#19 (3.5): Mission to the Unknown.

The Daleks make an alliance, and prepare to invade!

1 episode. Running Time: Approx. 25 minutes. Written by: Terry Nation. Directed by: Derek Martinus. Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT:

Three men have crashed on the hostile planet Kembel: Jeff Garvey (Barry Jackson), pilot Gordon Lowery (Jeremy Young), and their mysterious passenger: space security agent Marc Cory (Edward da Souza). Cory directed them to Kembel on a hunch, after learning of a sighting of a Dalek ship in the area. He believes the Daleks are plotting something, and that Kembel - a planet avoided by all - would be an ideal location for a Dalek base.

Cory is right, as he discovers when Garvey becomes the victim of a Varga Plant, which infects anyone it pricks with an uncontrollable urge to kill. The Varga was created by the Daleks - It could not possibly be on Kembel unless the Daleks are too!

With the ship damaged beyond repair, there is only one chance for escape: Launching a message beacon and hoping to stay alive long enough to be rescued. Then Cory discovers that the Daleks are hosting dignitaries from other hostile powers, plotting an all-out invasion of Earth and the solar system. The message beacon is now the only hope of warning Earth of the danger to come!

But the Daleks are closing in. And while evading a Dalek patrol, Lowery brushes up against a Varga plant, and becomes infected...


CHARACTERS:

The only episode featuring neither the Doctor nor any of his companions, meaning that we only spend about 20 minutes with the characters. Edward da Souza does a good job of investing Cory with a cold detachment, able to gun down a man he was just working with because of necessity. Lowery is appalled when Cory shoots the infected Garvey, but he is rational when Cory explains the full situation, coming up with the idea of the message beacon when it becomes clear they will not be able to repair the ship. Lowery's dislike of Cory, and Cory's indifference, give their interactions a starkly different flavor than the usual Doctor Who story, which serves the bleak overall mood of the piece.


THOUGHTS:

Galaxy Four was original producer Verity Lambert's final serial for the show, the last story she produced featuring the Doctor and his companions. Thanks to the combining of the final two episodes of Planet of Giants, however, she still had one episode remaining in her contract... Allowing her run to end on a much stronger note.

Mission to the Unknown isn't really a story in itself; it's a prologue to The Daleks' Master Plan, and in a modern story, its action would be reduced to a brief teaser. It does work on its own terms, though. There's not a lot of plot, but it does set up an intriguing plot strand in the Dalek alliance with other hostile aliens. The Varga plant is a memorably horrific creation, allowing for some good body horror as Lowery sees himself being slowly but steadily transformed.

Most of all, the atmosphere is strong. The grimly detached lead character, well-played by Da Souza, fits the bleak mood of the episode. Everything is hostile, everything is out to kill the three human characters - And by the midpoint, most viewers will realize that there is only one possible ending for this trio.

Contemporary viewers likely expected the TARDIS to materialize at some point, for the regulars to team up with Cory at least in stopping the Daleks. But that wheezing, scraping noise never comes. We're watching a relatively brief action on a world without hope, and with no realistic chance of rescue.

I'm not going to give this episode an individual rating, as it's really more of a prologue to the longer story to come than a story in its own right. It is an effective piece, however.


THE 2019 REMAKE:

Mission to the Unknown was already reconstructed effectively by Loose Cannon, in one of their more effective offerings, and also brought to life on audio to BBC Audio's usual professional standard as part of their excellent Daleks' Master Plan release. But the action of this missing episode is now more accessible than others. It was remade in 2019 by students at the University of Central Lancashire.

This remake takes pains to feel as exactly like an episode of mid-1960s television as possible. Not only was the color removed from the final video, it was also recorded at the same framerate as 1960's Doctor Who, which helps it to avoid feeling "modern." The young actors deliver their lines in clipped, RP accents, and the acting style and staging reflects what would have been seen in a 1960's episode. As the episode features none of the regular cast, casual viewers could simply slot the remake into a viewing marathon and largely never know the difference.

Given that the original episode was never sold overseas, and therefore was almost certainly destroyed, this recreation is as close to the real thing as we're ever likely to get.  To its credit, it does its job well.


