Story 5 - The Keys of Marinus
So, I just watched the one extra first, where the set designer talked for 20 minutes about how much he hated this episode. Interesting. I don't know if there are that many shows where you see one of the creators look at something and say "rubbish, rubbish." And then when they asked if there was anything he was proud of for this episode, he said again, "no."
Wow.
You can understand his frustrations a bit, though--6 episodes, 6 completely different settings, same budget as the other shows but no set re-use? Crazy.
I had never seen this one until it came out on DVD. Instead I read and reread the Target Novelisation. It does work quite well there, where the imagination can take you to those many places. But Terry Nation was too ambitious, and the script editors didn't have a good sense of reigning in their budgets. Oh well.
So on to the show...
Episode One - The Sea of Death
Short Summary: The Doctor and companions land on an island, which they soon discover to be surrounded by a sea of acid (but not before Susan loses a shoe). Although the crew discovered the four enemy ships, Susan has wandered off to get new shoes and follows some strange footprints. Eventually they all end up at the giant building--Susan exploring by herself, and the other three looking for Susan. The Doctor splits from Ian and Barbara, hoping to find Susan faster. First Susan, then the Doctor get sucked into the building via the moveable panels. Susan is menaced by one of the Voords, but he drops dead with a knife in his back. The Doctor, Susan and Barbara reunite, as prisoners of the white-suited monk. When Ian fights off a Voord who is attacking the monk, the lone defender of the fortress from the Voord, Arbitan releases the prisoners. But there's one Voord left...
Arbitan then explains the mission of the Conscience of Marinus and his fears of the Voord's threat to the Doctor. The Conscience made men be good, except that Yartek found a way to overcome the influence of the machine. The leaders removed the four of the five key microcircuits from the machine and scattered them about the planet until a means of defeating Yartek could be discovered. Arbitan fixed the machine and sent his daughter and others to recover the four missing keys, but hasn't heard from them, so he proposes to send the doctor and allies to do it instead. The Doctor and crew agree when Arbitan places an invisible force field around the Tardis until they return (sneaky bastard). Arbitan gives everyone pre-programmed bracelets to take them to all four destinations, so they can recover the keys. Barbara turns her dial right away, and gets separated from the group. Arbitan then tells them if the Voord have taken over the island when they get back they must destroy the keys at all costs. As the Doctor leaves, Arbitan is murdered by the final hiding Voord. Ian, the Doctor and Susan materialize and find Barbara's blood covered dial...
Nice model work here at the beginning. It's nice to see the camaraderie amongst the group here. They really have gelled as true friends. And Ian is still wearing his Marco Polo outfit! I can't remember what anyone else was wearing.
What could be in those creepy rubber flipper suits? Based on the music, it must be bad.
I love the doctor's cheery curiosity as well.
It would be difficult to go to the beach and not dip ones feet in; I know I always do.
Scarey pants Susan. She just gets too overly scared. Her shoe melted, but then she reacted like it was her feet. Probably the direction, but it's overkill. Argh, I shouldn't focus so much on Susan, but she could have been amazing, and the writing severely limited her. You can see with stories like this why Carole Anne Ford was disappointed, and why she left the soonest. When it comes time for Barbara to be afraid, I always believe it, because they give her things to do. Susan, she is there mostly to generate a fear reaction. It must have gotten terribly tiresome.
The discussion about the ships - everyone has something to say about them--an insight or observation. They really feel like a team!
Is this Susan who would follow strange footprints the same Susan who would cringe in fear and tremble when her shoe gets dissolved in a tidal pool? No! I like this Susan. And Carole Ann Ford, so beautiful and slightly alien looking. I must let this go...
I wonder what the point of the big round bit on the front of the suit mask is. Protective armor. The design is nice, anyway--kind of threatening.
The doctor, so happy to visit. I always love William Hartnell's goofy chuckle.
Dude, why would the rubber man want to stab Susan with a knife? Whew, lucky break for her that there are panels to take them in.
And a lesson in architecture, hallo.
This is a perfect place for Susan to scream. Bravo Susan! The Doctor didn't hear it, but he gets pulled in as well, just as Ian and Barbara come around the final corner.
Oh, silent Monks in white. And hiding baddies. Wait, how did he get stabbed in the back exactly? Wasn't that a wall? I have to watch that again. Nope still doesn't make sense.
And nice tricksy to have Ian pulled off out of sight of us and Barbara.
I like that the reunion of the Doctor, Susan and Barbara was fairly low key, though again, what about that white monk dude? Oh, they have been taken prisoners, I see. Yes, that transition wasn't the best.
Ian, because he saves Arbitan from the Voord, gets everyone else released, after a dodgy special effect of the Voord being dropped into a lake. Actually, if it hadn't been so obviously 2-d, it would have worked very well. Where was the Voord action figure stand-in?
At this point we get exposition infodump. Poor Arbitan... repository of all knowledge. Let's see, conscience forces all men to be moral, except that bad men figure out how to out think the machine, so the 5 key microcircuits must be removed and hidden on Marinus until later. But the bad men want these microcircuits too, because if they can control the machine they can control the planet! Maybe some more thought should have been put into a machine for thought police. Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.
Why must all the keys be recovered now? Handwave, plot. Oh oh I see, Arbitan has fixed the machine. Fine, fine.
I like the Doctor refusing to help Arbitan at first. His selfish streak comes out a bit. It's a nice contrast to the always interfering as is his right doctor of later seasons. He's fine to help when forced, but isn't automatically a justice machine. And Arbitan--I guess the conscience isn't working yet, if he can hold strangers hostage to perform to his will. Shouldn't this be a sign that maybe the conscience isn't such a good thing?
Yeah, you tell him, Ian... Choice what choice.
Wrist bracelets for travel. I like the Doctor's compliments to Arbitan of his travel methods.
And the machine is nice and science-fictiony. I don't think it's as rubbish as Raymond Cusick thought, but he is probably the best judge of his work.
Oh, Arbitan loves his work, his machine, and now he is stabbed to death. Damned Voord. I thought this was the cliffhanger, but it turns out there's more.
Oh, Barbara lost her travel dial, and there's blood on it!
Arbitan is a bit wooden, but I like his expressiveness about his daughter and impressions of danger without being overdramatic. He could talk a little faster, but that was quite a long scene of exposition the actor had to deliver there.
Episode Two - The Web of Death
Short Summary: Finding Barbara's wrist bracelet with blood on it, the crew rush through the closest door. They find Barbara in the lap of luxury, with beautiful clothes and a full menu of good. Ian is suspicious and doesn't yet want to eat anything. Altos, an emissary, explains that they should all sleep and it will make more sense in the morning. When they've fallen asleep, one of the servers comes in and places a disk on the forehead of everyone, but Barbara's falls off when she tosses about. When Barbara awakens the world is changed--dirty terrible, cracked. Barbara gets more worried as the others try to convince her nothing has changed. Altos tries to take Barbara to a physician, and Barbara runs off. Altos reports to the Brains/Morpho that Barbara escaped.
Both Sabetha (the servant girl who mis-placed the discs) and Barbara are placed under sentence of death, while Morpho tell Altos that the remaining three need one more treatment of the Mesmer. Sabetha finds Barbara's hiding place, and Barbara realizes she is Arbitan's daughter when she sees the key around Sabetha's neck. Morpho makes Altos their final instrument for the death of Barbara and Sabetha and the subjugation of the rest of the group. When Sabetha sees Altos attack Barbara, she remembers who she is and knocks Altos out with a rock. Barbara finds Ian, but he no longer remembers her at all, and he takes her to Morpho, where it outlines its evil plot. Barbara fights Ian's chokehold off and breaks Morpho's machinery to destroy its brains. Freed from the mind control, The Doctor decides they should split up, with his self going on to section four to meet up with Altos' friend Eprin and everyone else, including Sabetha and Altos, going on for the second key. Sabetha keeps the first key with her. Susan turns her dial as soon as she gets it, and is plopped in a jungle where horrible noises cause her to caterwaul in fear.
Ian wants to rush in and get to Barbara--ever the rescuer. And I like the Doctor accusing Ian of being precipitous. Nice word, Doctor.
I'm glad they explained that thing was a door, because it sure looks like a wall to me.
Nice disorientating effect. It lets us know right away something won't be quite right about this place as well.
And quite a lovely set. Barbara looks gorgeous. And the facetious flirting between Ian and Barbara--how I like them.
But dudes, always be suspicious of a warm welcome, eh? I'm suspicious. The music isn't helping ease my mind. It's kind of plaintive.
I like that Ian is suspicious. "I don't yet know the price" indeed!
Altos greets them, and explains they are in Morphoton, which is the best place to live. It's all luxury, all the time. Nothing suspicious there. The Doctor asks for a full laboratory, and Altos tells them after they sleep he will have it.
Ian is still suspicious, but Barbara has completely drunk the koolade. More flirting! They all fall asleep quickly.
First sign of ominous--heartbeat and eyes alight in statues! And sneaking servants putting weird disks on foreheads. Oh! Kind of precarious, though, right? As they find out with Barbara. You'd think whoever the baddie is would have a better way of establishing its mind control, especially since people toss and turn in sleep.
The mind control wears off and a terrible noise is in Barbara head, which knocks her out.
Th next day Ian is happy and contented. Barbara sleeps on.
