Time Stream #16 - The Chase

          Terry Nation sure can write a run-around. My least favorite story so far, “The Keys of Marinus” is a loosely framed narrative that hangs on moving from set piece to set piece. In “The Chase” we have a loosely framed narrative that, yes, moves from set piece to set piece. Why, then, does this story not bother me like “Marinus” does? Simply, “The Chase” is a lot more fun. Nation doesn’t get all the credit here (or the blame, I suppose), as he basically submitted an outline that director Richard Martin and Story Editor Dennis Spooner cobbled into something resembling a story. Don’t misunderstand, it’s not the best that Doctor Who has ever done, but even at six parts it moves along fairly well. It’s got Daleks, the Beatles (unless you own a Region 1 DVD – grr…) shots of the TARDIS in space, a Dalek-Mechonoid battle, Peter Purves showing up twice, and perhaps most importantly, it has (sigh) the departures of Ian and Barbara.

          The first two episodes set on the planet Aridius (a once ocean-covered planet, now conveniently dried out to fit its name) are my least favorite parts of the story. The Mire Beast is a giant squid, and not well done, but is practically CGI compared to the Aridians costumes. Just not good, I’m afraid. But even here, before the story and the titular “chase” begin in earnest, there are some genuinely good moments. Ian and Vicki name calling each other, “Little Fool” and “Nit”, took me aback and then made me laugh. They have a brother/sister relationship here, miles away from the teacher/student relationship Ian had with Susan. When Ian “borrows” Barbara’s cardigan, her exasperated “Not again” is priceless. Even better, distracting the Daleks by calling them “Fred” and “Archie”? I had to run it back to be sure I heard correctly!

          What else did I like? Aside from the *god-awful* NYC accent of the tour guide, the scenes on the Empire State Building are enjoyable. Morton Dill is a ridiculous character, but Peter Purves throws himself into it and really sells it. Hearing the Doctor say “ain’t” is just a bonus. The interlude on the Mary Celeste has some decent miniature work, and having actual water for the actors to jump into was a nice touch. OK, the House of Horrors bit is cheesy, but it’s a haunted house (from 1996 no less!) so I can accept the cheese. When Frankenstein’s monster rises from the table and the Doctor turns tail to leave Ian standing there is a goofy bit of physical humor that I just enjoyed.

          Finally we get to Mechanus, and “The Death of Doctor Who”. I am *almost* willing to forgive the not-looking-like-the-Doctor double, but why couldn’t he lip sync?? Ugh, at least Hartnell gets to give him a good beat down. We get the Mechonoids, who are impressive in size but are sadly deficient everywhere else. They can barely move around their own city, I can’t imagine they’d be much use in battle. Peter Purves shows up again, this time as Steven Taylor, prisoner of the Mechonoids, and proud owner of a stuffed panda bear. I don’t know if he should have risked his one chance of escape in two years to go back and retrieve said panda bear, but two years on Mechanus surely damaged his mind.

          The last episode is entitled “The Planet of Decision”. I envisioned the TARDIS crew just proclaiming their choices, Ian stating he “will have… the HAM SANDWICH”, or Vicki announcing “I think I will wear… THE BLUE SKIRT!” Sadly, no. We get the decision of Barbara and Ian to leave.

Story-wise, it makes perfect sense: they have means and opportunity, and they’d be fools to pass it up. Unlike Susan’s departure a few stories back, the Doctor is firmly against it, and tells them so in no uncertain terms. For the briefest of moments, he’s the tetchy, angry Doctor of his early stories, reminding Barbara and Ian that they barged into his ship uninvited. As always, it’s Barbara who placates him, and the Doctor assists them in using the Dalek ship to return home. The series of still photos (shot by Douglas Camfield) of Barbara and Ian back home in London are simply joyful. One can tell that as much as they may have enjoyed their time on the TARDIS, it was still always their goal to get back home. I’d love to know how they hand-waved the two years they were missing once they returned, but it must have been good enough for Ian to eventually be on the Board of Governors (see: Day of the Doctor). Maybe the Doctor went back and arranged some paperwork for them. It would be the least he could do, frankly.

Thus, the original TARDIS crew is gone, only the Doctor remains. As I've chronicled here, I really enjoyed these characters, and Barbara in particular. Jacqueline Hill was, scene for scene, absolutely brilliant. She is definitely ranked higher in my companions list than she was previously. Ian, also, has gone up in my estimation. William Russell could have been the bland action hero but he gave Ian a few hidden depths that it was nice to see. I can’t say it any better than the Doctor: “I shall miss them.  Yes, I shall miss them.  Silly old fusspots."

