070 The Space Museum Part 3: The Search

EPISODE: The Space Museum Part 3: The Search
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 070
STORY NUMBER: 015
TRANSMITTED: 08 May 1965
WRITER: Glyn Jones
DIRECTOR: Mervyn Pinfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Space Museum/The Chase

The Xerons examine the Tardis but are warned away by the Moroks.

"This whole things is becoming a nightmare"
"all we do is stand around..."

Nail, Hammer, hit on head. I thank you Mr Chesterton & Miss Wright.

The Morok's can't get into the Tardis and think it looks strange and uncomfortable. Ian, Barbara and Vicki overhear the Doctor has been captured. One of the Moroks finds them and takes them prisoner but still lets them chat to each other for a few minutes - stupid and underlines the lack of urgency here. Ian attacks the guard allowing Vicki and Barbara escape, followed by himself after a tussle. Barbara gets locked in a store room while Vicki finds the Xeron rebels. Ian overpowers the guard at the Tardis and questions him finding out the location of the Doctor. Barbara is released by the Xeron Dako while Vicki accompanies Tor & Sita. Dako tells Barbara the history of the Morok invasion. The Moroks try to gas the Tardis traveller out of their hiding place. Vicki tries to incite the Xerons into action in order to avoid being trapped in the Tardis crew exhibit seen in the first episode. Vicki, Tor & Sita break into the armoury. Vicki works to override the computer keeping the weapons locked up. Barbara and Dako stumble through the gas but are eventually overpowered. Vicki is successful with the computer allowing the Xerons access to the weapons they need. Ian comes to see Lobos and threatens him demanding to be taken to the Doctor.

Help! I'm loosing the will to live. I'd say the Moroks were the most useless invaders ever but I have seen the Dominators. They look more like a bunch of scientists than an army. By contrast the Moroks are pretty rubbish rebels.

William Hartnell is absent from this episode, save for a brief appearance during the reprise. This was one of the few Hartnell episodes found in the BBC film library during Ian Levine's initial visit.

069 The Space Museum Part 2: The Dimensions of Time

EPISODE: The Space Museum Part 2: The Dimensions of Time
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 069
STORY NUMBER: 015
TRANSMITTED: 01 May 1965
WRITER: Glyn Jones
DIRECTOR: Mervyn Pinfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Space Museum/The Chase

No, this isn't the infamous Children in Need special Dimensions in Time. Don't confuse the two.

Two of the Moroks confer in an office: a third arrives to tell them a ship has arrived. They wonder if it is the rebels. Two of the Xerons hide in a cellar, waiting for the third Tor. He arrives with the news of the visitors and says the head of the Moroks, Lobos, has organised a search. Ian frees a gun from a display cabinet. Barbara notices she may have lost a button which the Doctor takes particular note of. The Moroks continue to search for them, but the travellers are spotted by the Xerons. The Doctor is separated from the others, is grabbed by the Xerons and collapses. Two leave to find something to revive home while the third is over powered. The others have noticed the Doctor is gone. The two Xerons return to find their colleague on the floor and the Doctor gone: They leave to find the other travellers while the Doctor is revealed to be hiding in the Dalek exhibit! However he is soon captured by the Moroks. The other travellers unravel Barbara's cardigan as an aid to navigate their way round the maze like museum. The Doctor is being held in a room restrained in a chair. The Xerons follow the cardigan thread. Lobos interrogates the Doctor: he is the governor of Xeros which is part of the Morok empire. Other Moroks search for Ian, Barbara and Vicki, who have found the Tardis which has been brought into the museum. The Doctor is taken away to be prepared as a museum exhibit.

Oh my goodness, how boring can you get? Hardly any threat or menace at all.

Featuring as the Xeron Tor we have Jeremy Bulloch. Later to return as Hal the Archer in The Time Warrior, he's most famous for playing Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi. Or he was until George Lucas re-dubbed his voice and filmed new scenes with a different actor relegating his role somewhat.

This episode is the last appearance of the original Dalek design: They're back next story with a small but significant make over.

068 The Space Museum Part 1: The Space Museum

EPISODE: The Space Museum Part 1: The Space Museum
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 068
STORY NUMBER: 015
TRANSMITTED: 24 April 1965
WRITER: Glyn Jones
DIRECTOR: Mervyn Pinfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Space Museum/The Chase

Every so often a story comes up that I'm dreading. This is one of them. You see I've seen this recently when the DVD came out last year. But I will show my dedication to the cause by sacrificing another hour and half of my life to watch it again. Third time round I think...... Ave Morituri etc ....

The crew are frozen round the Tardis console as it materialises in a rocky area occupied by many spaceships. Shortly after landing they are able to move again. They find themselves wearing their ordinary clothes rather than their crusader gear. Vicki gets a drink, drops and smashes the glass then watches as it reforms whole and full in her hand. The other survey the outside with the scanner. Vicki tells the other what happened but they don't believe her. The Doctor thinks they have landed at a space museum, containing relics of space exploration. They go outside where Ian notices they aren't leaving footprints in the dust. They enter the museum building but once inside Barbara is unnerved by the silence within. Two white clad human like beings walk pass them not noticing them even when Vicki sneezes. They examine the exhibits at the museum. Oh no, they've made Billy try to say Fluorescent, that's asking for trouble! They're scared by a Dalek they encounter but it's just an exhibit. That's the first time Vicki's seen one, she says they invaded Earth 300 years ago dating her from c2465AD. Two black clad humanoids enter the room but nobody can hear what they said. Vicki tries to touch an exhibit but puts her hand through it. The two black clad strangers have returned with a third once again completely ignoring and inaudible to the travellers. The others think they must be invisible but the Doctor wonders if they're not really there. They find the Tardis in the museum but are unable to touch it just passing through the walls. Then they find themselves as exhibits in the museum. Oh dear Vicki's spouting scientific rubbish. Barbara wonders how they can get out of their present situation and avoid their fate. The Doctor thinks the Tardis jumped a time track (right.....) which has resulted in their present situation. The Doctor says they must wait for themselves to arrive in the Tardis. We see events in the episode again with the white clad humans noticing their footprints as the exhibit Tardis crew vanish.

I'm sorry but what was that all about? It made no sense at all!

Playing Dako,one of the black clad Xerons is Peter Craze. He'll be back for the War Games and Nightmare of Eden. He has a brother Michael who's also in the acting profession and he'll be along in 55 episodes time playing sailor Ben Jackson.

067 The Crusade Part 4: The War-Lords

EPISODE: The Crusade Part 4: The War-Lords
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 067
STORY NUMBER: 014
TRANSMITTED: 17 April 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: No. 1 (1964-1965)

Back on CD again for this episode. It's the last time we'll be needing the CD this season though, the remaining three stories are all on DVD.

Barbara escapes and flees to the harem where she is hidden by Maimuna, the daughter of her friend Haroun ed-Din. Ian is lying in the desert staked out where a bandit has captured him. He pleads to be taken to Lydda. Richard discovers the Earl of Leicester gave his marriage plans away and forgives the Doctor. Richard knows battle is near and allows the Doctor to leave. He wishes to see Jerusalem, The Doctor tells him he will but explains to Vicki that he sees it only from afar and he never gets into the city itself. Ian is freed by his captor Ibrahim and persuades him to take him to Lydda. Barbara and Maimuma try to escaped but are betrayed by another member of the harem Fatima. Meanwhile Haroun is trying to enter the palace slaying a guard while shortly afterwards Ian & Ibrahim arrive. Ian gets Ibrahim to steel some of El-Akir's horses for him. Barbara and Maimuma are captured by El-Akir who is then slain by Haroun who is reunited with his long lost daughter. Ian arrives overpowering the remaining guards allowing them all to escape. The Doctor & Vicki reach the woods where the Tardis is but find it surrounded: The Earl of Leicester is stalking them. The Doctor is caught by the guards but Ian & Barbara arrive and Ian bluffs their way into the Tardis which dematerialises. Leicester and his guards decide not to speak about what they have seen. The Tardis crew are pleased to escape but as it starts to land the power fails, the light dim and all of them are frozen to the spot....

Compared to the other three episodes this one worked for me. A bit more action than the others helps perhaps.

Ibrahim is played by Tutte Lemkow, who's already appeared in Doctor Who: Marco Polo (assistant floor manager: Douglas Camfield) and he'll be back in the Myth Makers. He has a role as an old man in Raiders of the Lost Ark who translates for Doctor Jones, but he's most famous for being the fiddler in the film of Fiddler on the Roof.

This series is the only time that two of Doctor Who's longest serving and best known contributors worked together on the series: prolific director Douglas Camfield never used regular composer Dudley Simpson again for any story he worked on. Following this story they had a disagreement at a dinner party and Camfield elected to use percussive music on his next production, The Time Meddler, which Simpson then took as a snub and it escalated from there, remaining unresolved at the time of Camfield's death in 1984.

We've reached a notable landmark in our journey: The end of this episode marks the halfway point in Hartnell's reign in terms of episodes. 67 more lie in front of us, of which 34 are currently missing from the BBC archives. Of the 33 which do exist, 14 of them are between now and the end of Season 2. Season 2 is the shortest season of Doctor Who in the sixties, at 39 episodes running from 31st October 1964 to 24th June 1965. Yet with only 2 episodes missing it has 37 remaining, tying with the longer Season Six (44 episodes made) as having the most episodes remaining:

Season 1: 42 episodes made, 09 episodes missing, 33 episodes remaining.
Season 2: 39 episodes made, 02 episodes missing, 37 episodes remaining.
Season 3: 45 episodes made, 29 episodes missing, 16 episodes remaining.
Season 4: 43 episodes made, 34 episodes missing, 09 episodes remaining.
Season 5: 40 episodes made, 27 episodes missing, 13 episodes remaining.
Season 6: 44 episodes made, 07 episodes missing, 37 episodes remaining.

we have a lot of time using CDs ahead of us in the next three Seasons.

