Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 116: The Bomb (The Ark, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

After everything I said yesterday, the Monoids actually look really good here! The scenes where they emerge from the jungle on Refusis and attack the others is fantastic. Yes, they're a slightly silly idea, and yes they don't quite work as well as they might have hoped, but I'm completely won around. It'd be interesting to see a modern take on them. Has anyone drawn up any designs for a re-imagined Monoid?

I find that this is another one of those episodes where I'm left with very little to say. Over the last three days, I've praised the direction, the design, the story… and all of that's waiting to be talked up again here. Stories like this are tricky, because you really don't quite know what to talk about without repeating yourself. A lot.

It's fair to say that the story suffers one of its few less successful effects here, when the Monoids leave the Ark and head for the planet. The shot of the shuttles leaving the ship is plagued by some very obvious wires, but I think it's a case of falling back on my old argument - the original broadcast wouldn't have been on a screen as big as this, or with a picture as clear as this.

There's a wonderful special feature on The Ark DVD, during which Peter Purves talks about the way that the programme would have been seen back in 1966. They show the image on a tiny TV set, and with the contrast up high - just as it would have been when first shown. The shot they use is the opening scene, where the Monoid turns to the camera and it's our first introduction to this world. It looks great. I wonder if I can play with the settings on the Mac and watch an episode in a worse quality than the DVD affords, just to see how it might have looked? That would be an interesting experiment for maybe an episode that's not particularly well regarded.

On the whole, I've rather enjoyed The Ark. It's not a particularly stand-out story in the way some others the season might be, but there's a lot in there to be praised, and I'm surprised it's not considered more popular. I don wonder, though, if it may work a little better were it given the Mission to the Unknown treatment: splitting it apart. Would the story be given any more impact if they had their two episodes dealing with Dodo's cold, left as we see here, and then headed off to another story. They could even move on and do the Celestial Toymaker story - the final few minutes of today's episode would tag onto the end of Episode Two quite well.

Then, having spent four weeks away, they could return to the Ark, and Dodo could still do her whole 'Oh, look! They've completed the statue! Do you remember, last time we were here, they said it would take 700 years…' and play the story out just the same. It might be nice to see the story given a bit more space to breathe like that, and give the real impression that time has passed for the Ark, by making time pass for us. I guess that can jut be one of those 'what ifs'.

Next Episode: The Celestial Toyroom

Next Episode: The Celestial Toyroom 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 115: The Return (The Ark, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

I've mentioned before that Season Three is something of a weak point in my early Doctor Who knowledge. I've not seen much of it before, and only really know the overall 'gimmicks' of the stories. The cliffhanger for yesterday, for example, is the main thing I know about this story. It's telling that today we've touched down on the planet Refusis 2, and I didn't know we were going to! I thought the whole story took place on the Ark, and reached the planet right at the very end, in time for the Guardians to take their place on the new world.

It was a bit exciting, then, when the Doctor, Dodo, a Monoid and his personal slave were bearded into a shuttle and sent down to scout out the planet first. What would they find? Arid desert? Beautiful countryside? A quarry? A studio set? Oh, of course. It's a jungle. Full of invisible creatures. Didn't we do this not all that long ago?

I think what frustrates me is that I know they can do a good jungle set on the show in this era. Heck, I quite liked the one we got in The Chase, but then it was bettered by The Daleks' Master Plan and the first two episodes of this story. Yes, it's a lovely design again, but… I want to see something new! Doctor Who has always been very good at re-using its good ideas over and over, but it doesn't really work when it comes so quickly in succession like this.

Still, there's a lot to like in this episode. Imison as director continues to impress - there's several 'effects' shots in this instalment and they're all pulled off very well. From the magically appearing food, through to the invisible creatures moving around, and the explosion of the capsule at the end, there's a lot to enjoy and it's really helping push this story along. It's the first time, I think, that we've had so many effects like this all in one episode, and just as par-for-the-course. It really makes The Ark stick out from the stories we've had leading up to it.

