems to come out of nowhere, a convenient way for the writers to get out of a tight spot that they had written themselves into. 

The only two things that I found worth taking from The Rescue are these - at two episodes it doesn't take long to get through.  The other is, as it turns out,  the wonderful addition to the Tardis crew in the person of Vicki.

Story #10 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth

It's kind of symmetrical that the second story of the second series/season of Doctor Who would also be the second appearance of Doctor Who's most popular and enduring adversaries, the Daleks, in The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Given the popularity of the first Dalek story, it was inevitable that the popular adversaries would be making a return appearance and it certainly doesn't disappoint.

The Tardis lands in late 22nd century London, which they find in ruins.  The Doctor and Ian go off to explore while Susan and Barbara remain behind with the ship.  Susan and Barbara are captured by human resistance fighters, while The Doctor and Ian are captured by the Daleks and their human slaves The Robomen.

The Doctor is due to be converted into a Roboman, but an attack by the resistance fighters foils the Daleks plans.  After this attack, the Daleks retreat from London to their mining operations to the north of London in Bedfordshire.

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan each make their way to Bedfordshire.  Ian stows away on the Dalek ship, along with Craddock, one of the resistance fighters.  Barbara and another resistance fighter, Jenny, make their way first by truck and then on foot.  The Doctor and Susan arrive with the help of David Campbell, Carl Tyler and other resistance fighters.

Once in Bedfordshire, the Daleks' plans are made clear.  The Daleks intend to remove the core of the Earth, which would allow the Daleks to use the Earth as a massive spaceship.   The Doctor, with the help of his companions and the resistance fighters eventually foils their plans by turning the Robomen on the Daleks.

One does have to wonder why the Daleks would need the Earth as a spaceship.   That particular plot point is never really explained.

Unlike most of the stories from the first series/season, The Doctor fully embraces the need to fight and resist the Daleks.  The Doctor has gone from one fighting simply for self-preservation and for a higher goal, the defeat of evil.  This is spelled out explicitly at one point early on in the story, when after being captured by the Daleks, The Doctor tells Ian that they must fight and defeat them.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth also witnesses our first companion departure.  Susan, The Doctor's granddaughter, falls in love with David Campbell, one of the resistance fighters.  Susan, at one point, tries to convince David to join the Tardis crew and travel with her through time and space.  David, however, is adamant about staying and trying to rebuild the Earth and implores Susan to stay with him.  The Doctor, realizing the tough decision that Susan is facing, makes the decision for her by locking Susan out of the Tardis.

I think the way the show handled the departure of Susan, with a very emotional farewell, certainly did a great deal to allow viewers to accept Susan's departure and to embrace the new companion, Vicki, who would be introduced in the next story.  It also got viewers of Doctor Who used to the idea that change would be only constant in the Doctor Who universe and in many ways helped to pave the way for the changes that would eventually come in the future.


 

Story #9 - Planet of Giants

With the story Planet of Giants, the second series/season begins.

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in contemporary 1960s England, however due to a malfunction on the Tardis, they've all be shrunken to the size of ants.

Unaware of their now shrunken size, the travelers begin to explore the landscape.  What they find are mostly dead insects, particularly ants.  It's later discovered that the entire area has been treated with a new, experimental pesticide DN6, which has killed off the insect population.

At the same time, a government official named Mr. Farrow has discovered through his testing that DN6  is "too powerful" and kills off not only harmful insects but also helpful insects as well.  Mr. Farrow intends to withhold his approval of DN6.  The owner of the company behind DN6, Mr. Forester, murders Mr. Farrow and plans to alter Mr. Farrow's report and cover-up his murder, in hopes of retaining his investment in the pesticide.

The travelers get caught up in all this intrigue, and Barbara begins to get sickened after handling some grain seeds that have been treated by the pesticide.  The Doctor, his sense of justice coming to the fore, intends to make sure that despite their small size, that Mr. Forester and his accomplice Mr. Smithers face justice for their crimes.  The fact that The Doctor is willing to do this shows just how much The Doctor's own character has evolved from just a year ago in An Unearthly Child.

Planet of Giants was originally planned to be a four episode story, but the powers-that-be at the time decided that a shorter three episode story would make it more exciting.  The current DVD includes both the aired three episode version along with a restored four episode version.

The three episode version works well, and I didn't feel like the story was edited or cut-down.  I have yet to watch the four episode version, but perhaps after my marathon watch I'll revisit this story and sample the longer version.