The Crusade was the third & final Doctor Who book published in the 1960s, first sold in 1966 and then reprinted by Target in 1973. Until The Aztecs, in 1984, it was the only purely historical story in the Doctor Who book range. As we've seen two episodes plus the soundtracks to the remaining two are available in the Doctor Who - Lost In Time DVD set while all four episodes have their soundtracks plus naration in the Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection CD set.

066 The Crusade Part 3: The Wheel of Fortune

EPISODE: The Crusade Part 3: The Wheel of Fortune
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 066
STORY NUMBER: 014
TRANSMITTED: 10 April 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Lost In Time

We're back on DVD in the Lost In Time set for part three.

Barbara has been found by Haroun ed-Din who takes her to safety from the searching guards. The Doctor has disguised Vicki as a boy in the court of the King, but Joanna finds them out and befriends them. Haroun introduces Barbara to his daughter Safiya. Haroun despises El Akir who took his eldest daughter and killed his wife & son. Haroun is knocked out by guards in the street. Knowing where he lives, they go there to search for Barbara. King Richard is confident that Joanna will marry the sultan's Saphadin to bring peace. Saladin & Saphadin agree to the marriage, but are cautious. Barbara and Safiya hide from searching guards who decide to set fire to the house to smoke them out. Barbara looks for a way out but is discovered & captured. . Joanna learns she is to be married to Saphadin and objects strongly refusing to marry him. The Doctor is blamed by Richard for giving away the plan and is told he is no longer welcome. Barbara is brought to El Akir who taunts her....

I refer you to my reaction to the previous episodes. Sorry, this is doing nothing for me.

Wheel of Fortune was one of the few Hartnell episodes to be found in the BBC archive during Ian Levene's initial visit. Of all the orphaned Doctor Who episodes, The Wheel of Fortune has the longest release history. It first turned up in The Hartnell Years VHS with the pilot & Celestial Toymaker 4: The Final Test. It then gets released on VHS *again* after the recovery of The Crusade 1: The Lion when they're paired with the following story The Space Museum. Finally it appears with it's orphaned brother and un-narrated the soundtracks for the two missing episodes in the Doctor Who - Lost In Time DVD set.

Absent from proceedings this week is William Russell as Ian who only appears in a brief pre filmed insert.

We've an actor with some notable relatives show up in this episode. Safiya is played by Petra Markham, whose sister Sonia was a make up artist on many 1960s Doctor Whos including this story. Their father is David Markham, script editor of the Prisoner, who can be seen in each episode as the man that The Prisoner hands his resignation into during the title sequence.

Doctor Who "Lego" !

I wish I was 7 again !

http://merchandise.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/new-charcter-doctor-who-construction-sets/comment-page-3/

http://www.activedad.co.uk/2011/01/26/doctor-who-lego-more-hands-on-photos/

http://s379.photobucket.com/albums/oo240/Ianotimelord/

065 The Crusade Part 2: The Knight of Jaffa

EPISODE: The Crusade Part 2: The Knight of Jaffa
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 065
STORY NUMBER: 014
TRANSMITTED: 03 April 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: CD: Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes Collection: No. 1 (1964-1965)

For the first time this season we're listening on CD - The Crusade is the only story in the Second Season of Doctor Who to be missing episodes. The CD contains the episode with narration by William Russel, but un-narrated versions are included on the Doctor Who - Lost In Time DVD set. Most of the stories in this set are just one episode of a story but both The Crusade and The Moonbase have two of their four episodes in existence so to bridge the gaps the soundtracks of the remaining episodes are included. There are Three episodes of the Dalek Masterplan in the box but since there are NINE episodes of this story missing.

William de Tornebu persuades the King to rescue Barbara coming up with a plot to humiliate Saladin. The travellers meet the real Joanna, the King's sister. El Akir seeks Barbara, feeling humiliated by her & des Preaux. Barbara is tipped off she's in danger and tries to escape, assisted by the merchant Luigi Ferrigo who betrays her & delivers her to El Akir. Ian is equipped with armour and sword for his journey to Saladin. Richard plans to marry his sister Joanna to Saladin's brother Saphadin. Ian is knighted and sent on his journey, but when he leaves the Doctor and Vicki are accused of thieving by both the market trader Ben Daheer and Richard's Chamberlain who had the garments stolen from him initially. The Doctor sorts the situation out with some fast talking and exposes the man who stole from the Chamberlain. Ian reaches Saladin's camp and finds Barbara missing. William des Preaux tells him what happened. Barbara has escaped from el Akir but fails to find help and in the darkness is grabbed by an assailant.

Again another historical episode that just doesn't do anything for me. Sorry.

This story sees a couple of prominent guest stars. The first is Jean Marsh, playing Joanna, many years before finding fame as Rose Buck in Upstairs Downstairs a series that she co-created. She was the first Mrs Jon Pertwee from 1955-1960 and would return to Doctor Who twice in the likewise Douglas Camfield directed Dalek Masterplan as Sara Kingdom and then many years later as Morgaine in Battlefield.

By an odd coincidence her co-star Julian Glover, playing Richard the Lionheart, was married at the time to his first wife Eileen Atkins who is the other creator of Upstairs Downstairs! His second wife Isla Blair later appeared in Doctor Who: King's Demons as Isabella Fitzwilliam. Glover is probably the most famous actor to have appeared in Doctor to this point and would return years later as Count Scarlioni/Scaroth in the City of Death. He's on the commentaries for both The Crusade episode 3 "The Wheel of Fortune" (from the Lost in Time (Doctor Who) DVD set) and City of Death. Other roles you may have seen him in include Col Breen in Quatermass & The Pit, General Veers in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Professor Kayn in the Blake's 7 first series episode Breakdown, the villainous Aris Kristatos in James' Bond's For Your Eyes Only, the Nazi sympathiser Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Sir Martin Lacey in By The Sword Divided and many, MANY more.

064 The Crusade Part 1: The Lion

EPISODE: The Crusade Part 1: The Lion
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 064
STORY NUMBER: 014
TRANSMITTED: 27 March 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Douglas Camfield
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Lost In Time

I mentioned when I started this that I'd been listening to lots of old Doctor Who stories on MP3. Well after listening to the stories I knew I hadn't heard I was suddenly struck that maybe I hadn't heard the missing episode for two of the near complete stories: The Reign of Terror & The Crusade. So I swiftly got them out the way so I could proclaim that I'd watched (listened) to every episode of Doctor Who. However as I'm sitting down to watch the Crusade now it strikes me that if I'd never heard those episodes before then,and I just listened to those episodes a few months ago, then I've never enjoyed this story all the way through in order before.....

For another story I've had trouble enjoying all the way through in order come back in 23 days when I start the Myth Makers and enjoy a very embarrassing tale.....

Onto the story. Englishmen carrying swords walk through some woods. They are stalked by similarly armed Saracens, but both parties miss the Tardis silently materialising. In the woods is William de Tornebu, an ally of the King, Richard the Lionheart, out with his knights. William des Preaux wishes they return to Jaffa, but he refuses. Leaving the Tardis the travellers are ambushed by the Saracans and Barbara is captured by them. William des Preaux pretends to be Richard to protect the wounded king and is captured too. The Doctor, Ian and Vicki take William de Tornebu back to Jaffa & Richard's court, stealing clothes from the market stall of Ben Daheer on the way. Barbara and des Preaux are taken by El Akir to Saphadin, the brother of the Sultan Saladin, who mistakes them for King Richard and his sister Joanna. Saphadin and Saladin see through the deception but are intrigued by Barbara when she tells them of her journeys. William de Tornebu is delivered to the king, but the king is in foul mood and won't assist them: as far as he's concerned she can stay with Saladin until she rots.

I've said before that I'm not a great fan of the historical stories. This episode leaves me cold but I can't see anything actually wrong with it. It is a straight take on the story and as such lacks the comedy elements of Reign of Terror and the Romans which I liked better.

The Crusade is the first full Doctor Who story directed by Douglas Camfield. We should note the appearance of a future Camfield regular in the cast: as El Akir we have Walter Randall, who'd already been in the Aztecs. He'll be back again several times though it's a few years till his most famous Doctor Who roll. Also to return for Camfield is Reg Pritchard. Come back for The Dalek Masterplan episode 7 for a neat little in-joke involving him.

The Lion is another episode of Doctor Who that was missing and has been returned. The Crusade as a story was bought by New Zealand television but was never screened there and ended up in storage in Wellington. At some point The Lion was separated from it's three companions and in 1974 was scheduled to be destroyed in a landfill. However en route it and several (320!) other cans of film were "retrieved" by a local collector. We know from surviving paperwork that The Lion was the only Doctor Who episode in this batch of films scheduled for destruction. The episode passed through a number of hands before coming into the collection of Bruce Grenville. He showed it to some Doctor Who fans who identified it as missing and arranged for it's return to the BBC. The print is quite badly damaged, it's bar far the worst looking episode available on DVD - the damage is detailed at The Restoration Team's website article on the video release (with episode 3 of the Crusade and all 4 episodes of the Space Museum and again for their article on The Lost In Time DVD set which is how I've watched it today. At the time of writing The Lion is the penultimate episode of Doctor Who to be returned to the archives.

