3.06 The Ark

[whatinthewho]

First Doctor with Steven and Dodo
Follows on from Season One, Season Two, Galaxy Four, Mission to the Unknown, The Myth Makers, The Daleks' Master Plan and The Massacre



DOCTOR: Yes, I know I'm a bit of a quack.

Overview

This serial still exists, hallelujah, all four episodes! Coming after such a long string of missing episodes – five serials of which only four out of 25 episodes are in the archives to be viewed – being able to watch a complete adventure again is a real treat. It is also, after a spell of rapid companion turnover, the start of a slightly more settled period, as the pairing of Steven and Dodo will now see out most of the remainder of the season.

The Ark marks a turning point in the show's development, the point in a highly experimental season where the influence of a new creative team really begins to translate into a different approach on-screen. Up till now, for two and a half seasons, there has been a strong emphasis placed on character and continuity – 1960s style, to be sure, but there nonetheless. The characters and their reactions to their experiences have always been more or less at the heart of the show, driving the movement of plot, but this is where the emphasis begins to change, the point where characters begin to lose the definition they'd once had and simply follow the plot where they once drove it, the point where stories start to become more formulaic and flimsy. The Ark is a lot of fun and comes as light relief after the darker tone of The Daleks' Master Plan and The Massacre, but the tonal shift makes it feel rather lightweight in comparison, and the intriguing concepts it throws up are clunkily handled. The characterisation does play better when the story is watched in order, as part of a season three marathon, rather than viewed as a standalone adventure, but still it is a shame to see Steven's relationship with the Doctor largely reset for this adventure, instead of building on the ups and downs of their recent traumas in a more meaningful way.

The plot, in a nutshell, is this: a common cold proves deadly when the TARDIS lands on a colony spaceship in the distant future. The travellers strive to resolve the crisis and move on…only to find that the TARDIS has landed on the same ship again, further in the future – but the voyage has not gone as planned. Can our intrepid heroes save not one but two peoples, two times over?

Like The Space Museum before it, this story is an early attempt at playing with 'timey-wimey' themes and is very much focused on consequences, exploring the impact our heroes can have on the societies they visit, whether for good or ill, however inadvertent that influence may be – they rarely get to see the long-term consequences of their visits, as they do here, which makes this a really interesting concept to explore.

Writer – Paul Erickson / Lesley Scott
Director – Michael Imison
Script editor – Gerry Davis
Producer – John Wiles
Aired – 5-26 March 1966

Observations

Thoughts while watching:

Episode one: 'The Steel Sky'

Previously on Doctor Who…okay, so the last episode ended with the TARDIS taking off in a rush to avoid approaching policemen thinking it was a real police box, resulting in random passer-by Dodo Chaplet, who'd also thought it was a real police box, being still aboard at the time and getting swept off into space and time. Steven was rather concerned about this, worried that they had taken Dodo from her home and family and would not be able to return her – he knows only too well how aimless the Doctor's wanderings are – but Dodo herself was startlingly unconcerned at the prospect of never going home again and the Doctor too charmed by her to care about the accidental abduction. Hold that thought, as it feeds into the character dynamics established hereon.

This episode opens in what appears to be a jungle, birds tweeting and animals roaming, with a very odd looking one-eyed humanoid creature called a Monoid watching over them. The set looks amazing.

The TARDIS lands and Dodo comes charging out to explore, sneezing as she goes. The sneezing will become a plot point. We don't know how long has passed since the last episode, but it's been long enough for Dodo to explore the Doctor's wardrobe and find herself a faux-page's outfit to dress up in, apparently just for fun. It's a weird outfit for anyone to choose, especially when they don't really know or believe that travelling in time and space is a genuine possibility and so were expecting to emerge back into everyday life, but she looks cute as all heck, so we'll let her have her fun – in the real world, this is a flaw in the writing and conception of the new character, which hasn't been fully thought through, but in-universe this is part of Dodo's personality: she's very playful and doesn't seem to take anything seriously at all. She hasn't yet fully grasped what has happened to her, but is enjoying the experience anyway. In contrast, as Steven comes hurrying after her he is not enjoying the experience at all – he comes across as a frazzled parent with a hyperactive toddler in this scene, trying in vain to talk some sense into the giddy girl, protesting that she should wait for permission to leave the TARDIS because she doesn't know if it is safe and reeling off a list of potential pitfalls for the unwary space traveller.



If you watch this story in isolation, as a standalone adventure, Steven comes across as a bit of a random buzzkill here, the heavy-handed authority figure to Dodo's youthful playfulness, but this actually demonstrates the importance of continuity in this era of the show, which was designed not as an anthology of standalone multi-part adventures, as we often think of it, but as an ongoing series in which each episode flowed into the next. When you return 'The Steel Sky' to its original context, watched not as the first instalment of a standalone serial called The Ark but as the episode that follows 'Bell of Doom' in a continuing series, Steven's attitude suddenly makes perfect sense and plays as delightful character continuity. It pays to remember that Steven is coming off the back of two very fraught adventures in which he made a number of good friends and then watched them die, and his over-cautious attitude toward Dodo here is a natural reaction. He barely knows her, but he's going to watch out for her safety nonetheless because he's seen too many people die already – they are in this together now!

I often think that the character continuity in classic Doctor Who, such as it is, would seem far more apparent if only we had a modern 'previously on' sequence to draw it together, highlighting and underlining themes and developments.

Dodo, however, is blithely unconcerned. She doesn't understand that she has travelled in space and time – in fact, she seems confident that she can get a bus home if necessary. I really enjoy how bemused Steven is when she tells him she recognises where they are, you can see him doubting himself, wondering if he's gone mad or something…but then when Dodo cheerfully continues that they are at Whipsnade Zoo just outside London, he realises how little she has understood. Dodo does not believe that they are no longer on Earth, aided and abetted by the fact that they are surrounded by creatures she recognises – chameleon, monitor lizard, etc. She admits though that she doesn't remember Whipsnade looking quite like this, with all these creatures just roaming around loose, and it isn't clear just how she thinks the TARDIS has moved her from Wimbledon Common to Whipsnade, if she doesn't believe it to be a real spaceship.

