Having re-watched the first season in its entirety, I'm surprised at how solid it is. I'd classify only Reign Of Terror, and perhaps the cave people segments of An Unearthly Child, as the only real duds, and they're still watchable. There are far worse Who episodes, there are even far worse ones to come in the Hartnell era.
The first season alternates from science fiction to historical, which works for the most part. At least viewers who aren't fond of the historical stories (such as myself), know that something different is just around the corner. Or, at least a few weeks around the corner.
And that gets to the heart of what I think is the only major problem with season one: story length. I can't help but think that an additional four parter could have been cobbled together simply by trimming an episode from most of these stories. All the six-parters drag on longer than they should, a state highlighted by The Aztecs, which tells its story perfectly fine in just four episodes. The producers must have felt the same thing, as four-part stories will become the norm, except when the Daleks are back in town.
The characters are where they need to be by the end of the season. The Doctor is less mean (although his hissy fit at the end of The Sensorites seems out of place), Ian is no longer dominating every story, which was the case up through Marco Polo. The Aztecs and The Sensorites go a long way in developing Barbara and Susan, respectively, and The Doctor gets little moments throughout the last half of the season, culminating in his taking full command of the proceedings in The Reign Of Terror. Ian is clearly not the leader by this point, and The Doctor is turning into the the one with the plan, who never fails.
I suppose it's a minor failure that they never come up with a threat as intriguing as the Daleks, but that'll be the case for the next two seasons, as well. They seem incapable of creating an alien worth bringing back until the Cybermen.
Another flaw, but one that won't matter in two stories: Susan. Yes, she's gets more to do as the season progresses, especially in The Sensorites, but by the season's end, she's still not at the same level as the rest of the cast. As someone who's also an alien like The Doctor, it seems crazy that she so often is relegated to being nothing more than a frightened teenager. I thought she was supposed to be, in some ways, smarter than Ian? We get a little bit of that early on, but it seems to be forgotten after Edge Of Destruction.
Overall, though, I'd say this is a solid season, especially for the Hartnell era, and viewers wanting to get an idea of what very early Doctor Who is like won't go wrong watching any of the intact stories from this time.
GRADE: B
COMING SOON: I've already watched Planet Of Giants, and may even have my post about it up as soon as tomorrow. I hope to watch The Dalek Invasion Of Earth by this weekend.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
008 The Reign Of Terror
And I'm finally back, after an unexpectedly long absence. A big part of this was due to Hurricane Isaac, which prevented me from finishing the last two episodes and finding the time to blog about it. But it was also due to a lack of interest in sitting down to watch this story.
It's not a terrible story, really. I can certainly think of later stories that are cringe-inducingly bad, on a level Reign Of Terror doesn't come close to achieving. It's just that it's another historical (something I'm typically not a fan of), and another six-parter. Thankfully, it's the last six-part historical, and one of the last six-parters, period, with only the Daleks justifying longer stories for the next two seasons. It's no secret that I'm not fond of the pacing of classic Who, and Reign Of Terror whips out every cliche it can to extend the story to its unnecessary length: characters are separated, imprisoned, escape, imprisoned again, betrayed by the person who was supposed to help them, uncover a plot towards the end that will require them to stick around for another episode or two... it just goes on and on.
Continuing The Doctor's over the top hissy fit that ended The Sensorites, we find the TARDIS landing on what is supposed to be Earth, with The Doctor kicking Ian and Barbara out. He's right, they are on Earth, but in the wrong time: they've landed during the aftermath of the French Revolution.
I'll be honest here: I don't know much about the French Revolution. Perhaps that impacts my enjoyment of this. Names are thrown around that are supposed to be important, but they mean nothing to me. We simply never studied it in that much detail in history class, although I know it came up several times during my schooling. I know enough to find it odd that the story seems to take a pro-aristocracy view. I can't help but think that in the United States, such a story would sympathize with the revolutionaries, not the deposed nobility.
The story itself attempts to address this, with one of the agents encountered by the travelers making a speech about how even though he isn't a noblemen himself, he still opposes what the revolution has done to France, and wants order restored. And Barbara is openly upset when she learns that Leon, the double agent, has been murdered, arguing that to his own people, he would be a patriot.
And herein lies some of the problems with this story. For a show geared for younger viewers, these are complex issues, and they almost get in the way of the adventure. Whereas Marco Polo was light and fun, The Reign Of Terror is dark and fatalistic. It has to be, given the time period. There are executions, someone's shot in the mouth (because apparently that's what actually happened)... in short, there's no victory to be won, other than The Doctor and his companions escaping. It's a gloomy end to the first season. When we get to The Massacre of St. Bartholomews Eve in season three, though, it'll seem downright cheerful.
It's easy to see why the historicals were phased out. The show's adamant stance that history can't be rewritten, at least when it comes to Earth, results in the audience watching the main cast stand around while events unfold, unable to do anything but survive. There's little urgency, since we know they'll escape, so it all feels like a creaky old educational film.
