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