Time Stream #11 - The Rescue

          The Daleks have been defeated and the TARDIS has departed Earth, leaving Susan behind to start her new life. “The Rescue” begins not too long after the previous story, but long enough for the Doctor to get a good snooze in at the beginning of the story, sleeping through the TARDIS materialization on the planet Dido. Concerned, Barbara and Ian wake him, and this is where we get the first real look at how Susan’s departure has affected the Doctor. After checking the instruments, the Doctor begins to tell Susan to open the doors, but then catches himself. It’s a rather sweet moment, and one which doesn’t seem forced in any way. Barbara gently asking him to show *her* the door control is a good moment for the both of them to get around stating the obvious that they all miss Susan. And then Ian comes off like a jerk implying to Barbara that the Doctor’s not quite all there. Bad form, Chesterton.

          The story of “The Rescue” is a bit of a non-starter as it serves only to introduce Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and not much else. But it makes that introduction well, and ticks all the boxes on what will be a standard companion application: orphaned Earth girl, in danger for most of the story, joins the TARDIS crew by the end of the story. I did like how the Doctor actually invites Vicki to join, and it wasn’t she who begged to be taken along. Along those same lines, the departure of Susan has opened up a well of emotion in the Doctor as I feel this is the gentlest we’ve ever seen him. He’s genuinely concerned for Vicki, talks about how much he cares for Barbara, and is outraged once he discovers the truth about Bennett/Koquillion. For as much as this story is just a bit of fluff after the Dalek six-parter, the Doctor gets some truly heartfelt moments here.

          Obviously, though, the real focal point of the story is the introduction of Vicki. Maureen O’Brien has a different “look” from Carole Ann Ford which helps the transition of companions. Although she has her screaming moments here, Vicki also seems to be less prone to hysteria than Susan, excepting when Barbara kills Vicki’s pet, Sandy.  Not Ms. Wright’s greatest moment, to be sure. Vicki has got the “futuristic teen” angle down fine, but I don’t think she is as bright as Susan.  I mean, Bennett is pretty darn mobile for a man who can’t move his legs, and Koquillion always seems to want to see Bennett alone.  Nothing suspicious there!

          “The Rescue” is a decent little throwaway story, a light little two-parter worlds away from “Edge of Destruction” the previous two episode story, back in Season One. It gives a decent introduction to a new companion, but shows that Susan didn’t just disappear at the end of the last story, that she is still on the mind of everyone in the TARDIS and at home. A nice plus is that it ends on a decent cliffhanger, leading to a story I’ve been looking forward to.  All in all, “The Rescue” is a pleasant way to pass an hour in the Doctor Who universe.

NEXT EPISODE: The Romans

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Time Stream #10 - The Dalek Invasion of Earth

          The tenth story of Doctor Who and one which has a lot of historical significance to the show, “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” brings us to the end of an era, with the departure of one of the original TARDIS crew. There are iconic images from this story as well as a speech from the Doctor, part of which is practically burned into the memories of Classic Who fans. But what is possibly the most important part of this whole serial happens at the very end. We have the traditional “saying goodbye to the supporting cast” scene going on and poor oblivious Ian wanting to stay and chat with David Campbell until Barbara (yay!) hustles him into the TARDIS. Susan and David are left alone and the first companion departure is about to begin.

          Back in my entry for “The Aztecs” I mentioned how Susan had to once again take issue with an arranged marriage and insisting that no one would tell her who to marry. I wanted to come back to that point in this, her last story. Throughout this story, Susan’s relationship with David Campbell is shown to evolve and grow naturally. They kind of have chemistry, which isn’t necessarily a given in Doctor Who. Additionally, this is the best outing for Susan in a long while.  She still has her moments of hysteria, and of course she twists her ankle and spends an inordinate amount of time recovering, but this is really her strongest story in ages. She gets to be strong beyond her years, and I’ve started to lean heavily on the theory that she is young for a Gallifreyan, but no way is she an actual teenager. The ending alone sort of backs this up as I have strong doubts that the Doctor would let a not-yet-eighteen year old simply up and leave with a man she has known for a few days at best. She stands up to the Doctor – gently – and is downright sassy when she tells the resistance “I eat” when asked about her culinary skills. She was ready to abandon David and leave in the TARDIS when the Doctor makes the decision to lock her out, forcing her to choose David over her life with her Grandfather. Part of that just rubs me the wrong way. Susan has been stronger than ever in this story – why not grant her the agency to choose flat-out to stay on Earth.  We KNOW she loves her Grandfather but the time has come for her to take that decisive step into adulthood, and the Doctor doesn’t give her that choice. It’s a subtle but major difference in my opinion. She can make a life on Earth with David, and as we see it, that would have been the choice she made. But she didn’t get to make it and that wasn’t really fair to the character. It wasn’t an arranged marriage by any stretch, but the decision to stay was made FOR her and not BY her.

