Classic Who day by day

[Tomalak]

It is a great story, but it does sag a bit after episode 3. There's all that padding with the Thals in the caves to come too.

It turns into the soon-to-be classic Nation runaround, where our heroes spend half the story escaping from somewhere, and the other half trying to break back in.

I think if it were a four parter, with the Tardis crew barely escaping from the Daleks with the lives, it's a great, tight story. The wet Thals just ruin it for me.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Daleks, episode 6 - "The Ordeal"
Written by Terry Nation
Directed by Richard Martin

The Thal who screamed is dead. They decide to move on without mourning (or even acknowledging) him.

It will take the Daleks 23 days to construct their bomb, and it will cover five hundred miles. It will take too long, they decide, so they're going to do it another way.

Ian, Barbara, and some Thals go spelunking (cave exploring) while Susan, the Doctor, and other Thals explore the city.

The Doctor, using his keen scientific mind, short circuits one of the city's power junctions, but their happiness is short-lived. They look back to see he and Susan are surrounded by Daleks. While captured, the Daleks reveal their ultimate plan.

Back in the caves, one of the Thals falls down and goes boom, taking Ian with him. As we end, Ian is hanging to the edge with all his might, the Thal hanging below him on a rope.

* * *

Returning to the idea that this show was for children, teaching them history and whatnot, the Doctor goes into scientist mode and teaches about electricity, in a way that doesn't talk down to kids, but shows practical uses for science.

It's hard to watch the cave scenes. Not because they're bad, but because it's so dark, it's hard to see anything. I get more from the audio than anything else.

The model for the city is used again, close-up, and the director does a pretty god job making it look detailed and life-like.

Now that the good stuff is there, let's talk about the bad stuff. stretch is the name of the game. Continuing with last episode's stretching, there's an abundance of it here. There is no point to the cave scenes. That entire side plot could be eliminated and no one would notice. It seems to have been inserted only to take up time, as it doesn't connect with the overall plotline.

The dialog is good, though, and the actors are more obviously comfortable in their parts.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Daleks, episode 7 - "The Rescue"
Written by Terry Nation
Directed by Richard Martin

Despite Ian and another Thal trying to pull him up, the hanging guy cuts the rope and falls to the bottom.

But it's ok, because when they walk just a few feet, they find themselves suddenly in the city.

The Doctor, a prisoner, tries to bargain for his life. He finds out where the missing part is, but mistakenly lets the Daleks know that with the Tardis, they can travel anywhere.

Ian is able to free Susan and the Doctor, while the Thals ride on the backs of Daleks. They shut the power off and the Daleks seemingly die.

After a brief good-bye, and Barbara's first on-screen kiss!, they take off in the Tardis. But there is something wrong, and they are all knocked out.

* * *

Hartnell is just slightly over the top here. "This senseless evil killing" line just has me in stitches. He is beyond serious, and it's comical.

The Doctor was once a pioneer among his own people, he tells the Thals. This is something we learn more about in later incarnations of the character ... nice to see its origin here.

Overall, it's a very strong story, and with about one and a half episodes being exceptions, it's absolutely re-watchable again and again.

The Daleks were created in 1963. It's now 2009, 46 years later, and the one-shot bad guys who were only created for this one story are still being featured in new Doctor Who stories. I think that's pretty amazing.

Another thing that's amazing is that I'm able to watch this story at all. Back in the 70s, the episodes were destroyed by the BBC, and it was only years later that the episodes were found in various stages of viewability. 2entertain has put in some very hard work cleaning up and restoring the audio and video, and their efforts have paid off extremely well.

And so ends the second story. Eleven episodes down, a whole heck of a lot to go.

 

[OmahaStar]

Edge of Destruction, episode 1
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Richard Martin

Continuing directly from the end of the first Daleks story, the crew of the Tardis is all still unconscious in the control room. Barbara is the first to wake up, followed by Susan. They are having memory problems, taking ages to remember even their own names.

Ian, upon waking, seemingly doesn't have any idea why he's away from the school. Slowly, they regain their mental faculties, but there is something wrong with the Tardis.

And its inhabitants.

Susan flips out and tries to attack Ian with scissors. The Tardis doors are opening and closing themselves randomly, while the monitor shows pictures of places Susan and the Doctor have been, including a planet called Quinnis.

The Doctor blames Ian and Barbara for sabotaging the ship. They have an explosive argument, during which the Doctor leaves and returns with a tray of drinks, offering them to all three of his companions.