So Dodo's a bit slow on the uptake – although, in her defence, the TARDIS is a pretty unbelievable thing to have to swallow – but really, the biggest problem with her so far is that actress Jackie Lane is struggling to maintain her accent, swinging wildly between Northern and RP.

The Doctor finally emerges from the TARDIS to announce that Dodo might actually be right – his readings in the TARDIS are strange, he admits, but suggest they are more likely to be on Earth than anywhere else. We will later learn that they are actually on a spaceship, so clearly either the TARDIS instruments or the Doctor's interpretation of them cannot be trusted! It isn't the first time, though, that he's landed on a spaceship and been confused by it – it happened also in The Sensorites – so we can read that as a note of consistency, for both the Doctor and the TARDIS. None of them notice the Monoid hanging around watching them, which would probably clinch the debate in Steven's favour.

The furious argument Steven and the Doctor had at the end of the last story seems to have been forgotten entirely. On the one hand it's a shame that the issues raised over the tumultuous last few adventures aren't built on and explored further, but on the other hand we can read it as solid characterisation for both, that neither one bears a grudge, their friendship solid enough to put the disagreement behind them and move on without further acrimony.



Elsewhere, a gathering of humans wearing what look like belted hula dresses over black knickers (both men and women), with a few subservient 'friend' Monoids thrown in for good measure, are hearing a trial of a man accused of carelessness. This is evidently a capital offence in these parts, since carelessness could result – dramatically enough – in the extinction of the human race. The man is sentenced to 'miniaturisation': to be maintained at micro-cellular size and reconstituted in 700 years, apparently – they really don't want to run the risk of him breaking anything else! This scene tells us a bit about the culture we've landed in this week: these people consider themselves the 'guardians of the human race' and talk about galactic law, which I'm going to guess actually means human law, and the mute Monoids work alongside them as friends and allies. Hey, and the miniaturisation isn't a bad effect for 1966!

The Monoids communicate via sign language, which is fair enough since they can't speak, but I'm confused as to why the humans sign back at them – are they also deaf? Later evidence would suggest not.

At this point I get a bit distracted by the elephant on set. How did they swing that?

Dodo reels off a list of different animals from different parts of the world she's seen here so far and I find myself wondering if any of these creatures still exist in Steven's time, since he doesn't recognise them so readily. The travellers try and fail to work out where they might be, although the Doctor takes some time out from the mystery to tell Dodo to use her handkerchief when she sneezes and to chide her for 'frootling' about in his wardrobe for the outfit she's wearing. He is projecting Susan onto her like whoa, playing the guardian grandfather role for all its worth, despite the fact that he barely knows her. He suggests they take a last look around and then head back to the TARDIS so that Dodo can take her cold to bed, whereupon Dodo worries that they are going to send her home – underlining that the reality of her new situation has yet to sink in. The Doctor simply says that he couldn't send her home if he wanted to, and, far from being concerned about possibly never going home again, Dodo cheers up and decides that she is beginning to enjoy 'this space travel, or whatever it is'. I suppose she has already said that she doesn't have any attachments, but her blasé attitude does seem odd. Steven rolls his eyes a bit, but you can see that he is beginning to appreciate her cheerfulness – she's a bit dizzy and ditzy and doesn't really understand what's going on, her character suffers from not having been established in her home setting prior to being swept away in the TARDIS, but nonetheless she's a breath of fresh air after everything they've been through lately!



Dodo finds some wall art and the Doctor, still playing the grandfather whether she likes it or not, takes time to affectionately critique her use of 1960s slang before taking a look. It's an interesting dynamic because this isn't the first surrogate granddaughter he's taken under his wing, but he wasn't this strict and critical with Vicki, having a much more playful relationship with her from the start. Maybe the difference is that Dodo looks so much more like Susan than Vicki did, and that brings out a different side of him. Maybe it's that he's been without a surrogate granddaughter for a while now and Dodo, resembling Susan somewhat, has abruptly reminded him how much he misses being a grandfather. It's a shame the dynamic is simply presented as a fait accomplit, rather than being eased into and explored in more depth.

Suddenly an alarm goes off and, after a brief interplay where Steven almost suffocates Dodo to stop her sneezing and giving their position away, they are trapped and captured anyway by a group of Monoids – and only now does the Doctor realise at last that they are on a spaceship.

Ooh, interesting – the Commander refers to the TARDIS as a black box. We're still in the black-and-white era, so no one has actually seen the colour of it on-screen at this point. It's funny when something you've always taken for granted is suddenly brought into doubt! Steven is questioned – maybe it is assumed that the strong young man is the leader, but you'd hope that an advanced futuristic society would have grown past such biased assumptions! Then again, all the leaders of the community are shown to be men, so clearly not. Anyway, he freely explains that the TARDIS can travel through both space and time – it always surprises me when they say that so openly – but stresses that it cannot be accurately steered, so its arrival here was sheer chance. The Commander disbelievingly laughs that mankind experimented with time travel in the 27th segment of time, but those experiments were unsuccessful, he doesn't believe time travel is possible, so Steven refers him to the Doctor for more information.

Second-in-command Zentos is wary of the intruders, but the Commander is full of friendliness and welcome, confirming that this is a vast spaceship containing not just a jungle but an entire city. Steven has never seen anything like it – he's a space pilot, but he never got to fly anything like this! The Commander gives a little backstory on the Monoids, who travelled to Earth as refugees when their own world died and offered their service in exchange for being allowed to join this voyage, since Earth is also dying and is about to be burned up by its sun. How unlucky for the refugees to end up on another dying world! The ship is removing the entire population, in miniaturised form, to a planet called Refusis II, and Zentos worries that the visitors might be Refusians sent to intercept the mission; we are told that the refugees know only of the Refusians as intelligences inhabiting that planet, and fear they could be capable of anything. Okay, so this means that these people have deliberately set out to colonise a planet they know to be inhabited, and their only concern is that the natives might try to sabotage their mission – no one questions the ethics of forcibly invading and colonising an inhabited world whatsoever! I'm rather uncomfortable with that. Couldn't they have found an uninhabited world to aim for? But perhaps they assume they will be made welcome because they made the Monoids welcome – what goes around comes around and all that. Except that the refugee Monoids seem to be very much second class citizens, so I'm not entirely convinced by either the social dynamics or the morality here.