So, really nice on how they cut between the true world and the fantasy world. This must have taken some planning. It's fantastic, too, to have Ian and Barbara reversed in their attitudes. Fun!
Interesting, too, to make that a straight POV shot! To have everyone looking right at the camera puts us squarely in Barbara's place--confused. Carole Ann Ford is good here too, gentle and quizzical.
Good on you, Barbara, running off. I wouldn't go anywhere with that creepy-eyed Altos either.
I've seen color photos of these brains, and they were quite creepy that way too. Though I think the black and white makes them look more real, somehow. Since the presentation of black and white is already artificial, it's easier to ignore the joins of sets and the artificiality of props.
Interesting--they weren't able to change Barbara's dress and jewelry until this point. Which makes sense, unless she was going to redress right in the room. I wonder if they changed her shoes as well. Of course Barbara hides in the room that turns out to be the holding cell for her and Sabetha, though Altos doesn't know she is there. Still, it is a nice contrivance for the next part of the plot.
The back and forth between the mesmerized reality and the true setting is nice. And good, too, because they don't actually have to prop out the laboratory. Cool and budget-wise.
Barbara tries to get Sabetha out of her funk. Boy this actress does funk well. Altos feels more sinister, more complicit but Sabetha is just a tool.
Okay, seriously, pulsing brains with eyestalks. Ugh. There accents are terribly posh, too. I wonder if that was on purpose--it is the sixties after all.
Altos is wearing the shortest toga known to man. I mean, he has nice legs for sure, but hello. Funny to have the women in pants and long skirts and then Altos running around in that short mini.
It's also a nice touch that language alone doesn't return Sabetha's memory, but the sight of Barbara being attacked by Altos spurs her instinct for survival. Of course poor Altos is brained and Sabetha is still a bit of a zombie.
Jacqueline Hill does scared defiance really well. I think sometimes in their attempts to not seem "girly" the (newer, especially) companions overdo bravado so that you lose out on how or why a situation can be terrifying. With Jacqueline (and I think Elisabeth Sladen was really good at this too) you always got this--genuine terror and fear, but through that, always intelligence and a desire to act, to find a way out. It's easier to brave if you are not really scared, but then your achievements are not as great either. I love Barbara, for true.
I wish that Nation hadn't expositioned the origin of Morphos as well. "We outgrew our brains and figured out how to mind control everyone else." Huh? I accepted it more when they were just random brains taking advantage of the already vaguely mind-controlled inhabitants of Marinus, rather than weirdly evolved Marinians subjugating their own people.
Plus, they have her do the right self defense move for getting out of a face to face choke hold. Don't try to peel back the hands from the neck, punch through the arms! Of course, she really should have gone for the nose to really incapacitate Ian, but he's her friend and that would be hard.
Whoa, and a rage from Barbara! Those Morphos or whatever were pretty vulnerable, with all their machinery and glass containers. (Although interesting--I'm guessing she wasn't allowed to break all the glass containers for those expensive props because it's weird so many were left unbroken). Have we seen Barbara be so violent before?
And also a nice show of vulnerability from Ian as well. Does he remember trying to kill Barbara?
Exposition, exposition, exposition. Altos is also from Arbitan, the Doctor will go on to the end and everyone gets their travel dials back. Perhaps the people of Morphoton shouldn't burn down their city, though? Tough to rebuild from scratch and the Brains are already out of commission. Susan doesn't want to leave her Grandfather, but he convinces her it would be safer.
Altos is also quite posh, too. He does that over-enunciate thing that people just don't do as much anymore. But the actor is playing his unhypnotized self as kind of cheery and go-getter. I like him, I think.
Of course she pops off as soon as she gets her dial. Didn't she learn anything from Barbara's experience? and again, first Susan wants to go with her grandfather and has to talked into the separation. But then as soon as she gets her dial she goes on to the next place. Impetuous child. (William Hartnell's grin at her when she pops off is sweet). And not inconsistent in a way that makes sense for the character, but in random service of the plot. Again, not the fault of Carole Ann Ford, who is doing the best with what she's given. I'm guessing in such a production heavy show, characterization would fall by the wayside sometimes.
And the worst of Susan emerges as she collapses and squeals against the screaming jungle noises. They should have been louder; she can outscream that jungle on her best day.
Episode Three - The Screaming Jungle
Short Summary: The jungle stops screaming but Susan is still terrified. Ian, Barbara, Sabetha and Altos show up, and reassure Susan. Susan and Barbara stay together while the other three look for a way into what is an obvious courtyard. The jungle comes alive and scares Susan. Barbara finds a way in, to Susan's dismay, and she finds the key attached to a statue. As she tries to dislodge the key, the statue maneuvers her into an inner courtyard. When the statue reappears on the wall, Barbara is gone but she has left the key behind. Sebetha suggests, and Ian agrees, that she, Altos and Susan go on to the next place while Ian make sure Barbara is okay. Altos and Susan use their dials, and Sabetha discovers the key they thought they found is a fake.
Ian sends Sabetha on ahead and vows to stay to find the correct key. Ian uses the statue to get to the inner courtyard, where he walks into a booby trap, but he finds Barbara right away as well. Ian goes off to find something to break down the inner door while Barbara waits impatiently and more creepers creep on her. The door opens on its own, so Barbara calls out to Ian and enters. Both Barbara Ian are trapped, but Barbara is set free by the scrabby Monk we saw earlier, who questions her need for the key and asks for proof of the veracity of her story. The Monk (Darrius) gets caught by a vine just as Ian gets loose and Ian saves him. They learn that the jungle advances when the whispering starts, and then Darrius dies after giving a cryptic combination to give them the key. Ian and Barbara are stymied by the code, but they figure out Darrius was experimenting with the destructive forces of nature, and he had managed to accelerate them to a dangerous level. As the jungle starts to attack them, they realize the combo is a chemical formula, and they escape to a cold cold place with the true key.
So I guess screaming go away at a terrifying jungle is enough to make it stop. Good to know.
Ian and Barbara are kind. I read somewhere that Susan's sometime telepathic abilities are here what make her more affected by the jungle. But that's not really explained anywhere in the text, and her abilities come and go. So meh.
Nice character moments between Barbara and Susan here as well. Barbara thinking and reasoning herself is nice. Though why wouldn't Susan go through the brush with Barbara? Silly ideas for contrivance.
Interesting to have them find the key so quickly. Of course it can't be that easy, can it. With a little makeup or something, those arms on the statue could have looked a little less like human arms. You are quite expecting them to do something human at any moment, and hey! There you go.
These early days the cast is quite tactile aren't they--hugging and arms around each other. I haven't noticed so much with the Doctor. You'd think Tegan and Nyssa would be so--I'll have to look for that to see. Poor Nyssa, they did a much better job in these early stories of giving all the companions something specific to do.
Barbara was smart enough to leave the key out.
Sabetha is quite mercenary, isn't she? There's no way Barbara would leave if she thought there was any chance of the others trying to get her. And there's no way Ian would leave without making sure Barbara was actually safe. Both Barbara and Ian know each other, so they know the other would never leave. Perhaps they should have made that plan to skip ahead if the danger got bad. But since they didn't make that plan, why would Ian and Susan ever leave?
Oh I see, splitting up even more. I knew Ian wouldn't leave. He sure is trusting of Sabetha and Altos with Susan. I mean, I know they are probably okay, but would the Doctor really want Susan off with the strangers? Better the danger you know.
I guess they've got a real enemy in this place after all, if the key is a fake. Since nothing has happened in this episode, I'm ready for something to start happening. Now it's just the adventures of Barbara and Ian, hoorah! I'm guessing that big with the creeper trying to wrap itself around Susan will come back. The effect wasn't badly done until the very end when it was quite obviously a studio prop.
Oh Oh, a black knight. I'm guessing there will be some king of duel. Nice work with the mechanical noises of the statues and such, but the actors need to notice these noises a little more. If I heard a mechanical noise, I would turn to investigate.
There is a lot of random let's separate stuff going on in this episode. And it seems like it is supposed to be moody and atmospheric but I think this would actually be better served with color. the jungle just doesn't seem claustrophobic enough and the true dangers are far enough apart that any sense of foreboding is lost.
But hey, a scrabby monk just appeared! Maybe he's the bad guy, one can hope.
Ho, I was just complaining about there being no danger and both Ian and Barbara get trapped in real and dangerous situations. Finally!
Poor Jackie, pretending like she is completely incapacitated under that net, when it is so large and loosely placed. I am trying to suspend my disbelief. And are we supposed to be seeing scrabby monks feet? I'm guessing yes, but you'd think he'd have a greater sense of urgency. And William Russell doing some good crowbar acting.
Okay, well scrabby Monk has stopped Barbara from being skewered and is very somber. Why, if as the Monk says, only those warned by Arbitan could avoid his traps, did Arbitan not warn them of the traps? For that matter, why didn't he give them any information about where the keys would be besides the bracelets? It wouldn't necessarily have helped them with key one, due to Morphos ascension, but at this destination they would have been in and out. Bad writers, bad!
So seriously, the monk gives then some cryptic combination and then dies? And if the plants are all evil, why is the office full of them?
I guess it's more interesting to have Darrius be the creator of his own destruction. That his own experiments increased the tempo of destruction. Oh this would have been a more interesting episode if they had met the monk earlier. As it is, is feels more like a crammed in explanation for the creepy jungle to make it seems like science and not fairy-tale, and then escape under pressure. And the realization of the destructive jungle wasn't the best in special effects, so maybe not.
