"The Ark" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here, on the horns of a dilemma. How to go back and wrap up a story that we finished watching just over a month before? I am still determined to catch up, however, and I owe you all a post for this story!

When I say "story," I, of course, mean two small stories joined by a single setting in the scripts written by Paul Erickson (though joint credit was given to his wife, Lesley Scott, everything I've read says she didn't actually do much writing). The idea is fine; as others have pointed out, in the days when an audience had no idea how many parts a story would last (no internet! at this point, no full story titles, even!), the idea of the crew seeming to finish the adventure, leave and then come back hundreds of years later was surprising and fun! Unfortunately, in practice, you get a nice little, if oversimplified, two-parter with minimal characterization, followed by an overstuffed two-parter with, essentially, no characterization. (And, of course, with one of the most ridiculous lines ever spoken on Doctor Who: "Take them to the Security Kitchen.") As I've mentioned in the episode posts, I'm pretty sure that this is the first Hartnell story I ever saw in full and I have fond memories of it being charming and fun, many of which were borne out in seeing it again this time. But those memories don't make me blind to its shortcomings either. I'll direct you to the episode posts for more details. As a final story note, the elephant scene, even seeing it all these years later, is still absolutely magical!

On the production side, this story marked the end of the tempestuous tenure of producer John Wiles. As the second producer of Doctor Who, Wiles had the uncomfortable task of taking over from Verity Lambert around the same time the original cast had broken up, all of which reportedly upset William Hartnell terribly and the star (according to all reports) took a lot of that out on his new producer. Wiles hadn't really wanted to produce the show in the first place, and had been especially unhappy at being stuck with the twelve part Dalek story, and his relationship with Hartnell had put the finishing touches on his unhappiness. With this story, he joins story editor Donald Tosh (whose last televised credit was on "The Massacre") in leaving the show in new hands. Those hands, producer Innes Lloyd and story editor Gerry Davis, would see Doctor Who through some of its most important days to come...

But, enough of that! Here are the individual episode posts, so you can see what the Project team had to say.
"The Steel Sky"
"The Plague"
"The Return"
"The Bomb"

Here's the official BBC episode guide for the story and, for the full story I alluded to above as well as other behind-the-scenes info, here's the "Brief History" page.

Next up, one of the odder stories of the Hartnell era, and one where there was some division in the Project team's opinions! Posts coming very soon! Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here. As some of you may know, Blogger was down for a good deal of time during the latter half of this week. Unfortunately, this (and my day job) has thrown my posting schedule a bit out the window. So, here's the "Massacre" wrapup post. The new episode post will be up sometime later this week.

I've read many reviews over the years referring to "The Massacre" as the "best Hartnell story" and such-like. And, while I'm not sure I quite agree (as we've discovered over the course of the Project, there are plenty of great Hartnell stories), this one is definitely high on the list. It's also unique in that the Doctor himself is very much tangential to the action; as we've talked about in the episode discussions, this is very much the companion's story. It is Steven who has the adventure while the Doctor is off doing...whatever it is he's doing. Apparently, the Doctor was far more involved in the action in John Lucarotti's original scripts, but Donald Tosh's extensive rewrites put the show's central character off screen.

It's a gamble, for sure. In fact, in our discussion, the Project team identified the Doctor popping up out of nowhere as a bit of a coot ex machina. On the other hand, though, we are gifted with the suspense of not knowing whether the Doctor is the Abbot, what he's playing at, etc., etc. And when the Doctor does pop up, finds out when they are and immediately tells Steven that they have to leave...well, that's pretty powerful. The Doctor, realizing what is about to happen, actually seems scared. How bad must things be about to get to make the Doctor afraid? If the Doctor had been more front and center, all of these points would have been lost.

