"Do you always do what Ian says?"
I, of course, have a vested interest in the answer to this question being yes, but in this case it is aptly asked by Gannatus as he and Barbara find themselves thrown together quite literally as she gamely hangs on to his leather trousers.
So much is in this episode, another of Richard Martin's, who however much I adore Christopher Barry's work on Doctor Who, I feel does slightly have the edge.
Dark and claustrophobic and intense. Some great moments: where the Doctor and Susan think they have short-circuited the Dalek systems and immediately find themselves surrounded by clutching, grabbing Daleks and that lovely scene where they both are kneeling on the floor that makes the metal meanies seem enormous and indomitable.
And where poor dear Antodus tries to duck out, but is trapped and so makes the so unwilling and half-hearted jump that results in him (and us!) left dangling at the end of the episode with poor Ian clinging to the rock by his fingernails. What a delicious moment slightly earlier when Ian throws the rope to him which falls flacidly to the floor as he makes no attempt to catch it. Poor Antodus. I remember this trek vividly from the probably hundreds of times that I read David Whitaker's novelisation of this story.
"I stopped the car at last and let the fog close in around me..." That first line of the book rates for me as highly as "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" and Marc Platt's sublime "Time's roses are scented with memory."
What joy. And all that plus Nazi saluting Daleks and Doctors hiding behind rocks. This is bliss; and always will be.
Next episode: The Rescue
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Sunday 27 December 2009
The Expedition
"We do not have to adapt to the environment; we will change the environment to suit us."
Powerful stuff from the Daleks there in an episode brimming with moral debate and logical conclusions.
The Doctor is quite happy to use the Thals to attack the Daleks so that he can recover the fluid link after admitting "I'm afraid my little trick has rather rebounded on me", but he is challenged by Ian who is the moral compass here. We're already used to Barbara fulfilling this role yet in this instance she argues for the attack. So early in the series these characters are rounded and three-dimensional.
The Daleks reach the conclusion that they must increase radiation levels on the planet to survive with chilling coldness after they have watched some of their own kind die after taking the anti-radiation drug. More great Dalek point-of view shots from Christopher Barry which really add to the other-wordly quality of these creatures.
He uses split screen effects again to show us the pipes leading to the city, the vortex in the lake at the end of the episode and a poor unfortunate creature that menaces Barbara and gets quickly bludgeoned by Ian!
The Thal chaps look fetching in their cut away leather trousers and tabbards, something I feel may not have gone unnoticed by Barbara as she gets closer to Gannatus. And I swear his brother has got a tattoo on his shoulder!
I enjoy the wobbly superimposed story title and writers credit at the start of these episodes. I appreciate what the Restoration Team are doing by replacing the end titles with shiny, steady, new ones, but they seem at odds with the age of the rest of the programme. As the Daleks and Thals are realising, we must all learn to put up with an imperfect world.
Next episode: The Ordeal
Powerful stuff from the Daleks there in an episode brimming with moral debate and logical conclusions.
The Doctor is quite happy to use the Thals to attack the Daleks so that he can recover the fluid link after admitting "I'm afraid my little trick has rather rebounded on me", but he is challenged by Ian who is the moral compass here. We're already used to Barbara fulfilling this role yet in this instance she argues for the attack. So early in the series these characters are rounded and three-dimensional.
The Daleks reach the conclusion that they must increase radiation levels on the planet to survive with chilling coldness after they have watched some of their own kind die after taking the anti-radiation drug. More great Dalek point-of view shots from Christopher Barry which really add to the other-wordly quality of these creatures.
He uses split screen effects again to show us the pipes leading to the city, the vortex in the lake at the end of the episode and a poor unfortunate creature that menaces Barbara and gets quickly bludgeoned by Ian!
The Thal chaps look fetching in their cut away leather trousers and tabbards, something I feel may not have gone unnoticed by Barbara as she gets closer to Gannatus. And I swear his brother has got a tattoo on his shoulder!
I enjoy the wobbly superimposed story title and writers credit at the start of these episodes. I appreciate what the Restoration Team are doing by replacing the end titles with shiny, steady, new ones, but they seem at odds with the age of the rest of the programme. As the Daleks and Thals are realising, we must all learn to put up with an imperfect world.
Next episode: The Ordeal
Monday 23 November 2009
The Ambush
This had to be the day to restart this blog, didn't it? I've been meaning to get on with it for ages. Sorry for the rather long delay to any faithful viewers. You newbies, in true time travel style, probably won't notice a thing!
"A dislike for the unlike."
This episode makes me tense. Our four travellers not only risk being caught by the Daleks, but then Ian can't get out of the Dalek casing. Great moments surround the lift shaft: the close-up of the Dalek shaking and moving as Ian says "I must escape"; the Daleks with real oxyacetaline torches burning through the metal door and firing upon the empty (phew!) Dalek shell which collapses deliciously; the clever lift cutaway which must have been complex back in the day and which is re-used to best effect when the Dalek fires at the wall next to Ian which blisters; the handy sculpture (Dalek art?) which plummets to great smoke and rubble trouble.
