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

Day Eighty-Eight: Four Hundred Dawns (Galaxy 4, Episode One)

Dear diary,

A nice shiny new recon of Galaxy 4 came out a couple of weeks back, as a special feature on the new release of The Aztecs DVD, as a place to house the recently-recovered third episode. Unfortunately, the recon on the DVD isn't a full length one, and the rest of the episodes have been cut down. In the interests of doing this marathon properly, I've therefore decided to stick with the audio release of the story - though I did get a nice 5-minute clip of real footage in today's episode…

One of the things I like about the narrated audios is that they allow my mind to wander a little, and take one-or-two liberties with the visual representation of the story. Having come from eighty-seven consecutive days of watching early Doctor Who evolve in its style, anything I'm imagining here isn't wildly different to what I'm used to them achieving in the studio (the planet isn't some far-flung alien visa, for example, with the suns blazing in the sky as though they were made of pure CGI), I am able to forget about any odd technical glitches, such as any damage to the set, or a snippet of boom shadow.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Peter Purves describes the world onto which the TARDIS has landed: 'the ground here is black and smooth'. I've worked in studio TC3 at the BBC Television Centre (may she rest in peace), and so the description of a studio floor was enough to pull me right out of things for a moment! I might not imagine a vast, sprawling landscape, but I might have at least imagined some sand on the ground…

In all, this first episode is something of a come-down from the highs I've had with The Time Meddler. It feels like a hangover from Season Two (which, being made at the end of that production period, I guess it is), and not one of the better examples of the run. There's some nice enough elements, but the whole thing is just a little bland.

The standout has to be the TARDIS crew, who have very quickly settled in, and who I'm liking a lot. The opening scenes here, in which Vicki cuts Steven's hair while the Doctor operates the ship are somewhat reminiscent of the first episode of The Chase, and suggest a team that are settled in with each other.

One of the complaints that I've often read about this story is that it was re-written at the last minute to incorporate Steven instead of Ian and Barbara, and that therefore, many of Babs' lines were relocated to the new arrival. While that may feel like the case in one or two places here, it helps to bed in the idea that Steven is comfortable in the TARDIS, and gives the impression that some time has passed since we left them at the end of the last season. I'd be willing to suggest that they've had one or two adventures together since then.

Steven's sense of sarcasm, which I so praised yesterday, is still in evidence, too, when he discusses Vicki's hair-cutting skills. All in all? A team I'm really enjoying, and I hope it continues through the rest of the story.

The one other thing that I wasn't expecting was a line from Maaga, when she describes her crew as 'products. Inferior products. Grown for a purpose and nothing more.' As soon as she said it, I was reminded of the Flesh from Matt Smith's second season - there's certainly something of a parallel! Are some of the Drahvins grown from the stuff? Assuming nothing comes along to contradict it further down the line, I'm going to be taking this as part of my own personal cannon from now on…

Next Episode: Trap of Steel

Next Episode: Trap of Steel 

Don't forget to 'like' the 50 Year Diary Facebook page ! I'm sure I'll be using it to ask questions etc in relation to the marathon! 

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

Day Eighty-Seven: Checkmate (The TIme Meddler, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

Ever since watching The Aztecs, I've made a lot of reference to a loose 'arc' that runs through these early stories, particularly in the historicals. For want of a better term, in my mind I've been calling it the 'altering history' arc. At various points since then, I've speculated that what we've been watching in these stories is the First Doctor learning about the way history works, shifting from a view that you cannot change it, to the dawning realisation that, actually, you can.

Where this episode is interesting, then, is in the way it gives a slightly different viewpoint to the whole thing. In The Aztecs, when Barbara tries to change sacrificial ways because she believes a more civilised society can be born, the Doctor is very blunt with her: 'You can't re-write history! Not one line!'. At the time, I said that during this stage, early on in his travels, that's what he believed. Across the following historical stories (and culminating in The Romans, in which he becomes the reason for the great fire of Rome), I've suggested that he's discovering for the first time that history is more malleable than he might have first thought.

Here, though, when talking to a member of his own race for the first time (or, at least, the first time that we have seen, and presumably the first time since he left home, Susan notwithstanding), he describes 'the golden rule of time/space travel' as being that you must 'never, never interfere with the course of history'. It would be far more in keeping with the early Doctor's personality for him to have known this all along, and to only be so blunt with Barbara because he didn't want her to mess around with established events.

Tell her that the rules say she can't alter history, and she may argue that rules are made to be broken. Tell her that she can't, or that it's impossible, and there's less of a debate to be had.

And yet, all of this still allows for a learning curve in the Doctor's case, albeit one which stretches far beyond these first two seasons of the show (but so broadly that it would be difficult to keep track of it after The Time Meddler). By the time that the Doctor reaches his Eighth incarnation in the Big Finish audios, he rips a hole in the Web of Time by saving his companion's life. By the time of The Waters of Mars and his Tenth incarnation, he's learnt that he can - or can at least try - to bend time to his own will.

Once he's regenerated into Matt Smith's incarnation, messing around with time to get the desired effect is all par-for-the-course. This little arc, which I've been following for a few months now, becomes a thread that links all of Doctor Who together, very loosely.

Quite apart from all this 'arc' stuff which I keep retro-actively shoe-horning into the early seasons, this has been another great episode. If anything, it all seemed to be over a little quick. The final confrontation between the Doctor and the Monk took place early on, and then the rest seems to fall to the Saxons and the Viking's battling it out, with the Monk caught in the middle.

That's not to say that there isn't still some good stuff involved - Steven is still proving to be a great companion, and I've taken to him in the way I loved Ian in the early days. I hope the quality of writing for the character stays this high outside of a Dennis Spooner script. He's got a thick vein of sarcasm running through him, which helps to make the character seem all the more real.

The Doctor's joy at having tricked the Monk is fab, and it's great to see the Doctor behaving in this way. Throughout the story, it's felt like the Doctor has finally struck the perfect balance between the dark, sinister character from early Season One and the giggling fool we've seen lot so f in Season Two. Crucially, we've had to say goodbye to Ian and Barbara, who the Doctor himself said were treating him like a doddery old man. Perhaps now we're back to seeing a more 'true' Doctor, though still softened by the time he spent with them?

On the whole, the second season has been a bit of a let down for me. While there were several stand-out episodes, there were far more that really didn't chime with me particularly well. I'm excited to be moving onto the show's third season, though, and seeing what it will bring. Of all the Hartnell seasons, the third is the one I have the least prior exposure to (mostly due to the high number of missing bits!), so there could be anything waiting for me just around the corner…

Next Episode: Four Hundred Dawns

Next Episode: Four Hundred Dawns 

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

Day Eighty-Six: A Battle of Wits (The Time Meddler, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

I don't know if I just didn't notice it during The Crusade and the end of Planet of Giants, or if Douglas Camfield has suddenly stepped up a gear in his direction, but this episode continues to make The Time Meddler the absolute best direction that we've had in Doctor Who to date.

The scene where the Doctor confronts the Monk, with a stick to his back, is simply gorgeous, and the close-ups of the characters feel oddly out of place - the framing of them and the way that the camera cuts from shot, to shot, to shot… it's all far better than I've grown used to. It also has an interesting effect on the Doctor - Hartnell has never looked better in the role than he does here.

There's a shot, as the Monk steps outside for the second time, having been taunted by a ghostly knock to the door, when the Doctor steps up behind him, and fixes him in the back with the end of a branch. The way the Doctor stands, the way he acts, the way he speaks to the Monk… Hartnell performs the scene in a way quite unlike any other performance he's given, and it all really works.

And then there's that final shot, as Vicki and Steven crawl through a concealed door in the crypt and emerge out into the Monk's TARDIS. The way that the camera pulls backwards, the doors opening as the pair step inside. Frankly, there's something a little bit magical about that moment.

The problem is that I know it's coming! The cliffhanger to this episode is one of the more well-known from the programme's original run. It's a justly famous cliffhanger - it's fantastic! - but it means that the impact is slightly lessened for me. Imagine sitting down in 1965, having watched Doctor Who for just under two years, following it from the beginning, and then reaching this moment.

Everything you thought you knew is suddenly being re-written! I wondered just a few days ago at the Doctor's comment that he built the TARDIS. Even as late as that, there's still some indication that the ship is his, and it's the only one in the universe. Now we know otherwise.

I must admit, based on how much I'm enjoying this story so far, I was really worried about this cliffhanger. I was worried that it would just pass me by without feeling at all special, in the way that it rightly should do. Thankfully, a combination of the direction, Maureen O'Brien's performance and the way that the whole thing is handled really comes together to make give the scene a real impact, even if you do know what's coming.

Next Episode: Checkmate

Next Episode: Checkmate 

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

Day Eighty-Five: The Meddling Monk (The Time Meddler, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

I panicked, after yesterday. The pattern lately seems to be of having a very strong opening episode, and then watching as it slowly goes to pot across the rest of the story. Or, at the very least, watching it revert to just being mediocre. Having come from such a strong episode yesterday (It's not the first '9' I've given to the marathon, but I spent a while debating wether or not to give it a full-on '10'…), I really didn't want to watch this one fall from favour so quick.

Thankfully, it hasn't. Weyhey! A large portion of the credit really must be given to the style and direction of the whole thing. These are - quite simply - the very best sets we've had in the series to date. All of them look fantastic, and the whole thing still has a real filmic quality to it.

The direction is first-rate, with the sad exception of the fight sequence toward the end, which just ends up falling a little flat. The problem with it, though, is that it looks like a fight from early 1960s Doctor Who, when everything around it looks like something far more polished than that.

The thing that struck me most has to be the absence of Hartnell. Not because it's badly covered (quite the opposite, in fact. The tape player just about gets away with it), but because it's only been a few episodes since we last saw him dip out for a week - during The Space Museum. It's not often you get two weeks of in such quick succession!

Perhaps the best thing about his holiday, though, has to be the cliffhanger itself. Coming as soon as it does after his last week away, Steven peering into the cell and suggesting that he thinks the Doctor is asleep, and then Vicki simply staring off-camera while she says the Doctor's name are all very reminiscent of Ian's surprised 'Doctor!' in The Space Museum.

Whereas there, though, we don't get to see what he's looking at (until the following episode, and Hartnell's return to work), here it's revealed that the lack of reply is indeed a lack of the Doctor - he's gone missing! It's a great subversion of my expectations, which helped to really make good use of the Doctor being missing for a bit.