And, as importantly, we would have been denied Peter Purves' performance as Steven, front and center in the action. This is the first time since Ian and Barbara left that a companion has taken so much of the main role in a story, and Steven does a fine job. He's certainly helped by the obscurity (for us, anyway) of the historical event--he doesn't know what's going to happen and neither do we, so his discoveries are ours as well. As are his fears, for his new friends and especially for the Doctor. Of course, we know that the Doctor can't be dead, but up until that moment, the moment Steven sees the body, we have no reason to not think that the Doctor is the Abbot. It's not the Doctor's apparent masquerade that makes this story work, though; it's Steven's attempts to navigate his way through the quagmire he finds himself in that makes the first three or so parts of this story work so well.

Something that we overlooked, but that should be mentioned here, is how this story proves how good an actor William Hartnell is. We equate Hartnell's character of the Doctor with his own personality so much, we forget that is it--a character. Acting. But the contrast of his Abbot of Amboise--no laughing, no Billy-fluffs, but a cold, hard and frightening character--shows us just how wonderful a character William Hartnell has built his Doctor into.

The story itself is a journey through the cloak and dagger moments leading up to the great massacre of Huguenots in France in 1572. As I've mentioned, many of the events and characters in this story are real historical figures. As such, I thought I'd add a few relevant Wikipedia links:
The Massacre itself
Admiral de Coligny
The Marshal Tavannes
The probable identity of Bondot, the assassin
King Charles
Catherine di Medici, the Queen Mother

Of course, when most fans talk about "The Massacre," they tend to focus on the last ten minutes or so of episode four. Steven's angry accusations and the Doctor's soliloquy loom large in both the memories and the myth of this lost story, as they should. As I said in the episode post, it's like we finally have a philosophy for the show. It's almost like we have a mission statement for both the companions (there's only so far they can go, so much they can understand) and the Doctor himself. It's a powerful moment and a fitting one to end Donald Tosh's somewhat troubled tenure as Doctor Who's story editor. The reason he was able to be credited as a co-writer on the last episode is that he was no longer a member of the production team, although he did have a hand in a few of the stories that followed. But, as of episode four of "The Massacre," Gerry Davis joins the team as story editor. Remember that name, fans!

Finally, I'm not sure whether to make a big deal of this, but I thought it should be mentioned that this is the first Doctor Who story to be directed by a woman, Paddy Russell. She does a fine job, insofar as we can tell from the reconstruction.

All right, all right, enough of me. Here's the episode links:
"War of God"
"The Sea Beggar"
"Priest of Death"
"Bell of Doom"

And, as usual, here's the BBC episode guide link as well as a link to all the production inside information from Shannon Sullivan. (I very much recommend the latter for a great insight on the writing of the story.) And, if you're at all intrigued by this story, I'd urge you to go to the Loose Cannon page and get yourself a copy of the reconstruction. You'll be glad you did.

So, we have a new girl in the TARDIS--Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet--and a new adventure coming! The first episode post will be coming later this week, keep an eye out for it! Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"The Myth Makers" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here with a wrapup of the Doctor and company's adventure amongst the Achaeans and the folk of Ilium, across the wine dark sea and the wind-swept plain.....Ahem. Sorry about that. As anyone familiar with this story knows, it is considerably less lyrical than the poetry of Homer. Famously, this first story officially under the John Wiles/Donald Tosh regime was intended as a comedic departure. While the earlier "The Romans" had elements of high humor, this script (by veteran BBC Radio comedy writer Donald Cotton) takes both comedy and sophisticated dialogue to a level not seen previously. I made a joking reference to "The Navy Lark", but it's actually a decent comparison. (By the way, Doctor Who fans interested in Jon Pertwee's career before taking on the role of the Doctor might want to check TNL out. It's a lot of fun.) The interplay--especially between Agamemnon and Menelaus or Priam and Paris--has the same kind of wit adult viewers would hear on the contemporary BBC2 Radio Light Entertainment programs. I suppose there might have been a chance that the funny dialogue scenes might lose younger viewers, but this seems an obvious attempt by the new(ish) production team to try broadening the show's appeal. Although most people think it was more a miscalculation than a success, "The Myth Makers" is certainly an interesting and fun experiment, not to mention a bit of a preview of things to come.

