#29 (4.5 - 4.8): The Tenth Planet.

The Cybermen's first appearance - and the First Doctor's last...

4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 94 minutes. Written by: Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis. Directed by: Derek Martinus. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor and his companions find themselves in mid-1980s Antarctica, near an international space tracking station. The stations' commander, General Cutler (Robert Beatty) is annoyed by their unexplained appearance, but has no time to question them - The space capsule his crew is tracking has been drawn off course. Though Cutler refuses to listen, the Doctor is able to correctly predict the cause of the problem: the appearance of the planet Mondas, a world remarkably similar to Earth. He also, rather ominously, adds that its appearance means that "soon we shall be having visitors."

The visitors are half-biological, half-mechanical beings known as Cybermen. They invade the tracking station and announce that their world is absoring the Earth's energy. Earth will soon be destroyed as a result, but the Cybermen plan to save those at the station - by taking them back to Mondas to transform them into Cybermen!

The Doctor insists they can weather the crisis if they can just buy sufficient time. But the toll Mondas is taking on Earth seems to be mirrored in the Doctor, who collapses from exhaustion and complains to Polly that "this old body of mine is wearing a bit thin..."


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: William Hartnell's final story, written and produced after the decision was made to recast the role. Hartnell remains a dignified presence, but the script deliberately minimizes his role, leaving him relatively few moments to shine. He does make the most of what he gets. In Episode Two, he transforms what is on the page a simple inquiry about the Cybermen's lack of emotions into a surprisingly strong moment, full of life and meaning. At the start of Episode Four, he negotiates with the Cybermen - partially a genuine negotiation, hoping for a peaceful settlement, but largely stalling for time as he works out their true intentions.

Ben: Initially acts impulsively, foolishly going for a gun when the Cybermen are holding them hostage. He finds his brain fairly quickly thereafter, however, and ends up becoming the hero of the story. He outwits the Cybermen in Episode Two, a desperate gambit that ends with the defeat of the initial wave of Cybermen. With the Doctor out of action in Episode Three, it falls to Ben to sabotage a missile launch; and he again takes centerstage in the latter half of the final episode, deducing the Cybermen's weakness to radiation and coming up with a plan to exploit it.

Polly: Mostly acts as a sounding board for the Doctor and Ben. She does get a nice role in Episode Three, playing on the doubts of scientist Barclay to get him to help sabotage the missile. Outside of that, she is mostly there so that others can deliver dialogue to her, and to act as a "damsel in distress" when she is taken hostage by the Cybermen near the end.

Cybermen: The Cybermen's first appearance may not be their best story, but it remains one of their most effective characterizations. These Cybermen are genuinely creepy, with cloth wrapped around their human faces and with eerie sing-song voices. They do not seem evil so much as amoral. The initial wave of Cybermen seem genuinely confused when the emotional humans insist on making a futile effort to bring the space capsule back to Earth. When Polly berates them for not caring, the lead Cyberman observes: "There are people dying all over your world, yet you do not care about them."


THOUGHTS:

The Tenth Planet is one of the most significant stories in Doctor Who's run. It would already have a strong place in the series' history as the first Cybermen story, but it is also the first regeneration story, before the process even had a name, with the First Doctor's ending transformation paving the way for a run of successors. Doctor Who's ongoing existence can be traced directly to the success of this story and the one that follows.

The serial gets a boost from the creepiness of the Cybermen and from an above-average overall production. The tracking station looks reasonably authentic by the series' standards, and the ways in which the personnel communicate with the astronauts and with other parts of the world feel passably realistic. Guest performances are well above average, with veteran character actor Robert Beatty lending more depth to his stubborn military commander than the cardboard character actually merits.

It would be nice to be able to say that it is a masterpiece. It is not. The first two episodes are extremely strong, setting an effective atmosphere while moving the plot along nicely. The second half just isn't as good, however. Episode Three suffers somewhat from Hartnell's unplanned absence, but even more from the subplot of General Cutler's determination to "launch the Z Bomb" at Mondas. That realistic atmosphere I mentioned? It's shattered in an instant, as I start giggling and looking around for Dr. Strangelove. Episode Four gets back on track with Hartnell's return and some effective Doctor/Cybermen confrontations. But the resolution feels a bit rushed and overly easy - a problem that would recur (in fact, worsen) in many future Cybermen stories.

It is worth noting that the lead astronaut is a black man. Given that previous nonwhite roles in Doctor Who were usually played white actors in blackface (or were one-dimensional idiots like The Smugglers' Jamaica), it represents a visible shift in representation as the 1960s wore on.

The Doctor's negotiations with the Cybermen get animated...

THE MISSING EPISODE

While the first three episodes thankfully exist, and have been remastered into particularly good quality for DVD, the final episode is missing. It is fair to say it is the most desired of all of Doctor Who's missing episodes, featuring the series' first regeneration. Thankfully, several 8 mm clips survive, including a handful of iconic moments ("This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin"; "It's far from being all over!"; and the regeneration itself).

