Season One

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.