Day 70: The Search

Once again, the series dips into the past, although we're still set on a Space Museum on a distant world. The history here is in the themes dealt with in the serial, as we look back on colonialism, and the effects it has. Last episode, we met a bunch of characters who didn't seem to be on the same side as the museum guards, but were still morally dubious, kidnapping the Doctor for instance. Here, they explain to Vicki their situation, they are rebels, whose planet was colonised by the evil Moroks, and they are trying to overthrow their regime. The Moroks, on the other hand, are bored. It would seem that their space museum doesn't really bring in the tourists, and that it's just a bit of a dump. They have this planet purely for the purpose of having a planet. Which strikes me as a bit colonial. A bunch of people come to a land, overthrow the natives and take command. They don't really know what to do with it, but it's theirs, and it's all for the good of Empire, and all that. The major point of this is that colonialism was still a big thing when this was first broadcast. There's still guilt being thrown on people over what was done for colonialism, and how people came and destroyed cultures in the name of Queen and country. And so we see the natives, in this case the quite nice Xerons, as the good guys, because they overthrow the past, and the old ways. And in doing so, we come back to the guiding thread that holds this serial together, fighting the future of the Doctor and co. being trapped in glass cabinets, as exhibits. This is all being done to change the future, so that by fighting the past, we may fight the future.

Day 69: The Dimensions of Time

The Doctor in a Victorian bathing costume,
feel glad that he didn't think of more modern swimwear

After the initial weirdness of the first episode, which was all to do with time and other such fourth dimensional fun, we now settle into what will form the rest of the plot of this serial, revolving around the Space Museum itself. And whilst this may be seen as a disappointment by some, the major thing to be missed is how funny this episode actually is. For a start, you have the Doctor and co.'s first major obstacle. They're lost, mainly due to the fact that all the corridors look the same, and they can never tell where they are at any given moment. Which is a hilarious idea, because it's subverting one of the perceived tropes of Doctor Who, that all the corridors look the same, and that it's all just running up and down the aforementioned corridors. And what is being shown here, is that the writers are recognising this fact and implementing it. And whilst it was done in the series' second serial, The Daleks, to horrifying effect with it feeling as if everything is closing in upon you, here because the corridors are wider, and there aren't many scenes with just one person, that is to say, there is always someone to talk to in every scene, it feels less scary, and gives more opportunity for humour to arise from other factors such as dialogue, and situation, such as the events leading up to the cliffhanger, where the Doctor has his mind probed by a machine, however he manages to fool it into thinking all sorts of various pieces of nonsense, such as what can be seen above, where the Doctor is seen in a Victorian bathing costume. Silly, yes, but sometimes silliness isn't such a bad thing.

Day 68: The Space Museum

The Doctor and co. encounter themselves, bringing a
new meaning to the term, take a good look at yourself

The TARDIS malfunctions in this episode, and time travel based hijinks ensue. For a show that deals with time travel, this sort of scenario hasn't really occurred, so it's nice to see the show try new things out. Ad so what we get is an episode where weird things happen, and we are forced to figure out exactly what has gone wrong, and like previous stories of this vein, The Edge of Destruction and Planet of Giants, we learn these things alongside the characters, which is fun, because it gives the audience something to do, instead of just sitting back and enjoying the ride. But if there's one thing that makes this episode stand out from any other, it's through the following. Time travel has never been used in such a way as it is now as a driving force in a plot. To explain, near the conclusion of this episode, the Doctor and co. discover their bodies in glass cabinets, and realise that they are viewing their own personal futures. So it now becomes their job to rewrite their futures and prevent what they have seen from coming to pass. So don't rewrite history, not one line, except when the plot says so. But it's more than that. We are subverting the very nature of televisual serials themselves, choosing to have our characters witness the end and then have that as a driving force as something to build up to. It's like peeking at the last chapter of a book, to find out what happens to the characters. You now know what will happen, but you don't know how, or why. Time travel changes that, because, unlike books, which tend to stay the same every time you read them, timelines can be in flux, and so we see a possibility of a last chapter, a possible conclusion. And so we now have something to drive the plot, to make sure that what will happen does not come to pass by changing history, and by rewriting not just history, but also the script.

