Episode #6 : The Aztecs

"You can't rewrite history. Not one line!"

Episode 6:     The Aztecs.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Air Date:        Four episodes. 23rd May to 13th June 1964.

The arrival of the TARDIS in 15th century Mexico leads the crew to the doomed Aztec people, a mixture of high culture and brutal savagery. Matters are further complicated when Barbara is mistaken for a god and the Doctor becomes engaged to be married.

Another reasonable historical tale dealing with a clash of cultures and mind sets. In this story we learn than Barbara is an expert on the Aztecs so we get some nice insight from her. Where this takes us is her idea of trying to prevent the downfall of their civilisation and it conflicting with the Doctor who warns her that she can't change history... not one line! This particular approach from the Doctor changes later on especially in the new series.

As much as this is watchable story it is let down somewhat by the pacing of the plot. There is a little too much going on around each character and things drag a little. Also I would guess that with The Aztecs we are looking at another attempt to use the show to teach history to children watching at home. Had the writers just worked this one as another time travel story it probably would have turned out better.

The best thing about this story is the focus on Barbara over the other characters. In The Aztecs Barbara comes across, even with the naivety of trying to alter established history, as a much stronger role model than the she has been before.

Episode #5 : The Keys of Marinus

 

"I don't believe that man was made to be controlled by machines. Machines can make laws, but they can not preserve justice. Only human beings can do that."

Episode 5:      The Keys of Marinus.

Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Air Date:        Six episodes. 11th April to 16th May 1964.

 

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Marinus on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The travellers are forced by the elderly Arbitan to retrieve four of the five operating keys to a machine called the Conscience of Marinus, of which he is the keeper. These have been hidden in different locations around the planet to prevent them falling into the hands of the evil Yartek and his Voord warriors, who plan to seize the machine and use its originally benevolent mind-influencing power for their own sinister purposes.

 

The Keys of Marinus is a really good story for the era. The story is well written and I think still holds up now though six parts might turn modern viewers off from watching it. One of the reasons why I think it works so well is not just the writing, but that each part takes place somewhere completely different thus preventing the viewer from getting bored of the same studio backdrop. Watching all these episodes of the show has proven to me that a constantly changing back drop does do a lot to keep each story interesting.

 

The story does have something of a flaw for me and that is in it's world continuity. To start with we are introduced to an island surrounded by a vast sea of extremely unpleasant acid but it is never explained how or why. Secondly we seem to be introduced to a culture that is reasonably advanced technologically, having invented a machine to prevent criminal or violent thoughts across the planet and prevents it being invaded by the warlike Voord. But as the story unfolds we find that the planet seems to have a simple 20th century style civilisation as well as medieval knights which are never explained. However I find that it does not detract from the enjoyment of the story.

 

The Keys of Marinus is certainly a story I would recommend to a modern viewer interested in watching the better stories of classic Doctor Who. Not just because of the entertainment factor but because again we have excellent interaction and communication between our characters. We have reached a point where the agitation and distrust that they started out with has gone and though they are trying to get back to 20th century Earth, the companions are enjoying their adventures through time and space.

 

 

Episode #4 : Marco Polo

 

"We're always in trouble! Isn't this extraordinary - it follows us everywhere!"

 

 

Episode 4:      Marco Polo.

Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Air Date:        Seven episodes. 22nd February to 4th April 1964.

 

Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay.

Unfortunately I have been unable to watch this story as I believe that it no longer exists except in isolated fragments and stills. Even so I have read numerous plot and story write ups about it on several different fan sites.

The story is the first to feature an actual historical character in this case the titular Marco Polo. As I have mentioned previously the show was supposed to be an educational tool not just a science fiction story. In this case it tries to show some backstop to the character of Marco Polo. Thankfully there aren't too many historical stories as I find in general those from this era tend to be overly long and in general not all that interesting. The show works better when it incorporates some horror or science fiction into the historical.

Not having been able to watch the story I can only go by what I have read of it. If I am honest I think I would have been quite bored with this one as it seems that nothing much actually happens. There is no real plot other than Polo taking the companions and the TARDIS to Cathay and interactions with the Mongols.

Episode #3 : The Edge of Destruction

"As we learn about each other, so we learn about ourselves."

Episode 3:     The Edge of Destruction.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.
Air Date:        Two episodes. 8th February to 15th February 1964.