There has been some criticism of the turn from the comedy of the first three episodes to the terror of the fourth, but it worked for me and the rest of the Project team; the change accentuates the tragedy and destruction. Thanks to the buildup, we really feel the deaths of Paris and Priam, because we liked them. In fact, I think the contrast between the comedy and the tragedy helps the story to work better, rather than the opposite.

Looking at the story in the context of the mythology (specifically what is known of the post-Homeric stories, the Odyssey and the Aeneid), there are definite oddities in the script. Both Achilles and Paris survive until the fall of Troy, for example, whereas both died prior to the coming of the Horse according to the versions of the story that has come down to us. (Paris actually killed Achilles through trickery, if I recall correctly.) On the other hand, right from the outset this story is about subverting both the story and our expectations: Achilles is seen as a coward by his fellows, and, indeed, we first see him running away from Hector. He only kills his foe by chance and the intervention of the Doctor's "temple." Far from being a bear-like figure, anxious to recover his wife, Menelaus is a timorous old man who'd rather be home. Paris and Priam, while less surprising, do make a fine double act. In fact, it is what I can only call the villains of the piece, the scenery chewing Cassandra and (far more tellingly) the complex, almost sociopathic Odysseus that fulfill expectations.

Let's step back a moment and take a look at the extraordinary character that is Odysseus. Opportunistic, quick witted, obviously highly intelligent, he is the Doctor's ally and nemesis all at once. He's certainly the most complex and interesting character in this story and the script treats him wonderfully. We loved that he listened to the Doctor and Steven's story and replied logically that no one would make up something that ridiculous, so it must be true. He also provides a wonderful foil for the Doctor in the third and fourth episode. By the end, we've almost come to like him...and then we see his savagery in the destruction of Troy, reminding us that he is not a good guy. We haven't seen a complex, ruthless villain like this in a very long time.

And then there's Troilus and "Cressida." Their story isn't any part of Greek myth; it's a medieval legend that Cotton fairly cunningly worked into the story...only to have it all screwed up by John Wiles' decision not to renew Maureen O'Brien's contract. The original romance has Cressida abandoning Troilus for Diomedes and Cotton's original idea was for "Cressida" (Vicki) to leave Troilus and disappear with "Diomede" (Steven) when the two left in the TARDIS. Would have made more sense, huh? On the other hand, it is nice to not see a betrayed Troilus killed by Achilles (as in Chaucer's version of the story), but rather a new beginning for Vicki, a character that had become dear to the Project team. If nothing else, it gives us the bit of a happy ending this story surely needed. And, if the growing romance between the two teenagers isn't quite as believable as that between David and Susan, it's still believable enough to be satisfying.

Then there's the introduction of our first companion from the past, Katarina, who believes she has died and is being transported to the afterlife by the Doctor. In fact, there was a scene in the script where she explicitly tells Vicki that the omens say she (Katarina) will die soon and Vicki sends her to the Doctor in an attempt to save her life. We'll see how she works out over the coming weeks, I suppose...

There are a lot of stories about the production of this serial, many of them centered around William Hartnell...and many of them very uncomplimentary. There's no question that Hartnell wasn't happy with the change in the production team--he had been very close to Verity Lambert and did not get along with John Wiles at all--or the cast. There are also stories about Hartnell being unhappy with how little he was in many of the scripts and how many great scenes were given over to the guest cast...and then there are the related, uncomfortable stories of Hartnell's antisemitic and homophobic remarks at the expense of Max ("Priam") Adrian. (The Brief History of Time (Travel) page has some information about this.) I want to stress that I've also read that these stories are not true. (It's worth noting, for example, that he had no problem working with Carole Ann Ford, who is Jewish.) Has anyone heard anything more definitive about this? Is it discussed in his granddaughter's biography? Please comment if you know anything!

