Day 39: A Change of Identity

Given that the first series of Doctor Who lasts for around 40 weeks, and that that means that the cast have to work pretty much non-stop for 40 weeks, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the cast members might get a holiday once in a while. William Hartnell, the Doctor, got one in The Keys of Marinus, Jacqueline Hill, Barbara, got one in The Sensorites and Carole Ann Ford, Susan, got one in The Aztecs. This time, it's the turn of William Russell who plays Ian to get a holiday. And what's interesting about this is that Ian still plays a part in the episode, despite not being entirely present, as he filmed his scenes in advance, without most of the other cast members. And this shows that even a year into the the series, Ian is still the main protagonist, despite his name not being in the title of the show, he is still the traditional action hero, and he is the one that the kids can look up to. The Doctor, whilst he has evolved into more or less the Doctor that we will see for the rest of Hartnell's tenure, is not quite the hero yet. And as we stand on the last day of 2013, looking ahead to the next year, so we look ahead too, to how the Doctor becomes a hero for all ages.

Day 38: Guests of Madame Guillotine

It is nice to see how var these characters have come in their travels. In this episode, Barbara and Susan are captured and put in a gaol cell. Barbara casually remarks about being captured by the cavemen in the first serial, but in this case it's remarkably different. There, Barbara was having a nervous breakdown, unable to cope with being out of her time period, and it was up to the other travellers, mainly Ian, to get them out of their predicament. Here, she's busy formulating an escape plan, and taking charge of the situation, as if being captured by revolutionary Frenchmen was just another Monday for her, which given all she's been through, is not too far from the truth. Susan on the other hand, is reduced to a gibbering wreck, crying about rats, and how they'll never get out of the cell, and they'll be killed. It's truly disappointing to see this happen, because Susan was so well written in the last serial, and to see hew reduced to this is showing that maybe it is time that we moved on from her character.

Day 37: A Land of Fear

The TARDIS has now landed in a different place, and so we begin a new adventure. It's quite interesting, particularly in these modern times with faster pacing, to see how long it is before the TARDIS crew actually finds out where/when they are, indeed it's about a third of the way through the episode before they learn that they are in France and halfway before the figure out that they're in the middle of the French Revolution. This is nice to see because it allows for a sense of discovery, as to where you are. One of the things that should be noted about this is that the audience finds out these things at the same time as the characters, and so we are able to bond with the crew as they discover, and learn about their surroundings.

Another thing that's interesting is how quickly people start to be killed off. The TARDIS crew soon finds some Royalists who, whilst being a little bit untrustworthy, would appear to be the allies for the rest of the story. And 5 minutes before the episode ends, they're both killed off. And this helps to show the horrors of the French Revolution, where anyone can die at any time. This truly is a Reign of Terror.

Day 36: A Desperate Venture

One of the plot threads that has driven this story has been the poisoning of the water of the Sensorites, and this story features the realisation of it. It has in fact been done by a group of humans, who were driven mad and went to war with the Sensorites, without the Sensorites actually realising that they were at war with them, and thus they kept on being poisoned without any idea why. The thing that is most noticeable when we first meet these men is that their leader has a very strong upper-class accent, bringing to mind the days of Empire, when we went out and taught the natives a thing or two, had a few minor wars, and at the end of it all, gained a country for the commonwealth. And that is one of the most interesting things about this story, that at the end of the day, we're the bad guys. There is an attempt at hand-waving away the reasoning for this by saying that their minds were warped, but there is no denying that the intention is still there. There exists a concept known as 'race memory' where subconsciously you are able to remember key memories, ideas and thoughts from your ancestors, as part of some hypothetical 'collective unconscious'. And so these concepts of Empire are still, according to this thinking, a part of us, and there is still the concept that it may cone back. It's a horrible thought and one of the reasons why interstellar travel and meeting other races may be a bad idea, because how long will it be before The Empire Strikes Back?

