Hidden Danger

"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!

The Cave of Skulls

The second episode. It seemed so much longer than 25 mins. Already I'm gripped by the cavemen society; the hierarchy, the politics, the need for food and warmth, the children playing as children must always have done.

And into that world are thrown our four travellers. The Doctor, so confident at first in front of Ian and Barbara as the TARDIS lands, is soon as lost as the others, suggesting that although Susan and he have undoubtedly travelled, albeit it seems only through different periods of Earth's history, at this stage he is far from the confident adventurer we know and love; here looking far more out of his depth. Much is made of the Doctor and Susan's genuine confusion as to why the TARDIS has not changed as it clearly has been doing, again suggesting that they are very new to this way of life.

The scenes in the TARDIS at the beginning are compelling. The device of building part of the planet set and the TARDIS interior next to each other so that it may be glimpsed through the open doors is genius, as is the cut back to show the Police Box doors closing at the same time as the inner ones. After this first season this was almost abandoned until the new 2005 series.

There are some marvellous pieces of dialogue as Za asks Hur to "throw some more of the dead fire on" and Kal unwittingly describes the Doctor as "full of fire".

And then there's lovely Eileen Way, sitting on her rock offering commentary like a stone-age Nanna Royle. Untouchable. I met her once, years ago, at a Dr Who Convention in Birmingham. Tables were limited at breakfast and so Marc Platt, who I was with, and I asked if we might share her table. She was immaculate and stern and utterly charming I recall, dressed all in black with her hair tied tightly back. She was reserved at first, but as she warmed to us and realised that we held her in genuine affection she revealed that her primary reason for coming was to get Patrick Troughton's autograph for her grandson. And there she was, a very special guest at the convention, loved by all, who had only finally accepted the invitation because of her family. Unstoppable things, grandmothers. She asked us whether we thought he would mind her asking and we reassured her that we thought he probably wouldn't. Anyway, she asked him and he was delighted; two fine old actors who truly respected each other. And both gone now, sadly.

Next episode: The Forest of Fear