My favourite scene is as the Daleks await the arrival of the Thals. They half-hide in their doorways, guns twitching in anticipation.
I found it shocking and graphic and surprising when the Thals carry the body of Temmosus through their encampment; and then there's the awful realisation that the fluid link is still down in the city. No wonder I'm tense.
Next episode: The Expedition
"A dislike for the unlike."
This episode makes me tense. Our four travellers not only risk being caught by the Daleks, but then Ian can't get out of the Dalek casing. Great moments surround the lift shaft: the close-up of the Dalek shaking and moving as Ian says "I must escape"; the Daleks with real oxyacetaline torches burning through the metal door and firing upon the empty (phew!) Dalek shell which collapses deliciously; the clever lift cutaway which must have been complex back in the day and which is re-used to best effect when the Dalek fires at the wall next to Ian which blisters; the handy sculpture (Dalek art?) which plummets to great smoke and rubble trouble.
My favourite scene is as the Daleks await the arrival of the Thals. They half-hide in their doorways, guns twitching in anticipation.
I found it shocking and graphic and surprising when the Thals carry the body of Temmosus through their encampment; and then there's the awful realisation that the fluid link is still down in the city. No wonder I'm tense.
Next episode: The Expedition
Sunday 11 January 2009
The Escape
"If they call us mutants, what must they be like?"
'About time too,' I hear you cry and quite right. You'd think it had been Christmas and New Year in between the last blog and this one. I've left you dangling in suspense without so much as a by your leave and poor Susan has been standing looking out at that scary forest for weeks. So I'll just wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year and move swiftly on.
Susan finally steps out to a marvellously chilling flash of lightning and huge crash of thunder.
And there is Alydon, looking like a giant, as Susan cowers down against the closed TARDIS doors. Carole Ann Ford is great in this scene, as always, and I wonder again why she didn't have more of an acting career after Dr Who.
The direction of this episode (Richard Martin instead of Christopher Barry) is even stronger with some great shots. I was struck by how metal everything is in the Dalek world, even the tray and the food bowl which give it a very alien feel. The metaltron makes another appearance being carried around by one of the Thals like an ornamental lion. Was there a suggestion that they were going to use it to power their lights somehow? And what reason might Ganatus' brother have to be scared of the dark? Hmm. Perhaps it's the black and white and the brilliant lighting, but the Daleks actually look metal in this story.
I love the easy banter amongst the Thals, a far cry from what our guys are going through in their cell; and I love the plotting, scheming Daleks. An interesting point is raised when the Daleks reveal that they force vegetables. They're either doing it because they knew the Thals were coming or, intriguingly, perhaps they need them for themselves. It makes sense that the Dalek creatures need some sort of nutrient intake to live.
The scene where the Doctor and co sabotage the Dalek still makes me tense as I watch it now. And the very best bit? When Ian and the Doctor react to the Dalek creature inside the shell and send Susan and Barbara outside to spare them the horror. We're very much encouraged to use our imagination in this story, both here and when we were left wondering for a whole week what could be so terrifying to Barbara at the end of the first episode. Great stuff.
Next episode: The Ambush
'About time too,' I hear you cry and quite right. You'd think it had been Christmas and New Year in between the last blog and this one. I've left you dangling in suspense without so much as a by your leave and poor Susan has been standing looking out at that scary forest for weeks. So I'll just wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year and move swiftly on.
Susan finally steps out to a marvellously chilling flash of lightning and huge crash of thunder.
And there is Alydon, looking like a giant, as Susan cowers down against the closed TARDIS doors. Carole Ann Ford is great in this scene, as always, and I wonder again why she didn't have more of an acting career after Dr Who.
The direction of this episode (Richard Martin instead of Christopher Barry) is even stronger with some great shots. I was struck by how metal everything is in the Dalek world, even the tray and the food bowl which give it a very alien feel. The metaltron makes another appearance being carried around by one of the Thals like an ornamental lion. Was there a suggestion that they were going to use it to power their lights somehow? And what reason might Ganatus' brother have to be scared of the dark? Hmm. Perhaps it's the black and white and the brilliant lighting, but the Daleks actually look metal in this story.
I love the easy banter amongst the Thals, a far cry from what our guys are going through in their cell; and I love the plotting, scheming Daleks. An interesting point is raised when the Daleks reveal that they force vegetables. They're either doing it because they knew the Thals were coming or, intriguingly, perhaps they need them for themselves. It makes sense that the Dalek creatures need some sort of nutrient intake to live.
The scene where the Doctor and co sabotage the Dalek still makes me tense as I watch it now. And the very best bit? When Ian and the Doctor react to the Dalek creature inside the shell and send Susan and Barbara outside to spare them the horror. We're very much encouraged to use our imagination in this story, both here and when we were left wondering for a whole week what could be so terrifying to Barbara at the end of the first episode. Great stuff.
Next episode: The Ambush
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