Barbara, Susan and the Doctor all go to get some sleep. Shortly after, the Doctor enters the room shared by Susan and Barbara. Barbara is passed out. The Doctor taps her, smiles, and walks out. He then does the same with Ian in his room, confirming they have both succumbed to whatever was in the drink.

He returns to the control room, steps up to the center, and just as he's about to start pressing buttons, a pair of hands come from nowhere and begin strangling him.

* * *

In short, I loved it. They needed time to recover from the Dalek adventure, and this is where they may have had their recovery. Except, they don't really. For all the time spent in various beds with sleeping people, they don't really rest ... Instead, they spend time wrapped up in a spooky who-done-it story. No one trusts anyone else, and there's little reason to trust, either.

Out of nowhere, it's confirmed Susan and the Doctor have visited other alien worlds before Skaro, and her teachers don't even blink.

About 18 minutes in, there are visuals of planets and space. It lasts for only a few seconds, but I have to give my compliments to the fx people working on this. It looks absolutely gorgeous. For a "bottle show" they really gave it their all.

And this is a bottle show. The entire episode takes place in two and a quarter rooms. The control room, obviously, plus the bedroom shared by Susan and Barbara. The quarter room is what I'm calling Ian's bedroom. It's basically part of the control room, and is just big enough for a bed, nothing else.

Bottle shows are rather infamous on Star Trek. They are episodes done completely on existing, standing sets, with no new costumes or sets, using the regular actors, generally without big guests. With that said, TNG had an episode called "The Drumhead" which was a bottle show but some pretty spectacular guests, making an exception to this rule.

This is another exception, being a pretty brilliant episode. Basically two rooms and four people locked inside, all slowly going crazy. Now, I do realize this two-parter is just filler to take up slots between Daleks and Marco Polo. Even so, it's really GOOD filler.

I can't wait for Monday, when I get to watch the conclusion of this story. This is one of those very rare two-episode stories. The majority of the classic Doctor Who stories are told in 4 or 6 episode arcs. The next two-parter is, I think, The Rescue which will be coming up in a little over a week, if memory serves.

Twelve episodes down.

 

[Captain Pike]

I didn't really expect you to like this one, since many people dislike it. I'm a big fan of it, it has a wonderful creepy atmosphere. It almost feels like an episode of The Twilight Zone, and when Susan grabs those scissors and goes all psychotic-trancey it's positively scarey.

When Barbara screams at the clock, they should have focused the camera on it for longer, as I missed the point of that the first time around.

The resolution is often criticised, since it is something so simple and mundane, but I think thats a little unfair as it kind of underlines the fact that the doctor and his companions must keep their wits about them - that time travel is a dangerous business, and that even the simplest slip can bring them to the edge of disaster.

I like shows where we see alot of TARDIS, and this was the first time the series really showed it off. It's also the first hint that the TARDIS may be more than mere machine.

Finally, there is that wonderful speech my Hartnell at the end. He often forgot his lines or would flub them, but here he shows that when he is good, he can be very good. It's an inspiring moment.

 

[DWF]

Finally, there is that wonderful speech my Hartnell at the end. He often forgot his lines or would flub them, but here he shows that when he is good, he can be very good. It's an inspiring moment.

I don't think all of those forgotten line and flubbed lines were by accident. He did misprounance Ian's name on purpose.

 

[Stevil2001]

And to be honest, the fact that Hartnell can flub and just keep going on regardless demonstrates some skill in itself! "I'm not a mountain goat, and I prefer walking to any day. And I hate climbing!"

 

[OmahaStar]

Edge of Destruction, episode 2 - "The Brink of Disaster"
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Frank Cox

The hands belong to Ian. The Doctor fights him off, and he falls to the floor, unconscious. Barbara comes to Ian's defense.

The Doctor believes the two Humans have sabotaged his ship, and decides his only possible reaction is to throw them out, regardless of where - and when - they might be.

It is exactly what they've been wanting, but without confirmation that they have returned to 20th century Earth, it's scaring them to death.

And then the "fault locator" goes off. It's a warning system that shows if something is wrong with the Tardis, and where. Every light comes on at once. The Doctor snaps to, realizing that it wouldn't be possible for the Humans to have done anything to cause this an apologizes in his way.

Working together, they determine that the Tardis has been trying to warn them of impending doom, forcing into unconsciousness anyone who went near the wrong controls, among other clues.