Episode Four - The Snows of Terror
Short Summary: Ian and Barbara are immediately frozen and so tired they pass out. They are rescued by a Vasor, a trapper, who immediately steals Barbara's wrist strap, but not Ian's. The trapper tells a story of Altos, supposedly a madman, looking for "a couple of girls," and of bloodthirsty wolves. Ian asks for the loan of warm clothing to go look for Altos before the storm and night fall. Vasor trades Ian's wrist strap for furs, and Ian leaves to search for Altos. Vasor is happy to be alone with Barbara at last. Ian soon finds Altos, wearing Vasor's furs but unconscious and tied up. Barbara discovers everyone else's travel bracelets and the Keys as well while helping Vasor clear up the dinner dishes. Vasor claims he was given them in exchange for food and shelter, but Barbara doesn't believe his story. Vasor cops to some of it, and explains that he put raw meat in Ian's bag to draw the wolves and ensure his death.
Ian and Altos figure out the trap, and go back to the cabin to rescue Barbara; they get there just in time, though Barbara gets nicely feisty and bites him. Susan and Sabetha, whose fire has just died out, decide to leave the cave they were hiding in, but get lost trying to find their way out. Vasor is terrified of the demons in the caves, but Sabetha and Susan head in deeper and so does Ian's group. Sabetha and Susan find some warrior sculptures are reunited, finallywith the whole group, and Ian leaves Vasor behind in his rush to see Susan. Vasor breaks the rope bridge and leaves them all to the demons in the ice caves. The demons turn out to be the guardians of the key, which they manage to free from its ice prison. Melting the ice around the key also frees up the armed guards, who immediately give chase to the group. The group narrowly escapes as one ice man plunges to his death.
They return to the cabin where Vasor, now quite cowed, lets them have their travel dials, but then grabs Susan when Ian tries the stay and gloat. Vasor gets stabbed through the door by the cave warriors and they leave the icy mountain. Ian is now by himself. He comes across a dead body and is immediately clubbed over the head by someone. As he is passed out, he is framed for the murder of the dead man, and the key is stolen. Who is the mysterious black gloved framer?
So this trapper, Vasor, he is creepy right out of the gate. Rubbing Barbara and being intimate. Are you scared of me? Yes, dude. She says he doesn't scare her, but he so obviously does.
The trapper appears more genial, but why did he take Barbara's wrist strap and leave Ian's? Oh... because he knew Ian would trade it. He is crafty and definitely more to him than meets the eye. Nice setup of the mystery here--he could be just a lonely mountain trapper, but he's got a keen mind that thinks ahead, and an ability to manipulate the vulnerable. Nice.
Although I'm sorry, but those furs Ian puts on wouldn't protect him from the elements. Where's his hat? and his arm coverings? He had frostbite! Oh........... And Altos, with his bare legs!
Barbara, when a crazy mountain man has you locked into his hut, maybe that isn't the best time to be accusing him of being a liar and a thief. But points for bravado. This is why I like her.
And wow, a pretty explicit intimation that the trapper is going to rape Barbara. That's pretty heady stuff. There's no other reason for him to be stalking her around the room.
Oh and Susan, in a cave with no fire is still better than completely exposed to the elements on a mountainside in a storm in your street clothes, especially since you don't know where you are going. Truefax!
Nice job with the ice effects on the wall. Another effect that wouldn't have worked in color, but glistens quite well. If they hadn't had to interact with it so much, causing rockfalls & such it would have been excellent, but it did look and sound a lot more like polystyrene when it was excessively handled. They could have covered this with some sound effects, so I'm not quite sure why they didn't.
Did they take their wrist straps and the keys with them?
At least Ian acknowledges how foolish it was to leave Vasor on the other side of the rope bridge. He had lost his mind, truly! I blame writer contrivance again, which is too bad, because this episode was going along much better than the last one.
Oh Susan, you shriek and cringe at slow moving warrors, but bravely and resolutely cross an icecycle bridge to save your friends. You don't scream at all when Vasor grabs you and threatens to kill you, though you have both hands access to your dial, so you could escape from his hands at any time. I do not understand you. I like the look of total trust she gives Ian here.
I'm not sure why they are waiting for Ian's instructions here to twist their dials, when in previous eps people just kept going off on their own. What a time to learn the lesson to all go together.
Although I guess not, since Ian is all by himself when he is framed for the murder.
That was pretty much the weakest head knock I've ever seen--not even close to William Russell's head.
So now we have the intrigue for the next episode at least--Ian framed for murder, and the final key stolen by someone on Millenius, a "highly sophisticated destination."
Episode Five - Sentence of Death
Short Summary: Ian, framed for murder. He wakes up and is immediately interrogated by Tarron, but can shed no light on the mystery. He looks guilty, and is detained. His trial is set before the Tribunal. Barbara talks to an officer of the court to visit Ian, while they look for the Doctor. They haven't been able to fine Eprin either. The Doctor appears, and proclaims himself Ian's defense. The trial begins, and the doctor asks for more time to gather the facts. Although Eyesen, the prosecutor, objects, the Tribunal allows the extra time.
The Doctor reveals that he and Eprin had met up and made plans to steal the key, but Eprin went early and is in fact the murder victim. The Doctor is convinced there is a third accomplice, and that person was Eprin's betrayer. Altos and Sabetha go the library to do legal research while Barbara and Susan are given sleuthing assignments. Tarron explains to Susan, the Doctor and Barbara, that they key is not in the vault, nor could it have left the vault, which has them all baffled. When Tarron leaves, they try re-enacting the scene to figure out the identity of the true murderer. The Doctor thinks he knows who it is--the relief guard, who pretended to be first on the scene. Susan and Barbara go to visit Aydan, the guard, and meet his wife Kala. Kala reveals that Eprin and Aydan were friends, and that the key is valuable for its uniqueness and importance, and that would be a reason to steal it. When Aydan comes home, Susan taunts him into a temper, and he goes to strike her. They hear a domestic argument and someone calls Eyesen from the Aydan household. Eyesen tells the unknown caller about a contingency plan.
The Doctor calls Sabetha to produce one of her duplicate keys (all identical we were told) and claim that Aydan gave it to her as his first courtroom gambit. Aydan proclaims his innocence, and is shot down as he goes to name his accomplices. The Tribunal takes this as proof of Ian's guilt, and gives him the death penalty. Susan, meanwhile, has disappeared, kidnapped by the true murderers in exchange for their silence.
Boy in the recap of the cliffhanger they did an even worse job with Ian's head knock, if that is possible. It does take a long time for Ian to wake up. And start mouthing off to the cops.
Fun twist on legal system--guilty until proven innocent. That would be a terrifying prospect. Especially for the truly innocent.
Yea, the pompous Doctor is back. We love you, don't leave us again!
Wow, those hats on the tribunal are fantastic.
Okay, so the representative for the court is named Eyesen.
I have to say my bias; I am not fond of courtroom scenes. That's this whole episode, isn't it? They are just so static and talky. This room, while it feels like a real courtroom, is going to be a boring place for 24 minutes of talking and pacing.
Hey, Eyesen is wearing black gloves. Could he be the bad guy?
Alright, so sometimes props people get a little silly in their quest to make things not be earthly. Sideways writing instruments, okay, although then Altos would hold his pen differently than that, I wager. But rounded corners for paper, I will never buy in any supposed post-industrial society. I've already ranted about this in Battlestar Galactica places, but square edges cut by straight knives would create the least amount of waste and the highest profits. Paper size could be all scadywompus, but I still believe any society with paper that is mass produced will eventually come up with rectangles for its final design, until there is so much money that form is more important than function. End of rant on 2 second scene.
The Doctor is enjoying throwing Barbara around in this re-enactment, isn't he? Nice physicality.
Kala is all squinty and shifty, and who is she getting calls from hmmm? Aydan has a fierce temper and is afraid of something. He almost gives away that he knows where the key is. Susan is very nanny boo boo about her supposed knowledge of the location of the key as well. I'm guessing this will lead to some Susan peril later.
Okay, so Aydan is dead, and it didn't help anyone. Which makes the most sense, plotwise, actually, as the Doctor's evidence didn't go far enough to clear Ian.
I'm not sure why the conspirators would kidnap Susan at this point. They think she knows where the key is, so that's bad. But they've just proven that it can't be Ian and his cohorts, because they are all at the trial. Thus Ian must be innocent after all. And they sent a note, which is threatening, more proof the innocence of Ian. It doesn't seem well, thought out, for all of Eyesen's cold logic.
I like the future phones, though.
Susan should have been better about her hints - "she's going to kill me" not "they're going to kill me." I guess terror of imminent death leads one to make poor pronoun choices. We'll see if I could do any better; probably not.
Episode Six - The Keys of Marinus
Short Summary: Ian is to be executed when the pointer reaches the star--20 minutes? 4 hours? Which means Barbara, Altos and Sabetha don't have that much time to figure out who the conspirators are who have taken Susan. Barbara seems confident; Ian looks defeated. They go off to talk to Kala, who surely must want to find the murderer of her husband, though Sabetha isn't so sure. Kala weeps and says she knows nothing, so they leave her be. Of course, Susan is hidden in the back room, and Kala cruelly taunts her. Eyesen orders Kala to kill Susan. Barbara realizes Kala slipped and revealed that she knew they had spoken with Susan, though they hadn't revealed that fact. They rush back to Kala's and save Susan at the last moment.