Previous Story: Galaxy Four
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#18 (3.1 - 3.4): Galaxy Four.

The Drahvin: The most ineffectual villains ever?

4 episodes: Four Hundred Dawns, Trap of Steel, Air Lock, The Exploding Planet. Running Time: Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: William Emms. Directed by: Derek Martinus. Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor, Steven, and Vicki find themselves on an apparently deserted planet. A blind robot, which Vicki nicknames a "Chumbley," appears and begins feelings its way around the outside of the TARDIS. This captures the Doctor's attention, and he determines to find whoever is controlling the machine.

They have only left the timeship for a few minutes when another Chumbley approaches, this one clearly armed and gesturing for them to come with it. They are rescued by a patrol of cloned female warriors known as Drahvin. The Drahvin take them back to their ship, where their leader, Maaga (Stephanie Bidmead) tells them they were shot down by the Rills, a vicious and repulsive alien species. The Rills also crashed on this planet, a planet they have determined will soon explode.

The Doctor not only verifies the planet's imminent destruction, but discovers that the end is coming in "two dawns - tomorrow is the last day this planet will ever see!" The Drahvin respond by holding Steven as a hostage, issuing the Doctor an ultimatum. If he is to save Steven, he and Vicki must capture the Rill spacecraft!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: The discovery of Episode Three reveals something a bit unwelcome: William Hartnell is just not on his game in this story. It was not apparent on past viewings of the story, when watching a still-frame reconstruction; but in the existing episode, at least, Hartnell doesn't seem to have the same energy as in previous stories. Given that this was shot at the tail end of Season Two, it's likely he was a bit tired; it's also a matter of record that none of the regulars were fans of this script, and he may have felt less than fully committed. Whatever the reason, he's neither as sharp nor as focused as in other serials.

Vicki: "I noted, observed, collated, concluded - and then I threw the rock.". Have I mentioned that I love Vicki? Aside from testing out a Chumbley's blind spot by tossing a rock at it, the story overall doesn't give her much to do, but Maureen O'Brien takes the scraps and runs with them. She is instantly hostile to the Drahvin, crossing her arms and glaring at them as they speak (very visible in the existing clip from Episode One). She is concerned for Steven's safety throughout, seeming again to regard him not as a grown man who can take care of himself, but rather as a stray they've picked up for whom she feels responsible.

Steven: Actor Peter Purves inherited a script originally written for Ian and Barbara, and he was given most of Barbara's bits - something which did not please him one bit, particularly in a scene in which Steven attempts to disarm a Drahvin and fails. The single most memorable bit of the story does belong to him, though. With a bit of patience and connivance, Steven finds an opportunity to escape into their ship's airlock - only to see a Chumbley waiting right outside. This leaves him caught between the Drahvin, who by this point are obviously evil, and the machines of the Rills, who might well be just as bad. Steven is left to consider his options - fireplace or fire - as the air is slowly removed. It's by far the best scene in the story, and it fortunately occurs in the existing episode, showcasing some fine nonverbal acting by Purves.


THOUGHTS

Galaxy Four is noteworthy as the last story with the Doctor and his companions to be produced by Verity Lambert. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she had been relieved upon learning that it was no longer in the archives, as The Time Meddler is a much more fitting swan song. Galaxy Four is watchable (if that's not a bizarre thing to say about a still mostly-missing story), but that represents its only achievement. This serial is entirely forgettable, and even a tiny bit dull.

The Drahvin would have to rank among the most ineffectual villains in Who history. Generally, a story will lazily attempt to build suspense by making sure the villains have either cunning, technological superiority, or both. Not so Galaxy Four, whose masterstroke is to make the Drahvin dumb as rocks, with technology that the Doctor literally scoffs at in Episode Two. Early in Episode Four, the Drahvin are forced to meekly retreat to their ship in the face of a single Chumbley with a loudspeaker - at which point, any tiny modicum of tension is effectively smothered.