The final episode was animated for the DVD release.  This animation is significantly better than that of The Reign of Terror, with smoother character movement and none of the earlier effort's bizarre rapid cuts to extreme close-ups. It largely looks the way the episode itself probably did, and the sound quality is as clear as that of the existing episodes. As a result, moving from the first three parts to the animated fourth part is surprisingly unjarring.

It's still nowhere near as good as the real thing would be - But in the absence of the actual episode, the animation is a welcome replacement, far more dynamic and involving than even a high-quality static reconstruction.


OVERALL

The regeneration itself is well-done, a mysterious and sinister scene that is all the more effective for having no dialogue until Ben and Polly arrive (thanks to the wise last-minute decision to delete what would have been Hartnell's last line). Exactly what happens goes unexplained, and likely left many contemporary viewers spending the next week speculating about what the series might do next.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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#28 (4.1 - 4.4): The Smugglers.

The Doctor is menaced by pirate Cherub (George A. Cooper)

4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 97 minutes. Written by: Brian Hayles. Directed by: Julia Smith. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT:

Realizing that they still have the Doctor's key, Ben and Polly follow the old man into the TARDIS... at the very moment it dematerializes. Though stunned by the impossible interior dimensions, Ben dismisses the Doctor's claim that they are traveling in time and space. When the ship lands, he and Polly disembark...

Only to find themselves in 17th century Cornwall, where they take refuge with anxious church warden Joseph Longfoot (Terence De Marney). After the Doctor fixes Longfoot's dislocated finger, the man directs the three to an inn - but not before confiding a secret: "This is Deadman's secret key: Smallwood, Ringwood, Gurney."

Unbeknownst to them, the exchange has been witnessed by Cherub (George A. Cooper), a member of a ruthless crew of pirates headed by Captain Pike (Michael Godfrey). After Cherub kills Longfoot, he and his shipmates kidnap the Doctor, determined to get him to share the dead man's secret. Meanwhile, Ben and Polly find themselve under arrest for the church warden's murder, held captive by the corrupt squire (Paul Whitsun-Jones) preparing to do business with Captain Pike...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Hartnell, whose health issues were worsening and who was likely running down at the end of the production block in any case, has more line fluffs than usual - But he's otherwise on pretty good form, as the Doctor uses his wits to navigate the situation. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between the Doctor and Captain Pike, as he shamelessly flatters the captain and plays to the villain's ego. The story also demonstrates how far the Doctor has come morally; he refuses to flee when Ben advises it, insisting on a "moral obligation" to make sure the pirates do not devastate the village. Can you truly picture the imperious old man from An Unearthly Child doing the same?

Ben: His first reaction to the TARDIS essentially mirrors Ian's, as he scoffs at the claims of time travel right up to the instant he is confronted with the 17th century church warden. After being separated from Polly for most of their introductory story, Ben spends most of this story in her company, which helps to establish the team dynamic between them. They continue to enjoy teasing each other, but Ben's protectiveness toward her is clear.

Polly: In contrast to Ben, who is quick to complain about their predicament, she decides to enjoy the adventure, declaring it "exciting," even as they sit in jail. Enthusiasm is largely her guiding trait, as she cheerfully jumps into every situation - often without pausing to think first, such as when she decides to go to the Squire in Episode Two. She has no evidence of her own innocence, and no real plan other than to accuse Pike and Cherub as "villains" when she sees them. She just more or less assumes that since she's in the right, everything will go her way. As in The War Machines, the contrast in personality between Ben and Polly helps to keep both characters engaging.


THOUGHTS:

I have a soft spot for The Smugglers. When I got back into Doctor Who, roughly twenty years ago now, I learned of the missing stories and sent away for the Loose Cannon reconstructions. The original Loose Cannon recon of this story was both my first reconstruction and my first Hartnell story - and while it took me an episode or so to settle into the format, I ended up thoroughly enjoying both the story and the characterization of the First Doctor.

In many ways, it was an ideal story to start with. Shot at the end of Season Three, but aired as the start of Season Four, The Smugglers' opening scenes are carefully crafted to serve as a quick re-introduction to the series, with the core concepts (the TARDIS, the Doctor's lack of control of its flight, and the time/space travel) all neatly explained to an incredulous Ben and Polly in the opening minutes. It is a bit of serendipity that this was shot before the decision was taken to replace Hartnell, as that allows the established Doctor to reintroduce the series alongside new, younger companions, just before the changeover.

The Smugglers is generally not considered one of the better missing stories, being a minor historical adventure yarn that openly pilfers elements from both Robert Louis Stevenson and Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn. As silly as it seemed for characters to mistake Vicki for a boy in The Crusade, it's downright hilarious when Anneke Wills' Polly is mistaken for one here. "See Paul? The curvy one with the long blonde hair, the wavy eyelashes, and the perceptible - ah - 'Dalek bumps?' Very boyish, isn't he?"