Day 67: The Warlords

For a serial that is based around the Crusade of Richard the Lionheart, it is a story that has dealt very little with concepts of faith and religion so far. That changes slightly in the beginning of this episode, where Richard is forced to exile the Doctor and Vicki, because some of his lords are concerned that they may be traitors, whereas he has grown quite fond of them. And as they depart, he asks them whether he will ever see Jerusalem. The Doctor responds in the affirmative, yet he knows that he will only see it from afar, and never capture the city itself. But he still has faith, faith in what he is doing and faith that what he is doing is the right thing in the name of God. And in the scene directly after it, we have the lord, Leicester, who is most against the Doctor and Vicki spread rumours about them, claiming that they are unholy and witches. And in these two scenes we have the Crusades summed up in a nutshell. On the one hand, we have the people who do these things because of faith, and this is what they believe in. It may be wrong, or it may be right, but the point is that they have faith in these concepts. And then we get to the other approach, which is exploiting this faith for other purposes, to further your goals, much like other more modern crusades to the Middle East. It shows that sometimes faith can be a driving force, but others it is used as an excuse, to further people's own agendas as they go about their business.

Day 66: The Wheel of Fortune

Barbara gets given a knife in this episode, whilst hiding from a man who wants to kidnap her and do 'things' to her. She is told that if she is found, she is to kill her ally, and then kill herself. And this is being treated as a children's programme. We've touched on darkness before in the series, but here the show seems to be becoming explicitly dark, to the point of turning into 'serious' adult drama. And we've never really dealt with these concepts before. When Ian killed someone in The Aztecs, it was glossed over, and seen as self-defence. We know that Ian is the hero, and like every other show on TV, the hero kills bad guys, when they need to. But when Barbara is confronted with the concept of killing others, she is shocked. Barbara has been a massive audience identification figure, and here is no exception. She is able to react in the same way that others would, upon being told that the person next door, when they get into trouble, must die. And not only that, but that person seems to be innocent, and it's for their own good, to prevent the horrors of El Akir being placed upon them. But you weigh the horrors of what is ahead with the horrors of death, holding a person's life in your hands. It's echoed in the stonkingly good cliffhanger for this episode, where El Akir states to Barbara "the only pleasure left for you is death, and death is very far away". We are forced to realise that sometimes what is meant for kids can deal with these adult themes, another reason why this is the children's programme that adults adore.

Day 65: The Knight of Jaffa

Dennis Spooner, the story editor, has brought two main things to the table with this adventure. The first is the addition of comedy, which he brings where it is needed. We have for instance, a comedy merchant, who trades in stolen goods, yet he finds himself against the Doctor for stealing some of his stolen goods, and he tries to get justice for this, without wanting to reveal where he got the goods from. It's a nice idea, and one that shows the influence of Spooner. He knows that historical drama sometimes needs a bit of humour added to the piece, to keep people entertained before it gets too mopey and serious. 

The other is the adventure/comedy divide, which has now been perfected from it's previous outings. Whereas before the plotlines in historical adventures tended to be more closely woven, so that the comedy moments that had been added in the script, such as the Doctor getting engaged in The Aztecs, would be somewhat juxtaposed later with the Doctor trying desperately to save Ian's life from drowning, now we can get two reasonably seperate plotlines, that whilst they may be connected in small ways, aren't so close as to ruin the moods of both. In The Romans, this was achieved through the characters never meeting eachother in Rome, so as to allow the story strands to remain separate. Here, a similar thing happens, with Ian being sent off to find Barbara, while the Doctor and Vicki remain with King Richard, so as to allow two plotlines of varying mood to co-exist, without as strong a juxtaposition in terms of the character's own personal stories.

Day 64: The Lion

A new day brings a new serial, as we leave Vortis and find ourselves in the Holy Land, around the time of the Crusades. It's a story that's been written by David Whitaker, who you may remember was the previous story editor for the series, and so now we get to see him writing under the influence of another writer, Dennis Spooner, acting as story editor. To compare it to the most recent historical adventure, The Romans, one thing immediately comes to mind. The Romans was a comedy, while this is a historical drama. The historical drama approach is enjoyable as we get to experience proper three dimensional characters. Take, for instance, Richard the Lionheart, who, in other stories, would cone across as an incredibly reasonable chap, for he is British, and therefore good. But here, he is able to consider his actions. Why should he just throw away resources to allow some random old man and his travelling companions get their friend back? It's refreshing to see that things don't just occur because they're asked for politely, they have to be mulled over, as we get these characters fleshed out, a concept that was brought in with Whitaker's more character based approach that was so wonderful in the first year of Doctor Who.

Day 63: The Centre

When looking at the way this serial has been plotted, an interesting point comes up. To explain, let us look at the three major plotlines for this serial:

1. The Doctor and Vicki converse with the Animus. They are trying to escape from its clutches and go off and find Ian and Barbara.

