It has been a very busy, but very exciting day! I gathered together everything for visa purposes, and the trip to India is on! The tickets have been booked. The visa is in-progress, so things could still change as far as timing goes, but it will happen. I am very excited. This will be a new adventure, and it is coming at exactly the right time. I get out of the city, and to explore somewhere completely new. I even get to see friends in London on the way back home.
Episode 7 – The Feast of Steven
Well this episode started out quite seriously, but as soon as we see and hear the policemen, we get the impression that it will be a lot less so. It really is a very silly 25 minutes of television. We have a comedy yokel complaining about a missing greenhouse on Christmas Eve (he’s definitely had way too much “Christmas cheer”, and some less-than-smart policemen. Then we move onto a completely over-the-top silent film set, with comedy accents, and madcap chases around the studio. It’s definitely not one to be taken serious, and works quite well as a holiday episode, I suppose.
I find that some of this particular episode is quite hard to follow without the visuals. There are some amusing one-liners, but I suspect a lot of this was visual farce, which really only works in moving pictures, despite the best efforts of the fans behind the reconstructions.
The last line always makes me smile. Hartnell looks so happy, and it’s just a nice gesture to the viewers on the holiday.
Episode 8 - Volcano
After the fun holiday interlude it’s back to the Daleks. And I am very pleased to see them. The delegates are bickering again over who it is who is behind the theft of the Taranium. And while their “allies” bicker, the Daleks are making their own plans, knowing that the dreams of power that each of the delegates covet so much will enslave them to the Dalek cause.
Things are not quite as tense in the TARDIS, despite the concern about who might be following them. We even have a fun diversion as the TARDIS interrupts England cricket. It makes a change from rain, I suppose. But once again I’m thinking this is not being taken as seriously as it was a couple of episodes ago.
It’s a nice surprise when the following time machine turns out to be the Monk, rather than the Daleks. It’s nice to see him again, and fun to see that he is up to his usual tricks. His verbal sparring with the Doctor continues to be a delight. I hope we see more of him.
I love how the Doctor gets out of the trap that the Monk set for them. Although that ring is starting to be as useful as the sonic screwdriver is today! It seems to have a multiplicity of uses, depending on the situation that the Doctor finds himself in.
As I reach the episode’s end it turns out that it’s another holiday tribute, although this time it’s not acknowledged by the Doctor at all, since it reminds him of Mafeking. It’s a nice way for the show to ring in 1966.
Episode 9 – Golden Death
It’s Ancient Egpyt. Another ambitious setting. It looks like a building site to start with though. I wonder if later sets in this sequence will be more ambitious. The Egyptians look quite fierce against Steven and Sara, but against the Daleks it hardly seems like a fair fight. Once again, even just in the stills on the reconstruction, this looks like a well put together action sequence by Camfield, and the Daleks looking intimidating and menacing.
I like the Doctor’s hat. He looks very much like an Englishman abroad, and ready for a holiday. I don’t think this will be it, though. And look, here to join the fun is Peter Butterworth! Mavic Chen is most suspicious of the Monk when they meet, and watching the time traveler squirm as he attempts to wriggle out of trouble is most amusing. The expressions on the Monk’s face are priceless!
Spooner loves writing for the Monk. He seems to be an amalgamation of many of the other characters that he has had in his stories. That great chemistry between him and Doctor is back, as they continuously attempt to outwit or one-up each other.
While I am enjoying these past few episodes, I have to admit that this story has become somewhat derailed, from the fantastic taut thrills and tension of the first 6 parts, to the more leisurely comedy that I’m watching now. I suppose with 12 weeks to fill it was inevitable that that would happen. I hope the tension starts to build up for the finale though.
Episode 10 – Escape Switch
Well, I didn’t see that coming at the end of the last episode; the Monk is the scary Mummy coming out of the tomb. His sense of indignity at what he claims the Doctor did to him is marvelous. Butterworth is once again having a ball with the character. But neither Sara or Steven believe a word of it. Sara has grown to trust the Doctor very quickly it seems and stands up for him immediately.