Before I give you the individual episode links, here's the BBC episode guide for the story. And now, the links:

"Temple of Secrets"
"Small Prophet, Quick Return"
"Death of a Spy"
"Horse of Destruction"

On a final personal note, this is another one of those stories whose novelisation I remember buying and reading twenty-five years ago. I've wanted to see some version of this story since I read about it in one of Peter Haining's books even before then. And, thanks to the fans who recorded audio and what small video exists, and thanks to the great work of Loose Cannon Productions, I've finally been able to see it. I know I keep saying things like this, but one of the main impetuses behind starting the TARDIS Project was to see all these great stories and it continues to thrill me that I'm able to...and that, for the most part, they do not disappoint. Certainly, "The Myth Makers" didn't!

Up next--we begin one of the most fabled Doctor Who stories of all time! Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"Horse of Destruction"

Hello everyone, the Historian here! We had a full house tonight for the last episode of our Trojan epic: Ketina, Ronelyn, Schmallturm, Spoo, MisterMother, Photobug, Cz and MiniSpoo! So, without further ado, let's get to the summary!

"Galaxy 4" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here. Doctor Who's third season (can you believe we've made it that far?) began with a story taking place in some other place than Galaxy 4, as I've been joking for a month now. And, as I said last week, I'd been waiting for somewhere between twenty-five and thirty years to see the Drahvins, the Chumblies and the Rills. And, thanks to Loose Cannon Productions, I've now seen something...that approximates the original story. Personally, I wasn't disappointed, but the same can't be said for most of the rest of the Project members. Admittedly, I was the only one who'd been exposed to the story in one form or another previous to watching, which might have helped--memories of the Target novelisation surely filled in some of the gaps that the recon was forced to leave out.

The story itself, while fairly simple, is solid: the beautiful, but treacherous Maaga vs. the hideous, but noble Rill, with the Chumblies as a bit of (somewhat silly) robot fun. So why did Spoo and Schmallturm dislike it so much? Well, it does move a bit slowly, thanks especially to almost no video or stills surviving. There are significant parts of the story where people are walking around or looking at things, all of which can only be conveyed by a still, sound and a running caption. Which, I hasten to say, isn't the fault of the reconstruction, which did a tremendous job with almost no material. I particularly loved the new Chumblies! Which brings up another problem some Project members had: they refused to take the Chumblies even semi-seriously. (See all the "Roomba" comments.) This, I think, is more of an "either it works for you or it doesn't." It worked for me, it obviously didn't for others.

All of that being said, it's hard for me to properly assess "Galaxy 4" while still being fair to other Project members. I do think this is a story that's easier to enjoy if you can try to approach it without being informed by forty years of, to quote Schmallturm, "preachy Star Trek episodes" and the like.

Even still, if you can get past what seems to be the obvious moral (although even that's questionable, given that the Drahvins weren't originally scripted as women), there's still a lot of meat here: questions about genetic engineering and free will, about militaristic exploitation vs. pure exploration...there's a lot more to read into this story than the obvious "you can't judge a book by its cover." On the other hand, the Chumblies are kind of silly and the story does move a bit more slowly than it has to. Then, of course, there's the fact that it was infamously written for the pre-"Time Meddler" TARDIS crew, with Steven having to fill in for Barbara and Ian's role split between the Doctor and Vicki, all of which made the story feel a bit off. (And, as others have pointed out, Steven is an astronaut from the future; how could he not know how an airlock works?) Apparently, this led to problems behind the scenes as well, with the cast members objecting to parts of the script. (I seem to remember Peter Purves in particular being unhappy with this story.) And, of course, this story began the battle between incoming producer John Wiles and an increasingly irascible William Hartnell. For more behind the scenes info see this story's "Brief History of Time (Travel)" page. And, while I'm at it, here's the official BBC episode guide.

