Ant's Doctor Who blog

[Anthony Williams]

1.5: The Keys of Marinus
originally posted at: http://thereareworldsoutthere.blogsp...f-marinus.html

The Keys of Marinus is somewhat of a rare beast. Having been written by Terry Nation, creator of the Daleks, it is one of only two stories written by him that does not feature his pepperpot creations. Yet, in my (somewhat humble) opinion, it is one of the finest stories that he ever crafted.

Certainly, Nation's script is fantastically ambitious. Marinus is a planet just like Earth - inhabited by many different cultures, including humanoids, giant brains, killer jungles, frozen knights and bureaucrats, all of which we are shown through the serial's six episodes. On top of this, the sheer scale of what Nation was trying to achieve is superb; this is probably the one serial that is closest to the new series in idea - a set of thematically linked, but standalone episodes that are all individually titled. Not only that, but the idea of a quest for a machine would be repeated fourteen years later, with Season Sixteen's Key to Time theme.

The Keys of Marinus, for this reason, is probably one of my favourite Hartnell stories. The story also deals with some surprisingly dark themes for a programme that was, at the time, undoubtedly a children's programme. For example, Vasor's attempted rape of Barbara in the fourth episode, The Snows of Terror, is really quite disturbing. Further, in Sentance of Death, Nation makes the viewer consider a society in which the trial system is "guilty until proven innocent" - a society vastly different to our own. There are also examples of domestic violence and some rather vicious stabbings. Certainly, these are elements that one wouldn't see in a modern-day children's programme.

Of course, The Keys of Marinus has some of the typical features of this early period of Who. The TARDIS crew are forcibly separated from the TARDIS by one means or another. Whilst in An Unearthly Child, it is by the cavemen holding them hostage, in The Daleks, it is by the Doctor's own foolishness and in Marco Polo, by Polo himself refusing to grant them access, here they are refused access by Arbitan who has set up a force-field around the TARDIS, which he will not deactivate unless they complete the quest. Although these methods help one to understand why the crew adventure rather than repeatedly try to return to Earth, it can leave one thinking "oh not again!" after a while.

This is the first story where there is really some character development for The Doctor himself, where he begins to "soften". Prior to this serial, he often came across as an anti-hero - selfish and arrogant. Here, he turns up as the hero in the city of Millennius, ready to save the day. Further, his melancholic side after he's saved the day helps to paint him in a far better light than at any time during the previous four serials. His moral tone is emphasised in the final episode, through his lack of desire to "play god" over Marinus. It is at this point that The Doctor starts to become the likable character that we know from most of the series.

This serial is a turning point in the history of Doctor Who, establishing many of the features and ideas of later series, further developing the character of our protagonist. The serial is a joy to watch - Nation's writing is more Edward Lear than Lord Byron, but the parallels remain exactly the same: The Keys of Marinus is a fun story to watch, rather than high-brow drama.

[Rob McCow]

Ah, so you're not of the opinion that No.2 could have forced a confession out of No.6 by making him sit through the whole of Keys of Marinus then?

I agree it's a fun story, definitely one that works better as a serial than as a 'whole'. I particularly love this one for the Ian and Barbara episodes though. It's a shame they have to be reunited with the Doctor and Susan in a way, they carry the story very well on their own!

[Antony Cox]

The story stands out as an oddity in the first season, as it's entirely absent when most of the rest of the season is intact.

Even more bizarre when you consider that Marco Polo was sold to more countries than any other story yet not one episode remains....

[Dirk Gently]

Even more bizarre when you consider that Marco Polo was sold to more countries than any other story...

Not a measure of how many copies there are though, unfortunately. The BBC would sell the right to screen the story but the physical prints would then be passed on to the next country to be screened there & so on. There may have been as little as 3 sets of prints & could even have been only one set, although unlikely.

[Antony Cox]

Oh yes, I'm well aware of the 'bicyling' of prints, but you'd still think that would mean there were a fiar amount of prints of the whole story floating around at one time or another, even if it wasn't one complete print per country.

[Si Hunt]

Well, see the rest of that post. It seems likely that we have Arabia to thank for all the Season 1 prints returned, it just so happened they didn't take "Marco Polo".

As for "The Keys of Marinus" it's a feature-film script made as a swiftly rehearsed play, so the production is unbelivably shoddy! Whether you consider the story a testament to the ambition of Nation and marvellous gung-ho attitude of the production team for attempting it, or stupidity of trying to realise something that clearly couldn't afford to do realistically, is a matter for personal choice.

Si.

[Antony Cox]

Well, see the rest of that post. It seems likely that we have Arabia to thank for all the Season 1 prints returned, it just so happened they didn't take "Marco Polo".

