Mellium: He knows no more than you. He simply has faith.
Zentos: So have I...in my own eyes and ears, and machines tell fewer lies than men.
The credits end and we are shown a misty forest/jungle, replete with many different animals. The camera pans to a strange alien creature with an eye where a chin would be on a human. It appears to be wearing a Beatles' wig. The TARDIS materializes nearby.
The alien creature turns out to be a Monoid, one of the more distinctive alien species in 60's Doctor Who. It has green leathery skin, hair that really does look like a Beatles' wig, and a face devoid of all features except a single eye, placed low on the face. They also have these weird webbed feet. Sort of like a weird mutant duck.
Dodo burst out of the TARDIS dressed in an odd costume. It's a half black/half white affair with a heraldic crest on the front. It looks cool, but I have no idea why she is wearing it. The narration of her introduction in the previous episode made no reference to her going to a fancy dress party. If my sources are correct, she entered the TARDIS in normal looking clothing.
There is a piece of dialog between the Doctor and Dodo that explains that she was rummaging through the TARDIS wardrobe. Her deciding to put this outfit on for no apparent reason does add credence to my "Dodo is on drugs" theory presented last episode.
She is also very blase about suddenly being in what, she assumes, is a London zoo. I know that at least one book has been written under the assumption that this wasn't her first trip. That certainly would explain some things, but isn't really considered cannon.
Steven is annoyed at Dodo running out into what might have proven to be a hostile, alien environment. She tells him where they are, Whipsnade, just outside of London. He says that they can't even be sure that they are on Earth. She counters by identifying several Earth animals. Apparently she was paying attention in the Life Science classes.
The Doctor isn't so sure about their location, but thinks that Earth seems the most likely.
The Monoid gets closer to the TARDIS.
Meanwhile and elsewhere, a court hearing is under way. Another Monoid hands the Commander a piece of paper from something that looks like a mash-up between an electric typewriter and a fax machine.
The defendant, it appears, is a technician who left a switch in the wrong position and almost ended up killing everyone. He is sentenced to miniaturization, not to be brought back for 700 years.
The Commanders' daughter, and probable love interest of the defendant, begs for mercy, but this is the most merciful sentence available.
The defendant is shrunk. The effect isn't half bad for the era and budget.
Back at the TARDIS, the crew encounter an elephant. I do have to give the show credit for the number of live animals that appear in this episode. The elephant is the most obvious example, but there are numerous other beasties including a chameleon, monitor lizard, tucan and some exotic insect that Dodo points out. I think that I spotted a snake, but it might have been a prop.
The Doctor points out that the flora and fauna are from all over the Earth, that instead of a sky there is a roof that radiates light, and that the ground seems to be trembling.
Dodo sneezes for the second time this episode. That will be a plot point later on. Yeah, I am serious.
As usually happens, the Doctor and company are brought in for questioning by the authorities. They discover that they are on a space ship bringing the shrunken and suspended population of Earth to a new home several hundred years travel time from Earth.
Dodo's cold is soon caught by the general population. With no immunity to the, now ancient, disease, the human population that monitors the ship's travels is seriously messed up.
The travelers are arrested for high crimes against humanity.
Next up: The Plague
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