The doctor sits dejected outside the courtroom as Eyesen leaves. He sees them put all the evidence from the case "in the cupboard." Barbara calls and tells Tarron about Kala. Kala named her accomplice as Ian, which is enough to give Tarron doubts. They set the trap, and Eyesen is caught. Tarron calls for the recall of the prisoner--a stay of execution. Tarron cheerfully admits his mistake and they set off for the glass island, having sent Altos and Sabetha on ahead. Back at the island, Yartek is interrogating Altos about the final key. Altos cares only about Sabetha. Yartek calls Sabetha's bluff about Altos's unimportance. Altos gives up the Doctor rather than let Yartek kill Sabetha, much to her dismay. The Doctor and company are reunited, but Ian is suspicious that no one has come to meet them. Yartek places the first four keys in the machine in anticipation of soon getting the fifth one. The group ambush a Voord in the hallway, and split up to find Sabetha, Altos and Arbitan.
The Doctor gives Ian the key to be given only to Arbitan. Sabetha and Altos declare their love. Susan and Ian find "Arbitan" who claims that a power leak from the machine has given him a disease. Yartek plays concerned father about Altos's affection for Sabetha. Susan suspects Yartek, but Ian plays along and gives him the key. They leave to go get the Doctor for Yartek, who crows his triumph. Yartek does want Sabetha and Altos around for his final absolute power, so he sends his lackey to fetch them. The Doctor and Barbara free Altos and Sabetha and Ian is clever, indeed, and gave Arbitan the fake key from Darrius. Sabetha and Altos warn that the false key will cause an explosion. They all try to escape the building, and a Voord approaches. Yartek decides to place the key without Sabetha as witness, but the machine explodes. Back at the Tardis, the Doctor blesses Sabetha to carry on his good work. Altos and Sabetha decide to return to Millenius. They say their goodbyes.
Barbara is the boss of us. She is working to protect Ian and the Doctor, and Susan. She has a good idea as well--to review all the facts.
Kala is quite the actress, but she fell for the Columbo "let the liar talk" trick. Though they didn't realize they were tricking a liar. I like Altos' line delivery here; it's so jaunty.
I don't mind Susan's hysterics here; they were earned. Kala really was quite a cold one, wasn't she? The guns are quite space-gunny, too. The phones are my still my favorite.
Wow, the Doctor looks even more defeated here. Sad Doctor is Sad! And Eyesen with the gloat.
That cupboard isn't a very safe place for that evidence, I don't think. It seems pretty rinky dink.
The way that clock beeps at Ian, it must be driving him mad. He doesn't have a lot of time left.
I like how happy the Doctor gets when he realizes they still have time to get the murderer. Although this all depends on him collecting the key before the execution rather than after. Since it seems like it would be easier to get access to the evidence after the execution, the Doctor is still assuming a lot, I think.
How can that burglar see anything? It must have been hours and not minutes on that clock for it to be so dark. Hooray, strapping officers of the courts!
I guess now we know why Arbitan wore all those monkish robes. It was a plot point for disguise of bad guys later. Thirteen minutes to go, and there's a lot to go through still, it feels like.
So Yartek's mask doesn't have that big ring on the top. Good thing, since he's got to be disguised in Artiban's robes. But how will he cover for his martinet voice?
Oops, flipper feet are hard to walk in. Sorry Voord!
Oh, Altos, didn't you hear Sabetha say that the man who loves her would never betray her secret? Yartek is going to kill you all anyway. She is stronger than you, perhaps. (No, that's not fair, she wouldn't let them kill him either. Love interferes with statecraft, I guess that's the lesson.)
I like the funny teasy reunion in the hallway with fussbudget Doctor and Susan chattering like a teenager. Ian's back to being suspicious. But they're all friends! Ian has recovered nicely from his near death experience, eh?
Wait I thought one of the keys was already in place? Did Vartek take it out for dramatic effect? It is a nice touch with the harmonics, though, of the machine. If it was all dramatic and effective, though, why didn't he wait for the final key to place them all? I'm guessing he has used this time on the island to re-do the morality programming to be his own controlling code? If he could defeat the machine like this again, maybe it's a good thing the people weren't pacified against him again.
Yartek also likes to stroke the machine. And he's pretty good at modulating his voice after all, though his Arbitan impression is still pretty poor. Well... maybe not. This concern over the honor of Altos is nice, but Artiban knew Altos and sent him on the errand, so why wouldn't he know him. Yartek, you are being too subtle.
Nice explosion effect again, and good explosion acting by all.
Oh, Barbara got attached, and Ian is flirting again. Nice!
In Conclusion
It might be easier to evaluate these episodes more individually, since their stories are only loosely linked. It's a decent concept, though I can see future script editors taking this and stretching out to a whole series (Key to Time, anyone?).
Part one had a huge infodump to supply, and did it in a fairly static manner. The Sea of Acid and alien atmosphere were nicely done, as was the menace of the Voord. Though sparsely populated, four against one Voord to Arbitan are still quite good odds.
I thought Part two was also nice and eery. I love any story which features Barbara's smarts, so plus on that as well. The Brains could have perhaps been smarter about who they let into their central control room. You'd think they'd have better means for execution than strangling and acting as witnesses. But I still like this section quite a bit.
Episode Three dragged like a dragging thing. The barriers were artificial and haphazard and didn't tie into to one another at all. It would make more sense that Arbitan would set the keys up with guardians and traps, but then why wouldn't he warn his messengers of these traps? For that matter, who were the guardians and traps for the first key? This section worked a lot better in the book.
Episode four was cracking, compared to episode three. The action moved along faster, the booby traps were expected and fought against, people were using their brains against bad guys. Though Vasor turned from menacing rapist to cringing captive in no time. That big guy could have broken Altos with his bare hands. I have missed the Doctor, though, and his bluster ways. He could maybe have gotten more information out of Darrius before that old Geezer up and died.
Episode five didn't drag as much as I thought, and a lot of plot got taken care of in good dramatic manner. There were hysterical courtroom misdirection antics, and nice officers of the court. And I like Tarron's quest for justice as his most important ideal, and his dependence on logic. William Hartnell's face when he realizes he can do nothing more to save Ian from execution--perfect! We see a reaction which is a far cry from his gleeful confidence earlier.
Episode six also moved along at a good pace. There were reveals and reveals but still time for small character moments. Everyone had a chance to be smart and brave, but the danger was quite real. They didn't try to show the big building burning, which would have been too expensive I think, but Sabetha and Altos got a chance for their new life.
I know I've said this before, but the spare music in these early episodes is a feature that I really like. They save it to make impacts, and let ordinary sounds carry the weight of scenes. It makes the creepy factors highten significantly. The best example is the beginning of the first episode, with its glass beaches and lack of any diegetic sound, letting you know there is something not quite right about what is happening. Of course, Ian calls our attention to this lack of sound. But I like it!
I am harsh on Susan in this episodes, and I think it's down to the writing and script editing. I understand that you can't have all the characters going around smarter and impervious; it makes the story boring if there is never any true danger. And from a writing standpoint, the companions in danger is the best way to highlight the vulnerability of the situation. I just think too often they let Susan be vulnerable and defeated. Not just scared but terrified into inactivity and crouching in fear for rescue. And it doesn't jibe with her backstory, nor is it consistent, so that when I do see her behaving intelligently and thoughtfully (like most of Marco Polo) and then see her revert to this I really miss the other Susan. I'm guessing fanfiction has some Susan adventures. Did she regenerate?
But this is one of the things I love in particular with William Hartnell's doctor is that his bluster often covered up a real fear and personal vulnerability as well. He was irascible, and defiant, and sometimes wrong, and he is learning compassion and connection through his travels with Ian and Barbara. And William Hartnell does a great job of making this a thru-line in the character. Can you see the Doctor of "An Unearthly Child" ever leaving his granddaughter with Ian and Barbara, nonetheless with two relative strangers Sabetha and Altos? Yet he does so confidently and cheerfully here, reassuring Susan's worries with his absolute trust. He has some quite high moments and low moments through this story, and his emotional journey is quite believable.
Altos and Sabetha were good characters. A little idealized, but they had a chance to become real enough after their imprisonment. Though if I were them I would have looked to change my clothes somewhere along the way, maybe in the city.
And Susan for all her screaminess early on, had some good things to do in these episodes after all. Only she was small enough to cross the ice bridge, and she was quite good under pressure of kidnapping.
I really could have done without most of episode three. It gave us some new information, but introduced bigger questions that couldn't be answered. The keys were protected by someone or something, and Arbitan's true messengers would know the right approaches to the traps. But Sabetha, Arbitan's daughter, Altos, a trusted confederate and The Doctor and Co were not given any clues as to where they keys were or how to retrieve them. It's too sloppy of Arbitan--of course the keys should be well protected, but don't send your associates to certain death--that's just crazy. The writer's hand was too evident in the roadblocks, especially in episode three. the other episodes raced through a ton of plot and exposition--they were complicated and fast paced. I should go back and summarize my summaries, this time, or stop calling them short. There was almost too much plot going on there, but I did also appreciate the courtroom intrigue. And the main cast, as always, really delivered the goods.