Despite, and in part because of the silliness, I still find The Smugglers enormous fun. The guest characters are almost all varying shades of corrupt, with each group trying to beat the others to the treasure, and that provides an entertaining rogue's gallery.  Performances range from standard to quite good, with George A. Cooper's Cherub cutting a particularly vicious figure.

The final episode is the weakest, as the various plots and ploys descend into an all-too-predictable fight scene. This is even worse in a missing episode, as the generic grunts, gunshots, and battle noises don't translate well to either still reconstruction or audio form. Even so, I continue to enjoy The Smugglers, and I suspect the story's reputation would improve if any of the episodes were to be discovered. It's certainly not the best of Doctor Who - but it's better than its repuation, as well as being worthwhile as a final chance for William Hartnell to shine in the title role.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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#25 (3.34 - 3.37): The Gunfighters.

The Doctor is mistaken for an Old West gunfighter!

4 episodes: A Holiday for the Doctor, Don't Shoot the Pianist, Johnny Ringo, The O. K. Corral. Running Time: Approx. 96 minutes. Written by: Donald Cotton. Directed by: Rex Tucker. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor is in pain. Feeling a little too happy after his victory over the Toymaker, he bit into one of the Toymaker's sweets - and his tooth is now killing him.

Potentially, literally. The TARDIS has materialized in the American West. In Tombstone, where the fragile peace is maintained by Wyatt Earp (John Alderson), a man who is suspicious of strangers. The Doctor introduces them as actors, passing Steven off as a singer and Dodo as a piano player. He asks for a dentist, and Earp refers him to Doc Holliday (Anthony Jacobs), a former gunfighter who planst to settle in Tombstone, become a dentist, and marry local singer Kate (Sheena Marshe).

But Holliday's past disagrees with his plans. The Clantons, a family of cattle rustlers, have targeted him for killing their brother. An associate of theirs goes to Holliday's business, only to find the Doctor, fresh from a tooth extraction. When the Doctor responds to being addressed as "Doc," the dye is cast - As far as the Clantons are concerned, he is Doc Holliday. And when the real Holliday discovers the mistake, he's delighted to build on it by giving the Doctor his gun.

Leaving the unwitting Doctor walking straight into an ambush waiting at the Last Chance Saloon - while the real Doc and Wyatt Earp find themselves heading for an encounter of their own, at a Corral destined to become the stuff of western legend...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: "People keep giving me guns, and I do wish they wouldn't." Reportedly, Hartnell had a wonderful time making this story. It shows - He is a delight throughout. The story mines the Doctor's cluelessness about "the wild west" to good effect, from his insistence on referring to Wyatt Earp as "Mr. Wurp" to his apparent inability to grasp that Doc Holliday set him up in the first place. For all of this, he isn't played as a fool. When a well-timed shot by Doc Holliday stops the Clantons from killing him, it takes very little prodding for him to have Steven disarm the criminals. The final episode sees the Doctor reacting against the increasing violence, trying to convince first Earp, then patriarch Ike Clanton (William Hurndell) that there are better ways to resolve differences.

Steven: Was apparently lobotomized between stories. Steven has been consistently characterized as competent and resourceful. In this story, he's dumber than Dodo! I can just about get my head around Steven's hopeless handling of 19th century firearms, which should be unfamiliar to him. But he walks far too easily into the Clantons' trap at the end of Episode Two, then is far too trusting of the obviously-shady Johnny Ringo (Laurence Payne) in Episode Three. That's before he's reduced to a glorified extra in the final installment. Given how few of Steven's stories exist in the archives, it's sad that one of those few is his worst showing as a character.

Dodo:: Is actually... rather likable. Donald Cotton's script turns down the dial on the grating perkiness.  She is obviously naive and seems blind to danger in situations such as the Episode One cliffhanger and the story's ending gunfight - But she doesn't come across as actively stupid, the way she did in previous stories. She gets a terrific moment in Episode Three, when she briefly has Doc Holliday at gunpoint and - unlike Steven - actually looks like she knows what she's doing with the weapon. Her naivete costs her the advantage less than a minute later - But for a moment at least, she has it. Had the character been written this way in the rest of her stories, I suspect her reputation would be stronger.

Doc Holliday:: Kate describes Holliday as a "gentleman," and Anthony Jacobs plays up that aspect of the character. For the first part of the story, he seems less like a gunfighter than a swindler, particularly when he seizes the chance to palm the Doctor off as himself. As the story progresses, other sides emerge - hints of both temper and alcoholism, which a stronger script might have done more with. We see him shoot a man in Episode Three, and he later shoots another offscreen... But it's in Episode Four that we really see him as a cold-blooded killer, his eyes dead and unblinking as he kills three men in rapid succession, one of them clearly no threat after his gun jams.

