Review of The Chase (#16) DVD Release Date: 29 Jul 20 Original Air Date: 22 May – 26 Jun 1965 Doctors/Companions: One, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Vicki Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien Preceding Story: The Space Museum (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) Succeeding Story: The Time Meddler (One, Vicki, Steven)
Who really ever talks about The Chase? It’s one of those early-era stories that neither gets fans excited nor makes them cringe, so there is once again no surprise at finding it here in the ranks of Everything Else. Sure, it’s technically a Dalek story, but it barely feels like one to me. But perhaps I’ve simply missed its hidden charms over the years.
Truth be told, it’s been long enough since I last watched this one that I had barely any recollections of it at all. Before I sat down to view the six-episode adventure this time, all I could remember was broad strokes: Daleks pursuing the TARDIS, Peter Purves as not-Steven at the top of some tower in NYC (that would be the Empire State Building; thanks, brain), the (proper) introduction of Steven, the departure of Ian & Barbara, and—last but not least—the iconic photo of producer Verity Lambert at least pretending to try to light her cigarette with a Mechonoid’s flame-thrower arm.
Review of The Time Meddler (#17) DVD Release Date: 05 Aug 08 Original Air Date: 03 – 24 Jul 1965 Doctors/Companions: One, Vicki Pallister, Steven Tayler Stars: William Hartnell, Maureen O’Brien, Peter Purves Preceding Story: The Chase (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki, Steven) Succeeding Story: Galaxy 4 (One, Vicki, Steven)
When I looked at my calendar to see which story was slated as the last entry in my 2020 series of Hidden Gems, I was at first taken aback. “How could a gem like The Time Meddler be considered hidden?” I wondered. But my surprise turned quickly to satisfaction; I got to rewatch one of my favorite Hartnell stories.
You see, I’ve always had a particular soft spot for The Time Meddler. When I first started watching Classic Who, I went in chronological order as I could. Since only maybe half of the DVD range had been released at the time, that made The Time Meddler the seventh Classic story I had seen.
Aside from the boxset The Beginning (which included An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, and The Edge of Destruction), my other experiences with Hartnell’s Doctor were The Aztecs, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and The Web Planet. The version of the Doctor who landed in Northumbria in 1066 was thus the least crotchety I’d yet seen (and also the first without Ian and Barbara). He was practically bubbly by comparison, and the story quickly caught my attention.
While it’s clear that the show was still leaning heavily into its remit to teach children about science and history, the idea that someone would actively try to subvert the known timeline was still fresh. Even more significant, though, is the fact that this time meddler—this Monk—is one of the Doctor’s own people. How amazing the reveal at the end of the third episode must have been at the time!
The plot revolves around the Doctor and his Companions (Vicki, initially alone with the Doctor after Ian and Barbara’s departure, and Steven, the surprise stowaway still with them after the end of the previous adventure) stumbling upon a plot by the unscrupulous Monk to change Earth’s (specifically Europe’s) entire history by ensuring that King Harold wins the Battle of Hastings instead of William the Conqueror. Of course, first Steven has to be convinced of the reality of their whereabouts (whenabouts?), but once he buys into his new worldview, he is an asset to the team.
I’m particularly fond of how the story plays out. The various reveals feel natural and just surprising enough (at least one’s first time through) to be delightful. The stakes don’t feel super high as they often do in modern Who, even though Vicki and Steven have a discussion about how if the Monk succeeds, it would change human history as they know it. (I suppose that might have felt like pretty high stakes 55 years ago, when it hadn’t yet become a trope.)
Saying more than I have already would likely spoil any further surprises that might remain for someone who had not yet seen it, so I will just say that Vicki is a delight, Steven is a breath of fresh air, and the Monk is a fabulous foil who should totally come back in the modern show. If you have not yet had the pleasure of watching this Hidden Gem (likely “hidden” mostly because some fans ignore Hartnell; it came in at 79 of 254 on the io9 list), I highly recommend it as slow, mellow approach to a timey-wimey problem—just the sort of thing we could use in the chaos of 2020.
Review of The Space Museum (#15) DVD Release Date: 06 Jul 10 Original Air Date: 24 Apr – 15 May 1965 Doctors/Companions: One, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Vicki Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien Preceding Story: The Crusade (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) Succeeding Story: The Chase (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki, Steven)
As Bad Reputation™ stories go, The Space Museum is not poorly thought of at all. Clocking in at #168 of 254 in io9’s Best-to-Worst ranking, it barely falls into the bottom third. In fact, it’s more than 30 places ahead of the next “stinkiest” entry I’ve had to date—itself another Hartnell adventure.
All that is to say, the Hartnell era is not as unpalatable as some might have you believe. It certainly has its quirks, as a product of its time—sets more suited to a stage than to modern television, one-chance filming that leaves the famous Hartnell line flubs intact, and so on—but especially when one considers how new science fiction television was, it’s actually quite innovative.
The Space Museum makes an excellent case in point. Only the fifteenth storyline of the nascent program’s history, it’s the show’s first real foray into what someday would be dubbed “wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.” Our heroes struggle with the mind-bending issue of having seen themselves displayed as exhibits in the Museum in what turns out to be their near future. How can they avoid that fate?
Review of The Rescue (#11) DVD Release Date: 07 Jul 09 Original Air Date: 02 – 09 Jan 1965 Doctors/Companions: One, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright, Vicki Stars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien Preceding Story: The Dalek Invasion of Earth (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara) Succeeding Story: The Romans (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki)
On this fourth Wednesday of December, when another regular blog post is due, we find ourselves in that liminal space between the end of Series 11 and the airing of the New Year’s special, looking for a bit of Who-ey goodness to tide us over. With such awkward placement on the calendar, what better choice for a post than another entry in our Bad Reputations series?
Percentage-wise, it was time to return to the First Doctor, but since there aren’t that many of his stories left that are both (a) still on my un-reviewed list and (b) extant, the selection is pretty minimal. That’s why we ended up with this little two-episode bonbon. While it’s the lowest-rated of my remaining First Doctor options on io9’s Best-to-Worst list, it’s only three quarters of the way to the bottom (#194 of 254).
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!).
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!”
An Unearthly Child (Story #1, 1963) and The Romans (Story #12, 1965) Viewed 30 Apr 2012
Doctor/Companion: One, Susan, Ian, Barbara / One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki Stars: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien Preceding Story: None / The Rescue (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) Succeeding Story: The Daleks / The Web Planet (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara / Ian, Barbara, Vicki) Notable Aspects:
First ever episode
I’ve got something a little different for you this time. I have a dear friend of a slightly different generation who remembers watching Doctor Who in its early days. She would have been within the target age range when it first graced the air waves in 1963, but – as an American – didn’t really watch until college, and occasionally at that. From what she tells me, she watched off and on, but hasn’t seen it in ages – probably since Four’s tenure.
Some time over the past year, we got to talking about Who, and she said she was really interested in seeing what they’d done with it (meaning post-Hiatus). Since then, our plan has gradually morphed into a sort of variation on a theme, similar to and yet different from both my regular Nu-Views and The Experiment of Adventures with the Wife in Space. G is not a novice viewer, but neither is she someone who has followed the show religiously for decades. I’ll be showing her a sample of each Doctor and sharing with her what I love about each of them, and she’ll be telling me what she remembers and how it strikes her now.