With the villains utterly incapable of generating any threat, the climax of the story hinges on whether the Doctor can jump-start the Rill spaceship before the planet blows up. These scenes no longer exist, but from the reconstruction appear to center on the Doctor standing over some cables while Steven and Vicki ask, "How much longer, Doctor?" Doubtless, the sequel would have us thrill to the white-knuckle action as the Doctor attempts to inflate a rubber raft on a beach before the tide comes in!

Lest I go too far into making the story sound like a disaster, I'll repeat that it is never less than watchable (listenable?). The first episode does a solid job of introducing the situation, with the cliffhanger revelation of just how little time is left raising the stakes. Also, the sequence leading into the Episode Three cliffhanger, with Steven caught in the airlock between the Drahvin and a Chumbley, is very effective - Though it would have been even moreso had the story not already tipped us that the Rill and Chumbleys are not a threat.

While Galaxy Four is nowhere as bad as The Web Planet, it is an almost completely uninteresting story. At least The Web Planet failed in part because of overreach - This story isn't even particularly trying to do anything. The closest it has to ambition is the revelation that the beautiful Drahvin are evil while the ugly Rill are good - Fairly trite stuff, even by mid-1960s standards. The whole thing feels tired and lazy - adjectives I rarely apply to the creatively rich Hartnell era.


Overall Rating: 3/10. This is one missing story where I'd have to say that no one's really missing anything.

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Next Story: Mission to the Unknown

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#9 (2.1 - 2.3): Planet of Giants.

Barbara is startled by a gigantic insect.

3 episodes: Planet of Giants, Dangerous Journey, Crisis. Approx. 74 minutes. Written by: Louis Marks. Directed by: Mervyn Pinfield, Douglas Camfield. Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT

While the TARDIS is materializing, the doors suddenly open of their own accord. The Doctor is convinced that this means some disaster - Yet save for the scanner breaking, everything appears perfectly normal. Not without some foreboding, the Doctor and his companions venture outside to explore their newest landing site.

They find themselves in a wonderland of giant insects and earthworms, all of which are dead. At each corpse, they smell a peculiar chemical substance. The Doctor and Susan deduce that the opening of the TARDIS doors must somehow have resulted in them shrinking to practically microscopic size. As for the dead insects and the chemical smell? Clearly a pesticide - Though an overly effective one, if it's killing worms as well as insects.

They have arrived at the home and laboratory of Smithers (Reginald Barratt), a scientist developing an experimental pesticide so far known only as DN6. He is away, but Forester (Alan Tilvern), the businessman financing him, is present - along with government scientist Farrow (Frank Crawshaw), who informs Forester that he cannot authorize the overly-lethal DN6's approval. Facing financial ruin, Forester coldly murders Farrow, intending to forge the government reports and send them in before staging a boating accident for the unfortunate government man.

When the Doctor finds the formula, he realizes that the chemical is even more dangerous than it appears. In sufficient quantities, exposure could prove deadly to humans and animals as well as insects - And Barbara, having accidentally touched some of it, is already becoming ill!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: This story is something of an unheralded landmark, as it is the first time the Doctor decides to try to stop a threat for completely unselfish reasons. He observes in Episode Two how concerned he is that the pesticide kills earthworms, which he explains are vital to the planet's ecology. When Barbara insists they stay and try to do something to stop DN6, the Doctor says that she's "quite right," and argues against Ian's urging to return to the ship and simply trust the government to refuse to sell the chemical. A scene cut from the script, available in the DVD special features, makes this even more explicit, with the Doctor delivering a speech actively encouraging intervention to stop something a threat to all life on Earth.

Ian: Resists the idea that they could have been miniaturized, even after encountering the giant insects and the enormous matchbox. As with his initial entry into the TARDIS, his first impulse is to grasp for more familiar explanations, such as an exhibition as for a World's Fair. When Barbara becomes ill, he focuses on getting back to the ship. He only becomes invested in "making trouble" to stop the pesticide after Barbara insists that they must intervene.

