Day 8: The Ambush

And so, in this episode the Doctor and his companions escape the Dalek city in a quite tense series of events. Again, it's nice to see these characters getting along after their continuous bickering over the past couple of episodes. Also, the Daleks exterminate the Thal leader, further making us think that these Daleks really are a nasty piece of work, exterminating a simple pacifist. There is also an interesting moral dilemna that's raised here on the nature of pacifism that we'll look at tomorrow in further detail.

Perhaps most importantly as we look at the development of the series, at the end of the episode the characters are all ready to leave the Thals to their fate. There's no scene where Ian or Barbara insist that they must help these people, instead they raise the issue with each other, and then decide that it's not for them to meddle in the affairs of others and get ready to leave. It's interesting when we consider what the Doctor will become in the future, someone who will help others and make others better, not someone who gets himself out of trouble and then gets ready to leave some people who are quite clearly going to be horribly exterminated to their own devices. We expect Ian or Barbara to stick up dor the Thals as well, but they can't quite see that sometimes you need to interfere, to provide the spark that will help others.

Day 7: The Escape

It's in this episode that we first meet a Thal. The Thal is a tall blond man, probably with blue eyes if we weren't restricted by the black and white medium. An Aryan, in other words. This is interesting because the Daleks are quite clearly Nazis, representing the fears of a post WW2 world, where the majority of the population can remember the Blitz, and other such concepts. So what are we, the audience, supposed to think here? In my opinion, this shows that, at this time, we're still afraid to show anything other than an Aryan hero on our screens, someone who is handsome and strong.

In other, happier, news, the Doctor and his companions are finally beginning to get along, as they escape from their prison cell. It is truly joyous to finally see these characters able to unite against a common evil, and indeed when we first see their plan being put forward into motion, it's notable that we don't actually know what we're doing, and instead we just assume that the Doctor and Ian are just having another argument, but instead they're creating a distraction! It's worth seeing these characters uncomfortable with each other, because it makes them becoming comfortable with each other more of an achievement, and something to be celebrated. But, as we acknowledge that it's been a week since we started, We've still Got Work To Do

Day 6: The Survivors

It's in this episode that we finally see the Daleks properly. And they, of course, look terrifying and unlike anything else that's on screen. We can look past the sink plunger and the egg whisk, because beneath these simple household objects is a machine that only wants to exterminate you. Or in this case, stun you. It's odd to see a Dalek stun someone, as an audience we're used to these creatures killing all in their sights, but these aren't quite the Daleks that we recognise yet. They don't even say "Exterminate", opting instead for the rather dull "fire!". There are other things that differentiate these Daleks from today's Daleks, for instance these are Skaro-bound, with no real intention of conquering the galaxy. The Cold War element is played up as well, and it is indeed worth thinking about how they are reflections of the time. Throughout almost half of the 20th century there was an ever-present threat of nuclear bombs destroying the entire planet, and this shows the aftermath. A world with no life, save for mutations in the forest and beings hidden away in metal casings in cities. There's a short story by Terry Nation called "We Are The Daleks!" where the central twist is that the Daleks are in fact humans, further along the evolutionary journey. The idea that these creatures could indeed be what we become, that's the terrifying thing about the Daleks.

Day 5: The Dead Planet

It's in this episode that the most important part of Doctor Who ever occurs, and it's when Barbara is menaced by a bloke holding a sink plunger as he advances on her. It's the old joke of how the series isn't that scary, it's just cheap, however that's overlooking the simple fact that it is scary. When the Doctor and his companions arrive at the alien city, and agree to explore, we mostly follow Barbara, and we are able to feel her terror as she explores. All the roofs are ever so slightly too short, adding to the claustrophobic nature, and we can see the doors silently closing behind her as she gets further trapped. There's a joke about how "all the corridors look the same on Doctor Who", and whilst that may be true, here it's used to frightening effect. Barbara is trapped in a maze, where everything looks the same and she gets hopelessly lost. And then, when she get's trapped in the lift and we see her move away, we're gripped. And we're even more gripped when she sees the creature advance on her. Much like yesterday's episode, we're able to use reactions to just as good an effect as we are to showing the cause of the reactions, and her scream as she sees this alien creature advance slowly towards her is enough to allow us all to feel her terror.

Day 4: The Firemaker

As recently seen in An Adventure In Space And Time, the early years of Doctor Who were not the easiest to film. With tiny studios and little chance of a retake, it means that when watching the programme, it's easier to see when things go wrong. But it also develops an appreciation for things going right, as can be seen in the fight scene between Kal and Za. It comes across as exciting, and at times shocking, with plenty of thanks to the stunt arranger Derek Ware, and Waris Hussein's direction. The direction in particular is worthy of note. The use of quick cuts keeps things active, and the cuts to the shocked reactions of The Doctor and his companions is similarly effective,mas well as being able to show reactions to awful things rather than actually show them, allowing for things to both not go over budget and not get attraction from the censors. The Doctor interestngly expresses distaste at Kal getting his brains bashed out which, given that he almost did the same thing to Za in the last episode, shows that his character is developing. And yet as they run back to the TARDIS at the end of the episode and Barbara falls over, the Doctor runs past her and Ian picks her up. The Doctor's still got some way to go before we can trust him.