I think we're at about a 7 for this episode. I'm rubbish at rating things. Susan drove me too batty at the beginning, and there were some difficult plot holes. But I do love this cast (as I think I've said).
Wow.
You can understand his frustrations a bit, though--6 episodes, 6 completely different settings, same budget as the other shows but no set re-use? Crazy.
I had never seen this one until it came out on DVD. Instead I read and reread the Target Novelisation. It does work quite well there, where the imagination can take you to those many places. But Terry Nation was too ambitious, and the script editors didn't have a good sense of reigning in their budgets. Oh well.
So on to the show...
Episode One - The Sea of Death
Short Summary: The Doctor and companions land on an island, which they soon discover to be surrounded by a sea of acid (but not before Susan loses a shoe). Although the crew discovered the four enemy ships, Susan has wandered off to get new shoes and follows some strange footprints. Eventually they all end up at the giant building--Susan exploring by herself, and the other three looking for Susan. The Doctor splits from Ian and Barbara, hoping to find Susan faster. First Susan, then the Doctor get sucked into the building via the moveable panels. Susan is menaced by one of the Voords, but he drops dead with a knife in his back. The Doctor, Susan and Barbara reunite, as prisoners of the white-suited monk. When Ian fights off a Voord who is attacking the monk, the lone defender of the fortress from the Voord, Arbitan releases the prisoners. But there's one Voord left...
Arbitan then explains the mission of the Conscience of Marinus and his fears of the Voord's threat to the Doctor. The Conscience made men be good, except that Yartek found a way to overcome the influence of the machine. The leaders removed the four of the five key microcircuits from the machine and scattered them about the planet until a means of defeating Yartek could be discovered. Arbitan fixed the machine and sent his daughter and others to recover the four missing keys, but hasn't heard from them, so he proposes to send the doctor and allies to do it instead. The Doctor and crew agree when Arbitan places an invisible force field around the Tardis until they return (sneaky bastard). Arbitan gives everyone pre-programmed bracelets to take them to all four destinations, so they can recover the keys. Barbara turns her dial right away, and gets separated from the group. Arbitan then tells them if the Voord have taken over the island when they get back they must destroy the keys at all costs. As the Doctor leaves, Arbitan is murdered by the final hiding Voord. Ian, the Doctor and Susan materialize and find Barbara's blood covered dial...
Nice model work here at the beginning. It's nice to see the camaraderie amongst the group here. They really have gelled as true friends. And Ian is still wearing his Marco Polo outfit! I can't remember what anyone else was wearing.
What could be in those creepy rubber flipper suits? Based on the music, it must be bad.
I love the doctor's cheery curiosity as well.
It would be difficult to go to the beach and not dip ones feet in; I know I always do.
Scarey pants Susan. She just gets too overly scared. Her shoe melted, but then she reacted like it was her feet. Probably the direction, but it's overkill. Argh, I shouldn't focus so much on Susan, but she could have been amazing, and the writing severely limited her. You can see with stories like this why Carole Anne Ford was disappointed, and why she left the soonest. When it comes time for Barbara to be afraid, I always believe it, because they give her things to do. Susan, she is there mostly to generate a fear reaction. It must have gotten terribly tiresome.
The discussion about the ships - everyone has something to say about them--an insight or observation. They really feel like a team!
Is this Susan who would follow strange footprints the same Susan who would cringe in fear and tremble when her shoe gets dissolved in a tidal pool? No! I like this Susan. And Carole Ann Ford, so beautiful and slightly alien looking. I must let this go...
I wonder what the point of the big round bit on the front of the suit mask is. Protective armor. The design is nice, anyway--kind of threatening.
The doctor, so happy to visit. I always love William Hartnell's goofy chuckle.
Dude, why would the rubber man want to stab Susan with a knife? Whew, lucky break for her that there are panels to take them in.
And a lesson in architecture, hallo.
This is a perfect place for Susan to scream. Bravo Susan! The Doctor didn't hear it, but he gets pulled in as well, just as Ian and Barbara come around the final corner.
Oh, silent Monks in white. And hiding baddies. Wait, how did he get stabbed in the back exactly? Wasn't that a wall? I have to watch that again. Nope still doesn't make sense.
And nice tricksy to have Ian pulled off out of sight of us and Barbara.
I like that the reunion of the Doctor, Susan and Barbara was fairly low key, though again, what about that white monk dude? Oh, they have been taken prisoners, I see. Yes, that transition wasn't the best.
Ian, because he saves Arbitan from the Voord, gets everyone else released, after a dodgy special effect of the Voord being dropped into a lake. Actually, if it hadn't been so obviously 2-d, it would have worked very well. Where was the Voord action figure stand-in?
At this point we get exposition infodump. Poor Arbitan... repository of all knowledge. Let's see, conscience forces all men to be moral, except that bad men figure out how to out think the machine, so the 5 key microcircuits must be removed and hidden on Marinus until later. But the bad men want these microcircuits too, because if they can control the machine they can control the planet! Maybe some more thought should have been put into a machine for thought police. Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.
Why must all the keys be recovered now? Handwave, plot. Oh oh I see, Arbitan has fixed the machine. Fine, fine.
I like the Doctor refusing to help Arbitan at first. His selfish streak comes out a bit. It's a nice contrast to the always interfering as is his right doctor of later seasons. He's fine to help when forced, but isn't automatically a justice machine. And Arbitan--I guess the conscience isn't working yet, if he can hold strangers hostage to perform to his will. Shouldn't this be a sign that maybe the conscience isn't such a good thing?
Yeah, you tell him, Ian... Choice what choice.
Wrist bracelets for travel. I like the Doctor's compliments to Arbitan of his travel methods.
And the machine is nice and science-fictiony. I don't think it's as rubbish as Raymond Cusick thought, but he is probably the best judge of his work.
Oh, Arbitan loves his work, his machine, and now he is stabbed to death. Damned Voord. I thought this was the cliffhanger, but it turns out there's more.
Oh, Barbara lost her travel dial, and there's blood on it!
Arbitan is a bit wooden, but I like his expressiveness about his daughter and impressions of danger without being overdramatic. He could talk a little faster, but that was quite a long scene of exposition the actor had to deliver there.
Episode Two - The Web of Death
Short Summary: Finding Barbara's wrist bracelet with blood on it, the crew rush through the closest door. They find Barbara in the lap of luxury, with beautiful clothes and a full menu of good. Ian is suspicious and doesn't yet want to eat anything. Altos, an emissary, explains that they should all sleep and it will make more sense in the morning. When they've fallen asleep, one of the servers comes in and places a disk on the forehead of everyone, but Barbara's falls off when she tosses about. When Barbara awakens the world is changed--dirty terrible, cracked. Barbara gets more worried as the others try to convince her nothing has changed. Altos tries to take Barbara to a physician, and Barbara runs off. Altos reports to the Brains/Morpho that Barbara escaped.
Both Sabetha (the servant girl who mis-placed the discs) and Barbara are placed under sentence of death, while Morpho tell Altos that the remaining three need one more treatment of the Mesmer. Sabetha finds Barbara's hiding place, and Barbara realizes she is Arbitan's daughter when she sees the key around Sabetha's neck. Morpho makes Altos their final instrument for the death of Barbara and Sabetha and the subjugation of the rest of the group. When Sabetha sees Altos attack Barbara, she remembers who she is and knocks Altos out with a rock. Barbara finds Ian, but he no longer remembers her at all, and he takes her to Morpho, where it outlines its evil plot. Barbara fights Ian's chokehold off and breaks Morpho's machinery to destroy its brains. Freed from the mind control, The Doctor decides they should split up, with his self going on to section four to meet up with Altos' friend Eprin and everyone else, including Sabetha and Altos, going on for the second key. Sabetha keeps the first key with her. Susan turns her dial as soon as she gets it, and is plopped in a jungle where horrible noises cause her to caterwaul in fear.
Ian wants to rush in and get to Barbara--ever the rescuer. And I like the Doctor accusing Ian of being precipitous. Nice word, Doctor.
I'm glad they explained that thing was a door, because it sure looks like a wall to me.
Nice disorientating effect. It lets us know right away something won't be quite right about this place as well.
And quite a lovely set. Barbara looks gorgeous. And the facetious flirting between Ian and Barbara--how I like them.
But dudes, always be suspicious of a warm welcome, eh? I'm suspicious. The music isn't helping ease my mind. It's kind of plaintive.
I like that Ian is suspicious. "I don't yet know the price" indeed!
Altos greets them, and explains they are in Morphoton, which is the best place to live. It's all luxury, all the time. Nothing suspicious there. The Doctor asks for a full laboratory, and Altos tells them after they sleep he will have it.
Ian is still suspicious, but Barbara has completely drunk the koolade. More flirting! They all fall asleep quickly.
First sign of ominous--heartbeat and eyes alight in statues! And sneaking servants putting weird disks on foreheads. Oh! Kind of precarious, though, right? As they find out with Barbara. You'd think whoever the baddie is would have a better way of establishing its mind control, especially since people toss and turn in sleep.
The mind control wears off and a terrible noise is in Barbara head, which knocks her out.
Th next day Ian is happy and contented. Barbara sleeps on.
So, really nice on how they cut between the true world and the fantasy world. This must have taken some planning. It's fantastic, too, to have Ian and Barbara reversed in their attitudes. Fun!