063 The Web Planet Part 6: The Centre

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 6: The Centre
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 063
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 20 March 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet


The Animus speaks with the Doctor and asks why they escaped. The Doctor will be brought to the Centre. Barbara and the Menoptra start the mock attack. Vicki realises she's dropped the isoe-tope. The Zarbi are drawn out of the city by the attack. Ian, Vrestin & the Optera encountered a stream of water in the rock. The Optera are scared of going to the surface but their leader Hetra agrees to go with them. Hrostar is killed killing a Larvae gun. The Doctor & Vicki reach the Centre, containing a huge bright light and a huge spider like creature which is a body the Animus is growing. They are dragged into the Animus' web. In the control centre Barbara finds the Tardis allowing the Menoptra to try to communicate with their home base. It doesn't work, but they discover the missing isoe-tope. Ian is now climbing through the tentacle like strands of the Animus web. The Menoptra near the centre but encounter Zarbi resistance before they are blinded by the light of the Animus. The isoe-tope seems to have no effect but Ian's arrival allows Barbara to get close enough to destroy the Animus. The Zarbi, now lacking control, revert to being the mindless cattle they were previously. No longer diverted by the Animus water starts to spring up on Vortis' surface. The Optera emerge onto the surface for the first time in generations. They wish to fly like their cousins the Menoptra: Vrestin tells them that they won't be able to but maybe their children will. Prapillius returns the Doctor's ring. The travellers leave a now peaceful Vortis behind.

Fan opinion when I was growing up had The Web Planet down as one of the great Doctor Who stories with it's array of alien life forms. It's less well regarded now that it's been seen by more people: general opinion holds that the effects and costumes have dated and it's a little hard to follow. Personally I wasn't impressed by the first two episodes but thought it picked up a lot in the middle two. I'm leaving with a better opinion of the story than when I started but accept that it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

The story was novelised as Doctor Who and The Zarbi, the second Doctor Who novel which was published in 1965, and then reissued by Target in 1973 at the start of their range of Doctor Who books. The Zarbi & Menoptra, along with the Vrood & Sensorites, appear in the first Doctor Who annual but have never returned on screen. The story was missing from the BBC archives, but all 6 episodes were found at BBC Enterprises in the late 1970s and issued on VHS in 1990 and DVD in 2005.

062 The Web Planet Part 5: Invasion

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 5: Invasion
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 062
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 13 March 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet

Barbara, Hrostar and another Menoptra find a secret passage and escape into the rock. At the Carsinome Vicki releases the Doctor from his capture, her control device having been damaged in the previous episode. The Doctor uses the control device and his ring to control a Zarbi and they use it to try to leave the near deserted Carsinome. Barbara and the Menoptra have stumbled into one of the Menoptra's temple of light where they meet the remnants of the Menoptra invasion force. Hilio, their captain, despairs at the loss of his forces. They have a living cells destructor, the Isop-tope, they planned to use against the Animus, Barbara urges them to go through with their plan and attack. Vrestin & Ian assisted by the Optera set out underground for the centre, the inner sanctum of the Carsinome where the Animus survives. The Doctor, Vicki and their Zarbi follow Menoptra tracks seeking the Invasion force. Ian, Vrestin & the Optera encounter some bad air in the tunnels forcing the Optera to tunnel a new escape route. Barbara has a plan, but Hilio isn't comfortable with it. However at that moment the Doctor, Vicki and their captive Zarbi arrive. While tunnelling the Optera Nemini accidentally releases an acid stream which she blocks with her own body at the cost of her life. The Doctor modifies the Menoptra plan: he will take the Isop-tope into the Carsinome and use it. The Menoptra Prapillius borrows the Doctor ring in order to control the Zarbi that the Doctor brought: he thinks it will be useful in the attack. Vicki & the Doctor return to the Carsinome where they are swiftly recaptured. The Optera reach the point under the Carsinome and start burrowing up. Barbara & the Menoptra wait ready to attack, waiting for the Doctor to succeed, but Vicki & The Doctor are cocooned in a web generated by the Carsinome.

A little slower paced than the previous two episodes but towards the end you start to feel as if things are coming together for the final confrontation. I do wonder about the wisdom of having the Doctor escape and return to the Carsinome in the same episode, maybe if he'd escaped in the previous episode that might have worked a little better.

This story is famous for uniquely having only non-humans amongst it's cast of characters. We have the controlling Animus, the ant like Zarbi with their Larvae Guns, the butterfly like Menoptra and their relations the lice like Optera. Every other classic Doctor Who story features at least one human or human like being in addition to the main cast.

061 The Web Planet Part 4: Crater of Needles

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 4: Crater of Needles
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 061
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 06 March 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet

Vrestin & Ian find themselves in tunnels with cave paintings on the walls. They are swiftly surrounded by an alien race different from the ones we've seen so far. At the Crater of Needles Barbara and the dewinged Hrostar labour with man other captured Menoptra. Barbara is suffering in the thin atmosphere. The work they are doing provides the Carsinome with the raw material to grow. Hrostar tells Barbara that the invasion force is due to arrive soon. Communicating with the Animus the Doctor bargains for Vicki's life, he then starts to plan their escapes an alarm sounds. The Zarbi at the crater of needles round their prisoners up. Ian & Vrestin are captured by the lice like Optera. The Optera are being poisoned by the material the Zarbi are using to build the Carsinome which is penetrating into their underground dwelling. The captured Menoptra ask Barbara is her friends could be helping the Animus and have given away the invasion force. They worry that the invasion force will be massacred. They plot an escape from the crater to warn them. One of the Menoptra believes he can disabled the Larvae Guns. The Doctor examines the Animus' device which was used to immobilize Vicki: it's made of gold like Ian's pen which disappeared. The slaves overturn their remaining Zarbi guard and kill the Larvae gun by crushing it's underside against a wall. The Doctor immobilises the Zarbi control device, but the Zarbi & Animus overhear a transmission the Doctor was monitoring and discover where the Menoptra are due to land. The Optera believe Vrestin & Ian have come to invade, but Vrestin tells them that her people have come to free them. Ian deduces and explains that the Menoptra and Optera are a related species. The Optera are amazed at Vrestin's wings: they believe the Menoptra are their gods. The Menoptra invasion force arrives. Vrestin tries to warn them but the Zarbi attack. The Menoptra find their weapons useless against the Larvae grubs and many are killed. Barbara and Hrostar attempt to escape but are surrounded by Zarbi.

Not bad again, this story has picked up after two very poor first episodes. I like the way the costume designer has made the Optera costumes look similar in certain ways to the Menoptra costumes. When you think about it you can tell they're related species. The Kirby wire landing of the Menoptra Invasion force worked quite well too.

Making his Television debut is Martin Jarvis as Hilio, the Captain of the Menoptra Invasion Force. His long acting career brings him back to televised Doctor Who twice as Butler in Invasion of the Dinosaurs and the Governor in Vengeance on Varos. He also appears in the Big Finish audio drama Jubilee, the inspiration behind the new series episode Dalek, with his wife Rosalind Ayres who is, to the best of my knowledge, no relation to me!

060 The Web Planet Part 3: Escape to Danger

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 3: Escape to Danger
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 060
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 27 February 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet

The Doctor speaks to the voice who does not believe they are travellers and are spies for the Menoptra. It attacks the Tardis but it emerges Vicki has realigned the fluid link to reactivate the power. Zarbi are stalking the remaining free Menoptra Vrestin. The voice offers the Doctor his freedom in return for assistance defeating the Menoptra invaders. The Doctor is coerced into bringing out his astral map to pinpoint the invasion force. Vicki is retained as a hostage while the Doctor and Ian fetch the map. While inside the Doctor treats Ian's injured face. The Doctor likens the voice to the ant queen and asks Ian to escape & track down Barbara. He escapes leaving the Doctor & Vicki with the Zarbi. While wandering the tunnels of the base he is pursued by Zarbi. The Doctor detects transmissions from the Menoptra fleet and learn they are planning to land at the crater of needles, where the slaves are held. Ian is trapped by the Zarbi but a Venom grub cutting through the wall allows him to escape at which point he meets Vrestin. On the pretext of fetching equipment, the Doctor sends Vicki into the Tardis and she emerges with what he says is the wrong box, containing a spider specimen which the Zarbi recoils from in terror. Vrestin tells Ian that Vortis is their planet, and they are reclaiming it not invading. Menoptra and Zarbi lived side by side. The Zarbi were enslaved by the dark power of the Animus which caused the Zarbi's base, the Carsinome to appear and grow. The Menoptra were driven off planet to one of the moons attracted to the planet by the Animus. They have returned to Vortis to destroy the Carsinome before it envelops the planet. Vrestin was part of the scouting spearhead. They leave for the Crater of Needles to rescue their friends there. They are waylaid by Zarbi but as they are cornered the ground gives way beneath their feet burying them.

Oh that's much more like it. I didn't get on with the first two episodes but this one is much better. Some explanation of what's going on, some action and some plot advancement. Nice one, best episode of the story thus far. The more I watch Doctor Who in order, the more convinced I become that it's natural unit isn't the story but the episode. The whole episode was recorded in one session on these early stories and some weeks they pull it off ok, and in others it goes pear shaped.