Planet of Giants predates the American-made Land of the Giants by a few years, but it resembles that show in several ways, the oversized props and camera tricks to make us believe that The Doctor and his companions are actually ant sized.   Considering the limited budget, the special effects work rather well.

The fact that the travelers are miniature sized adds to the peril and suspense.  Cats, for example, suddenly become deadly simply due to their size.   It's also appeals to one's sense for justice, as Mr. Forester and Mr. Smithers will end up facing justice for their murder of Mr. Farrow.   A great opener to the second series/season of Doctor Who.

Series/Season One Wrap-Up

With the Reign of Terror, the first series (or season, in American parlance) wraps up.  Rather than jumping directly into the next second series/season with Planet of Giants, I thought I'd offer a bit of a wrap-up or summary of the first series/season of Doctor Who.

The Doctor's character arc is, by far, the most interesting.  In An Unearthly Child, he is portrayed as a touchy, irritable and suspicious gentlemen who shows no qualms about kidnapping two schoolteachers to protect the secret of his time travel machine, the Tardis.   By The Reign of Terror, he has developed at the very least a grudging respect for the two schoolteachers Ian and Barbara.  It's hard to imagine The Doctor of An Unearthly Child becoming romantically involved with Cameca as he does in the Aztecs story or the lengths he would go to to rescue Susan, Ian and Barbara in the Reign of Terror. 

Ian and Barbara, the two schoolteachers from Earth, seems to have changed the least between An Unearthly Child and The Reign of Terror.  Their primary motivation in An Unearthly Child was to get home to 1960s England, and this is still a primary motivation of both Ian and Barbara even at the end of The Reign of Terror.

Sadly, the writers really fumbled with Susan.  While they were able to tone down The Doctor and make him a much more likable character, the writers never seemed to be able to get a handle on Susan.  Was she an "unearthly" child, with an intelligence beyond her years?  Or was Susan a teenager, who would get easily scared by the aliens and other myraid threats and have to cower for protection?  In some episodes, like the Sensorites, the smarter and more otherworldly Susan would come to the fore.  In others, like the The Keys of Marinus, the latter Susan would make an appearance.   It's kind of a shame, really, as her character had so much promise.

The stories themselves are a bit of a mixed bag.  Here's how I'd rank the stories from the first series/season:

1. The Reign of Terror
2. The Daleks
3. The Aztecs
4. The Keys of Marinus
5. The Edge of Destruction
6. Marco Polo
7. An Unearthly Child
8. The Sensorites

For fans of the revived series, or those who've never watched any of these early stories, my recommendation would be to watch the very first episode of An Unearthly Child, skip ahead to The Daleks, and follow that up with The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror.

Up next, we'll jump into the second series/season of Doctor Who, with Planet of Giants!

Story #8 - The Reign of Terror

The Reign of Terror is the final serial of the first series/season of Doctor Who. 

At the end of the last story, The Sensorites, Ian had made a quip about The Doctor's piloting of the Tardis.  The Doctor, annoyed by the quip, decides to return Ian and Barbara back to Earth.  They do arrive on Earth, but instead of England in the 1960s, they arrive in the late 1700s in France during the height of the Reign of Terror.

While exploring a nearby farmhouse, the travelers are overtaken by a couple of counter-revolutionaries fleeing the French government.  The Doctor is knocked out by the revolutionaries, but before anything else can happen, French soldiers lay siege to the house.

The two counter-revolutionaries are killed during the siege.  Ian, Barbara and Susan are mistaken for fugitives and are taken to the Conciergerie  prison, with the ultimate fate of being guillotined.  Ian, however, is thrown into a cell with an Englishman named Webster.  Webster reveals to Ian that there is an English spy, James Stirling, who has been holding an important position in the French government.  Webster had been sent to tell Stirling that he is being recalled back to England.  After Webster's death, a government official by the name of Lemaitre is eager to learn what Webster has spoken to Ian, but Ian remains tight-lipped and refuses to say anything.  Lemaitre removes Ian from the execution list in hopes of learning what Ian has been told.

Meanwhile, The Doctor awakens after having been knocked out during the siege, having been rescued by a local boy from the farmhouse, after it had been set on fire by the French soldiers.  The Doctor travels to Paris to rescue his companions.  Once there, he impersonates a French official from one of the provinces.  Lemaitre is suspicious of The Doctor, and uses several tricks to keep The Doctor in Paris while he attempts to learn The Doctor's true identity.

