So further to the discussion in the Doctor Who threads I thought this might be worth doing. I've recently started on my journey through Classic Who (up to The Daleks, so this first one's a catch up review) to give my unfiltered thoughts on the original series as I watch them. Honestly, don't expect great in depth critiques here, more just spewed thoughts as the sheer number of episodes to get through means watching quite a few back to back at times to finish this in any reasonable period.

 

An Unearthly Child

23 November 1963 - 14 December 1963 (4 x 25)

Series 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

 

So this is where it all began then? This has the distinction of being one of the handful of Classic Who stories I’d seen before embarking on this little journey to watch the lot in order (the mad right of passage for all serious Doctor Who fans).

 

We’re introduced to the first TARDIS Team. The exceptional child in class who sparks the curiosity of her two teachers so much they stalk her back to her home - or rather the junkyard listed as her address. Professional standards might have a thing or two to say about that one these days, and there’s certainly a breach of current data regulations. Her insistence on the dimensions of time and space and the fact that she's thinks some chemistry experiments are pointless being the dubious grounds for this excessive curiosity.

 

The fact they did helps us move to the good stuff in the plot as we’re introduced to Susan’s ‘grandfather’. It’s soon apparent that being somewhat strange is a family gene in this neck of the woods as the cantankerous old man ridicules the two humans, who are clearly beneath him.

 

And cue the swinging open of the doors to the police box revealing a gigantic open space. Even as someone who has both seen this episode before, and seen the reveal of the ‘bigger on the inside’ trope many times in the new series, seeing Ian and Barbara’s reactions be so well written is great. Ian really plays the role for the viewer in this situation, and is gradual acceptance that this is believable after all.

 

One of the most magical things about Doctor Who for me has always been the ‘invitation’ - from the moment Rose was asked ‘by the way, did I mention, it also travels in time?.’ Unfortunately no such magic here the ' kindly ‘would you like to see the universe?’ approach has certainly not been refined here though. The method of introducing the companions is unbelievably heavy handed to modern eyes, akin to kidnap as he’s so concerned they’d blab out him and Susan.

 

The rest of Unearthly Child is serviceable, if not brilliant. The cavemen dialogue is amusing for about two scenes before it becomes a little irritating. However there’s some great stuff in - The Cave of Skulls is friendly, Hur’s confusion to Barbara’s mothering tendencies towards Za is played well and the politics between the cavemen over the leader being whoever can make fire is well played - a beautiful illustration of that chestnugget that politics always boils down to who has the shiner new toy, and manipulative liars and wanna be despots have always existed - portrayed so well in Kal, as he stones the old woman but gets undone by his own blood-stained knife .

 

The pay off with use of the dead skulls after being held in the capture of gratitude, to manage the escape plot is well-written, and logical which is not something that can be said for many new series that get out of jail cards that were used. All in all the serial left me feeling like I definitely want to get to know the characters more. The acting from the core cast of four is strong enough, and the cavemen actors do a good job with their generally one-dimensional characters. I honestly do think it could have been trimmed substantially to three episodes and retained all it’s key plot points.

 

The cliff-hanger however is probably the best part of the last three episodes as we’re let in on the radiation secret, and I can certainly see how that would have whet the appetite for the next story that is The Daleks.

 

It does however strike me as an odd choice of starting point for a show that has permission to anywhere in time and space to go to Cavemen earth. It’s not the most exciting of time periods of Earth, and you’ve a theoretically unlimited number of planets to explore. Most of the interest here comes from the four being out of place amongst the Cavemen, but you do have to wonder if writing the story on another planet with a bunch of pig-thick aliens would have been vastly different, and perhaps could have been slightly more interesting. Clearly this was done for relatively logistic reasons, as it allowed fairly basic sets to be utilised and a relatively small cast of characters.

Edited December 13, 20213 yr by ChristmasFridays

Great thread idea. I first started watching Dr Who in 1973 but managed to watch the stories from the first ten years when they were shown on UK Gold when it started in 1992. That's almost thirty years ago now so I won't remember them that well. I remember the first episode much more than the other three from this first story as it's been shown a few times on its own over the years.

 

The viewers in 1963 would not have known what to expect when the Tardis was revealed for the first time so I would imagine it was quite a TV moment.