The Doctor smoothly allays the colonists' fears with a nice little speech about how everyone is imperfect and if you cut him he will bleed. He also points to Dodo's cold as further evidence of their humanity – he groups himself with the humans here, doesn't admit to being an alien – and the Commander laughs that such virus infections were cured so long ago no one even remembers them now. This will be a plot point very soon. I must say, this Commander is a tremendously jovial character – he was serious enough in his first scene, passing sentence, but has done nothing but laugh and enjoy himself ever since! He seems to find everything both funny and fascinating. While he chats to the Doctor, Mellium sees Zentos ordering a Monoid to investigate the TARDIS – he still doesn't trust the travellers.



This is the 57th segment of time, we are told, and the Doctor calculates that they have jumped at least ten million years! The Commander explains that no one aboard the ship today will ever see Refusis as they expect their journey to take 700 years. I've got to say, I'd have expected faster space travel to have been invented by this time, especially as we know from later stories that Earth has long since had colonies out there in the big wide universe, but I suppose it doesn't pay to compare the history of the future in one adventure with the history of the future in another – they never add up! Research shows Refusis II to have everything humans need to survive, so that's where they are going, taking with them everything they might need. Dodo jokes that it's a bit like Noah's Ark, which the Commander doesn't understand, but the joke gives both the story and the ship their name; the refugees don't seem to have bothered to name their ship previously, which is oddly apathetic of them when it is going to be their home for so many generations. Only a select number of humans are operating the ship as Guardians of the human race – the rest, millions of them, have been reduced to micro-cellular size to be restored to life and health once the ship lands. So, the lad who was sentenced earlier will get to see Refusis, while none of the other Guardians here ever will; perhaps not such a harsh sentence after all.

The Commander asks Mellium to take the young people to see a statue – Dodo isn't sure she fancies the idea, but Steven is now playing big brother for all he's worth and takes her off, while the Commander offers the Doctor a more technical tour. The statue Mellium shows Dodo and Steven is far from complete, only feet so far – it is to be an immense statue of a man being constructed by hand, using ancient methods, a project designed to last the entire voyage, 700 years, so that the generations of Guardians can watch it grow, gradually, knowing that as the statue grows so they are growing closer to their destination. I find myself wondering just how much wasted space there must be aboard the spaceship if it can accommodate a statue as tall as this one promises to be! A fair amount of time is spent establishing this statue, which will be important later on. Dodo clambers up to inspect the statue a bit more closely and Steven quickly pulls her down and apologises for her – every inch the big brother figure, for all that Dodo is a virtual stranger to him. She's a funny one – she pulls faces when both the Doctor and Steven come over all authoritative, but she doesn't seem to mind really. Perhaps they are filling a gap for her just as she is for them. I really wish more time were spent on letting them get to know one another properly, to fully establish and explore the dynamics; that's what this story is really missing.

So it's all very friendly, everyone getting along like a house on fire…until an emergency breaks out. A fever is spreading rapidly among the Monoids – and when Zentos reports this to the Commander, he finds the old man hoarse and feverish. That came on very suddenly – the common cold usually takes a few days to incubate. They have caught it from Dodo, of course, and these people are unusually susceptible to the infection because, since it has long been eradicated by their time and they are a closed community, they have no natural immunity. It's a nifty concept to explore because it rings so true – such a simple thing that can have such a devastating impact. Dodo, who has a cold that isn't slowing her down at all, doesn't see what everyone is so worried about, and neither does Steven, but the Doctor is very concerned, worrying that the infection might prove fatal to these people…and he and his friends will be to blame.

Zentos overhears this and is quick to accuse – especially when one of the sick Monoids actually dies. He gives an impassioned speech, a real rabble-rouser, and has the three travellers arrested.

Episode two: 'The Plague'

Locked up for the crime of having and spreading a cold, Dodo is beginning to gain a clearer understanding of what it means to travel with the Doctor and laments that if she'd known it would be like this she'd never have come – not that she really had any say in the matter – but when the Doctor chides her for snivelling, she protests that she isn't, it's just her nose running. He assures her that this is not her fault but his, if anyone's, and I like that he takes responsibility for those he takes with him on his travels, every inch the captain of the ship these days. Steven, meanwhile, frets that this may have happened before without them knowing, carrying an infection from one place and time to another without even realising it. There's the difference between Dodo and Steven right there: while Dodo wishes she hadn't come because she is in trouble, focused on her own situation in the here and now, Steven is looking outward, worrying about the impact on others of the infection they've so inadvertently carried with them and projecting that impact onto everywhere else they've ever been. The Doctor feels it is too horrifying to even contemplate and insists that they are normally very healthy – he's well and truly in denial here, refusing to worry about something that can't be either known or helped! It's an interesting angle, a new slant on their travels and one well worth exploring. Steven, always the cynic, always a worrier, can't stop fretting that the infection might sweep through the entire ship, and now Dodo really is crying at the thought of what her cold might lead to, reality biting home good and proper. I love the way the Doctor kind of flutters about, unsure what to do with a crying female he barely knows, before fussing over her with some grandfatherly platitudes. And it is now the Doctor's turn to fret, frustrated that the Guardians have locked them up when they may be able to help. It's a nice little character scene.



Elsewhere on the ship, the Monoids are dropping like flies and Zentos worries that the humans might also start to die, fretting that each one of them has an allotted task and that loss of personnel might prove disastrous to the mission. There's a kind of species-ism going on here in that human life is clearly considered more valuable than Monoid, although great pomp and ceremony attends the 'space burial' of the Monoid dead – that's rather a nifty effect for the time, as well. The mission's best virologists are unable to do anything – the common cold was cured so many centuries ago that the secret of the cure is long since lost in time.