Wyatt Earp:: John Alderson lends a solid presence to the famed marshall, though Earp's characterization is much less interesting than Holliday's (then again, that's been true of every version of this oft-told tale). He is legitimately interested in keeping the peace, but is also willing to play along with the misidentification of the Doctor to save his friend. When the Clantons' threats of violence turn from words to deeds, he is quick to forsake the law in pursuit of vengeance, which loses him the tacit approval the Doctor had previously granted.


THOUGHTS:

"It's your last chance for aspirin,
Your last chance to cry.
This song will make your ears bleed,
And you'll wish you could die!"

It's not that The Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon is that bad a song. As a parody western ditty, it does the job in setting the mood when it first plays, and may have been amusing if it had been confined to episode beginnings and endings. But it is ridiculously overused! I didn't personally count, but I've read that it is played more than 30 times across the four episodes.  It becomes particularly intrusive in the final episode; the story takes a serious turn, but the song prevents the assorted killings from having the impact they should.

Not that Donald Cotton's script is anything like as good as The Myth Makers, his debut effort. There are similarities between the two stories. Both begin as comedy pastische, only to gradually become more and more serious as they go along. But The Gunfighters is hampered not only by the misjudged song, but also by the weak involvement of the regulars.

The Myth Makers didn't just put the Doctor in the Trojan Horse - It made the horse his idea, and left him confronted with the worst of the violence in the final episode.  The Gunfighters does reasonably well in its first half, as the Doctor is targeted by the Clantons. But once the mistaken identity is resolved, there's not much left for the Doctor to do. He voices his disapproval of the Earps' readiness to resort to violence. But the one attempt to have him actually do anything, by talking to Ike Clanton, results in one very good scene that goes exactly nowhere.

Imagine instead that the Doctor actually convinces Ike to stop the gunfight, and the two rush into town to head off the carnage. They arrive too late, of course - but in time to watch the end of the gunfight, with the Doctor expressing his revulsion and Ike declaring that he will get revenge.  This would also reinforce the idea, present but not much expanded on, that violence is not a solution, leading only to more violence. The story structure isn't fundamentally changed... But the Doctor is actually part of the climax, instead of being reduced to a side character in the Umpteenth Retelling of the O. K. Corral.

I'm sounding like I dislike this story, and I really don't. Minus the song, the first two episodes are rarely less than amusing and occasionally delightful. Hartnell is terrific, Jackie Lane gets the chance to show that she could have been good in an alternate reality in which anyone had actually bothered to come up with a character for her to play, and the pace is fairly sprightly by 1960s Who standards. Even the second half isn't bad - It just increasingly slides away from working as it might, in part because the song interferes with the tonal shift, and in part because the script fails to properly involve the regulars.

Overall, worth watching for many good bits and scenes - But ultimately less than the sum of its parts.


Overall Rating: 5/10.

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#23 (3.26 -3.29): The Ark.

The last humans are enslaved by an alien race!

4 episodes: The Steel Sky, The Plague, The Return, The Bomb. Running Time: Approx. 98 minutes. Written by: Paul Erickson, Lesley Scott. Directed by: Michael Imison. Produced by: John Wiles.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Steven, and Dodo to a huge spaceship in the far future - an ark, carrying the last of the human race to a new home on the planet Refusis. The ship is manned by a small crew of human Guardians and Monoids, a mute alien race who came to Earth after their home planet was destroyed. The rest of the human and Monoid population is in hibernation, miniaturized to be awakened upon arrival, in 700 years' time.

The Ark's commander (Eric Elliot) welcomes them as friends, and they are shown around the ship, including a statue that has just begun construction, but that when finished in 700 years will be of a human being. Before they see much more, however, a strange disease begins afflicting the crew, humans and Monoids alike. Dodo had a cold - a minor illness for her, but the people on the Ark have no resistance to it. When the commander falls ill, Zentos (Inigo Jackson), his second-in-command, orders the strangers arrested and tried for what he believes was a deliberate attack on the ship.

The Doctor manages to find a cure for the illness, and he and his friends leave in peace. But the TARDIS brings them right back to the Ark. It is now 700 years later, and the ship is finally arriving at its destination. The statue is finished, as well - But instead of a human, the finished statue's likeness is of a Monoid. They have taken control of the Ark, and the humans are now their slaves!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: "Once this crisis is over, I'm going to teach you to speak English." He does not appreciate Dodo's informal, intermittently slang-riddled mode of speech (one can only imagine how he would react to some of his own later incarnations). Despite this, he is quite kindly and protective toward her. Though she brought the disease onto the ship, he reassures her that the crisis is not her fault, instead blaming himself for not anticipating the potential danger posed by her germ. He refuses to wallow in self-recrimination, or to allow Dodo to the same - What's done is done, and it is now their responsibility to do what they can to fix the situation.

