#26 (3.38 - 3.41): The Savages.

The Doctor suspects that something evil lies
at the heart of an advanced civilization.

4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 97 minutes. Written by: Ian Stuart Black. Directed by: Christopher Barry. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS materializes in the distant future, in what the Doctor announces is "an age of peace and prosperity." He is eager to see this civilization, so much so that he leaves Steven and Dodo behind. He is greeted by Edal (Peter Thomas), the captain of the guards and Exorse (Geoffrey Frederick), his right hand.  The guards take him to see the Elders, led by Jano (Frederick Jaeger), who enthuses about the "great honor" it is to receive a visit from the Doctor.

Meanwhile, Dodo and Steven are waylaid by primitive, aggressive-seeming savages. They are rescued by the guards, who bring them to the city. Jano talks with the Doctor about their advanced civilization, explaining that is sustained by transferring life energy directly into themselves, hoping to gain his approval. The Doctor's companions receive a tour of the city - a tour that Dodo notes is carefully guided, as if there is something to hide. She slips away, and unwittingly stumbles across the secret.

The life energy that sustains this civilization, allowing for their advanced achievements? It is transferred directly from the Savages, who are hunted and drained regularly, leaving them just enough life force to stay alive until their next capture. When the Doctor responds with outrage, Jano decides he must protect their way of life - By draining the Doctor and infusing himself with the time traveler's life energy!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: "Oppose you? Indeed I am going to oppose you, just in the same way that I oppose the Daleks or any other menace to common humanity!" Does anyone do righteous anger as well as Hartnell? The rage and indignation in his voice as he rails against the dark secret behind Jano's civilization is as vivid as an Old Testament prophet. The Doctor plays along with Jano at the story's start, accepting gifts and accolades while quietly observing that something is amiss. He is all set to steer his friends out of the city, to go on his way and leave this place behind - right up to the moment he discovers a "savage" almost killed by a transferrence. At that moment, he becomes determined to stop this process. "There's something very satisfying in destroying something that's evil," he observes near the story's end.

Steven: The first half overdoes Steven's natural skepticism, when we see Steven believing that Dodo is imagining things, first with the savages and then later when Dodo is suspicious of their carefully-guided tour of the city. I know Dodo is... well, Dodo - But Steven's the one who comes across as a bit thick here. He finally starts to grow suspicious when Edal's retrieval of Dodo less resembles a guard doing his duty than a Gestapo agent. When the Doctor is incapacitated, he takes charge.  He impresses the savages when he is able to take Exorse captive, and he holds the city guards at bay as the Doctor recovers in the final episode.

Dodo: Maybe I'm just developing immunity, but I think she's reasonably decent in this story. In the first two episodes, she senses that something is off about the too-perfect city, even as Steven remains oblivious. When she wanders into the laboratory and is mistaken for a subject, she thinks quickly and is able to hold the scientists at bay by threatening to smash their equipment. She's back to being a bit useless in the story's second half, particularly when she idiotically throws her weapon away at the start of Episode Four, but overall this is the second story in a row where I find myself not minding Dodo.

Jano: An effectively sinister presence in the first two episodes, as his seeming benevolence gives way to suspicion of the Doctor. He isn't evil for the sake of evil (we have Edal for that) - Jano genuinely sees the draining of the savages as something necessary for his civilization to thrive. After the Doctor is drained, he refuses to allow anyone else to take the risk of this untested transferrence, instead insisting on testing it on himself - Which results in him more or less turning into the Doctor, leading to an entertaining Hartnell impersonation in the final episode.


THOUGHTS:

The Savages is the first story to feature only an umbrella title, with no episode-specific titles. Probably a smart change, though I admit I'll miss the matinee serial feel of "Next Episode: Escape Into Danger!"

That trivia tidbit aside, The Savages has never been a story I've felt any real enthusiasm for, only really reaching for it as part of a chronological run.  Nevertheless, every time I've sat down to either watch the reconstruction or listen to the audio, I've ended up enjoying it. It's the third story this season to play with the idea of people not being what they seem. The initially threatening "Savages" are actually sympathetic victims, while the ostensibly "civilized" citizens of the city prey on them like vampires.