Once he has managed to place them all in the custody of the Daleks and Chen, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that he has betrayed the TARDIS crew, the Monk continues trying to play both sides, and convince each party that he is their ally. His squirming and wriggling as he tries to make his case are a constant delight to watch.
The model sequences of the pyramids look really good, and it’s a nice touch that the Egyptians are so intimidated by the amplified sound. I love the look on the Doctor’s face as he listens to Chen’s ultimatum. It’s as if he is making up a plan on the spot, and calculating the best way to handle the situation. Once more, the confrontation method is that which is chosen.
And there’s that line that inspired Rob Shearman’s “Dalek”. “One Dalek is capable of exterminating all”. The look on Chen’s face at hearing that is one of shock. Perhaps he underestimated the Daleks. On the face of their actions in this story, I’d choose the Daleks every time.
That’s an unfortunate Billy Fluff. But also a little amusing, in that he seems ready to call Mavic Chen “Magic Chen”, which is what it’s going to take for Chen to survive this!
Once again the Doctor’s “revenege” on the Monk is most appropriate. It’s not terrible, or malicious, just mischievous again, and inspires just the expected reaction as the Monk rages powerless to the stars!
Episode 11 – The Abandoned Planet
Mavic Chen has grown extremely confident in his victory, and as soon as he has departed, it is clear that the Daleks know this an intend to use this against him. They really are wonderfully devious in this story. Far more so than we have seen them in previous adventures.
Perhaps Sara hasn’t quite got to know the Doctor as well as I had thought! But she cares, or she would not get so exasperated.
The delegates are not quite as impressed with Chen as he is with himself! I sense more intrigue and scheming. This episode has started to ramp up the tension again, which had dissipated rather over the last three or four episodes, which were amusing and fun, but lost the urgent pacing of the first half of this story.
Mavic Chen now starts his coup. You can hear the stunned silence after he kills one of them, and declares his control of the galactic council. But we all know what pride cometh before, and it doesn’t take long before the entire council is betrayed, including Chen.
Steven continues to show how much he has learned from the Doctor. Trusting the delegates to do the right thing now that they have seen the Daleks’ true colours, and they need to do whatever they can to protect their own areas of space.
All except Chen, of course. He is a wily fellow, and still has dreams of empire and more!
Episode 12 – The Destruction of Time
The Dalek fleet is mobilizing. They are ready for action. Mavic Chen is still delusional, and convinced he can turn things around, as he attempts to control Steven and Sara. But where has the Doctor gone? What is he up to?
We get one more wonderful boast from Mavic Chen. And then suddenly the Daleks cut him off. And then they are silent. If anything the silence that follows is more intimidating that any Dalek ranting. And Chen has no idea what to do, until he finally resorts to the violence that will end in his own extermination.
The Doctor has obviously been up to something, and has worked out how to defeat the Daleks. He is completely in control and knows exactly what he is doing. He knows he must protect his companions, and he has the Daleks at his mercy. It is a powerful performance. I would love to have seen how Hartnell played it.
Oh Sara, Sara, Sara! I love that you go back for the Doctor, but I wish she didn’t. It will doom her, and I would like to have spent more time with her. She’s been a great companion for the Doctor and Steven during this adventure, and I would like to have seen her develop more. The make-up work as Sara ages looks so impressive, and as she and the Doctor battle on, and the time destructor vibrates away, and the sounds of the wind and the sound effects get louder and louder, the tension increases and you feel the danger they are all in. As Sara wastes away and ages into dust, I feel so sad.
This story has been full of death and destruction. The Daleks are defeated but it has been at a high cost. The Doctor seems frail after he is rescued by Steven, and full of remorse for what has happened. It seems that he too has been affected by this, possibly more than any adventure they have been through so far. There is great sadness in him after all they have been through, and also great respect for the bravery of those they have lost.
I absolutely loved this story! It’s a true classic, despite the slowdown in the middle. A definite highlight of the marathon so far.
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