There's also still a number of design choices being made in this episode that I'm really liking. Quite aside from the jungle itself, and the sets for the Ark, which are still just as nice (though we see less of the scope, now), I really love the capsule that the Doctor and co use to descend to the planet. I love the way the door opens, with the wall folding away and the seat overturning to form steps - though you'd need to be careful if you were the one sitting there. I wonder how many accidents those things have caused over the centuries?

Oh, alright then. I'm going to have to discuss the Monoids properly at some point, aren't I? They've never been the most well-regarded creatures in Doctor Who history, and I think it's fair to say that they're not the greatest design on show in this story. That said, I do sort-of like them, and they look better in some shots here than they have before. I've often thought it strange to build an entire monster around the idea that you could make the eyes move by wiggling your tongue around a bit, but it does work on some occasions.

The voices are something of a let-down, though, Having had them evolve from speechless beings into this, I don't know what I was expecting. We seem to have ended up with 'generic evil alien' voices, not all that far removed from Mechanoids or Daleks. I am keen on the way that Monoid One keeps gesticulating, though. It's almost a throwback to the way they communicated before, and that works quite well.

Mind you, the less said about the 'Security Kitchen' the better…

Next Episode: The Bomb

Next Episode: The Bomb 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 114: The Plague (The Ark, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

The Ark really is one of the best stories that we've had so far, design-wise. Everything about this spaceship has been really well thought-through, from the look of the place to the way that the characters interact with each other. It's only a small (and very silly) thing, but there's a moment where one of the Guardians addresses the rest of his people, and there's one off to the side - barely in shot - translating to sign language for the benefit of the Monoids. There's really no need to have someone specifically doing this, but it really does help to make the world seem far more real.

And then there's the design of the sets, too. Back during The Daleks' Master Plan, the existence of a surviving episode left me stunned at the sheer size of their council chamber. The same can be said of the main hall seen in this story - you really get a sense of the scale of this ship. It doesn't hurt that Imison is still proving to be one of the best directors we've had on the show, and his high-angled shots really make the most of the space.

It's frustrating, then, when things aren't done so well in this episode. There's a moment when a Guardian looks down that the Doctor on a video monitor, and the case around the screen looks like it's been thrown together in ten minutes out of MDF. I know that's more or less the way that most of Classic Doctor Who was made, but it sticks out like a sore thumb in an episode that's otherwise very well realised.

Perhaps even more of a problem for me is the Monoid's form of transport. The buggies appear to be scenery carts from the BBC (I'm willing to bet that they are), and they take me right out of the story every time they appear. There's a lovely moment early on, where a dead Monoid is taken on a funeral precision, carried through the gathered crowds to be jettisoned into space. It's far more moving than the death of a Monoid has any right to be, but then when they load him onto the back of the truck, it all falls apart.

At the end of the story, when the Doctor and his friends are taken back to the TARDIS rising on one, Hartnell looks as though he's off to the boarding gate at Gatwick. I'd not be at all surprised if he didn't turn up in tomorrow's episode… That said, how good does he look when Face Timing with the Guardian? He does it better than a few of the other actors in this story…

When people talk about The Ark, the thing that usually comes up pretty quick in the conversation is this mid-way cliffhanger. That's the unique selling point of this story - the Doctor and his friends turn up, cause a problem, save the day, leave… and then they come back again. That's the thing that everyone knows about this tale. It's almost a shame that I'm coming to it knowing that we're only half-way through, as I'd be keen to know what my reaction might be if I didn't know what was happening.

Especially since - and this isn't something that often seems to get said - the reveal of the cliffhanger is bloody brilliant. Seriously, I think it may be the best reveal that we've ever had in the series. The TARDIS rematerialises (having departed in a gorgeous shot that contains a Monoid! There's some gorgeous spilt-screen work in there), the Doctor and his friends look around, and then the cliffhanger is that the statue has been completed. That's it. They've arrived back on the Ark, and it's 700 years later. The 'Next Episode' caption comes up and everything.