This story is considerably more engaging than Galaxy Four or the final two episodes of The Ark, however. The guest characters are more rounded, for one thing - Even before the transferrence in Episode Three, it is clear that Jano firmly believes his society is right to behave as it does; meanwhile, Tor (Patrick Godfrey), one of the savages, lives down to the slur by being both cowardly and violent. Also, this story does not repeat the Galaxy Four/Ark mistake of making the sympathetic group the stronger and smarter. The "savages" are considerably weaker than the people of the city, which means that the regulars have to overcome steep odds to restore balance.

I do have issues with the story's resolution. The regulars and their allies trick their way into the laboratory and solve the problem of the savages' exploitation by... um, smashing the equipment. Meaning Dodo could have cut this whole story short in Episode Two if she had simply made good on her threat.

It's too easy, and it doesn't ring true. If I smash a television set, that doesn't mean engineers are henceforth unable to create more TVs. We've been specifically told that the scientists have incredible advanced knowledge, and by the end of the story only two city residents - Jano and Exorse - have been converted into seeing the oppressed savages as people rather than resources. So after the Doctor leaves, what stops the other guards and elders from confining those two, recreating the destroyed and damaged technology, and just going on as before?

The oversimplified climax aside, though, this is pretty good. It's by no means one of the series' highlights, but it is well-performed and generally well-paced and structured. A fine, solid example of "bread-and-butter" Who.


Rating: 7/10.

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#12 (2.12 - 2.15): The Romans.

Partners in Crime: The Doctor and Vicki.

4 episodes: The Slave Traders, All Roads Lead to Rome, Conpiracy, Inferno. Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: Dennis Spooner. Directed by: Christopher Barry. Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT:

An unusually rocky TARDIS landing sees the crew in ancient Rome, during the reign of Emperor Nero (Derek Francis). They are not in Rome itself, however, but in a villa near an outlying village. The owners have left the place vacant, and the TARDIS team have taken the opportunity to enjoy a month-long rest. A rest that Ian and Barbara have fully enjoyed, but that has left the Doctor and Vicki the tiniest bit restless. The Doctor announces that he's going to take a trip to Rome, and Vicki eagerly volunteers to accompany him, while Ian and Barbara decide to stay behind and enjoy their vacation.

Unfortunately for them, Barbara has caught the eye of a gang of slave traders, and both are captured. Barbara is taken to auction in Rome, while Ian is sold to a ship captain. A lucky storm allows him to escape, leaving him determined to make his way to Rome to rescue Barbara... Who finds herself sold to the court of Nero, who finds himself a little too taken with her.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is mistaken for a lyre player who was murdered on the road to Rome. He is also escorted to Nero's court, where he learns why the man was murdered - He and Vicki have found themselves in the center of a plot to assassinate the emperor!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: You can really see Hartnell enjoying himself. The Doctor's scenes opposite Nero, in which he flatters the vain emperor to keep out of trouble, are consistently delightful, and Hartnell and Derek Francis make a very funny double act. The story pairs him with Vicki throughout, cementing them as a duo and capitalizing on the two actors' chemistry.

Vicki: Maureen O'Brien continues to impress, as does the character she's playing. Vicki is game in a way Susan never was - She wants to explore, to see sights and go places and have adventures. While the others have enjoyed relaxing in the safety of the villa, she has become bored and restless. I think this is what makes Vicki and the Doctor so much fun together - They essentially fuel each other's worst impulses, but they are also both very quick-witted and able to think and talk their way out of any situations they land themselves in.

Ian/Barbara: They are definitely a couple by this point. It's a family show, so the text doesn't come out and say so - But they are framed and scripted as a couple, most obviously in the scenes in the villa in Episode One. When they are captured, Action Man Ian remains poised and alert for opportunities to escape. Barbara knows her history all too well, however, and despairs, realizing the exact kind of treatment they (most specifically, she) can expect as a slave in the Roman Empire. Ian remains stuck in the least interesting of the story's strands, but Barbara's slapstick evasions of Nero's interest in Part Three gives her a chance to get in on the story's fun.


THOUGHTS:

The Romans seems to have been designed as an antithesis to the stolid, serious historicals that preceded it. Previous historicals have seen the TARDIS team desperate to get back to the TARDIS to escape the dangers of history. This story opens with them on vacation in the past, and in no hurry to put an end to their well-earned rest.