Si.

I assume that means that the prints they were sent were in English, and they then copied them and re-dubbed them in Arabic, rather than them having been re-dubbed in the UK before they were sent?

[Si Hunt]

Yes, they were all Arabic soundtracked dubs.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

1.6: The Aztecs
originally posted at: http://thereareworldsoutthere.blogsp...16-aztecs.html

The Aztecs is a strange story, one that has received an awful lot of praise over the years. Yet, I feel that most of this praise is misplaced and misguided, and that it only gets quite so much praise because it survives, rather than because it's actually that good. It is a story full of contradictions and what I consider to be lazy writing on the part of the writer, John Lucarotti.

When the TARDIS crew first land, the Doctor quite happily allows Barbara to be set up as a Goddess, and even encourages Ian to contest the leadership of the Aztec military. Yet, when Barbara starts trying to interfere with the local custom of human sacrifice, it is only then that the Doctor starts with his "you can't change history" line. Despite this, the Doctor is happy to continue to allow Ian, Susan and even himself to mess with the timeline - it would seem that the only person that the Doctor's non-interventionalist policy applies to is Barbara.

Not only does this not make sense, but it goes against all the character development that previously occurred in the storyline. Since when did the Doctor give a damn about interfering with timelines when it suited him? Surely it should be Barbara, the history teacher, concerned with the timeline of her own people and the customs of the peoples that she's studied, whilst the alien Doctor, who quite happily gave fire to the cavemen, and wiped out the Daleks on Skaro, would be the one happy to flout established history? On top of all of this, the Doctor has only himself to blame for the idealism of the woman that he helped set up as a goddess!

These greviences aside, Lucarotti's script is once more, as with Marco Polo, carried by superb production values and the strength of the actors within it. Both the costume department and set design did themselves proud. The fact that the serial was recorded in black and white allows the viewer to believe that the set was genuine, rather than being a set built, indoors, by the BBC. The regulars of the series continue to do the best job that they can, given a plot that is virtually non-sensical, albeit with some rather good dialogue.

Overall, I cannot help but be disappointed with this serial. Yes, the acting is brilliant and yes, the production values are superb, but it is seriously let down by the fact that the writer doesn't seem to have a clue what he's doing, causing the characters to be extremely inconsistant. This serial certainly doesn't deserve the praise heaped upon it by fandom, and I cannot help but feel that if another "pure historical" (The Reign of Terror or The Crusade to name a couple) had survived, then The Aztecs would not be considered so highly. This story unfortunately continues to disappoint with every viewing.

[Si Hunt]

Controversial! "The Aztecs" is excellent, and I can't see how the supposed inconsistencies in the Doctors character can spoil all the many other positive points - the good performances, set design, dialogue and wonderful plotting. Of course the Doctor isn't initially concerned when Barbara gets them in a position to leave by pretending to be Yetaxa - at this point, she's harming nobody and gets them out of a scrape. But when she attempts to change the course of the Aztec civilisation, it's then that the Doctor sees the danger in changing history. Neither the Doctor, Ian nor Susan "mess" with the timelines to any great degree, their efforts being mainly concerned with winning a duel, working out how to enter the temple and getting married on a film insert.

As for changing history elsewhere, it's long been a Doctor Who problem, not exclusive to "The Aztecs", that ANYTHING the Doctor does should change history - so the series either has to have him not caring about great historical events or not daring to speak to anyone in contemporary stories in case this equally disrupts the future. I for one am glad they recently addressed this by noting that the Doctor being a Time Lord allows him to see which events are "fixed" and which arn't. Clearly the Aztecs continuing to hold sacrifices was one of those events he recognised as immutable and which should not be changed.

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

Controversial! "The Aztecs" is excellent, and I can't see how the supposed inconsistencies in the Doctors character can spoil all the many other positive points - the good performances, set design, dialogue and wonderful plotting. Of course the Doctor isn't initially concerned when Barbara gets them in a position to leave by pretending to be Yetaxa - at this point, she's harming nobody and gets them out of a scrape. But when she attempts to change the course of the Aztec civilisation, it's then that the Doctor sees the danger in changing history. Neither the Doctor, Ian nor Susan "mess" with the timelines to any great degree, their efforts being mainly concerned with winning a duel, working out how to enter the temple and getting married on a film insert.

To an extent, I do agree with you Si. But I honestly don't think that the story is all that it's cracked up to be. Yes, the performances are good, and the set design is good. However, I feel that I must disagree with you on the dialogue and plotting - I just don't think that either are that great. The story follows many of the set devices of the first season - the TARDIS crew get separated from the TARDIS by one means or another, and spend the majority of the serial trying to get back to it. Barbara's turn as a goddess just seems unbelievable to me, particularly her desire to change history. As someone who claims that this was her specialist period, why the desire to change what she knows? Surely she should realise the need to preserve the timeline, particularly in this context!

