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.