"What did you say, my boy? 'It's all over.' 'It's all over.' That's what you said. No... but it isn't all over. It's far from being all over."
I will be unable to update this blog daily. Angela and I have a fairly busy work schedule, on top of some of the other fun things that we like to do. Throw in the occasional social visit to friends and relatives (most of whom are friends) and that doesn't leave the time that I need to do this justice.
I also find myself thinking too hard about finding some angle to write a given piece, which takes away from the enjoyment of the project.
Ang and I are still watching (or listening to) an episode a day. Last night we finished William Hartnell's era. I would like to take some time to look back.
Even among diehard Whovians, I have never met anyone who claims that Hartnell is their favorite Doctor. There is a lot of respect, but the love tends to go to the anarchic Troughton, the suave Pertwee, the bohemian Baker (Tom not Colin), or the mysterious McCoy.
I definitely have a greater appreciation for Hartnell after going through his stories in order, but can't bring myself to rate him higher than Troughton or Tom Baker. In a way, he's the George Washington of the Doctors; the founding father who started the whole thing. I suppose that makes Troughton, Abraham Lincoln; the person who preserved things when everything could have fallen apart.
I've written at length about Hartnell's first two seasons. His tenure took him through season three and the first two serials of season four. Here is a brief rundown of those stories and my opinions of them.
Galaxy Four: A solid story that tries to teach a basic message; good is not, definitively, beautiful. Steven and Vicki secure themselves as my favorite companion combination of the Hartnell era (although Barbara is still my favorite companion). Since we listened to this story, one of the episodes has turned up in the hands of a private collector.
The Myth Makers: A wonderful story. One of my favorite historicals, with one of the funniest scripts in the series' long run. It sadly ends with Vicki staying behind to marry Trolius.
Mission to the Unknown/The Daleks' Master Plan: This story was long and over-padded. It was nice to see the return of the Monk, and the final episode pulls out all the stops, but I would have liked it better at 6 episodes instead of 13.
The Massacre: This is every bit as good as the Myth Makers, only done seriously. A great chance for Peter Purves to shine in the role of Steven. Hartnell isn't in much of this, but he has an excellent monolog towards the end that sums up the Doctor beautifully. Elements of that speech influence the series to this day.
The Ark: A story that tackles series matters (the very moral and ethical concerns about time travel and interference) in a ham-fisted way (with Beatle wigged aliens). Points for trying. And points for having a Dodo nearly wipe out humanity.
The Celestial Toymaker: There are a number of fans who really love this serial. I am not one of them. The Toymaker is an amazingly powerful being who plays with the travelers. It's an idea that Star Trek will beat like a dead horse when it gets introduced later that same year.
The Gunfighters: It tries to be as funny as The Myth Makers and falls on its face. The script is almost an insult to Hartnell and Purves.
The Savages: Hartnell's final stories from this point on are all good to excellent. This is Doctor Who at its best, raising interesting and powerful questions about exploitation and the greater good. Ian Stuart Black is one of the most underrated authors of 60's Who.
The War Machines: For the first time in the history of the series, back-to-back serials are written by the same author. This is the blueprint for the future UNIT stories. An excellent story weakened slightly by Wotan calling the Doctor, "Doctor Who" (Doctor Who is not the character's name, it's the series title), and the hasty departure of Dodo. She wasn't my favorite companion, but having Ben and Polly show up with a note from her saying that she was staying behind is just wrong. Mel got an awesome send off, and she was ..... Mel.
The Smugglers: The penultimate Doctor Who historical. An excellent piece that features the regulars to good effect and has an excellent guest cast. New companion Polly is shaping up to be the stereotypical Doctor Who girly-girl, but we'll see.
The Tenth Planet: The first alien race that Hartnell's Doctor met on screen was the Daleks. The last was the Cybermen. Hartnell is sent off in a great story that is sadly incomplete as of this writing. The quote at the beginning of this post is one of the last lines that the first Doctor delivers. Hartnell's delivery is amazing. At least for me.
And there we have it. Hartnell would for the 10th anniversary special The Three Doctors. His health had deteriorated by then to the point that he was only available for a day of filming. Hartnell died two years later in 1975.
Hartnell didn't care for the direction that the series took after his departure. For that matter, he wasn't pleased with the way things were done in his last several months on the show. His granddaughter later recalled that the part meant a great deal to him and helped him connect with children in general and her in particular. Given that, I can see why he would be so insistent on things being done a certain way.