That's not to say there aren't good things about the story. The Doctor, for one. We got glimpses of a more pro-active Doctor in the previous story, but we get more of that here. It's still mainly in the interest of self-preservation. He's not out to save the world yet, but he'll get there. The Doctor is as much, maybe even more, of a driving presence than Ian in this story. He's clearly in charge, and he even gets physical with a cruel work boss in episode two.
By the end, everyone is reunited, naturally, and they leave in the TARDIS. For the first time, we get an actual ending, with no peek at the next story, since it's the end of season one. On to season two...
GRADE: C-
Strictly average, with a little more taken off due to its length. I found this a tough one to get through.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Susan goes backwards a little in this episode. It's a shame, since she just grew a little in The Sensorites, but here she's once again a hysterical teenager, afraid to even escape a prison cell because there are rats in the hole they're digging.
Barbara once again finds herself embroiled in a little mini-romance. This time it's with Leon, who turns out to be a traitor, so a bit of a step down from the Thal who wooed her back in The Daleks. It's strange that Ian never seems to find any romance.
With only pictures to go by, I'd always assumed the set design for Marco Polo was quite good. Although much of it is dark and gloomy, the sets for this story are more impressive than what we've been getting with the sci-fi episodes. Maybe the BBC studios had these sort of historical items more readily available.
NEXT: An overview of season one, and then on to season two and Planet Of Giants.
It's not a terrible story, really. I can certainly think of later stories that are cringe-inducingly bad, on a level Reign Of Terror doesn't come close to achieving. It's just that it's another historical (something I'm typically not a fan of), and another six-parter. Thankfully, it's the last six-part historical, and one of the last six-parters, period, with only the Daleks justifying longer stories for the next two seasons. It's no secret that I'm not fond of the pacing of classic Who, and Reign Of Terror whips out every cliche it can to extend the story to its unnecessary length: characters are separated, imprisoned, escape, imprisoned again, betrayed by the person who was supposed to help them, uncover a plot towards the end that will require them to stick around for another episode or two... it just goes on and on.
Continuing The Doctor's over the top hissy fit that ended The Sensorites, we find the TARDIS landing on what is supposed to be Earth, with The Doctor kicking Ian and Barbara out. He's right, they are on Earth, but in the wrong time: they've landed during the aftermath of the French Revolution.
I'll be honest here: I don't know much about the French Revolution. Perhaps that impacts my enjoyment of this. Names are thrown around that are supposed to be important, but they mean nothing to me. We simply never studied it in that much detail in history class, although I know it came up several times during my schooling. I know enough to find it odd that the story seems to take a pro-aristocracy view. I can't help but think that in the United States, such a story would sympathize with the revolutionaries, not the deposed nobility.
The story itself attempts to address this, with one of the agents encountered by the travelers making a speech about how even though he isn't a noblemen himself, he still opposes what the revolution has done to France, and wants order restored. And Barbara is openly upset when she learns that Leon, the double agent, has been murdered, arguing that to his own people, he would be a patriot.
And herein lies some of the problems with this story. For a show geared for younger viewers, these are complex issues, and they almost get in the way of the adventure. Whereas Marco Polo was light and fun, The Reign Of Terror is dark and fatalistic. It has to be, given the time period. There are executions, someone's shot in the mouth (because apparently that's what actually happened)... in short, there's no victory to be won, other than The Doctor and his companions escaping. It's a gloomy end to the first season. When we get to The Massacre of St. Bartholomews Eve in season three, though, it'll seem downright cheerful.
It's easy to see why the historicals were phased out. The show's adamant stance that history can't be rewritten, at least when it comes to Earth, results in the audience watching the main cast stand around while events unfold, unable to do anything but survive. There's little urgency, since we know they'll escape, so it all feels like a creaky old educational film.
That's not to say there aren't good things about the story. The Doctor, for one. We got glimpses of a more pro-active Doctor in the previous story, but we get more of that here. It's still mainly in the interest of self-preservation. He's not out to save the world yet, but he'll get there. The Doctor is as much, maybe even more, of a driving presence than Ian in this story. He's clearly in charge, and he even gets physical with a cruel work boss in episode two.
By the end, everyone is reunited, naturally, and they leave in the TARDIS. For the first time, we get an actual ending, with no peek at the next story, since it's the end of season one. On to season two...
GRADE: C-
Strictly average, with a little more taken off due to its length. I found this a tough one to get through.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Susan goes backwards a little in this episode. It's a shame, since she just grew a little in The Sensorites, but here she's once again a hysterical teenager, afraid to even escape a prison cell because there are rats in the hole they're digging.
Barbara once again finds herself embroiled in a little mini-romance. This time it's with Leon, who turns out to be a traitor, so a bit of a step down from the Thal who wooed her back in The Daleks. It's strange that Ian never seems to find any romance.
With only pictures to go by, I'd always assumed the set design for Marco Polo was quite good. Although much of it is dark and gloomy, the sets for this story are more impressive than what we've been getting with the sci-fi episodes. Maybe the BBC studios had these sort of historical items more readily available.
NEXT: An overview of season one, and then on to season two and Planet Of Giants.
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