While the sick commander watches on a vid-screen, Zentos rabble-rouses once more, organising a hearing against the travellers who brought this infection into their community, but Mellium volunteers to stand with the defence, sure it is what her father would wish. In their cell, the travellers are permitted to follow the case on a video screen. They are told that one of them will be permitted to speak in their defence, and Steven – who isn't looking wonderfully well himself – insists that it must be him, not so much because he feels he has the best chance but because he is desperate for something productive to do, he feels so stifled in this cell. I can't help feeling the Doctor would be a better defence witness – we saw what a valiant job he made of a similar role in The Keys of Marinus – but he is content to let Steven go first, assuring Mellium that all he wants to do is help. He doesn't seem overly concerned about their predicament, even after being told that ejection into space is a possible punishment.

The prosecution puts up a robust case based entirely on supposition and paranoia, accusing the travellers of deliberately infecting the ship on behalf of the Refusians. I can't help feeling that if they are that afraid of the Refusians, perhaps they might want to re-think the plan to invade their planet! Steven, hot-headed and rapidly becoming feverish, cannot convince them of the truth and grows angry, accusing these supposedly sophisticated future humans of being no different than their ancestors: still afraid of the unknown. It's a very valid point. Both he and counsel for the defence, Manyak, argue in favour of allowing the Doctor out of his cell to help the medics search for a cure, but Zentos is too busy working the crowd up to a blood-thirsty fever-pitch to be open to reason.



Watching on the screen in their cell, the Doctor and Dodo can see that Steven is looking unwell and realise he has also caught the infection. Now, Steven seemed unconcerned about the spread of Dodo's cold earlier, suggesting that the virus still exists in his time and is still seen as a minor illness and nothing to be worried about, but he is visibly ill now, far more so than Dodo has ever been. So perhaps although Steven is not a stranger to the common cold, Dodo's 20th century strain of the bug is more virulent than anything he has encountered in his future time, and while he was not as acutely vulnerable as the inhabitants of the ship, nonetheless he is still susceptible; the infection just took longer to incubate in him.

Manyak shouts the crowd down and delivers a calm, rational speech in defence of the travellers. The Commander is also following events from his hospital bed and supports the defence wholeheartedly, but then disaster strikes – news arrives that a Guardian has died of the fever. Watching in their cell, the Doctor and Dodo despair – there's a nice little shot of them taking one another's hands for reassurance and comfort, bonding through this shared adversity. Zentos takes advantage of the heightened emotions to demand a hasty verdict, the crowd baying their vote. Guilty! Zentos pronounces sentence – expulsion from the ship!

While Mellium and Manyak lament that there is nothing they can do about the verdict, Steven collapses and is hauled back into the cell with the others, where the Doctor lets rip, demanding fair play and medical treatment for his friend. When Zentos responds via the video-conferencing unit, the Doctor takes the opportunity to put forward his own plea for the defence – Steven has had his turn and the Doctor allowed it, but now he's taking his chance, arguing that if he and his friends are executed, the colonists may well be sentencing themselves to a slow extinction, that if released and given access to the proper resources he might be able to find a cure. Zentos, though, will not back down.

At this point, the ailing Commander comes to the rescue, forcefully intervening to overturn the sentence despite Zentos's indignant objections. All that rabble-rousing, trial by mob, for nothing. The one proviso is that the Doctor must use Steven as a guinea pig for his research.

This is Steven's second serious illness in half a season – for a strapping chap, he doesn't enjoy the best of health, one of the few companions ever to suffer serious illness and injury during his travels!

The Doctor swings into action at once, ebullient and driven, snapping out instructions left, right and centre. He sends Dodo back to the TARDIS to collect some equipment for him, and although she does hesitate, wondering how she'll find them, this is one of those scenes that feels almost as if the writer has forgotten quite how brand new she is. Anyway, she hurries off while the Doctor explains that he knows of a vaccine that was used as long ago as the 20th century but was then lost in the 'primal wars', which is rather intriguing, since we are into the 21st century now with no vaccine against the common cold anywhere in sight! They've talked about the fever as a common cold throughout, but this talk of a vaccine sounds more like the flu.



The Doctor soon has everyone organised – give him half a chance and he can take over anywhere, just by sheer force of personality. The scenario is reminiscent of The Sensorites, when Ian was poisoned and the Doctor worked tirelessly to find a cure. Here again he sets to work and swiftly organises those tasked with supporting him. I love watching the Doctor being a scientist, hands on, developing a solution to a problem – no waving of magic wands here, this cure must be worked for, the hard way. I also love the way he strikes up a rapport with the Monoid assigned as his lab assistant – no species-ism here! He's come such a long way since his acrimonious first meeting with Ian and Barbara back in An Unearthly Child, has relaxed so much in his dealings with the people he meets along his travels, has learned to appreciate them for who they are rather than deriding them for what they aren't.

The Doctor devises a cure for the fever, administers it to Steven, and then hurries off to treat all the other sick people, without waiting to see if the treatment works – he's very confident! Sure enough, Steven's fever breaks. The cure is a success. Even Zentos relents and rejoices, in rather an abrupt turnaround – everyone seems to have forgotten that it was the Doctor and his friends who brought the fever aboard in the first place and that there have been deaths, the accusation is forgotten and the unfortunate accident forgiven. As resolutions go, it's all a bit rushed.

On a scanner screen, the dying throes of planet Earth play out – the voyage is still in its early days, still close enough to have a good view. I can't help thinking of the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler watching the death of the Earth in another adventure – maybe even another timeline, but it's funny to imagine that they might be out there at this moment, also watching the Earth burn!

With the sick now recovering, the Doctor and his companions say their farewells and depart as favoured friends, driven back to the TARDIS on a buggy. I love how enthusiastically Dodo waves goodbye to the gathered crowds – now that the crisis is over, she is enjoying herself thoroughly once more – while Steven just smiles and shrugs, all bloke-ish and awkward about the attention. He's much more comfortable when he has something to argue about than when people are being nice!

The TARDIS takes off – and what a fake-out this must have been for viewers back in 1966, who had no overarching umbrella title for each serial, no guide to how long each adventure would be, only an ongoing series with individually named episodes. So this would have seemed to be the end of an odd, unassuming little two-part story…until the TARDIS re-materialises back in the same place. Stepping outside, the travellers are perplexed to know what went wrong but decide to go looking for their new friends again anyway, rather than attempt another take-off.