Further, I can't help but feel that the quasi-Elizabethan dialogue of the serial just doesn't quite fit. Did Lucarotti think that he was Shakespeare? He was writing for a 1960s children's tv serial, for god's sake!

As for changing history elsewhere, it's long been a Doctor Who problem, not exclusive to "The Aztecs", that ANYTHING the Doctor does should change history - so the series either has to have him not caring about great historical events or not daring to speak to anyone in contemporary stories in case this equally disrupts the future. I for one am glad they recently addressed this by noting that the Doctor being a Time Lord allows him to see which events are "fixed" and which aren't. Clearly the Aztecs continuing to hold sacrifices was one of those events he recognised as immutable and which should not be changed.

I too am glad that it has finally been dealt with - over 40 years on! However, it has been proven that the Doctor can be wrong with such things, such as Pompeii!

Ant x

[SiHart]

Further, I can't help but feel that the quasi-Elizabethan dialogue of the serial just doesn't quite fit. Did Lucarotti think that he was Shakespeare? He was writing for a 1960s children's tv serial, for god's sake!

Apparently this is avirtue of The Crusade!

Anyway, despite all your misgivings about it, I still prefer this to the Reign of Terror, which is dull and slow in comparison.

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

I'm with Ant on a lot of what he says. I think The Aztecs gets a lot of praise because Marco Polo isn't physically there to get it (although it gets more than its fair share).

[Wayne]

Interesting to see your views Ant.
Most people know that the historicals aren't my bag, but whilst 'The Crusade' makes a quite a dent in my indifference to them, 'The Aztecs' is the only one that really breaks through. I love all the performances in this one, especially Jackie Hill.

As for 'Keys of Marinus' - Great review, & good to see some support for it. When i first saw it upon it's VHS release, i was pleasantly surprised how much i enjoyed it, & have watched it 2 or 3 times since, in one sitting with no problems getting restless with it or anything. It's good one!

But Marco Polo is still as dull as hell!

[Logo Polish]

As someone who claims that this was her specialist period, why the desire to change what she knows? Surely she should realise the need to preserve the timeline, particularly in this context!

She wants to prevent their civilisation from having been wiped out by the Conquistadors, reasoning that they did so because they could only see what they considered to be its most barbaric side (ie sacrifice). To her, it's an attempt at rescuing them from their doom.

Of course, at the time the story was written, the attitude behind the series was that altering the course of history wouldn't be possible - not a "risk to the timelines" thing (the Doctor's warnings to her simply assert that it's not possible, ie that she's doomed to fail), but that it couldn't be done at all. The opposite idea wasn't explicitly adopted until The Time Meddler. So talk of "preserving timelines" is anachronistic when talking about this story as that simply wasn't a concept recognised by the makers at the time. The argument between the Doctor and Barbara was never intended to have anything to do with science fiction stuff about temporal chaos, in this story it's simply an illustration of how futile some enterprises can be.

[Anthony Williams]

1.7: The Sensorites
originally posted at: http://thereareworldsoutthere.blogsp...ensorites.html

Like the story the precedes it, The Sensorites can only be described as a strange story. On the one hand, it is an extremely slow and dull story, widely considered the low point of Season One. Yet, it is also a bizarrely bold and somewhat influential move on the part of Verity Lambert and the rest of the production team at the time.

It is remarkable that the production team were ballsy enough to set a 1964 serial in the 28th century, on a spaceship, with the budgetary restraints that they had at the time. Likewise, whilst one may not think that the Sensorites themselves are up to much in terms of modern prosthetics, yet they were a superb achievement in 1964, and were certainly a monster that I found extremely creepy as a child. Indeed, their design would go on to influence the Ood, fourty-two years later. It is in testament to this that the planet of the Sensorites, the Sense-Sphere is referenced in the 2008 episode Planet of the Ood.

The idea of breaking the story up into two different mini-stories, comprising of two and four parts is a ground-breaking one, that would be used again in the future, in stories such as The Time Monster, The Seeds of Doom and The Invasion of Time. This story, considered by many to be the one defect in Season One's crown is where the idea originates.

However, one cannot help but feel that if this had been made as an independant and stand-alone serial, not part of a larger series such as Doctor Who, no-one would even remember The Sensorites, let alone re-watching and writing about it fourty-four years on. What I see as the main problem with the serial is that it starts so well, and then plods along at a snails' pace for the majority of the remainder of the serial. It is quite well plotted for the most part, and the Sensorites themselves, with the exception of the City Administrator, have to be some of the most friendly aliens ever devised.

The story itself works as an early attempt at a character-driven examination of an alien culture. By no means the best Doctor Who story in Season One, let alone ever, The Sensorites is harmless enough, and although I would consider swapping its existance for that of say, The Evil of the Daleks, I am glad that we still have it.

[Wayne]

I guess i'm one of the few who really likes 'The Sensorites'. When i did my own Hartnell thread, it came out something like 5th in the rankings!
It's hugely atmospheric, & it's another one that i can happily watch in one sitting without getting bored. Bring on the dvd release!

[Anthony Williams]

1.8: The Reign of Terror
originally posted at: http://thereareworldsoutthere.blogsp...of-terror.html

Prior to 2003, most fans had not had much contact with The Reign of Terror. It's status as missing two out of six of its episodes had prevented a video release, and its soundtrack wasn't released on CD until 2005. It was never shown on UK Gold, either - owing to the fact that it was (and still is) incomplete. A handful of fans had access to dodgy video recordings of the extant episodes, as well as the Loose Canon reconstruction of the two missing episodes (after 2000, when the recon was released, at any rate).

So, The Reign of Terror is still very new in the eyes of the majority of the majority of fans, which is a great shame, in my opinion. Being the third historical of the show, and indeed, the season, this serial is very different indeed from the previous two. Whilst Marco Polo and The Aztecs dealt with a few gritty issues, The Reign of Terror is a story about one of the most bloody periods in history. Whilst I suspect that the writer of the previous two historicals, John Lucarotti, would have played the story entirely straight, Dennis Spooner adds in moments of black comedy, which I believe is completely necessary in order to deal with the themes of the serial, whilst still being family-friendly - let us not forget that Doctor Who was seen entirely as a Children's series at this point, rather than a family series.

This story differs from Marco Polo and The Aztecs in another way, too. Whilst the former had Tegana and the latter Tlotoxl, there is no "central villain" character in this story. Although Leon Colbert, in his treacherous ways, he is quickly dispatched once his true nature is revealed. Whilst one may argue that Robspierre could be considered as such, he only really appears in the background, and cannot really be considered as the chief protagonist of the story.

The first real use of location filming benefits The Reign of Terror greatly, particularly in regards to the first episode, A Land of Fear. Not only does this give an added sense of realism, it also seems to give the story a greater scope and scale than any of the previous, studio-bound stories of Season One. It seems a shame to me that people often rave about both Marco Polo and The Aztecs, yet this serial seems to go largely ignored, despite its grander scale, and more impressive plot.

The four regulars are on absolutely top form through all of this story. Despite William Russell being absent for the filming of two of the episodes (off on holiday!), Ian still gets plenty to do, unlike Susan in The Aztecs, when Carol Ann Ford went off on her holidays. The Doctor manages to steal the show, with an excellent performance from Hartnell, outwitting both the overseer and the jailer, as well as managing to deceive Robespirerre, who would have undoubtedly had him guillotined had he known that he was not who he said he was. It is also interesting to note, with regards to character development, that when it is revealed that they are not back in the 1960s, Ian and Barbara are not particularly disappointed - they've come to enjoy their travels, and they've warmed to the Doctor as he has, for the most part, warmed to them. The Doctor's final line sums up the closeness of the team: "Our destiny is in the stars, so lets go and search for it"

The Reign of Terror is an absolutely superb ending to Season One, capping off what has been an essentially excellent season.

[Dirk Gently]

The Reign of Terror is an absolutely superb ending to Season One

I couldn't agree with you more! Seriously underrated.

[SiHart]

Really? There are some great moments in it, especially the well realised fire at the end of the first part, but it doesn't cut it for me. Spooner obviously was very fond of the Jailer character, but I don' think it works very well in the story. It's not all that funny for a start, and as is a drawback in many stories in the first season, Susan is really, really annoying. Her histrionics in the prison are so tedious and make the story drag, as does the constant and repetitive returns to the Conceigerie.
I stand by my comments from our season 1 review:

However, this story doesn't half meander around. The first two episodes are just build up and ways of stopping them from getting to Paris quickly before the proper plot kicks in part 3.

It just doesn't quite work for me in the way that Marco Polo or The Aztecs does. Probably just down to personal preference, but after Edge of Destruction, this is my least favourite story of what is pretty strong opening season.

Si xx

[Wayne]

I've only done RoT once. Never again! I could barely keep my eyes open! It's nowhere near as good as The Aztecs or The Crusade if you ask me.

[Pip Madeley]

I love the bits with Ronald Pickup.