End of the Summer

          I guess it’s more of an unofficial end of the summer, but when the kids are talking about their impending return to the classroom, yeah, it’s the end. It’s been quite a summer here at the Cat Ranch, and although everyone says it it’s really true – where did this summer GO?

          For me, most of the summer was spent in a teaching program, for alternate routes to teacher certification. Workshops, meetings, field experience, it was pretty intense and I definitely learned a LOT. Unfortunately for me, so far that work hasn’t paid off by turning into a teaching job, so I’m kind of disappointed. We’ll see what happens next.

          On a more positive note, C1 and C2 were both in their town’s production of Hairspray, Jr. (an edited down for length/timing version of the show). C2 was in the ensemble and had loads of fun. After the show the first night she was just beaming with excitement. C1 played Link Larkin, the male lead. Oh. My. God. The boy can sing! I could not have been a prouder theater nerd-turned-dad. 

          Last week, we took all three kids down to Washington DC for a couple days. My in-laws were there as well which worked OK.  They took the two younger ones, and C1 stayed with me and the Wif ™. All of us got to see the American History Museum (Kermit the Frog!!) before various people pooped out. We headed home early on Wednesday, but C2 and C3 spent the day at Natural History before heading back.  We did some combined birthday celebrating as Wif ™, C3 and I all have August birthdays.

          I suppose it says something that entries about my real life aren’t anywhere near the length of a Time Stream entry. Neither are they quite as interesting, I’d wager. Now with summer coming to a close and no teaching job on the horizon, it’s time to see what the rest of 2015 has in store for me and the family. Cross your fingers, all!

Time Stream #18 - Galaxy Four

Reconstruction time again, here at the old Time Stream. The first in a string of them, actually. This is the first one in this rewatch that is NOT an historical story, but it will by no means be the last. I had little to no memory of “Galaxy Four” despite having had the audio, recons on both VHS and DVD, as well as two copies of the novelization. All I could really remember going in was the standard synopsis of Drahvins are beautiful but bad / Rills are ugly but good. Turns out, that’s all I needed to know since for the most part, that’s what this entire story is based upon.

“Galaxy Four” was originally written with Ian and Barbara in mind as the companions. This becomes painfully obvious when Peter Purves as Steven seems to get most of the Barbara lines and characterization, and very little of the Ian. He’s said himself that it’s not one of his favorite stories for this reason, and one can hardly blame him. Truth be told, I don’t think Barbara would have fared well in this story, based on some of the characterizations. Steven is kind of snippy and definitely not as likable as in his previous stories. Vicki comes off a little bit thinly, and not as full a character as we’ve seen. The Doctor? Well, Hartnell must have had some good rest on his holidays as he spends a LOT of time (for the First Doctor anyway) sprinting from set to set. And this is based on a recon with only one full episode. I thought the man might keel over.

My main problem with “Galaxy Four” is that I feel it’s written, if not badly, then at the very least, half-heartedly. The beautiful=good and ugly=evil “twist” is telegraphed so far in advance that it’s not much of a twist at all. There is NO WAY that the Drahvins aren’t the bad guys from the minute we first see them. The TARDIS crew seems to already know this some of the time, and really kind of smart mouthing their Amazonian oppressors. The Doctor’s discovery that the planet (never named in the story) will explode in “two dawns” and not fourteen is all well and good. But… why? It could have been “two dawns” from the get-go upping the tension immediately. Come to that, why would the Doctor keep that a secret from the Drahvins? If he discovered MORE time, maybe? But finding out that you have two days instead of two weeks before you blow up might be urgent for everyone to know.  There was no tactical advantage gained by keeping that a secret.

Speaking of the Drahvins, there is a kernel of an interesting idea in there. Like beautiful Sontarans, they are bred for war. Only the leader, Maaga, can think for herself, the rest are just drones. Unfortunately for the Drahvins, and for the story, Maaga gets her crazy on, and she leaves it on for the whole time. The other Drahvins, who are only numbered and not named, seem to want a bit of rebellion going. Or it’s a ruse to fool the Doctor and company. Or it’s something else that I just didn’t pick up on.