2. Barbara encounters the Menoptra, with whom she allies herself with and together they, with help from the Doctor and Vicki, defeat the Animus

3. Ian, along with a sole Menoptra, encounter the primitive Optera and attempt to reach the surface.

My major point is that Ian's plotline is almost completely standalone, whereas the other two begin to merge towards the end. My major two thoughts on this are as follows. Firstly, it comes across as bad plotting. Ian turns up for the concluding battle with the Animus, however he brings nothing to the table. His storyline, in terms of the grand overarching plot, means nothing and instead acts as a side step, whilst we concentrate on the real plot. But, that's not to say that it shouldn't have been there. Ian's plotline brings depth and character to the planet. We learn about the culture of the Optera, and through extension the Menoptra. It's a brilliant idea that there are two races, both sharing a common ancestor, but one race are gods to the others, who are just skulking away in the dark, unaware of their potential. To reiterate, this plot is actually quite good. The problem is the decision to shoehorn it, or to be more specific, Ian, into the conclusion. Because Ian is worthless when it comes to the conclusion of this story, and so by extension, the gut reaction is to say that his entire story strand is worthless. But it is not. It serves as world building for this planet, and allows us to act as explorers, looking at other cultures, other worlds, and learning about these places with a sense of wonder, discovering alien worlds and creatures no matter how poorly they are created. Because if there is one thing that The Web Planet has brought us, it is the discovery of an entire planet, hidden away within our televison screens.

Day 62: Invasion

This story features a contribution that is either from Bill Strutton, the writer, or Dennis Spooner, the story editor. It's to do with the Doctor's ring, and given Spooner's fondness for it in The Reign of Terror, and it cropping up most notably in stories that he had an involvement with, I'm inclined to say that it's Spooner's addition to the script. The main point is, the Doctor's ring has become like a sonic screwdriver, able to get out of all sorts of scrapes and do all manner of things, with no idea how it does these things. First of all, it's nice to see wonder and magic brought into the series, as the audience further sees the Doctor as a magical grandfather hero. He has evolved from grumpy old man to a more charming man, with a twinkle in his eye as he performs little magic tricks for us. They're all scientific, of course, but they're of a high enough technology to be indistinguishable to our feeble human minds from magic.

But the really nice point that I want to make, is that the Doctor's ring has been visible in almost every episode so far in the series, and it has rarely been commented on. So to see this thing that we take for granted being used in ways that we couldn't imagine, it's showing that the series is able to build on its mythology, and create new mythologies from existing things. It's Dennis Spooner once again bringing fun into this series and it is very much appreciated.

Day 61: Crater of Needles

It's quite a poorly directed episode, this one. There are multiple ways that the direction of this just doesn't work, for instance the Zarbi themselves who, unlike the Daleks who were able to glide into rooms with a sense of menace, decide to dash about the place in a panicked mode, high pitched beeps frequently coming from them that completely fail to give any sort of menace to these creatures. Them there's the alien environment itself, which, whilst other episodes are content with just showing otherworldly sets, here vaseline is spread over the camera lens to create the impression of an alien atmosphere. Also, it fails to give an impression of what the hell is going on, making it difficult to distinguish characters from eachother, particularly when you have characters that are under strongy similar costumes. And I haven't even got started on the Menoptra!

Day 60: Escape to Danger

Doctor Who has now been going on long enough for it to steal from itself. An awful lot of the ideas in this story can be found elsewhere in the past. There's for instance giant insects, which can be found in Planet of Giants, acidic bodies of liquid found in The Keys of Marinus and forces affecting the TARDIS, much like in The Edge of Destruction. But it all feels original, because their implementation is different. Before, giant insects were a curiosity to be looked at, here they fulfil the role of being both monstrous threats and rounded characters, with motivations and everything! The acidic liquid is also made more into a danger for characters, whereas before it was a world building tool, never fully followed up on.

There is at least one idea we haven't seen in the series before, and that is the faceless villain, here taking the form of the Animus, an ever present voice that has captured our heroes. It's a force that's one of the good things about this serial, being cool and menacing, as it exercises it's hold over the characters. There is no escape from the unknown, it would seem.

Day 59: The Zarbi

This story is unique, in that it is the only episode in the complete and utter history of Doctor Who to feature no other human, or humanoid characters, save for the TARDIS crew. Everything else is alien, the ant like Zarbi, the butterfly-esque Menoptra and even the Venom Grubs, all are alien creatures. This would be impossibly brave in the television of today. People from up high would decree that because there are no human characters, there is noone for the main characters and therefore the audience to relate to. But in those days, it does actually make sense, and indeed, it still should make sense today. To explain, the focus on alien environments lends a strong sense of wonder to the proceedings. Building on the sense of curiosity that we saw in the last episode, now we can further have a sense if wonder as we see these completely alien creatures. We can admire these creatures and look and them with a sense of curiosity. Because you can go down the street and encounter someone that looks like a Thal. But you can't go down to the chemists and find a giant butterfly staring back at you. But if you do, you probably need to get some medicine while you're there.