Day 35: Kidnap

One of the lovely things about Doctor Who is its tendency to reuse actors that they got on with at the time. Such is the case (presumably, I'm not familiar with the making of the story), with Stephen Dartnell, who plays John, the terrified spaceman, in this story, but only a couple of weeks ago, played Yartek, leader of the alien Voord. It's nice to see his range, he is instantly believable in both roles and is actually quite powerful as John, a man who has had the mental capacity to stop being afraid turned off, thus he wanders around in a constant state of fear, always untrustworthy, and looking for support, but finding none. If there's one thing to recommend 'The Sensorites' for, it's his performance.

Fear is indeed a prevalent theme in this story, featuring mostly as a fear of outsiders, something that is instantly recognisable, even today, almost 50 years after this was first broadcast, with our fears of migrants coming over here, taking over the country and removing all sense of the way things used to be. And acting out of this sort of fear is seen to be a bad thing, especially when considering the City Administrator of the Sensorite race, who is so untrusting and afraid of the outsiders that he conspires to be rid of them and kills one of the Sensorites who is perhaps more open to them, half by accident, but also it turns into a way to get more power. And all of this is due to fear, death has now occurred and is a possibility to occur at any moment. We have no idea who will survive come the end of the story (indeed after the last adventure, we're not even guaranteed a happy ending), and so we're drawn to watch the programme again. Out of fear, mostly.

Day 34: A Race Against Death

The 'monsters' for this serial are the Sensorites, and they're a curious beast. On the one hand, they represent the first time that we see proper 'aliens' in Doctor Who, all of the other villains have just been presumably people who look extremely like humans who are for the purposes of this story inhabiting a suit. Their design is quite nice, and whilst with our 21st century high quality decices where we can see every tiny little join in their costumes, to someone in the 1960s, they must have looked quite impressive. They're telepathic as well, which is a nice concept to have, however they are all quite stupid. Some of them are quick to jump to conclusions and shun outsiders like the plague, others when faced with an actual plague, have no idea how it came about, and no idea how to solve it. It should be noted that when the Doctor does find the cure for the plague, it's not with the sonic screwdriver, it's with the scientific method. It's a shame that they are so flawed, and we'll have a look at some more of their flaws later, because they, much like the Daleks, are unlike anything we have seen before.

Day 33: Hidden Danger

One of the remarkable things about this episode is how well written Susan is. The cliff-hanger to the last instalment is Susan agreeing to go down to the alien planet with the Sensorites, this week's menace, essentially as a willing hostage, her doing this as a sign of trust. The major problem with this is that no-one actually likes this idea, and so they fight to go against it. It's interesting that this is done, because previously Susan has done not much more besides scream and wait for Ian, Barbara or the Doctor to sort things out. Thus, when she actually does do things by herself, I find myself on her side, as she moves towards peace with these creatures. The Doctor disagrees, claiming that her actions are rash, and that she should not do such a thing without knowing that they are to be trusted, however she does not think this and believes that in order to gain trust, you must have a degree of faith in the other party. It'd the first time that Susan and the Doctor, her grandfather, have had an argument but it's commented that this is probably just her growing up. Not just physically as the character gets older, but mentally as well, as her character develops before our very eyes.

Day 32: The Unwilling Warriors

The original aim of the programme Doctor Who was to educate and entertain. This was held up for about two minutes until it was realised that entertainment is far more interesting for kids than education. It's a fact that's gleefully mentioned in one of this episode's laugh out loud moments when Ian goes to explain spectroscopy to Susan, who offhandedly remarks that she actually does know this already, and so the lesson is stopped. It's funny because it shows the inner silliness in having the educational aspect, in that the child who should be taught things is actually smarter than her teachers, and her teachers already know the things that would be relevant for school curriculums so there is often no need to explain things, except for the other-worldly business that they often come across. And yet, the episode also is able to throw in little facts here and there, to keep you learning, such as the uses for Molybdenum, and how cats can see better in the dark than we humans. This is most likely due to Peter R Newman, the writer, sticking to the original concepts of the programme, showing us that the ideas that went into at first still can work, it's just that the show moved on from its original remit to move towards entertain and terrify.

