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Comments 39

nentari December 4 2010, 10:22:26 UTC
One's Spidey Senses are tingling! Wow, just look at Hartnell wring his hands.
And it's an incredible scene if you think back to it after watching Evil of the Daleks. The writers had no idea of it at the time, but Daleks were indeed nearby setting a trap for Two and Jamie when this serial took place.

So Polly's only just been introduced and already we've been treated to one of Anneke Wills' famous Ridiculous Faces.
I love her Ridiculous Faces, so that's fine by me.

Yikes. WOTAN must know EVERYTHING if it was able to figure out Dodo's location like that. Of course, she seems to be influenced already...
And let's not forget that Polly suggested taking Dodo to the Inferno while they were still in WOTAN's room, so it could have caught the conversation.

Unless this serial takes place over a long amount of time, they must build those war machines REALLY REALLY fast.It's hinted here and there in dialog that the story takes place in the span of several days, but the action itself seems to happen during one single day, making it both clumsy ( ... )

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classicwhoblog December 4 2010, 10:47:37 UTC
If Tumblr was working right now, I could link you to the excellent screencap of a Craze-y Face I took while watching this (I have a couple friends over there who marvel in that curious fannish way at the seeming non-existence of pictures of Ben making a normal face).

My thought when they were assembling them in one night was, for whatever reason, "those must be some pretty cheep war machines..."

Ah yes, Ben and Polly were meant to be the poster children companions for the mid-sixties, weren't they...

Oh neat! I didn't know UNIT was actually seen being created, I'd always thought it was something that was just there the whole time and happened to be introduced sometime in Two-time.

Is The Smugglers the one with Paul? Or is that The Macra Terror? Or do I have it completely wrong?

Ah, Dodo's key. That was my main theory.

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nentari December 4 2010, 10:53:53 UTC
Ooh, I'd love to see that. But no hurries. :D

Yes, in The Invasion, when Two and Jamie are reunited with the Colonel (now Brigadier), he explains about UNIT and how it was created after the events from Web of Fear.

Yes, Paul makes "his" appearance in The Smugglers. Macra Terror has Polly donning a pixie-cut (which inexplicably grows back the next story, possibly suggesting that a long period of unaired adventures took place between them) but she remains her own self the whole time.

I don't remember if they actually explain it onscreen (but I have the feeling they didn't) but it's clearly stated in the novelization that it's Dodo's.

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tamlover December 4 2010, 18:13:11 UTC
I don't remember if they actually explain it onscreen (but I have the feeling they didn't) but it's clearly stated in the novelization that it's Dodo's.

It was explained on-screen - at the beginning of the fourth episode (about 4 minutes in) the Doctor hands Ben his cloak and the key falls out and Ben picks it up. None of the classic companions, except Susan, got their own Tardis keys, IIRC. That's a New Who/audio thing.

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sharaz_jek December 4 2010, 13:02:19 UTC
And since RTD never canonized your fate in "Death of the Doctor"...oh dear...you poor thing...

Doctor Who has no canon. Do what I did with Donna and just make up a better ending (seriously, I only know about Dodo through these recaps and already I hate her final fate).

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classicwhoblog December 4 2010, 23:22:22 UTC
I remember reading somewhere that Who-canon in the 60s was "whatever the crew could remember on any given day."

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sharaz_jek December 5 2010, 01:57:07 UTC

aya_adri December 4 2010, 16:52:29 UTC
I love this serial!
Polly is one of my favorite companions, she is smart, pretty and self-confident. Ben is also a very charming boy. Two, Jamie, Ben and Polly make an excellent Team TARDIS.
And I think this is not the only complete serial with Ben and Polly. Isn't Power of the Daleks complete??
Dodo is so cute in this serial too. I love the 'The Tower! It's finished!' line.

There's a scene in this serial that always makes me go 'wtf' when I see it. It's when the Doctor is talking to Ben and Polly in the Inferno Club and the girl who works there talks to him with a soft voice. She is so weird and funny at the same time.

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tamlover December 4 2010, 18:16:38 UTC
And I think this is not the only complete serial with Ben and Polly. Isn't Power of the Daleks complete??

Nope, this is the only one. Not even a single episode of "Power of the Daleks" that is complete, unfortunately. At least we have most of the "The Tenth Planet."

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classicwhoblog December 4 2010, 23:23:57 UTC
Really? I thought just the second episode existed in full.

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tamlover December 4 2010, 23:37:09 UTC
I'm fairly certain that it doesn't. I'd have gotten the recon instead of the audio if there was a full episode. Of course, if there was a surviving ep and I didn't know it, I wouldn't have it. But the Tardis wiki entry only mentions "clips." I'll look into it - if there is a surviving ep, then I'll want the recon. :)

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You said.... anonymous December 5 2010, 01:31:04 UTC
[i]"Just realized that some of the war machine's noises are kinda like that old electronic grinding sound from when you went online in the 90s."[/i]

Pardon me, young lady, I'll be taking my cane and hobbling off now. :P

-Arcalian

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Re: You said.... classicwhoblog December 5 2010, 02:43:53 UTC
Remember cassette tapes and VCRs? Yeah, those were the days...

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Re: You said.... anonymous December 5 2010, 06:31:49 UTC
Hell, I remember LPs and 45s, the things that, if kids today know them at all, know them as "vinyl."

And black and white tvs still being sold as a cheap alternative.

And only 3 networks.

And of course NO freakin INTERNET!

and and and.....I'll shut up now.

-Arcalian

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anonymous December 5 2010, 03:08:02 UTC
Also, Dodo! You barely had a good-bye scene. And since RTD never canonized your fate in "Death of the Doctor"...oh dear...you poor thing...

Just assume she was the 'Dorothy something'. Ace would be doing something far more interesting, awesome and in character for her than running a charity!

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classicwhoblog December 5 2010, 03:22:35 UTC
That's what I thought at first too, but then I realized "well, Ace was also a teenager back then. Maybe she just grew up..."

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sharaz_jek December 5 2010, 04:13:11 UTC
Ace became Time's Vigilante with the help of a time-travelling motorbike in the New Adventures. I was very annoyed when I figured out the acronym of that charity (though maybe she operates it in her spare time and devotes most of her life to beating up monsters with the Baseball Bat of Rassilon).

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tamlover December 5 2010, 14:03:11 UTC
She does change a bit over time for the audios (rarely blows stuff up - 'tis sad). But remember, anyone looking up Sarah Jane would see "freelance journalist" not "world saver."

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