All right, enough of my rambling. Here are the individual episode posts:

Four Hundred Dawns"
"Trap of Steel"
"Air Lock"
"The Exploding Planet"

Coming up next is an unusual episode, unique for the series. And, if things go right, our blog post covering it might be unique for the Project as well. No promises, but hopefully all will go well. Until then, I remain both mysterious and

THE HISTORIAN

"The Time Meddler" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here, with out final wrapup of season two! (Well, all right, the Season Wrapup should be coming in the next week or so, but still.) And yes, this is being written later than I'd planned. I have to be honest--I love this story and I kept feeling I needed to wait until I had the time and energy to do it justice. But I'm quickly running out of time and here we are. Bear with me!

I know I've said it before, but this was one of those Important Defining Stories of Doctor Who's first few years; indeed, it had repercussions far beyond that. Let's start at the top with the show's first major cast change. True, Susan had left, but she'd been almost immediately replaced by a similar (but by no means identical) character, Vicki. But, with the departure of Ian and Barbara and the arrival of Steven, the dynamic in the TARDIS has been permanently changed. As we discussed in episode posts, that had to have been a bit of a risk for the program; it was pretty well established by this point, but not replacing the teachers with similar viewpoint characters (remember, Steven and Vicki are both from the future!), there was the chance the show could lose its audience.

Behind the camera, this story marked some significant changes as well. Dennis Spooner, who wrote the story, had just ceded his job as Story Editor to Donald Tosh (though the latter claims to have done basically no work on the story, it does have his first Who screen credit on it). And, even more importantly, "The Time Meddler" was Verity Lambert's last story as producer, having decided that two years (dating from her pre-production work) was enough for one project. She had shepherded Doctor Who from a few pieces of paper all the way to being one of the more successful programs on Saturday nights; it's really difficult to overstate how important Lambert was to the success of Doctor Who. One of the important things she did was managing William Hartnell, who was not at all happy by all of these changes. William Russell has said that Hartnell's reaction to the news he and Jacqueline Hill were leaving was a feeling of "betrayal," and Verity Lambert leaving put him in an even worse mood...as incoming producer John Wiles would find out very shortly.

And that's not even mentioning the other big change this story brought: the Monk himself! Yes, someone from the Doctor's home (although some fifty years behind) who has his own "time machine!" There had been some implications, previously, that the Doctor might have built his TARDIS (named by Susan; note that neither the Monk nor the Doctor use that title for the Monk's machine), but it seems now that there are others out there--and others from the civilisation that produced them! It'll be some time before we get this much new information about the Doctor in one story....

But enough of that--let's talk about the story itself! There are people out there who dismiss this story as being "dull," that "nothing really happens," etc. etc. True, the story is far more concerned with character that incident, but the plot and characterization are stitched together expertly. Absolutely nothing is wasted; things that seem to be extraneous or forgotten wind up being crucial (Eldred being left in the monastery and disappearing for most of an episode, only to be the prime mover for the climax later as an example). Yes, all right, the Saxons and Vikings are not exactly the most developed of people, but they're exactly as developed as they need to be for the story to work. Yes, Edith seems to recover a bit too quickly (the one real flaw in the story), but balance that against the absolute guts that that whole bit must have taken on a family show in 1965. (As an aside, it completely went over 6 year old MiniSpoo's head.) And yes, of course there's a serious plot hole--the Monk still has his gun and shells outside of his TARDIS at the very least (and, if he doesn't retrieve them, they're odd things to leave in 1066)! Yeah, ok, all of that is true, but to dismiss this story as dull or without incident...that I just don't understand.

What makes this story, quite simply, are the four principals. Or, for most of the story, the two double-acts of Steven/Vicki and the Doctor/the Monk. The interactions between the characters, the interplay and wit, is simply delightful. Peter Butterworth's Monk is wonderful in and of himself, so fun to watch, but when he meets Hartnell's Doctor, they spark off each other. As for the companions, who carry a good deal of the screentime on their shoulders, their bickering bantering works very well and feels like a great preview of things to come for the new TARDIS team.