Steven: Seems exasperated by Dodo - Not so much by her speech patterns as by her relentless perkiness. Amusingly, he is also annoyed when she refuses to believe they have traveled in time... despite him having been even more stubborn in disbelieving the same on his first journey! When put on trial by the Guardians, his already-thin patience breaks down and he lashes out at them in the story's single best scene: "The nature of man, even in this day and age, hasn't altered at all. You still fear the unknown, like everyone else before you!" His reaction to the Guardians' rapid willingness to resort to state-sanctioned violence gains added resonance when the story is watched in context. Steven has just come from a time period in which fear and hatred of the "other" resulted in mass violence, only to see so-called "civilized" humans from the far future behaving in far too similar a manner. Peter Purves is terrific here, easily elevating the episode.

Dodo: Her first proper story, after her rushed and somewhat jarring introduction at the end of the The Massacre. Additional exposure does not lead to improvement. Her relentless cheer in Episode One is genuinely irritating, as is her crying and despair in Episode Two. I know the script is trying to show her taking to heart the consequences of exposing the Ark to her cold, but in practice it plays more like the mood swings of a manic depressive. Most of the problem lies with the writing, as it's clear that no one in the creative team has any idea exactly who this character is. She's better in the story's second half - But that's mainly because she gets no focus in the second half, merely acting as a generic companion while the Doctor and Steven carry the plot.


THOUGHTS:

A fully complete and existing story at last! In the wake of the recent animations of Season Four stories, and the 2013 recovery of two Season Five stories, I believe the run from Galaxy Four to The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve is now the longest run of missing stories with no animated titles. The Ark is weaker than almost all of that run - But after so many reconstructions and/or audios, it's nice to actually watch a Doctor Who story again.


ALAS, JOHN WILES, WE BARELY KNEW YE:

The Ark is the final story of producer John Wiles' brief tenure, and it is almost certainly his weakest - Which is actually fairly high praise in itself, as for all of its faults, The Ark has multiple interesting and ambitious ideas. As I noted in my review of The Myth Makers, Wiles oversaw a run of strong stories - There's not a genuinely bad one in the bunch. He and script editor Donald Tosh worked particularly well together, establishing a more adult tone for Doctor Who.

Wiles oversaw arguably the darkest period of the series. His stories are stuffed with death: massacres in ancient Troy and in 16th century France; a common cold infecting a community with no resistance to it and transforming into a deadly plague; even his most purely escapist tale, The Daleks' Master Plan, has multiple deaths of characters who could arguably be considered companions.

Peter Purves' Steven enjoyed his best run of stories under Wiles. Also, while Wiles and Hartnell's mutual antipathy is well-documented, the Doctor receives a lot of strong dramatic material. Where Wiles and Tosh most visibly faltered was with the female companions. Maureen O'Brien's Vicki was unceremoniously dropped from the series, and not for any particularly good reason. Wiles and Tosh were aware of the need for a female regular, but didn't seem to have any ideas beyond just "female," and Wiles' entire era sees literally a different female companion or stand-in for each story: Vicki in The Myth Makers; Katarina and Sara in The Daleks' Master Plan; Anne in The Massacre; Dodo in The Ark. It's probably uncharitable to observe that, if you merely reversed the order for Katarina and Sara, then each replacement would manage to be weaker than the one before.


A TALE OF TWO HALVES

As for The Ark, it's more interesting in its ideas than its execution. The story is structured as a pair of two-parters, which is both a blessing and a curse: The brevity of each half keeps it running at a good clip; however, with so little time to tell each mini-story, characters and plot complications are decidedly underdeveloped, and each story's crisis (the plague and the Monoid bomb) is resolved a bit too quickly and easily for the conflict to be fully felt.

The first half is far the better of the two.  Steven's horror at the thought that they may have brought diseases to other times and places is effective, and a bit too easily hand-waved away by the Doctor. The Guardians respond with panic, with Zentos's eagerness to eject the time travelers into space creating a decent sense of jeopardy, as it actually feels convincing - The worst side of human nature, which Steven rightly denounces.

The second half is pure "B" movie nonsense, with the Monoids transformed from allies of the humans to one-dimensional baddies. There are things that could be done with the idea of an underclass revolting against their oppressors, only to become as bad or worse than the previous regime... But that's not what the story actually does. Sure, at the end the Doctor tells us that the Monoids had been treated like slaves, so of course took the chance to turn the tables. But what the first two parts showed was the Monoids being treated respectfully by the humans, basically as equals save for not being represented in leadership. If the first half had demonstrated the Monoids being treated as second-class citizens, then there might be some nuance. As it stands, the Monoids are suddenly just plain evil (and stupid evil, at that).

