We find ourselves at the third (and final) science-fiction story of the first season. Well, third if you don't count Edge of Destruction, which I place in its own unique category. It's strange to realize that for this first year, the show is dominated by historical stories. This is the only time that will be the case, as the BBC quickly realizes what audiences want.
I've always been a little torn on The Sensorites. The aliens themselves are memorable creations, even serving as inspiration for the Ood many decades later. The story starts out strongly enough. Taken as a whole, though, it doesn't have much of an impact.
Things start well enough. The first episode slowly builds tension, for once making good use of the longer running time. Before we encounter the Sensorites, there's a real sense of menace. You get the sense that the Doctor and his companions have found themselves in a genuinely dangerous situation. The crew of the ship they've landed inside appear to be dead, and unbeknownst to them, mysterious beings are stealing the lock of their TARDIS. How they don't notice this strains credulity, since the set makes it look as if they're less than ten feet from the TARDIS when all this is going on. Maybe the Sensorites are just really quiet.
The cliffhanger for episode one involves a Sensorite outside the ship, drifting into view via the large window in the control room. For a brief moment, it;s actually creepy and menacing. Unfortunately, that first impression is largely undermined by the next five episodes. Actually, the same shot, re-filmed for the opening episode two, already seems to undermine their threat. The longer, clearer glimpse lacks the mystery of the previous week's cliffhanger.
Granted, it turns out the Sensorites are not, for the most part malevolent, so at some point the story was going to have to shift from them being a threat to becoming allies. And I admire the fact that they went for a slightly more complex story than "imprisoned by evil aliens", although what they go with is also a little cliched. I still think it's a shame, though, that the tension of that opener dissolves into actors in papier mache masks wearing unitards giving lessons in civics, Sense Sphere style. It's hard not to feel like there was a better story to be told here, especially when the Sensorites go from being able to exist in space without the aid of a suit or ship to being afraid of loud noises and darkness.
Another notable development early on involves Susan, and her newly discovered talent for telepathy. It turns out that her innate skill is simply enhanced by the mental communication system utilized by the Sense Sphere, so we won't be seeing it again, but it's nice to see some development in her character beyond "scared teenager". She even gets a strong moment at the end of episode two, when she agrees to be taken prisoner by the Sensorites to spare her friends. It's just a shame that the beginning of episode three almost instantly nullifies that drama, when it turns out they'll all be able to go down. All except for Maitland, the least interesting crew member of the ship, and Barbara - apparently it was Jacqueline Hill's turn to go on vacation.
The story gradually runs out of steam once the action moves to the Sensorites home planet, the Sense-Sphere. Four episodes is a long time to spend with the Sensorites, who have all the drama of city councilmen debating zoning laws in their numerous scenes together. It doesn't help that, apparently, something in the air of the Sense Sphere must make everyone stupid. I get that the show was aimed squarely for children at this point, but that still doesn't excuse the blatantly obvious clues revealing the traitors in their midst and the reason why Sensorites are dying. And when it's revealed that one Sensorite can masquerade as another because, after all, all the Sensorites look alike, logic goes out the window. It's silly because, for one thing, it's not true. None of them look completely alike. Even by generic sci-fi costuming standards, the Sensorites each have a distinct enough look to tell them apart. Their heads are all shaped differently, they're different heights and weights. Worse than that, though, is when the main villain of the piece, The Administrator, claims that neither he nor anyone else has noticed this before. The notion that suddenly this advanced race discovers duplicity and evil after what I'm assuming are thousands of years of existence is ridiculous.
Weaknesses aside, there is an interesting parallel between both the Sensorites and Earthlings discovering traitors among themselves. It's all a bit predictable, typical '60s sci-fi in which two races learn that neither is perfect. Although, if I'm understanding the ending, both sides go their separate ways, so it's not as if they learn to co-exist together as much as just leave one another alone.
GRADE: B-
It's enjoyable, but like many older stories, it overstays its welcome.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
After so much screen time devoted to them in previous episodes, it's a little refreshing to see both Barbara and Ian sidelined for a good chunk of the story. Barbara is nowhere to be seen for nearly half the story, and Ian is sick for about two of them, leaving more for the Doctor and Susan to do.
In fact, this may be one of the first truly heroic outings for the Doctor, since he ventures into the aqueducts by himself. He also acquits himself fairly well in his initial confrontation with the Sensorites.
I'm just going to say it - as interesting as the design of the Sensorites heads is, especially given the budget they had to work with, there are times when they look like wrinkly old testicles. It's as if they're so close to being good, but they don't quite make it. I still think it's one of the more memorable alien concepts from the early years, though.
NEXT: The Reign of Terror. I have to confess I'm not particularly excited about this, as it's another historical, another six-parter, and another one I'll be watching in the form of a reconstruction, albeit one that's only missing a few episodes. I don't recall enjoying it much when I first saw it years ago. Will I like it any better now?
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