Day 3: The Forest Of Fear

The early days of Doctor Who were filmed in black and white, but it's more apparent here that they're shades of grey. There aren't many straight out good characters in this, each has their own motivation. Take for instance when Za and Hur are hunting the Doctor and company. They're the antagonists in the scene, and yet when Za gets attacked by the wild animal, they're helpless, and in need of assistance which Barbara is keen to give, as is, with some persuading, Ian and eventually the Doctor. It's an interesting scene, as we see Ian adapt to the surroundings, being able to take charge effectively, and be the hero, as opposed to the Doctor, who very much isn't. It's the most noteworthy scene in the episode, as the Doctor picks up a rock and examines it, considering what to do with it. It's brutally apparent that he wishes to bash out the brains of the cavemen with it, so that he can escape, and he lies about it to Ian. This is important as it isn't the Doctor that we know today. It's a Doctor who is willing to kill, something quite unlike even the Doctor in a couple of months. It's part of the reason why we're so lucky to have these early episodes, as it allows us to see these characters develop into the more recognisable characters that we see today

Day 2: The Cave Of Skulls

And so the journey continues as we land in a prehistoric landscape, where Cavemen are arguing about fire. It's interesting to note that we see the cavemen to set the scene for the episode before we return to the TARDIS. For one thing, it means that we, as an audience, have the knowledge that they have travelled in time, something that Ian and Barbara, the two companions and major audience identification figures, don't. This means that whilst we spent the last episode on their side, we're able to spend some of the episode on the Doctor's side, as he tries to convince them that they have indeed travelled in time. It's interesting to note, especially knowing in retrospect that the Doctor's character had to be changed to be more likeable, that already we're able to take his side in matters when normally we'd be expected to take the side of Ian and Barbara.

It's also interesting to note the devolution of Susan. Where she began the episode as a young girl who seemed to be capable, here it only takes a few scenes for her to turn into a sobbing wreck as she realises that her Grandfather has gone missing, and they could be stuck in the stone age forever. It's annoying, because it shows a lack of care for the character on the writing and directing side. It's like seeing an adaptation of something into a film, and seeing what they've done with your favourite characters. A good adaptation will treat the characters with respect, and allow them to remain mostly faithful to the original material. A bad adaptation involves people looking at the characters, and quickly deciding how to make them more accessible to an audience. Susan is no longer an unearthly child, she has become a normal child.

Day 1: An Unearthly Child

And so we begin. It's a cracker of an opening episode here, full of mystery and intrigue. As an audience, we're drawn to this little mystery, with the girl who would seem to know things that she shouldn't, and her odd grandfather. It's interesting to note that the Doctor is not the protagonist here. He continually places himself against the two normal people who we've followed through the episode, and indeed is the instigator of trouble when he sets the TARDIS into flight. It's interesting because we know the Doctor as kinder, and more caring, so to see him like this is a bit disconcerting, and it'll be interesting to see his character develop over the course of the series.

It's also interesting to note the TARDIS. It must have come as a hell of a shock when it's revealed that inside a perfectly ordinary police box, is a time machine. It's something that is lost on newer audiences, because this concept of a TARDIS, has become ingrained in our society. When we see Amy or Tegan enter the police box, the audience implicitly knows what's coming, and so the shock that they receive when they discover what's inside is lost on the audience. It's also lost because we have to face the fact that the police box is no longer as commonplace as it once was, and so the general weirdness of seeing an ordinary object turning out to be extraordinary is also lost.

And when the TARDIS dematerialises, we get something else that has been sadly lost. When we see the ship in flight today, there's an element of excitement, of going off to have an adventure. This isn't as obvious here, with excitement being replaced with fear. We've got no idea what's happening. Weird patterns are appearing on our screens, as the faces of this odd young girl and her grandfather look on at us. It's terrifying, and as we see a police box standing in the middle of nowhere, we realise that this series is scary, and intriguing. Are we going to tune in for the next episode? Yes, I think we are.

Day 0: The Beginning

Hi. How are you? That's good to hear/I'm sorry to hear that (delete as applicable). As for me, well to be honest, I'm a bit scared. Because a couple of months ago, I had the bright idea of sitting down and watching every single Doctor Who episode, in order, from the beginning. It's because there are gaps in my Doctor Who knowledge. I've never seen Mawdryn Undead or The Space Pirates, for example. But the thing that makes me scared is the scale of it. It's going to take me all the way into 2016, when, for all I know, I could be settling down to watch the last episode with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, before he regenerates into Olivia Colman. So in order to discourage me from chickening out when I get to The Sensorites, I've decided to start this blog, as an incentive to keep me watching each episode, one a day.

And so here, you'll find my ramblings on why Paradise Towers is the best episode of Doctor Who ever made, and why The Armageddon Factor isn't. I'll talk about why The Myth Makers is the number one story that should be returned to the archives, and why it might be for the best if we just 'lost' The Twin Dilemna. So come on then, We've Got Work To Do!