This episode introduces us properly to and explains the Animus. The Animus is the very first of a Doctor Who staple, the disembodied intelligence. Almost always evil these crop up regularly in Doctor Who over the years. As well as the Animus controlling the Zarbi here, Troughton fights the Great Intelligence controlling the Yeti in The Abominable Snowmen & The Web of Fear while the Nestene Consciousness with it's Autons fight the Pertwee Doctor in his debut Spearhead from Space and it's sequel the Terror of the Autons. Tom Baker battles the Mandragora Helix and the Fendahl while McCoy fights Fenric. About the only "good" disembodied intelligence we see in the whole series is Rassilon, the leader of the Time Lords, who appears in the Five Doctors (does he reside, post death, in the Time Lords' Matrix ?)

059 The Web Planet Part 2: The Zarbi

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 2: The Zarbi
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 059
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 20 February 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet

We said that the last episode was seen by 13.5 million viewers. Well in a week Doctor Who lost a million viewers which says something about episode 1!

Ian lies on the floor, the web/net he was caught in having dissolved having irritated his skin. Barbara is led by her bracelet but as she walks hypnotised a butterfly like humanoid jumps up behind her. The Doctor & Ian find marks indicting the Tardis has been dragged away as we cut to a not terribly great model shot of the same. The butterfly creature leads the dazed Barbara to two of it's friends: They remove the gold bracelet that dissolves in the acid pool as Barbara comes to her senses. The Doctor finds marks made by a claw while Ian finds a large sized chrysalis. The Doctor thinks they have landed on Vortis in the Isop galaxy. Barbara tells her new acquaintances their story: They ell her she was under the force of the Zarbi. They disagree on what to do Hrostar wants to kill and overhearing this she escapes from the creatures who she learns are called Menoptra. The Doctor and Ian find where the Tardis has been taken but are captured by the ant like Zarbi and one of their Venom Grubs. Vicki is surprised when the Tardis doors open and calls for the Doctor. Leaving the Tardis she finds herself in the Zarbi lair. The Doctor & Ian are brought to the base which the Doctor discovers it is a living growing thing. A Zarbi tries to enter the Tardis and is repelled by some force. The Doctor & Ian are reunited with Vicki as Barbara is captured by the Zarbi. The Menoptra discuss whether to contact their forces and warn them of the power of the as yet unseen animus and the larvae gun, but communication risks betraying their position. They take the risk and the female Vrestin tries to make contact, but finds the cave interferes with transmission, The Zarbi, escorting Barbara, find them with one of the Menoptra slain by a venom grub. Hrostar frees Barbara from their control but has his wings severed by the Zarbi. They will be taken to the Crater of Needles and used as slaves. The Zarbi attach the Doctor to a tube like machine which descends over his head and speaks to him.

A better episode this week: we get a better look at the Zarbi & the Venom Grubs. The Zarbi look a little odd with the oversized human legs contrasting with the much smaller ant legs, but the Venom Grubs are a great design as are the Menoptra which is the winner for me with it's fragile wings and better integration of the human and Butterfly forms.

A big cheer please ladies & gentlemen: Episode 2 marks the Doctor Who debut of John Scott Martin as a Zarbi. In an extensive acting career he features in diverse places such as Pink Floyd's film of The Wall, The Good Life, The first episode of Tripods and as the old retiring 192 in the first 118 118 advert.

He's probably best known for being a Dalek Operator appearing in (deep breath): The Chase, Mission to the Unknown, The Daleks' Master Plan, The Power of the Daleks, The Evil of the Daleks, Day of the Daleks, Frontier in Space, Planet of the Daleks, Death to the Daleks, Genesis of the Daleks, The Five Doctors, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks & Remembrance of the Daleks. So basically every Dalek story bar Destiny of the Daleks!

As well as the Web Planet his non-Dalek Doctor Who appearances include The Chase (a Mechanoid), Colony in Space (the IMC robot), The Dæmons (a villager; uncredited), The Mutants (a Mutt), The Three Doctors (a gell guard; uncredited), The Green Death (Hughes), Robot (a guard; uncredited), The Brain of Morbius (Kriz) & The Invisible Enemy (the Swarm).

058 The Web Planet Part 1: The Web Planet

EPISODE: The Web Planet Part 1: The Web Planet
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 058
STORY NUMBER: 013
TRANSMITTED: 13 February 1965
WRITER: Bill Strutton
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Web Planet

The Tardis has been imprisoned by a force and being dragged down to the surface of a planet. It materialises on a barren world with rocky outcroppings through the surface. Ian likens it to the moon, while the Doctor wonders what's holding them there. Vicki thinks it looks a bit grim. The Doctor is confident he can counteract the force. Unseen by the Tardis crew, the Tardis is approached by a couple of giant ant like creatures. Vicki can hear something that the others can't, the Doctor saying she can hear an extra sonic sound that younger people and animals can. Rubbish, this story's obviously written for Susan and her Telepathic abilities! The creatures bring a smaller grub like creature to help them and with it's assistance further immobilise the Tardis. Barbara takes Vicki away to lie down, while the Doctor & Ian go outside to explore and find what is holding them here. The Doctor and Ian don special jackets to compensate for the low pressure and lack of Oxygen. Without the power, and with some line fluffing from Hartnell, The Doctor uses his ring to open the doors. Led onto the subject by the medicine Barbara is giving her, Vicki tells Barbara about her education. Barbara tells Vicki about the bracelet she got from Nero and that she & Ian went to Rome too in the last story. The Doctor and Ian are exploring, as his gold pen vanishes, Ian believes they're being watched. Barbara feels herself dragged towards the doors by her gold bracelet. The Doctor & Ian find a giant pyramid on the surface, constructed many years ago. Ian finds a pool, the Doctor stops him from sticking his hands in. Instead he lowers in Ian's Coal Hill school tie which dissolves in the acid. The Doctor, Ian and Barbara all hear an insect like chirruping - the Tardis doors open allowing Barbara to leave dragged out by her bracelet. Inside the Tardis the console spins round influenced by the noise. Vicki wakes to find herself alone and calls for Barbara, which the Doctor and Ian hear. Ian is caught in a trap and sends the Doctor back to the ship: he returns to where they landed to find it gone.

A bit of an odd episode, with only a brief glimpse at the creatures the story is famous for. The sets are suitably bleak and alien, aided by some special lenses for the cameras that blur the pictures.

This first episode of the serial was watched by 13.5 million viewers, the highest number for any Doctor Who episode thus far and would remain so until the late 1970s when an ITV strike gifted the BBC several million Saturday night viewers.

057 The Romans Part 4: Inferno

EPISODE: The Romans Part 4: Inferno
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 057
STORY NUMBER: 012
TRANSMITTED: 06 February 1965
WRITER: Dennis Spooner
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

As Delos is poised to kill Ian, he strikes towards Nero, whose guards attack Delos. Ian joins in and they manage to escape, promising to return for Barbara. Poppaea speaks with Tavius and tells him to get rid of Barbara. He finds her, and Barbara tells him that she's seen Ian. Tavius promises to help her escape and tells her the Poppaea wants her dismissed. She tells him of Nero's plan to send Maximus Pettulian to the arena. The Doctor tries to date when they are and realises that Nero is due to set fire to the city. Tavius tells him of what Nero plans and says he must kill Nero today. The Doctor is shocked to discover this is what was planned. He plans to leave, but Nero arrives saying he has a surprise. Nero is shocked when the Doctor knows what is to happen

"you'll have to play something serious, something they can get their teeth in to"

The Doctor sets firs to Nero's plans for rebuilding Rome which gives Nero the idea to set fire to the city so he can build his new Rome. At night Barbara waits for Ian, while he & Delos try to get past the guards. They gain entry a crowd of peasants who Nero has had hired to set fire to Rome. Tavius spots Ian and takes him to Barbara. Tavius furnishes Barbara with a disguise, while the Doctor and Vicki try to sneak out of the palace past the guards who are only looking for people trying to get in. Delos escorts Ian & Barbara from the palace while Tavius, revealing the cross he keeps hidden on his person, wishes them good luck. The Doctor & Vicki watch Rome burning. The Doctor is amused at the thought the fire of Rome may be his fault while Nero plays the Lyre amidst the flames. Ian & Barbara return to the Villa, finding the remains from the fight in the first episode including the jar Barbara hit Ian over the head with, which causes Ian to realise that Barbara was responsible for his troubles. The Doctor & Vicki return and they all leave for the Tardis, which we then see dematerialising. Vicki wonders where they will go next but the others hint to her that the Doctor may not be able to control the ship. The Doctor is worried: a force has captured the Tardis and drags it down.

Less humorous than other episodes, it's dominated by Nero's descent into madness. I've smiled at the humour in the story but don't find it as funny as some people do. However watching it episodically has again massively improved my regard for the story as a whole.

The Great Fire of Rome is a historical event, rumoured to be started by Nero who fiddled while Rome burnt. Fiddling would have been an anachronism, the fiddle having been invented many years later. At the time of the fire, Christianity existed in Rome, but was persecuted so having Tavius as a Christian concealing his faith is a nice little touch. Indeed the fire of Rome was blamed on Christians many of whom lost their lives in the aftermath.