         

     I wanted to focus on this part of the story because I think it sets a template for the series as a whole. The Doctor continues on, but the companions simply don’t stay as long. There are so many other elements that to ignore them completely would be doing the story a great disservice. So in order to pay due respect to this story and in honor of the retirement this week of David Letterman, I present the Top Ten Things to Enjoy about “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”:

10. The Dalek coming out of the Thames at the end of Episode 1. WE know this story has Daleks in it, but only calling this episode “World’s End” means that Dalek reveal is a doozy!

9. The Doctor having no time for fellow prisoner Craddock. “Hold this and shut up!”

8. The atmospheric creepiness of abandoned London.

7. The Daleks’ frankly insane plan to hollow out the Earth and drive it around space. This is the superior race of the universe?

6. Barbara driving straight through a load of Daleks – “I rather enjoyed that!” Oh, Barbara Wright, my growing love continues unabated.

5. The Slyther. Look, I’m not saying it’s a decent monster or anything (I’ll take a Voord or Sensorite over this guy), but the actor in the suit is just so *earnest* and is really waggling that suit around for all he’s worth.

4. Listen to the Robomen and imagine them all as Gumbies from Monty Python.

3. The spectacular use of stock footage when the mine explodes.

2. Barbara practically forcing Ian into the TARDIS so Susan and David can be alone.

1. Really, can it be anything but the Doctor’s farewell speech to Susan? All together, you know the words: “One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.” Didn’t have to look that up either!

NEXT EPISODE:  The Rescue

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Time Stream #9 - Planet of Giants

          Classic Doctor Who began its second season with the story up next, “Planet of Giants,” no definite articles to be found in the title. I had seen this one about a year ago when I first got the DVD, so I thought it would still be fresh in my memory. For the most part it was, but watching it with a more critical eye gave me a deeper appreciation for the story as a whole.

          “Planet of Giants” brings the TARDIS team to modern day (1964) Earth for the first time, but still in such a way that it prevents the teachers from Coal Hill School from returning home. The story starts with the TARDIS doors opening by themselves at the point of materialization, rendering both the Ship and its crew miniaturized, down to about an inch tall. The TARDIS team is at first unaware of their change in stature but soon piece it together after discovering numerous oversized insects and everyday items. Unfortunately their size also means they are susceptible to an experimental insecticide, DN6, developed by an unscrupulous businessman, Forester. Straightforward as that plot sounds, the production takes a few turns that keep it from being too predictable.

          One of the most intriguing things to me is that the villain of the piece, Forester, never meets anyone from the TARDIS. It must seem to him that his undoing is simply a set of unfortunate occurrences, when it is truly the work of the TARDIS crew working, if not behind the scenes, then perhaps “smaller than the scenes”. In the same vein, no one from the TARDIS knows who this murderous villain is, why he is manufacturing this insecticide, or really anything else that would lead to a classic denouement between hero and villain. They know someone has been killed, they know a devastating insecticide is somehow in play, and eventually they realize that Barbara’s life is in jeopardy from the poison. Save Barbara and get back to the TARDIS – everything else really is of secondary concern.

          Ah, Barbara. As I have been rewatching these stories and writing about them, my love for Barbara Wright as a companion has grown by leaps and bounds. Previously, I just thought of her as part of the “Ian and Barbara” duo, but as I think I say in almost every entry, Jacqueline Hill is tremendously good as Barbara and deserves FAR more praise than I think she regularly gets. In this story, Barbara does get to pull one of the classic companion moves and decides to not tell anyone she is infected. But even this boneheaded stunt she manages not to make feel clichéd, even when the Doctor scolds her for her silence. In fact, the Doctor/Barbara relationship in this story is VERY strong, with the Doctor being quite solicitous of Barbara throughout. Ian may be the science teacher in the group, but the Doctor appears to be a mentor for the history teacher instead. Which is only appropriate, as Ian appears to be out of his depth when confronted with a complex chemical formula. He understands litmus paper and a Bunsen burner, but anything more and he’s not much cop.

          The design of this story is something that I think still holds up, 50+ years later.  The oversized props – matches, seed packets, a sink – all work well as practical effects.  Had it been made today, I can only imagine how much CGI would be employed to shrink the Doctor and company. Here the physical interactions of the miniaturized crew with their giant surroundings really sell the idea that they are in danger because of their size and that everyday objects can be deadly threats.

          “Planet of Giants” succeeds for me on most levels, the weak point being Barbara’s uncharacteristic silence about her infection. Susan is once again a hysterical screamer, but that will be remedied quite soon. I like the idea of the regulars not interacting with, yet still defeating the villain through sheer pursuit of justice for a murder victim. It’s a clever, well-done story, and a fine start to Season Two.

NEXT EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

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Fatherly Pride

            A general life update here on the goings on of all the sundry activities and things the family has been up to. The karate tournament that C3 was in a week ago was a rousing success! She placed third in both hand-kata (basically doing all her positions correctly) and in breaking (where she, well, broke wood with her hand, foot and elbow) so two trophies went home with her on Saturday. She was excited and tried to be humble but she doesn’t do self-effacing very well. Also, watching a 7-year old wield a bo staff, and with a fair measure of proficiency, is an experience I recommend if only for the knowledge that there are preteens out there who can kick butt.