The 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors, began with an excerpt from Hartnell's goodbye to Susan from the end of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It was the first time that many newer fans had ever seen the role performed by him. Richard Hurndall, who bears a very slight resemblance to Hartnell, played the first Doctor in the story itself.
Hartnell's image has turned up in the most current version of the series. My favorite is on the Doctor's (very out of date) library card from 1963.
Goodbye William Hartnell. You are missed.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Ep. 121 The Savages ep. 4
"This is only the beginning, Chal. After this destruction, our people must build a world that they can both live in."
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Ep. 120 The Savages ep. 3
"EXORSE: You are foolish to think you can defy me. Have the people of the caves not told you you cannot resist us?
STEVEN: We're going to change all that, soldier boy. Come on, what are you frightened of?"
STEVEN: We're going to change all that, soldier boy. Come on, what are you frightened of?"
Ep. 119 The Savages ep. 2
"Exploitation indeed! This, Sir, is protracted murder!"
When I was a young teenager, I remember reading the line "any man's death diminishes me, for I am involved with mankind." It was quoted in one of the Doctor Who novelizations that I read back in my pre-VHS days. It wasn't used in the original script, but used as literary shorthand to explain the (second) Doctor's character.
This episode reminded me of that offhand reference made by Terrance Dicks 25 or so years ago.
Hartnell shines in this. He discovers the truth about the Elders' society and still insists on trying to help one savage that he finds crumpled and near dead after being drained of life force. He all but throws the Dunne quotation at the guard who tries to take him from the downed savage. It takes one of the Elders' light guns to make the Doctor leave the drained man's side.
The same moral conviction that was played for laughs in The Gunfighters is given a proper forum in this story. Hartnell does outrage very well and its good to see him given something this solid after the poor writing of his character in the previous story.
The set up is a clever dystopia of the sort that rarely sees proper realization in science fiction. Ian Stuart Black put careful thought into the world that he was creating, down to the light guns. They're a weapon that forces the target to move where the firer wants. It has a stun setting. The perfect weapon to safely transport the savages to the life siphoning chamber.
For his outrage at the Elders' society, the Doctor ends up getting his life force sucked out.
When I was a young teenager, I remember reading the line "any man's death diminishes me, for I am involved with mankind." It was quoted in one of the Doctor Who novelizations that I read back in my pre-VHS days. It wasn't used in the original script, but used as literary shorthand to explain the (second) Doctor's character.
This episode reminded me of that offhand reference made by Terrance Dicks 25 or so years ago.
Hartnell shines in this. He discovers the truth about the Elders' society and still insists on trying to help one savage that he finds crumpled and near dead after being drained of life force. He all but throws the Dunne quotation at the guard who tries to take him from the downed savage. It takes one of the Elders' light guns to make the Doctor leave the drained man's side.
The same moral conviction that was played for laughs in The Gunfighters is given a proper forum in this story. Hartnell does outrage very well and its good to see him given something this solid after the poor writing of his character in the previous story.
The set up is a clever dystopia of the sort that rarely sees proper realization in science fiction. Ian Stuart Black put careful thought into the world that he was creating, down to the light guns. They're a weapon that forces the target to move where the firer wants. It has a stun setting. The perfect weapon to safely transport the savages to the life siphoning chamber.
For his outrage at the Elders' society, the Doctor ends up getting his life force sucked out.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Ep. 118 The Savages ep. 1
"You are known to us as the Traveler from Beyond Time."
This is the first serial to drop the practice of naming the individual episodes. I've grown rather fond of the individual episode names, but have to admit that this will cut down on confusion when discussing a serial that shares a name with an episode.
This is Steven's last story. I can't say that I blame Peter Purves for leaving the series at this point, the character of Steven hadn't been terribly well represented in the last few stories. He was given a lot of meat in The Massacre, but that wasn't given much in The Ark, The Gunfighters, The Celestial Toymaker, or most of The Dalek Masterplan.
The Gunfighters probably saw the worst writing for Steven in any of the stories that he's been in (also a low point for the character of the Doctor as well.)
The episode begins with the Doctor proclaiming that the TARDIS has arrived in a time of great prosperity, scientific enlightenment, and artistic expansion. Steven and Dodo are a bit skeptical.
The Doctor goes to collect some samples to confirm his readings, while Steven and Dodo fret.
Unknown to the travelers, they are being watched by primitive looking men with clubs and spears. The Doctor is nearly attacked by them, before two highly advanced people show up and take him back to their city.
These advanced people claim that they have been following the Doctor's travels through time and space. They don't know particular details such as his name, or the fact that he travels with companions, but they know where he has been and predicted his arrival on their world.