A restless Doctor and Vicki basically deliberately get themselves involved in Nero's court, and seem to be having a whale of a time mentally fencing with the emperor while untangling various plots and plans. And in a final slap to previous historical's insistence that "You cannot rewrite history - Not one line!", the whole thing ends with the Doctor inspiring a historical disaster... and being delighted by it!

That's not to say this isn't as carefully-constructed as previous historicals. Like The Aztecs, it's actually been very tightly scripted. The regulars are divided into three strands, each getting to explore a different facet of Roman society (or at least, Rome as envisioned by a 1960's middle-class Brit, filtered through a "G"-rated family television lens). The Doctor and Vicki mix with the aristocracy and their political games. Barbara gets a taste of slave life, and her friendship with Tavius (Michael Peake) gives a window into the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Ian gets a Vikings-style gladiator battle. Each strand allows a glimpse of a different piece of Rome, creating a much fuller picture than if they had all gotten involved in a single adventure.

Spooner's script is also brilliant in the way it moves between the strands. I particularly enjoyed all of the near-misses between the Doctor and Barbara in Nero's court, though it was also effective to see Ian imprisoned next to a woman who previously shared a cell with Barbara. The script manages to bring them just enough together to keep the narrative unified, while still having enormous fun with keeping them apart far longer than Who conventions have led us to expect.

Most of all, The Romans is just great fun to watch. It's well over 50 years since this story's original transmission, and it remains a remarkably entertaining and genuinely joyful viewing experience.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

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#11 (2.10 - 2.11): The Rescue.

The alien Koquillion menaces the survivors of a crashed spaceship.

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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#2 (1.5 - 1.11): The Daleks

Doctor Who makes television history:
Our first glimpse of the Daleks!

7 episodes: The Dead Planet, The Survivors, The Escape, The Ambush, The Expedition, The Ordeal, The Rescue.  Written by: Terry Nation.  Directed by: Christopher Barry, Richard Martin.  Produced by: Verity Lambert.


THE PLOT

After their rapid departure from prehistoric Earth, the time travelers find themselves on an apparently dead world. The Doctor's attention is drawn by a mysterious alien city. But with Ian, Barbara, and Susan all wanting them to move on, he resorts to subterfuge, sabotaging the TARDIS in order to coerce the others into agreeing to explore the city.

It proves to be a severe mistake. The city is not uninhabited, but is populated by the Daleks, the severely mutated creatures who once were humanoid, but now are anything but. The Daleks shielded themselves in metal casings to survive the effects of nuclear radiation. The other race on the planet, the Thals, also mutated - but completed a full cycle of mutation over the centuries and returned to human form. Now the Daleks have hatched a plot to destroy the Thals forever - and the Doctor and his companions right along with them!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: The First Doctor's manipulative side shows itself again in his sabotaging of the fluid link in order to get what he wants - to explore the city. The tactic does not appear to fool Ian for one second, but it still works - whether done deliberately or accidentally, the "accident" means that there really is no choice save to go to the city.

Hartnell's authority remains evident throughout. His strongest moment probably comes in the final episode. The Doctor is a prisoner of the Daleks, restrained to a wall, helpless to act against the Daleks' plan to commit genocide. And it is from that position that he decries "this senseless, EVIL killing!" It's a line delivery that's impossible to forget, as Hartnell puts such layers of revulsion into it. The Doctor is a character the audience still cannot fully trust, a character many probably weren't sure yet that they even liked... and here, we see him morally outraged.  When he tells the Dalek at the end that even if he wanted to help the Daleks, he doesn't know how, his tone and posture seem vaguely like that of a judge passing sentence.

Ian: Readily assumes a leadership position, both among the other travellers and with the Thals. Despite his naming the Doctor "leader" in An Unearthly Child, he has no problem in assuming authority over the Doctor, insisting that the Doctor cannot explore the city alone (because, as the only one who can control the ship, he is not expendable), then taking the lead in planning their exploration of the city. He then takes the lead among the Thal expedition to the Dalek city. At this point in the series' run, Ian is far more the series' hero than the Doctor is.