Another subversion of my expectations came in the form of the Saxon who doesn't trust Vicki and Steven. As soon as he started to predict that they would regret letting the pair walk free, I knew they'd end up being framed for something. It was a bit of an eye-rolling moment, then, when Vikings came to assert themselves against the woman of the group (The implication seems to be rape, though that's perhaps a little strong for a Saturday tea-time!), and we're quickly being told that it was the work of 'the travellers'.

So it's fantastic that within a few minutes, they've been cleared of the crime by the woman herself, who comes round long enough to murmur 'Vikings'. I'm never much of a fan of 'the Doctor and his friends have to prove their innocence' in these historical stories, so it's great to see that idea being given a new spin here, too…

Next Episode: A Battle of Wits

Next Episode: A Battle of Wits 

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

Day Eighty-Four: The Watcher (The Time Meddler, Episode One)

Dear diary,

For some weeks now, The Time Meddler has felt like something of a Holy Grail. As I've meandered my way through Season Two, finding it to be mostly average-to-poor stories with the odd flash of brilliance, this tale, nestled in the final slot of the series, has seemed like a beacon of shining light.

I mused a few days ago that Ian and Barbara had come to represent everything that I wasn't enjoying about the series, and now is the best time to qualify that statement so that it makes a bit more sense. Everything post-Season Two holds some kind of excitement for me. This story is another vital stage in the arc of altering history. Galaxy 4 has a recently-recovered episode, and the DVD has been sat on my shelf for weeks, now, calling out to me, while I stubbornly refuse to watch before the allotted day in the marathon.

The Myth Makers is hailed as being a rather fantastic tale, and my newfound appreciation for the Daleks means that the idea of a 'twelve-part Dalek epic' seems exciting enough. The only things that was tying me to the middle-of-the-road second season stories were… well… Ian and Barbara.

It's felt like the arrival of Steven would be exactly the thing to kick the series back into gear: a breath of fresh air, sweeping through Doctor Who like a hurricane as it moved everything into a position to be fantastic again. And we start with today's episode which is, let's face it, bloody marvelous.

Yesterday, I talked about the odd way they leave things with Steven, and hoped that they would pick them up properly here. Well the good news is that they not only pick things up properly, but they use the opportunity to create the best opening to an episode that we've had in a long time. In much the same way that The Rescue was used as a chance to re-establish the series post-Susan, the opening to this tale is used to bring us back up to speed again before we continue.

We get mention of the original TARDIS team, Vicki even gives us a recap of what the acronym stands for, and she explains to Steven that the ship can move anywhere in time and space. We're then re-introduced to the idea that it's broken, and thus we never know where we'll be next, and the reasons why it looks like a police telephone box.

And yet, while all this could be incredibly dry stuff for someone like myself, who's enough of a fan of the series as to know all of this stuff like the back of my hand, it's written so perfectly that it never gets dull. Steven is given a wonderful vein of humour to draw from as he encounters all these strange and wonderful new things. (An absolute highlight has to be the Doctor explaining that the ship can change its appearance to look like anything, and agreeing that it would turn into a large rock if it were to land on a beach. Steven then turns to Vicki and exclaims 'You know that large rock over there looks exactly like a police telephone box…').

Quite aside from this, the whole episode looks gorgeous. I spent a little while trying to figure out if it had all been shot on film or if it just looked lovely. The direction is first class and the sets are stunning. There's a moment when two Saxons look over the edge of the cliffs and we see the sky moving above them, and it's flawless. Really impressive stuff.

The only thing I regret is knowing what this story is about. I know that the Monk has lost a wrist-watch. I know that the chanting in the abandoned monastery is coming from a grammar phone. I know that there's a second TARDIS secreted away in 1066. Knowing all of this does take something away from the impact of these reveals, but having come to this story the long way (at the pace of an episode a day) it really does feel fresh, new, and different.

What a great way to start this fabled 'new era' I've been so looking forward to!

Next Episode: The Meddling Monk

Next Episode: The Meddling Monk 

 Day Eighty-Three: The Planet of Decision (The Chase, Episode Six)

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

Day Eighty-Three: The Planet of Decision (The Chase, Episode Six)

Dear diary,

The Daleks are closing in on our heroes! Trapped in a cave with no means of escape, destined to be exterminated any second! But wait! What's that? A hidden door has swished open, and a strange, huge, metallic creature beacons the time travellers toward it in a barely comprehensible computer language.

As the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki crowd in around the robot, the door closes once more as the small space starts to ascend to the city high above them. It's a lift! It's more than that - it's an escape. Freedom, if only briefly, from the Daleks below. They rise higher and higher into the sky…

And all I can think about is how much I wish my Mechanoid toy had a little top bit that went up and down like the one on the screen! I love the Mechanoid toy for the same reason I think the creatures look great on screen here - it's massive. Compared to all the other figures on the shelf, it's a great big lump, and that makes it impressive.

Ten minutes after the episode had finished, while I way laying on my bed, recreating the fight between the Daleks and the Mechanoids (Oh, shush. We all do it), I suddenly noticed that the top bit of the figure does actually lift up and down! Weyhey! I've had this thing sat on the shelf for well over a year, now, and I've never noticed that it does that. How marvellous.

Anyway. Yes. The fight between the Daleks and the Mechanoids. There's a great piece of artwork on Disc Two of the DVD release for The Chase which depicts the battle between the creatures, and it's something of a Photoshop masterpiece. Both sides engulfed in flames, attacking each other. But, actually, it's fairly spot-on for what we get on screen here in 1965!

I often tell myself that I'm not really all that bothered by Doctor Who not being shot on film. I mean, sure, the ITC serials look lovely made that way, but on the whole I've never really noticed the difference all that much. But then we get that first shot here of a Mechanoid trundling into the battle arena, shot at an off-kilter angle, and I wish, Oh, I wish, that Doctor Who always looked this good. It continues for the rest of the battle scene, with close ups of the Dalek Guns, and fast cuts as the battle rages… Frankly, it's stunning. I think I even prefer it to the revolution scene from The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

Oh, but really, this episode belongs to Ian and Barbara. I commented the other day that I was starting to get a bit sick of them, and that I was about ready for them to leave. All of that's still true - I'm excited to be moving onto a new era post-schoolteachers, but that doesn't mean that I won't miss them. The latter third of this episode is a masterclass in how to handle the departure of companions from Doctor Who, and thinking it over, I'm not sure it's ever been bettered.

The way that the Doctor explodes at them when they suggest using the Dalek time capsule to get home is the thing that I've always remembered from watching this scene in the past, but it's so much deeper than that. When the Doctor and Vicki exit the ship, and we see it depart into time and space, Vicki turns back to watch as it goes, staring into the empty space that it's left behind.

But - and this is the best bit - the Doctor doesn't. He stops, looks away. We don't even get a close up of Hartnell here, because it's not needed. The whole point is that the Doctor is trying to not interact with the moment. To pretend it's not happening, because it's too painful to accept. The whole thing is beautiful. And then, following Ian and Barbara's return to Earth, the Doctor watches them on the Time-Space Visualiser, just to make sure that they've made it ok. I'd forgotten that bit, but it's lovely.

The one thing that I did find odd was the way that Steven was handled toward the end of the story. Having seen our heroes escape the city, we watch it destroyed as the Doctor explains that Steven likely hasn't made it out. There's no real moment to mourn him: he's just one of those casualties the TARDIS crew encounter on their travels. I thought this was an strange way to leave it, but then we see him running through the jungle looking for the Doctor - hooray! He did escape!

But that's it. I thought that we'd maybe see a shot of him discovering the TARDIS. Something, at least, to set up his return in the next episode. Ah well, I guess I'll see if it's resolved any better tomorrow…

Next Episode: The Watcher

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

Day Eighty-Two: The Death of Doctor Who (The Chase, Episode Five)

Dear diary,

If I thought it was a shame that they ruined the reveal of Bizarro Doctor yesterday by mixing between shots of Edmund Warwick and William Hartnell, then nothing could have prepared me for today. I still maintain that even though Warwick isn't a great likeness for Hartnell, I could probably suspend my belief enough to accept him as the robot Doctor during this episode.

As it is, by swapping between the two actors for that role… I sort of lost track. Partly because there was more than one occasion when I wasn't sure if it was meant to be the Doctor or Robodoc, and partly because I wasn't trying all that hard to keep track.

Hartnell plays the role of the robot perfectly when he encounters Barbara in the cave - he's sinister and menacing, and it's genuinely un-nerving to see the Doctor being played in this manner. In some ways, it's not all that far removed from the way that he was playing the Doctor in An Unearthly Child. Having since watched him soften into the giggling chap more prominent in the second season, this is really effective.

The issue is, then, that a few moments later, when the Warwick-Doctor pins Barbara down with his cane, it would be a lot more effective to see Hartnell playing the part. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty dramatic moment as it is, but it could be so much more!

I think it;s in evidence during the confrontation between the real Doctor and his robot double - both halves of the conversation played by Hartnell himself. The effect works much better here, even if you do get the impression of Ian and Barbara watching a game of tennis…

Otherwise, this is just another fairly run-of-the-mill episode of Doctor Who. The design is quite nice (I love the mechanic city), if not outstanding, and the regulars all go about their business as usual. It's odd to see an Episode Five carried almost entirely by our four regular characters, but I think they get away with it - I didn't get the impression that the episode was lagging particularly.

It's interesting to note that the Daleks here aren't played for laughs as they have been elsewhere in the story. Once they've arrived in the jungle, they just go about there business of trying to capture the TARDIS crew (even if they're not very good at it!). In some ways, this is a bit of a shame: they're just sort of there, as opposed to being an interesting part of the narrative.

What I do love, though - and it's happened a few times in this story - is that they refer to the Doctor and his friends as 'the humans'. No attempt is made to correct them. The Daleks at this stage don't know that the Doctor is an alien, and so the programme keeps to that logic! It's a minor thing, but it really works for me. I can't remember if there's a specific point where they discover that he's not quite your average Earthman…

Next Episode: The Planet of Decision

Next Episode: The Planet of Decision 

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

Day Eighty-One: Journey into Terror (The Chase, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

There's a point in this episode, when the Doctor and Ian have discovered the laboratory, and Ian tells the Doctor he's rather not know that's laying in wait under the sheet on the table. “Where's your sense of adventure?” the Doctor asks him. “It died a slow and painful death,” Ian replies.