The Doctor, while attempting to correct the TARDIS's faulty navigation circuits, causes a small explosion. The Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan are all temporarily rendered unconscious. After they awake, Ian and Susan appear to have slight cases of amnesia and everyone begins to act strangely. Unexpected events are happening in the TARDIS, the travellers are becoming suspicious of each other's motives, and the Doctor even accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotage.

The Edge of Destruction is the first story to be set entirely inside the TARDIS and featuring only the main characters. Through that medium we get to understand the characters a little more as they interact with one another and the crisis growing around them. For example, by the end of this story we have the Doctor go from the grumpy, paranoid grandfather to someone who realises what he has been like and now cares for and respects his new companions.

The story is essentially that the TARDIS seems to be breaking down around the characters and slowly time seems to be running out for them. The cause is eventually explained as the fast return switch has become stuck and is sending them into the explosive birth of a new star system. You also get more hints that the TARDIS is alive and aware due to this.

It is nice to have a short story in this era of overly lengthy ones. The acting seems a little off but I wonder whether that it is true or it is party of the story that isn't quite revealed. After all, some of the characters do go a little crazy during the events around them. But sometimes a spot of bad acting helps with the enjoyment.

Episode #2 : The Daleks

"I never fight against the inevitable, it's a vain occupation. But I would advise you to reconsider what you consider to be inevitable. It is amazing how often apparent defeat can be turned into victory."

Episode 2:     The Daleks.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.
Air Date:        Seven episodes. 21st December 1963 to 1st february 1964.

The TARDIS lands on Skaro, a seemingly dead world with high levels of radiation. Seeing a deserted city, the Doctor deliberately sabotages his TARDIS in order to force Ian, Barbara and Susan to explore further. But the city is not as dead as it first appears. The TARDIS crew are captured by sinister metal creatures that silently glide through the corridors and walkways - Daleks!

A fairly lengthy story that was also turned into a popular movie of the 1960's starting Peter Cushing in the title role. It is a shame that the movie actually does a better job of telling this story in 90 minutes than the seven episodes presented here do.

This is the story that first introduces us to the Doctor's archetypal villains, the Daleks. There are some differences in this story the Daleks of later ones. For example, in this story the Daleks can only move on metal using static electricity something they must have learnt to overcome. Either that or the Daleks presented here were of a type no longer used and abandoned on Skaro. The other thing is that rather than exterminate people the Daleks use a type of weapon that paralyses the legs of the target.

As a story goes it isn't a bad one and thrusts the show firmly into the science fiction genre rather than the historical which was what I understand the show to have originally been (to teach children I suppose). A move that has done the show very well over the last fifty years. But with all that I find that the story doesn't lend itself well to seven episodes (just over three hours!) and this is something that haunts the show in my opinion for a good deal of the early episodes.

Episode #1 : An Unearthly Child

"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension? Have you?... to be exiles? Susan and I are cut off from our own planet, without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day. One day."

Episode 1:      An Unearthly Child.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 23rd November to 14th December 1963.

Schoolteachers Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton are intrigued by one of their pupils, Susan Foreman. They visit her home address - a junkyard at 76 Totter's Lane. There they meet her grandfather, the Doctor. The Doctor and Susan are aliens who travel through time and space in their ship, the TARDIS. It looks like an ordinary police box but actually houses a huge, gleaming control room. The TARDIS takes them all to a Palaeolithic landscape where they encounter a tribe who have lost the secret of fire.

I first saw this story way back in about 1982/83 and then again a couple years ago. In both instances I wasn't much impressed. However rewatching it in preperation for doing this write up I found that my opinion had largely changed. Especially in regards to the first part of the story which has a great introduction to the characters and has some fantastic dialogue between them which makes up for some of the shortfalls in the story itself.

Unfortunately despite such a great first part, the story declines as it goes along into a standard set of rotes. The characters encounter cavepeople, get captured, escape, get captured again and so on. It feels like writer had some good ideas to start with but then had to pad out a further three episodes.

The best thing about this story other than the character interaction is the set ups for what would become standard canon in the show. Specifically that the Doctor and Susan are exiled or far from their home planet/time, and that the TARDIS is somehow alive. All things that would get explained or padded out as the show goes along.

The characters of Susan, Ian and Barbara are immediately very likeable. The Doctor on the other hand is far from. He is portrayed as a grumby, almost arrogant, figure far from what he would eventually become. In fact at one point in the story he seems quite willing to commit murder on a wounded caveman in order for everyone to escape back to the TARDIS. Very different again from what he would become but I suppose given the situation (he's no temporal adventurer yet) it makes some small sense.