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.

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.