Day 31: Strangers In Space

One of the first things to be noticed about this story is how atmospheric it is, an effect which is largely created through the lighting. Unlike other stories, which have been brightened to within an inch of their lives, this one feels dark, as shadows cover the sets, props and cast, allowing for us as an audience to feel the character's fears as they face this new alien menace, the Sensorites. The old adage of 'Tell, not Show' works incredibly well here, as we only get glimpses of these creatures, and hear of their powers. We can see the effect that they have on these people, and that is far better than just showing them appearing and relying on their design to do the work for us, which makes this serial one to look forward to the rest of, as we come to deal with these all powerful creatures who can probably kill you with just a single thought.

Day 30: The Day of Darkness

The climax of this episode features a fight between the two young males of the cast: Ian (schoolteacher who travels with the Doctor) and Ixta (Aztec warrior). It's well directed, as the fights often have been so far, and it's a pleasure to actually be able to appreciate seeing it, as this story is in the archives. It's interesting to note as well that it's a fight to the death, and Ian kills Ixta, his opponent. It's the first time that we see one of the companions be overwhelmingly responsible for the death of another character, and what makes it difficult is that Ixta seemed to have been a likeable chap, who just found himself under the influence of Tlotoxl, the main antagonist. And so we see the impact that is had by the travellers in a large way, they have caused the death of someone. But, as the Doctor comments at the end of the episode, they have made some minor victories, such as with Autloc, the High Priest of Knowledge, who they helped find a better belief system, and a better life. And so as we depart the land of the Aztecs, we reflect on this dark tale, where our heroes, on the whole, lost. But even within the losses, there can be tiny gains as they try to help other races, cultures and people.

Day 29: The Bride of Sacrifice

The Doctor, upon being informed that he is now engaged

In this adventure, each character gets their own plot line which interweaves with the others at key moments. It's a fun concept, and it's nice to see what each character gets up to over the course of the adventure. Ian finds himself having to fight for his life, Barbara puts herself at odds with Aztec culture, Susan is forced to learn about Aztec teachings and the Doctor accidentally gets engaged. It's the last plot-line that's the most fun, because it's nice to see the show go into a slightly more comedic route after the comparatively serious plots that we've had before. William Hartnell also excels at comic acting, he is easily able to play his accidental engagement well, not realising until it's far too late what he's done, at which point he gives the face seen above, one of the truly great moments in Doctor Who history. It's nice to see how far we've come with the character of the Doctor as well. Just under a month ago, he was not a likeable figure, constantly putting himself at odds with the other members of the crew. Now he's able to be more loveable, and we're able to actually enjoy his scenes, because he is now recognisably the Doctor.

Day 28: The Warriors of Death

This story has an interesting villain in the form of Tlotoxl, the High Priest of Sacrifice. He's interesting because he represents the way things are in Aztec culture, and the resistance to change that these things have. He's also interesting because we know that history states that he wins this battle. In previous adventures we either know that the good guys will win, or we have no idea who will win, but we have a strong suspicion that it's going to be the good guys. This time, we know that the Aztecs continue their tradition of sacrifice, and thus the bad guys win. It's refreshingly realistic to see history played out in front of our eyes with no need to shield us from some of the less nice aspects. Only last episode did we see a man, upon being informed that he will not be sacrificed, commit suicide. It's a dark tale that's being weaved, because sometimes stories aren't light and fluffy, they can be dark as well.

Day 27: The Temple of Evil

Whilst the discussions about the implications of time travel go on,
Ian becomes a warrior and dresses up as a chicken.

