I’m finding it difficult to be
impartial when it comes to “The Tenth Planet.” This story is monumental in Doctor Who history and my first instinct
is to just fanboy all over it. My second instinct is to look with a far more
critical eye. I’ve not necessarily been shy about saying when I think a Who story
is bad (Oh, “Keys of Marinus” and “Galaxy Four”) and I don’t think “The Tenth
Planet” is a bad story by any stretch. I really enjoy it, but the problem with
it is this: it is not a Hartnell story.
That is not to imply that it’s not
good Doctor Who. In fact, looking at
it with 50 years hindsight, it’s a very traditional Doctor Who story. Just not for the First Doctor. Much like “The War
Machines” before it, “The Tenth Planet” feels misplaced. It is absolutely a
prototype for the Troughton era, even if no one at the time was aware of it.
Does that mean I wanted Hartnell’s last story to be a historical, a more “traditional”
first Doctor tale? Well, if “The Smugglers” is anything to go by, then probably
not.
It’s
probably fitting that this story deviates from the standard of Hartnell’s
earlier years. The leads of the series aren’t the only things to have changed since
November of 1963, the audience changed as well. The world was deep into the
space race at this point, and in less than three years mankind would set foot
on the moon. The audience wasn’t necessarily looking for history lessons from
their space fantasy show, they wanted SPACE ADVENTURE, and Doctor Who was going to give it to them, even if it meant
re-working the title character. The needs of the audience had evolved. As much
as Hartnell was able to adapt, the show had to be so different from its origins
that had he stayed, I think maybe another year is all we would have gotten.
Hartnell’s
own illness necessitated his absence from Episode Three and last minute
rewrites explaining the Doctor’s collapse. Frankly, as much as the removal of
the Doctor in the stories leading up to this have bothered me, this one works.
Mind you, it only works because of the denouement. The weakened Doctor
collapsing, being out of commission for Episode Three, and then returning for
Episode Four to see the story play out, really works because the Doctor “dies”
at the end. It rationalizes his weakness as part of his “wearing a bit thin”
and doesn’t just spring up from nowhere. Who
is often blessed with serendipity, and I truly think it was for “The Tenth
Planet.”
That’s
enough criticism and meta-data for me on this one. Fan mode is now engaged.
Things I loved about this story:
1)
Hartnell’s performance. From his line “Why don’t you speak up, I’m deaf!” to
his mysterious stagger to the TARDIS before his “renewal”, William Hartnell
gave a lot to this story. The Cybermen will admittedly become almost synonymous
with the Troughton era, but the Hartnell’s Doctor got drop on them first.
2)
The global scale of this story was just great, even if Geneva was a small
office looking out on a photograph. Having an international crew at the base performing
as stand-ins for the entire rest of the world really worked.
3)
The Cybermen design. I think my favorite Cyberman look is yet to come, but the
original design can’t be beat. I know the eyeholes are supposed to be black and
lifeless, but on the DVD, you can see the actors’ eyes, just barely. Frankly,
that makes the creatures more horrifying to me. I even kind of like the voices,
although syncing them with the open mouths could have been a little bit more
precise. That’s me picking nits.
4)
Was this one of the first, if not THE first instance of a television running an
International News Station? I’d love to know who had done it earlier, if indeed
anyone had.
5)
Yes, I’d love to see a returned Episode Four as much as the next person, but
damn, I like the animated reconstruction. It’s comforting that we have the actual
regeneration on film and can still see the changeover, but the animation really
works well here.
So
here we are, a true end of an era in Doctor Who, after which the program will
change forever. Twenty-nine stories over the course of three years, during
which we watched the Doctor turn from a rather unlikeable, crotchety fellow to
an outright hero who stays when he could leave simply because it is the right
thing to do. There will never be a portrayal of the Doctor like William Hartnell’s.
Every actor to succeed him did so with the knowledge of their predecessor(s) in
mind - what to do differently, what to borrow from earlier incarnations.
Hartnell wasn’t just “The First Doctor.” Until the last few moments of “The
Tenth Planet” he was simply “The Doctor.” After watching his entire run, I feel
comfortable saying that no matter what the story, no matter how good or bad the
story may have been, no matter which companions he had by his side, William
Hartnell was, indisputably, The Doctor.
NEXT
EPISODE: The Power of the Daleks
"The
Tenth Planet" novelization cover, courtesy The TARDIS Data Core at
tardis.wikia.com
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