Interesting, too, to make that a straight POV shot! To have everyone looking right at the camera puts us squarely in Barbara's place--confused. Carole Ann Ford is good here too, gentle and quizzical.
Good on you, Barbara, running off. I wouldn't go anywhere with that creepy-eyed Altos either.
I've seen color photos of these brains, and they were quite creepy that way too. Though I think the black and white makes them look more real, somehow. Since the presentation of black and white is already artificial, it's easier to ignore the joins of sets and the artificiality of props.
Interesting--they weren't able to change Barbara's dress and jewelry until this point. Which makes sense, unless she was going to redress right in the room. I wonder if they changed her shoes as well. Of course Barbara hides in the room that turns out to be the holding cell for her and Sabetha, though Altos doesn't know she is there. Still, it is a nice contrivance for the next part of the plot.
The back and forth between the mesmerized reality and the true setting is nice. And good, too, because they don't actually have to prop out the laboratory. Cool and budget-wise.
Barbara tries to get Sabetha out of her funk. Boy this actress does funk well. Altos feels more sinister, more complicit but Sabetha is just a tool.
Okay, seriously, pulsing brains with eyestalks. Ugh. There accents are terribly posh, too. I wonder if that was on purpose--it is the sixties after all.
Altos is wearing the shortest toga known to man. I mean, he has nice legs for sure, but hello. Funny to have the women in pants and long skirts and then Altos running around in that short mini.
It's also a nice touch that language alone doesn't return Sabetha's memory, but the sight of Barbara being attacked by Altos spurs her instinct for survival. Of course poor Altos is brained and Sabetha is still a bit of a zombie.
Jacqueline Hill does scared defiance really well. I think sometimes in their attempts to not seem "girly" the (newer, especially) companions overdo bravado so that you lose out on how or why a situation can be terrifying. With Jacqueline (and I think Elisabeth Sladen was really good at this too) you always got this--genuine terror and fear, but through that, always intelligence and a desire to act, to find a way out. It's easier to brave if you are not really scared, but then your achievements are not as great either. I love Barbara, for true.
I wish that Nation hadn't expositioned the origin of Morphos as well. "We outgrew our brains and figured out how to mind control everyone else." Huh? I accepted it more when they were just random brains taking advantage of the already vaguely mind-controlled inhabitants of Marinus, rather than weirdly evolved Marinians subjugating their own people.
Plus, they have her do the right self defense move for getting out of a face to face choke hold. Don't try to peel back the hands from the neck, punch through the arms! Of course, she really should have gone for the nose to really incapacitate Ian, but he's her friend and that would be hard.
Whoa, and a rage from Barbara! Those Morphos or whatever were pretty vulnerable, with all their machinery and glass containers. (Although interesting--I'm guessing she wasn't allowed to break all the glass containers for those expensive props because it's weird so many were left unbroken). Have we seen Barbara be so violent before?
And also a nice show of vulnerability from Ian as well. Does he remember trying to kill Barbara?
Exposition, exposition, exposition. Altos is also from Arbitan, the Doctor will go on to the end and everyone gets their travel dials back. Perhaps the people of Morphoton shouldn't burn down their city, though? Tough to rebuild from scratch and the Brains are already out of commission. Susan doesn't want to leave her Grandfather, but he convinces her it would be safer.
Altos is also quite posh, too. He does that over-enunciate thing that people just don't do as much anymore. But the actor is playing his unhypnotized self as kind of cheery and go-getter. I like him, I think.
Of course she pops off as soon as she gets her dial. Didn't she learn anything from Barbara's experience? and again, first Susan wants to go with her grandfather and has to talked into the separation. But then as soon as she gets her dial she goes on to the next place. Impetuous child. (William Hartnell's grin at her when she pops off is sweet). And not inconsistent in a way that makes sense for the character, but in random service of the plot. Again, not the fault of Carole Ann Ford, who is doing the best with what she's given. I'm guessing in such a production heavy show, characterization would fall by the wayside sometimes.
And the worst of Susan emerges as she collapses and squeals against the screaming jungle noises. They should have been louder; she can outscream that jungle on her best day.
Episode Three - The Screaming Jungle
Short Summary: The jungle stops screaming but Susan is still terrified. Ian, Barbara, Sabetha and Altos show up, and reassure Susan. Susan and Barbara stay together while the other three look for a way into what is an obvious courtyard. The jungle comes alive and scares Susan. Barbara finds a way in, to Susan's dismay, and she finds the key attached to a statue. As she tries to dislodge the key, the statue maneuvers her into an inner courtyard. When the statue reappears on the wall, Barbara is gone but she has left the key behind. Sebetha suggests, and Ian agrees, that she, Altos and Susan go on to the next place while Ian make sure Barbara is okay. Altos and Susan use their dials, and Sabetha discovers the key they thought they found is a fake.
Ian sends Sabetha on ahead and vows to stay to find the correct key. Ian uses the statue to get to the inner courtyard, where he walks into a booby trap, but he finds Barbara right away as well. Ian goes off to find something to break down the inner door while Barbara waits impatiently and more creepers creep on her. The door opens on its own, so Barbara calls out to Ian and enters. Both Barbara Ian are trapped, but Barbara is set free by the scrabby Monk we saw earlier, who questions her need for the key and asks for proof of the veracity of her story. The Monk (Darrius) gets caught by a vine just as Ian gets loose and Ian saves him. They learn that the jungle advances when the whispering starts, and then Darrius dies after giving a cryptic combination to give them the key. Ian and Barbara are stymied by the code, but they figure out Darrius was experimenting with the destructive forces of nature, and he had managed to accelerate them to a dangerous level. As the jungle starts to attack them, they realize the combo is a chemical formula, and they escape to a cold cold place with the true key.
So I guess screaming go away at a terrifying jungle is enough to make it stop. Good to know.
Ian and Barbara are kind. I read somewhere that Susan's sometime telepathic abilities are here what make her more affected by the jungle. But that's not really explained anywhere in the text, and her abilities come and go. So meh.
Nice character moments between Barbara and Susan here as well. Barbara thinking and reasoning herself is nice. Though why wouldn't Susan go through the brush with Barbara? Silly ideas for contrivance.
Interesting to have them find the key so quickly. Of course it can't be that easy, can it. With a little makeup or something, those arms on the statue could have looked a little less like human arms. You are quite expecting them to do something human at any moment, and hey! There you go.
These early days the cast is quite tactile aren't they--hugging and arms around each other. I haven't noticed so much with the Doctor. You'd think Tegan and Nyssa would be so--I'll have to look for that to see. Poor Nyssa, they did a much better job in these early stories of giving all the companions something specific to do.
Barbara was smart enough to leave the key out.
Sabetha is quite mercenary, isn't she? There's no way Barbara would leave if she thought there was any chance of the others trying to get her. And there's no way Ian would leave without making sure Barbara was actually safe. Both Barbara and Ian know each other, so they know the other would never leave. Perhaps they should have made that plan to skip ahead if the danger got bad. But since they didn't make that plan, why would Ian and Susan ever leave?
Oh I see, splitting up even more. I knew Ian wouldn't leave. He sure is trusting of Sabetha and Altos with Susan. I mean, I know they are probably okay, but would the Doctor really want Susan off with the strangers? Better the danger you know.
I guess they've got a real enemy in this place after all, if the key is a fake. Since nothing has happened in this episode, I'm ready for something to start happening. Now it's just the adventures of Barbara and Ian, hoorah! I'm guessing that big with the creeper trying to wrap itself around Susan will come back. The effect wasn't badly done until the very end when it was quite obviously a studio prop.
Oh Oh, a black knight. I'm guessing there will be some king of duel. Nice work with the mechanical noises of the statues and such, but the actors need to notice these noises a little more. If I heard a mechanical noise, I would turn to investigate.
There is a lot of random let's separate stuff going on in this episode. And it seems like it is supposed to be moody and atmospheric but I think this would actually be better served with color. the jungle just doesn't seem claustrophobic enough and the true dangers are far enough apart that any sense of foreboding is lost.
But hey, a scrabby monk just appeared! Maybe he's the bad guy, one can hope.
Ho, I was just complaining about there being no danger and both Ian and Barbara get trapped in real and dangerous situations. Finally!
Poor Jackie, pretending like she is completely incapacitated under that net, when it is so large and loosely placed. I am trying to suspend my disbelief. And are we supposed to be seeing scrabby monks feet? I'm guessing yes, but you'd think he'd have a greater sense of urgency. And William Russell doing some good crowbar acting.
Okay, well scrabby Monk has stopped Barbara from being skewered and is very somber. Why, if as the Monk says, only those warned by Arbitan could avoid his traps, did Arbitan not warn them of the traps? For that matter, why didn't he give them any information about where the keys would be besides the bracelets? It wouldn't necessarily have helped them with key one, due to Morphos ascension, but at this destination they would have been in and out. Bad writers, bad!
So seriously, the monk gives then some cryptic combination and then dies? And if the plants are all evil, why is the office full of them?
I guess it's more interesting to have Darrius be the creator of his own destruction. That his own experiments increased the tempo of destruction. Oh this would have been a more interesting episode if they had met the monk earlier. As it is, is feels more like a crammed in explanation for the creepy jungle to make it seems like science and not fairy-tale, and then escape under pressure. And the realization of the destructive jungle wasn't the best in special effects, so maybe not.