Day 58: The Web Planet

The first episode of a serial fulfils an absolutely vital function, that has sadly been neglected in time as the time allotted to this function gets shorter and shorter. It exists to set the scene, so that we become familiar with the world before the plot can get going. As an example, this episode features the TARDIS being affected by an outside force, which has taken over Barbara. Meanwhile, we have seen giant ants on the barren planet, encountered acidic seas, and found a gigantic pyramid like structure. All of this may seem like a lot, but when you get down to plotting, there isn't actually that much that has been done this episode. The ant-like creatures have no perceivable motivation, aside from getting the TARDIS, we have no idea of what has taken over Barbara, why it has done so or indeed how it has done so. The primary function and motivation that we have received so far is explore. Explore the surroundings, and become familiar with the world. It is a vital function because it means that the audience can get a sense of immersion within the surroundings, as they discover things at the same time as the TARDIS crew. It means that when the plot does begin, we start on a level footing, because there are still a lot of things that need explaining, but we have their context already, and so we are able to consider things for ourselves. And that's another function that first episodes bring. They plant ideas in heads in the form of questions, curiosity, if you will. We have no idea what is happening but we have seen it and we want to explore. Like the TARDIS crew, we have been granted the opportunity to witness a world unlike ours and so we as we experience it, we gain their sense of curiosity, and so we are explorers on a distant alien world that is hidden within the television set.

Day 57: Inferno

This episode features one of the other absolutely major changes that has been made to Doctor Who due to the new script editor, Dennis Spooner. Given that this episode takes place in the court of Caesar Nero, it makes sense to base it around a major historical event, in this case the Great Fire of Rome. And it is here that we see the evolution of the series, given that prior to this episode, the general rule has been, the Doctor and co. do not interfere with historical events. They are observers, particularly active observers yes, but observers all the same. History cannot be changed, not one line, as we learnt in the Aztecs adventure. But from here, things change. The Doctor accidentally sets fire to Nero's plans for the new Rome. Nero sees this, and realises that he could implement these plans by burning down the old Rome. And so, in effect, the Doctor starts the Great Fire of Rome. The changes to the series are now monumental. The Doctor is no longer just an active observer, he is now a participator. They can now make a difference in how history turns out, and so now the historical adventures have an extra dimension to them. Before, if the viewer has a knowledge of the historical period in question, then they can know what will happen, why it will happen and how it will happen. Now, two of those points are not as true as they once were. We did not know that the Great Fire of Rome would occur thanks to the Doctor, and so an extra dimension of interest is found in the series. An extra element of the unknown, if you will.

And that's not even the most important thing here. The important thing is that the Doctor finds the prospect of his accidental participation in history amusing. The old Doctor would be horrified at this, and consider the ramifications of his actions. The new Doctor, though, he finds fun, and is able to laugh at the proceedings. And to make things go full circle, we see that Dennis Spooner has brought fun to the series. It's no longer your simple character based drama, with a helpful serving of adventure. It's lighter now, more enjoyable. Because we might as well have fun whilst travelling the universe.

Day 56: Conspiracy

Let's have a look at Nero, and how the portrayal of him in this serial holds up to the assumptions made by historians. Nero in Doctor Who terms, comes across as an interesting man. There is little doubt that he is meant to be the antagonist, he lustily chases after women, has people fight eachother to the death to amuse him, and puts people to death for being better than him, particularly musically which he believes that he excels at. And yet, we like him, in an odd sort of way. He's a buffoon, an evil Homer Simpson, if you will. And whilst the audience acknowledges him as a threat, we still can't quite take him entirely seriously, he's too funny for that.

Looking at the real Nero, there are points that seem to be correct that are found in the serial. Nero was quite a womaniser, and would frequently go after women with pure unadulterated lust. He was also quite a parron of the arts, playing the lyre at several performances, much to the anger of his fellow Romans, as it was considered a crime to engage in cultural activities. Oddly enough, he started out as a reasonably nice ruler, who banned the killing of gladiators and condemned criminals in public spectacles. But, that soon changed. He became far crueler than this serial gives him credit for, although that could be due to strong bias from the then contempary historians. It is claimed that he beat his wife to death, and his persecution of Christians in particular was enough for him to be considered the anti-Christ as he burnt Christians alive as a light source (Seriously, if you think that dropping the Lord's Prayer from governmental meetings is persecution, then you need to rethink what persecution actually is). And so we see Nero, not as a buffoon, but as a real figure of evil, that is someone who is feared throughout history.

