Day 559: Four to Doomsday Part 2

This episode reminds me of Marco Polo. Watching Marco Polo for the first time around a year and a half ago, I remember being intrigued by the different way in which television was written in that time, mainly due to an extended dance sequence that took place at some point in the episode revolving around Aladdin and assassins. It spoke of a time in television that wasn't afraid to stop and show something different, and not need to revolve around little things like action, special effects, or advancing the plot. I got a similar feeling for this episode of Four to Doomsday. We get an extended sequence where the Doctor and Tegan view various representations of different cultures (albeit inter-cut with Nyssa and Adric exploring the surrounding area and trying to figure out what is happening here). The sequence features a traditional Mayan dance, followed by an exhibition of Chinese Dragons, a fight between two Greek soldiers, and as they leave a corroboree from the Aboriginal Australians begins. It's quite nice to sit back and enjoy these other cultures, but you can't help but wonder whether television has moved on from this point. We're no longer as accepting of sequences created to pad the episode out with no real intention of advancing the plot, and so it's a bit easier to get bored by what's taking place in front of you. Which is interesting, because if this had taken place in a William Hartnell story, I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. I suppose that it's just an example of the changing way in which television programmes are written.