Barbara: Still, by her own admission, a very "unwilling adventurer." The strong Barbara of my memories does begin to emerge around Episode Three. When Ian and the Doctor are planning the Dalek escape, trying to figure out how to deal with the impossibility of hiding from the Dalek, it is Barbara who comes up with the simple solution of using the dirt from Susan's shoes and their water supply to create mud to throw onto the eyestalk. Actors Jacqueline Hill and Philip Bond also do a nice job of picking up on fairly mild script cues to create a fairly convincing relationship between Barbara and the Thal second-in-command, Ganatus (Bond).

Susan: Gets some surprisingly strong scenes. Her eagerness to show off the various TARDIS functions to Ian and Barbara is touching, like a child seeking approval. She also gets a particularly plucky moment in Episode Four, preventing a too-early detection of the group's escape plan through a quick-witted show of false panic (sadly oversold by an unnecessary close-up showing her winking to the camera).

Daleks: Their first-ever appearance is a very different Dalek characterization than any of their later outings. Several things arrive fully-formed. The design, the voice, the near-hysterical xenophobia... These things are part and parcel of their makeup from the beginning. However, these Daleks are weaker - and, perversely, more complex and interesting - than their later counterparts. These Daleks are not interstellar space conquerors. They do not seem even to be aware of life beyond Skaro, assuming that the Doctor and his companions are Thals simply because they cannot conceive of any alternative existing other than "Thal" and "Dalek."

The Daleks seem to be constantly afraid. They select the Doctor for interrogation, likely because he is clearly physically the weakest of the group. Despite his age and clear state of illness, they insist on him staying "in the light," and back away from him when he starts to leave that area. When the regulars stage their escape, attacking their Dalek guard, the guard responds with sheer panic, repeating, "Keep away from me! Keep away!" These Daleks are, essentially, cornered animals. What makes them dangerous is not immense power, strength, or technology - it is simply that they will do anything to stay alive.


THOUGHTS

The story that put Doctor Who on the map.  Today, The Daleks is often regarded as being a bit sluggish and dated, with the latter episodes particularly coming under fire. Certainly, it is dated - which is hardly a surprise, for a 45-year-old piece of low-budget British television. The story isn't the fastest-paced, and parts of it might well test the patience of viewers used to today's roller coaster-paced entertainment.

It's fair to say that the entire content of Episode One could be condensed into a 2 - 3 minute precredit teaser in a modern equivalent of this story. However, that doesn't mean that it should be.  I think The Dead Planet was my favorite of the seven episodes, because at this point in the story you really don't know what you're in for. The regulars explore a genuinely alien setting, while all the while the shifting power dynamic between Ian and the Doctor drives the character interest of the episode. By the time they reach the city, we have become gradually aware that they are being watched - just as the Dalek plunger is revealed for the first episode's iconic cliffhanger. The episode may be practically plot-free, but the characterizations remain vivid, the atmosphere is thick, and there's a real sense of exploration and wonder to the proceedings.

The story that follows is also rather well done, as well. Following that one-part introduction - which is more about the interaction of the regulars and setting a tone than about story - what we get are effectively two linked three-parters: one in which the regulars must escape from the Dalek city, and one in which they help the Thals to defeat the Daleks. The first adventure is the more effective of the two, tense and claustrophobic and boosted by the excellent design of the Dalek city.

Still, the latter part of the serial, following the Thal expedition, is better than its reputation. I particularly refer to Episode Six, The Ordeal, which has come to be regarded as the episode where half of it is spent jumping over a chasm. In reality, about six minutes is spent on this sequence (which begins at 16 minutes, and is interrupted by a scene between the Doctor and the Daleks) - and I found it quite enjoyable. I don't necessarily mind a story taking a little time to show characters actually working to overcome an obstacle. Ian and Ganatos vying for the leadership position, and Ian acknowledging that Ganatos' jump was better and that the Thal actually should have gone first (showing grace on Ian's part) are good little character beats. The efforts taken with the rope, Ian prepping his run before actually making it, Ganatos taking time to explore the ledge and find the tunnel... Sure, you could do all that in a single minute, but it wouldn't be as detailed and it wouldn't feel as textured as it does here.


Rating: 8/10. Yes, a handful of later Dalek stories would end up bettering it - though I'd put far more Dalek stories below it than above it. But the character dynamics remain interesting, and I find I am rather a fan of the more gradual storytelling pace of the '60's.

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