Bibliography: http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/nero-index.html

Day 55: All Roads Lead To Rome

It was mentioned in the previous entry that the new script editor, Dennis Spooner, has a considerable amount of range with his writing, being able to tackle both comedy and drama well. This is also shown within this serial itself, as we see that there are, in essence, two separate strands of story going on. The first is an action adventure, with high stakes and high drama, as Ian searches to find Barbara so they can both escape from the clutches of slavery. It is obvious why this deserves to be serious, because slavery is a legitimately serious issue. It concerns people being held against their will, and forced to give up their basic human rights for the pleasure of others. So, there aren't many laughs to be had with this plotline.

On the other hand, the Doctor and Vicki have found themselves caught up in a farcical plotline involving assassination attempts on Caesar Nero, assassination attempts of the Doctor and the Doctor having to learn how to play the lyre. As was mentioned previously, this storyline is genuinely funny, and it's because it obeys one of the basic rules of farce, having things build up and up until we've got a whole host of problems for the hero to deal with. The fact that assassination attempts can be brushed off as something that just happened in Ancient Rome makes it clear why this can be funny, in contrast to the serious slavery plotline. Human Rights abuse is still an issue, whether it be through asylum seekers or indeed through slavery itself, these issues are still somewhat prevalent in society, and we tend to see these things on the news and such each day. Assassinations, on the other hand, are not a part of daily life, and so we are slightly removed from the experience, particularly as it is clearly a part of daily life in Rome, and therefore we are further removed from it. We can watch and look at this culture from afar, and laugh at the differences between it and our own culture. But when it comes close to home, it becomes more serious, as we think about how our culture actually is.

Day 54: The Slave Traders

After bidding a fond farewell a couple of episodes ago to the outgoing script editor, the new guy, Dennis Spooner, is able to show what he's made of here in this self penned story. What is key to note, when we look at what Spooner has brought, is to look at the way that other stories in the same genre are handled, so that we can compare and contrast between the two, to see what differences can be spotted. So let's compare The Slave Traders, the first episode of the serial known as The Romans, with A Land of Fear, the first episode of The Reign of Terror. What is obvious from the start is the tone of the story. A Land of Fear, is surprisingly, all about tension, and fear. We see characters gunned down, and the story has a remarkably cruel edge to it. And whilst there is a bit of fun to be had as they figure out where they are, this is immediately dispelled by the terror of the time period. The Slace Traders, on the other hand, is mostly different. It has a far lighter tone, with some absolutely brilliant jokes and pieces of wordplay to be had. There are hints of darkness, yes, history is a dark place, but this is showing that history doesn't have to be serious all the time, it can be fun sometimes as well!

The characters have adapted as well, with the Doctor not being as grumpy, Ian and Barbara clearly enjoying their travels, instead of pining for home every half-hour and Vicki is a more upbeat and Earthly Susan, who is able to have fun, instead of screaming her head off every other scene. But the most important thing to notice is the writer. As mentioned previously, The Slave Traders was written by the new script editor, Dennis Spooner. A Land of Fear was, however written by a new writer to Doctor Who, called Dennis Spooner. This shows that this man has range in his writing capabilities, in that he can write both serious drama, and light hearted comedy. He is also able to focus on character, and have fun with the programme. So welcome Dennis Spooner, and this blog looks forward to what you will bring to the series.

Day 53: Desperate Measures

The central twist to this story is one of the greatest twists in the history of the series. The main characters have been plagued by a menace known as Koquillion, who comes around and threatens them, occasionally attempting to destroy them. In this episode, it is revealed that Koquillion was actually Bennett, one of the crewmembers aboard the crashed spaceship that forms the main setting for this story. So, that means that the monster, played by a man in a suit, is actually a man in a suit. We've talked about the fact that Doctor Who has strayed away from showing traditional aliens so far in the series, with the vast majority of them being a variation of "person in a suit", so this shouldn't come as a surprise, however the fact that it is a character that we have previously thought of as an ally, thus making the surprise unexpected and so this shows that the series is not afraid to play around with the central concepts, it is not afraid to take assumptions that are made and subvert them. This is yet another reason why this series is absolutely brilliant.

Day 52: The Powerful Enemy

Without Susan, the programme continues on. It's slightly more sure of itself, and it's able to have fun with the TARDIS crew, their opening scene is one of the more fun scenes we've had, the Doctor is not as grumpy with his companions, instead seeing them as friends whom he travels with, sharing jokes with them as they get over losing Susan. It's obvious that Susan's departure has affected the Doctor, he feels a tinge of sadness when he asks for Susan to open the doors, only to realise that she isn't there any more, but Ian and Barbara are here to help him get through this, as they discover new worlds and surroundings.

Speaking of the new, we say hello to our new companion, Vicki. Despite being from the future, she is far more relatable to the audience than Susan, being upbeat, friendly and normal. She's also braver than Susan, which is a welcome addition. When Vicki encounters the villainous Koquillion, she doesn't scream in terror, choosing instead to calmly do what he requires of her, still afraid, but doing what needs to be done despite that fear. Contrast this with Susan in The Reign of Terror, where her primary motive was to scream her head off at being captured again and again, while Barbara acts as the only sane woman, and formulates plans. So, whilst losing Susan is sad, Vicki looks as if she will be someone to look forward to as we continue our adventures in the TARDIS.

