As a countdown to the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who I and my wife will be watching an episode a day until we are caught up to whatever the Beeb has planned. This is a record of my initial reaction to each day's episode published with minimal editing and crappy synopsis.
"Where is not as important as why."
There's a term in TV called a "bottle episode." It's designed to save money by only using the regular cast member, pre-existing sets and keeping a tight rein on the special effects budget. This episode, and the next, are bottle episodes. It's right in between The Daleks and Marco Polo, two seven part serials that were relatively lavish by 1964 Doctor Who standards.
Something has gone wrong with the Ship and the TARDIS crew. The paranoia has been ramped up to 11 and things aren't helped by fleeting amnesia, a lying food dispenser, the main doors opening and closing on their own, melting clocks and a pair of scissors that almost got the series cancelled.
The acting is good all the way around. For the first half of this Ian is really creepy. Think Mr Rogers as channeled by Hannibal Lecter. There's a sense that he was capable of nearly anything even though he didn't actually do anything that off.
Maybe that's what Susan was picking up on when she threatened him with a long pair of scissors. The BBC Children's department was already pissed that they weren't making Doctor Who. Putting a dangerous, yet commonplace, item into the hands of a "child" who promptly threatens an authority figure with it was all the ammunition that the Children's Department needed. The massive success of the Daleks and a letter of apology were the only things that saved Who.
At one point the Doctor accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotaging the Ship. Trying to "blackmail" him into getting them back home. Barbara steps up and rips into him. Tells him that he'd be dead twice over if it wasn't for her and Ian and that he should get down on his knees and thank them for what they've done for him.
It was a great moment. Fans of the classic series like to point out Ace and Leela as the bad-ass women of Doctor Who. Barbara may not have the body count, but she sure as hell isn't the piece of fluff that some people seem to think of when they envision a companion.
The Doctor returns later with refreshments for everyone. Ian is suspicious. Possibly because the Doctor gets his name right for once. It looks as though the Doctor is being a dick again and drugged them.
This is the first episode that made Angela want to watch the next one immediately.
There are a lot of nice bits in this.
There's a bit when the Doctor and Ian are trying to find a mechanical fault with the TARDIS. The Doctor walks to the console, but Ian stops him by saying that the console might be electrified (based on earlier events in the episode.) People's memories have been playing tricks on them up to this point. There's a look on Ian's face like he remembers the console being electrified before, but the memory is vague. Possibly a reference to the Doctor messing with Ian in the first episode.
The framing of shots is interesting as well. Richard Martin played around with the placement of his players. There were some very well composed shots of the Doctor in the foreground with Susan and Ian in the near distance. It helped make things more interesting.
There's something about the way that the travelers try to problem solve that reminds me of a bad D&D session. You know what I mean. You've just gotten finished your marathon nine hour session raiding the Dalek city. Everyone is wired on Mountain Dew and chocolate covered espresso beans and doesn't want to call it a night even though it's three in the morning and you have to be up for your shift at Burger King at five. The game master knows what the next big adventure is, but hasn't had the prep time that he'd like so he decides to wing it. He throws something weird at you that doesn't require him to make up any new NPCs or maps. The players try valiantly to figure out what the hell is going on, but are either brain-numbed or paranoid from the caffeine crash that hit twenty minutes into the new adventure.
Or maybe that's just me.
Another odd note. Ang and I are MST3K fans as well as Whovians. One of her favorite episodes of MST is The Horror of Party Beach. The two share some of the same incidental music. For the record, this episode aired about four months before Party Beach was released.
Next Up: The Brink of Disaster
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