            This past week also held a creative and performing arts festival in the kids’ school district. It was nice to have an event where all three kids had some kind of representation, a very rare event indeed. C3 sang with her 2^nd Grade chorus in a medley of songs from The Lion King. She admittedly didn’t look very interested but seemed to have a good time. As a side note, “Hakuna Matata” is a very, very repetitive song which I don’t think I ever noticed before. C2 had a drawing of some seashells in the visual art section of the show.  I have never seen the medium for an art project listed as “Crayola Twistables” before.  Ah, the modern age.

            The showstopper, though, was C1. He and a classmate performed “Point of No Return” from The Phantom of the Opera, so of course C1 had on a Phantom half mask. No halfway theatrics for this kid.  His microphone wasn’t on though and the acoustics in a high school cafeteria aren’t really optimal. He could be heard, but let’s just say that a lot of the people there weren’t necessarily well mannered. After that song, he performed solo (and with a working mic) “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” from Aladdin. I think his nerves were running high, maybe even higher than they were for Peter Pan as here he was THE focus.  But he did a great job, even doing a little soft-shoe/shuffle dance during a long instrumental part. I was nervous that he was going to get tangled in the mic cord but he managed to avoid that particular pitfall.  I fell on stage during my Senior Year play and I think my back is still paying the price for that, 20-odd years later.

            With all of these events for the kids (and more to come, as always) the Wif ™ and I haven’t been doing much on our own outside the house, at least not since our Rifftrax night. We have a few things coming up – friends’ birthdays, that sort of thing – but otherwise a quiet few weeks ahead for the adults of the family. But there are always house projects to do and everyday life to lead.  I’ll happily take the downtime in between events if it means I get to enjoy those events more fully.  If all the in-between time was filled with rushing and drama and nonsense, there’s no way we could enjoy these things like we do.

            That’s all for now. I just wanted to humblebrag about the kids and get an entry up.  I seem to have attracted some readers, so hello!  Sorry this entry isn’t Doctor Who related (a Time Stream entry is on its way soon), as it seems that’s where most of my page views come from, but even in my description at the top of the page, I try to hit all my roles here, Father and Husband included. Thanks for reading!!

Time Stream #8 - The Reign of Terror

            We return to the Doctor’s Time Stream with the next adventure up, “The Reign of Terror.” I was so excited when this was released on DVD, having only ever seen a poor multi-generation copy on VHS.  Additionally, episodes 4 & 5 on the DVD have been reconstructed through animation, making this a fuller story than I had experienced before. My memory of the story was a bit fuzzy as it had been several years, but having had good luck with the historical stories so far, I was really anticipating this trip to Revolutionary France, and the final story of Doctor Who’s first season.

            All of the above now serves to underline that I was not really sold on this story, and I can’t quite seem to put my finger on the reason(s) why. There are bits and pieces that stood out to me, both good and bad. Additionally, there were some things that just struck me odd that perhaps wouldn’t have been when the story first aired. For example, early in Episode 1, as the Doctor is trying to shuffle Ian and Barbara off the TARDIS, Ian remarks that it would be better to part as friends, perhaps over a drink. A suggestion that perks the Doctor right up out of his tetchiness! Like the Doctor’s pipe on prehistoric earth, this is another vice of the Doctor’s that never is really remarked on again, until maybe the Pertwee era.

            Barbara once again gets a creepy come-on from an unsavory character, in this instance the jailer of the Conciergerie Prison. Watching these stories in full and so close to one another makes it seem like Barbara’s virtue is in peril at least once a week. Jacqueline Hill time and time again plays Barbara with a full strength of character, so that even in the direst of circumstances, one gets the feeling that Ms. Wright can handle herself with aplomb. It just seems so redundant seeing her character put in these situations when watching the stories so close together.

Carole Ann Ford is wasted here as Susan is given little, if anything to do, besides worry about her Grandfather and come down with a fever. Ian only fares slightly better, which is a credit to William Russell, as he was on holiday for part of this story, recording his scenes in the cell ahead of time, to be inserted later. William Hartnell does a little bit of stretching here in both his scenes with the foreman of the road workers and when he disguises himself as a Provincial official.  He gets to do some physical humor in the former, and in the latter completely dispenses with all of the “Hmms” and verbal tics that are a trademark of the First Doctor.

As I mentioned, episodes 4 & 5 are animated reconstructions, and as much as I appreciate this official reconstruction, the animation style simply wasn’t my cup of tea. There was far too much emphasis put on the shadows so that most faces looked like they had gotten a poor night’s sleep. Sometimes the fine details became overwhelming. I loved the look of the Doctor’s disguise, but seeing it rendered over and over again became distracting, and even worse, boring.

That, I think, is my biggest complaint about the story. I never engaged with it and found it on the dull side.  I know that writer Donald Cotton will return to the series and not that far from now, but this first adventure of his lacked wit, or indeed any sense of real peril.  I’m all for a good runaround if it’s entertaining, but this one fell flat for me. I’ve said before that I love Doctor Who’s ambition, even if it is often OVER ambitious.  The faults with “The Reign of Terror” are ones made from a lack of ambition, and that makes them harder to forgive.

NEXT EPISODE: Planet of Giants

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