My goodness, I've gone on. What can I say, I love this story! And I was really happy to discover that the Project crew (most of whom had never seen it before) loved it too. (So much for the naysayers!) Here are the links to the episode posts to help folks easily catch up or look back:

"The Watcher"
"The Meddling Monk"
"A Battle of Wits"
"Checkmate"

Given all the stuff I discussed above, I'd very much recommend checking out Shannon Sullivan's behind the scenes information on the story. And here's the BBC Episode Guide for "The Time Meddler."

Before I end this overlong post, I want to thank Jon and Robin for answering our little survey. Your feedback is definitely being taken into consideration! And hey, the rest of you, feel free to comment or e-mail! You have until 1st October (when we begin season three) to let us know what you think!

Next up will be the Season Two wrapup--coming sometime over the next couple of weeks! (Before the Project reconvenes, I promise!) Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"The Chase" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here. It's time to wrap up our latest Dalek adventure...and nearly time to wrap up the second season! More on that last bit later, but for now, let's talk about "The Chase," by Terry Nation, directed by Richard Martin with an assist from Douglas Camfield.

And it's a bit of a curate's egg of a story, isn't it? Some good, some bad, some very silly indeed. It's an interesting and important moment in the evolution of the Daleks; as Schmallturm remarked at one point, this story is the first time we really see them acting like the Daleks we would see and be familiar with in years to come, yelling about EXTERMINATING everything in sight, singular thinking, etc. etc. In some ways, they become easier to understand and, almost, less scary as they become more familiar and easier to understand. On the other hand, the Daleks are no less dangerous to their enemies, and certainly no less fun for us! Certainly no less fun for six year old MiniSpoo, who ran around the house yelling "EXTERMINATE!" after every episode.

The story itself hearkens back to Nation's "The Keys of Marinus" from the first season--an episodic serial with a new setting/story every week or two. As with "Marinus," some of these vignettes work better than others. The beginning, on Aridius, started out strongly and then kind of slowed down, but it felt like a full (if truncated) story in and of itself. But then we get two episodes of what was certainly filler, even though it was mostly enjoyable filler, before getting on to an actual plot. The whole thing hangs together better than "Marinus," though, thanks to the "Chase" aspect. And the motif of bookending the comedy/filler episodes with two relatively solid, if truncated stories. (The second story felt especially stunted, with the Mechanoids and Mechanus feeling like they needed a lot more development. As I mentioned in the discussion last time, I'd bet we might have gotten more info if the Mechanoids had ever come back.) For all its flaw, though, we enjoyed the heck out of this story. MiniSpoo, especially, was absolutely riveted to the screen for each episode, with the exception of a few scenes from "Journey into Terror," where he got so scared he had to run out of the room. But he kept coming back in... (You'll note that he had to miss a week. We made sure he saw the episode, though. His eyes lit up when he saw the DVD--he watched the episode twice!) And that might be the best final thought for the story as a whole--it kept the attention of a six year old in 2010!

But enough about the story as a whole, let's talk about the big news this week: the departure of Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright and the arrival of Steven Taylor! Although the beginning of the season had seen the departure of Susan, Ian and Barbara leaving was an even bigger jolt--and, possibly, risk--for the show. The two schoolteachers had been a constant presence, points of identification for the viewers (since they were from 1963, they were in the position of not knowing more than the viewer at home did about things and could get away with asking exposition-inducing questions) and they were a check on William Hartnell's testiness. How would the show survive, with all but one of its original cast members gone?

Well, obviously, the answer is it would survive quite well, but that shouldn't diminish the contributions of William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. Ian and Barbara have been the heart of the show, Barbara especially, and Ian has of course been the muscle as well as a brain. As I've written many times over the course of the past couple of years, the two companions have been the saviors of many an episode. (They even made "The Ordeal" almost bearable!) I think it'll come as no surprise to any of our long-time readers that the TARDIS Project team will miss Ian and (especially) Barbara tremendously.