Finding no one around, Steven is the first to wonder how much time has passed for the colonists, which inexperienced Dodo can't understand, arguing that they've only been gone a few moments. Then she notices something – the 700-year statue has been completed…but instead of a human head, it has the head of a Monoid.

Episode three: 'The Return'

If 700 years have passed, the spaceship has travelled a heck of a long way for the TARDIS to not only find it again but land in the same place on board. The writing is a little weak, but the director gets in a few nicely creative shots in this story, such as the angled shot of the Doctor and his companions staring up at the Monoid-headed statue, wondering what could have happened. Dodo notices that the once pristine ship is looking a bit grotty after 700 years, but still finds it hard to grasp that so much time could have passed in only a few seconds. Steven can see from the navigational charts that the ship is now close to Refusis – a nice little touch that he is able to read the charts, a reminder that he was a spaceship pilot in his old life, the life he never talks about. I suppose he has always known that the Doctor is unable to take him back, so chooses to look forward rather than dwell on the past. Home had been lost to him for two years even before he met the Doctor.

There is no sign of the Guardians – not even a single duty officer to monitor the automatic guidance system. The Doctor finds the internal CCTV and checks a few screens, which show that the human Guardians are now servants of the Monoids! It's a bit of a clumsy way of revealing exposition about the changed social structure on the ship, but effective enough – the point is made, at any rate. A lot can change in 700 years.

The Doctor and his friends are so busy exchanging exposition among themselves that they fail to take any precautions whatsoever and are captured almost immediately, leading to another surprise – the Monoids can now speak, by means of electronic voice boxes worn around their necks. They still don't have names, but they do now have numbers, designated as an expression of rank – Number One being the leader. Handily enough, they also wear their numbers on sashes around their necks, so that they can be told apart.

Ooh, by the time the travellers reach Number One's office, the Monoids have pulled up old video footage of their previous visit. I'm impressed that the format hasn't become obsolete in 700 years – although being stuck on a spaceship in transit is I suppose good incentive not to alter systems too much. And I'm also impressed by the little flashback, achieved by zooming in on a screen displaying the footage, no editing necessary.

Having seen the footage, the Monoids are quite prepared to believe that the Doctor and his friends are time travellers. I rather like Steven's way of explaining why they have returned: "The TARDIS made the decision." Number One explains that although the cure developed by the Doctor resolved the immediate epidemic, back during their last visit, a mutation of the fever later developed which weakened the humans, leaving them easy prey for the Monoid takeover. A few high status humans still work alongside the Monoids as servants, called 'subject Guardians', the rest are now imprisoned as slaves. Consequences, this story has 'em. Dodo is dismayed to think that all this is even partly her fault.



Number Two is instructed to take the prisoners to the 'security kitchen', a designation that always attracts ridicule whenever this story is discussed. It does sound stupid, but it just means a large kitchen where most of the human slaves work, which doubles as a security cell within which to hold them.

In the security kitchen, rumours about the mysterious travellers are already flying, some slaves inspired just at the thought of fellow humans while others remain sceptical. The rumours are proved true when the three travellers are brought to the security kitchen as prisoners and confirm that they are the same travellers who have become legend aboard the ship. I rather like the exclamation "How in space could you do it?" in place of "how on Earth" as we might ask today. The Doctor and his friends aren't interested in discussing temporal mechanics, however – they want only to find a way of escape.

The Monoids are looking forward to creating a new world on Refusis, with Number One plotting the destruction of the Guardians completely, rather than take them to the new world also. Dastardly! Although, you know, they might find that they miss having slaves to wait on them

It's kind of a shame that this story turned around so that the humans became outright slaves of the Monoids, good human victims versus evil alien baddies, because the previous set-up was far more subversive, with the seemingly benevolent humans working alongside the Monoids and calling them friends while treating them very much as second-class citizens. It would have been interesting to explore that concept a little more, rather than turning it around so completely. The Monoids do refer back to their past as secondary citizens, however, so it hasn't been forgotten, either by the story or the characters, and I suppose the point of playing it this way is to demonstrate that both races are alike: equally capable of good and bad, in the right circumstances.

Back in the security kitchen, Dodo proudly remembers that it was she who named this ship the Ark, while the art of food preparation aboard ship is demonstrated – just drop a pill into a bucket of water and hey presto, you have potatoes. I fail to see why so many slaves are needed just for that! While Dodo witters on about trivialities, Steven and the Doctor are plotting rebellion, pumping the locals for information and planning an attack on the next guard they see, in hope of capturing a weapon. Alas, the first attempt is a failure, and costs the life of one of the slaves – a nameless redshirt: again I regret that there's no deeper exploration of the concepts introduced here, the ethical dilemma inherent in planning dangerous action that costs lives.



The Monoids decide to send a scouting party ahead to Refusis to check the lie of the land, since they too are uncertain of the welcome they will receive from the natives. This part of the plot really does make me uncomfortable – these people are refugees, sure, but that doesn't give them the right to knowingly colonise an occupied planet! The Monoids plan to take the Doctor and Dodo with them, apparently feeling that a human presence will be necessary to soothe the natives, or something – it isn't clear. Steven is kept aboard the Ark as a hostage to ensure their good behaviour. It isn't the first time he's been in this position! The actors are doing their best here, acting and reacting in character for all they are worth – looking alarmed and concerned for one another, unsure what is going to happen to them – but they are being given precious little material to work with in this story, it's all very flat; if we didn't have the visuals to see their reactions, it would all come across as quite emotionless. I quite like how this scene ends, though, visually, with a long shot of Steven stood there alone, seething with impotent frustration and worry, while the Guardians quietly tend the body of their fallen comrade behind him.

The Doctor and Dodo travel down to Refusis in a little shuttlecraft with the Monoid Number Two and a Guardian servant called Yendom. There is no conversation on the journey, which doesn't help with the flatness of the story. Oh, but the Doctor sits holding Dodo's hand, all protective and reassuring. I like what we are being shown of their budding relationship, I just wish it were being explored more, developing the point about the Doctor projecting Susan onto Dodo and explaining what Dodo thinks about it, beneath her nonchalant acceptance of everything that's happened to her since she stumbled into the TARDIS.