This episode contains probably one of the most important scenes in Doctor Who history, namely the one where the Doctor informs Barbara that "You cannot change history, not one line!". The context of the piece is simple, the TARDIS arrived in an Aztec temple, and they made Barbara their god. As their god, she wishes to decree that human sacrifices are, on the whole, a bit stupid and should be stopped. The Doctor knows that this will have a major effect on the web of time, and wishes to keep history on its course. This scene is important for so many reasons. Firstly, it shows a rift between two of our main characters. This is nothing new, it was, after all, the thing that made the first couple of episode interesting. However, it is the first time where we can actually see an argument for both sides, and the script and direction aren't clear on whose side you should take. In earlier episodes, we would take Ian or Barbara's side, because they were the easiest to relate to, and they were the ones who were doing the more sane options. But now, we see both sides. One the one hand, Barbara is right, human sacrifice is barbaric, and is something that should be stopped. And they've interfered before in the course of events, the Daleks would have wiped out the Thals had they not interfered, and Marco Polo would surely have died in the desert had they not saved him from dehydration. But the Doctor is more experienced in these events, he is someone who has travelled in time before, he knows what the limitations are, and what the consequences are for meddling in these affairs. And that's another point that's made here, this is one of the first times where time travel is no longer a mechanism to go from one story to another, it's a plot point, and integral to the way that the story unfolds. It goes to show that this story is taking the concepts that have been laid out, and using them in more lateral ways. Other writers would just use time travel as a way to go from A to B, something that's just like a boat or a plane except with the added bonus of history as a destination, but this is one of the first times where we see the consequences of time travel and we're able to see that time travel is not as simple as just using a boat or a plane, it's far more complex than that.

Day 26: The Keys of Marinus

There's a moment that is completely and utterly ridiculous in this story, wherein the leader of the Voord, Yartek, decides that what's necessary for him to do is to dress up in the robes of the previous guard of the "Conscience of Marinus", over his wetsuit. It highlights the major problem with the Voord as a monster, their design is not that of the actual creatures, it is instead that of a wetsuit. It is possible that Terry Nation wrote this with the intent that they get out of their wetsuits, as to be somewhat more believable, however the point remains that someone, either on the writing side or the production side, thought that these could be monsters that could scare the kiddies. And whilst they are in a philisophical sense monsters as they are men who seek to take control of their world, they are also just men in rubber suits, and somewhat ridiculous rubber suits at that. Perhaps somewhat fortunately, this is the only televised appearance of the Voord, as if they landed on another planet with their wetsuits, only to discover that it hasn't even heard of the concept of water, let alone oceans, then that would stretch credibility. But it's clear that the Voord were, like all the other monsters, only intended for the singular appearance. And this is something that indicates that we are in an interesting period of Doctor Who, where the writing of monsters was never done with the intent that they could come back at a later point, even the writer of this episode, Terry Nation, had no real intention of bringing back the Daleks, and it was only when he discovered that they were popular that he thought that it might be a nice idea to have them return. So the Voord are consigned to just be men in rubber suits that happened to like wearing these rubber suits so much that even when in disguise they'll wear them underneath their disguise, and they shall never return. 

Day 25: Sentence of Death

This week's moral quandry is the justice system that we encounter on this part of Marinus. Essentially, it boils down to a case of guilty until proven innocent, instead of innocent until proven guilty, and seems to favour more circumstantial evidence as opposed to actual proof. This makes me consider whether the legal system found in 'The Conscience of Marinus' was actually needed,because the legal system that we witness on this planet is so awful that they need assistance from a higher power to be able to solve their issues, even if it means removing free will. All of this goes to show that with its acidic seas, screaming jungles and worrying legal systems, Marinus is perhaps not the best place for your holiday. This is what makes this serial so great, that we are able to witness all sorts of elements of Marinusian culture as we travel across this planet searching for the keys.

Day 24: The Snows of Terror

This week's psychological horror is Vasor, the main villain this week. He's a man who sets traps for the wolves in the snow, to protect the village around the area. He also finds helpless travellers around the mountains, and gives them some food and warmth. His story reaches a dark turn after Ian has left, leaving him alone with Barbara, at which point he becomes uncomfortable towards her, attempting to abuse her. There are hints that this is not the first time that this has happened, and that he willingly sends people off to their deaths, after receiving payment for the hospitality that he has given them. He is a monster, and yet the fact that he sets the traps for the wolves, and that he gives warmth and saves people's lives reminds us that sometimes we have to accept help from monsters, not without choice, but through neccessity.

Day 23: The Screaming Jungle

This episode continues the psychological horror trend of Marinus, by this time featuring a scientist who was doomed by their own work. The essence of his studies were looking at accelerating the course of nature, however he accelerated the overgrowth of the jungle, and it come forth and attacks him every single night. It's an interesting concept of a person's work coming back to attack them, and has been used in places such as Frankenstein, and it's a concept that in some ways reflects the overpowering nature of technology as it threatens to destroy our world, and how perhaps scientists should be kept in check, such that they don't create their own screaming jungle, screaming out at them night after night, never ceasing as it tries to destroy you.