Day 51: Flashpoint

It's an episode of goodbyes, it seems. We say goodbye to Susan this episode, and she actually gets about 10 minutes at the end devoted to her dealing with whether she will leave or not. Upon seeing that there are 10 minutes left to go in the episode and that the Daleks have already been defeated, the gut instinct is to think that we're in for some incredibly dull goodbye scenes, as we farewell every character that we've met over the course of the adventure. But, pleasingly, the focus quickly turns to Susan, who is dealing with her love for one of the freedom fighters, but also her love of her grandfather as well. It's a bittersweet moment, as we know that this is the best option for Susan, and yet, there is still sadness attached. She won't see her grandfather again, she won't travel in the TARDIS again, instead we leave her, knowing that the audience will never see her again.

We also bid a small farewell to David Whitaker, the script editor for the first 51 episodes of the programme. This blog hasn't mentioned him much, but his guiding hand has helped keep the show together. The writing on the past episodes has ranged, but on the whole, it has remained truly interesting. People may think that in order for a programme to succeed, it needs action sequences and hunky leads, but Whitaker's guiding influence has allowed for characters and stories to come to the forefront. Doctor Who is not, as is commonly believed, about a box that travels through time. It is about people inside of a box that travel through time. And through showing those people, that is where we find our adventures.

And as we say farewell to these people, and look back at the past, so too does this blog look to the future, as I wonder whether we will ever finish. But one day, I will look back, yes I'll look back. But, until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. I shall go forward, in all my beliefs, and show to myself the journey ahead of me. Goodbye then, because, We've Still Got Work To Do.

Day 50: The Waking Ally

This episode, after a couple of episodes of reasonably gritty realism, albeit starring metal pepperpots, but it's been stuff that's somewhat relatable, as we're able to see human reactions to these things. This episode throws that out completely as we encounter the Black Dalek's pet: the Slyther. It looks ridiculous, and is clearly intended just to function as a cliffhanger between episodes, so that the kids tune in next week. It's annoying because there are other ways that cliffhangers could go, threatening with guns for instance, or Daleks bursting into huts. But the real problem is that the Slyther represents the very thing Sydney Newman, one of the programme's creators, rallied against. It is a bug eyed monster, and it means that credibility is immediately lost when it appears on screen. The kids are somewhat entertained, yes, but the adults feel embarrassed that they're watching the show, because they aren't getting social commentary, or any actual scary moments, just a bug eyed monster.

Day 49: The End of Tomorrow

The Daleks, are of course, Nazis. One of the reasons that they are successful, as has been mentioned previously, is that they were conceived in the wake of World War 2, where we have a nation still reeling over the fact that they faced a Nazi menace every single day for years. And the Daleks represent the evolution of that. Evolution, of course, implies getting better, and as such, the Daleks have done the thing the Nazis failed to do, invade London. It's somewhat disturbing to see metal creatures giving salutes outside various London landmarks, but what's more disturbing is not what the Daleks do, but what the humans do. In this episode, we meet Ashton, a black market dealer, who goes around to the camps of human slaves, and offers them food, in exchange for precious metal. The horror of this is that it has become clear that it is not a "We're all in this together" mentality, it's a kill or be killed feeling. Everyone is out for themselves, and they put their own personal gain over other people's survival. And whilst we might think, that this sort of thing wouldn't have happened, the brutal truth is that humanity is made up of douchebags, and that when everything goes to Hell, people may stop caring for others.

Day 48: Day of Reckoning

The Daleks kill people. This is a fact that can be forgotten from time to time, as we turn them into pepperpots that can't climb stairs, but they are secretly ruthless killing machines, set out to destroy all that you hold dear. The writer, Terry Nation, plays a wonderful and cruel trick when the Daleks kill someone. We meet them just before they're killed. We have a brief conversation with them, and they run off to go and help. In other serials, that might be the last we see of those characters, but we assume that they found help. With this, we see that they don't, and they have no hope, instead they are killed mercilessly. One of my favourite scenes in this episode features Dortmun, the wheelchair bound scientist have one final attack against the Daleks. He has developed a bomb that can supposedly destroy them, and he launches one final suicidial effort to buy his friends time to escape. The bomb fails miserably, as do most plans in this episode, and he is exterminated, cruelly. This episode is full of failures. We might think we have a hope against these creatures, but we don't. Because the Daleks don't just kill people, they exterminate them.