I've always cited Ian and Barbara as being among my favourite companions - and some of the best examples of companions that Doctor Who has ever produced. However, as anyone who's been following the blog along will have no doubt noticed, I've been less than impressed with the state of the show in its second season that I was with the first.

Sadly, Ian and Barbara have come to represent all that I'm not liking with the programme at the moment. They're the only real thing that's still there from the beginning (the Doctor is enough of a different character now that he may as well be brand new), and the longer they stick around for, the more I'm growing tired of them.

That's not a slight against William Russell or Jacqueline Hill at all, by the way. They both continue to be fantastic, though I'm starting to notice more and more instances of them just sort of coasting through scenes (or, to use another phrase I've been saying about Who this season, they're slipping into auto pilot). I think it started somewhere around The Web Planet, and it's been becoming more and more noticeable as we've gone on.

During Episode Two of The Space Museum, when the pair spent a lot of time arguing with each other - and with Vicki - I said that it felt like a relationship on the rocks, just sticking together out of habit. We get more of that here, when they argue with the Doctor about leaving Vicki behind, and not being able to go back for her. It just feels more-and-more that the time has come for Ian and Barbara to go. By the time they do leave the series, I'll have spent eighty-three days in their company: perhaps just a little too long.

Still, it's great to see their exit already being set up. It's been a good few years since I last saw The Chase, and enough time for me to have assumed that they simply decided to hijack the Daleks' time capsule to get them home in the closing moments of Episode Six. It's nice to see that actually, using the other time machine is an idea introduced here. As with Susan's exit earlier this season, a lot of thought is being given to departures at this stage.

Elsewhere, the haunted house set looks fantastic. I'm not sure how I feel about the idea that it all turns out to have been a fun house exhibit - I wonder if the Doctor's theory that it may be a product of the collective human imagination may be more interesting as a concept. Incidentally, this is the perfect type of story to utilise this setting for - it feels just right to see our regulars exploring a house like this, but I fear it would have grown tiresome after an episode. The appearance of Frankenstein's monster and Dracula are another one of those things that this story gets derided for (and another example of something I was dreading), but they're a great addition.

Plus, the Frankenstein make-up is great!

And then we're onto the robot replica of Doctor Who. You could *almost get away with the resemblance not being the best, if only they didn't cut to a close-up of Hartnell at the very end! Noooo!

Next Episode: The Death of Doctor Who

Shhh. For *this story, that's his name. 

 Day Eighty: Flight Through Eternity (The Chase, Episode Three)

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

Day Eighty: Flight Through Eternity (The Chase, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

Let me get this one off my chest before I begin. Last week, I took issue with the fact that Vicki had read about Daleks in her history books, but had never seen an image of one. Let alone the fact that she's still using history books as opposed to reading it on the iPad 9, or having it downloaded to her brain during her hour-a-week studies, it just seemed plain weird.

And yet here, as they gaze out from the top of the Empire State Building, she recognises it as 'Ancient New York'. She knows so because she's seen pictures of it in her history books from before the Daleks destroyed it during their invasion of Earth! Were they just really selective about which pictures they wanted to show in the books?

(I must point out that, while hearing both statements so close together in a marathon format like this is annoying me, there's plenty to love about this. It's great to see them continuing to remind us that Vicki is from the future. She's such a 1960s character at times, it would be very easy to simply forget that she's not contemporary. It's also a lovely touch to add reference to the Dalek invasion - it really just helps to tie things together nicely.)

So! Flight Through Eternity. I'm not gonna lie: it's episodes like this one that I was dreading when I started this story. I mused just a few days ago that after the epic scale that was The Dalek Invasion of Earth, reducing the Daleks to a comic runaround would be more than a little disappointing. Well… I was wrong!

Hah! This episode is brilliant. Say what you want about Morton Dill (and believe me, I've been active in fan circles for long enough to know what people generally say about him!), but that whole sequence is sheer greatness. It's played as comedy - and everyone knows it's played as comedy. It just works. It's also home to what might be my favourite exchange in the series so far - “You're from Earth!” / “No ma'm, I'm from Alabama!”

Plus, it's great to see Peter Purves turning up. I once cast him in a film I made at university, along with Sarah Greene. He's always been a favourite. We'll be seeing a lot more of him before long, so chances are that I'll ruminate on that at some point!

The really interesting thing about this, though, is the Doctor's comment that a piece of the TARDIS operating equipment has 'been in the ship since I constructed it'. That's my bolding on that quote, by the way. Hartnell delivers the line as completely matter-of-fact, as if it's no great surprise.

Now, I know that there's implications in the first story that the TARDIS was the Doctor's own invention (and that Susan came up with the acronym), but it's not often we get such a blatant statement about the ships origins. What's everyone's thoughts on the matter? Did the Doctor build the ship? Does he mean he built that piece of the ship? What's everyone's thoughts? Leave a comment ,or pop on over the the 50 year Diary Facebook Page to share your thoughts…

Next Episode: Journey into Terror

 Day Seventy-Nine: The Death of Time (The Chase, Episode Two)

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

Day Seventy-Nine: The Death of Time (The Chase, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

This is a tricky one. I've enjoyed today's episode, but at the same time is hasn't done much new or interesting It's the same kind of Doctor-Who-by-numbers that I've complained about a few times during this second season.

And yet, I really have enjoyed it…

The big problem here is that they're simply over stretching themselves. The Aridian costumes aren't great, and I can't even cover for them by attempting my 'squint-at-the-screen' technique. They're just not good costumes. The design is (more-or-less) sound - it's the realisation that falls down.

And speaking of which - the Dalek falling into Ian's trap. I was really looking forward to this. Right from early in the episode, there's some gorgeous shots of the Daleks taken from a low angle, which not only makes them menacing, but shows off just how beautiful the 1960s Daleks really are. The build-up to this pivotal moment, then, still being shot from below as the Doctor and Ian build the trap had me really excited to see the Dalek tumbling down into the pit…

And then it's all done with a shadow, and is over in a matter of seconds. We don't even get a shot of the Dalek shell at the bottom! It's disappointing, because it would have made for a real stand-out moment in this story; especially so soon after The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

It's not all bad, though. The shot of the city collapsing around Ian and Vicki is rather well done, and we get to see a Dalek with an unusual new arm attachment, which looks rather snazzy. While I'm at it - Oi! Character Options! Where's the release of this Dalek? Please? I'd buy one.

I also really enjoyed Ian and the Vicki teasing each other as they try to make their escape ('You fool!' 'You… nit!'), and it's lovely to see the Doctor and Barbara given some time together again. It feels like an age since we last saw them paired together (Was it The Aztecs? No wonder it feels so long…).

So, on the whole, there's a lot to love, but it's got the same problem that much of Season Two seems to have - there's just nothing all that special about it.

Next Episode: Flight Through Eternity

 Day Seventy-Eight: The Executioners (The Chase, Episode One)

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

Day Seventy-Eight: The Executioners (The Chase, Episode One)

Dear diary,

I've been dreading this story. But I've been really looking forward to this story. But, then again, I've been dreading it. But really looking forward to it. Dizzy yet? Yeah, me too.

Here's the thing: as you may have guessed from the last month or so, I've not been enjoying Season Two as much as I enjoyed Season One. Once I'd gotten The (surprisingly great) Dalek Invasion of Earth out of the way, everything's been a bit… meh. And then there's The Chase.

This is another one of those stories that's always just sort of been there. I've never loved it, but I've never disliked it. It just sort of exists, keeping the second season going for six weeks. I remember it being quite fun, so I was looking forward to watching that. And then I watched The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and it was epic, and gorgeous, and brilliant. I really loved it, and I'd loved the fact that it brought the Daleks down to real locations and made them gritty.

Suddenly, the thought of a six-week 'romp' through time and space seemed far less appealing. And thus, for a few weeks, I rather put The Chase out of my mind, figuring that I'd just deal with it when I got there and then move on. So, I made my way through The Romans and The Web Planet, and The Crusades , not really looking forward to this comedy Dalek adventure. But then I reached Episode One of The Space Museum.

The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Vicki turn a corner and come face-to-face with… a Dalek. And you know what? I was excited. For - I think - the first time since their appearance in Bad Wolf, I was excited by the prospect of the Daleks coming back. Then I had to sit through the three remaining episodes of The Space Museum, before I got a glimpse of a Dalek in front of a rather cheap looking wall. Ooh, thrilling.

Suffice to say, when I got up this morning, I wasn't relishing the prospect of today's episode. Having enjoyed their Earth-bound exploits so much, I was about to find myself subjected to a cheap Dalek story that wouldn't be very good. Bowl of cereal at the ready, I loaded the DVD into the Mac and grudgingly chose the first episode.

And then, I spent twenty-five of the most enjoyable minutes I've ever had watching Doctor Who. I'm not being funny, but this episode is brilliant. I tried to take Rob Shearman's advice yesterday and look for the humour in The Space Museum. There's no looking for humour here - it's holding up great big signs right in front of you!

The Doctor fixes his machine and gets irritated at Vicki's whistling, while Ian reads a book about 'Monsters From Outer-Space', which he declares “a bit far fetched”. I was laughing, out loud, to myself as I watched. That doesn't happen all that often. It's so rare to see the TARDIS crew just kicking back and enjoying themselves.

They go on to watch a bit of the Time Telly, before heading out onto a desert planet, which they treat as the equivalent of a day trip to Brighton. It's all really great fun - it's almost a shame that the Daleks have to turn up and spoil it for them.

Even then, there's plenty of drama, as Ian and Vicki find themselves cornered by a monster in a secret chamber, while the Doctor and Barbara get caught out in a sand storm, losing the TARDIS under the sand itself. The cliffhanger of the Dalek rising from the sand is't as effective as the similar one from earlier in the season, where the creature glides out of the Thames, but it's still rather good - and I love the sound of it struggling to get out of the ground!

The Daleks themselves look as impressive as ever when they're stood around in their control room, and they looks genuinely scary as they pour into their time machine. It's a shame that they didn't have the timings a little more spot-on, to avoid the occasional pauses between creatures making their way inside.

Frankly, I loved it all.

Mind you, I wondered about Ian and Barbara being a couple during The Romans, but he and Vicki here are like a pair of teenagers on a first date to the beach! In some ways, it's quite endearing!