It's only after that's all happened that we get the slow pan up the statue to reveal it's got the head of a Monoid. It's almost like you're let down by a naff cliffhanger, and then they hit you with that one! Bam! Oh, it's very clever, and it really works.

And it's set up very cleverly, too. What we get beforehand is the final scene of a Hartnell story. They all say goodbye. They sum up the resolution to us, wish those staying behind well and then depart for the next story. It might as well be the final scene of The Web Planet (but with less jumping around). It really takes what you expect from the series and turns it on its head.

Mind you, why do they instantly assume they're back on the Ark when they arrive? They've been in so many jungles lately that it shouldn't come as much of a shock! And, for that matter, why do they head back up to the main area instead of getting back in the ship and trying again? Dodo says it herself - 'it's only been a few seconds' - yet she still wanders around calling 'we're back!' as she looks for people. Strange.

Next Episode: The Return

Next Episode: The Return 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 113: The Steel Sky (The Ark, Episode One)

Dear diary,

It still feels weird to do an episode that's not been narrated by Peter Purves. I'm almost wondering if I can hire him so sit next to me on the couch and narrate the existing episodes while I watch them. I might look into that.

That said, it's nice to be back to a visual episode for today (and, indeed, for the rest of this story). Even better, it's a very visual episode! It's gorgeous! Right from the very start, as we see a lizard, followed by a bird and then a shot of a Moniod… That's striking. It's almost as if they knew this episode would survive, and decided to make full use of the fact that you can see it by really putting the effort in.

The direction continues to be of a consistent standard throughout the episode - from the tracking shot which stops just as the TARDIS materialises, to a range of high-angled shots. Director Michael Imison even manages to make the Moniods look good when the Doctor and friends come out of the caves and find themselves surrounded.

Ah, yes. The Doctor's 'friends'. I know it's early days yet, but I don't really know what to make of Dodo. On the plus side, she brings out the best in Steven - I'm greatly enjoying his exasperation with her, for example - but on the other… I've spent a lot of time so far in this marathon praising the way that companions are treated on the whole. The introductions of the last two 'major' companions (Vicki and Steven) have both been chances to reestablish the programme, and bring new viewers up to speed before we launch off on another adventure.

Dodo, though, right from her slightly odd arrival in yesterday's episode just seems to be thrust into things a bit too fast. It's almost as though they don't want to waste time in setting up this new character, so they're just getting all the early character beats out of the way as quickly as they can, before they move on with the story. Yesterday, we had the very quick introduction to her ('Hello! I'm Dodo! My full name is Dorethea, I'm an orphan, I live with my aunt, but she hates me, so I won't be missed. I might be from Manchester, but I've yet to decide on that…'), and an attempt to try and set up the show again ('this is a time machine. We can go anywhere in space, too. Don't know how to steer it though, so you may never get home. Off we go!). Today, she's already rooting through the TARDIS wardrobe and keen to explore. It's all just a bit too quick for me.

I'm hoping that it'll eventually settle down (The War Machines is the only Dodo story I've seen in full, and it was so long ago that I can't remember much about it…), but for now… no. Not sitting right with me at all. Still, that said, I do love the idea of her emerging from the TARDIS with a cold. It's a different idea, and it's lovely to see how it impacts on the plot. I wonder if these days they'd describe the TARDIS as having some kind of 'cure-all' filter inside it, to stop you from bringing back all manner of diseases from your travels through history? I know enough about The Ark to know where it's going in this story, but it's by far the best thing about Dodo so far.

I'm hoping that the direction continues to be of this standard moving forward, because it's the best thing about the story so far. I'm just enjoying the novel feeling of moving onto another moving episode! It's not something I've been able to do for a while, now…

Next Episode: The Plague

Next Episode: The Plague