Good to see this thread.

 

The very first episode stands up really well I think. Obviously The Doctor is rather different to later incarnations but I like that aspect.

Agree that 4 episodes is perhaps one too many for a 'getting to know each other' story. The story after episode one is decent but not especially gripping.

 

 

The original remit was for the show to present Earth's history blended with Sci-Fi adventures, hence the slightly bland setting for the serial here. It does however allow the audience time to properly meet the characters.

 

 

I may well re-watch the series along with you. It's been a while

I agree with you Severin about liking the Doctor being different to later incarnations, and Bill Hartnell is clearly a good actor enjoy himself in portraying the kind of slightly mean-spirited version of the doctor throughout these early episodes, and we do see a softer side to him - both within An Unearthly Child (when captured with Ian) and in The Daleks when he talks to the Thals about their history.

 

The Daleks

21 December 1963 - 1 February 1964 (7 x 25)

Season 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

 

As Terry Nation’s invention of a Dalek lights up the screens for the first time in this marathon, it’s hard not to be in awe of what are truly magnificent creatures. The story takes a while to set itself up, it has to be said, but is eminently watchable for the first few episodes. The First Doctor’s mean-spirited and belligerent nature is on full show here as he develops a ruse by seemingly breaking the tardis (removing the very important fluid link, which is strangely reminiscent of a light bulb).

 

Aside from that we get a relatively classic war on a alien planet storyline, with our first introduction to the legendary Skaro, which has left it’s two races in opposite directions - the Thals who have becoming pacifistic farmers and the Daleks - who now really on radiation to live and exist inside their technological hub of a city. The menace of these robot killing machines is fairly well played and Daleks = nazi overtones are layed in about as subtlely as any of the political bent in the Chibnall era.

 

However the crucial difference here being that this is entertaining, both sides of the argument are presented fairly and there’s a progression of plot instead of ‘don’t do this it’s bad, here’s how you should think’. The audience are credited with a modicum of intelligence, despite being mainly aimed at kids.

 

There’s some good companion development - Susan being trusted to go off alone and establishing contact with the Thals, Ian and Barbara being given agency to interact with the Thal people and find their way through. The bit where Ian shows the Thals they will fight for certain things starts to give us a better sense of the kind of man he might be in these stories. And crucially with the Doctor and Susan’s kidnap, despite the Doctor’s admiration of his own brilliance seconds before becoming undone by his own hubris, we get a chance to see Ian and Barbara serve as the rescuers. I like the thread of Ian pretending to be a Dalek as well, again there’s a sense of plot and character progression here for everyone to some degree or other, even the Thals once Temossus dies.

 

All in all it’s a relatively enjoyable serial to watch through, however like the previous story it could easily have been trimmed back, at times the episode The Ordeal really does live up to its name as ropes are slung about in rocky tunnels and the cast trudge through the lake.

 

The scenes where The Daleks kill people despite using what would now be considered rudimentary special effects look brilliant and genuinely scary, at least shocking as they kill with reckless abandon.

 

Considering it's in black and white, the scenery looks good with the city (presumably a model of some sort and a good one at that), as well as the petrified forest and the swamp with the living creatures. Similarly the reveal of the living thing inside the Dalek shell is well done, and thankfully something that's never been tampered.

 

It's nice of Terry Nation to attempt to give us some backstory to the development of the killing machines with the war as the background, even if future writers often ignore it. It's also really nice to see The Daleks actually fighting for their own survival, rather than for the sake of killing despite the fact that the dislike for the unlike is brought up.

The general plot for this story was repeated for the 1965 film with Peter Cushing as the Doctor which was shown quite a lot on TV in the 70s so I knew it from that before finally seeing the original TV version when it was shown in the 90s. I'm not sure how long the programme would have survived if it wasn't for the Daleks, they made a big impact at the time.

The Daleks is a true classic and still one of the best Dalek stories. I've always preferred the way their personality is much more nuanced in the original shows. They behave much more like individuals with a collective goal whereas over the years they seem to have become somewhat more like soulless killing machines. Fascists are much more frightening when they aren't reduced to only their hatred of others.

