"I'm not a child anymore, Grandfather, I'm not."
Confrontations galore at the start of this episode with Ian and Barbara very much in their roles as protective teachers concerned about Susan going it alone down to the Sense-Sphere. What a glorious name for a planet. And then the Doctor and Susan in a battle of wills which, I suppose, ultimately leads to her leaving him in 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'.Very adult themes of mental illness and loss are explored through John and Carol with touching performances from Stephen Dartnell and Ilona Rogers.
I rather feel this episode, and indeed the whole story, loses something when we accompany almost everyone down to the (rather dull as it turns out) Sense-Sphere. Only Barbara has the sense to stay put and that's only because Jacqueline Hill was heading off on holiday for two weeks. Good old Barbara, sensibly missing the two dullest episodes.
The Sensorites are well realised in terms of their masks with the beards combed across their mouths, but the costumes are a little dull and the sash system a little clunky especially when it is explained at length. This is also true of the water situation. You don't need to be Miss Marple to figure this one out. As the Doctor says, "It might be a clue!" I'm confused that a story that deals initially with complex ideas of mental breakdown and burgeoning teenage assertiveness resorts to such clumsy devices. It would've been quicker to walk round and shoot our travellers than to programme the 'disintegrator'.
There's an interesting volte-face when the First Elder tells the Doctor why they felt they had to put the spaceship crew to sleep and why John, the mineralogist, is so badly affected by their telepathic powers, "We saw the pictures he formed in his mind and we saw that it was the end of our way of life..." I'm anyone's for a bit of motivation.
I have a feeling that down on the planet I will be yearning for more spaceship scenes in the way I longed to see the inside of the TARDIS again when we were stuck in those prehistoric caves for three weeks, but let's see shall we.
Next episode: A Race Against Death
Oh, and HB DW again!
