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