Episode Four - The Snows of Terror
Short Summary: Ian and Barbara are immediately frozen and so tired they pass out. They are rescued by a Vasor, a trapper, who immediately steals Barbara's wrist strap, but not Ian's. The trapper tells a story of Altos, supposedly a madman, looking for "a couple of girls," and of bloodthirsty wolves. Ian asks for the loan of warm clothing to go look for Altos before the storm and night fall. Vasor trades Ian's wrist strap for furs, and Ian leaves to search for Altos. Vasor is happy to be alone with Barbara at last. Ian soon finds Altos, wearing Vasor's furs but unconscious and tied up. Barbara discovers everyone else's travel bracelets and the Keys as well while helping Vasor clear up the dinner dishes. Vasor claims he was given them in exchange for food and shelter, but Barbara doesn't believe his story. Vasor cops to some of it, and explains that he put raw meat in Ian's bag to draw the wolves and ensure his death.
Ian and Altos figure out the trap, and go back to the cabin to rescue Barbara; they get there just in time, though Barbara gets nicely feisty and bites him. Susan and Sabetha, whose fire has just died out, decide to leave the cave they were hiding in, but get lost trying to find their way out. Vasor is terrified of the demons in the caves, but Sabetha and Susan head in deeper and so does Ian's group. Sabetha and Susan find some warrior sculptures are reunited, finallywith the whole group, and Ian leaves Vasor behind in his rush to see Susan. Vasor breaks the rope bridge and leaves them all to the demons in the ice caves. The demons turn out to be the guardians of the key, which they manage to free from its ice prison. Melting the ice around the key also frees up the armed guards, who immediately give chase to the group. The group narrowly escapes as one ice man plunges to his death.
They return to the cabin where Vasor, now quite cowed, lets them have their travel dials, but then grabs Susan when Ian tries the stay and gloat. Vasor gets stabbed through the door by the cave warriors and they leave the icy mountain. Ian is now by himself. He comes across a dead body and is immediately clubbed over the head by someone. As he is passed out, he is framed for the murder of the dead man, and the key is stolen. Who is the mysterious black gloved framer?
So this trapper, Vasor, he is creepy right out of the gate. Rubbing Barbara and being intimate. Are you scared of me? Yes, dude. She says he doesn't scare her, but he so obviously does.
The trapper appears more genial, but why did he take Barbara's wrist strap and leave Ian's? Oh... because he knew Ian would trade it. He is crafty and definitely more to him than meets the eye. Nice setup of the mystery here--he could be just a lonely mountain trapper, but he's got a keen mind that thinks ahead, and an ability to manipulate the vulnerable. Nice.
Although I'm sorry, but those furs Ian puts on wouldn't protect him from the elements. Where's his hat? and his arm coverings? He had frostbite! Oh........... And Altos, with his bare legs!
Barbara, when a crazy mountain man has you locked into his hut, maybe that isn't the best time to be accusing him of being a liar and a thief. But points for bravado. This is why I like her.
And wow, a pretty explicit intimation that the trapper is going to rape Barbara. That's pretty heady stuff. There's no other reason for him to be stalking her around the room.
Oh and Susan, in a cave with no fire is still better than completely exposed to the elements on a mountainside in a storm in your street clothes, especially since you don't know where you are going. Truefax!
Nice job with the ice effects on the wall. Another effect that wouldn't have worked in color, but glistens quite well. If they hadn't had to interact with it so much, causing rockfalls & such it would have been excellent, but it did look and sound a lot more like polystyrene when it was excessively handled. They could have covered this with some sound effects, so I'm not quite sure why they didn't.
Did they take their wrist straps and the keys with them?
At least Ian acknowledges how foolish it was to leave Vasor on the other side of the rope bridge. He had lost his mind, truly! I blame writer contrivance again, which is too bad, because this episode was going along much better than the last one.
Oh Susan, you shriek and cringe at slow moving warrors, but bravely and resolutely cross an icecycle bridge to save your friends. You don't scream at all when Vasor grabs you and threatens to kill you, though you have both hands access to your dial, so you could escape from his hands at any time. I do not understand you. I like the look of total trust she gives Ian here.
I'm not sure why they are waiting for Ian's instructions here to twist their dials, when in previous eps people just kept going off on their own. What a time to learn the lesson to all go together.
Although I guess not, since Ian is all by himself when he is framed for the murder.
That was pretty much the weakest head knock I've ever seen--not even close to William Russell's head.
So now we have the intrigue for the next episode at least--Ian framed for murder, and the final key stolen by someone on Millenius, a "highly sophisticated destination."
Episode Five - Sentence of Death
Short Summary: Ian, framed for murder. He wakes up and is immediately interrogated by Tarron, but can shed no light on the mystery. He looks guilty, and is detained. His trial is set before the Tribunal. Barbara talks to an officer of the court to visit Ian, while they look for the Doctor. They haven't been able to fine Eprin either. The Doctor appears, and proclaims himself Ian's defense. The trial begins, and the doctor asks for more time to gather the facts. Although Eyesen, the prosecutor, objects, the Tribunal allows the extra time.
The Doctor reveals that he and Eprin had met up and made plans to steal the key, but Eprin went early and is in fact the murder victim. The Doctor is convinced there is a third accomplice, and that person was Eprin's betrayer. Altos and Sabetha go the library to do legal research while Barbara and Susan are given sleuthing assignments. Tarron explains to Susan, the Doctor and Barbara, that they key is not in the vault, nor could it have left the vault, which has them all baffled. When Tarron leaves, they try re-enacting the scene to figure out the identity of the true murderer. The Doctor thinks he knows who it is--the relief guard, who pretended to be first on the scene. Susan and Barbara go to visit Aydan, the guard, and meet his wife Kala. Kala reveals that Eprin and Aydan were friends, and that the key is valuable for its uniqueness and importance, and that would be a reason to steal it. When Aydan comes home, Susan taunts him into a temper, and he goes to strike her. They hear a domestic argument and someone calls Eyesen from the Aydan household. Eyesen tells the unknown caller about a contingency plan.
The Doctor calls Sabetha to produce one of her duplicate keys (all identical we were told) and claim that Aydan gave it to her as his first courtroom gambit. Aydan proclaims his innocence, and is shot down as he goes to name his accomplices. The Tribunal takes this as proof of Ian's guilt, and gives him the death penalty. Susan, meanwhile, has disappeared, kidnapped by the true murderers in exchange for their silence.
Boy in the recap of the cliffhanger they did an even worse job with Ian's head knock, if that is possible. It does take a long time for Ian to wake up. And start mouthing off to the cops.
Fun twist on legal system--guilty until proven innocent. That would be a terrifying prospect. Especially for the truly innocent.
Yea, the pompous Doctor is back. We love you, don't leave us again!
Wow, those hats on the tribunal are fantastic.
Okay, so the representative for the court is named Eyesen.
I have to say my bias; I am not fond of courtroom scenes. That's this whole episode, isn't it? They are just so static and talky. This room, while it feels like a real courtroom, is going to be a boring place for 24 minutes of talking and pacing.
Hey, Eyesen is wearing black gloves. Could he be the bad guy?
Alright, so sometimes props people get a little silly in their quest to make things not be earthly. Sideways writing instruments, okay, although then Altos would hold his pen differently than that, I wager. But rounded corners for paper, I will never buy in any supposed post-industrial society. I've already ranted about this in Battlestar Galactica places, but square edges cut by straight knives would create the least amount of waste and the highest profits. Paper size could be all scadywompus, but I still believe any society with paper that is mass produced will eventually come up with rectangles for its final design, until there is so much money that form is more important than function. End of rant on 2 second scene.
The Doctor is enjoying throwing Barbara around in this re-enactment, isn't he? Nice physicality.
Kala is all squinty and shifty, and who is she getting calls from hmmm? Aydan has a fierce temper and is afraid of something. He almost gives away that he knows where the key is. Susan is very nanny boo boo about her supposed knowledge of the location of the key as well. I'm guessing this will lead to some Susan peril later.
Okay, so Aydan is dead, and it didn't help anyone. Which makes the most sense, plotwise, actually, as the Doctor's evidence didn't go far enough to clear Ian.
I'm not sure why the conspirators would kidnap Susan at this point. They think she knows where the key is, so that's bad. But they've just proven that it can't be Ian and his cohorts, because they are all at the trial. Thus Ian must be innocent after all. And they sent a note, which is threatening, more proof the innocence of Ian. It doesn't seem well, thought out, for all of Eyesen's cold logic.
I like the future phones, though.
Susan should have been better about her hints - "she's going to kill me" not "they're going to kill me." I guess terror of imminent death leads one to make poor pronoun choices. We'll see if I could do any better; probably not.
Episode Six - The Keys of Marinus
Short Summary: Ian is to be executed when the pointer reaches the star--20 minutes? 4 hours? Which means Barbara, Altos and Sabetha don't have that much time to figure out who the conspirators are who have taken Susan. Barbara seems confident; Ian looks defeated. They go off to talk to Kala, who surely must want to find the murderer of her husband, though Sabetha isn't so sure. Kala weeps and says she knows nothing, so they leave her be. Of course, Susan is hidden in the back room, and Kala cruelly taunts her. Eyesen orders Kala to kill Susan. Barbara realizes Kala slipped and revealed that she knew they had spoken with Susan, though they hadn't revealed that fact. They rush back to Kala's and save Susan at the last moment.