NEXT EPISODE: The Time Meddler

Time Stream #15 - The Space Museum

          When Doctor Who began, its plan was to have three different kinds of stories: sci-fi adventures in the future, historical trips to the past, and finally stories that sort of go… sideways. “Edge of Destruction” and “Planet of Giants” were both “sideways” stories, although I would argue that “Destruction” fulfilled that remit a lot more successfully. “The Space Museum” begins as a story that goes sideways, and begins brilliantly I might add, and then Episodes Two, Three and Four happen.

          But, let’s start at the beginning. Episode One has a similar tone “The Edge of Destruction,” and this is by no means a bad thing.  There is suspense, surrealism, and a general foreboding that has all of the TARDIS crew on edge throughout the episode. When the end comes, our four travelers come face to face with themselves as displays in the museum and it’s a genuinely disturbing moment. How could this happen? How will they escape? How CAN they escape if it hasn’t happened to them yet? It’s a great cliffhanger moment, and sadly, one which is horribly let down by the three episodes that follow.

          To be fair, the questions that the cliffhanger asks are answered pretty close to immediately. That is also one of the problems. Once the explanation of “the TARDIS jumped a time track” is given, then the rest of the story has each member of the crew questioning whether what they do (or don’t do) is what leads them to their fate as an exhibit. This could have been a great surreal episode, questioning fate and destiny, and I could easily see how if this were a two-parter it would have been similar to the far superior “Edge of Destruction.” Unfortunately what actually happens is that the TARDIS team gets caught up in one of the most pitiful rebellions against the most ridiculous oppressors. Three episodes are devoted to the Xeron rebellion, and although there are some good moments, the story never fulfills the promise of that first episode.

          In one of the DVD’s special features, author Robert Shearman (“Dalek” amongst many others) rightly praises Episode One, but hypothesizes that the whole story is meant to be a comedy, a pastiche of the kind of story which Doctor Who usually does. The Moroks are meant to be a bunch of clods, and the Xerons are a group of beatniks in black jeans and tennis shoes. I just can’t agree. I want to, I really do, if only to help sustain the promise of Episode One. But I just don’t see it. There is comedy to be sure—Vicki as the spark that lights the flame of rebellion, the Doctor’s ability to outwit the mind scanner with ridiculous images. Ian gets a good line or two although he’s a bit whiny about the “What do we do???” business. Barbara, comes off the worst as she really doesn’t HAVE much to do. If this was meant to be a comedy, a la “The Romans,” it could have easily been played as farce or parody. But the earnestness of all involved isn’t the earnestness of those who are in on the joke. The guest cast, including a VERY pre-Boba Fett Jeremy Bulloch, is so sincere that laughing at this as a comedy would just seem cruel.

          “The Space Museum” is by no means horrible, but it commits the major crime of simply being dull. The promise of the first episode is broken by the subsequent ones. I wish it *had* been a comedy, or at the very least a knowing pastiche of the traditional Doctor Who story, just to give a little more depth to the proceedings. But alas, it was not to be. Much like “An Unearthly Child”, “The Space Museum” starts out strong but is hampered by the other episodes that make up the whole tale. It’s not the nadir of Doctor Who, just an unfortunate sideways misstep.

NEXT EPISODE: The Chase

Kiss It to Death

          San Diego Comic-Con is currently going on, and as much as it’s a mecca for modern nerd culture, it is not something I’ve ever been eager to attend. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t turn down a ticket if one magically appeared, but the thought of being in THAT size crowd in THAT sized building? I’m not claustrophobic, but just the thought of it makes me breathe faster. All that said, there is usually great news, reports, pictures, etc. that come out of SDCC. Me being me, I honed in on everything Doctor Who related that got reported yesterday, including bits from the panel with Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez and Steven Moffatt.

          I know that the 50^th anniversary wasn’t even two years ago, but can we please have some sort of Tennant/Capaldi special, just to see the two Doctor Who fanboys play against each other? Lord, does Capaldi love being the Doctor or what. I’m hoping the Pertwee influences don’t go overboard in Series Nine, but I like what I’ve seen so far. Speaking of seeing, here you go:

(YouTube video from BBC America Official)

Much like with Missy last series, we now have the mystery of Maisie Williams’ character. Is she Romana? Susan? The Rani? The Meddling Monk regenerated as a woman?? On the plus side, it doesn’t seem that this will be a series long mystery and we’ll get a solution before Christmas.