It does not help the story's weaknesses that both halves suffer from some of the worst guest acting yet seen in the series. Eric Elliot and Inigo Jackson, who get the major guest roles of the story's first half, both overact painfully. Elliot, in particular, seems to read his every line as if he's delivering a soliloquy from Shakespeare, an effect that becomes unintentionally comical after a while.

I will give the story some credit for its ideas, and for some good interplay among the TARDIS team. I will also say that the Episode Two cliffhanger, in which the time travelers return to the Ark to find the statue completed as a Monoid, is a stunner, probably one of the series' all-time best.

However, this remains the weakest Doctor Who story since Galaxy Four, an impression not helped by the second half repeating some of Galaxy Four's story beats - including presenting an alien race whose benevolence is only matched by their power. The Refusians are peace-loving and virtually omnipotent - which means that they eliminate any sense of threat the dumb and comparatively primitive Monoids may have posed, much as the powerful and peace-loving Rills nullified any potential threat by the Drahvins in the earlier story.

It's slightly better than Galaxy Four thanks to a faster pace and some interesting ideas (particularly in the first half). But honestly? It's not much better, and I'd trade these four episodes for any four episodes from The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan, or The Massacre in a heartbeat.

Rating: 4/10.

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#22 (3.22 - 3.25): Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve.

The Doctor and Steven, in Paris on the eve of a massacre.

4 episodes: War of God, The Sea Beggar, Priest of Death, Bell of Doom. Running Time: Approx. 99 minutes. Written by: John Lucarotti, Donald Tosh. Directed by: Paddy Russell. Produced by: John Wiles.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor and Steven find themselves in Paris, in the year 1572 - much to the Doctor's delight, as it gives him an opportunity to see scientist Charles Preslin (Erik Chitty). After securing Steven's agreement to avoid any interference, the Doctor agrees to meet up at a nearby tavern that evening.

The Doctor never shows, and while waiting for his return Steven befriends Nicholas Muss (David Weston). Nicholas is a Huguenot (Protestant), who is in the service of Admiral de Coligny (Leonard Sachs), a friend and advisor to Charles IX (Barry Justice), France's weak-willed king. Nicholas tells Steven of recent and growing unrest between France's Catholic majority and the Huguenots, the Protestant minority.

Steven is about to be on his way when he intercepts Anne (Annette Robertson), a servant girl fleeing from guards working for the Abbot of Amboise, who is known to despise all Protestants. Anne tells Steven and Nicholas that she overheard the guards talking about a massacre of Huguenots in Paris. They agree to hide Anne with Admiral de Coligny.

The next day, they observe as the Abbot himself comes to de Coligny's residence searching for Anne. Steven is shocked at the man's appearance - The despised abbot, come to Paris to oversee the final stage of this sinister plan? It's the Doctor!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Well aware of Steven's impulsive nature, the Doctor seems ready to pass up the meeting with Preslin and return to the TARDIS rather than leave his young friend unaccompanied in the past; Steven has to reassure him that he won't get into trouble. When he reunites with Steven in Episode Four, he is decisive, even ruthless in removing Steven from his entanglements and departing before the inevitable massacre engulfs the city. As they leave Paris behind, he reflects on this "terrible page of the past" and on his refusal to do anything to interfere with it:

"History sometimes gives us a terrible shock, and that is because we don't fully understand. Why should we? After all, we're all too small to realize its final pattern. Therefore, don't try and judge it from where you stand."

Abbot of Amboise: The middle episodes still feature William Hartnell, but in the guise of the hated Abbot. This makes The Massacre an excellent story to showcase Hartnell's range, as his performance as the Abbot is entirely different than as the Doctor. There is no trace of warmth in the Abbot's voice, nor of the Doctor's customary befuddlement. His line deliveries are crisp and cold as a winter's frost. I strongly suspect that, if Episode Three were ever found, there would also be a strong difference in the nonverbal performance as well.

Steven: Predictably, after promising the Doctor he won't get involved in anything, he lands himself right in the thick of it. He could disentangle himself fairly easily; all he really has to do is thank Nicholas for his hospitality and hang around either the tavern or the TARDIS until the Doctor eventually shows up. But he's both too headstrong and too decent. When he overhears plots at the Abbot's house, he can't help but go to Nicholas to try to reveal all, can't help but try to prevent a historically-decreed assassination attempt, can't help but try to save lives. When the Doctor pulls him back to the TARDIS, only to reveal that practically everyone Steven has met will die, he is so outraged that he almost leaves the Doctor on the spot: "If your researches have so little regard for human life then I want no part of it!"