The Romans had a Video release in a 2 pack with the preceding story, The Rescue. The same pattern was followed for the DVD release. It was novelised in 1987 by Donald Cotton who had by that time cornered the market in writing comedy historical Doctor Who novels following The Myth Makers and the Gunfighters.

056 The Romans Part 3: Conspiracy

EPISODE: The Romans Part 3: Conspiracy
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 056
STORY NUMBER: 012
TRANSMITTED: 30 January 1965
WRITER: Dennis Spooner
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

The Doctor is summoned by Tavius who tells him, still mistaking him for Maximus Pettulian, to put his plan into effect. The Doctor decides to figure out the conspiracy. Nero talks with his wife Poppaea about Pettulian playing: Poppaea suggests a banquet in his honour. Nero is very taken with Poppaea's new British slave, Barbara, which doesn't impress Poppaea! While clearing the food away she is "approached" by Nero who chases her round the palace, one thing on his mind, with Barbara narrowly missing meeting first Vicki and then the Doctor who are unaware she's there! Vicki stumbles into the chamber occupied by the official poisoner and chats to her about her role. Barbara returns to Poppaea's chambers but Nero corners her. She hides and narrowly misses the Doctor who knocks on the door. Nero is caught by his wife who isn't impressed, while Nero claims Barbara is chasing him! At the arena the female prisoner hears Ian's name and recognises it as the person Barbara was talking about during her stay. She tells Ian that Barbara was sold. The Doctor and Nero enjoy a sauna together until a slave accidentally spills water on Nero. The Doctor asks Nero about the intrigue in the palace but Nero says he knows of none. Nero tells The Doctor that he is to play at the banquet that night. Poppaea visits the poisoner and orders a poison for Barbara, but Vicki overhears and swaps it for the drink destined for Nero.

"Close your eyes and Nero will give you a big surprise!"

It turns out just to be a gold bracelet though! The Doctor saves Nero's life who gives the drink to Tigilinus, his hapless slave who's been bungling all episode who keels over the moment he tastes it. Poppaea has the poisoner taken to the arena. At the banquet the Doctor has to play for Nero and the court. The Doctor pretends to play a new composition claiming the music is so soft and delicate that only those with keen perceptive hearing will be able to hear it. And of course no one can, they just pretend to have heard it. Nero claims it's alright but not that good! Nero feels he's been made a fool of and goes to the Gladiatorial school taking Barbara. Ian is forced to fight against his former shipmate and now cellmate Delos for Nero's entertainment. Nero talks to the arena master and says he wants Maximus Pettulian, who feels he has humiliated him, to play at the arena and then have the lions set on him mid act! Ian, recognised by Barbara, fights for the emperor but is easily beaten. Nero bids Ian's adversary Delos to slay him....

More farcical comedy here with characters narrowly missing each other and the Doctor, acknowledging as much on screen, re-enacting the Emperor's new clothes with the Lyre playing.

055 The Romans Part 2: All Roads Lead to Rome

EPISODE: The Romans Part 2: All Roads Lead to Rome
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 055
STORY NUMBER: 012
TRANSMITTED: 23 January 1965
WRITER: Dennis Spooner
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

Ascarius enters the Doctor's room and they struggle. Vicki enters threatening him with a vase and he accidentally tumbles out the window! The Doctor boasts how he enjoyed their fight. Barbara has arrived in Rome where she is locked up in a cell. She wonders where Ian is: he's found himself rowing on a Roman galley. The galley master tells them bad weather is expected. A slave buyer has taken an interest in Barbara: the bald Tavius. He asks the traders if he can buy her but they insist she will be sold at auction. The boat Ian is on has met the promised bad weather and sinks. Vicki ^ The Doctor have also now arrived in Rome and narrowly miss seeing Barbara being sold at the auction: They believe she's still at the villa with Ian. Tavius wins the auction with a huge bid. Ian has been washed up on the shore with another prisoner, Delos, who frees him from his chains. Ian intends to make for Rome to find Barbara. Tavius tells Barbara he was impressed with her actions in caring for another prisoner: He has brought her to Nero's house where she will be a servant for Nero's wife Poppaea. They are interrupted by a servant who tells Tavius that Maximus Pettulian (who we know is the Doctor) is here to see Nero: after first wanting to summon him here, Tavius leaves to meet him with Barbara narrowly missing the Doctor again. During their audience Nero arrives. The Doctor bluffs to try to avoid playing the lyre for him. Ian too has arrived in Rome with Delos. The Doctor & Vicki find the body of the murdered centurion and wonder what has happened. Ian has been captured and delivered to the same slave traders who sold him earlier, where he is noticed by the girl Barbara cared for earlier. He is destined to fight in the arena as a gladiator against the lions!

This episode drew a smile as the comedic elements started to show: the narrow misses between The Doctor & Vicki and Barbara, the camp Emperor Nero and the antics with the lute and Ian ending back with the same slave traders. Hartnell, as in the Spooner's previous story the Reign of Terror, seems to be having some fun here with the comedic elements.

054 The Romans Part 1: The Slave Traders

EPISODE: The Romans Part 1: The Slave Traders
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 054
STORY NUMBER: 012
TRANSMITTED: 16 January 1965
WRITER: Dennis Spooner
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

The Tardis lies at the foot of the cliff covered in undergrowth to disguise it's presence (oh for a working Chameleon Circuit) It has been there some while. We cut to Ian reclining asleep as the Doctor arrives. Both are in Roman clothing. Barbara and Vicky have gone to the village to buy food. Vicky is disappointed that in the month they've been there she's not had any of the adventure she was promised. A figure, Ascarius, hides in the bushes sharpening his sword. In the market, as the famous lyre player Maximus Pettulian plays, Didius and Sevcheria discuss the lack of slaves for their trade. They ask a cloth trade, who Barbara & Vicki have spoken with, about the travellers and are pleased to learn they are Britons. Maximus Pettulian makes his way along the road and is set upon by Ascarius who kills him. The travellers dine at the Villa they are using where the Doctor is enjoying his meal, but seems to have decided to go away for a few days. He packs a bag of provisions for his trip to Rome, agreeing to take Vicki with him. Didius and Sevcheria have fed their small group of poor looking slaves and prepare to gain some more. While Ian & Barbara are relaxing in the villa they hear a noise. The two slave traders arrive at the villa, and thanks to Barbara accidentally knocking Ian out with a vase, capture them. The Doctor & Vicki stumble on Maximus Pettulian's body. The Doctor picks the lyre up, just as a Roman Soldier arrives searching the bushes. He's looking for Maximus Pettulian and mistakes the Doctor for him! He is expected in Rome by the Emperor Nero. The Doctor decides to pose as Pettulian in order to meet Nero. Ian is sold on by the traders leaving Barbara to be taken with them to be sold in Rome. The roman soldier meets Ascarius, who was paid to kill Pettulian, and instructs him to complete the job. He goes upstairs to where the Doctor is staying.....

Very much a set-up episode, it serves to split the regular cast up with Ian & Barbara separately enslaved and The Doctor & Vicki involved in a case of mistaken identity/the Doctor pretending to be someone else again. (I forgot this one the other week!)

Doctor Who led a nomadic life over it's first few years being recorded at both Lime Grove & Riverside Studios. This episode was filmed in Riverside Studio 1, many years later the home of Chris Evans' TFI Friday.

The mute Ascarius is played by Barry Jackson. For years a jobbing actor and occasional stuntman, including an appearance as the Doctor's classmate Drax in the Armageddon Factor as well as a role in the Doctorless episode Mission to the Unknown, he later found fame as Pathologist Doctor George Bullard in Midsomer Murders. Interestingly while Doctor Bullard is absent during the 2nd & 3rd series of Midsomer Murders he's replaced in four episodes by pathologist Dan Peterson who's played by Toby Jones who we now know as The Dream Lord from Amy's Choice and have seen this Christmas as the Murder on the Orient Express. Apparently he's going to be Arnim Zola in the Captain America movie, that I have to see now! He's also the son of noted thesp Freddie Jones.

053 The Rescue Part 2: Desperate Measures

EPISODE: The Rescue Part 2: Desperate Measures
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 053
STORY NUMBER: 011
TRANSMITTED: 09 January 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

The Doctor helps Ian to escape the spikes. Vicki & Barbara are looking after Bennet who's collapsed. They want to set a trap for Koquillion but Bennet isn't keen (I wonder why ;-) ? ) Vicki fetches water for their meal leaving Barbara by herself. Seeing a beast on the monitor screen she attacks & kills it with a flare gun it but it turns out it was Vicki's native pet Sandy (ooops. D'oh!) The Doctor & Ian, as they escape the tunnel, hear the noise and find their way to the Spaceship, Vicki & Barbara. The Doctor goes to see Bennet, and is told, like Koquillion in the previous episode, that he can't come in. Vicki tells the travellers she left Earth in 2493: they tell her they came from 1963 and that The Doctor is a time traveller. The Doctor forces his way into Bennet's room and finds it empty: a tape recording provided the voice and equipment in their monitors Vicki's room. The Doctor finds a trapdoor in the floor and explores down the shaft underneath, closing the trapdoor behind him so that when the others follow him they can't find where he's gone. The Doctor finds himself in a temple like structure. Koquillion arrives in the "temple", which the Doctor remembers as being the Didonian People's Hall of Judgement. He unmasks Koquillion as Bennet. He had killed a crew member on the journey and was arrested, but when the arrived on Dido he killed the crew. Vicki knew none of this and would have supported the story that Bennet had made up. He and the Doctor fight but two figures, native Didonians, step out the shadows and walk towards Bennet. He flees falling down a chasm. The Doctor passes out, waking in the Tardis. Ian & Barbara found him outside where the Didonians left him. The Doctor explains what happened to Vicki who now feels as if she's got nobody. The Doctor invites her to travel with them. She, like Ian & Barbara before her, is astonished at the inside of the Tardis and leaves with them. The radio on the ship picks up a transmission from the rescue ship: seeking not to be disturbed the Didonians smash the radio. The Tardis materialises on a cliff top and falls over the edge.