Barbara and Susan, meanwhile are rescued while being taken to the guillotine by a group of counter-revolutionaries led by Jules Renan.  They are led to a safe house, where they can recover from the ordeal.  Susan has been sickened by her stay in the prison, and a visit to a physicianis arranged.  This visit proves disastrous, as one of Jules' compatriots, Leon Colbert, is found out to be a spy for the French government and Barbara and Susan are recaptured.

Ian, who had escaped the prison and met up with Barbara and Susan prior to their disastrous visit to the physician, also goes off to meet with Colbert.  Colbert captures Ian and plans to torture him in hopes of learning the whereabouts of Stirling.  Jules rescues Ian, and kill Colbert in the process.

The Doctor, meanwhile, has been forced to make a visit to Robespierre, the leader of the French government.  The Doctor is to provide a report about the region he is supposedly responsible for.  The Doctor is able to sidestep giving his report, but is ordered to return the following day.  Upon his return to the prison, where The Doctor has been staying, he discovers Barbara and Susan.  The Doctor is able to effect the release of Barbara, on the pretext that she can lead the French soldiers to the hideout of the counter-revolutionaries. 

Lemaitre, however, discovers The Doctor's plans.  He holds Susan as a hostage, and forces The Doctor to lead him to the counter-revolutionaries hideout.  Once there, it is revealed that Lemaitre is, in fact, James Stirling.  He has been ordered by Robespierre to spy on Paul Barras, Robespierre's deputy.  Barras has a clandestine meeting planned at an inn outside of Paris.  Ian and Barbara disguise themselves as innkeepers to discover who Barras is meeting.  It should come as no surprise that Barras is meeting Napoleon Bonaparte (I saw this one coming from a mile away!).

Shortly after this meeting, Robespierre is deposed.  While Robespierre is being led to the prison, Stirling keeps his word and has Susan released from prison.  The Doctor and his companions leave Paris though the help of Jules and return to the Tardis to resume their travels.

Six episode stories in Doctor Who usually tend to feel a bit padded, like they're stretching not enough butter over a slice of bread.  This isn't true with the Reign of Terror, however.  It's such a complicated story that it's just as well that it is six episodes long. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that the BBC has wonderfully animated the two missing episodes from this story.   I personally think the animation is slightly better than the animation used for the Second Doctor adventure The Invasion, the other instance where this technique was used.  Two more incomplete series will use this method to round out and complete their stories, The Tenth Planet (the final First Doctor story) and The Ice Warriors (a Second Doctor story).   Both of these episodes will be released later this year, and I'm looking forward to both releases.

The Reign of Terror is a great finale to this first series/season.   I'd rank it as my favorite serial from this series/season, even above the first and iconic Dalek story.   It's well worth your time to check it out if you've never seen it.

Story #7 - The Sensorites

After the wonderful Aztecs historical, we return to the realm of science fiction with the Sensorites.

The Tardis lands on a moving spaceship originally from Earth.  The spaceship is orbiting the Sense-Sphere, home to the Sensorites.  The Sensorites keep the ship in orbit around the planet.  One of the crew members, John, has become insane through the ordeal, while the other two crew members Carol and Maitland seem resigned to their plight, and plead with The Doctor and his companions to leave.

This, however, proves impossible, because The Sensorites have removed the locking mechanism from the Tardis, trapping The Doctor and his companions on the ship.

Eventually, the Sensorites make contact with The Doctor, and it's arranged for him to travel down to the Sense-Sphere to negotiate a settlement with the Sensorites.  It seems since the arrival of the explorers from Earth, many Sensorites have been dying due to an unknown disease.  It's also learned that the Sense-Sphere was discovered to be rich in the rare mineral known as Molybdenum, and the Sensorites fear that the humans will return to exploit them in their quest to obtain the molybdenum.

Ian get sick after drinking some water at a reception.  The water, which is what ordinary Sensorites drink, is found out to be contaminated with deadly nightshade.  It seems that several crew members from the spaceship have survived and have been poisoning the water supply.  Meanwhile, the City Administrator has murdered the Second Elder and taken his place, and has secretly been working with the survivors in hopes of eventually taking over as the First Elder.

The Doctor eventually lures the surviving crew members, who believe that they've been fighting a war with the Sensorites for years, out into the open.  The plotting of the City Administrator is also revealed by the end of the episode.  Maitland, Carol and John (having been cured of his mental illness by the Sensorites) leave for Earth, taking the insane crew members with them for treatment.

This whole story is a bit unusual for the time period, where most extra-terrestrials or obvious alien-like creatures were almost always viewed as enemies or at the very least, threats to humanity.  In this case, neither side is wholly innocent and the story can't simply be viewed in simple black and white.  