This sort of thing holds a special horror for me as I had to study Frankenstein for my final exams at high school, and so the last thing I want to do is write about that sort of thing again. So instead, I'll write about something else that I didn't have to write about for my final exams, and that's the absence of William Hartnell. Hartnell is on holiday this week, and so that means that the character of the Doctor is absent from this episode. It's a bit odd, but it's not overwhelmingly surprising that the show can cope without it's title character, mainly because it was established early on that the real heroes of the show are Ian and Barbara, and the chance for them to get an episode to themselves is much appreciated, as the two characters have a wonderful chemistry, and are both incredibly strong and memorable characters, who are able to have adventures without the Doctor. What is odd though, is that at the end of the last episode, we picked up two more travellers, Altos and Sabetha, who are promptly sent away a third of the way through this episode. It's odd because these characters were clearly introduced with some sort of purpose, and the writer Terry Nation has obviously realised that their purpose is not needed as of yet, which begs the question, are they actually needed? We'll find out in the next episode.

Day 22: The Velvet Web

This episode concerns a, to be pretty honest, terrifying society. The concept is that they lure in people with promises of everything they could ever want or desire, and achieve these aims through mental control over their minds, making them see what they want to see, instead of what actually is. This leads to a quite funny moment as the Doctor picks up a mug, and declares it to be a wonderful piece of scientific equipment. But the evil plan behind this is to use all of this as a lure, so they can alter their brains further such that their memories and world view are distorted so they are forced into a life of slavery for their masters, brains in jars. After the last episode glossed over the psychological ramifications of the society, here it's quite nice to see that the show is willing to delve deep into uncomfortable psychological horror, and I hope that this is a trend that continues as we delve deeper in this, to be pretty honest, awful society.

Day 21: The Sea of Death

We've started a new serial today, known as The Keys of Marinus, and it opens with an interesting moral dilemna that is almost immediately glossed over. It concerns the machine that needs to be fixed in this episode, 'the conscience of Marinus', which was created originally to act as an impartial arbitrator in legal disputes, but evolved into a machine that took away people's sense of right and wrong and replaced it with the machine's sense of right and wrong, and then telepathically prevented crimes from being committed. This is, to be honest, a bit uncomfortable, because it is essentially removing the concept of free will from people, as they are forced to live according to a pre-determined set of rules, whilst not being able to make decisions for themselves. If such a device were introduced today, comparisons to a nanny state, or Big Brother would be made (whilst some people would wander around confused, wondering what reality TV has to do with this). So the moral dilemna is thus, do you prevent all crime from occurring, but in the course of doing so, remove free will from every single person on your planet?

Day 20: Assassin At Peking

And so today, Marco Polo is completed. How lovely. In this episode, a variety of plot points are dried up, as the story moves towards it's conclusion. Saying that a story has 7 episodes, clocking in at a final running time of around 180 minutes, may make people think that it's far too long and is probably filled with passing to stretch it out this long. However, the increased episode length time allows for plot-lines to be able to breathe, and for characters to come across as far more believable. Take, for instance, the mighty Kublai Khan. In less time, he would come across as just some doddering old fool, and the game of backgammon required to win back the TARDIS would be entirely unnecessary, as he would give it back to them anyway once he realises that these travellers that he has encountered are, on the whole, nice people, and he should be kind to them. But the game of backgammon is integral to his character, as it shows that he is not the cruel warlord that he has been painted as, whilst giving him a friend in the form of the Doctor. Thus, we can see his decision making process continue as his character develops, finally coming to the conclusion that the travellers deserve their flying caravan back. It's nice to see this character development, and it's something that can only be achieved in longer stories.

