Episode #35 : The Faceless Ones

"Well, in view of the facts that I’ve already presented - the ray gun, this pen and one or two other things - I think we’re dealing with people who are not from this planet."

Episode 35:    The Faceless Ones.
Companions:  The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 8th April to 13th May 1967.

The TARDIS arrives on Earth in July, 1966, on a runway at Gatwick airport. Polly witnesses a murder in a nearby hangar and is then kidnapped by the perpetrator, Spencer of Chameleon Tours. Ben also vanishes. The Second Doctor and Jamie are left to convince the sceptical airport Commandant there has been foul play.

Only the first part of this story currently survives. I have been able to watch that one episode and I am sad to say that it was pretty terrible, in script/story, acting and special effects. A real shame as the idea behind this one has potential I am sure. The story is based around a sort of invasion by the alien Faceless Ones who for some strange reason lost their identities in a "gigantic explosion" on their home planet, a condition that if not treated leads to death. To deal with this, they abduct people from other worlds and steal their faces. All of which sounds somewhat absurd to me. To make the concept of the story worse, the Doctor doesn't even defeat them. He's just nice to them basically and says that he has some ideas to help if they stop abducting people.

This story sees Ben and Polly leave as they have found themselves back home in London around the time that they left to travel with the Doctor in the first place. Having not really seen much of them due to lost episodes it is hard to rate them companions.

Episode #34: The Macra Terror

"Doctor, that was it - that thing in the picture! That was the claw!"

Episode 34:   The Macra Terror.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 11th March to 1st April 1967.

When the Second Doctor, Polly, Ben and Jamie visit a human colony that appears to be one big holiday camp, they think they have come across a truly happy place. Yet a shadowy presence soon makes them realise that the surface contentment is carefully controlled.

The Macra Terror that is entirely missing, though an audio recording still exists along with a handful of screen images. Unfortunately although I've read two or three different synopsis for this story it is very difficult to tell whether it was a good or bad one. Some elements exist for both approaches. Hopefully one day an intact copy can be found.

The story features as it's villains a race of giant intelligent alien crabs called The Macra. The Macra require certain types of gases to breathe in order to live, and have enslaved the human population of a distant world to mine it for them from deep beneath the surface. At the time of this write up they have only reappeared once more (Gridlock) making them one of the villains with the lengthiest gap between appearances in the show, only beaten by The Great Intelligence.

Episode #33 : The Moonbase

"There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. Things which act against everything we believe in. They must be fought."

Episode 33:      The Moonbase.
Companions:    The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date:          Four episodes. 11th February to 4th March 1967.

The TARDIS arrives in 2070 on the Moon, where a weather control station under the command of a man named Hobson is in the grip of a plague epidemic - in reality the result of an alien poison planted by the Cybermen. Jamie is knocked unconscious and lapses into a delirium, leaving the Second Doctor, Ben, and Polly to fight off a massive Cyberman attack.

Two episodes of this story currently survive and I have never seen the remaining two. However, I do own and have read repeatedly, the novelization of The Moonbase so that and an internet synopses are what I will base this short review on. Supposedly though, at the end of this year, 2013, this story will get the animation treatment to make it a fully watchable episode again.

We have a rather quick return of the Cybermen, perhaps because they proved popular in the Ten Planet the BBC decided to see if they could be the new Daleks? The costumes have massively improved since we last saw them and they appear much more mechanical now than then. Despite that they do seem to have vulnerable plastic elements which eventually leads to their destruction at the end of the story.

The story is set upon the moon only fifty odd years from now, where the worlds weather is controlled by a piece of machinery called a Graviton. How it does this with gravity I don't know. When it goes out of alignment the world is struck by strong winds and hurricanes. The Cybermen want to eradicate human life on Earth so they can claim the planet. I guess the assimilation ideas weren't fully thought through at this time though the story does mention some crewmen of the moonbase being made cybernetic.

Not a bad story really though I am looking forward to watching it if the rumours of animation are true.

Episode #32 : The Underwater Menace

"Just one small question: Why do you want to blow up the world?"

 

 

Episode 32:   The Underwater Menace.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 14th January to the 4th February 1967.