Susan: After the all-time-low of her portrayal in The Reign of Terror, she actually gets a decent showing here. The first episode pairs her with Ian while Barbara is with the Doctor. Uniquely, the script allows Susan to be the dominant figure, piecing together that these insects and objects are not larger than usual but that they are the ones who are smaller. Some clever intercutting sees Susan and the Doctor finishing each other's sentences as the Doctor explains to Barbara exactly what Susan is explaining to Ian.

Barbara: Apparently took Susan's stupid pills for this story. Even after knowing that some dangerous substance is killing everything they've come across, she decides to touch a pile of seeds in the laboratory. Once she realizes that the seeds were coated with poison, she tells the Doctor and Ian right away... Oh wait, no. She conceals that she's been exposed, even when it becomes apparent that she is ill. Is this the same highly competent character we've been watching for a full season? At least the final episode sees her refusing to return to the ship until they've done something to stop the insecticide from being used, showing her willingness to put the greater good above her own welfare - But overall, this is one of the character's very weakest showings.


THOUGHTS

The concept for Planet of Giants was originally proposed for the series' first story - That the TARDIS' first dematerialization would end with the regulars in the same place, just miniaturized. That did not come to pass, which I think is for the best. The production demands would almost certainly have been too great for that very first outing; and the straightforward capture/escape scenario of the bulk of An Unearthly Child was better-suited to setting the cast dynamics for the series to come.

Besides, based on the end result, there may not have been all that much mileage in the concept to start with. Planet of Giants is a rare story for '60's Who. The production consistently impresses. Giant versions of everyday objects are recreated with imagination and to a startlingly high standard considering. But all the imagination went into the production, stuck in service to a disappointingly pedestrian script.

As the plot summary reveals, the miniaturization of the regulars is window dressing on an entirely standard crime drama. The murder story moves very slowly (DVD special features reveal that it would have moved even more slowly and repetitively had the decision not been taken to edit it), and the plot involving Forester and Smithers seems mostly disconnected from the plight of the regulars. Indeed - The way the story unfolds, the time travelers might as well have run back to the ship, as they have nothing to do with Forester's apprehension.

The serial is most-remembered for having been cut down from four episodes to three. The dvd reconstructs the cut footage in an extra feature, utilizing soundalikes that vary from a dead-on double for the FIrst Doctor to a couple of dead-awful doubles for a telephone operator and a policeman. Sadly, the reconstruction largely validates the production decision. Most of the cut footage is filler, including multiple scenes of Forester attempting to forge the dead man's signature on a report and multiple scenes of Forester calling the nosy operator on the telephone. Though a few transitions would have been smoothed out had the edit not occurred, the plot feels slow and talky even in its broadcast version - as originally scripted and shot, it would have become downright boring.

The story is somewhat redeemed by the usual strong performances of the regulars, and the miniaturization visuals hold up strikingly well 50 years later. Still, non-completists might just want to give this one a pass. It's not uninteresting... But the storytelling is noticeably below the Hartnell era's normally very high standards.


Overall Rating: 4/10.

Previous Story: The Reign of Terror
Next Story: The Dalek Invasion of Earth


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#5 (1.21 - 1.26): The Keys of Marinus

The TARDIS team are enlisted for a perilous quest.

6 episodes: The Sea of Death, The Velvet Web, The Screaming Jungle, The Snows of Terror, Sentence of Death, The Keys of Marinus. Approx. 150 minutes. Written by: Terry Nation. Directed by: John Gorrie. Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS materializes on an island of glass, surrounded by a sea of acid. As they explore, it isn't long before they discover that they are not alone. Arbitan (George Coulouris) is the keeper of the Conscience of Marinus, a machine with the ability to purge men's minds of evil. The machine is powered by five keys, which were scattered after an attack by Yartek and his vicious followers, the Voord.

Now Arbitan has modified the machine so that the Voord will be affected by it as well. There is only one problem: The keys remain scattered, and the followers Arbitan sent to retrieve them have vanished. Using his technology to seize control of the Doctor's TARDIS, he compels the time travellers to go on a perilous quest across Marinus to retrieve the missing keys. Soon the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan will be pitting their wits against living brains with hypnotic powers, sentient plants, and soldiers of ice - with the greatest threat still to come!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: It speaks to the ensemble nature of early '60's Who that I don't particularly miss William Hartnell during the middle two episodes. William Russell and Jacqueline Hill are more than strong enough to carry the action in his absence. Hartnell also clearly needed the vacation. His work in Part One is far from his best, with a lot more line fluffs than usual. He's much better when he returns for the final two episodes, presenting a truly dominant figure. Also, his absence from the middle of the story makes his return that much more powerful.

