I only watched the one short story yesterday, but little did I expect when I started watching and writing about it, how appropriate it was for some of the feelings that I am experiencing. I went for a walk in the snow after watching it, to see how the city looks and feels in the snow. The cold felt bracing and the snow looked lovely. It all helped the ongoing process of clearing my head, and trying to be ready for whatever life has in store for me.
Tonight was a pub meet for the group, and it was a nice little turnout, despite the weather, with some good conversation, and some new people as well. When I got back I wanted to keep going forward with this journey. The discipline of doing this is very important to me, making sure that I watch and write every day. It provides some structure, which is good for me, and helps drive that desire to keep growing, improving, and being better.
Episode 1 – The Slave Traders
Did they reshoot the opening, or use the sequence from the previous episode. This looks a bit different, but it seems weird for have done so with a complicated chain of events. They chose a nice way to portray the passage of time, by having the plants grow over the TARDIS.
This is a very good looking episode, giving us lots of aspects of Roman life to observe and experience with the regulars. The lingering shot on the statue during the marketplace scene makes me think of Weeping Angels. Am I the only one to think that? Strange how the modern show can affect my viewing of these earlier episodes.
We are definitely in a Dennis Spooner Doctor Who. The characters we saw in reign of terror are back, and just as funny. He really has a knack for these comedy historical stories, and this one pushes the envelope further than “The Reign of Terror”, while still maintaining a sense of danger.
I adore Ian and Barbara’s scene together once they are alone in the villa, They act like such a couple, and it makes me smile to see them so happy together, and joking together. It is full of things that I love about knowing someone well; the gentle joking, the eye-rolling at a silly comment, and the easiness with which they interact. These two are wonderful together. I’m still convinced that this is the most post-coital scene in Doctor Who!
It’s too bad that this idyll is so rudely interrupted by the Slave traders, leaving them in desperate straits and soon to be separated. The rest of the story for me is as much about the comedy, as it is about Ian and Barbara’s quest to be reunited.
And that Dennis Spooner specialty – the mistaken identity parade - begins, as the Doctor is taken for the lyre player Maximus Pettulian. Hartnell is in his element with this type of script; just as he was in “The Reign of Terror”. But at the end of the episode we find out that this impersonation may not lead to the hobnobbing with the emperor he was hoping for!
Episode 2 – All Roads Lead to Rome
A fun episode title, and the first one to start punning on the story and its content. It won’t be the last.
This is the second fight scene for the Doctor in as many stories, and he acquits himself rather better this time around. He is in complete show-off mode to Vicki, and name dropping along the way. It is reminiscent of how the 3rd Doctor would behave with his companions, around Jo especially.
Even in her misery at missing and being separated from Ian, Barbara doers her best for her fellow captives, in this case the wonderfully named Dorothy-Rose Gribble. Barbara’s wistful look out of the window is one of a woman waiting for her love. And we transition to the ship on which Ian, the object of her longing, has become a galley slave.
The galley sequences are complicated and very well done. There’s water everywhere and an impressive boat set that appears to be rocking up and down. The storm that gives Ian and his new friend, Delos, the chance to escape is particularly impressive.
This bald guy seems very interested in Barbara. It seems like her good intentions and her kindness to the other slaves, are what caught his eye, which is different than what usually seems to attract people to Barbara. He wants to do his best for her. Good behavior has its rewards.
After being rescued on the beach by Delos, all Ian wants to do is get to Barbara. She is his first thought, and her safety is put above his own. They are made for each other.
Back at the palace, the near misses begin. The classic farce structure of the rest of this story kicks off here, and Spooner just has to make fun of it in his dialog, having the Doctor proclaim “I don’t think there’s a soul here who knows me” when Barbara is just a few rooms away!
As the episode ends we meet the historical celebrity for this story, and his entrance is not what you would expect for an emperor, but it is typical for the boorish Nero that most people would imagine. He is easily complimented and flattered and really has no instinct for acceptable public behavior. He can do what he wants and acts accordingly.