The Sensorites, and their leader the First Elder, are motivated by self-preservation and do not wish to be exploited by the Earthmen.  However, their keeping the spaceship crew prisoner, and driving one insane, along with the actions of the City Administrator show that the Sensorites can be just as ruthless as the humans.

In the end, however, I found the story to be bogged down by a rather slow pace, much like Marco Polo was.  There's nothing inherently wrong with a long Doctor Who story, if it's interesting and the pacing is good (a good example from this series/season is The Daleks).   But the Sensorites seems to take forever to get where it is going, which robs the story of its rather unique aspect of featuring a race of all-too human aliens.

Coming next, the first series/season wraps up with The Reign of Terror, which I'll be reviewing next.  After reviewing that episode, I'll be taking an overall look at the first series/season, particularly focusing on The Doctor and his companions and their changing relationship over the course of the series/season.  Then it's onward to the second series/season with Planet of the Giants.

 

Story #6 - The Aztecs

After the events on Marinus, the series ventures back into history again with The Aztecs.

The Tardis lands inside an Aztec temple.  Barbara steps outside to explore and, after going through a secret trap door, is mistaken by the Aztecs as the reincarnation of an Aztec god, Yetaxa.

As Barbara/Yetaxa's servants, The Doctor, Ian and Susan also become involved in Aztec culture.  Ian is made an Aztec warrior, which puts him in conflict with Ixta, who has been in training to become the leader of the Aztec armies.  

Susan becomes betrothed to the Perfect Victim, who's to be sacrificed during an upcoming solar eclipse.  

Perhaps most interesting is subplot involving The Doctor.  The Doctor strikes up a friendship with an older Aztec woman, Cameca that might be more than just friendship.  For those that don't like romance in the revived Doctor Who, especially romances involving The Doctor, it's revealing to see that the idea of The Doctor having a romance isn't exactly a new idea.  The scenes with The Doctor and Cameca are real highlights to this story.

The plot revolves around the fact that Barbara, who's being perceived by the Aztecs as a goddess, has decided to change history by banning human sacrifices, which put her at odds with The Doctor who says that Barbara can't change history.  This also puts Barbara at odds with the High Priest of Sacrifice, Tlotoxl.  Tlotoxl accuses Barbara of being a false goddess, but Barbara does have a sympathetic ally in Autloc, the High Priest of Knowledge.

By the end of the story, Barbara has been unable to change much of anything as the sacrifice takes place as planned.   But, as the Doctor points out, while she hasn't changed the Aztec culture, she has at least changed the mind and the beliefs of one man, Autloc.  

One of the best, if not the best story from Doctor Who's first series and that's saying something since I consider the first Daleks story to be some of the very best that Doctor Who has to offer.

 

Story #5 - The Keys of Marinus

After the historical adventure that was Marco Polo, we return to a more strictly science fiction adventure with The Keys of Marinus.

The Doctor and his companions Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive on what appears to be an uninhabited island on the planet of Marinus.   The island is surrounded by an acidic ocean, and features a large tower.  

After the arrival of the Tardis, several torpedo-like ships land upon the island, which are carrying as passengers several members of the Voord.  The Voord are interested is taking control of  the Conscience of Marinus, a mega-computer that for generations was the final word of law and order on Marinus. 

Arbitan, who guards the Conscience, had split up the five keys to the Conscience all over Marinus, to prevent the Voord from gaining control of the Conscience.  Now Arbitan need to gather the keys to the Conscience to fight off the Voord.  He's kept one of the keys himself and has sent out several assistants previously to gather the other four keys, including his own daughter, but none have returned.   Arbitan, desperate, forces The Doctor and his companions to undertake the quest to gather the keys by keeping the travelers from reentering the Tardis via a forcefield.

We see several different environments during our travels over Marinus.  The first is a city where every wish seems to be fulfilled.  In reality, it's all an illusion created by several aliens who have the citizens under their control by hynopsis.  Barbara is the first to break the hynopsis link, and eventually they are able to beat the aliens and retrieve the first key.  They also discover that Arbitan's daughter, Sabetha and one of Arbitan's assistants, Altos as well.  Altos and Sabetha join The Doctor and his companions on their quest to retrieve the rest of the keys.

At the end of this first quest, the decision is made to split up the group.  The Doctor travels to the location of the last key, while the other travelers make for the second location.  The second location takes place in a jungle environment and the third takes place in an arctic environment.   After the retrieval of those two keys, the other travelers meet up with The Doctor at the last location, the city of Millenius.  A complication ensues when Ian is framed for murder and the need for The Doctor to prove Ian's innocence.  

