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Tag: One

The Keys to Clime

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Review of The Keys of Marinus (#5)
DVD Release Date: 05 Jan 10
Original Air Date: 11 Apr – 16 May 1964
Doctors/Companions: One, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Stars: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill
Preceding Story: Marco Polo (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)
Succeeding Story: The Aztecs (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)

For the third installment of this series on Stories with a Bad Reputation, we turn to the oft-overlooked, fifth-ever serial The Keys of Marinus. In overall rankings, it doesn’t generally sink all the way to the bottom, but it almost always ends up in the lowest tier, rarely rising into the top half.

I’m sure part of that dismissal is due to the fact that it is, after all, a Hartnell story, and many fans—especially those who grew up on a faster-paced, all-color style of televisual storytelling—struggle to get through stories from this era. Further, it comes between the lost-but-much-revered Marco Polo and The Aztecs, perhaps my favorite First Doctor adventure. It’s hardly fair to ask Keys to compete with them, and yet there we are.

Despite being the neglected middle child, though, Keys has its own brand of charm. It’s a quirky little story that, in its own way, reminds me of the Fourth Doctor series The Key to Time (TKtT) that would come some fifteen years later. It begins with a setup wherein our TARDIS team is tasked with collecting several pieces of a larger whole necessary to save the planet Marinus (here, to restore a worldwide climate of law and order; to restore the balance of the universe, in TKtT), then takes them off to disparate adventures in each episode as they collect the items.

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Setting the Standard

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Review of The Five Doctors (#129)
DVD Release Date: 05 Aug 08
Original Air Date: 25 Nov 1983
Doctors/Companions: Five, One, Two, Three, Four (cameo), Tegan, Turlough, Susan, the Brigadier, Sarah Jane, Romana II (cameo)
Stars: Peter Davison, Richard Hurndall, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, (Tom Baker), Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Carole Ann Ford, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen, (Lalla Ward)
Preceding Story: The King’s Demons (Five, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion)
Succeeding Story: Warriors of the Deep (Five, Tegan, Turlough)

With tomorrow’s anniversary of the show’s beginnings, I felt now would be an appropriate time to look back at a different celebration of its history. Though this year we mark fifty-four years since the show’s inception, 1983 was merely twenty, and the Powers That Beeb decided they couldn’t let such a large, round number go unnoticed.

Here in the post-fiftieth-anniversary era, we think of that celebration as having pulled out all the stops, but really, it was The Five Doctors that set the standard. And while, like Moffat, JNT didn’t get everyone he wanted to participate, he nonetheless pulled together a remarkable cast, including—in a way—all five incarnations of the Doctor who had appeared up to that point.

While First Doctor William Hartnell had (just barely) managed perform a part in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors, he was already eight years dead by the time this next milestone rolled around. Rather than exclude his Doctor entirely, though, JNT simply recast Richard Hurndall in the role, much like David Bradley has taken over the same in the modern era. But much like Eccleston for the fiftieth, Tom Baker could not be convinced to reprise his own Fourth Doctor (reportedly because he thought it was too soon).

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Confession #59: I’m Sick of the Omnirumour

Part of the mythos of our show is the sad fact that many of the early episodes from the first two Doctors are no longer in the BBC archives. Pretty much ever since the advent of home video, fans have hoped that some—or preferably all—of those would some day be recovered. We’ve had our share of happy surprises, most recently when The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear were returned last year.

There are nearly a hundred still absent, though, and someone somewhere always brings up the idea that more are out there, just waiting to be revealed to the public. It’s the Omnirumo(u)r—the rumor that will not die—and it has many forms. One particular collector is hoarding [“The Smugglers” / “Marco Polo” / all remaining missing episodes] (strike as relevant). The aforementioned episode(s) have been found in some backwater of Africa / Asia / wherever. And so on.

Of course the BBC’s tendency to deny things that later turn out to have been fuzzy versions of truth keep fans frothing. “The BBC’s just being coy!” “They’re covering their behinds!” “If Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) denied it, it’s just that they don’t know better!” And I really think the BBC buys fully into the old saw about there being no such thing as bad publicity.

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The First Finale

Review of The Tenth Planet (#29)
DVD Release Date: 19 Nov 13
Original Air Date: 08 – 29 Oct 1966
Doctor/Companion: One, Ben Jackson, Polly Wright
Stars: William Hartnell, Michael Craze, Anneke Wills
Preceding Story: The Smugglers (One, Ben, Polly)
Succeeding Story: The Power of the Daleks (Two, Ben, Polly)

With all the focus on regenerations and the history of the show lately, it seems fitting that the DVD releases for the anniversary year should draw to a close with The Tenth Planet. Not only does it bring Hartnell’s era to a close with a radical new idea, but it also introduces the “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” baddie from every fan favorite list ever (in case it’s not clear, I’m referring here to the Cybermen, who always come second (or worse) to the Daleks).