Through a series of trials, they discover the problem. There is a "fast return" button on the control. Its purpose is to quickly return the ship to wherever and whenever the ship had been prior to its current location. That would be Earth. 12,000 years or so earlier than they wanted, but still, Earth. Except, the button got stuck. There is a little spring inside and it got stuck, which meant the Tardis kept thinking (cuz, it can) that they wanted to go back, and back, and back, eventually causing the Tardis to freak the heck out, in turn causing the people inside to go ... well, nuts.

The Doctor is able to repair it, and they go about their lives. Except, their lives are lost.

* * *

Let me explain that. Typically, the end of one story segways into another. The last 30 seconds to a minute sort of gives a preview of what's to come, and each episode would be a cliffhanger.

This story goes on for something like 2-3 minutes, which ... well, I dunno, maybe they were running short on time? Anyway, it's all about exploring a snowy area where there are "giant tracks."

That led originally into the serial Marco Polo, a seven-episode story which is now lost. As I've mentioned previously, the audio survives, but the video is gone. There is a 30 minute mini version of the story, using edited audio from the story along with telesnaps (pictures taken during filming) to give us an idea about the story.

Back to this one ... For the most part, I enjoyed it. I realize what it had to do - bridge the gap between two much larger stories, but it had to do more. Besides being filler, it also had to change the characters in a huge way.

In Unearthly Child, we have two sets of characters, Ian and Barbara on one side, and the Doctor and Susan on another. And that continued in The Daleks. For the most part, the two sides didn't work together, and only came together now and then.

This two-parter had to deconstruct each character and rebuild them from the ground up. At the same time, it had to take them from where they were - not equals, and certainly without respect for each other - and force them to work together, ending with them finally gelling as a cohesive team.

In the next story, they are already working together like a family, but they had to get there somehow, and this story did it in a unique and marvelous way.

The ending may seem like it's a bit rushed, but with everything that had to be worked out, it really sort of had to be. This story was entirely about the characters, the first time we spend any great length of time with them, and that was continued right up through the very end. Getting out of the bad spot was just a minor detail.

Poor Hartnell. He is trying so hard, but he keeps having trouble with his lines. Nowadays, they'd do multiple takes until every single word was perfect, but back then, it was recorded once, as-is. And that is really endearing, I think. People DO talk like that! We make mistakes, we mispronounce things, or start sentences over. On TV, people are perfect, and that means they aren't realistic.

And with that said, my second-favorite ever scene of Hartnell is in this episode. He is standing in front of the controls and speaking of home, of the stars, of his memory, and he goes on at length, putting his heart and soul into the words he's speaking, and right there, if you didn't feel it already, is when the viewer knows THIS is why William Hartnell was chosen to play the Doctor. Flubs, memory problems, whatever. When the man is on, no actor can beat him.

The Tardis here feels like an in-between. In the modern era, we get one fricken room, the control room, and that's it. In the Fourth Doctor's era, it went to an absurd level with swimming pools and boot rooms (a room set aside to hold a single pair of boots - no, I'm not kidding), while in the Fifth Doctor's era, the companions got lost and had to use ... I think it was yarn, to leave themselves a trail, the ship was so huge they couldn't find their way.

Here, though, we've got the bedrooms, we've seen the "kitchen" and the control room. It feels bigger, like it could really be a place where someone lived. And it is sort of in the middle ... Not enormously huge, and not just a single room.

The writing is smart, and I thought the director did a pretty amazing job with this bottle show. It's a shame, though. Frank Cox directed this second episode. He is only credited with three episodes of the series, and it's always following up on someone else's beginning.

As I learned (thank you, Internets!), this was a test for him. He worked his way up to becoming a director, and this was a launching pad for even bigger and better things for him. For this kind of episode to be anybody's first would be pretty scary, but to do so well, with no budget, and to get such a range from each of the actors, is extremely impressive.

I gotta be honest here. I love this story. Combined, we're looking at 45 minutes and two directors, in a bottle show. This story right here is what every other series' bottle show must be compared to. It is the level everyone else has to be measured against.

13 down.

 

[jbny67]

while in the Fifth Doctor's era, the companions got lost and had to use ... I think it was yarn, to leave themselves a trail, the ship was so huge they couldn't find their way.

It was, actually, The Doctor who did that.