Once all four keys have been gathered, and the real murderer has been revealed and Ian's innocence proved, the travelers return to the original island and the tower.  The Voord have killed off Arbitan and are now in control of the tower.  Ian gives the Voord a fake key that they found during the jungle adventure.  The Voord uses this fake key and it ends up destroying the Conscience, the Tower and killing the Voord as well.

Altos and Sabetha have decided to get married, and leave The Doctor and his companions.  The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan, the forcefield around the Tardis now removed, resume their travels.

The format of "smaller quests inside a larger quest" was an intriguing idea.  It certainly kept my interest more than the previous serial, Marco Polo, did.   This story certainly was an inspiration for the much later "Key to Time" season-long arc from the Fourth Doctor era.  Some of the mini-quests were more enjoyable than others, particularly the last adventure where The Doctor has to defend Ian against murder charges.  A courtroom drama isn't the first thing one thinks of when thinking of Doctor Who, but it's interesting to watch and it proves that Doctor Who can do pretty much anything, and it's still Doctor Who.   This serial is definitely a winner in my book.

Story #4 - Marco Polo

Marco Polo is the first of the "missing episodes", stories that were wiped ("erased") by the BBC and may be irretrievably lost.

Written by John Lucarotti
Directed by Waris Hussein

Main Cast-
The Doctor - William Hartnell
Ian - William Russell
Barbara - Jacqueline Hill
Susan - Carole Ann Ford

Main Guest Cast-
Marco Polo - Mark Eded
Ping Cho - Zienia Merton
Tegana - Derren Nesbitt
Kublai Khan - Martin Miller

Synopsis-
Marco Polo is a completely missing story.  The audio to all of the missing episodes still exists thanks to dedicated fans who, back in the 1960s, taped the audio of each episode on their cassette decks.  Thanks to these fans, along with the authors of the Target novelizations, we still can experience these wonderful Doctor Who adventures.

For the missing stories like Marco Polo, I've decided on a multi-pronged approach.  For some, I will listen to the audio and for others I will read the Target novelization.  There are also some wonderful fan-made reconstructions out there, along with some animated reconstructions done by the BBC for both the Reign of Terror and the Invasion and I will enjoy some of the stories via the reconstructions as well.  With Marco Polo, I chose to listen to the full-length audio version.

Marco Polo is the first of the historical stories.  Historical stories in Doctor Who take place during Earth's recorded past but do not feature monsters or extraterrestrial threats.  The First Doctor era was known for featuring historical stories, but the format was eventually dropped after The Highlanders, the second story to feature the Second Doctor.

After the events of The Edge of Destruction, the Tardis finds itself sitting on a plateau high up in the Pamir mountains.   This ship is damaged and in need of repair.  The travelers are found by Marco Polo's caravan, which is journeying to Cathay (China) with a young woman by the name of Ping Cho and a Mongol warrior and ambassador by the name of Tegana.  Ping Cho is destined to marry a much older but influential member of Kublai Khan's court.

The set-up to the story is great, Marco Polo hopes to give Kublai Khan the "flying caravan" aka the Tardis in hopes of being allowed to return to his home in Venice.   The problem is this, most of the middle episodes consist of Tegana plotting against Marco Polo in hopes of attaining possession of the Tardis, the Doctor and his companions attempting to regain possession of the Tardis key so they can return to their travels and their slow progress despite all this towards the Khan's court.

Once we do get to Kublai Khan's court, the story picks up.  The Doctor befriends the Khan, but loses the Tardis in a game of chance.  Fortunately, the Doctor and his companions reveal Tegana's treachery, and Tegana's attempt to assassinate the Khan is foiled.  Ping Cho, whom after befriending Susan during the long journey and has qualms about marrying a man much older than herself, finds out that her intended husband has died.  She remains at the Khan's court by request of the Khan himself.  The Khan allows The Doctor and his companions to leave and gives Marco Polo his permission to return to his home in Venice.

Review-
Now, as a general rule, I have a fondness for the historical stories.  Marco Polo, however, stretches that fondness pretty much to the breaking point.  A condensed 30 minute version is available on The Beginning DVD set, and is in my humble opinion probably the best way for most fans to experience this story.  Sitting through Marco Polo in its entirety can really test one's patience.   Fortunately, the other two historical stories from Series One are big improvements, as we shall soon see.