Next Episode: The Death of Time

 Day Seventy-Seven: The Final Phase (The Space Museum, Episode Four)

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

Day Seventy-Seven: The Final Phase (The Space Museum, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

I think it's pretty fair to say that The Space Museum has left me more than a little cold since the start of the second episode. In an attempt to rectify this, and give the story a chance at redemption before it draws to a close, I've not dived straight into this episode.

Instead, I spent a few minutes watching a special feature on the DVD in which Rob Shearman defends the story. If there's anyone I'm willing to listen to on the subject then it's most certainly Rob - writer of the excellent The Chimes of Midnight, one of my favourite of the Big Finish plays. The first episode of Chimes shares several similarities with the opening of The Space Museum (the Doctor and his companion Charley cannot be seen or - properly - heard by the inhabitants of a large house they;ve landed in… Charley is unable to write her name in the dust on a table without it vanishing again), but then the story continues to be strong throughout.

Rob brings up a number of points about things he loves in this story, often referring to the fact that it's got a thick vein of comedy, and that it often lampoons earlier ideas in Doctor Who. Looking back, I think he's right, but it did little to improve my opinion on the earlier episodes. In fact, I think the only thing that it did do for me was to highlight how often Tor puts his hands on his hips. That was fun, and surely a good example of a Doctor Who drinking game?

For all my complaints about The Space Museum, though, I do have to confess that the ending is rather clever. The Doctor and his companions have spent so much time trying to alter their own destiny in this story, that they're completely unaware of the effects they're having on those around them - and ultimately it's the effect they've had on others which saves the day.

This should be an interesting concept throughout the tale - another vital step in the arc of not changing history - but it ends up just feeling a bit lacking. It doesn't help that the characters remind us every five minutes that they're trying to change their future; it all gets a bit monotonous by the end.

It is nice to watch Vicki's relationship with Tor developing in this episode, though. Coming so soon after The Dalek Invasion of Earth, you could be forgiven for thinking it might be setting up for her departure, staying behind to help build this new world. She certainly shares more chemistry with the boy than many later companions will with the people they depart for!

(Oh, and while I'm - tangentially - on the subject of Daleks, I'm disappointed by how cheap the cliffhanger looks. Still, I'm quite excited to have the pepper pots back again, and that's not something I ever expected to say!)

Next Episode: The Executioners

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

Day Seventy-Six: The Search (The Space Museum, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

There's more shots of the police box exterior to the TARDIS in whiz episode than I think we've had in any other episode to date. That makes this the perfect opportunity to mention… just how gorgeous is the Hartnell era TARDIS?

I've praised the design of the interior before now (well, at least most of the time - it never looks so good when it's been hastily assembled in a corner somewhere…), but I don't think I've ever mentioned the exterior before now. I've never really given it much thought in the past, but I think this early version is my favourite of the classic bunch.

There's something about it that really works for me. It could be the fact that it looks a bit battered, and therefore really sells it as something that's been tumbling through the Time Vortex (or the Asteral Plane, of whatever you want to call it at this stage). The police box goes through a similar period of looking battered in the 1980s, but it's never quite as good as we see it here. And yet it's the one version of the ship that I don't own in toy form! I really must get around to fixing that.

As for the episode itself… well, it's much the same as yesterdays - nothing particularly wrong with it, but there's just nothing all that great to hook onto, either. It's great to see Ian given plenty to do, even if he's not quite in character while he's doing it. Equally, it's good to see Vicki being given a strong role in the story, too, as she starts to stir up the revolution.

I have to ask, though, since when has Vicki been able to reprogram a commuter like that? The whole scene outside the armoury put me in mind of a similar one with Zoe during The Invasion; but I had no idea something like that had occurred here, too!

What's that? What do you mean I'm struggling for things to say in relation to this episode? I resent that accusation. Although, um… er… Realistically, one of the problems with the show going into a kind of auto pilot like this is that I don't really end up with much to discuss. I could go into the suggestion that this is the only story of the early period in the show's history which hasn't seen some debate over its overall title, but that seems to be stretching it a bit.

Besides, The Dimensions of Time would be a much cooler overall title, anyway…

Next Episode: The Final Phase

Next Episode: The Final Phase 

 Day Seventy-Five: The Dimensions of Time (The Space Museum, Episode Two)

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

Day Seventy-Five: The Dimensions of Time (The Space Museum, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

Urgh. Me and my big mouth: “On the whole, though, even if the next three episodes aren't all that… this one is fantastic.” Is the way I summed up yesterday's episode. Thing is - now I've gone and jinxed it! Of course today's episode wasn't going to be as good as yesterday's. That'll be why I've got the mother of all toothaches, today. It's the universe trying to teach my mouth a lesson.

I'm usually pretty contrary when it comes to opinions on Doctor Who. I'd rather watch Twin Dilemma than Androzani, I've never really cared for Talons of Weng-Chiang (Though, having listened to series five of Jago and Litefoot this week, I can confirm it's still one of my favourite things ever), and I'm rather fond of a Sylvester McCoy story which shares a name very similar to today's episode.

Therefore, I thought this was going to be a walk in the park. I'd seen (most of) yesterday's episode before, so I knew how good that was. I'd not watched the rest of the story, but hey! If fandom-at-large dislikes it, then chances are that I'd actually enjoy it. The problem with this theory is that sometimes - just sometimes - stories get a bad reputation for a reason.

On the whole (starting positive), there's nothing wrong with this episode. It's a perfectly good twenty-five minutes of Doctor Who. My issue with it is that this is Doctor Who on auto pilot. There's nothing particularly new or interesting here.

Ian, Barbara and Vicki spend much of the episode roaming around the corridors of the space museum, and getting gradually more and more irritated with each other. It almost feels in places like the dying days of a relationship, when you're with each other out of habit rather than because there's any genuine affection. This could be a nice bit of foreshadowing - we're not all that far from our schoolteachers leaving the series now - but sadly, I think it's more just happening to fill time.

Then we've got the Doctor being interrogated by the Governor of the planet. It should be quite a good scene, as the Doctor bamboozles his questioner by displaying daft images onto the screen in an attempt to throw him off. His answer to the question of how they arrived at the museum - by flashing up a Penny Farthing - is great, as is the footage he plays of sea lions to demonstrate where he's come from and the (slightly bizarre) image of Hartnell in a bathing suit.

But it's all just a bit bland. I've grown used to the Doctor having this sense of humour across the rest of this second season, so it's just part and parcel of the series, now. It all just falls a little too flat for me.

Next Episode: The Search

 Day Seventy-Four: The Space Museum (The Space Museum, Episode One)

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

Day Seventy-Four: The Space Museum (The Space Museum, Episode One)

Dear diary,

According to fan 'wisdom', The Space Museum is similar to An Unearthly Child - a great first episode, followed by three not-very-good ones. I'll admit that I've never actually watched this one properly, so I can't really give comment on that theory for a few days, but they've got one thing right at least: this first episode is brilliant.

I've always thought of this one as being the Edge of Destruction Season Two style. There's strange things happening in the TARDIS, and our heroes don't know what's causing them. Then they venture outside, where they don't leave footprints, can't be seen, and can't hear the people they meet.

If anything, though, I think I prefer this to The Edge of Destruction. It's certainly very effective right from the off (and in answer to my musing yesterday as to how good the cliffhanger might have looked when moving: the brief clip here looks very unsettling. Great stuff!), and it builds up a certain amour of tension as the piece goes on.

When the reveal comes that our regulars can't interact with anything on the planet, and Vicki manages to put her hand right through one of the exhibits, it's very well done. Looking back, I realise that there are a few instances earlier on where the Doctor has stopped her before she can touch anything. It's a great effect, too.

It's a little sees effective when the Doctor demonstrates the same thing with the TARDIS they find. Due to the angle of the police-box and where Hartnell's stood, he seems to be both behind and inside the box all at the same time - and at moments when he's not supposed to be.

And then there's that cliffhanger! Except… it's not. I've always thought that the cliffhanger to this episode was the TARDIS crew turning around to find themselves on display in a series of glass cases. I had no idea that there's a couple of full scenes after that point, where they muse on how it might have happened, and how they might be able to escape that fate.

All the same, it's a compelling moment, and really helps to build into the spookiness of the whole episode. When the actual cliffhanger comes, it's only effective because the Doctor has just spelt it out in great detail - 'When those glass cases disappear, then we've arrived and we're in great danger!' 'Oh, look! The glass cases have gone!'.

The most effective part of the cliffhanger has to be the way that the time travellers freeze in place and the 'men-in-white-outfits' approach the TARDIS, and watch as the footprints appear in the sand.

As for the idea of the Museum itself… I like it. It's great that there's a Dalek in there, and it's fun to see the Doctor, Ian and Barbara all taken aback by it. I have to ask, though, did Vicki's history books not have pictures of the Daleks? If I were to Wiki 'Dalek' right now, there'd be plenty of images to look at alongside the descriptions!

It's a bit of a shame that we don't get more things from past adventures in the museum - it could be a fun trip down memory lane while they explore, and fitting for Ian and Barbara's penultimate story. I'd have liked to see a Key of Marinus, Perhaps, or one of the Sensorite guns. Maybe even just as a background prop?

On the whole, though, even if the next three episodes aren't all that… this one is fantastic.

Next Episode: The Dimensions of Time

I've set up a Facebook page for the 50 Year Diary. If you enjoy reading the blog, please do pop over an give it a like! I'm sure I'll be using it to ask questions etc in relation to the marathon! 

 Day Seventy-Three: The Warlords (The Crusade, Episode Four)

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

Day Seventy-Three: The Warlords (The Crusade, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

The one down side to listening to this story as a narrated soundtrack, rather than as a recon is that it's very easy to not notice that you've hit the 'shuffle' button. Ten minutes in, I thought it was all a bit muddled and over very quickly, and that's when I realised what I'd done!

A quick reset back to the start and I was off again. Know what, though? It's still a bit muddled and over very quickly! I wonder if it comes back to my complaints from earlier in the story - because I just don't know this period of history, and I don't know the real-life stories of the characters we meet, it seems as though the story just… ends?

What happens to Joanna, for example? Yesterday's plot was constructed largely around her being married off in an attempt to end the war, we get that wonderful blazing row between her and Richard, and then… she's not even in this episode! Did Richard go ahead with the plans to marry her off? Did he end them?