A bit more oomph to this episode than the first part, but it's transparently obvious who Koquillion is quite early on in proceedings. As I indicated before the point of the story is to introduce a new young female companion, which they have in Vicki. She doesn't represent much of a risk by the production team and can in some ways be seen as something of a Susan clone adopting a very similar relationship with the Doctor to Susan. There again the Doctor, missing his Granddaughter, is perhaps likely to treat an alone orphaned girl of a similar age to his departed relative in a similar manner....

The Rescue was the last Doctor Who book to be written by Ian Marter, an actor (who we will hear more from later) turned writer, who died of a heart attack at the early age of 46. He wrote nine Target novels, second behind only Terrance Dicks.

052 The Rescue Part 1: The Powerful Enemy

EPISODE: The Rescue Part 1: The Powerful Enemy
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 052
STORY NUMBER: 011
TRANSMITTED: 02 January 1965
WRITER: David Whitaker
DIRECTOR: Christopher Barry
SCRIPT EDITOR: Dennis Spooner
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who: The Rescue & The Romans

Onto Doctor Who's second recording block. We've a new Script Editor in charge, Dennis Spooner and he wastes no time commissioning his predecessor, David Whitaker, to produce this story the entire function of which is to introduce the new young female companion to replace Susan.

The Tardis materialises in a cave. Nearby lies a crashed and badly damaged United Kingdom rocket ship (it's got a Union Jack on it's tail fin!) It's radar picks up the Tardis landing: young Vicki, hears the radar and assumes it's the rescue ship they're expecting. She runs to tell Bennet, her friend who is injured and confined to bed. He warns her to beware of Koquillion. She contacts the Rescue Ship who tell her they are seventeen hours away yet: Vicki wonders who it is who's landed. In the Tardis the Doctor has slept through the landing. The Doctor calls for Susan, forgetting she is no longer there. Ian & Barbara explore while the Doctor returns to the Tardis for a nap. As they leave a strange spiked alien figure approaches the Tardis. Ian & Barbara see the Spaceship, they are approached by the alien who questions them: he wishes to meet the Doctor. Ian returns to the Tardis but Barbara is attacked by the alien and falls off the ledge at the cave mouth. The Doctor works out that he's on the planet Dido which he has visited before and remembers the people who live there. The alien aims a device at the cave mouth causing a rock fall which seals it, with the Doctor & Ian within. The Doctor tells Ian he remembers the people, who are similar to the description Ian gives, are friendly, which Ian finds hard to believe given his recent encounter. The alien returns to the ship and questions Vicki: she has been out and heard an explosion. The alien lies to her about what has happened to the Tardis crew and claims to be protecting them. He goes to talk to Bennet. This alien is Koquillion. Vicki has been hiding the injured Barbara in the ship. Vicki tells Barbara that Koquillion has been keeping them here and that the aliens killed all the crew including Vicki's father in an explosion. Bennet who was injured was the only survivor. Vicki tells Barbara the Koquillion has killed her friends. Bennet stumbles into the room Vicki uses telling her of his encounter with Koquillion while she tells him that there was a survivor. The Doctor & Ian are trying to find their way out of the caves and are threatened by an alien beast in the chasm bellow. Ian sets off a booby trap in the caves and finds himself surrounded by spikes that threaten to push him over the ledge he's standing on......

Yeah,so so episode. Nothing spectacular, just a quiet little run-around for the three remaining regulars. Koquillion is credited as being played by "Sydney Wilson", a name made up by the production team in tribute to two of the creators of Doctor Who, Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson, in order to preserve the identity of the character disguised as him. However given there's only two other characters in the episode it's not that hard to work out who it is!

The main guest actor in The Rescue was the rising Australian star Ray Barret, who plays Bennet. He'd been in Emergency Ward 10, as well as voicing Commander Shore & Triton in Stingray. He would later provide the voices of John Tracy, the Hood and many background characters in Thunderbirds as well as taking a lead role in the successful The Troubleshooters.

#releasevaros

We found out what 2011's Doctor Who DVD releases would be yesterday. Well in the Doctor Who Magazine article they say there was an 11th re-release planned but shelved.

classicdw the twitter account of Dan Hall, manager of the DW DVD, range tweeted this earlier:

Some speculation as to the Eleventh (dropped) revisitation title. Full points to those who guessed it was #cdwvaros.

Vengeance on Varos has faulty Production Subtitles (they disappear halfway through, no documentary and a re-release was thought to be the obvious home for the Tomorrow's Times feature for the 6th Doctor.


Dan Hall later tweeted:

As promised in this month's DWM, happy to reconsider if there is a groundswell. will track #releasevaros for the next few weeks to see.

So if you've got a twitter account tweet #releasevaros to get it released.

While we're at it it'd be nice to sort out what's going on with the missing episode stories - DWM mentions them but isn't clear what's happening. So tweet #releasereignofterror #release10thplanet & #releaseicewarriors and show your support for releasing these!

051 The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 6: Flashpoint

EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 6: Flashpoint
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 051
STORY NUMBER: 010
TRANSMITTED: 26 December 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

Ian interferes with the capsule stopping it's descent: a team of Robomen are tasked with hauling it to the surface. He escape through the base of the capsule into the shaft. Barbara & Jenny arrive in the control room - yay we get the Dalek door noise! The Daleks plan to exterminate all the humans in the explosion when the Earth is penetrated. While trying to control the Robomen using the Daleks voice command systems they are restrained - in a piece of very bad scenery we find them having to hold their own bonds closed. The Doctor and Tyler penetrate the Dalek control area as Ian does the same from the tunnels: he barricades the shaft which prevents the bomb from reaching it's destination. The Daleks leave for the Saucer to avoid being destroyed narrowly missing the Doctor & Tyler who release Barbara and Jenny. Susan and David work to immobilise the power supply transmitting to the Daleks. A patrolling Dalek enters the control room but due to their efforts looses power. They use the Daleks control mechanism to get the Robomen to assault the Daleks, which the prisoners are only too happy to join in. Ian is reunited with the Doctor & Barbara and they flee the mine before the bomb explodes destroying the control area and (offscreen) the Dalek saucer. Returning to London the Tardis is freed allowing the travellers to depart. But Susan seems reluctant to leave. Having broken her shoe the Doctor goes inside to repair it, joined by Ian & Barbara. Susan lingers to talk to David who she has fallen in love with. She feels torn between David and her Grandfather. The Doctor realising this purposely locks Susan out of the ship. He says goodbye to her, speaking to her over the scanner saying he wants he to belong somewhere. He bids her farewell with a promise:

"One day I shall come back, yes I shall come back. Until then there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye Susan, Goodbye my dear"

The Tardis dematerialises leaving the Doctor's granddaughter on 22nd century Earth. She drops her TARDIS key in the rubble and leaves with David.

The episode is a game of too halves: a compressed quick ending to the Dalek invasion and a drawn out farewell scene. It unbalances the episode slightly and gives a little bit of an unsatisfactory ending to the Invasion storyline with the Daleks just leaving and being destroyed off screen. Susan's farewell then dominates the episode, and very poignant it is too. The speech the Doctor gives her, quoted above, turns up again as the pre-title sequence in the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors. Susan leaving changes the Tardis crew for the first time, but in this case it results in her replacement by an effective clone. However it sets in motion a chain of events that will future proof the show. That the companions can be replaced with others soon becomes common place with nine companions accompanying the first Doctor. But eventually Hartnell would need to leave and the path to that change effectively starts from here. It would be another eighteen years before we would see Susan again in the anniversary special, The Five Doctors.

Susan's character has popped up in several Doctor Who books, but I do need to bring to your attention the excruciating Legacy of the Daleks which attempts to do a Dalek Invasion of Earth sequel featuring, and I'm not making this up, the Master as a villain trying to reactivate the Daleks leading to an ending with the Master lying scarred & injured marooned on an alien planet for the Time Lord Chancellor Goth to find him in the run up to Deadly Assassin and Susan wandering the Universe in the Master's Tardis. Seriously. The book reads like bad fan fiction of the highest order, avoid at all costs!!! Here endeth the warning

This episode marks the end of the first recording block of Doctor Who episodes, after which the remaining cast members had a holiday. Behind the scenes Mervyn Pinfield, the associate producer, departs with Verity Lambert having proved her credentials to the powers that be. Also departing is script editor David Whitaker, who would be back as a writer the very next story (starting a "tradition" that Terrance Dicks would later claim to follow in The Robot) and returning to write The Crusade, Power of the Daleks, The Evil of the Daleks, The Enemy of the World, The Wheel in Space and The Ambassadors of Death.

Like The Daleks, Dalek Invasion of Earth was filmed for the cinema and released on the big screen. It was a showing of this Movie on television that was my first exposure to Doctor Who. The Daleks blowing the shed up and the bomb chasing Roy Castle down the corridor scared a 4ish year old me silly.

