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The alien Koquillion menaces
the survivors of a crashed spaceship.
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2 episodes: The Powerful Enemy, Desperate Measures. Approx. 51 minutes. Written by: David Whitaker. Directed by: Christopher Barry. Produced by: Verity Lambert.
THE PLOT
The TARDIS materializes in a cave on the planet Dido, a place the Doctor has visited before. He enthuses about how friendly the natives are... Which makes it puzzling when they are greeted by a menacing being known as Koquillion, who triggers a cave-in. The Doctor and Ian are separated from Barbara, who is sent falling down the mountain to her apparent death.
Barbara is rescued by Vicki (Maureen O'Brien), a teenage girl whose ship crashed on Dido. The survivors were massacred by the natives, including Vicki's father. She and an injured man named Bennett (Ray Barrett) are the only survivors. Bennett urges Barbara to stay hidden, fearing reprisal if Koquillion learns that she's alive. But when the Doctor and Ian find their way to the crashed ship, the Doctor begins to suspect that something more is at play...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: In a rare bit of character continuity, the Doctor doesn't simply shrug off the departure of his granddaughter. He sleeps through the TARDIS' materialization, something commented on by both Ian and Barbara. When they are about to leave the ship, he absently orders Susan to open the doors - Then stops dead in his tracks when he remembers that she is gone. He bonds with Vicki immediately upon meeting her, seeming to effectively adopt her on the spot. The story as a whole is a strong one for the Doctor, who is a dominant presence throughout. It is the Doctor who gets the final confrontation with the villain, in a scene Hartnell seems to absolutely relish.
Ian/Barbara: Very much in the background this time. Barbara's compassion is on display when she interrupts the Doctor's realization that Susan is gone to offer to open the TARDIS doors in her place. She also is protective toward Vicki - to a fault, when she too rapidly jumps to taking action to protect her from a creature who turns out to be the girl's pet. Ian is stuck playing support to the Doctor for the first episode, then does largely nothing for the second part.
Vicki: The Rescue is notably mostly as Vicki's introductory story, and it does a good job of selling her as a strong addition. Vicki is friendly, and restless at having to wait for a rescue ship to arrive. She disobeys Bennett's orders to stay in the ship. This allows her to rescue Barbara... But it's also obvious she has ignored this directive before; how else could she have befriended a local sand creature? Vicki is an orphan, whose last family was killed by Koquillion - Neatly sidestepping any complications in having her join the TARDIS crew. Maureen O'Brien is immediately engaging, more so than Carole Ann Ford was, and has better chemistry with Hartnell than Ford had - Oddly, in the space of a single episode, Vicki feels more like the Doctor's family than Susan did!
THOUGHTS
The Rescue is... okay. At two episodes, it is very short, existing solely to introduce the new companion. The brevity has its benefits. This story doesn't overstay its welcome, nor does it suffer from episode-stretching plot complications. It's a simple and direct tale thatwhich moves right along, showcases the new regular, and resolves. And that's... honestly pretty much all there is to say about it.
William Russell and Jacqueline Hill seem to be aware that they've drawn the short straw this story. Given weaker material than their norm, they respond with performances that are perfectly adequate, but lacking much of their usual spirit. William Hartnell makes up for it, clearly relishing his turn in the spotlight, and you can see signs of the series starting to reformat itself around him. The Doctor had previously been the catalyst for the action, but largely a supporting player. With The Rescue, he becomes the lead - and, if memory serves, largely remains so for the rest of the season.
The Doctor/Koquillion confrontation at the end is a splendid scene, well-played by both actors. Which is fortunate, since it could easily play as a Scooby Doo-style reveal. The actual reveal is anything but surprising, and the last-minute involvement of aliens unnecessarily disrupts an otherwise effective climax.
Overall, it's a pleasant story, very easy to watch. But except for the introduction of Vicki, it's equally easy to forget.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
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