 

 

Much of their backstory is also somewhat retconned by Terry Nation himself later on in Genesis of The Daleks (still their greatest story) and whilst I like both origins, there are some contradiction that arise, especially in the name of their original species.

 

And as Rollo rightly points out, this is where Dalekmania began

The Daleks is a true classic and still one of the best Dalek stories. I've always preferred the way their personality is much more nuanced in the original shows. They behave much more like individuals with a collective goal whereas over the years they seem to have become somewhat more like soulless killing machines. Fascists are much more frightening when they aren't reduced to only their hatred of others.

Much of their backstory is also somewhat retconned by Terry Nation himself later on in Genesis of The Daleks (still their greatest story) and whilst I like both origins, there are some contradiction that arise, especially in the name of their original species.

 

And as Rollo rightly points out, this is where Dalekmania began

 

Yup, they definitely seem scarier than some of the modern who Daleks, who are honestly a complete joke at times (not least in Series 13)- and I agree about the collective goals, as mentioned above they seem to have a real purpose and edge, much missing in the 'kill everything' version of the modern series. For a 7 part story to only be disappointed by a single episode is pretty impressive, and it's not like it was a bad episode, just a lot of the things about Classic Who that take some adjustment too were present at the same time - the slower pacing being the main bugbear.

 

And yes, I'm aware this is where Dalek mania began, and I can see Rollo's point about the show not necessarily surviving anywhere near as long as it did and now has without the Daleks.

The Edge of Destruction
8 February 1964 - 15 February 1964 (2 x 25)
Season 1: First Doctor, Ian, Susan, Barbara

Possibly the first middling to abjectly bad story in Doctor Who? The serial serves the purpose of dealing with the relative animosity between the characters and airing grievances between them that had as yet been unspoken between them, the conflict between Barbara and the Doctor and for the First Doctor his relative attrition that she actually saved the day here is quite a climb down. In that respect in terms of developing the friendships and making us buy into the first TARDIS team it’s an incredibly important story, that does cover a lot of ground - but the plot and limitation of it being set entirely in the TARDIS are unlikely to make it a super-rewatched one for me. It's certainly watchable - especially in the second episode where it picks up pace but those first 15 minutes of the first episode really drag.

We get more sense for the ruthless streak of the Doctor here with him willing to kick Barbara and Ian off the ship regardless of how inhabitable the place actually is - essentially considering their murder to be just recourse for their sabotage.

The conflict between characters is well played and helps it hold up and well acted with a few generally exciting moments such as the scene with the scissors - if a bit am-dram in the acting, however what makes it objectively bad is the ending. The Doctor not knowing what the TARDIS is trying to tell him seems a bit illogical, and the fast return being stuck down being the cause of them going so far back to the beginning of the solar system - seemingly a convenient plot device to get some of that much necessary educational value in explaining how a solar system is formed in - just seems like something written for the sake of resolving the plot, especially as we’ve already been told he essentially has no control over where he's going.

I'd be somewhat interested to see other people's thoughts on this one tbh, am I being unkind to it?

I actually really like this one.

 

It nicely develops the relationship between the four main characters, showing how they move from conflict to reciprocation and sets up their forthcoming friendships. It show the first small hints of The Doctor learning to trust strangers and begin the path to the character he would become.

Most prefer the 2nd episode but I like the haunted house feel of part one and the mystery that comes with it but I agree the resolution is rushed and a little silly - even if it has been replicated in some way since (big red button)

 

Original in universe explanations for The Doctor not really knowing how to work the TARDIS and many of its systems were because he'd stolen it and never really learned how to use one first, they can sort explain things here if you want it to.

 

Hartnell noticeably flubs his lines several times in the story, something that would later become a problem for the actor's ability to retain the role, but I quite like it from a character point of view. In real life people often trip over their words in stressful moments and for me it comes across as The Doctor being clever but with an ageing brain that's not as sharp as it once was.

 

 

 

On the subject of sharp things, the scene with the scissors marks the first instance where the show got in trouble as it broke BBC rules on violent content. Something the programme used to get in trouble for often.

 

 

I actually really like this one.

 

It nicely develops the relationship between the four main characters, showing how they move from conflict to reciprocation and sets up their forthcoming friendships. It show the first small hints of The Doctor learning to trust strangers and begin the path to the character he would become.