So, what now for the TARDIS crew? Well, we've left a contemporary Earth viewpoint behind, as Vicki is from the future, as is Steven. Will this hurt viewer identification? We'll have to watch and see!

And now, since I've gone on far, far too long, I've left no room to discuss the departure of story editor Dennis Spooner! He'll be writing our next story, though, so I'll try to leave room then.

The handy-dandy links to our individual episode posts:
"The Executioners"
"The Death of Time"
"Flight Through Eternity"
"Journey Into Terror"
"The Death of Doctor Who"
"The Planet of Decision"

And here's the backstage scoop about the story. Finally, here's the BBC episode guide.

Going into this story, Ketina mentioned that this was her favorite from the first few years. (She later added that it still was, though it wasn't as good as she remembered.) Well, our next story is one of my favorites. Let's see how I feel in the next wrapup post! Until next week, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"The Rescue" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here to wrap up both the first Doctor Who story of 1965 and the first TARDIS Project story of 2010. And it's a great way to start out the new year: a well written, well acted, well directed and well designed piece of work. Not only that, but a new and promising addition to the cast in Maureen O'Brien's Vicki.

Let's talk a bit more about Vicki. Developed by ex-story editor and "Rescue" scripter David Whitaker, she could have been a carbon copy of Susan. Instead, Whitaker brings us a subtly different, seemingly younger character. It's still early days for her, of course, but Vicki is presented, due to the necessity of her circumstances, as somewhat more self-reliant than her predecessor. She also feels things very keenly; her pain at the death of her pet, and her slightly misplaced anger at Barbara, felt very natural and real. Her interactions with the Doctor and her obvious need for some kind of comforting parental figure also rang true for me. Still, as I said, it's early days yet and we have to remember that Susan's character also slipped back and forth from well-drawn to "screaming girl." But I have a good feeling and Maureen O'Brien's acting in this story certainly helped.

What else to say that we didn't cover in the individual episode posts? Well, I suppose I should mention a few firsts. The first core cast addition is covered above, but this story brought us the show's first major production change as Dennis Spooner (writer of "The Reign of Terror" and the story that begins with our next episode) took over as story editor. This story, being written by Whitaker, doesn't yet seem to have Spooner's stamp yet, but I'm sure we'll notice some subtle differences in tone as the year continues.

This story is also the first time the show fakes out its audience by using pseudonyms in the credits. Sure, we know now that both Bennett and Koquillion were played by Ray Barrett, but if you only looked at the end credits of "The Powerful Enemy," you would be forgiven for believing that Koquillion was played by an actor named "Sydney Wilson." ("Sydney," from Head of Drama and show sort-of creator Sydney Newman and "Wilson" from BBC Head of Serials Donald Wilson.) This would be a trick the show would return to many times (especially in regards to a certain Masterful villain), but it was first used here.

And then there's the "show mythology" first: In the first episode of this story, the Doctor corrects Barbara, after she tells him that the ship has landed, by telling her the proper word would be "materialised." This is, as far as I can tell, the first time the word has been used to describe the TARDIS' arrival somewhere. Does anyone know if I'm right? At any rate, soon "materialise" and "dematerialise" will become the standard description of the ship's travel.

To sum things up, I thought this story, though short, was a great success. Its plot was fun, with a great little mystery. Simple, ultimately, but satisfying, with some great character moments for everyone, especially the Doctor who gets several wonderful scenes as he deals with the loss of Susan. (His interactions with Vicki should certainly be viewed with that in mind.) Hartnell, as usual, shines. Everyone else has their moments (not to mention Jacqueline Hill nearly burning her face in the line of duty) as well. Just a fine short story.

And now that you're tired of reading my babble, here's some of our babble, links to our individual episode posts:
"The Powerful Enemy"
"Desperate Measures"

If you're interested in more production information (like the details of Jackie Hill's accident alluded to above), check out "The Rescue" page at A Brief History of Time (Travel). And here is a link to the official BBC episode guide for the story.