 

The TARDIS arrives on an extinct volcanic island. Before long, the travellers are captured and taken into the depths of the Earth, where they find a hidden civilisation - the lost city of Atlantis.

 

This is a rather unusual story as it feels all too comical without actually being funny or a comedy. it all comes down to the villain of the piece, a man scientist named Zarkoff. Zarkoff carries off a strange almost eastern European accent and is played as a stereotypical mad scientist complete with shout "NUFFINK IN ZE VORLD CAN STOP ME NOW!" All in all it is a tad strange and cringe worthy.

The other element that failed for me was the appearance of the fish people (see the photo above) decked out with glitter, sparkly things and carried on strings to emulate swimming. All very cheap and nasty, not to mention plain old silly looking. Considering I love the dodgy cheap special effects later on this just goes to show how bad these are.

 

The Underwater Menace is the first to mention Atlantis, though in this case what the Doctor has found is merely a surviving outpost. Atlantis will get referenced twice more (as of this time), and the story of what happened changes each time.

 

Ultimately it is a very silly story and just boring to watch. it is one of those where I found myself unconsciously looking to flick through a book or check my phone throughout the viewing. Not a good sign.

 

 

Episode #31 : The Highlanders

Episode 31:   The Highlanders.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright, Ben Jackson and Jamie McCrimmon.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 17th December 1966 to 7th January 1967.

The time travellers arrive in Scotland just after the Battle of Culloden. The Second Doctor gains the trust of a small band of fleeing Jacobites by offering to tend their wounded Laird, Colin McLaren. While Polly and the Laird's daughter, Kirsty, are away fetching water, he and the others are all captured by Redcoat troops commanded by Lieutenant Algernon Ffinch.

Other than a handful of screenshots this story is also lost in time and space. The Highlanders was also the last purely historical type story until we get to the 5th Doctor tale Black Orchid. I'm pleased with that because although time travel is a good base for the show, it really is the science fiction and almost horror elements that ultimately make the show what it is for me. I assume others at the BBC felt the same way hence the change in stories.

The Highlanders introduces us to the character of Jamie McCrimmon who becomes the longest serving male companion in the show's history thus far. He is a popular character and certainly one that is fondly remembered. He is also unqiue at this time in the show as he is a character from the past rather the contemporary modern or the future, so he gives us a different pair of eyes to look through in the Doctor's travels.

As for the story itself, reading the sysnopsis makes it out as a rather tame and dare I say bland tale. Much like many of the previous historical stories that the show has produced at this time.

Episode #30 : The Power of the Daleks

"It can do many things, Lesterson. But the thing it does most efficiently is exterminate human beings."

Episode 30:   The Power of the Daleks.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson.
Air Date:       Six episodes. 5th November to 10th December 1966.

Following the Doctor's regeneration into a new, younger body, the TARDIS lands at an Earth colony on the planet Vulcan in the far future. Mistaken for an official Earth Examiner, the Doctor discovers that a scientist called Lesterson is attempting to reactivate two inanimate, subservient Daleks found in a crashed space rocket. The colonists refuse to heed the Doctor's dire warnings that the Daleks are dangerous. Once reactivated, the Daleks secretly begin to reproduce themselves in a bid to seize control of the colony.

Unfortuantely the majority of the Patrick Troughton's stories have been lost by the BBC and this one is no exception. An audio recording does exist though from what I have read. I would have loved to see how the Doctor was portrayed following his first regeneration.

It is interesting that his very first story should involve the Daleks. These ones more resemble the static based ones from the very first Dalek story though if you have ever read the 8th Doctor novel War of the Daleks, you'll know where these ones came from.

As I mentioned above only a handful of the second Doctor's stories survive so other than those my experience with this incarnation comes the three multi-Doctor stories of the 1970's and 1980's. I much prefer the characters new personality and energy over the grumpy grandfather that William Hartnell played.

Hopefully one day this story will come to light intact and we can get to see it.

Episode #29 : The Tenth Planet

"We are called Cybermen. We were exactly like you once, but our race was getting weak. Our life spans were getting shorter, so our doctors and scientists devised spare parts for our bodies until we could be completely replaced."

Episode 29:    The Tenth Planet.
Companions:  The 1st Doctor, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson.
Air Date:         Four episodes. 8th to 29th October 1966.

The Doctor's TARDIS lands at the Snowcap space tracking station in Antarctica in December 1986. A routine space mission starts going wrong. When the base personnel's suspicions are roused, the Doctor informs them that the space capsule is being affected by the gravitational pull of another planet - a tenth planet in the solar system.

The Tenth Planet is missing the fourth part but it exists as a stills and audio fan made piece online. I believe that the same company that animated the 2nd Doctor story The Invasion have also made an animated episode to finish it off.

The Tenth Planet is a very well done story that although it feels lengthy doesn't come across as boring or distracting. This is the story that introduces the Cybermen to the Whoniverse though they are somewhat different to what they would ultimately become. In this story they come from Mondas, Earth's twin planet lost in the depths of space for millions of years, and now have come back to raid our world for energy. These Cybermen need that energy to live and ultimately is their downfall. They are also less armoured or machine-like than when we see them in the future and it leaves me with the impression that these were the early Cybermen, the original survivours of Mondas and the later Cybermen are more "evolved".

This really is the perhaps the first time that we get a real sense that the Whoniverse is not our universe, not counting the events of The War Machines which could have been partly covered up. In this story it is 1986 and everyone around the world sees Mondas. Not to mention that Cybermen do land around the world. Where was U.N.I.T. for that? By this time they would have dealt with Cybermen before... but that is for another time.

This is the final story for William Hartnell. The Doctor's body has grown tired and regeneration sets in. This was the first use of regeneration, though it won't be refered to as such for some time, and it allowed the BBC to keep the show going by replacing actors when they wanted to move on.

Episode #28 : The Smugglars

"How dare you follow me into the TARDIS!"

 

 

Episode 28:   The Smugglars.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 10th September to 1st October 1966.

 

The TARDIS arrives on the coast of seventeenth century Cornwall - much to the astonishment of Polly and Ben. Pirates led by Captain Samuel Pike and his henchman Cherub are searching for a hidden treasure, while a smuggling ring masterminded by the local squire is trying to off-load contraband.

 

I believe this is another story that has been all but lost. I think a handful of scenes, stills and the audio recording survive. It is another that I have never seen though this time I wonder whether it would be an early historical tale worth watching.

 

I'm not going to go through the synopsis this time as there isn't much to the story doing so but I will make mention of a reference that comes back to us in the show under Matt Smith's run as the Doctor. The characters in the story reference Henry Avery of the sailing ship Fancy, who reappears in the story The Curse of the Black Spot.

Episode #27 : The War Machines

"Doctor Who is required."

Episode 27:   The War Machines.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Dodo, Polly Wright and Ben Jackson.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 25th June to 16th July 1966.

The TARDIS arrives in London in 1966 and the First Doctor and Dodo visit the Post Office Tower. There they meet Professor Brett, whose revolutionary new computer WOTAN (Will Operating Thought ANalogue) can actually think for itself and is shortly to be linked up to other major computers around the world.

The War Machines is the first story that I can truely say feels like a Doctor Who episode, based on how the show would turn out. It has everything that makes the adventures so compelling. Prior to this the situations that the time travellers found themselves in where mainly just fall into danger and try to scrape a way out of it. Not here. The TARDIS returns to London in 1966 and the Doctor immediately senses that something in terribly wrong, sets out to investigate and deal with whatever it is. You have a much more proactive Doctor from here on.

We lose Dodo as a companion in this story and sadly it is a bit of a weak ending for her. After bring hypnotised she is sent to the country to recover and we never see her again, though at the end there is mention that she plans to remain in London.
Instead we get two new stowaways, Ben and Polly, who help the Doctor throughout the episode (though Polly gets controlled for most of it) and then sneak on board the TARDIS just as it takes off. Polly comes across as a good character but Ben is very much a man's man which comes off a tad hard at times.

The story has an interesting twist that is never explained. The computer WOTAN knows what TARDIS stands for and refers to the Doctor as Doctor Who. At the time this probably wouldn't mean anything to viewers but as time has gone on it does make me wonder how it knew and why it knew enough to refer to him as Doctor Who.

War Machines is a really good story and on my list of stories to watch. Thumbs up.