The Keys of Marinus

"I don't believe that man was made to be controlled by machines."

After a great performance of sobbing in front of Barbara and then laughing when she has left, Kala slips up and is unmasked as the kidnapper of Susan and murderer of her husband.

Our travellers set off with the keys for home; in vision this time against a black backcloth.

They find Arbitan looking a bit thinner and behaving rather shyly until he is revealed as Yartek, leader of the Voords!

Stephen Dartnell gives a great performance here as the man inside the mask.

He returns in a months time to play John in 'The Sensorites'. I can't wait.

The Voord masks are really well done and I feel I must flag up their significance as the first masked humanoid 'monsters' of the series, a successful template that was to be repeated literally hundreds of times in Dr Who. The Daleks design is superb, but they are a brilliant one-off. A few attempts were made to repeat their success, the Mechanoids and the Chumblies, but the Daleks were always so much better because of the genius of Ray Cusick. No, the most enduring and oft-repeated model for a Dr Who monster is the rubber-suited Voord.

And so Yartek is deceived by the fake key and blows himself and the other Voords to pieces. There is a touching scene between the Doctor and Sabena as the old man talks about the death of Arbitan, her father. We really see the Doctor as a father and grandfather here.

Of course we can't leave this story without one more shot of those wonderful legs...

And so our travellers depart silently in their tiny model TARDIS again and a second story finishes without a cliffhanger allowing us to imagine unseen adventures before one of my absolute favourites...

Next episode: The Temple of Evil

Article: Robin Phillips

The Sea of Death

"Choice? What choice?"

What bliss after a year, my own fault I know, to be watching a DVD of Dr Who again and not squinting at photographs on Youtube. Ah, a sofa, a cat, a drink, moving pictures! Civilisation rediscovered. And I rather like this story. I know it's not the best, but it does try.

The Voord are genuinely creepy, wetsuits in various forms will be used throughout Dr Who in the future.

I like the first modelwork in the series with the island,

the miniature TARDIS materialising (first use of the phrase in this episode I understand)

 and the Voord ships beaching on the er... beach.

I like the way the Dalek shaped doors are repeated in this alien city only they're triangular now, matching the Voords' headgear.

Arbitan has obviously gone to the same school of fluffing as William Hartnell who is all over the place in this episode.

He has a new hairdo too, perhaps that's what did it.

It's unclear why Ian didn't just deck Arbitan and make him release the TARDIS, but hey they're already feeling guilty about not helping, so maybe that's why they all go along with it. I like the way the Doctor is unphased by the size of the wrist transporters and seems to actively enjoy the experience.

The effect of our travellers jaunting off is good enough for those days,

and by sending poor Barbara off ahead and finding her wristband with blood on it we have a cliffhanger for precisely no cost at all. Genius.

Here are some lovely production photos....

Other things I liked? The way that glimpses of what's outside the open TARDIS doors can always be seen in these early stories. The way the regular cast are so convincing on a small set...

The fact that Ian still wears his lovely jacket from Marco Polo's court as a gentle reminder to the viewer of what has gone before, but the others have changed and the Doctor has had his hair done and so time has obviously elapsed on board TARDIS.

The way once again they are physically prevented from leaving where they have landed.

And the revolving doors of the city that draw everyone in. The scene where a Voord is holding a knife waiting for Susan and is suddenly, bewilderingly, rotated inside is a great way of saving one of our heroines from jeopardy.

All in all, very enjoyable. Did I mention that the pictures are moving?

Next episode: The Velvet Web