He had just regenerated and used his scarf as a trail. When that was gone, he used his vest and then shoes. (Shoes that were boots when 4 fell and was lying on the ground. But, that's another story.)
Tegan used her lipstick to mark her own trail.

 

[OmahaStar]

while in the Fifth Doctor's era, the companions got lost and had to use ... I think it was yarn, to leave themselves a trail, the ship was so huge they couldn't find their way.

It was, actually, The Doctor who did that.

He had just regenerated and used his scarf as a trail. When that was gone, he used his vest and then shoes. (Shoes that were boots when 4 fell and was lying on the ground. But, that's another story.)
Tegan used her lipstick to mark her own trail.

You're right, now I remember. Been awhile since I watched that era.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Aztecs, episode 1 - "The Temple of Evil"
Written by John Lucarotti
Directed by John Crockett

We open on an Aztec mask with the Tardis already materialized. Barbara and Susan come out and explore. Susan talks about how barbaric they were, while Barbara says that's only part of their story, there's a lot more to them than that.

Barbara goes outside the tomb and is confronted by a priest who calls in the guards. Susan goes for help and out comes Ian and the Doctor, with Susan trailing behind.

Eventually, they find Barbara. She has been taken by the priest and given the title of the reincarnated high priest, and she is sitting on a throne.

Barbara lets herself get caught up in the priest's wishes. They tell her she is a goddess, and she lets them believe it, eventually believing it herself. She starts going power-mad, deciding that she can and should change history. Nothing anyone says can change her mind.

At a ceremony with a human sacrifice, she stops it and frees the man - who takes it as an insult on his honor and commits suicide. We end with another priest declaring her a fraud and threatening to destroy her.

* * *

Back to the historicals, this presents a fairy balanced portrait of Aztecs as we understand them, while still aimed at teaching children.

Still, it's nice to see the Doctor getting jiggy with a sweet old woman.

I don't think Susan screamed or fell even once in this episode. Surely this is the only episode in which one can make that claim.

I love the Doctor's line, trying to knock some sense into the teacher, "You can't rewrite history. Not one line!" ... And she doesn't listen to any of it.

About the extras ... For this project, I have been skipping the features. I'm not listening to commentaries or watching any of the interviews and such, for the most part. With that said, I did watch one of the documentaries on this dvd.

It was about the restoration process, and I found it utterly fascinating. They show the before and after images, letting us see just how bad the film had deteriorated and then the same bit of footage after they've worked their magic.

Cleaned up as this is, we can easily see the backdrop paintings that are used to give the sets a sense of size. The Doctor calls the city a marvelous one, while staring at a painting of a city. I doubt people would have even been able to see that it was a painting when it was originally broadcast.

I'm not really caring for the story so much here. While the others are generally their normal selves, Barbara sure let go of her sanity rather easily, and is behaving completely out of character. I realize she has to for the sake of the story, but it doesn't feel "right."

Still, I remember this story fondly, so there must be something coming up to make me think that.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

The Aztecs is not only one of my favorite First Doctor serials, but it's also my favorite historical. I love the aforementioned line and the relentless path Barbara takes, no matter how nonsensical or seemingly uncharacteristic of her. Lastly, I adore the relationship The Doctor has with Cameca. Certainly much more than the one with a certain blond as of late.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Aztecs, episode 2 - "The Warriors of Death"
Written by John Lucarotti
Directed by John Crockett

The Doctor and Barbara have their most explosive argument yet, eventually coming together and showing just how much they really do care about each other now.

The lower priest challenges Barbara to a mental fight. She laughs him off, implying he is only trying to raise his own rank and she won't play his games. Next, he goes after Ian, who has just won his own "fight" against one of the Aztecs.

He goes around plotting and scheming, scheming and plotting. A typical - no, make that stereotypical - bad guy.

The Doctor is completely smitten by the little old lady.

The lower priest arranges a contest between a warrior and Ian. The warrior has trained to become leader of the Aztec army. He is also getting help from the Doctor. As we discover, it was his father who built the temple, and he has a drawing of the plans. he convinces the Doctor to help him win a fight. It is only after the Doctor gives him a bit of a hand up that he discovers who the warrior is fighting.

But it's too late. The Doctor is taken prisoner. Just when it appears Ian will win the fight, the warrior uses the poison on him, and he is slowly dying.

Barbara appears and orders an end to the fight. It does end, but a far more personal fight is raging in Ian's body as it fights to live.