Dalek Invasion of Earth is the second Hartnell book produced by Target books: The Daleks, The Zarbi & The Crusade, reprints of earlier sixties volumes, launched the range on 2nd May 1973, two days before I was born. The Tenth Planet, significantly the last first Doctor story and the first Cyberman story so an ideal candidate for release, was published on 19th Feb 1976 followed by the Dalek Invasion of Earth on the 24th March 1977. Keys of Marinus follows on 28th August 1980, followed by An Unearthly Child on 15th October 1981. It wouldn't be until The Aztecs, the first historical novel written for Target, was released on 20th September 1984 that the floodgates to further Hartnell stories appearing in book form would be opened. The Dalek Invasion of Earth caused me to have a complete melt down as an Eight year old: in the WHSmiths in Richmond I found both Dalek Invasion of Earth and Tenth Planet. Mum said I could have one, I wanted both. And couldn't decide. I was led away with the Tenth Planet in floods of tears that I might be leaving behind the only copy of Dalek Invasion of Earth I would *EVER* see. Mum sneaked back, bought it, and gave it to me as a present to keep me quiet at a wedding a few weeks later!

Dalek Invasion of Earth was an early Hartnell video release, only the third Hartnell story to appear. I can remember vividly buying this story to watch the same day I went on my second ever date! The story would later become the second Hartnell DVD which features some optional CGI extras and enhancements.

Doctor Who DVD releases 2011

The New Issue Of Doctor Who magazine promises on the cover to reveal the rest of 2011's DVD releases. Well someone's got their copy early and here's how it shapes up:

The DVD Schedule from DWM..

31st Jan - The Mutants
14th Feb - The Ark
7th March - Mara Tales
28th March - Revisitations 2: Seeds of Death, Carnival of Monsters and Resurrection of the Daleks

Then...

Planet of the Spiders
Mannequin Mania:Spearhead from Space Special Edition & Terror of the Autons
Frontios
Earthstory: The Awakening & The Gunfighters
Paradise Towers
Revisitations 3: Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & Robots of Death
The Solar System: Ambassadors of Death & The Sun Makers
Day of the Daleks

OK so.....

Planet of the Spiders

Huzzah!

Mannequin Mania:Spearhead from Space Special Edition & Terror of the Autons

They should have called this Auton Invasion after the old Target Book. But a spruced up Spearhead SE is a good thing. For my purposes I need this out before the end of August.

Frontios and Earthstory: The Awakening & The Gunfighters

Why aren't the consecutive Frontios & The Awakening paired together ? I can only see the most tenuous of connections between the Awakening and Gunfighters. Gunfighters will be too late for me to watch it on DVD when it comes up here.

Paradise Towers

In 1987 Paradise Towers was my favourite story that season. I'm not sure I've seen it since. Together with some of the above this completes a story run on DVD from Horns of the Nimon to Delta & The Bannermen.

Revisitations 3: Tomb of the Cybermen, The Three Doctors & Robots of Death

VIDFired Tomb, fixed Three Doctors and Robots with a new commentary and more special features. RESULT. What Revisitations 1 should have been.

The Solar System: Ambassadors of Death & The Sun Makers

Bwuh? That's a *VERY* loose connection. Be interesting to see how much of Ambasadors has been recoloured. I need Ambasadors out by Mid August to watch it.

Day of the Daleks

Yup, happy with that. Especially if it's out before 26 September!


So what's left for the last two years of the line?


The Sensorites
The Reign of Terror
Planet of Giants
The Tenth Planet

The Ice Warriors
The Krotons

The Mind of Evil
Colony in Space
The Daemons
Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Death to the Daleks

Terror of the Zygons
The Android Invasion
The Face of Evil
Nightmare of Eden
Shada

Dragonfire
The Happiness Patrol
Greatest Show in the Galaxy

050 The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 5: The Waking Ally

EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 5: The Waking Ally
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 050
STORY NUMBER: 010
TRANSMITTED: 19 December 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

Ian & Craddock jump into an excavator bucket overhanging the drop and the pursuing slither plummets to it's death as the bucket starts moving downwards. David & Tyler struggle with Robomen who've pursued them into the sewers. The survive with a little help from the Doctor & Susan, who then leave with them for the mine. Barbara and Jenny shelter from a storm in a house with two women living in it. The women works making clothes for the slaves in the mine, they give the Barbara and Jenny shelter in exchange for food. The elder one looks after them while the younger goes to deliver some clothes. Ian & Craddock are transported into the depths of the mine, but Craddock is injured leaping out of the excavator bucket. Barbara talks to the older woman about the ruin of London as the younger one returns with Daleks: Barbara and Jenny have been betrayed by the women in return for food. Ian is worried about the mine and wonders what it's for. Craddock tells him that his brother, obsessed with the mine, had a theory that they were mining for Earth's Magnetic core. They encounter Wells who tells them to move because they're hiding place is being cleared. Joining Wells' working party they are stopped by a Roboman who recognises the party is too large, but Craddock is shocked to see that it's Phil, his brother, who has fallen victim to the Daleks transfer process and is now a Roboman. Larry Craddock talks to Phil about his family but they end up struggling and kill each other. Phil's death sets off an alarm: Wells hides the body while Ian escapes. Susan is cooking a meal of rabbit for their party when she is surprised by David and they struggle playfully before discussing the Doctor. They've completed their journey to the mine: The Doctor thinks the mine is the reason why the Earth was invaded and think they are digging for something unique to Earth.

"Is that what it is? They dare to tamper with the forces of creation?"
"Yes. And we must dare to stop them!"

Ian spots Barbara in a work party in the tunnels. Jenny is despairing of them ever escaping. It's Wells' party and Ian asks him to tell her that he's here. However before Wells can speak to her, she approaches the Dalek guard claiming to have information on a forthcoming uprising presenting the information on the bombs as evidence. She and Jenny are taken to the Black Dalek. The Daleks report that they are within four miles of the Earth's outer core and need to place their explosive in position to release the core eliminating it's gravitational & magnetic forces - during this sequence the Black Dalek is described as the Supreme controller. He announces that this will allow the Daleks to pilot the Earth anywhere in the Universe. Ian has sneaked into the chamber where the bomb is being prepared. Seeking to hide from the Dalek he hides in the bomb's capsule and is trapped within it as it is moved out ready to be dropped into the mineworking fissure....

This is the Fiftieth Doctor Who episode. Our episode title relevance meter wonders who or what the Waking Ally was? The episode rolls along nicely but the science is dreadful. I'm not sure if it was known at the time if other planets have a magnetic core but it's a big leap to assume Earth is the only one. I wouldn't have thought that Bedfordshire was the best place to drill through Earth's crust, I thought the UK was on a pretty thick and stable part of the crust and that there were much thinner points. Yet the Daleks are drilling here and we get another project drilling into the Earth in Inferno.

As well as being the first Earth Invasion this story gives us the first glimpse of an Earth in the future. OK apart from the calendar in the first episode there's little to date this serial any later than the date it's filmed. All the characters look like they're dressed straight out the sixties. We've already met future humans in space in The Sensorites and we'll meet them again in the Rescue (next up), the Chase and Mission to the Unknown before seeing the Earth of the year 4000 in The Dalek Masterplan. The Earth's destruction is seen in the year 10 million in the Ark. The Tenth Planet offers an Earth of 1986, at the time a futuristic setting but one the series would eventually overtake, but Troughton visits the near future Earth several time plus a visit to a far future Ice Age. Pertwee's visits without the aid of the Tardis in Day of the Daleks and again with the Tardis during Frontier in Space, but Tom, surprisingly, only turns up once in the Sontaran Experiment. Davison visits in Earthshock & Warriors of the Deep, Colin during Trial of a Timelord and Sylvester McCoy in Paradise Towers and the near future (and quickly overtaken) Battlefield. However coupling these visits with encounters with humanity all over the Universe presents some problems resolving a future history for humanity. However in several of these stories The Dalek Invasion of Earth remains a crucial event.

049 The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 4: The End of Tomorrow

EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 4: The End of Tomorrow
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 049
STORY NUMBER: 010
TRANSMITTED: 12 December 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

Our episode title relevance meter reports that since this story is set in the future and a big bomb has been produced then the title is relevant!

The Doctor passes out as the bomb nears detonation point (William Hartnell was injured filming the third episode and is absent for the fourth). David burns through the casing with the contents of one of Dortman's bombs and removes the detonator. Barbara and Jenny prepare to steal a dust cart from the museum to drive out of London as Ian & Craddock search for Craddock's brother at the vast mine in Bedfordshire where the humans are being worked as slaves. They are found by Wells, who gives a Roboman guard an excuse for them being there. They save Wells from a beating by the Roboman and end up killing the Roboman. Wells has come to meet Ashton, a black marketeer who Ian wants to meet to arrange his escape. Having hidden the Doctor, Susan & David investigate escaping through the sewers, but they are held at gunpoint. Barbara and Jenny drive straight through a line of attacking Daleks, but are detected by a Dalek saucer which intercepts them destroying the vehicle just as they bail out. Susan & David have been found by Tyler, who has been attacked by alligators in the sewers. David talks to Susan about her staying to rebuild Earth when the Invasion is over. An alien beast roars at the Mineworking alarming Ian & Craddock. They hide in a shed which is already occupied by Ashton who won't take Ian without payment. Wells arrives and tells them of the alien Slyther which the Black Dalek uses as a guard. Susan is trapped on a damaged ladder in the sewers and is about to be attacked by an alligator when David & Tyler save her. Tyler has fetched the Doctor. Ashton tells of deserted villages with lots of food but Wells refuses to leave wanting to help those in the camp. The Slyther attacks killing Ashton while Craddock & Ian are trapped by it on the edge of a sheer drop.