Most prefer the 2nd episode but I like the haunted house feel of part one and the mystery that comes with it but I agree the resolution is rushed and a little silly - even if it has been replicated in some way since (big red button)

 

Original in universe explanations for The Doctor not really knowing how to work the TARDIS and many of its systems were because he'd stolen it and never really learned how to use one first, they can sort explain things here if you want it to.

 

Hartnell noticeably flubs his lines several times in the story, something that would later become a problem for the actor's ability to retain the role, but I quite like it from a character point of view. In real life people often trip over their words in stressful moments and for me it comes across as The Doctor being clever but with an ageing brain that's not as sharp as it once was.

On the subject of sharp things, the scene with the scissors marks the first instance where the show got in trouble as it broke BBC rules on violent content. Something the programme used to get in trouble for often.

 

 

That thing about the scissors seems ridiculous but I suppose it's because what's acceptable has changed so much in the last just under 60 years.

 

Him having stolen it makes sense. Fast return switch is still a bit deus ex machina though. As I said I really like the character development and the second episode is as good as anything before but I just found the first 15 or so minutes of that first episode to be very much not much happening - might still be adjusting to the evidently slower pace of Classic Who to be fair, and without any visual monster draws a bit of an empty spot for me, not that it's a bad idea.

 

Anyway - the next review may be after a bit of a gap as it's 7 recons on the trot for Marco Polo, something I'm relatively new too. I've heard good things about the story though, so that should help.

Edited December 18, 20213 yr by ChristmasFridays

Marco Polo
22 February 1964 - 4 April 1964 (7 x 25)
Season 1: First Doctor, Ian, Susan, Barbara

Recon Source: Loose Cannon - Black and White

For a first taste of recons on the marathon journey, Marco Polo is hardly a gentle introduction. Whereas many serials are simply devoid of an episode here or there this is entirely missing, which leaves the primary way of enjoying this particular story as either an audio/book telling or the fabulous fan made reconstructions which take together audio from off-the-TV recordings and telesnaps - pictures of TV shows taken in the 60s and 70s to create brilliant replacements for the episodes.

Thankfully however the grandness of the whole Marco Polo storyline perhaps lends itself well to having much left to the imagination, perhaps reflected by it’s retrospective popularity in place of its original mixed reception at airing. It’s easy to forget that this is actually a historical story given how much it’s rated above many others.

Tegana is an excellent villain, with the deceit and treachery and conflict between the TARDIS crew, Marco and Tegana providing a much welcome storyline. Of course this is Doctor Who, we know The Doctor (almost) always wins but this particular jeopardy and danger feels real, rather than sci-fi like in the previous serial, it certainly provides a greater sense of urgency and concern for the main characters.

There’s a few great parts to the tapestry here, Ping-Cho and Susan’s friendship, which already provides a useful backdrop for historical elements such as the story of girls being married to leaders they had no interest in being married to. The water shortage works well as a way of advancing the plot and setting up trust dynamics between the different factions in this camp, as does the death of the guard.

The Doctor and Kublai Khan’s bonding over age is of course amusing - the maps showing the progress of the journey and the journaling of Marco Polo really add an atmosphere and sense of time-span to the whole trip, to the point you can place yourself on the journey with them despite not really knowing much about the time and place.

All in all I really enjoyed this serial, and I think I’m starting to get more accustomed to the slightly more play-like feel of the show in this earlier era now after 13 episodes. It seems a shame that this would likely be the last serial to get an animation, due to it’s large cast and costume requirements, however it certainly is a brilliant storyline.

Of course this is a 'pure historical' in that it tells the story in the past without any monsters or aliens etc, which is a format the show would unceremoniously drop during Troughton's era, apart from one serial in 1982 so it's actually quite interesting, any concerns about the story being unengaging due to this were thankfully unfounded - which is good given we've a few more on the way soon.

Edited December 24, 20213 yr by ChristmasFridays

I haven't watched the recon and probably should but I do remember reading the novelisation many years ago and this, like many of the historicals, seems like it was really good - The Aztecs in particular, is one of the best of all time. It's a shame so many are lost.