The Doctor is looking very old and tired as he climbs out of the shuttlecraft once it lands on Refusis. I'm not sure if that's intention or just William Hartnell's growing frailty showing through, but it works for the character, reminding us that it wasn't so long ago that he was subjected to the ravages of the Time Destructor – and could go a long way toward explaining why he's coming across as so passive for much of this story so far. He usually has such fire and energy about him, but that's largely missing from this story.

I like the set for Refusis, which is a beautiful, unspoiled world. This is Dodo's first alien planet, but she reacts to it with the same careless nonchalance as everything else she's experienced on this adventure, laughing it off with a joke rather than being awed by the experience. This is Dodo's personality, cute and funny, although there's little depth to her as presented here so far. I can't help feeling that the Monoids have taken a risk in sending a single Monoid on this excursion – armed, but outnumbered. If the other three ganged up on him, I'm sure they could take the weapon from him. But what could they do then to save everyone else? So they cooperate, for now, moving off in search of the Refusian natives.

After they leave the shuttle, something invisible enters it, sitting on the seats and playing with the controls to see what they do. This is a clue, foreshadowing the twist about to be revealed.

With no sign of the Refusians, the Monoid Two wonders if the research indicating their existence might have been wrong. It doesn't occur to him to wonder if something might have happened to them on the 700+ years since that research was carried out. When Dodo, friendly and open despite being a prisoner, attempts to chat to Number Two about how long it will take to bring everyone down, he slips up in his response and she is onto him in a flash, realising that the Monoids are up to something. I like that as characterisation for Dodo, because she's been so dizzy and heedless up to now, inexperienced as she is, but it is clear in this scene that she's taking everything in, even if she does prefer to focus amiably on positives rather than negatives. She is fearless here, confident in her assumptions and unafraid to confront Number Two about them, although he is armed.



Before Number Two can respond to Dodo's accusation, the Doctor wanders back to announce that he's found evidence that the planet is occupied after all – a structure almost like a castle. The set dressing really is lovely in this story, whatever its other faults – the interior of the castle looks very grand, considering the budget, even if Dodo finds it creepy – that girl has one heck of a gob on her, just can't seem to stop herself chuntering on, insulting the Monoids' appearance before she can stop herself! With no sign of the Refusians whatsoever, Number Two gloats that the Monoids must be frightened weaklings hiding from his gun and decides to challenge them, deliberately smashing the fixtures and fittings. While Dodo feebly protests, the Doctor comes over all commanding, shouting furiously at the Monoid – now that's more like the Doctor we all know and love. A voice rings out – the invisible Refusian is in the room with them, and forcibly prevents Number Two from any further damage – now there's how to make an instant impression! The Doctor is highly amused by Number Two's confusion.

Up on the Ark, there's rather a nifty angled aerial shot of Number One Monoid in conference with a couple of others – fair play to the director, he did his best to be creative. Number One explains his plan to blow up the Ark as soon as all Monoids are safely down on the planet, and one of the subject Guardians, a collaborator by the name of Maharis, is spying on the Monoids and overhears this plot. He hurries down to the security kitchen to tell the others what he has learned; they are reluctant to listen to him, seeing him as a traitor to his people, but Steven, who is new to the socio-political set-up here, persuades the others to hear him out, and so the Guardians learn that their time is running out – they have to somehow escape from the kitchen and find the bomb before it is too late.

Down on the planet, the Doctor is having a nice little chat with the Refusian, who admits that his kind have long known of the approach of the Ark and built this castle and other structures like it in preparation for the new arrivals – they welcome the colonists, which is a convenient device to avoid having to deal with the ethical ramifications of the planned invasion! The Refusians themselves have no physical form as a result of a solar flare long ago – we'll just go with that as an explanation, rather than question the science.



Outside, Number Two and Yendom are heading for the shuttle, leaving the Doctor to his negotiations. Two intends to contact the Ark to prepare the other Monoids for dealing with the invisible Refusians, and here Yendom snaps – he was present for Dodo's little confrontation with Number Two earlier, he knows that the Monoids are planning the destruction of his people, and although Dodo seems to have forgotten all about it in the excitement of meeting an invisible Refusian, Yendom hasn't. Collaborator no more, Yendom attacks Number Two to stop him reporting back to the Ark…and is killed for his trouble. So much for that minor rebellion. The Doctor and Dodo hear his dying scream and hurry to investigate – again, I appreciate the nuances of their facial acting, since they aren't given any dialogue until they find Yendom's body.

The shuttle blows up with Number Two aboard, before he can warn his fellows about the invisible Refusians. Staring at the charred remains in dismay, Dodo wonders what she and the Doctor are going to do now – her usual peppy optimism replaced by genuine anxiety. The Doctor is quite unconcerned, however, calmly assuring her that the Monoids will send another shuttle – and if not, well, they'll just have to stay where they are!

Episode four: 'The Bomb'

Unable to resume contact with Two, One ponders for a moment and then decides, rather dramatically, to proceed with the planned landings anyway. There is a hint of dissent in the ranks, however, establishing that the Monoids don't all think as one and aren't uniformly evil.

Down on the planet, the Refusians explain that they destroyed the shuttle because they are concerned about the alien settlers, being peaceful by nature themselves. Dodo is quick to speak up in defence of humankind, arguing that the Guardians were the same when she knew them before, peaceful and content, although the Doctor is quick to remind her that they were far from perfect, being just as capable of selfishness and intolerance as the Monoids. You can see what the story is aiming for here, the concept of not judging books (or aliens) by their covers, that everyone is much the same under the skin, equally capable of good and bad. The theme is clunkily explored, but valid nonetheless.

Dodo argues that there are still some among the Guardians who would welcome the chance to rise up against the Monoids and try to do better, and that's the key phrase there: try to do better. That's what the Refusians want: for the settlers to come in peace and try to do better. This is stronger characterisation for Dodo now, placed in the hot seat and required to plead on behalf of her people, proving that there is sterner stuff beneath that ditzy exterior – which again ties in with that theme of looking beyond the surface to the person beneath.