Day 47: The Daleks

Despite their appearance in the title, the true horror of this episode is not the Daleks, but the Cybermen, or as they are referred to in this story, Robomen. They are, if you will, Cyber-prototypes, human being that have been robotically enhanced to become the Dalek's slaves. The differences between the Robomen and the Cybermen are numerous. The Cybermen represent necessity and evolution, whereas the Robomen represent slavery and the loss of the human freedom fighters. But the original concept is the same, these were ordinary people who have been changed, had their minds altered, and now serve a far more sinister force. The Robomen also have one-up on the Cybermen in that, unlike the Cybermen, the Robomen are explicitly stated to have a use by date, after which hey go insane and destroy themselves, showing that once free of the Dalek's control, the damage is already done and nothing can be done to help these poor people. It brings to mind one of the most chilling scenes in the David Tennant episode The Age of Steel, where the Cybermen are shown their humanity, shown what they have become, and they destroy themselves. Because there is nothing more terrifying than losing the person who you used to be.

Day 46: World's End

This story features the return of the Daleks to Doctor Who, as they rise from the river Thames, capturing the Doctor and one of his companions as they have taken over the planet Earth. This all takes place in the last thirty seconds of the episode, which is interesting because it was heavily advertised that the Daleks were going to come back this week in Doctor Who, and yet, they spend most of the episode hiding away, never feeling the need to make an appearance. This is a bold move from Terry Nation, the writer, as he balances out anticipation against boredom, choosing to keep the Daleks in the shadows and to focus on their effects rather than their presence. 

And so we are left with the Doctor and Ian discovering robotic slaves, and Barbara and Susan meet up with a resistance group. Susan, in particular, becomes more interesting in that she is becoming less interesting. She is responsible for getting the TARDIS out of the way of our heroes, twists her ankle in the process, and this means that she doesn't actually get to do much for this episode beyond these things, while her fellow travellers get into all sorts of exciting scrapes, she is left by the wayside. It is becoming more and more apparent that Susan is not needed in the series. She is often poorly written, being the only character to be inconsistently written across each episode, and every other character is far more interesting than her. What this means is, we are now reaching the end as far as Susan is concerned, and are getting ready to see her character go.

Day 45: Crisis

It's surprising how dark this story is. For a start, the plot begins with people being murdered in cold blood, and halfway through the story, Barbara becomes infected with the insecticide. However, she neglects to tell anyone about this, not wishing to cause a fuss. And so we see her slowly succumb to the illness over the course of the serial, slowly dying and we know that there is not much likelihood of them succeeding. This is a threat that we haven't faced before in the series. Earlier serials have always been slightly detached from the real world, the threats have been ray guns, or guillotines. Not more common things such as poison, that can be found in the real world. It should also be noted that the Doctor and co are really helpless in this episode, they aren't an active part of the resolution, beyond just being there and attempting to help. I mean, they do destroy the insecticide, and in the process injure the bad guy, but the events would have essentially played out just the same without them. They just act as a nice little interlude while other people solve everything. That said, they are an interesting interlude, but the point remains that we have essentially been given two parallel plots that operate around each other, but never really meet. It makes for an interesting experiment though, as we get a nice action adventure, but also a small scientific crime drama as well.

Day 44: Dangerous Journey

So the henchman in this episode
is called Smithers. When the bad
guy finds the Doctor and co., will
he have to release the hounds?

This is the first time since the first episode that the TARDIS has landed on what was then contemporary Earth. And so we get to see Doctor Who attempt to look at modern issues, not through allegories or comparisons, but through explicitly showing these things. The plot here revolves around insecticides, a topic that is still relevant today, particularly with both the agricultural community and the environmental community, because it has a large range of issues and problems with it. All the time it has to be considered whether the products are safe for human consumption, what the danger is to the ecosystem, and whether they will actually work, but they're balanced out by showing that these products can help save crops, and contribute to the fight against hunger. And it's a complex issue that is well explored here. Fortunately, the villain is only interested in the monetary gain from it, and so whilst the bad guy is clearly shown, it also allows for the sidekick, in the form of a man called Mr Smithers (I am seriously hoping that the next episode ends with him accepting a role at a nuclear power plant), to be more sympathetic, because he is the one who has the hopes for the future, and he is the one who wants to prevent starvation, and he is not the one who has killed people who have gotten in his way. And so this leaves the audience not sure as to whether these things are bad or not, because the bad guys have control over them, yet the sidekick seems like a reasonable chap, and thus the audience may think that these things aren't so bad after all. And so they're left to make up their own minds on this issue, maybe learn more about it to make a better judgement. And maybe this will inspire a future scientist to look into this issue, and develop it for future use. So, in effect, Doctor Who is showing a modern issue, strongly relevant to society, with strong implications for the future, and indeed the present and it is showing multiple viewpoints of this, and leaves the audience never quite sure as to which is the bad one. So in essence, it's doing a better job at being a current affairs programme in 1964 than Today Tonight or A Current Affair ever have. (For overseas readers, insert awful 'current affairs programme here, also, hello!)