The doctor sits dejected outside the courtroom as Eyesen leaves. He sees them put all the evidence from the case "in the cupboard." Barbara calls and tells Tarron about Kala. Kala named her accomplice as Ian, which is enough to give Tarron doubts. They set the trap, and Eyesen is caught. Tarron calls for the recall of the prisoner--a stay of execution. Tarron cheerfully admits his mistake and they set off for the glass island, having sent Altos and Sabetha on ahead. Back at the island, Yartek is interrogating Altos about the final key. Altos cares only about Sabetha. Yartek calls Sabetha's bluff about Altos's unimportance. Altos gives up the Doctor rather than let Yartek kill Sabetha, much to her dismay. The Doctor and company are reunited, but Ian is suspicious that no one has come to meet them. Yartek places the first four keys in the machine in anticipation of soon getting the fifth one. The group ambush a Voord in the hallway, and split up to find Sabetha, Altos and Arbitan.
The Doctor gives Ian the key to be given only to Arbitan. Sabetha and Altos declare their love. Susan and Ian find "Arbitan" who claims that a power leak from the machine has given him a disease. Yartek plays concerned father about Altos's affection for Sabetha. Susan suspects Yartek, but Ian plays along and gives him the key. They leave to go get the Doctor for Yartek, who crows his triumph. Yartek does want Sabetha and Altos around for his final absolute power, so he sends his lackey to fetch them. The Doctor and Barbara free Altos and Sabetha and Ian is clever, indeed, and gave Arbitan the fake key from Darrius. Sabetha and Altos warn that the false key will cause an explosion. They all try to escape the building, and a Voord approaches. Yartek decides to place the key without Sabetha as witness, but the machine explodes. Back at the Tardis, the Doctor blesses Sabetha to carry on his good work. Altos and Sabetha decide to return to Millenius. They say their goodbyes.
Barbara is the boss of us. She is working to protect Ian and the Doctor, and Susan. She has a good idea as well--to review all the facts.
Kala is quite the actress, but she fell for the Columbo "let the liar talk" trick. Though they didn't realize they were tricking a liar. I like Altos' line delivery here; it's so jaunty.
I don't mind Susan's hysterics here; they were earned. Kala really was quite a cold one, wasn't she? The guns are quite space-gunny, too. The phones are my still my favorite.
Wow, the Doctor looks even more defeated here. Sad Doctor is Sad! And Eyesen with the gloat.
That cupboard isn't a very safe place for that evidence, I don't think. It seems pretty rinky dink.
The way that clock beeps at Ian, it must be driving him mad. He doesn't have a lot of time left.
I like how happy the Doctor gets when he realizes they still have time to get the murderer. Although this all depends on him collecting the key before the execution rather than after. Since it seems like it would be easier to get access to the evidence after the execution, the Doctor is still assuming a lot, I think.
How can that burglar see anything? It must have been hours and not minutes on that clock for it to be so dark. Hooray, strapping officers of the courts!
I guess now we know why Arbitan wore all those monkish robes. It was a plot point for disguise of bad guys later. Thirteen minutes to go, and there's a lot to go through still, it feels like.
So Yartek's mask doesn't have that big ring on the top. Good thing, since he's got to be disguised in Artiban's robes. But how will he cover for his martinet voice?
Oops, flipper feet are hard to walk in. Sorry Voord!
Oh, Altos, didn't you hear Sabetha say that the man who loves her would never betray her secret? Yartek is going to kill you all anyway. She is stronger than you, perhaps. (No, that's not fair, she wouldn't let them kill him either. Love interferes with statecraft, I guess that's the lesson.)
I like the funny teasy reunion in the hallway with fussbudget Doctor and Susan chattering like a teenager. Ian's back to being suspicious. But they're all friends! Ian has recovered nicely from his near death experience, eh?
Wait I thought one of the keys was already in place? Did Vartek take it out for dramatic effect? It is a nice touch with the harmonics, though, of the machine. If it was all dramatic and effective, though, why didn't he wait for the final key to place them all? I'm guessing he has used this time on the island to re-do the morality programming to be his own controlling code? If he could defeat the machine like this again, maybe it's a good thing the people weren't pacified against him again.
Yartek also likes to stroke the machine. And he's pretty good at modulating his voice after all, though his Arbitan impression is still pretty poor. Well... maybe not. This concern over the honor of Altos is nice, but Artiban knew Altos and sent him on the errand, so why wouldn't he know him. Yartek, you are being too subtle.
Nice explosion effect again, and good explosion acting by all.
Oh, Barbara got attached, and Ian is flirting again. Nice!
In Conclusion
It might be easier to evaluate these episodes more individually, since their stories are only loosely linked. It's a decent concept, though I can see future script editors taking this and stretching out to a whole series (Key to Time, anyone?).
Part one had a huge infodump to supply, and did it in a fairly static manner. The Sea of Acid and alien atmosphere were nicely done, as was the menace of the Voord. Though sparsely populated, four against one Voord to Arbitan are still quite good odds.
I thought Part two was also nice and eery. I love any story which features Barbara's smarts, so plus on that as well. The Brains could have perhaps been smarter about who they let into their central control room. You'd think they'd have better means for execution than strangling and acting as witnesses. But I still like this section quite a bit.
Episode Three dragged like a dragging thing. The barriers were artificial and haphazard and didn't tie into to one another at all. It would make more sense that Arbitan would set the keys up with guardians and traps, but then why wouldn't he warn his messengers of these traps? For that matter, who were the guardians and traps for the first key? This section worked a lot better in the book.
Episode four was cracking, compared to episode three. The action moved along faster, the booby traps were expected and fought against, people were using their brains against bad guys. Though Vasor turned from menacing rapist to cringing captive in no time. That big guy could have broken Altos with his bare hands. I have missed the Doctor, though, and his bluster ways. He could maybe have gotten more information out of Darrius before that old Geezer up and died.
Episode five didn't drag as much as I thought, and a lot of plot got taken care of in good dramatic manner. There were hysterical courtroom misdirection antics, and nice officers of the court. And I like Tarron's quest for justice as his most important ideal, and his dependence on logic. William Hartnell's face when he realizes he can do nothing more to save Ian from execution--perfect! We see a reaction which is a far cry from his gleeful confidence earlier.
Episode six also moved along at a good pace. There were reveals and reveals but still time for small character moments. Everyone had a chance to be smart and brave, but the danger was quite real. They didn't try to show the big building burning, which would have been too expensive I think, but Sabetha and Altos got a chance for their new life.
I know I've said this before, but the spare music in these early episodes is a feature that I really like. They save it to make impacts, and let ordinary sounds carry the weight of scenes. It makes the creepy factors highten significantly. The best example is the beginning of the first episode, with its glass beaches and lack of any diegetic sound, letting you know there is something not quite right about what is happening. Of course, Ian calls our attention to this lack of sound. But I like it!
I am harsh on Susan in this episodes, and I think it's down to the writing and script editing. I understand that you can't have all the characters going around smarter and impervious; it makes the story boring if there is never any true danger. And from a writing standpoint, the companions in danger is the best way to highlight the vulnerability of the situation. I just think too often they let Susan be vulnerable and defeated. Not just scared but terrified into inactivity and crouching in fear for rescue. And it doesn't jibe with her backstory, nor is it consistent, so that when I do see her behaving intelligently and thoughtfully (like most of Marco Polo) and then see her revert to this I really miss the other Susan. I'm guessing fanfiction has some Susan adventures. Did she regenerate?
But this is one of the things I love in particular with William Hartnell's doctor is that his bluster often covered up a real fear and personal vulnerability as well. He was irascible, and defiant, and sometimes wrong, and he is learning compassion and connection through his travels with Ian and Barbara. And William Hartnell does a great job of making this a thru-line in the character. Can you see the Doctor of "An Unearthly Child" ever leaving his granddaughter with Ian and Barbara, nonetheless with two relative strangers Sabetha and Altos? Yet he does so confidently and cheerfully here, reassuring Susan's worries with his absolute trust. He has some quite high moments and low moments through this story, and his emotional journey is quite believable.
Altos and Sabetha were good characters. A little idealized, but they had a chance to become real enough after their imprisonment. Though if I were them I would have looked to change my clothes somewhere along the way, maybe in the city.
And Susan for all her screaminess early on, had some good things to do in these episodes after all. Only she was small enough to cross the ice bridge, and she was quite good under pressure of kidnapping.
I really could have done without most of episode three. It gave us some new information, but introduced bigger questions that couldn't be answered. The keys were protected by someone or something, and Arbitan's true messengers would know the right approaches to the traps. But Sabetha, Arbitan's daughter, Altos, a trusted confederate and The Doctor and Co were not given any clues as to where they keys were or how to retrieve them. It's too sloppy of Arbitan--of course the keys should be well protected, but don't send your associates to certain death--that's just crazy. The writer's hand was too evident in the roadblocks, especially in episode three. the other episodes raced through a ton of plot and exposition--they were complicated and fast paced. I should go back and summarize my summaries, this time, or stop calling them short. There was almost too much plot going on there, but I did also appreciate the courtroom intrigue. And the main cast, as always, really delivered the goods.
I think we're at about a 7 for this episode. I'm rubbish at rating things. Susan drove me too batty at the beginning, and there were some difficult plot holes. But I do love this cast (as I think I've said).