The Refusions decide to allow one day before they begin to employ defensive measures. That's good enough for the Doctor. But it is now up to Steven and the others up on the ship.

Aware that the Monoids are up to something, Steven is plotting and planning, determined to find a way out, while the Guardians sit around being pessimistic – they are inured to their captivity now, but Steven, a newcomer, brings much-needed drive and resolution to the situation. The only possible way out of the security kitchen, he is told, is if one of the subject Guardians opens the door from the outside, but they are too frightened to help. Well then, Steven decides, they will just have to enlist someone's help without them knowing about it. I like when Steven is cunning. He's learned a lot on his travels.



The Guardians might not have enough spirit to plot revolution themselves, but they are perfectly willing to help Steven once he's come up with an idea for them. When the subject Guardian Maharis brings a tray back to the kitchen, Venussa helps Steven distract him while Dassuk sneaks out through the open door. Truth be told, the door is left unguarded long enough for loads of them to escape, but we'll let that slide, given how thoroughly cowed they are, most of them too afraid to attempt it.

Once Maharis has gone, Dassuk is able to open the door from the outside and free everyone else. A good plan, easily executed, and not a sonic screwdriver in sight! As the group set off in search of the bomb, they hear an alarm, signalling launch of the shuttles – the Monoids are leaving, taking their population trays with them.

Oh, I love the model work of the shuttles leaving the ship and heading for Refusis, watched by Steven and the others on a video screen, which is a nice way of integrating the pre-filmed material without having to edit it in.

The Guardians and subject Guardians are now united in a common purpose – to find the bomb before it is too late. I like the way everyone looks to Steven for leadership – he isn't a natural leader in the way Ian was, but he does instinctively take responsibility for others, and, impatient and exasperated though he is, is the only person here clear-headed enough to take charge.

Arriving on Refusis, the Monoids find the remains of Two's shuttle and make plans to find and destroy the culprit – and still One is outrageously over-dramatic, the actor overcompensating for not being able to use facial expressions to convey emotion! The Doctor and Dodo, hiding nearby, listen in as some other Monoids plot to overthrow One – and also mention the bomb on the ship. They wait until the shuttles and unguarded and then sneak aboard the nearest.

Studying a plan of the ship, Steven is beginning to despair of ever finding the bomb, and it is Venussa's turn to try to rally his spirits, as he did for her and the others earlier. I rather like the way she interacts with Steven, it's a shame this fledgling relationship isn't explored more. Then they see that one of the shuttles is trying to make contact – it is the Doctor, who is openly relieved to hear Steven's voice, assurance that he is safe and well. He promises to find out from the Monoids where the bomb is hidden and announces his intention of sending back some of the shuttles, and this short conversation is all Steven needed to restore his spirits and fill him with determination once more, which I find rather touching. I really enjoy Steven's friendship with the Doctor.



Dodo and the Refusian want to know just how the Doctor intends to carry out his promise to Steven. He blithely suggests that the Refusian fly the shuttles back to the ship, and for a disembodied voice the Refusian is adorably taken aback at the suggestion, but agrees. As for talking to the Monoids, a pair of them are approaching even as the Doctor speaks. He leads Dodo out of the shuttle and greets them cheerfully – that brazen cheek is perhaps my favourite characteristic of the Doctor. He can bluff his way through almost any situation. The Monoids are amazed to see the shuttles taking off with no one aboard, but the Doctor isn't telling what he knows, only chuckling that he hasn't seen any Refusians – well, it's true enough! Number Four chooses this moment to begin his rebellion, and, in the ensuing debate, One reveals the location of the bomb: in the head of the statue – just what the Doctor wanted to hear.

The Refusian is highly amused by the reaction of the Guardians to his invisible presence when he brings the shuttle aboard. Steven suggests that some of the Guardians should start making their way down to Refusis, while others remain behind to deal with the bomb. Maharis doesn't see why any of them should risk being blown up, and it is Steven – an outsider – who has to remind him of his responsibility to the Earth's population trays. There may not be time to evacuate them and they must be saved, Steven argues. He really is Mr Responsibility. He volunteers to remain on the ship himself, while Dassuk takes a group, including Maharis, down to the planet. Steven has a nice little moment with Venussa, who has volunteered to remain aboard with him – this story could do with more moments like that, personal connections between characters.



Open conflict breaks out among the Monoids, the factions ambushing and attacking one another. The Refusians won't like that. The shuttles return into the midst of this chaos, bringing with them the Guardians. Maharis is first out – he tries to return to Monoid service, unable to cope with freedom, and is killed for his trouble. The other Guardians sneak out of the shuttle and run for cover while the Monoids fight among themselves. Dassuk has learned a lot from Steven – running into the building to find the Doctor and Dodo guarded by an armed Monoid, he plays at servitude, pretending to have a message from One, and the Monoid is fooled, hurrying out and leaving them alone.

As the Monoids slaughter one another, Four is left standing. He throws his gun away, sickened by the carnage, and does not attempt to stop the Doctor and the others as they hurry to the shuttle to make contact with the Ark. Dassuk pilots while the Doctor radios to Steven, to tell him where the bomb is hidden.

Knowing where the bomb is hidden is one thing – being able to remove it from the ship is another. The Guardians have no equipment that will lift the statue. Here the Refusian steps in – lifting the entire statue with ease! Steven, of course, promptly finds something else to worry about, fretting that the movement might set the bomb off. He's such a worry-wort. The Refusian moves the statue into the launching bay, and the Guardians can do the rest, ejecting it into space. How thoughtful of the ship's designers, 700 years ago, to make the launching bay doors tall enough to fit this enormous statue through! The statue is ejected into the space just in time, exploding harmlessly nearby. I have many quibbles about the science involved here, but it would be too tedious to go into them. Let us simply accept this resolution to the problem.