Day 43: Planet of Giants

This episode, as the title would suggest, takes place in a planet of giants, where everything is much taller than our heroes. Or so it would seem, however 10 minutes into the episode, it is revealed that they have in fact been shrunk down, and they have landed on contempary Earth and are viewing the world from the perspective of ants. This is a brilliant concept, and one that was put forward for the first serial, before being recycled for the opening of the second series. One must remember that for almost every single episode, the TARDIS crew have been visiting worlds that have been alien to them, be they Aztec temples or acid seas, they are all different to the things that one would see at home. And so to see everyday objects made into an alien setting, it's fascinating, as it allows us to realise how terrifying the world can be, if viewed at the wrong size. And so we are brought to mind that this is one of the most alien worlds that we have encountered, and it can be found in your backyard, bringing the danger closer to home, something we'll get to in a couple more episodes, but for now, let's just appreciate the world that we don't often get a close-up viewing of.

Day 42: Prisoners of Conciergerie

And two minutes into the episode, we receive an absolutely bonkers twist. It would appear that the character known as Lemaître, the man who has been responsible for getting the TARDIS crew into prison most of the time, is secretly...James Stirling, a British spy! It's a lovely twist, to have one of the major villains turn out to be secretly an ally, especially after we have had Léon Colbert revealed as a traitor, it draws into question the concept of who you can trust in these times, and so we are left at the end of this serial with a feeling that we have experienced the Reign of Terror, because we now know that it was a time where you were probably going to be killed or captured, and you had no idea who was on your side. My final note is that concerning Robespierre, because as he is captured in the serial, it is mentioned that he was shot in the jaw. One thing that they failed to mention was that the shooter was Robespierre himself, attempting to commit suicide, but failing. A handy metaphor for the Reign of Terror then, a man who attempted to make a difference, but failed and was left without his voice tobe heard.

Day 41: A Bargain of Necessity

"The Revolution isn't all bad" says Barbara, in probably the best scene in this serial, "and neither are the people who support it". In preparing for these entries, my mind attempts to pick out various topics that I can raise after the episode's completion. Such was the case here, where I was all set to talk about how the obvious good/bad divide of this episode isn't to my tastes, whereas I would prefer greyer moralities, much like what was seen in the first episode where both sides threaten to kill the TARDIS crew. But then the wonderful Barbara Wright points out her discomfort with this idea, and that the Revolution may have actually been a good thing. And she is able to point out the inherent flaws that we face with most stories, that they always seek to take one side. She is quite clearly enjoying comfort and friendship on the side opposed to the Revolution, whereas the side of the Revolution has given her gaol cells and attempted killings. And yet she is able to see all sides of history, and of seeing the good and bad in all sides in conflicts, as a good historian should.

Speaking of history, I was inspired by this episode, as the intention was, I'm sure, to look up the original Reign of Terror, particularly Robespierre, the villain of the piece, and I'm able to see that he was a man who fought for reform, justice and social equality. Unfortunately, he did this through killing those who got in his way. And so we can see that there are no true good guys or bad guys, only real people.

Day 40: The Tyrant of France

There's an argument to be made in the favour of modernisation, of making things in the way that we would, to improve them, make them better. Such is the case with episodes 4 and 5 of the serial The Reign of Terror, which have been animated by an Australian group for my viewing pleasure. And as such, I am in two minds as to what is on screen. On the one hand, it's nice to be able to see what happens, instead of just watching a series of still images with a soundtrack laid over them. Also, I am not going to get in the way of people wishing to put their own interpretation of various items. We may live in a culture of remakes and reboots, but let's not forget that without these we would not have the various adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, Dracula or Frankenstein for us to view and enjoy other's interpretations on these classic characters. However, it must be stated that what makes it to screen is complete and utter crap. For a start, not a lot happens in this episode, so the director feels a need to insert action where there is none. Whereas static cameras can add a nice feeling of being able to know what is actually going on, as has been done for the previous three episodes, this time close ups have been added liberally, so that each scene is not complete without seven, at least. The camera is in a perpetual state of movement as well, meaning that the viewer is left feeling like someone with particularly bad eyesight, never being able to focus on one thing before the next one comes flying along. And the editing on this is spectacularly bad. Think, for a moment, with one particular scene featuring changes of shot 5 times over the course of one brief sentence. Sometimes change is good, and should be welcomed. And sometimes, we should try and stay more true to the original, because if it ain't broke, don't fix it.