Day 19: Mighty Kublai Khan

There have been recent rumours about how this serial may have been returned to the BBC archives, after being lost/junked for several years. This is something that I hope is true for several reasons, reason number one simply being the ability to tick the box saying "fully returned to the archive". Reason number two is to appreciate the subtleties of the performances that you can infer, but you cannot actually witness from just listening to the audio. Mark Eden, who plays the eponymous Marco Polo, has a voice which infers hat he struggles with every single decision that he makes. Being able to see what his facial expressions are, and what Waris Hussein, the director, wishes to show as he makes these decisions would be fascinating. Likewise, Tegana's performance would also be interesting to witness, and Waris Hussein's direction in general would be lovely to see, given that he proved himself well with An Unearthly Child. My third reason for why Marco Polo should be returned is that this story is actually incredibly funny. The problem is, most of this humour is physical, such as Ian pretending to be drunk to fight off a guard, the Doctor doing his back in whilst attempting to Kowtow for the mighty Khan, and indeed the curiosity of seeing the Doctor engage in a sword fight with some Mongols. These are all things that you want to see, but you can't thanks to the BBC's infinite wisdom when it comes to preserving these stories for the ages. But then again, we still have hope...

Day 18: Rider From Shang-Tu

Tegana is the villain for this story, and it's a crime that he's not more widely recognized as one of the great Doctor Who villains, because he really shines in this story as a cold, calculating, ever-present menace, wishing to kill Marco Polo. He's successful due to an exchange between Marco Polo and Ian, about whose word Marco should trust, Ian's or Tegana's. Marco chooses Tegana, on the grounds that he has known him for longer, and trusts him implicitly, whereas Ian is just some random traveller that he met one day. And we see Marco's point, and we can see why he can trust this obviously moustache twirling villain over our heroes. And so we can help see everyone as three dimensional characters, and we can understand why we could get into these scenarios as well.

Tegana also works because he is willing to stop at nothing to get his way. In this episode, he organises bandits to attack the camp, and when he becomes aware that he is fighting a lost cause, he kills the leader of the bandits. His flexibility when it comes to his evil plan, and his determination in seeing it through means that he will even go against his own plans, should it be required. His complex character is a joy to experience on screen, and I look forward to seeing more of him as the story progresses.

Day 17: The Wall Of Lies

In the middle of this episode, the Doctor is finally able to fix the problem that has been plaguing the TARDIS crew over the course of this serial, and he fixes the TARDIS. And so we expect that events will begin to wrap up as we finish this serial and move onto the next adventure, and indeed things do seem to be happening along that train of thought, primarily with the Tegana (this adventure's unambigiously evil chap who we'll examine in greater detail later on) plotline, as Ping-Cho provides what she believes to be damning evidence against Tegana, but isn't really all that great. But we believe her for a second. We believe that this story will wrap up. For when this story was broadcast, there was no official BBC press release stating how long each story would go on for, it would just finish one week, and a new one would start the next week, with no idea of what would be ahead for our intrepid travellers on either their side, or the audience's side (or if the scripts were running late, the production side). So we have no idea how long this story will go on for, and that keeps things going, because it means that at any moment things could go one way or another.

Day 16: Five Hundred Eyes

Halfway through today's episode, I noted that this episode is slow, and oddly comforting in it's slow pace. Halfway through it, Susan's friend, Ping-Cho, decides to tell a story involving hashish and Ala-eddin (or Aladdin as we know him in the Western World). It's not often in stories where you can just sit down and not be in constant peril all the time, and just relax and listen to stories. It's a comforting approach, and one that I was getting used to, until Barbara had to go and get kidnapped by some Mongols. This adds some pace and peril to the story, which presumably gets the kids interested. It's also interesting as to the three people who form Barbara's rescue party: The Doctor, Susan and Ping-Cho. Marco Polo and Ian are clearly the action heroes of the piece, so it's odd to see the old man and two kids go out and get involved. This isn't a bad thing though. The Doctor has now quite clearly slipped into the role of a hero, and it's nice to see him actually doing things for the benefit of others, as he becomes more like the Doctor that we know today. Susan and Ping-Cho's inclusion in the rescue is fun as well, as it's nice to see these characters get something important to do, and it's also nice that Susan gets someone to play off of, instead of just stabbing cushions with scissors or screaming her head off in Skarosian jungles. And yet, the cliffhanger of this story is that eyes on a picture are moving. This shows just how far we've come as a culture that, 50 years ago, this was considered to be scary, but it's now become such a familiar trope that we can look at it, roll our eyes and say, "Seriously?". We see the character of the Doctor back then as an example of the changes that have been made since the 60's and we can be intrigued by how much he's changed, but we can also be intrigued at how much we've changed as a culture as well, as we see that this program acts as a time machine for us, allowing us to step back to a simpler time, when we can stop an exciting story halfway through for an intermission with hashish.