* * *

A few observations -

1 - For the time in which this was filmed, he fight was surprisingly brutal. Today it's almost tame, but for the early 60s? They must have gotten massive amounts of complaints.

2 - I wonder if Carole Ann Ford was getting ready for a vacation? She only appears in one scene, with none of the regulars. It's the kind of thing one would throw in just to give someone an onscreen credit.

2A - That said, when she flips out about arranged marriages, and says she will pick her own husband, I couldn't help but laugh. Cuz in the next story up, that's kinda sorta what happens.

3 - The Doctor and Barbara really DO care about each other. After their fight, they are actually tender with each other. This is, I think, what I was remembering about this story, and why I remembered enjoying it.

 

[Phillip Culley]

2 - I wonder if Carole Ann Ford was getting ready for a vacation? She only appears in one scene, with none of the regulars. It's the kind of thing one would throw in just to give someone an onscreen credit.

She was on holiday for the two weeks in which episodes 2 and 3 were broadcast - as a result all she appears in are prefilmed inserts.

This is noticeable in the last 4 stories of season 1 - in The Keys of Marinus, Hartnell is completely absent for episodes 3 and 4, The Sensorites has Barbara missing for episodes 4 and 5, while Ian's sole appearances in episodes 2 and 3 of The Reign of Terror are pre-filmed inserts.

The practice would carry on throughout the 60's episodes, although in the future it would normally be restricted to one week away.

Interestingly, the actors were still credited even if they didn't appear with a few exceptions - Jacqueline Hill was not credited in the episode of The Web Planet which she missed due to holiday, which led to her complaining to the BBC via her agent...

 

[OmahaStar]

The Aztecs, episode 3 - "The Bride of Sacrifice"
Written by John Lucarotti
Directed by John Crockett

Barbara saves Ian, the contest ends, and the lower priest is even more upset with the "false goddess."

The lower priest is interrogating the Doctor, who is minding his own business and playing in the garden. He's had enough and says the same thing I'm thinking about the priest: "Oh, go away."

The warrior admits to the lower priest that there are no drawings. Together, they try to poison Barbara, but Ian warns her and she survives.

The Doctor unknowingly proposes to the sweet old woman, and she gladly accepts.

The lower priest's scheming has paid off. Susan is conned into doing just the wrong thing, for which she must be punished - killed.

The Doctor and Ian find the entrance to the tunnel, which leads to the tomb. Ian goes inside, and the tunnel beings to fill with water.

* * *

Once again, Susan's only scene is without any of the regulars and is done on a completely separate set. It was confirmed on the message board that Carole Ann Ford was on holiday (vacation) during these two episodes, and these scenes were filmed at a different time and spliced into the episodes.

Barbara admits to the lower priest that she is mortal, and he cranks up his scheming. I'm kind of surprised there is any scenery left at this point, since the actor is chewing it all.

The old woman is such a sweetie. She and the Doctor make such a nice pair. This is long before Gallifrey or the notion of "Time Lords" has entered the mythology of the show. At this point, he is just an old man traveling with his granddaughter and a few friends. What direction may the show have taken if she had come along with them? It's a shame we never got to find out.



* * *

Anyone good at making avatars? I'd like a new one to go with this project, but I have exactly zero talent at it. I'd like one that has the Tardis and the words "Project: Who?" on it. I'd appreciate it if someone could come up with anything like that.

 

[Garth Rockett]

The Doctor unknowingly proposes to the sweet old woman, and she gladly accepts.

Which leads to one of my lines in all of Doctor Who.

"Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged."

Hartnell's delivery cracks me up every time.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

And to think, if Rose was unhappy about Sarah Jane...

 

[OmahaStar]

And to think, if Rose was unhappy about Sarah Jane...

lmao I know, right?

 

[DWF]

The old woman is such a sweetie. She and the Doctor make such a nice pair.

I do find it funny that you think Margot van der Burgh is an old lady, I can't imagine what you'll think of her in The Keeper Of Traken some 17 years later.

 

[OmahaStar]

The old woman is such a sweetie. She and the Doctor make such a nice pair.

I do find it funny that you think Margot van der Burgh is an old lady, I can't imagine what you'll think of her in The Keeper Of Traken some 17 years later.

I'm thinking of the character, not the actress, in this. She was essentially playing a little old woman - from the Aztecs' perspective, at least, she was old. Over 52 means their lives are over and they can go play in the gardens while the young do the real work.