Dodo: The very end of the story sees the introduction of new companion Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet (Jackie Lane). It's a rushed introduction, consisting almost entirely of exposition: Dodo is an orphan, in the care of a relative who doesn't care about her. She is entirely unfazed at the TARDIS' interior dimensions, to all appearances not even noticing them, and has a completely blase reaction when Steven and the Doctor inform her they are traveling in time and space. It's an unpromising start for a new regular, tied into the main story through a vague (and paper-thin) implication that she's a descendant of the French servant girl Steven tried to help. Coming on the heels of a wonderful scene between the Doctor and Steven, it's a jarring closer - Though ending on a light note may have seemed a necessity, given the relentlessly dark tone preceding it.


THOUGHTS:

No one seems 100% certain which is the correct title for this serial: The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve or simply The Massacre. Even the BBC audio release is uncertain, the outer case giving the shorter title, while the actual discs are labeled with the longer title, which is also used by narrator Peter Purves. Perhaps that's appropriate, as this is possibly the most missing of missing Doctor Who stories: No surviving episodes, no surviving clips, and only a handful of publicity stills to represent the visual look fo the story. Thankfully, the audio makes up for it, being one of the clearest of all missing episode recordings - Clearer than the soundtracks of some of the existing ones!

Given the clarity of the audio (and the excellence of the Loose Cannon reconstruction, one of the group's very best), I'd have to say that this isn't a bad story to have missing. It's not a particularly visual tale. The story is entirely dialogue-driven. Essentially a conspiracy thriller, there are many scenes of characters plotting in (presumably darkened) rooms, discussing plans, overhearing other plans, sharing those plans with others - And as such, you actually don't need the visual element to follow it.

For something considered a children's show, this Doctor Who script is startlingly adult. The story turns on religious intolerance, class differences, and the manipulation of a weak ruler by stronger personalities. Even the science fiction element of time travel is treated with maturity, the Doctor's musings about the nature of history feeling suited to part of an argument in a philosophy class.

It's uncertain how much credit goes to John Lucarotti, who previously penned the first season's Marco Polo and The Aztecs, and how much goes to script editor Donald Tosh, who heavily rewrote Lucarotti's scripts. Known changes include the removal of a subplot in which the Doctor actually does impersonate the Abbot... Something which, while probably amusing, would in my opinion have been an unncecessary distraction from this grimly effective tale, one in which a feeling of horrible inevitability hangs over all the events we witness. Lucarotti was displeased, and reinstated many of his original ideas when he later novelized the story - But I strongly suspect Tosh's changes were for the better.

In many respects, this can be considered the last true Hartnell historical. There are a few additional stories set in history, but this is the last one that is about historical events. I'll say more when I review them, but The Gunfighters is a western comedy pastische, The Smugglers a Robert Louis Stevenson-style adventure story. So if The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve is the final "proper" historical, then I'd have to say the show saved its best for last.


Rating: 10/10.

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#20 (3.6 - 3.9): The Myth Makers.

Odysseus (Ivor Salter) forces the Doctor to plot the fall of Troy!

4 episodes: Temple of Secrets; Small Prophet, Quick Return; Death of a Spy; Horse of Destruction. Running Time: Approx. 100 minutes. Written by: Donald Cotton. Directed by: Michael Leeston-Smith. Produced by: John Wiles.


THE PLOT:

Ancient Troy, near the end of the Trojan War. Greek soldier Achilles (Cavan Kendall) battles Trojan prince Hector (Alan Haywood) outside the walls of the city, mere feet away from a strange blue box. Hector is the better fighter, and his victory is at hand. He taunts his victim before the kill, challenging Zeus to intervene and save Achilles.

Which is the very second that the Doctor steps out of the TARDIS. Hector is stunned - and Achilles takes the chance to kill his opponent in the name of the god who has saved him: Zeus, the Father of the Gods and ruler of the world, who has now appeared to him "in the guise of an old beggar."

The Doctor tries to slip back into his ship, but Achilles insists on taking him back to the Greek camp. There, Odysseus (Ivor Salter) derides the idea that this old man might be Zeus, thinking it more likely that he is a Trojan spy. King Agamemnon (Francis de Wolff) is more cautious, not believing the Doctor is Zeus but not wanting to risk offending the gods. He allows Odysseus to set the Doctor a challenge: Defeat Troy in the next two days, or be executed!

Meanwhile, the TARDIS is brought into Troy on the orders of Paris (Barrie Ingham), the surviving prince. When Vicki emerges, she is immediately captured. The prophet Cassandra (Frances White) suspects her of being a Greek spy, and demands her execution. King Priam (Max Adrian) is sympathetic to the young girl, and gives her an opportunity to save herself. Her test? To defeat the Greeks!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: William Hartnell is always at his best in the historical stories, and this one is no exception. The Doctor/Odysseus dynamic is wonderfully played. The Doctor employs his usual tactics to try to escape: Bluster, delay, flattery. The battle-hardened Odysseus proves utterly immune. Largely in desperation, the Doctor proposes the idea of the Trojan Horse, and he finds himself among the soldiers inside as the horse is dragged into Troy. As the slaughter approaches, he is helpless to do anything but witness it in disgust and horror. In a striking moment, he denounces Odysseus: "You're selfish, greedy, corrupt, cheap, horrible! Your one thought is for yourself and what you can get out of it!" Hartnell summons a righteous fury worthy of the god he's pretended to be - And at the story's end, Odysseus is left to wonder if the Doctor truly was Zeus all along.