Tenth Planet is one of the last (mostly) complete stories to be released on DVD. Although I had read the synopsis a few times, and read a photonovelization at least once, then, I’d never had the opportunity to watch it. As a result, it still felt new and unfamiliar. And I’ll admit I was taken off guard by these Cybermen.

Forty-seven years down the road, it’s difficult to put oneself in the mindset of the audience of the time. They must have found this new threat truly horrific, these once-human, but distinctly alien, robot invaders. On the brink of the Space Age, they must also have recognized many of their own fears about the dangers of space exploration as the plight of the Zeus IV crew unfolded. (I’ll admit that I didn’t much care to watch their fate, either, despite how cheaply inaccurate the portrayal looked to those of us who have watched actual astronauts at work on the International Space Station.)

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A History Worth Preserving

Review of The Aztecs: SE (#6)

DVD Release Date: 12 Mar 13
Original Air Date: 23 May – 13 Jun 1964
Doctor/Companion: One, Susan, Ian, Barbara
Stars: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill
Preceding Story: The Keys of Marinus (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)
Succeeding Story: The Sensorites (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)

I’ve mentioned several times before how fond I am of this story, and I don’t mind saying it again. I have to admit, though, that when I got the Special Edition DVD and looked at all the extras two things went through my mind. The first was, “Wow – this disk is all about the extras!” The second was, “When am I ever going to find time to watch all these extras?”

The story itself is a lovely little four-parter that follows the TARDIS crew to 15th C. Mexico, taking up about 100 minutes of viewing time. By contrast, even ignoring the minor entries like the ubiquitous Photo Gallery, the extras comprise more than twice that much material. That certainly presents a challenge for the reviewer, but it’s a challenge I’m willing to undertake for your sake, gentle readers.

I can hardly praise The Aztecs highly enough. So early in the history of Our Show, it introduces – or at least hammers home – the idea that history is not to be trifled with lightly. It’s also one of the earliest remaining stories that can really show us how much the Doctor has mellowed to these humans who – let’s call a spade a spade – he kidnapped in order to keep them from exposing him and his granddaughter as the aliens they were. Not only that, it shows a more tender side of him, as he quite frankly falls in love with a human for the first time we see (yes, Rose, we all know you thought you were special).

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Revolutionary Television

Review of The Reign of Terror (#8)
DVD Release Date: 12 Feb 13
Original Air Date: 08 Aug – 12 Sep 1964
Doctor/Companion: One, Susan, Ian, Barbara
Stars: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill
Preceding Story: The Sensorites (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)
Succeeding Story: Planet of Giants (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)

One thing I love about the very earliest Who is that it’s so clearly taking its self-defined role as educational television to heart. When we first meet the Daleks, we learn about magnetism as the Doctor breaks the group out of a cell, and there were several instances, like in The Aztecs, where we learn a bit about historical events and cultures. In fact, it’s not till some time later that the supernatural twists to the historical tales get added.

So when I sat down to watch The Reign of Terror, I kind of knew I was in for another of those “pure historicals,” in which all the events swirling around our heroes are ones that actually occurred in our own past. I have to admit I wasn’t quite prepared for how heavy-handed it would be. My jaw may actually have dropped when Robespierre straight out stated, “If this plot is successful, tomorrow, the 27th of July, 1794, will be a date for history!”

Aside from such blatant attempts at pedagogy, though, there’s actually quite an elaborate bit of intrigue at the heart of the story. Though elements like a burning house and “Madame Guillotine” make the story a little dark at times, the spies, imprisonment, and threats of betrayal at every turn keep the audience on its toes, even if the TARDIS crew is not always quite as careful at they perhaps should be.

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The Start of Something Wonderful

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Review of The Doctors Revisited – First Doctor

In honor of Doctor Who‘s fiftieth anniversary this year (23 November, to be exact), BBC America has committed to running eleven half-hour (including commercials) specials, each one summarizing the era of a different Doctor. There will be one each month, finishing on or near the actual anniversary of first transmission.


Source – bbc.co.uk – © 2012 BBC

This first month, obviously, we begin with William Hartnell as the First Doctor. Alternating clips of his episodes and interviews with production team members and actors from now and then – including Steven Moffat (current showrunner), Caro Skinner (current producer), Neil Gaiman (writer), David Tennant (Tenth Doctor), John Barrowman (Capt. Jack Harkness), William Russell (Ian Chesterton), and Peter Purves (Steven Taylor) – gives a broad overview of the show’s impact both then and now.

Fans already familiar with Hartnell and his stories will find little-to-nothing new or particularly insightful here. Primarily, this special (and presumably the rest in the series) is aimed at neowhovians – those really only familiar with Doctor Who in its modern incarnation. Much is made of how different Hartnell’s One is from the Doctor we have come to know and love now, almost to the point of un-recognizability. But he set the stage for everything that has come since.

