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| The TARDIS crew as exhibits in a museum! |
4 episodes: The Space Museum, The Dimensions of Time, The Search, The Final Phase. Running Time: Approx. 89 minutes. Written by: Glyn Jones. Directed by: Mervyn Pinfield. Produced by: Verity Lambert.
THE PLOT:
When the TARDIS materializes on the planet Xeron, the time travelers suddenly find themselves no longer in their Crusade outfits, but back in their normal clothes. More oddities follow. Vicki drops a glass of water, which shatters... only to reassemble itself, water and all, and jump back into her hand. Going out to explore the planet, Ian observes the thick layer of dust on the surface... in which they are leaving no footprints. When they reach a nearby building, a museum of the space conquests of the Morok Empire, the guards are unable to see them even when staring directly at them!
The Doctor deduces that they "jumped a time track," that they are exploring this museum before actually physically arriving. That's when they discover the museum's newest and most disturbing exhibits: The TARDIS; and the four of them, embalmed and encased in glass!
The Doctor informs them that this is one possible future. When time catches back up with them, they will need to act decisively to avoid it. But without knowing what actions led to their fate, how can they know whether a choice will avoid it or lead them straight to it?
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Can't help but be fascinated by the various bits of technology in the museum. His curiosity works against him, as the others get just far enough ahead of him to not notice when he is captured. He is brought before the museum's governor, Lobos (Richard Shaw), who questions him using a device that visualizes the Doctor's thoughts on a monitor. The Doctor takes great satisfaction in thwarting this effort, summoning up a series of bizarre responses until Lobos finally loses patience and has him taken away. Hartnell is on great form throughout, and it's likely no coincidence that the weakest episode of the story is the one he sits out.
Ian: Put into a scenario where any action (or inaction) can be the wrong one, he becomes highly irritable. He snaps at Barbara and Vicki for losing track of the Doctor, then has a Hamlet-like moment of hesitation in which he reflects that "Choice is only possible when you know all the facts... We know nothing about this place!" He finally decides that, right or wrong, he will act, taking a guard's gun and staging a one-man rescue of the Doctor. His anger remains evident, however, as he appears almost eager for an excuse to shoot Lobos.
Barbara: It's her turn to be pushed to the background in this story. She does get a few good scenes with a rebel youth, as she helps him to move through gas-filled rooms to an exit. She also calls Ian on his irritability, getting him to at least admit to his own snappishness. Outside of that, however, she gets easily the least to do of the four regulars.
Vicki: After being backgrounded in The Crusade, she's back to getting strong material here. When the Doctor figures out that they've jumped a time track, Vicki is the one of the companions who actually grasps what he means. "Time... although a dimension in itself, also has dimensions of its own," she says, sounding very like she's puzzling it out as she talks - Earning the Doctor's enthusiastic approval. She falls in with the rebel Xerons, whose planet was taken over to create the museum, and pushes them to stop talking about a revolution and actually do something... And she makes that possible, when she figures out how to reprogram the automated security to allow the rebels access to the (conveniently unguarded) armory.
THOUGHTS:
The Space Museum is a good example of what I call "bread-and-butter Who." After an arresting first episode, time catches back up with the regulars... And we find ourselves in a bog standard runaround, with a group of militaristic aliens who need to be overthrown. Some capture/escape mechanics follow, until ultimately the regulars are able to help the sympathetic rebels to defeat the villains before flying off in the TARDIS. The End.
I think this is a big reason why The Space Museum is often rated on the lower end of the Hartnell era. It begins with a genuinely imaginative scenario that makes intriguing use of the series' time travel conceit... Only to see that scenario flattened out more and more, until the serial is left with nothing distinctive about it.
I can't argue that the first episode is considerably more interesting than the rest. However, Parts 2 - 4 remain entertaining. The dilemma of what action to take when any action can be wrong is an intriguing one, and fuels some engaging conversations among the regulars. It also spurs William Russell to one of his better Season Two performances, with Ian's frustration at not being able to just do something becoming a tangible force, particularly when he has the villain at gunpoint and is clearly itching to shoot.
There certainly are issues with the later episodes, though. The guest performances are below the usual standard. I know the Moroks are meant to be listless and bored, but Richard Shaw's Lobos feels like he's sleepwalking even when he finally is given something to investigate. The other Moroks are wooden. The Xeron youths are even worse; some of their line readings are so inept, you'd swear a random teenager had been pulled in from the street, given funny eyebrows, and asked to deliver lines they'd never seen before with no knowledge of the story context.
Some of the problem likely lies with director Mervyn Pinfield. In previous stories, Pinfield has proved himself adept with visual effects, but lacking much sense of drama. He isn't particularly good with actors, and he stages things in a way that's not even remotely visually interesting. This is particularly apparent here, on the heels of the highly visual, energetically performed The Crusade.
Still, The Space Museum is never less than entertaining. A fascinating initial premise may be reduced to just a backdrop for a bog-standard Doctor Who serial; then again, if I didn't generally enjoy bog-standard Doctor Who, there's not much chance I'd be watching (let alone reviewing) it all these decades later.
Overall Rating: 5/10.
Previous Story: The Crusade
Next Story: The Chase
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