Day 15: The Singing Sands

This serial is, as of this moment (and my knowledge), missing from the BBC archives. This means that I am watching a reconstruction of each episode, comprising of photographs from the episode, and the accompanying soundtrack. Whilst it is just still images with people talking over them, it still manages to be an entertaining experience as we watch the events take place. Because thanks to this, we are at least able to see some of the work that actually went into the project, instead of being left to imagine it for ourselves. Because the design work on this is far more than what you world normally think could be achieved on a 1960's budget, and much praise must go to the designer Barry Newbury and Daphne Dare, who provided costumes. Each set feels immaculately realized, and it never looks as if no effort has been put into it. Take for instance the chess set above, which looks beautiful. The craftsmanship on this is something that can't quite be appreciated by just listening to the soundtrack.

Day 14: The Roof Of The World

Doctor Who's original aim was to both educate and entertain it's audience, in both the fields of science and history, hence why Barbara and Ian are both teachers of these subjects. They can teach Susan, and by extension, the audience about what things they are witnessing. This has largely been ignored so far in the series, save for a demonstration of how to make fire in the first serial and some lectures on both the creation of the universe and how switches work in the last episode. It's in this episode that things begin to ramp up with the educational element, as we are thrust straight in to meeting Marco Polo and discovering about his life and learning about the Asian history of the time. It's an approach that will be abandoned in a couple of years, preferring instead to go with the more exciting science fiction stories, instead of having a history lesson, but that's a shame, because sometimes learning can be fun, and Mark Eden's performance as Marco Polo is a compelling one. He is a man who is willing to trade the TARDIS so that he can return home, a place he has not seen for 18 years. As an audience, we sympathize with him and we wish to follow his journey to see where he will go next time, as we learn more about his life and times.

Day 13: The Brink Of Disaster

It's in this episode that we finally get to know the fifth, and arguably most important, member of the crew, being the TARDIS. It's not like other ships like the Millennium Falcon or the starship Enterprise, because it has soul, literally. It senses that something is wrong and actively tries to let it's occupants know that something has gone awry but it can't do that in a straight forward way. When normal machines have problems, they tend to have a straight forward warning light to let you know exactly what's wrong, but the TARDIS has to go for a full on rebus puzzle, because it feels that that is the best way to let it's occupants know that bad things are happening. It's the imperfections that make it likable, from the fact that 'Fast Return Switch' is clearly written in felt tip pen, to the concept that the best way to inform the occupants that they were going back in time at an alarming rate was to melt the clock face, as opposed to, say, a ticker tape message with something akin to "have you considered looking at the fast return switch?".

Day 12: The Edge Of Destruction

Halfway through this episode, I remarked words to the effect of "What the hell am I watching?". Because, compared to pretty much everything before and after it, The Edge of Destruction is one of, if not the, weirdest episode of Doctor Who that has ever been made. The TARDIS is malfunctioning, and this is driving it's occupants insane. It's where we get to see their characters come forth, and the actors all shine here, in particular Jacqueline Hill as Barbara who gets an astounding speech to the Doctor where she shouts him down for being a complete git over the past couple of weeks, and that he should perhaps learn to stop being such a tool.

Carole Ann Ford as Susan is also able to shine here, as she returns to the unearthly nature that was seen in the first episode, except moreso in that she's able to unleash her inner nutcase and become truly unsettling. In almost every scene, she's hiding in the background, staring at the things that are going on. When she's not doing that she's either stabbing cushions with scissors, or threatening to stab Ian with scissors as well, in effect becoming the thing that's going to drive the kids behind the sofa this week, as we move on from being frightened of Daleks to being frightened of eachother.