Tomorrow night, as I type this, the Doctor, Ian and Barbara take their new friend Vicki back into Earth's past for an adventure that has a radically different tone...See you then! I remain

THE HISTORIAN

"The Dalek Invasion of Earth" wrapup

Hello everyone, the Historian here. A little under a year ago, I wrote about how the Daleks' first story "changed everything" for the then-brand new Doctor Who. Just under a year later, the Daleks returned to the show in a story that has just as much significance as their first.

In fact, "first" is a key word when discussing this story. The first cast change, as Carole Ann Ford left the show. The first major production change as David Whitaker departed as story editor. The first returning monster. The first time significant location filming was done using the principal cast. The end of the series' first production block, when a second season was at first in doubt, and then assured. Heck, this story was the first time Doctor Who filmed in a quarry!

But let's leave all of that aside for the moment and talk about the story itself. From the first moments of the first episode, the story grips us and keeps our attention through the following weeks...although I have to admit, it dips a bit during the fourth episode. Nation's script, with Whitaker's contributions, is about the triumph of the human spirit over incredible odds. A theme the show will come back to again and again, yes, but I'm not sure if Doctor Who ever again brought us such a stark illustration of those odds. Over the six episodes, we see the incredible devastation, both physical and (far more importantly) spiritual that the Dalek invasion has brought to humanity. We're introduced to rebels, struggling ineffectually against a foe they plainly don't fully understand (when the Daleks' plan is revealed, it takes everyone by surprise); they range from the adventuresome (David) to the crusader (Dortmun) to the cynic infected by despair (Jenny) to the pragmatic (Tyler). And yet, even the most optimistic of them are ultimately overcome by the scope of the destruction of humanity...until our friends, who are not of that time and have not been infected by despair, come to rally them, to investigate and to help the humans of the twenty-second century free themselves from the Daleks.

All right, I'll stop. I promise. Let's just say that this story wasn't merely groundbreaking, but possibly exceeded some of the similar stories that would follow it.

I'd be remiss in not talking about the departure of Susan. Despite the occasional bursts of character in stories like "Marco Polo" and "The Sensorites," I don't think anyone wouldn't be able to understand Carole Ann Ford's frustration at Susan's lack of development. Especially given how much Barbara and Ian received. Apparently, she made plenty of suggestions to the production team which were ignored (though what little I've heard of them has me grateful about that). Taking all of that into account, Ford still managed to portray a character who we've cared about (Ketina's annoyance with her screaming aside) and who it is believable that the Doctor, Barbara and Ian would care about. Indeed, the bond between the Doctor and Susan especially feels real; it's no surprise that William Hartnell was reportedly very upset at Ford's decision to leave the show. And, of course, Susan manages to leave on a high note, with one of the most believable romances in Doctor Who history. I'm pretty sure I mentioned how realistic the young love between Susan and David feels, youthful exuberance in the face of armageddon. We couldn't help but compare it to other "companion gets married off" stories to come and the Susan/David romance is leaps and bounds above almost all of them. Some fine writing from Nation and Whitaker.

And that gives us a good transition to talking about David Whitaker's departure as story editor. He had worked on the show for the first year of production, but as the production block ended, Whitaker decided to move on. He'd be replaced by a familiar name, Dennis Spooner, who had written the earlier story, "The Reign of Terror." Whitaker deserves a lot of credit for the show's success, having commissioned and, in some cases, done doctoring on many of the scripts as well as writing the character development filled "Inside the Spaceship." Although he would return to write scripts for the series (indeed, he wrote the story we'll begin next week), this story ends Whitaker's formal relationship as a member of the Doctor Who office. For more production information, check out Shannon Sullivan's page for this story.

And, after all these preliminaries, here are the links to our episode posts:
"World's End"
"The Daleks"
"Day of Reckoning"
"The End of Tomorrow"
"The Waking Ally"
"Flashpoint"

And, as always, here is the official BBC episode guide page for this story.

Coming up next, a new companion and a new adventure! Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN