Episode Count: 6 Series: 1 Story No: 5
Doctor: 1st Companions: Ian, Barbara & Susan
Date(s) Watched: Sunday 7th December 2008 (Episodes 1 & 2), Saturday 27th December 2008 (Episodes 3-6)
Ah, now this is much better, I thought this story was great, a nice contrast to the last story & always on the move. From the opening landing shot in episode 1 to the closing take off shot in episode 6 I rather enjoyed this one. I liked that Ian kept on his Marco Polo costume throughout this story which showed a nice continuation between the two adventures.
First off the good points, I liked all of the sets, all worked quite well, even the more plainer court room scenes, but then again a court room isn’t meant to be grand is it? The cast again were superb with Sabetha coming across well as well as a potential Tardis team member (which doesn’t happen unfortunately) and Vasor who is played rather convincingly an menacingly by Francis De Wolff. The music wasn’t intrusive at all and suited the story well.
I also liked how the story was structured into two halves (roughly) with the first been Team Tardis, along with Altos & Sabetha searching for the keys & then the last half centring on Ian been accused of killing a guard & stealing the last key without permission. I didn’t find the story dull at all and the only reason for the gap in viewing the story between episodes 2 & 3 was because I was unfortunately pre-occupied with other things in the run up to Christmas. The Doctors absence in Episodes 3 & 4 is noticeable but the rest of the cast carry the story well. However when The Doctor shows up again Hartnell shows how great he is in the court room scene, and there is a nice moment of him showing genuine sadness & fondness (if that’s the right word) for Ian when he thinks that he is to be executed. I also liked the Voord’s masks, they look well made, especially for the time.
There are a couple of weak points although only one of them was a major irritant. That was Susan, yes again the character just screamed & cried throughout the story & became very irritating rather quickly. I’m glad she wasn’t there for the “Scream Jungle” scenes. To be fair I don’t blame this on Carole Ann Ford, she was asked to play the part in that way & I can see why she decided to leave. The only other complaint was the court scene was at one stage in danger of dragging on slightly (compared to the first four episodes) but was just the right length to stop that from happening.
Overall Rating: 4/5 – Nice little adventure, well played by all, with sadly Susan letting it down a bit by the constant wining, however the story is strong enough to not let that damage it too much.
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