Episode 3 – Conspiracy
This episode is pure farce. People are running up and down corridors, and there are numerous near-miss encounters between the Doctor and Barbara, and Vicki and Barbara. Derek Francis playing Nero is perfect; such a lecher and Kay Patrick as his wife is perfect at showing the bored and superior attitude of his empress; Disgusted with her husband, but loving the power of her position. The servant running around trying to put on Nero’s crown during the early scene in their bedchamber is so funny.
Official poisoner is a great title. She also has very fancy nails, which can clearly be seen when she is mixing her potions. I doubt they are correct for the time period! It’s very convenient that Vicki meets her, or there would be a lot of trouble later.
So it’s to be the arena for Ian. But along the way he meets the woman Barbara was so nice to, who is able to give him some news, even if it is not what he had hoped to hear.
Not sure Nero’s way of finding out if the Doctor was right about the poison is good for a cheap laugh. Not good for a slave’s health though. The look on Derek Francis’ face as the slave collapses dead on the floor is priceless.
The lyre playing moment of truth has arrived, and the Doctor’s solution is so very Doctor-ish. It’s clever, and cunning, and brave. But it could only really work in this type of environment, where everyone defers to the emperor.
At episode’s end, Ian and Barbara have finally found each other again. Now she must watch him fight; again. This battle is not as epic as some of the previous ones we have seen, but any more would be be appropriate for this story. Ian is getting quite good at this (and should do give all the practice he has had while traveling in the TARDIS), until he makes a mistake, and Barbara calls out in alarm.
Episode 4 – Inferno
Friendship and loyalty win through in the end. For all the characters in this tale it is doing the right thing that gives them a chance, and wins them friends and help throughout their journeys.
The truth starts to come out at last, among all the plots, counterplots, and intrigues. For someone who says he mustn’t interfere, the Doctor just can’t seem to help himself; whether it’s writing stories for Hans Christian Anderson, or, as here, providing the (literal) spark for the Great Fire of Rome. Later, when Vicki calls him on this discrepancy between what he says and what he actually does he seems to be delighted by it, or at the very least amused. The dynamic between these two is completely different than it was between the Doctor and Susan. The Doctor delights in showing off to his new friend, rather than being the teacher and responsible older relative that he was with his granddaughter. It shows a very different side to the Doctor, and makes me think about different relationships, and how the must differ from each other. Recreating something is unlike to work out well, since everyone is unique. What is past is past. And even if it should start again in the future, it would be something new. I never expected that Doctor Who would cause me to think about this kind of thing before, especially in what has become known as the classic series. I was expecting these types of thoughts when I reached the new series. But it only goes to show how true Russell T. Davies was to the show as a whole.
Derek Francis is having such a great time playing the power hungry emperor. He and Hartnell have relished every part of this script, and are great together. The last shot of him playing during the fire is, of course, just a myth, but most appropriate for the ending to this story.
Our couple (Ian and Barbara, who else?) are reunited at last, and they are so relieved to see each other again. Unfortunately they have no time for anything other than escape. The Doctor and Vicki are doing the same. It’s a race to see who will make it back to the villa fastest. As they do so we get a final shot of Tavius, and find out why her wanted to do the right thing, and helped the travelers whenever he could. The cross that he fingers is a subtle touch, but probably to political for today’s audiences. It works for me though, although some of that may be due to being brought up by my rector father, who had more faith than anyone I have ever known.
As anyone reading this has probably noticed, I am loving watching Ian and Barbara. They are brilliant together, and make such a great couple. They share jokes, care for each other deeply, and are simply there for each other in so many ways. There is so much meaning in all the little gazes they send each other’s way, which makes some simple scenes mean so much more. It’s a credit to the actors how well they portray the subtext to the relationship and how it has developed over the series so far.
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