So, all is well that ends well. The Refusians promise to assist the human settlers, so long as they make peace with the Monoids, and the Doctor agrees, reminding the Guardians of both the generosity and failings of their ancestors, which brought them to this place. It is agreed, and the Doctor offers a few words of advice – the same advice he gave to these peoples' ancestors, 700 years and a day or two ago. And once again he and his companions say their farewells and are driven back to the TARDIS, in the heart of the ship's jungle. The Guardians wonder if they will ever see them again, and reflect that perhaps their children will. I kind of love the idea of the Doctor, Steven and Dodo becoming an enduring legend among the joint human, Monoid and Refusian society that is to be formed!



The TARDIS takes off – straight into a cliffhanger teaser for the next adventure. Time has passed, Steven and Dodo have both changed into very funky new outfits that I'm sure would hurt my eyes if they were in colour, the TARDIS begins to land – and the Doctor suddenly begins to fade out of existence, becoming invisible! Dodo and Steven assume it is connected to the invisible Refusians, but the Doctor's disembodied voice declares that they are wrong – this is something far more serious and they are all in great danger!

Quotable Quotes

DODO: Oh, you're not going to send me home, are you?
DOCTOR: Home? [laughs] What an idea. I couldn't send you home even if I wanted to.
DODO: Oh, that's all right, then. I think I'm beginning to enjoy this space travel or whatever it is.

DODO: Doctor, Steven, get a look at these fab pictures!
DOCTOR: Ah, fab, hmm. My dear child, if you're going to be with us for any length of time, you'll have to do something about that English of yours.
DODO: What's wrong with it?
DOCTOR: It's terrible, child.

COMMANDER: You travel in that black box?
STEVEN: Yes.
COMMANDER: Well, how are you able to make your spaceship enter ours?
STEVEN: It isn't just a spaceship. It can travel anywhere in time or space.
ZENTOS: Why have you chosen to come here?
STEVEN: Well, we didn't. It has a mind of its own.

ZENTOS: Chills?
DOCTOR: A virus fever which used to be quite common to the human being.
COMMANDER: And cured so long ago we've forgotten what it was like. Fascinating! It's like history coming to life. Tell me, Doctor, if you cannot direct your spacecraft, your journeys must take you to some strange places.

COMMANDER: But all that happened in the first segment of time.
DOCTOR: Segment? To use your phrase, sir, what segment are we in now?
COMMANDER: The fifty seventh.
DOCTOR: Good gracious! We must have jumped at least ten million years.

STEVEN: What's all the fuss about? The man's caught Dodo's cold, that's all.
DOCTOR: All? All? These people, this generation, have never experienced the common cold for the simple reason it was wiped out many generations ago before they were born. They have no resistance to it.
STEVEN: What'll happen?
DOCTOR: I don't quite know, I don't know. But it might be fatal and we shall be to blame. Yes, it's all our fault and I should have foreseen it.

DODO: It's all my fault. If I'd known it was going to be like this, I'd never have come.
DOCTOR: Well you did come, my dear, so it's too late to be worry about that.

STEVEN: Look, do you think this has happened before? That we've carried an infection from one age to another, or even one planet to another?
DOCTOR: Oh, I don't want to think it about it, dear boy. It's too horrifying.

COMMANDER: What happens to me is not so important. Or you for that matter, or any one of us, but the voyage and the eventual landing of our descendants on the planet Refusis, that is! That's the only thing that's important. Remember that.

STEVEN: I've told you before. We know nothing of that planet.
ZENTOS: My instinct, every fibre of my being, tells me differently.
STEVEN: And that, unfortunately, tells me only one thing.
ZENTOS: What's that?
STEVEN: That the nature of man, even in this day and age, hasn't altered at all. You still fear the unknown, like everyone else before you.

ZENTOS: Very well. If he has not decided wisely, we will not live to know it.

DODO: How will I know where to find them?
DOCTOR: Well open your eyes, my dear child, otherwise you won't be any use to me, will you?
DODO: Okay.
DOCTOR: What did you say?
DODO: I said, okay.
DOCTOR: Yes, I thought you did. Now once this crisis is over, I'm going to teach you to speak English.

DOCTOR: Yes, I know I'm a bit of a quack.

DODO: Do you really think it'll work?
DOCTOR: Well, I don't see why not, my dear, providing I've mixed these properly.
DODO: And what if you haven't?
DOCTOR: Oh, don't let that cross our minds, for heavens sake.

ZENTOS: Doctor, for the fact that I mistrusted you, misjudged you, I'm sorry.
DOCTOR: Remember your journey is very important, young man, therefore you must travel with understanding as well as hope.

MONOID 1: Why have you come back?
STEVEN: The Tardis made the decision.
MONOID 1: Are you telling me that you can't control your own machine?

VENUSSA: Take no notice of him, Doctor, he was born a cynic.
DOCTOR: He'll probably die one unless we do something quickly about this situation.

DODO: So this is Refusis? Where's the red carpet, then?

DOCTOR: A long time ago, your ancestors accepted responsibility for the welfare of these Monoids. They were treated like slaves. So no wonder when they got the chance, they repaid you in kind.
REFUSIAN [OC]: Unless you learn to live together, there is no future for you on Refusis.
DASSUK: We understand.
DOCTOR: Yes, you must travel with understanding as well as hope. You know, I once said that to one of your ancestors, a long time ago.

VENUSSA: Do you think we'll ever see them again?
DASSUK: Perhaps, but if we don't our children will, or our children's children.
VENUSSA: If we were to tell them the story, do you think they'd believe us, or would they just dismiss it as a legend?
DASSUK: We'll make them believe it.

The Verdict

Hmm. Overall and taken as a whole, I'm in two minds about this one. The storytelling is clunky, dealing with intriguing concepts in a largely superficial manner, this is definitely one of the weakest stories of the season so far, and yet it is entertaining nonetheless and raises some really interesting ideas. The characters are rather clumsily handled, especially considering that this is the introductory adventure for a new companion, who is given no real grounding to build on, but the actors all put in excellent performances regardless. Jackie Lane brings great charm and energy to Dodo despite not having much material to work with, while Peter Purves is excellent again as Steven and William Hartnell's Doctor is simply a delight at this stage of his development.

The Ark is flawed, but I enjoy it as simple light-hearted fun anyway.