It almost feels as though the entire story has swung off in a different direction for this episode, without really considering what's come before. There's even a moment when Richard tells the Doctor that he's not really angry with him (which is the state we left things in yesterday, and which was a very powerful moment), because he knows that he didn't betray him.

Then the Doctor slips away to the woods, and they're on their way. It has to be said, Ian's bluffing about the Doctor having killed many of his men as a distraction to get them inside the TARDIS was a great one - I think that was probably my favourite part of the episode today.

Overall, I think The Crusade has been a bit hit-or-miss for me. On the one had, you've got some fantastic performances from the guest cast, all of whom are really going for it. The script is rich, and dripping with detail on the period, it's just a shame that it really means nothing to me.

Perhaps most successful, though, is the design of this story. Frankly, it's gorgeous. The sets used for both of the major encampments for the story are stunning, and it's a perfect example of the BBC being far more comfortable with designing sets from history, rather than far-flung alien worlds.

And then we've got that cliffhanger. I hope it looked as good on screen as it sounded, described by William Russell on the soundtrack. It's eerie, and that's always a good sign…

Next Episode: The Space Museum

I've set up a Facebook page for the 50 Year Diary. If you enjoy reading the blog, please do pop over an give it a like! I'm sure I'll be using it to ask questions etc in relation to the marathon! 

 Day Seventy-Two: The Wheel of Fortune (The Crusade, Episode Three)

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

Day Seventy-Two: The Wheel of Fortune (The Crusade, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

I promised myself that I wouldn't do it. As soon as I reached the end of yesterday's episode, and the 'next' caption came up, I decided then and there that I wouldn't do it. But you know what? I just can't help myself. All together, now: “WHEEL of FOR-TUNE!”.

Ahem. Now that that's out of the way…

It's uncanny, you know. Back onto moving images for just a few minutes and again I'm instantly put in mind of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot - even without William Russell really appearing in the episode! I suppose it was inevitable, really, though. We've got castles and kings, and knights in shining armour. There's a princess and a ward… we're only a horse and a moat away from remaking that series.

The thing is… part of the reason that I like The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is because it's light-hearted and fun. It's unashamedly for children, and it's not trying to do anything other than entertain its young audience for a half an hour on a Sunday afternoon. There's very clear lines of good and evil, lovely shots of horses riding through the countryside and every episode sees William Russell given a sword fight. If you're really lucky, you might get two.

The Crusade on the other hand is much more measured than all that. This is a story as much about political intrigue as it is about the kind of knights fighting the Crusades that we were promised at the start of Episode One. When the TARDIS first arrived in the woodlands, the suggestion was that we were in for something of an action-packed story, but that's simply not come to pass.

There's plenty to like in the story, all the same - Joanna finding out that Vicki is really a girl is good fun, for instance, and I love all the stuff with Haroun ed-Din and Barbara. In just a few short scenes, we're given an entire backstory to the character that feels real and we sympathise. We know that his wife has been killed, and so when his daughter states that her mother is merely missing, Barbara's reaction says it all. Even if Babs does nearly tell the girl that her mum is really dead. Tactful!

I've mentioned in the past that the more relaxed pace of the classic series allowed for the kind of character development that just isn't always possible in a single 45-minute episode today, but these few brief scenes are an absolute masterclass in how to create characters that we care about, and are fully three-dimensional. It's a moving few moments, and perhaps one of the best characters that we've seen in the series, even if his role is a minor one.

The stand-out moment for me, though, has to be Richard and Joanna's fight. Bloody hell - it's some stunning performances from Julian Glover and Jean Marsh. You almost forget that you're watching an episode of Doctor Who, because all of a sudden, it's not about getting Barbara back, or fearing for Ian's safety. It's not about the Doctor an Vicki having a giggle over her clothes.

It's now about these two siblings, and King Richard's betrayal of his sister, who only a few scenes earlier confessed that she was his favourite. And as if these performances were't already some of the best that we've seen in the series, the whole sequence is framed by each of them getting the chance to be angry towards the Doctor. Frankly, I loved that bit, and it really helped to pick me up toward the end of the episode.

Tomorrow sees me return to the world of the missing episodes, and I'm taking a slightly different tact with it. The recon for Episode Two simply did nothing for me, and I spent a great deal of time thoroughly confused (For example - as far as I could tell in the cliffhanger, Barbara had her own hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. It wasn't until watching the recap today that I realised it was Haroun ed-Din's hand!).

For the next episode, I am going to give the narrated soundtracks another whirl, and see if that helps me enjoy the rest of the story. If nothing else, it will allow me to focus more on these standout performances on their own merit, without trying to process the tele snaps, too. I'll probably give them a look-over once I've finished with the soundtrack, but I'll play it by ear!

Next Episode: The Warlords

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 Day Seventy-One: The Knight of Jaffa (The Crusade, Episode Two)

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

Day Seventy-One: The Knight of Jaffa (The Crusade, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

When people talk about the early years of Doctor Who, the conversation usually turns to the fate of the missing episodes. The chunk of stories missing from the 1960s somewhat overshadows the era as a whole.

Indeed, in the past when I've thought of trying marathons, I've either opted to skip the 1960s altogether, and start from Spearhead From Space, safe in the knowledge that everything from there onwards exists, or I've opted to just skip the missing episodes and to think of the series as being just those stories which survive in full.

What you tend to miss when looking at the big picture in regards to the fate of 1960s Doctor Who is just how much of it does survive. Here I am, 71 days into my marathon, and this is only my tenth missing episode. If you consider the fact that I was able to watch the missing parts of The Reign of Terror in animated form, then you could consider this my eighth really 'missing' episode.

In total, there's only eleven missing episodes from the first two seasons of Doctor Who. That equates to somewhere around 13.5%. It's a shame that no companion of this era has their entire output surviving, but on the whole, that's not a bad track record!

Even more remarkable is the fact that all the 'missing' episodes do exist in the form of audio recordings. I think that sometimes within Who fandom, the staggering importance of this can be missed. If you take a lot of other popular series from the time - The Avengers, Adam Adamant Lives!, even a few episodes of Dad's Army - you'll find that even if they're not missing as many episodes, several of them aren't available in any format whatsoever.

The situation goes so far that there are a few episodes of The Avengers' early 'Keel and Steed' season where we don't have a soundtrack, there are no tele snaps or behind-the-scenes photos… in some cases, we don't even have a copy of a script for the episode! Basically, as Doctor Who fans, we're incredibly lucky that we can experience all of the missing bits of our show in so many different ways.

Unfortunately, none of this changes the fact that I've failed spectacularly to get into today's recon of The Knight of Jaffa. I don't even know what it is that's stopping me from connecting with it: I did wonder if it may be the result of being back onto a recon after so long away from them?

I think a part of it may be that this isn't an era of history that I'm readily familiar with. I know a little about Marco Polo and his travels, the Aztecs is an era that fascinates me, and I can just about remember the basic shape of the French Revolution from my schooldays. The Crusades, however, are just something that I know of in very basic terms, and as a result, I'm not completely sure what's going on in this story.

A fair amount of it can be picked up relatively easily - King Richard and Saladin are at war in the holy land. They don't really want to be at war, but it's the way things are. Saladin's brother has a bit of a thing for Richard's sister (and, it has to be said, Jean Marsh does look lovely in the tele snaps for this episode). Babs has been captured by the 'evil' side, and our heroes need to get her back before they can return to the TARDIS and head off to their next adventure.

The problem is that not knowing this era of history very well means that there's nothing much for me to hook onto. In The Romans, events are building up to the great fire. In The Reign of Terror, we're witnessing the final days of Robespierre. The Aztecs features a relatively generic period, but there we've got people being sacrificed and wearing elaborate hats to keep me interested.

It's not all bad, though. Julian Glover is on top form as ever. Much as I enjoyed The Web Planet on the whole, the performance being given here might as well come from a different programme to the Menoptera and the Zarbi. Then there's the sets, which look beautiful from what we can see here, and what was seen in the last episode.

I'm hoping that switching (briefly) back to a moving episode tomorrow will give me a chance to get back into the story, as it feels like one that deserves to be enjoyed more.

Next Episode: The Wheel of Fortune

I've set up a Facebook page for the 50 Year Diary. If you enjoy reading the blog, please do pop over an give it a like! I'm sure I'll be using it to ask questions etc in relation to the marathon! 

 Day Seventy: The Lion (The Crusade, Episode One)

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

Day Seventy: The Lion (The Crusade, Episode One)

Dear diary,

being from the Lost in Time box set, this episode hasn't received the same kind of restoration work that I've become accustomed to over the course of this marathon so far. The print of this episode is grainy and not in the best of conditions at all. And you know what? That gives it even more atmosphere.

From early on in the episode, all I could think of was The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, an ITC series starring William Russell and produced in the 1950s. I've mentioned it a few times already throughout this marathon, having watched most of it late last year, but this really is the closest that we've ever come to that series in Doctor Who.

The main things that put me in mind of the series are the medieval knights that we've got, in a forest, and the fact that William Russell has a sword fight. You tend to get all three of these things in your average episode of Sir Lancelot. Add to that the fact that the DVD version of the series hasn't had the same kind of restoration applied to it that Doctor Who gets, and I might as well have been watching that show instead.

After all the running around on Vortis, it's nice to be back down on Earth and back into history again. Though The Romans wasn't to my taste, this story feels like it's going to be more in the mould of Marco Polo or The Aztecs, both of which have been surprise hits with me.

It helps that already we've got plenty of atmosphere in the story. The sets look fantastic, and the fight scenes early on have far more of an impact than any of the stuff we saw at the end of The Web Planet. Here, it feels as though the actors can really go for it, whereas there they were trying not to break any of the expensive costumes.

It has too be mentioned - especially as there's plenty of rumours about it flying around at the moment in regards to any possible animated release of this story on DVD - but here we have got examples of actors being 'blacked-up' to fulfil certain roles in the story. For all that we might look at it now and see how offensive this might be, it's an insight into the way that television was made and seen in this era.

It's also interesting to note that, I believe, this is the first time we've seen actors of colour in the series full stop. It seems strange, seventy episodes in, that we only now have parts for these actors, and in such minor roles, too. It's one of the things that fascinates me about Doctor Who - it's run for so long that we can see tastes and attitudes change over the years.

Tomorrow, I'm back into 'recon' country, for the first time since Marco Polo. It seems a pity that once again it's a story with such fantastic visuals that gets the unfortunate distinction of missing some of its running time. It's great, therefore, to think of The Lion as bang one of the more recent missing episode recoveries, being returned to the BBC in 1999.

If anything it - and the episode of Galaxy 4 which I'll be reaching in just a few weeks - gives hope that more of Doctor Who's lost heritage might still be out there, somewhere, waiting to be discovered…

Next Episode: The Knight of Jaffa

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 Day Sixty-Nine: The Centre (The Web Planet, Episode Six)

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

Day Sixty-Nine: The Centre (The Web Planet, Episode Six)

Dear diary,

Oh, my patience had to run out sometime, I guess. There's a few elements of this episode that I've still quite liked, but I think the goodwill that I'd been building up over the last few episodes was just dissipated. In short: I think I got tired of forgiving The Web Planet.

The thing is, on the whole, I've rather liked it. It's been a good seven or eight years since the last time I saw it, and I could't really remember my thoughts on it. Over those years, though, I've seen it slagged off so many times that I was dreading reaching this point. Added to the fact that I just didn't enjoy The Romans, I thought I was in for a rough week.

And there's plenty of reasons to not like this story, it's true. It was always going to be a bold choice to have a tale with no other recognisably human faces for six full weeks, and to begin with it pulls it off quite well. In the end though, it just pushes its luck a bit too far.

On the whole, I've really liked the design of the story - I think Vortis itself is quite well done (even if the vaseline is a bit too heavy from time to time: it's still very strong in this episode, for those of you keeping track), and the effort that has gone into designing the Zarbi and the Menoptera is evident, even if it doesn't quite work all the time. The Optera, on the other hand, I'll refrain from saying too much about!

I can't help but feel that this story might be much better regarded had it been made as a four parter. Keep Episode One much as it is, and then just have three instalments of the bug people waging war on each other. After building up to it for six weeks, the fight between the Menoptera and their ant enemies in this episode is a woeful let down. Zaaaaaarrrrbiiiiiii!

The same is true of the Animus itself. For several episodes, it's been no more than a creepy disembodied voice, but here it's revealed to be an odd thing hung from the ceiling. Upon first glance I thought it looked quite passable, but the more you see of it, the less keen I was. I recall the first time that I saw this story: there's a point when Vicki describes it as a 'dirty great spider'. I was dreading it. I hate spiders at the best of times, so I didn't really want to see one.

This, though, poses no threat to me whatsoever. Doesn't seem to pose much of a threat to its enemies, either. A few minutes in the Centre with it, and they've gone and destroyed it. Everyone is happy, off we go.

The one thing that I do like about this story episode is that we stay behind on Vortis for a bit after the TARDIS leaves. It's happened a few times in the series, but this is by far the longest example we've had off seeing people get on with their lives once the Doctor and his friends have left. I'd quite like to see a return to Vortis, made on a modern budget. I think the prosthetics and CGI that could be used to realise the world and its inhabitants these days would be rather spectacular.

As it is though, and for all I've enjoyed bits of the tale, I'm not too sorry to be leaving The Web Planet behind.

Next Episode: The Lion

 Day Sixty-Eight: Invasion (The Web Planet, Episode Five)

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

Day Sixty-Eight: Invasion (The Web Planet, Episode Five)

Dear diary,

A wise man once said of this story “This is the kind of Doctor Who episode that I wouldn't want to get caught watching. I remember the first time I dared to show a non-fan friend an episode of The Tomb of the Cybermen, and they thought it looked awful! Imagine sitting them down to watch this!”. Ok, it wasn't a wise man - it was me. Yesterday.

The Web Planet has become something of a guilty pleasure. I know that I shouldn't like it. Trust me, I know that it's a bit rubbish. But you know what? I'm still really enjoying it! But then… I hit a stumbling block. You see, the problem with the six-parters is that unless they do something new and different in each episode to give me plenty to focus on, I very quickly run out of things to say!

You've just read four days of me praising the designs, keeping track of how much vaseline is being smeared on the camera lenses (we're still on a high use in this instalment), and commenting on the creepy Animus voice. You'd all be bored if I just rambled on about it again today.

So I decided to do something different. I decided to take my comments from yesterday, and put them to the test.

My better-half hasn't had the best week. She's not felt very well, and the car has been playing up. Tonight I was out of work earlier than usual, so she decided to come see me and get out of the house. As the boyfriend, it's my job to make her feel better during a week like this. So what's the right thing for a caring boyfriend to do? That's right! It's getting her to sit down and watch an episode of The Web Planet with me. Obviously. Men, I hope you're taking notes.

I think my friend Tom summed it up best: “Probably not the best episode to show from the last two months…”. But maybe he'd be wrong! Maybe I was wrong yesterday? Maybe I'm not the only one who can see the charm in The Web Planet?

I started by briefing Ellie on the story so far. I summed it up as simply as I could (The TARDIS has been dragged to a barren world. There's something evil at the heart of it that's controlling an army of giant ants. The butterfly people who used to live on this planet are coming to take it back. It's remarkable how easily the four episodes boil down.), and tentatively hit play.

The first thing she asked was wether the Menoptera are actually meant to be butterflies at all. Now she's brought it up, I'm not sure if they are. I've always assumed they're butterflies, but actually they're also a bit like bees in their colouring, aren't they? No stings, though, so I'm guessing more butterfly than bee. I won't even go in to the look on her face when a Zarbi appeared. I think she was assessing how easily she could make an excuse to leave.

She couldn't even look at the screen while we were on the planet's surface, because the vaseline-smeared camera lens was actually making her eyes ache. I'm still not sure she believed me when I told her how they'd achieved the look. Unfortunately, she wasn't much keen on the design of the Animus' lair, either. She just thought it looked like a studio set. And not a particularly great one, either.

Only one moment raised a smile from her, and that's when the Doctor goes back to his ring-controlled Zarbi and tells him that he had 'nearly ended up as lost property!'. I have to admit I'm glad she liked that bit at least, as it's the kind of fun I've been enjoying from the Doctor more and more this series.

At the end of the twenty-five minutes, Ellie only had one thing to say when summing it up. She thought it was long-winded, and I don't think she could quite believe I was sitting through six days of it. Unfortunately, I think Tom was right - perhaps not the best example of a sixties Who episode for a non-fan (Incidentally, Ellie's rather fond of the new series, but she's never really gotten into the classic stuff. Ah well!).

Something I did notice, though, is that I spent more time this episode keeping an eye on El's reaction than I did watching the story - but I don't feel like I've really missed anything. Menoptera are planning a slightly different attack. Hartnell and Vicki have been webbed. Etc. Etc. I'm still looking forward to the climax of the tale, though.

(Ellie gave it a 4/10 - it could have been worse!)

Next Episode: The Centre

 Day Sixty-Seven: Crater of Needles (The Web Planet, Episode Four)

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

Day Sixty-Seven: Crater of Needles (The Web Planet, Episode Four)

Dear diary,

Here's the thing: I don't know what to make of The Web Planet. I'm really enjoying it… but it's rubbish!

I mean, if I'm being perfectly honest, this is the kind of Doctor Who episode that I wouldn't want to get caught watching. I remember the first time I dared to show a non-fan friend an episode of The Tomb of the Cybermen, and they thought it looked awful! Imagine sitting them down to watch this!

And yet, as I say, I'm enjoying it! I can't quite put my finger on what it is about the story, but I'm just caught up in it. I think that when I suspended my belief back at the start of Episode One, I might have suspended a bit too much of it - because I'm watching this and I'm still finding it quite impressive visually. I'm fairly sure that's not a commonly-held view.

The effects of the Menoptera flying in to land are good enough, if you ask me, especially some of the more impressive ones. I'll admit that there's more than a few instances where wires are pretty visible, but again - I'm watching this with a cleaned up picture on a big screen! The biggest downside to that scene, for me, is that they re-use shots several times - and in quick succession. That takes away somewhat from the impressiveness of it all.

Though, it has to be said, all the creatures look pretty interesting on film! There's a few shots close up of the Zarbi that have been shot on film and they look quite good! The Menoptera are less impressive in this style, but they do have to look of a real 1950s sci-fi.

Actually - that's it! Yes! That's what this reminds me of! It looks like an early sci-fi film, with effects and styles on about the same level. It's not as visually impressive as The Dalek Invasion of Earth, or Planet of Giants, but it's still pretty solid. The effect of it looking like early sci-fi extends to the - frankly just plain odd - scenes with the Optera down inside the planet. It's just all a bit amateur dramatics, isn't it.

On the plus side, a friend and colleague recently watched this story before Christmas (it's ok, he's a Doctor Who fan, and was watching the series through as a marathon - it's safe for him to watch!), and we spent much of January communicating only in the styles of the various inhabitants of Vortis. If we weren't jumping about and snarling like an Optera, then we were making sure to do plenty of hand gestures and copy Roslyn De Winter's insect movements.

Something that does stick out in this episode is that again they've smeared a bit too much vaseline on the lans… but only on some shots! We cut from the Menoptera invasion force (with vaseline) to a reaction shot of Barbara (sans vaseline!). Once you've noticed it, it becomes a bit distracting. Did they forget? Had they just used up most of the supply in yesterday's episode?

Oh - and I notice there's a shot early on in the Crater, where a Zarbi starts heading to camera before we abruptly cut away. Trying to avoid another collision?

Next Episode: Invasion

 Day Sixty-Six: Escape to Danger (The Web Planet, Episode Three)

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

Day Sixty-Six: Escape to Danger (The Web Planet, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

They've gone a bit overboard with the vaseline on this episode, haven't they? There's a couple of shots of Ian and his Menoptera friend that are more blur than they are anything else!

On the whole, as much as it gets laughed about in fandom, I quite like the idea of them smearing vaseline on the camera lenses. Sure, when it's done like this then it seems a bit bizarre, but in the first couple of episodes it really did create an unusual and quite effective look.

You certainly can't claim that this story isn't trying to be unique. It's a bold choice to try and do an entire story with only our regulars as recognisably human, and at least so far it's not doing too badly. What is unusual is that it's only really here that we start to see an ally for the TARDIS crew - the Menoptera are played in Episode Two as kind, but still possibly a threat.

It's nice to see - well, what you can see, through the vaseline - the make-up a bit more here. It's an odd design, but it's another one of those things that I think actually works quite well. It looks pretty cuddly, too, for that matter. It has to be said that I thought the flying effect was quite well done. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting it, so didn't have time to study it all that much?

