Galaxy 4
I guess this is pretty sophisticated for its time, apart
from the rampant sexism that is. The Doctor and crew land on a dying planet.
Two spaceships have crashed. In one, there is a bunch of beautiful ladies. In
the other: hideous alien creatures. In this case, it is the hideous aliens that
are the good “guys,” having had their advances to aid the war-obsessed ladies
rebuked. There are also cute robots called chumlies. That’s about it, really.
Mission to the Unknown
No Doctor or Tardis in this one-episode teaser for an
upcoming adventure, but there are Daleks. They have a nefarious plan that we
get some hints about, but we’re going to have wait four weeks before it comes
into view because first…
The Myth Makers
We have to head ancient Greece and the siege of Troy. While
the previous season’s mix of comedy and action in the ancient world, the
Romans, worked very well, this falls flat. It’s hard to laugh when we know that
at least half the cast (the Trojans) is going to end up massacred because of
the Doctor’s suggestion of a giant wooden horse. We also see the end of Vicki,
who stays in the ancient world, but we do pick up Katarina, who I’m sure will
be around for a long time.
The Daleks’ Master Plan
OK, Katarina lasted all of four episodes (of 12; 12!) in
this adventure, before ejecting herself and the man threatening our heroes out
of an airlock. We also get to what appears to be a new companion – Jean Marsh’s
Sara Kingdom – but she dies in the finale. Even future Brigadier actor Nicholas
Courtney shows up, only to get killed of early on the adventure. The story
involves the Daleks and a plan – a master one, I guess – to take over the known
universe. Twelve episodes is way, way, way, way, way, way too long – six would
have likely sufficed – and it is hard to listen to all the to-ing and fro-ing
and stay focused. We also get the first Christmas episode of the series, which
goes so badly you can understand why it was 40-some years before the program
revisited the concept.
The Massacre
Amid all of season three’s silliness comes this intense and
quite dark for 1960s Doctor Who adventure. The historical wheel of fortune
lands in 1572 France, just in time for the titular massacre of the Protestant
Huguenots. The story gives Peter Purves the one real chance he has throughout
his time in the Tardis to stretch his acting chops, and it sounds (there isn’t
a frame of video of this one in existence) like he takes full advantage of it.
The adventure wraps up partway through episode four, giving Purves and Hartnell
to have what would be an iconic moment – if we could just watch it. The Doctor
has forced Steven to abandon his new friends, contending that they can’t change
history. In a rage, Steven finally tells the Doctor to stuff it and, when they
materialize he goes off in a huff, contending that he won’t come back. Alone,
The Doctor thinks back to all of those who have joined – and left him in the
last few years.
Steven does come back, and young Dodo runs into the Tardis,
thinking it is a real police box, and we are off to…
The Ark
An interesting concept that falls down in execution. The
multigenerational human ark concept is a well-worn one in science fiction, and
it still – even to this day – has legs. This is really a pair of two-part
adventures glued together by the same location a few hundred years apart.
There’s an inadvertent plague in the first part (brought by Dodo, maybe her one
major contribution to the series) and then there is a bit of a revolution to lead.
It’s hard to not hate on this serial because of what is missing around it,
however.
The Celestial Toymaker
Like half of this adventure, which includes deadly games,
killer clowns and an invisible Doctor. For the first time, the Doctor travels
beyond normal space into a land controlled by the Toymaker. The crew has to
win… or die. There are a couple of notable parts of this episode. First, it
features Michael Gough (his most-seen work was probably as Alfred in the
Tim-Burton string of Batman movies), who gives an impressive, over-the-top
performance a the villain; and there is very little William Hartnell.
The actor, while not as old as he appeared, was in poor
health. In fact, legend has it that the reason the Doctor disappears for most
of the series – apart from giving Hartnell a couple of weeks off – was that
when he reappeared at the end, he would be a different actor. Hartnell chose to
stay on for a few more stories, but it was clear the end was near for the first
incarnation, and that the idea of regeneration was already kicking around.
The Gunfighters
First, back to the past with this infamous adventure, which
has been rehabbed a bit in recent years as some kind of intentional comedy. I
can see that it has a light tone, but the execution – oh the execution is
extremely poor. You can sense that the show is running on fumes right now. That
was reflected in chaos behind the scenes, as a new producing team was almost in
place, all that it needed was some housecleaning.
The Savages
First up was Steven, who got left – in fine Doctor Who
tradition – to help a people rebuild their lives after the Doctor destroys
their old, despotic ways. It’s not a bad science fiction adventure, which takes
a lot of cues from The Time Machine, though here the beautiful people are
actually in charge.
The War Machines
And then we lose Dodo, who – in keeping with the character’s
rather pointless run on the show – wanders off midway through the episode and
is never seen again. On the upside, there is an improvement as Ben and Polly
make the scene. These two will carry over into Patrick Troughton’s era, though
they often felt like an awkward fit.
This is the first series set completely in contemporary
Britain, with a computer hell-bent on taking over the world, decades before
Skynet. It also marks a key transformation in the Doctor’s character. In the
early days, he and the crew would have been scrambling to get out of the
trouble they were in, lending a hand because it would help them get back to the
Tardis. At the end of episode three, Hartnell stands defiant before a pack of
War Machines, ready to defeat them with his just his brain and his guile. Saw hello to something resembling modern Doctor Who!
The Smugglers
Hartnell’s reign extended into the fourth season, and he got
one final historical romp. This one manages to find a good balance between
humor and adventure and danger, as our heroes get ensnared with pirates and
other lowlifes in the 17th century. It’s audio only, which typically
works fine in the early era of the show, as the action was limited by the very
nature of the show (recorded in studio; very quickly).
The Tenth Planet
William Hartnell’s era on the show ends with the
introduction of an iconic villain and by working out a way to keep the show
alive for 50 years. The Cybermen make their first journey on the show, wrapped
in gauze and wandering around with giant lamps on their heads. While the
costuming wasn’t as intriguing as later years, the concept certainly was, as we
met a race that had replaced themselves bit by bit until there wasn’t any
humanity left. I’ve also always loved the sing-songy voice the Cybermen
employed early on. It’s almost frightening, because you can hear that last
vestiges of their original selves trying to break out through the voice box,
but unable to even replicate convincing speech anymore.
Meanwhile, the sickly Doctor finally succumbs at the end of
the adventure and turns into Patrick Troughton, who – with recorder in hand and
absurd hat on his head – will lead the show into its second era.
No comments:
Post a Comment