Before closing, a word about the Chumblies. They were yet another in a long line of “the next Daleks!” to appear on the show, and I’m sorry but no. Sort of pyramidal beehive shaped, and speaking only in synthesized tones (unless the Rills spoke through them), they were just not good. The name is dire but since Vicki coined it, I can let it pass, but then there is no other name for them except “the machines”. Again, simply bad scripting.

It’s taken until the third season, but I think “Galaxy Four” might stand atop my chart as my least favorite story, knocking previous title holder “The Keys of Marinus” down to second place. I’m just as surprised as you are, really. But again, my fallback position if something’s bad, at least let it be bad in *attempting* to do something (Hello, “Web Planet”!). “Galaxy Four” doesn’t attempt, doesn’t try, and for the first story of the third season, it’s disappointing how little effort was put into the making.  It’s neither beautiful nor ugly, but it *is* bad.

NEXT EPISODE: Mission to the Unknown

"Galaxy 4" novelization cover, courtesy The TARDIS Data Core at tardis.wikia.com

 

Please leave comments if you could.  I'd really love some feedback.  Thanks!!

Time Stream #17 - The Time Meddler

          I’m not 100 percent sure what to do with “The Time Meddler”. It’s an historical, a story type I have really grown to enjoy a lot more than I ever have. It’s got comedy, thanks to the script from Donald Cotton (“The Romans”), and some great performances from the “new” TARDIS crew of the Doctor, Vicki, and Steven. Finally, it has Peter Butterworth as the Meddling Monk who is enjoyable but not, I think, quite as good as the regular cast. So why don’t I know what to do with it? 

          Part of the problem for me is with the story itself. The idea of one of the Doctor’s people setting up shop in Earth’s past to change the future is an intriguing one. It seems like a very “New Series” concept to me. My first problem with it though, is setting when and where they did. There is NO suspense in trying to change the events of 1066, because we know how things turned out. The good guys will of COURSE win this match up. If there was a more consistent threat to the TARDIS crew or the guest characters in the story, it could have been worked around. But the way it was set up, just no. The dual threat of the Monk and the Vikings could have been some really exciting stuff, but oh my god the Vikings bored the heck out of me.

          Speaking of threats to other characters, I was REALLY put off by the implied (and frankly couldn’t have been more strongly implied without some graphic violence) rape of Edith. She’s practically catatonic once the Vikings leave the settlement, barely able to speak, and absolutely in shock. That to me was a bit much for this “kid’s show” – in this supposed romp of an episode it brought my enjoyment way down. What was worse is that when she reappears in Episode Three, Edith seems to have fully recovered and is simply angry. I don’t think that character arc, for lack of a better term, would pass muster today. And it shouldn’t.

          Even putting all that aside, I just can’t love this story. I’m old enough to remember when it was rediscovered in Nigeria and subsequently sold to PBS stations here in the US. “A lost story! It’s a classic!” and I was young enough, and inexperienced enough to buy into the hype machine. I had it in my memory that I LOVED this story, and rewatching it now was such a letdown.

To be sure, there are still things in it that I can like. The Doctor’s speech to Steven about the things he sees in the TARDIS, ending with “…that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now please stop bothering me.” is one of the Hartnell moments that shows how much the character has changed since “An Unearthly Child”. He has whimsy now, also evident in the “What do you think it is, a space helmet for a cow?” exchange. I love the relationship between Steven and Vicki. Peter Purves gets the sarcastic but still good natured demeanor of Steven immediately, while Maureen O’Brien’s Vicki is like the know–it-all sister, but one who you can’t help but find endearing.

As for the Monk, as much as the fanboy in me would LOVE for him to be an earlier regeneration of the Master, I can’t quite make that leap. Lines like “A master plan to end all master plans!” would make it so easy, but the idea that this character could someday be played by Roger Delgado…? I just can’t buy it. Give me a couple interim regenerations and we’ll talk.

“The Time Meddler” is a frustrating story for me. There are bits that I enjoy, but not quite enough of them. Except for poor Edith, the rest of the supporting cast are forgettable, but Edith is memorable for terrible reasons. I don’t hate this episode, but as the saying goes, my memory cheated. More than anything, “The Time Meddler” left me disappointed.

NEXT EPISODE: Galaxy Four