The are three main segments (“Who’s Who,” “TARDIS Team,” and “Famous Foes”), the first of which explores how Hartnell’s Doctor brought a sense of gravitas and mystery to the table, and how this fledgeling show had to establish the rules of time travel, the way time mustn’t be meddled with lightly.

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A Dimensional Analysis

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Review of Planet of Giants (#9)
DVD Release Date: 11 Sep 12
Original Air Date: 31 Oct – 14 Nov 1964
Doctor/Companion: One, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Susan Foreman
Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Preceding Story: The Reign of Terror (One, Ian, Barbara, Susan)
Succeeding Story: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (One, Ian, Barbara, Susan)

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this story. It’s not one that shows up on the common Best Of or Worst Of lists, so I didn’t really have much in the way of preconceived notions, but I guess I was prepared to be underwhelmed. It was quite a nice surprise, then, that I found it so engaging.

Let me start with a bit of history. Apparently, the idea that eventually became Planet of Giants – that is, that the crew would be miniaturized, but on present-day Earth – was at one point intended to be the series pilot, rather than An Unearthly Child. Further, it was scripted – and shot – in four parts, but the Head of Serials didn’t like it as a four-parter, and so the final two episodes were edited together into one, which is how it was transmitted (this all becomes particularly relevant when we come to the extras).

As a result, there are pieces that don’t quite make perfect sense, but overall it hangs together quite well, and manages to combine early environmentalism with murder/intrigue and a science fiction twist (since our heroes are roughly the size of “an inch”). I suspect that when it first went out, the audiences would have been pleasantly surprised by the revelation that a mishap on landing had shrunk the TARDIS and all its occupants that way. It plays pretty well, even when you know what’s coming. In retrospect, though, I think it’s better that it got shunted to the second season, so the audience was familiar with the TARDIS’s usual workings before throwing in this new dimension.

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Nu-View #9: Less Ant-i Than Ant-icipated

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The Web Planet (Story #13, 1965)
Viewed 05, 19 Jun 2012

Doctor/Companion: One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki
Stars: William Hartnell, William Russel, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien
Preceding Story: The Romans (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki)
Succeeding Story: The Crusade (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki)

The reactions of the uninitiated never cease to surprise me – and it’s not that long ago since I was one of them! When jA declared after The Curse of Fenric that it was the weirdest thing she’d seen, I considered the gauntlet thrown down.

I’d foolishly forgotten/not checked to see that Web Planet was six episodes long, so we ended up having to split it into two sessions. jA, jO and I were present for both, but jE missed the first time, and L missed the second. Once we got into it, though, the responses were, shall we say, rather varied.

At first, it was fairly upbeat. The Zarbi were initially well-received (“I love ’em!” “I love how they make electronic noises.”), and the exchange between Barbara and Vicki about the state of the art in medicine and schooling in their respective time zones intrigued all the Ladies. By Episode 2, though, things started to go a bit downhill.

The Menoptera elicited giggles and a “what the hell?” as well as the observation that “those [wings] are made out of shower curtains.” Vicki, though I think her personality went down pretty well, came across as “pretty helpless.” Then there’s the bit when a Zarbi runs into one of the cameras – “that was awesome!” I, for one, love how you can hear the Zarbi costumes creaking as they move (and just think about the poor saps who had to wear them – their backs must have been in absolute agony!).

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Retro-View #2: Change-Up

The Romans (Story #12, 1965)
             and
The War Games (Story #50, 1969)
Viewed 28 May 2012

Doctor/Companion:   One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki / Two, Jamie, Zoë
Stars:  William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien /
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story:  The Rescue (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) /
The Space Pirates (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story:  The Web Planet (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) /
   Spearhead from Space (Three, Liz Shaw)
Notable Aspects:

  • Two’s final story

So far, G and I seem to be averaging about 3 episodes a session. That could make things “interesting” in the long term. For now, though, it just means we finished The Romans and barely scratched the surface of The War Games (the story that got the most votes in the what-should-we-watch poll). We also tossed in the surviving footage of the first regeneration (and the resolution of the Episode 1 cliffhanger – G’s not one for too much suspense) for good measure.

After a brief recap from last time, we jumped right back into the middle of The Romans. Right off the bat, we get Nero’s first sight of Barbara. G’s immediate reaction: “You old letch!” She proceeds to giggle at Nero’s antics, chuckle at our heroes’ repeated near misses, and chortle at the (very bad) stage fighting between a pair of gladiators. She’s thoroughly enjoying herself, and I’m enjoying that. Then she proceeds to put her finger on one reason I like this story so much: “every cliché possible is in this thing!”

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