Something I was expecting, but I didn't know exactly when it was coming; the infamous shot of the Zarbi running into a camera. Confession time - I've been a Doctor Who fan for a decade, but I've never seen that shot before. I know! I've even watched The Web Planet twice before (which means, I believe, that upon completion of this viewing, I get some kind of medal? Yes? Who do I write to for that?), but I always seem to have missed it!

Somewhat telling is that in my head, the Zarbi runs into a camera outside the TARDIS, and it isn't with as much of a bump as we actually get. I don't really know where my memory of that comes from. Must have made it up after years of hearing about the Zarbi and the camera.

Incidentally, I understand that they've recreated bits of The Web Planet for this year's An Adventure in Space and Time. If they don't include a shot of a Zarbi hitting a camera, I'm going to be sorely disappointed. Also, hopefully it'll show just how gorgeous this set can look. You know, without the stuff smeared all over the camera.

I didn't mention it during yesterday's episode, but how creepy is the voice in the tube? Yes, yes, I know it's the Animus, but at this stage I'm not supposed to. It's a whopping good cliffhanger, as the tube lowers and a mysterious voice speaks out to the Doctor, and it doesn't lose any of it's inherent spookiness here. It's a little undermined by having to use those tones to negotiate with the Doctor (at one stage, it basically boils down to 'I will kill you!' / 'Ok. But then this information dies with me!' / 'Fine! …What do you mean 'information'…?')

Next Episode: The Crater of Needles

(EDITED TO ADD: Oh! There you go! I've spent so long throughout this blog monitoring how well they handle the regular cast going on holiday - but it wasn't until almost an hour after writing today's post that I suddenly realised Barbara wasn't in this episode!)

 Day Sixty-Five: The Zarbi (The Web Planet, Episode Two)

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

Day Sixty-Five: The Zarbi (The Web Planet, Episode Two)

Dear Diary,

I hate litter. Genuinely, I can't stand it when people wilfully drop litter. I've been known to get quite shirty with people when I see them dropping litter out and about. If I can't find a bin, then I'll hold on to whatever litter I've got until I can find a bin. It's the obvious thing to do!

Imagine, then, how it irked me yesterday when Ian has witnessed his Coal Hill School tie being dissolved in the acid, and then throws it away on the ground as he walks away from the pool! I mean, yes, I know the tie is useless to him now (even as a belt!), but still! And then today, having removed his oxygen jacket, and carried it for a bit, he throws that away behind him, too! Vortis may not be the prettiest world he's visited in the TARDIS, but there's no need to leave half his wardrobe scattered about its surface!

Actually, I say Vortis isn't the prettiest world, but as I said yesterday, I really like the design. There's something about the jagged rocks that really works for me, and always has. I've often praised in this marathon the use of the backcloths to give a sense of depth to a set - most prominently in The Aztecs, but in a few other places too. The ones in The Web Planet have always looked quite good to me, and it's always been easy enough to suspend my belief enough for them to really work.

For this reason it's a shame that a few scenes in this episode are spent stood only a couple of feet away from the backcloth, which don't help the illusion much. Nor does the massive great join running up the middle of it!

Yesterday, I complained that as much as I was liking the story, it was a fairly good example of that common conception of 1960s TV - creaky, wobbly, and all together a bit naff. There's plenty in this episode which helps to uphold that, I'm sorry to say. That aforementioned join is one of them, but also the way the Zarbi hobble about (I'd never noticed before how one of them trips over a pair of wings from a recently deceased Menoptera!).

Then we've got the shot of the TARDIS being dragged away across the surface of the planet. In some of the shots it really works, and it looks somewhat unnerving. The TARDIS has always been the 'safe' place - it's usually the place that our regulars spend four-to-six episodes trying to get back to. Here, though, from the spinning console in yesterday's episode to the way that it's being dragged away by some sinister unseen force, it's lost all pretense of being a 'safe' place to be.

It's a shame, then, that some of the 'dragging' shots really don't work as well as the others, and the cuts to Maureen O'Brien playing what appears to be a game of 'Stuck in the Mud' in the console room by herself aren't particularly great. She's been flawless until now, but this isn't her finest moment.

I was also very impressed to see a Zarbi attempting to enter the TARDIS. Having taken away the element of safety that we've always had with it, the ultimate final blow is to show one of the 'evil' monsters inside the ship. It doesn't make it past the doorway, though, and the whole thing is over and done with very quickly. It's a pity, as that could have been a really striking image.

I think that's quite a good theme for the story as a whole, actually; 'could have been'. There's a lot of potential here, but it's not really hitting it.

Next Episode: Escape to Danger

 Day Sixty-Four: The Web Planet (The Web Planet, Episode One)

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

Day Sixty-Four: The Web Planet (The Web Planet, Episode One)

Dear diary,

Something I've noticed more and more through this second season, but never quite so much as here, if how much Hartnell's 'giddy' performance reminds me of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor. I've never noticed it before, but there's something in the tone, and in the way things are said that feel very common between both incarnations. The cliffhanger close-up on Hartnell here sees his sporting an expression that I'm sure I've seen on Baker's face, too, at some point. It's strange, but I rather like it, I think.

While I'm on the subject of the First Doctor being a bit giddy… is there something in the air on Vortis? While we're inside the ship, and there's a mystery to be solved about the lack of power, the Doctor is his usual reserved self. Once we're outside, however… It's been happening more and more as the show goes on. The Doctor has taken to giggling far more than he used to. Looking at the First Doctor as a whole, the giggles have always been a part of the character for me - I've just never realised how suddenly they come about, or how strong.

We saw it in The Romans, when he tittered his way through a fight early on, and it's back with a vengeance here. He's almost like a hyperactive child when he's realised there's something real to explore on this planet, rushing off, giggling, while telling Ian to 'Come along! Come along!'.

It is nice to see him back into the explorer mode that we saw way back during the second episode of An Unearthly Child. When we join him outside the TARDIS, he's examining some rocks and taking mental notes about them. I still think it suits this Doctor to be one who travels to learn, as opposed to just because that's what the Doctor does.

I made a note during that scene to mention the slight echo effect on the voice, and then they went and made a big point about the echoes in the air. It really works for me, and I think it helps to make this planet seem a bit different and a bit alien. Following on from some very plush sets for the last story, with lots of drapes and pillows, it's nice to see Vortis as a cold, harsh landscape.

I've seen the look of this story come under fire more times than I can count over the years, but actually I think it works rather well. The design of the world is certainly striking and different to anything we've had before, and despite what people keep telling me, I think it looks good. Even the Zarbi are quite a nice idea, even if the initial shots of them creeping out from behind rocks gives the impression of that old favourite stereotype of classic Doctor Who being a bit creaky…

A constant surprise to me is just how late into the programme's run we're still getting episodes that are entirely carried by the four regulars. Sure, we've got a handful of Zarbi on hand to menace them from behind the rocks, but they don't actually interact with each other - there's just the odd glimpse here and there. It's another chance for our regulars to shine, and for this still comparatively new team to shine.

Next Episode: The Zarbi

 Day Sixty-Three: Inferno (The Romans, Episode Four)

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

Day Sixty-Three: Inferno (The Romans, Episode Four)

Dear Diary,

I've mused on this before (most notably under my posts about Farewell Great Macedon), but when you watch through these early historical adventures in order, you really do get the sense of an emerging narrative - the kind of thing that we'd call a story arc these days.

To recap; in The Aztecs, the Doctor is quite adamant with Barbara - 'You can't change history! Not one line!' - when she even dares to suggest putting her own stamp on the Aztecs and trying to change the course of history. The Reign of Terror sees Ian and Barbara muse on the futility of fighting for a side that history tells them will lose.

They then go on, in the same story, to wonder what will happen if they try to change history, and it's suggested that history will find a way to persevere. This is seen to be true in Farewell Great Macedon (even though it's not technically part of the 'canon' of this arc, if we're dealing exclusively with the early years of the programme).

Here, though, we enter a new territory, when the Doctor becomes actively responsible for giving Nero the idea to burn down Rome. The great fire, which Vicki describes as being read about in history books for 'thousands and thousands of years' all stems from the Doctor's actions in the court.

He refutes this thoroughly to begin with, pointing out again that history would have found a way to give the emperor the same idea. And then there's a wonderful moment;

                THE DOCTOR

Now look here, young lady, let's settle this! Insinuating that all this is my fault!

[He stops. Thinks. The penny drops, and he bursts into a wide smile as he begins to laugh]

My fault! Haha!

This is surely the moment that the Doctor realises that history is a little more flexible than he thought. He's well aware that the fire had to start somehow, but now he's realised that he can have an actual impact on historical events - even if it's just to ensure that they run the way that they're supposed to.

A couple of stories time from now (and following a trip back to the Crusades), the idea of the historical story will be well and truly shaken up. I'll examine the 'arc' more when we reach that point, but it's genuinely fascinating to see the way that things are building up as I make my way through.

Elsewhere in this episode… well, the good news is that I've enjoyed it more than I have the last couple. I'm not sure quite why that is - perhaps venting yesterday has helped to clear my mind somewhat? I've found everything about this episode much more enjoyable than I have so far, right up to Derek Francis' performance as Nero.

He seems to have decided that if this is to be his last episode, then he's going to really just go for it. His scene early on, when he takes a soldier's sword, only to cut the man down with it, while dryly declaring 'He didn't fight hard enough' is possibly my favourite Nero moment (is that a thing? Does everyone have a favourite 'Nero Moment'?).

And then we're back to the villa, the TARDIS team reunited and ready to head off on another adventure. I can't decide whether Ian and Barbara not running into the Doctor and Vicki during their simultaneous trips back is a great end to the repetitive 'not-quite-meetings' that we've had over the last couple of days or a really annoying one. I'm not going to dwell on it much, as I'm not sure I'll like the answer.

What I am sure I like is the last five minutes or so. It's great to have all four of the regulars back together again, and I love how well Maureen O'Brien has slotted into the group. In many ways, she seems to have found a comfortable nook that I'm not sure Carole Ann Ford ever had.