The Doctor is shown with a piece of scientific equipment that may be the forerunner of the sonic screwdriver, his R.V. or Reacting Vibrator. Yeah, Angela laughed too.
The Doctor is received as an honored guest, while his friends are given a guided tour. It doesn't take long for the Doctor to sniff out the fact that there is something rotten in the state of future Denmark.
The Elders use their advanced technology to siphon off the life force of the savages, to improve themselves. It is the most extreme form of exploitation imaginable.
This is the first serial to drop the practice of naming the individual episodes. I've grown rather fond of the individual episode names, but have to admit that this will cut down on confusion when discussing a serial that shares a name with an episode.
This is Steven's last story. I can't say that I blame Peter Purves for leaving the series at this point, the character of Steven hadn't been terribly well represented in the last few stories. He was given a lot of meat in The Massacre, but that wasn't given much in The Ark, The Gunfighters, The Celestial Toymaker, or most of The Dalek Masterplan.
The Gunfighters probably saw the worst writing for Steven in any of the stories that he's been in (also a low point for the character of the Doctor as well.)
The episode begins with the Doctor proclaiming that the TARDIS has arrived in a time of great prosperity, scientific enlightenment, and artistic expansion. Steven and Dodo are a bit skeptical.
The Doctor goes to collect some samples to confirm his readings, while Steven and Dodo fret.
Unknown to the travelers, they are being watched by primitive looking men with clubs and spears. The Doctor is nearly attacked by them, before two highly advanced people show up and take him back to their city.
These advanced people claim that they have been following the Doctor's travels through time and space. They don't know particular details such as his name, or the fact that he travels with companions, but they know where he has been and predicted his arrival on their world.
The Doctor is shown with a piece of scientific equipment that may be the forerunner of the sonic screwdriver, his R.V. or Reacting Vibrator. Yeah, Angela laughed too.
The Doctor is received as an honored guest, while his friends are given a guided tour. It doesn't take long for the Doctor to sniff out the fact that there is something rotten in the state of future Denmark.
The Elders use their advanced technology to siphon off the life force of the savages, to improve themselves. It is the most extreme form of exploitation imaginable.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Ep. 117 The OK Corral
So the Earps and the Clantons
Are aimin' to meet,
At the OK Corral
Near Calamity Street.
It's the OK Corral
Boys of gunfighting fame,
Where the Earps and the Clantons,
They played out the game.
They played out the game
And we nevermore shall,
Hear a story the like
Of the OK Corral!
This turned out to be my least favorite historical to date, mostly due to the way that the Doctor and Steven were written. Once I got over the bad American accents that the guest cast was sporting, I had to say that they were generally pretty good in their parts and were decently written. Especially Doc Holliday.
The Doctor is written as Lawful Stupid (a reference that may only be gotten by fellow gamers) and Steven just stupid. I know that they are going for farce, but it worked much better in The Romans and The Myth Makers when the regular cast played it straighter and the situation they were in was farce.
This was a good serial for Dodo for the most part. She firmly held the idiot ball at the end of The Celestial Toymaker, but relinquished it to Steven for this story. She is given a very nice bit with Holliday, forcing him, very politely, at gunpoint, to bring her back to tombstone.
The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon became slightly more bearable as the story progressed. If we were to watch all four episodes of this story in one sitting, I probably wouldn't feel the same way.
Are aimin' to meet,
At the OK Corral
Near Calamity Street.
It's the OK Corral
Boys of gunfighting fame,
Where the Earps and the Clantons,
They played out the game.
They played out the game
And we nevermore shall,
Hear a story the like
Of the OK Corral!
This turned out to be my least favorite historical to date, mostly due to the way that the Doctor and Steven were written. Once I got over the bad American accents that the guest cast was sporting, I had to say that they were generally pretty good in their parts and were decently written. Especially Doc Holliday.
The Doctor is written as Lawful Stupid (a reference that may only be gotten by fellow gamers) and Steven just stupid. I know that they are going for farce, but it worked much better in The Romans and The Myth Makers when the regular cast played it straighter and the situation they were in was farce.
This was a good serial for Dodo for the most part. She firmly held the idiot ball at the end of The Celestial Toymaker, but relinquished it to Steven for this story. She is given a very nice bit with Holliday, forcing him, very politely, at gunpoint, to bring her back to tombstone.
The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon became slightly more bearable as the story progressed. If we were to watch all four episodes of this story in one sitting, I probably wouldn't feel the same way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)