Edited December 26, 20213 yr by Severin

I haven't watched the recon and probably should but I do remember reading the novelisation many years ago and this, like many of the historicals, seems like it was really good - The Aztecs in particular, is one of the best of all time. It's a shame so many are lost.

 

Yeah, the recon is definitely worth a watch - the colour version especially. Speaking of The Aztecs I've been utilizing the Christmas break to make a bit of progress so the following will be short and sweet reviews of what I’m watching between Christmas and New Year as I'm making my way through a fair chunk of Hartnell's run.

 

Keys of Marinus

11 April 1964 - 16 May 1964 (6 x 25)

Season 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

 

As a serial in itself there’s nothing intrinsically horrendous about The Keys of Marinus however as a follow up to Marco Polo it certainly appears worse than it is. There’s some great moments in it, Barbara’s revelation of the trickery being played upon them by the hypnotic brains in the first city where they’re being convinced random and mundane things are in fact there deepest desires magicked out of thin air - which leads to some highly amusing scenes with the Doctor even falling for it - showing the true power of the villains.

 

The trial of Ian Chesterton for the death of the guard (the second serial in a row where he’s been implicated in the killing of guard, new ideas please writers) forces a nice storyline. A more formal version of the conflict between Ian and Marco with the Doctor given the opportunity to practice intergalactic law - this time within the confines of a system where you’re guilty until proven innocent - the skeptic might say a convenient plot device, the benevolent critic might point to a well intended commentary on the absurdity of such a system.

 

Either way it’s certainly a tolerable serial, that aside from the wretchedly boring episode The Snows of Terror is very watchable and often engaging.

 

The Aztecs

23 May 1964 - 13 June 1964 (4 x 25)

Season 1: First Doctor, Ian, Susan, Barbara

 

It has been alluded to above that The Aztecs is possibly one of the best pure historicals. I’ll reserve judgment on that until I’ve seen the rest, but it’s definitely a fine serial indeed. Barbara gets a chance to shine in playing the role of the Goddess and fighting between those who believe her status and those who know it to be false.

 

The Doctor manages a romance - ‘I made some cocoa and got engaged’ being an absolutely fabulous line, even if the marriage was one of convenience to obtain information, the Doctors sentimentality is relieved by him grabbing the ring on his way out

 

Just like in the Keys of Marinus and Marco Polo the differential between 20th century English society and the society in which the serial is being set. This time the customs of men being allowed to pick whom they marry cornering Susan (another idea rehashed from a previous serial - Marco Polo - for a show running less than a year it’s a bit soon to run out of ideas.) The tradition of human sacrifice also plays a strong role with Barbara’s attempt to stop it

 

The acting from supporting cast is a cut above a lot of Classic Who I have seen from later in the run, and now seems a good time to bring that up - given it’s been a consistent theme of the series so far, and given that another serial I’ve watched in the past The Sensorites is up next so I thought I’d get the comment on good acting out the way before it.

Edited December 26, 20213 yr by ChristmasFridays

Keys of Marinus is one of those stories I struggle with a bit. There some interesting ideas in there and the episodic nature does keep things varied but somehow I just struggle to remain interested when watching it. I think the Key to Time series was a much better implementation of a very similar concept. The trial episode is probably the most appealing of the lot simply because it is so different from the rest.

 

 

As I said earlier The Aztecs is great, one of the finest episodes in Hartnell's run and frequently cited as one of the classic show's best serials. Jacqueline Hill comes to the fore as Barbara in this one and she really shows just how good a character she was. We get the first clear directive from The Doctor about how you cannot change history even if you want to sometimes and the attention to historical accuracy is highly commendable. As you've mentioned the quality of the supporting cast in the early shows is superior to what would come later and the show still prided itself on quality over following recent fashion trends.

The recurring theme of forced marriages for Susan actually plays really nicely as against the later instance when she finally develops a real relationship with a character in another story, where it feels rather genuine. Hopefully that's not a spoiler.

Keys of Marinus is one of those stories I struggle with a bit. There some interesting ideas in there and the episodic nature does keep things varied but somehow I just struggle to remain interested when watching it. I think the Key to Time series was a much better implementation of a very similar concept. The trial episode is probably the most appealing of the lot simply because it is so different from the rest.