Oh, and returning to my musings on Ian and Barbara's status during Episode One; yes, they're definitely more than friends by now. Just look at the way they resort to a play fight mere minutes after they get back to the villa and find it deserted. It's quite sweet, in its own way…

Next Episode: The Web Planet

 Day Sixty-Two: Conspiracy (The Romans, Episode Three)

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

Day Sixty-Two: Conspiracy (The Romans, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

I'd been banking on this episode to turn things around for me. The last two have been alright, but I was hoping that Episode Three and it's fabled farcical style would be the one which raised this story up in my estimation. I'm quite keen on a good comedy historical (The Unicorn and the Wasp remains, five years on, my favourite 'new series' adventure, for example). Unfortunately, that's not happened.

…

You can't tell, but that ellipsis says a lot about this story so far. The way I'm doing this marathon is that I'm sitting down to watch each episode, then once it's over, I take a glance at any notes I might have made and then write up my thoughts, before posting them to Doctor Who Online. Then I carry on with my day. Nice and simple. I'm used to the routine, now, having down it for over two months.

Sometimes there's plenty to say, sometimes there's not so much, but either way I tend to find something to write about. Today's been a bit different, though. I typed that first paragraph, then just sort of… stared at the screen a bit. I even tried staring at the keyboard for a while, just in case that had some inspirational effect. It didn't. It never does, really.

In the end, I gave up. Went to Asda (other supermarkets are available) to do the shopping. I've got kitchen roll again, now, so the misses can stop pointing out that I'd run out. Got some new bin bags, too. I even bought an easter-egg-sized Kinder Egg, just to see if it had an extra large Kinder Egg tub inside it (It did. It was awesome.).

Then I came home, sat here and stared at the screen some more. Frankly, I've just not got anything much to say about this episode. I don't know what it is that's stopping me, it's just… not there today.

The best that I can figure is that this is almost a bit like the season stalling a little. Planet of Giants wasn't the most thrilling story, but visually, it was very impressive. If nothing else, I was kept interested by the design of the piece. The Dalek Invasion of Earth had an epic scale that hadn't been attempted in the series yet, and every episode was better than I could remember. Even The Rescue had a great (if bizarre) looking monster to keep me amused.

The Romans, though…

I did wonder if it might have been because I've grown to love the serious historicals that I've been through so far, more than I have before. Had that style of story ruined my enjoyment of this more light-hearted take on history? The more I thought about it, though, the more I remembered that I've tried to watch The Romans before, and I don't think I made it as far as this. So it must just be the story that's not connecting with me.

It's a real shame, because there's some good performances being put in, and the humour is well judged at times. Even the perspective effect used on the corridors is very good.

But then we've got 25 minutes of the Doctor and Barbara just missing each other. Over and over. And over. And then, over again! I praised it yesterday when it happened twice, but now the joke has kind of worn off. I spent a while wondering if I liked how it had been choreographed with their movements in and out of scenes, before deciding that if I'd been reduced to considering that, then something really wasn't right with my interest in the story itself…

Next episode: Inferno

 Day Sixty-One: All Roads Lead to Rome (The Romans, Episode Two)

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

Day Sixty-One: All Roads Lead to Rome (The Romans, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

Some stories are easy. There's been more than a few episodes since the start of this marathon where I've had so much to say that I actively need to hold things back to talk about on another day, because there's a real danger that I'll just waffle on for ages.

This isn't one of those days.

Honestly, I really don't know what I'm going to talk about with this episode. There's nothing wrong with it, I've enjoyed it well enough, and it has all the elements that have been very strong in the series of late but it's just all a bit par for the course.

I think it must be telling when the thing that impresses me the most about a story is the fact that Ian has a bit of stubble! Yeah, yeah, I know this sounds like a minor thing, but actually, it was fairly impressive. Because of the way modern TV is made - with things shot so much out-of-sequence, and across a different period of time (modern telly Doctor Who takes about 18 days, for example, for an episode. Give-or-take.), it's often quite fun when you see a character with a bit of real stubble. It usually means that they've had to film those scenes early on in production, before they can have a good shave.

Here, though, with the production process meaning that they have to shoot one episode a week in order, we're able to see the time passing for the characters in almost real time. It's been about six days since Ian was captured, and it would have been seven for the audience watching at home. The stubble just helps to sell that idea. As I say - it's a tiny thing, but it interested me at least!

Something else that I couldn't help but muse on here is the way that the TARDIS crew seem to often end up separated so much. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, they're all over the place, and they manage to work their way to meet up again in Bedfordshire (though Barbara tells Jenny this is a good plan because that's 'surely' what the Doctor would do), and in The Rescue, Ian suggests they return to the ship, as that's likely to be the best place to meet.

The same is true for many of the other stories (Planet of Giants sees Barbara and Ian transported to the lab, while The Reign of Terror sees them, and Susan, carted off to Paris), and it's fun to see this idea being played with here. Twice, the Doctor and Vicki nearly encounter Barbara - first in the market at the slave auction, then again at Nero's palace. It probably shouldn't be as amusing as it is, but considering how much I love the same trick being pulled with the Doctor and Donna in Partners in Crime, it's hard not to smile.

Oh, and speaking of which, it's just downright weird to see the Doctor declaring to a man 'Oh! So you want to fight, do you?' before giggling his way through the battle. Down. Right. Weird.

Next Episode: Conspiracy

 Day Sixty: The Slave Traders (The Romans, Episode One)

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

Day Sixty: The Slave Traders (The Romans, Episode One)

Dear diary,

I've always had one default thought when it comes to the start of The Romans - 'poor Vicki'! At the end of The Rescue, the Doctor assures her 'If you like adventure, my dear, then I can promise you an abundance of it!', and then they spend a month lounging around in a Roman villa and doing very little else! She even draws attention to it with Barbara - 'the way you spoke, I thought we were going to have adventures and see things!'.

What's nice is that I'm already really taking to Vicki. She is very much there to fill the Susan-shaped hole in the TARDIS crew (the way she gets excited over the possibility of the dress put me in mind of Susan's similar reaction to a new dress in The Keys of Marinus), but her enthusiasm is infectious. She's so happy when the Doctor agrees to take her to Rome that she does a little jump up and down that can't fail to make you smile.

Then when they're on the way to Rome, and the Doctor decides to impersonate the musician as it's a great way to meet Nero, we've got the Doctor right back in his old mode of doing anything that will help to satisfy his curiosity. That Vicki warns him no good will come of it seems to suggest she knows the way his adventures work better than he does! Maybe they could pick up BBC 1 on Dido?

Something I've not discussed yet during this marathon, but which is perhaps most prominent during this episode; are Ian and Barbara a couple? Or, at least, very close friends? In my mind (without having seen all their stories together) I've always assumed that, yes, they are. Of course they are! It's Ian and Barbara! Surely once they returned to London they ended up tying the knot?

Here, having been left alone in the vill without the Doctor and Susan, it's not long before they're laughing and joking, Barbara is telling Ian what a 'spendid-looking' Roman he makes and she's doing his hair. A few minutes later, and we find them sprawled out in the living room looking perfectly blissful while they drink wine. Of course this pair are together by this point!

Question is; when did the relationship start? Any ideas? Feel free to Twitter them at me - I'd be interested to know your thoughts! Maybe I'll pick my favourite answers and discuss them later in the story?

For me, I don't think that they were together before they encountered the Doctor and the TARDIS. The way they act with each other in An Unearthly Child is friendly, but really it's more a kind of colleague relationship than one where they're spending lots of extra curricular time with each other. So I'm guessing it will have come about during their adventures somewhere…

Next Episode: All Roads Lead to Rome

 Day Fifty-Nine: Desperate Measures (The Rescue, Episode Two)

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

Day Fifty-Nine: Desperate Measures (The Rescue, Episode Two)

Dear diary,

I wonder if I'd have seen the twist with Bennett coming if I didn't already know that he was Koquillion? I'm tempted to say that I probably wouldn't… because it kind of comes from nowhere.

The problem with a two-part story is that there's no time for this plot to be built up and resolved in time, while still aiming for the mid-way cliffhanger. While the last episode was fairly well done in terms of the pacing, this one feels almost as though they've realised that the rest of the story needs to be done and dusted pretty quick, so that they can ask Vicki to join them in the TARDIS and be on their way.

To be quite truthful, I'm not even 100% sure what happened at the end there. Were they ghosts of the Dido people? Had some survived? The Doctor seems to imply that they can now take their world back… where have they been hiding for the last year or so? So many questions, so little time!

All that said, though, there's still plenty to like in this episode. Chiefly among them, the Doctor's confrontation with Koquillion. We've never really had a scene quite like this before, where the Doctor stands face-to-face with the story's 'bad guy' and has a cool, calm discussion with him, during which he basically tells them to stop what they're doing. This is a scene in the same key as the Tenth Doctor's poolside chat with Mr Finch in School Reunion, or the Eleventh Doctor's face-off with Madame Kovarian during A Good Man Goes to War.

What's nice about it is that I've never known it was here! Buried away towards the end of s strange little two-parter from Season Two. Hartnell plays it with perfection. The way he turns to face Koquillion, having already revealed him as Bennett and remaining fairly dignified throughout is fantastic, as is their entire discussion, ending with a fight. It's just a shame that the fight is ended by the appearance of the ghosts. Or survivors. Or… well, whatever they are.

Also good fun is the amount of humour still in the series. It's been having a larger impact on the stories as we move along (and it'll somewhat explode everywhere in the next story), but here it's Ian and Barbara having most of the laughs. I love the way they react when Vicki announces that they must be about 550 - both reactions are priceless and entirely in character.

Less 'in character', though, is Barbara's reaction to seeing Sandy for the first time. Yes, yes, I'm willing to accept that she was looking out for Vicki's safety and trying to make sure that the creature didn't attack. Yes, I'm willing to admit that the creature could look rather terrifying from a distance (In the long-shots early on, even I was prepared to admit it looked quite good. In close up… not so much), but still, it's not the kind of thing I'd expect from Barbara to grab a (flare) gun and shoot the creature dead!

Perhaps the most obvious thing to say about this story is that it really feels like a fresh start. Susan has gone, so now we've got these two episodes to introduce the new companion and to set out the scope of the series once more. Ian and Barbara explain that they got 'mixed up' with the Doctor in 1963, and that they now travel anywhere in time and space - 'Anywhere and everywhere in that old box', as the Doctor puts it. We even get to see Vicki doing the whole 'Bigger on the inside' thing (though not with those exact words). In many ways, this really does feel like the programme brushing itself down after the big Dalek epic, and getting ready to move on again, refreshed and renewed.

And what better way to do that than with a great cliffhanger of the TARDIS falling off a cliff?!

Next Episode: The Slave Traders