Episode #43 : The Wheel in Space

"Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority."

Episode 43:     The Wheel in Space.
Companions:   The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.
Air Date:         Six episodes. 27th April to 1st June 1968.

The TARDIS materialises on board a spaceship, the Silver Carrier, where the Second Doctor and Jamie are attacked by a Servo Robot. Jamie contacts a nearby space station known as the Wheel and they are rescued. Meanwhile, the Silver Carrier discharges Cybermats, which also travel to and enter the station. These pave the way for the invasion of the station by Cybermen, who intend to use its direct radio link with Earth as a beacon for their invasion fleet.

Only two episodes of this story remain so again this review comes from a couple of synopses of the story.

The Wheel in Space is a fairly typical science fiction story where a remote location comes under mysterious attack with no means of escape. When done right it works and I think it does here. The mysterious attack from the returning Cybermen though oddly despite chronological events no one on the station has heard of Cybermen or Daleks. It feels very similar to the early story The Moonbase in some regards.

The story sees the introduction of a new companion, Zoe, a genius of a young woman whose intellect seems to rival if not exceed that of the Doctor himself. This seems to aggravate the Doctor somewhat giving some conflict between him and his new companion. We really haven't had that since Ian and Barbara's time on the TARDIS. It is difficult to tell how she would come across to the viewers as the role of a companion is to ask the questions that we want to ask, and she probably already has those answers.

As this story is set in the late 21st century I'm guessing that the writers assumed we would be more advanced than we are, so this is probably the first time that we can assume that the Whoniverse is not our own, allowing for certain cover ups of alien appearances in the 1960's and 70's.

All in all, it reads like an OK story.