As I said earlier The Aztecs is great, one of the finest episodes in Hartnell's run and frequently cited as one of the classic show's best serials. Jacqueline Hill comes to the fore as Barbara in this one and she really shows just how good a character she was. We get the first clear directive from The Doctor about how you cannot change history even if you want to sometimes and the attention to historical accuracy is highly commendable. As you've mentioned the quality of the supporting cast in the early shows is superior to what would come later and the show still prided itself on quality over following recent fashion trends.

The recurring theme of forced marriages for Susan actually plays really nicely as against the later instance when she finally develops a real relationship with a character in another story, where it feels rather genuine. Hopefully that's not a spoiler.

 

The Sensorites is turning into a real slog for me - 3 episodes in the space of a week Can't stand the aliens and the plot I'd even more boring. I don't remember it being this bad when I watched it separate from the others serials. Maybe it backing up with Keys of Maruinus is the patience testing factor here....

 

And no that's not a spoiler.

Edited January 3, 20223 yr by Chartfridays

I'm with you there. I think the first episode shows promise and the idea is sound enough - soldiers fighting on after a war is over - but it is over long and could be shortened to a three parter easily. There are quite a few early season stories that could do with trimming. They recognised that as an issue with Planet of Giants but seemed to forget it elsewhere.

 

The Sensorites though is the first Who story to use a common theme in later stories where in the end,

the humans turn out to be the villains

(hidden in case you haven't finished it yet)

Edited January 4, 20223 yr by Severin

The Sensorites

20 June 1964 - 1 August 1964 (6 x 25)

Season 1: First Doctor, Susan, Ian, Barbara

 

Okay so to an extent I’ve already given a fairly damning review of the sensorites in just how long it’s taken me to get through it. The fact I’ve been laid up in bed recuperating with Covid, and would like to get to the next serial to see if it’s any better being the main impetus to actually get it done and dusted the past few days.

 

The idea in itself is promising enough, the dregs of a human space mission being held hostage by a fearful alien race is a promising idea but it doesn’t really go anywhere. A slow chilled out episode of Doctor Who can work, but a slow chilled out version of the already very slow by modern standards Hartnell era is not the place to be fannying around with such an experiment. The Sensorites are meh as an alien, to be frank they’re quite boring in their similarity to humanity, right down to the politicking and conniving - whilst I’m sure meant to be a deliberate decision, it doesn’t really give much excitement. To be honest the main issue is they come across as incredibly thick from the outset, aren’t villains meant to at least seem smarter than the protagonists?

 

You can credit the storyline for making the humans the villains without it being overly patronising I guess - something Chibnall should have taken some lessons from and even dare I say it RTD and Moffat, so that’s something. Susan and The Doctor’s argument is another important bit of her growing up character development but the point is rather excessively laboured.

 

It’s not an objectively offensively bad serial by any means - we’ve got a couple of those to come in the Hartnell era so need to fret - but it’s almost more offensive in it’s pedestrian nature, relatively lack of complexity and narrow world building. All of these are of course natural bedfellows of Doctor Who storylines for practical reasons, but the show often does a good job of hiding them, whereas the Sensorites lays bare the entire system in an ugly fashion.

 

I think I mentioned elsewhere I’d seen this before in isolation and don’t remember it being anywhere as bad, so I think this may just be one of those serials with very little rewatch value. The human twist is the big marker of the serial, and quite cool on first watch but not so much when you know it’s common. The Sensorites' flaws as an alien species are laid bare with the second watching as well I think.

 

Anyway, that leaves us with one serial left in Season 1.

 

How about my first reviews of the Hartnell Era? I was 7 and I kept my schoolbook... :)

 

The Zarbis is the main period of these, or just before and after, so I'm looking forward to reviews of those! I love the first episode with Susan discovering the Tardis and The Doctor and I was gripped as a 5-year-old (and scared!), and went to the cinema to see the films when they came out.

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964157.jpg

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964159.jpg

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964160.jpg

 

plenty more childhood memories here...