Day 11: The Rescue

.Much has been made of the first episodes of this show, and how important they were in ensuring that the series started off well, such that it took 26 years to finally be put to bed, and after a 15 year rest, returned triumphantly. And it's all thanks to these two serials that we've covered so far. Yet, the first serial isn't Doctor Who as we know it. There aren't any monsters and the Doctor isn't recognisable, showing up as a cantankerous old man who has been lumped with two school teachers. It's in the second serial, that things begin to pick up. We've seen the Doctor develop, from a man who selfishly sabotages his machine, and risks the lives of his travelling companions, to a man who, at the end of this story, gives the Thals the machinery that they need to rebuild and regrow.

Also, we've met the Daleks, who basically made sure that the series grew up into what it is today. Because monsters are the things that terrify. They get into your imagination, and operate out of the corner of your eye, waiting to destroy you. And with the Daleks, Doctor Who was able to truly terrify people and, combined with a beautiful design by Raymond Cusick, they are still able to strike fear into the hearts of people everywhere, and most importantly, make the show popular. Without the Daleks, Doctor Who would have faded into obscurity, but with the Daleks, the show was able to prove itself, make people be captured by it, and make them tune in next week as they become invested in the characters and see what other delights will enthrall them in the weeks to come.

Day 10: The Ordeal

There's a moment in this episode that stands out, as the Doctor and Susan are investigating a fuse box that they find near the Dalek city. For a start, it introduces the concept of short circuiting circuits to a young audience, which is one of the rare times when this serial has felt any need to educate the audience, aside from educating them that Daleks are terrifying. It also shows the Doctor getting excited as he destroys the fuse box, and getting caught, not because the Daleks catch him whilst he's in the process of sabotaging their systems, but instead whilst he's in the process of excitedly telling Susan about how he managed to do this with only basic tools. It's actually quite funny, and comes across as something that wouldn't be out of place in later stories featuring other Doctors. It's nice to see that the Doctor is finally becoming more recognisable as the Doctor that we know and love today.

Day 9: The Expeditition

This episode has two incredibly interesting things to note. Firstly, the plan of the Daleks, which has varying degrees of evilness. After we see, in a very effective scene, a Dalek react to the anti radiation drug as if it were another sort of drug altogether, the Daleks realise that radiation is imperative to their survival, and thus to increase their chances of survival, they must activate a neutron bomb to unleash radiation, and thus give them the advantage in the survival of the fittest. It's odd, then, that their major plan in their first episode is not one of exterminating all that is unlike them, or trying to take over the universe, but instead it's a simple case of trying to survive, and it would make for an interesting moral dilemna, had it not already been established that these are evil, heartless creatures that want to destroy everything, even pacifists.

Speaking of pacifists and moral dilemnas, we get an interesting one here as the Doctor and his companions must convince the Thals to fight the Daleks, however they are opposed to fighting, on the grounds that it did horrible things to their culture. Ian convinces them to fight by showing them something worth fighting for, the other members of their race, who they would be consigning to die. It's an interesting concept, and one that is particularly interesting considering that this was written in the 1960s, when conscientious objectors for various wars were still remembered, and feathers were sent out by the dozen to show people's cowardice. We should therefore give Terry Nation credit, for actually showing that maybe this pacifism thing actually does have a point, but as was said in the previous episode, pacifism only works when everyone is a pacifist. It's an ideal to strive for, and one that probably most people want to happen, it's just seen as unrealistic. But all of that said, it's just a bit pro-war, and it feels at times that, whilst they are showing both viewpoints in reasonably flattering ways, there is still a clear victor, on the side of violence to protect your people. Flashing forward to about a year when we cover Planet Of The Daleks (mostly because I'll possibly forget this when we come to it, so let's just get it out of the way now), and the Doctor ends it by saying that war, whilst it may seem like it's fun, isn't actually, and that people die. It's not a glorious moment to be celebrated, it's an inevitable and depressing necessity of life. Which is nice to note, that Terry Nation still shows both sides to the war argument, and that he's still willing to tell both sides of the story. Unless of course it's trying to get us to sympathise with the Dalek cause, which would probably not be in the best interests of anyone.