Ian: It's not really the case that Hartnell's two week vacation pushes Ian to the fore. After all, he was already there. At this point, Ian has consistently been the heroic lead, with the Doctor often seeming more like the most interesting member of the supporting cast. However, up to this point, his primary screen foil has been the Doctor. With no Doctor, he gets stronger material with Barbara, which makes their relationship much stronger on-screen. This may be the most notable effect of the Doctor's absence.

Barbara: This serial marks the beginning of what will become an unfortunate trend - a lascivious villain threatening Barbara with sexual violence or coercion. It's indicative of how different viewer sensibilities were in 1964 that this would be seen as acceptable in a family program. Two episodes before Vasor (Francis DeWolff)'s attempted rape of Barbara, though, she does get one episode in which she is not the victim, but the lead. The Velvet Web gives Barbara a decent showing, as she wakes Sabetha (Katharine Schofield) from her hypnosis. She also gets to be very proactive in the final episode.

Susan: The destruction of Susan Foreman as a character begins here. After receiving reasonable characterization for the first four serials, The Keys of Marinus sees Susan reduced to mewling, whining baggage. The cliffhanger to Episode Two sees her reduced to sobbing at a few strange noises, when no apparent danger is at hand! She does get one good scene, showing courage and resourcefulness in getting across a chasm to re-tie a rope bridge in The Snows of Terror. With that exception, this serial reduces her to being not only useless, but an irritant. If my memories hold firm, that trend will become the norm for her remaining tenure.


THOUGHTS

Even in a decidedly second-rank story like this one, I love the more deliberate pace of early '60's Who. Practically the entire first episode is set aside for our regulars to explore the strange place in which they've landed. Hartnell may be fluffing every third or fourth line, and the model shots and mattes may not be terribly convincing. The TARDIS materialization - I believe the series' first on-screen one - is particularly clunky. Even so, there's something in the atmosphere and character interplay that just isn't there in later eras. That pure ensemble nature, combined with the willingness to take some time to make it feel as if these characters are authentically exploring - I think that sets the Hartnell era apart from its successors.

The Keys of Marinus is probably the Doctor Who story that is the most purely reminiscent of old Saturday matinee serials. It hops from setting to setting, at a rate of about one per episode, with each setting providing some new danger. The overall plot is just a clothesline on which to hang the episodes, which until the final two parts largely stand alone. It also recalls Saturday matinee serials in its cheapness. Tasked with creating a new set each week, the production is stretched to the breaking point. I don't think the production actually breaks, but it certainly bends quite generously. The chasm which is "too far to jump" in Part Four, but which looks like it could easily be stepped over, is a particularly amusing offender. In almost all respects, The Keys of Marinus is the cheapest-looking Hartnell story I've reviewed thus far.

Despite the laughable chasm, The Snows of Terror is actually my favorite of the single episodes. Francis DeWolff is genuinely threatening, even if the rape attempt is rather poorly choreographed. The ice caves are no more convincingly rendered than any of the serial's other settings, but it's still an imaginative idea - and if you can't look past cheap sets to the ideas behind them, then classic Who is probably the wrong show for you to be watching in the first place. The self-contained story of the episode is simple enough to fit within 25 minutes without feeling rushed, making it satisfying as an individual piece.

The final two episodes do an effective job of tying it all together, and Hartnell's return gives A Sentence of Death a particular boost. Really, as a whole, the serial is extremely watchable. But its episodic nature keeps it from being anything more than the sum of its parts, and it is extremely cheap-looking, even by the standards of early Doctor Who.

Not one of the series' better stories, The Keys of Marinus is nonethless quite enjoyable "rainy day" entertainment.


Rating: 6/10.

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