 

https://popchartfreak.wordpress.com/2013/11...ing-doctor-who/

 

https://popchartfreak.wordpress.com/2013/11...tor-who-part-2/

How about my first reviews of the Hartnell Era? I was 7 and I kept my schoolbook... :)

 

The Zarbis is the main period of these, or just before and after, so I'm looking forward to reviews of those! I love the first episode with Susan discovering the Tardis and The Doctor and I was gripped as a 5-year-old (and scared!), and went to the cinema to see the films when they came out.

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964157.jpg

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964159.jpg

 

https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...963-1964160.jpg

 

plenty more childhood memories here...

 

https://popchartfreak.wordpress.com/2013/11...ing-doctor-who/

 

https://popchartfreak.wordpress.com/2013/11...tor-who-part-2/

 

These are absolutely brilliant. Gave me a much needed smile. To be frank those reviews are probably more highbrow than the ramblings found here.

Edited January 6, 20223 yr by Chartfridays

The Reign of Terror

8 August 1964 - 12 September 1964 (6 x 25)

Season 1: First Doctor, Ian, Susan, Barbara

 

The final series of the first season is a good one to finish on. After The Sensorites I need something slightly more down to Earth and what better than a trip to 17th century France. The TARDIS crew dynamic still continuing to take more shape with The 1st Doctors rather cruel and callous side on open display in the initial episodes threatening to kick Ian and Barbara off into wherever they land convincing them that it’s England in the 60s - thankfully for Ian and Barbara they’ve learnt not to trust the Doctor that much just yet.

 

The storyline is fairly enjoyable, capture and recapture of the companions and The Doctor going off to put on his best conniving and impersonation display yet in impersonating a citizen in order to be able to reunite with friends and get them released. The backdrop of the war offers some good visual scenes, which the animation of the two missing episodes handles very well.

 

This certainly has a slightly darker tone than previous serials up to this point - not all that unsurprising given the setting of the French Revolution, and plot is at times a bit too cumbersome for its own good - a few characters could easily be trimmed round the edges, but on the other hand the complexity and depth is also a great contributor to the rather grand feeling of the serial.

 

It’s certainly very watchable, unlike the previous serial.

 

End of Season 1 Rankings.

 

Anyway this takes us to the end of Season 1 - 42 episodes down - these being the longer earlier seasons still, and 8 stories down, it feels an adequate time to begin rating and ranking the stories so far to refer to later on.

 

9.6 Marco Polo

An excellent storyline and while the recon may have given it a flattering light on this, the costuming and settings are also absolutely fabulous - and as far as can be deduced some brilliant acting from Mark Eden as well as many others really makes this the stand out of Season 1 for me.

9.2 The Aztecs

This really doesn’t fall too far behind though, again some excellent acting and brilliant settings gives this serial a really grand and eminently watchable feel which in this era is really important giving the naturally slower pace of a lot of the serials.

8.5 The Daleks

Yes the Daleks are tremendous and Skaro is excellent and it certainly marks an incredible moment to see this all for the very first time, but the serial is somewhat badly let down by slow pacing and a couple of dreadful episodes (The Ordeal). It’s by no means bad and is certainly a very important serial in the show's history.

8.0 The Reign of Terror

Probably the last of the very good serials from the first season. The points noted in the above review are key - the French Revolution setting, the Doctor's plotting and impersonation to achieve his objectives and strong minor characters.

7.5 The Edge of Destruction

This is the sort of idea that could have very easily backfired but thankfully it doesn’t and leaves us with a really nice little serial that’s pretty important for the character development of the TARDIS crew and certainly improves our understanding of the companions for the rest of the series..

7.0 An Unearthly Child

These reviews are for the entire serial which is a shame because the first episode is an absolute masterclass, unfortunately there’s only so far you can actually take the stone age storyline before things get a bit boring and crappy.

6.5 The Keys of Marinus

And now we head to the objectively bad - it’s a remarkably positive comment on the series that there’s only 2 of them. The court scenes episode rescues this, unfortunately it barely makes up for the abomination that is The Snows of Terror as an episode. The overall plot is at least comprehensible, if slow and at times painful.

5.0 The Sensorites

I think I gave my opinion on this enough in my actual review of it - it’s not one I really intend on rewatching any time soon. The Sensorites are naff as aliens and as villains, especially as they’re not actually villains. It’s just incredibly slow, incredibly dull and boring and annoying. The twist is nice but nowhere near enough to rescue it.