Vicki: Reportedly, incoming producer John Wiles was not pleased observing Maureen O'Brien's complaints about Galaxy Four, and decided not to renew her contract.  Thus, one of my favorite companions is lumbered with a rather weak exit, married off to Troilus - an overly earnest and naive young man with whom she's spent less than ten minutes of total screen time! She does get some good material before then, at least. Her interactions with Steven are entertaining, and she bonds quickly with King Priam and his family. Maureen O'Brien is terrific in the final episode, the sprightliness dropping out of Vicki's voice as she realizes what is about to happen to the people she's just befriended.

Steven: Has in many ways emerged as the anti-Ian. Where his predecessor tended to be very stoic in the face of frequent imprisonment and brushes with death, Steven is more inclined toward irritation and sarcasm. When the Doctor declares he did well to materialize on Earth, regardless of the situation, Steven snaps back: "I suppose I should be grateful for standing here, trussed like a chicken, ready to have me throat cut!" His attempt to get into Troy to rescue Vicki backfires, landing him in a dungeon while making her situation worse. His response is to trade barbs with her. Still behaving much like an older brother, he all but makes gagging noises when he sees her flirting with Troilus.  But like a good brother, he is highly protective; when hes sees that she cares for the young man, he urges her to get him out of Troy.

Katarina: Cassandra's handmaiden, introduced in Episode Four as a replacement for Vicki. There's really not much to say about her at this point. With the episode missing, there is no opportunity to observe any nonverbal reactions actress Adrienne Hill might have shown, and Katarina has very few lines. She does react to the Doctor and the TARDIS as probably anyone from her time and culture would - Assuming he must be a god, and that she must be dead and on her way to the underworld. Not an unreasonable assumption, given that she's just stumbled in from the site of a mass slaughter.


THOUGHTS:

John Wiles' brief, ill-fated tenure as producer begins. I have something of a split opinion on Wiles. On the one hand, effectively firing Maureen O'Brien was a spectacular act of self-sabotage; not only did he have no good plan for a replacement, but with that one act he soured any working relationship he might have built with William Hartnell - who was at that time, to all appearances, the one irreplaceable member of the cast. In effect, he set himself up for failure.

On the other hand, I have to acknowledge that Wiles produced some fine stories during his short run, and The Myth Makers very much counts among them.

Writer Donald Cotton's script is highly literate, drawing heavily on both The Iliad and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, but undercutting the heroic figures of those stories with broad irreverence. Achilles is mocked by Odysseus for running away from his enemies. Odysseus is referred to as a pirate, and actor Ivor Salter certainly plays him as such. King Priam seems vaguely ineffectual, Paris vain and foolish, Cassandra an outright shrew. The interactions in both Greek and Trojan camps are often very funny, but Cotton laces the humor with a bleak tone. We are constantly reminded that all of these characters are ready to kill on a moment's notice, with even the kindly Priam ready to burn Vicki as either a spy or a witch - "As one of them, anyway," he says wryly.

It's interesting to compare the ending of this initially comic historical with Season Two's semi-comic historical, The Romans. In both stories, the Doctor ends up being responsible for a devastating event - the burning of Rome, the fall of Troy. In The Romans, he witnesses the fire from a distance, safely removed from the human carnage, and literally laughs it off. Here, he is face-to-face with the suffering. Trojans are butchered by Odysseus' men in front of his eyes. The Doctor reacts with revulsion, probably all the more keenly felt because these people are dying because of him.

Save for the actual sacking of Troy and a couple brief swordfights, this story is almost entirely dialogue-driven. The story is presented and propelled through the sharp, witty exchanges of the Doctor and Odysseus in the Greek camp, or of Vicki and the dysfunctional royal family in the Trojan camp. As such, this is one missing story that works particularly well on audio, with only the sacking of Troy suffering for lack of visuals (and that's pretty well described in the narration, well-delivered by Peter Purves). The later Loose Cannon reconstruction is also good, with wonderfully clear stills throughout - though for whatever reason, this reconstruction suffers from irritating sound fluctuations in the incidental music, which makes the audio in my opinion the better overall option.

Either way, this is an excellent story. The potentially tricky transition from comedy to tragedy works seamlessly, and at four episodes the serial maintains a strong pace, never once threatening to overstay its welcome.


Rating: 9/10. I might have gone for full marks, if Vicki's departure felt a little more convincing and a little less rushed.

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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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#15 (2.26 - 2.29): The Space Museum.

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.

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