Somehow the episode feels down a little on the previous few episodes, lacking so much location filming and the action of the saucer attack. There's not so much Dalek in this episode either, just a short sequence on a saucer and the ones that Barbara and Jenny run down. I've always felt that Dalek Invasion on Earth is a game of two halves with the second half being the weaker of the two.

Wells, who first appears in this episode, is played by Nicholas Smith, later to find fame as Mr Rumbold in Are You Being Served? Bernard Kay, who plays Tyler, returns to Doctor Who several times in The Crusade, The Faceless Ones and Colony in Space. The actress who plays Jenny, Ann Davies, isn't that well known but is married to Richard Briers of sitcom fame and Paradise Towers infamy.

It may seem odd today now that the Doctor fights alien menaces invading Earth nearly every week but it took until the second year for the Doctor to fight an alien invasion of Earth. Earth's previous appearances in Doctor Who has been in the setup in An Unearthly Child or in the form of the peril to the shrunken Tardis crew in Planet of Giants but mainly as a setting for a historical adventure Unearthly Child, Marco Polo, Aztecs & Reign of Terror. There's more historical stories to come but slowly Earth Invasions will become a norm: It's an intention in Dalek Masterplan to invade Earth but the next real Earth Invasion is in Hartnell's final story The Tenth Planet. There's a few more invasion attempts during the Troughton era (2 in the first year, two in the second and two in third) but it isn't until Jon Pertwee's reign that they start happening with any regularity.

048 The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 3: Day of Reckoning

EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 3: Day of Reckoning
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 048
STORY NUMBER: 010
TRANSMITTED: 05 December 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

We briefly glimpse the odd coloured Dalek in the episode recap, before cutting to Dortman playing chess in the base, returning to the saucer as Tyler and another man rescue the unconscious Doctor from the operating table. Ian & Craddock are freed on the ship. There is much fighting leading to Susan & Barbara being separated (during these scenes we glimpse the Black Dalek leader for the first time). Ian is trapped on the spaceship and can't escape while Barbara is taken back to the underground base by Jenny. The attack was a failure, the bombs were useless and many of the resistance are killed. Tyler is going to leave London, but Dortman intends to stay. He wants to go to their alternate base at the Civic Transport Museum: Barbara & Jenny agree to take him. The Dalek saucer leaves for the mines with Ian still aboard. He overpowers a Roboman rescuing Craddock. They dispose of the body and find somewhere to hide for the remainder of the journey. Susan & David are fleeing from the searching Daleks when they come across another resistance fighter Baker, who is carrying the still unconscious Doctor who he passes to them. As he leaves he is caught by the Daleks and exterminated. We're then treated to some splendid location shots of Barbara, Jenny & Dortman crossing first Westminster bridge and then London through Whitehall, the Cenotaph, Trafalgar Square, the Albert Memorial and finally the Royal Albert Hall, so I guess they're mistaking the Transport Museum for the Science Museum in Kensington. Dortman believes he has perfected his bomb and gives Barbara his notes to show the Doctor. Dortman sneaks outside with his new bombs as Jenny sees approaching Daleks. Dortman attracts their attention getting himself exterminated but blowing them up in the process proving that they work. The Doctor starts to recover with Susan's help. She wants to go north with David but the Doctor wants to stay near the Tardis. David gets the Doctor on side by flattering him and asking for his opinion. The Dalek saucer lands discharging it's crew of Daleks & Robomen plus their prisoners allowing Ian & Craddock to escape. Back in London two Robomen approach the location where the Doctor, Susan and David are hiding carrying a box which they leave behind. It's a massive bomb and the clock is ticking.

Brilliant stuff again, not a single thing wrong with the episode at all. I love the scenes between the Doctor and Susan where they quarrel and then, with a small amount of flattery, David talks the Doctor round.

The location filming is impressive too. This story is the first time the whole cast has been out on location, a double being used for the brief piece of filming in the Reign of Terror. The prominent locations used here enable you to chart the journey undertaken by Barbara and co, working out where they have had to avoid either due to damaged buildings or Daleks. It also places the Tube station base on the South Bank of the Thames, probably west of Westminster bridge making Vauxhall (at the time of filming uncompleted) a likely candidate for it's fictional location. A list plus photos of all Dalek Invasion of Earth locations can be found here.

We also, after a false start in the previous episode, get the début of the Black Dalek. Frequently referred to as a "Dalek Supreme" he, or more likely a similar Dalek, returns to menace the Doctor in The Chase, The Dalek Masterplan (and it's Doctorless prequel Mission to the Unknown), Resurrection of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks as well as both Dalek feature films. Differently designed Emperors lead them in Evil of the Daleks & Remembrance of the Daleks (There's two opposing Dalek factions in this story) while Gold Daleks lead in Day of the Daleks & Frontier in Space. A black Supreme Dalek is shown in Planet of the Daleks, but he's got a gold dome and a slightly different design due to being a recycled movie prop. Here he's almost certainly the odd Dalek we saw in the previous episode repainted: They're the only Daleks in this story with the traditional black eyes where as all the silver Daleks have silver eyes. All Daleks in this story have an enlarged base as well as the disc on their back that supplies power. This is the only story which uses these features: come their next full appearance their mobility issues, save for the always mentioned stairs, will be permanently solved with another, this time permanent, design change.

047 The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 2: The Daleks

EPISODE: The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 2: The Daleks
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 047
STORY NUMBER: 010
TRANSMITTED: 28 November 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion Of Earth

The Dalek questions the Zombie like Robomen and instructs them. The Doctor challenges the Dalek who tells him that they have conquered the Earth and are it's masters. In the tube station a group of humans listen to a Dalek radio broadcast ordering they're surrender. Dortman & Tyler plan the attack: Dortman has an explosive that he believes will destroy Daleks. David returns, and tells them that the Doctor & Ian were taken to the Saucer at Chelsea Heliport. Ian wonders how the Daleks can be here when they were destroyed on Skaro: The Doctor tells Ian that was a million years in the future. They notice the Daleks look different and think the discs on their backs may account for their increased mobility. Here they can move freely whereas on Skaro they were confined to the metal floors of their city. One of the other prisoners tries to escape but is gunned down by the Daleks. A differently coloured Dalek commander tells them that any other resistance will be similarly dealt with. The resistance fighters tell Barbara how the Daleks operate on humans to create their Roboman servants. The Doctor & Ian are on the Dalek saucer - we get the control room noise again from the original Dalek story. They are confined to a cell with another prisoner - Jack Craddock. They are observed by the Daleks who are testing them. The Doctor wants to escape. Craddock tells them how the Daleks invaded: meteorites bombarded the earth bringing plague. When the Earth was weak the Daleks invaded. The Daleks have set up vast mine works, including one in Bedfordshire, and put people to work there. The resistance plan to attack the saucer. Barbara has the idea of disguising themselves as Robomen to get closer to the saucer. The Doctor finds a device in the cell that releases the cell key from a box (cf The Adventure Game/Crystal Maze) using a magnifying glass and magnet. They escape the cell but are trapped by the Daleks immediately: it was a trap to test their intelligence and they take the Doctor away to be turned into a Roboman. The resistance arrive at the saucer but the attack goes wrong as the bombs don't work, but some of the rebels penetrate the saucer to try to rescue the prisoners just as the Doctor's robotising operation begins.

Another great episode: There's a distinct World War Two atmosphere to the resistance from their French resistance style sabotage, "the whole of Europe alight" phrase in the speech and the searchlights combing the heliport in the run up to the attack.

We get our first differently coloured Dalek in this episode and it's a bit of an oddity: The dome is black, but half the skirt panels are Silver and half are black, alternating as you go round the Dalek's base. I've seen one source claim this is red not black but..... Is this the half finished prop for the Dalek Supreme which appears the next week? Alone amongst the Daleks in this story he has a black eye ball: all the others are silver for this adventure only. Making it's debut in this episode is the broken neck ring on the half Black Dalek. Repaired with a piece of wood connecting both halves on the underside this piece of a Dalek shows up reused on numerous props over the next few years and is easy to spot. We'll say hello to it whenever I see it!

The Dalek Invasion of Earth is the first time that Doctor Who brings back a previously appearing Monster, friend or foe. It wouldn't be the last by a long long way. While the Daleks remain Doctor Who's most recurring monster, the Cybermen and the Master challenge them, with the Sontarans, Ice Warriors & Black Guardian appearing four times, and several others (The Yeti, Autons, Silurians, Sea Devils, Omega, The Monk, The Mara, The Rani & Sil) appearing in a main role twice.

This episode is one of a number of Hartnell episodes where the name of the episode is also the name of a completely different story, in this case the Second Doctor Who story which introduces the Daleks. We also have The Rescue (Daleks episode 7 and a 2 part 1965 Hartnell), Inferno (The Romans part 4 and a superb 1970 Pertwee 7 parter) and Invasion (Web Planet 5 and a 1968 Troughton story. Incidentally title of Web Planet part 2, The Zarbi, is used as the title of that story's book) The Dimensions of Time (Space Museum 2) was used as the title for the appalling 1993 Children in Need special.