Also, speaking of Mr. Capaldi, it seems there will be a 5” action figure to match the COMPLETE SET OF ALL THE OTHER DOCTORS AND WHY HAS THIS BEEN WAITING???? I’m excited. The 3.75” figures are fine, but I have every Doctor in 5” format and my completist gene protests. Oh, there will also be a “Curator and Gallifrey Falls Painting” set. I don’t have many sets, I go more for individual characters, but I rewatched “The Day of the Doctor” the other night (I know, it’s not a Time Stream entry) and I still grin like an idiot when Tom shows up as The Curator. I’ll happily save up the doubloons for this one. As an aside, I got the Fourth Doctor Funko POP the other day. I feel safe with little vinyl Tom Baker watching over me.

          That’s all I have for now. I might do another one of these posts if any more Who stuff breaks at SDCC. Otherwise it’s my regular life and Hartnell in the Time Stream. Thanks all for reading. I don’t really know how many people read this (I have a vague estimate), but the fact that it’s more than just me shouting into the wind amazes me. So, thanks!

Time Stream #14 - The Crusade

          A lovely palate cleanser after the, um, experience that was “The Web Planet”, “The Crusade” is a story that has a lot going for it right from the beginning.  A Hartnell historical, written by David Whitaker and directed by Douglas Camfield? Sign me up! Episodes Two and Four are still sadly missing, so it’s back into my recon library for this one, and it is so definitely worth it. It doesn’t replace “The Aztecs” as my favorite historical story, but it is an enjoyable four episodes. I won’t call it a “romp” as there is some fairly grim subject matter interspersed throughout the story, but it’s not as farcical as “The Romans”, not by a long shot.

          From the very start, Whitaker’s script is sharp. The dialogue sparkles and the characterizations of both the regular and guest casts are well tuned. Saladin is by no means a savage of any sort, being both honorable and thoughtful yet still a man involved in conflict. King Richard, on the other hand, comes off as more of a petulant “do it my way or else” kind of jerk. Julian Glover plays it well and makes a convincing monarch, and the late Bernard Kay as Saladin gives a performance that could easily have tipped into an over the top villain but never does. Since the story does need a mustache twirling villain, we get El Akir, who seems hell bent on killing Barbara and will go to great lengths to do so.

          Dear Barbara. This isn’t her strongest story, but she gets some meaty material, particularly when trying to escape El Akir and being rescued by Haroun. When she is given a knife and told to kill Haroun’s daughter and then herself should they be found, Barbara at first argues that any life would be preferable to dying. Then the reality of what she is being told sinks in. The understated, implied sexualized violence and threat of violence in these early stories is quite shocking, frankly. This isn’t the first time Barbara has been on the receiving end of a rape threat, but I believe it’s the first time suicide is offered as a means of escape for one of the main cast. Jacqueline Hill, as always, does great work here, speaking volumes with facial expressions alone.

          The rest of the cast is on top form as well. William Russell gets to buckle his swash after he is knighted “Sir Ian” and is in all ways the action hero. The Doctor and Vicki are caught up in royal intrigue surrounding King Richard, his sister Joanna (a STUNNING Jean Marsh), and the Earl of Leicester, not to mention a chamberlain and a silk merchant. Vicki’s disguise as “Victor” is thankfully short-lived and Maureen O’Brien gets to indulge in some royal costume change and not her daft pageboy ensemble. The Doctor gets to spout some witticisms, and bemoan the fact that he didn’t get knighted as well. He still has nine regenerations to go before that happens.

          Joanna gets one of those classic “description of the Doctor” lines in Episode Three: “There is something new in you, yet something older than the sky.” Damn, Whitaker, that’s an extraordinary line. I would love to know what he had in mind as a backstory for the Doctor when writing his episodes. Not simply a traveler in time and space, I think.

          Even with half of the story still missing and only available via recons, telesnaps and soundtracks, it’s incredibly easy to recommend “The Crusade” as a must-see. There is a joy in watching the cast in the historicals being woven into events, the outcome of which they (and we) already know. I’d love to see the new series take a chance on a pure historical – Capaldi would knock it out of the park! Until that day though, the classic series offers gems like “The Crusade” for us to enjoy.

NEXT EPISODE: The Space Museum

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