PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Science Fiction Sunday 649

Doctor Who 0022 The Massacre Four part story that aired February 5-26 1966. Written by John Lucarotti and Donald Tosh, directed by Paddy Russell. Linking script by Stephen Cole and Sue Cowley, narrated by Peter Purvis. Another story that's missing, there is no known footage from the series, some behind the scenes photos survive. I haven't heard this story before.

Lucarotti wrote the serial but script editor Tosh rewrote a good bit of it. It was the last serial Tosh worked on as script editor, he did rewrite much of Brian Hughes script for 0024 The Celestial Toymaker, that script was then rewritten by Gerry Davis, the new script editor. Davis created Jamie McCrimmon and was co-creator, along with Kit Pedler, of the Cybermen. The pair would later team up for the TV series Doomwatch.

The Tardis gang arrive in 1572 France just before the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Peter Purvis is still hanging on as the Doctor's companion Steven. The streets are unsafe but the Doctor insists on going into the city to visit Charles Preslin, an apothecary. We don't see the Doctor for much of the story, we do see William Hartnell playing a second role, that of the Abbot Of Amboise.

Steven meets a a Huguenot called Nicholas Muss who offers him a place to stay out of the curfew. They meet a servant girl named Ann who's heard of plot against the Huguenots. Steven sees the Abbot and thinks it's the Doctor in disguise but he's not.

Steven tries to track down the Doctor, Preslin's shop is empty and he's told by a local that the shop has been vacant two years, ever since the man was arrested and imprisoned. Steven learns of a plot against a man called the Sea Beggar and with Ann call on the Abbot to see if it the Doctor. The Abbot is killed in the street as he arrives at the man's home.

The Doctor arrives with an urge to flee the city, he tells Ann to go back to her aunt's house. It's the eve before the massacre and he can't change history. Inside the Tardis Steven is upset that the Doctor didn't try to stop it and didn't take Ann along. The Tardis arrives in 1966 Wimbledon Common and Steven leaves the ship. As the Doctor wonders about his life Dodo Chaplet, played by Jackie Lane, enters the Police Box to call the police. Steven pops in, he's seen the girl go into the Tardis and he comes to warn the Doctor that police are approaching. Before he realizes Dodo is there, the Doctor takes off. Dodo isn't too worried that she's in a time travelling spaceship.

A lot of people seem to like the serial, it would be nice to see the images that are missing, at least the audio is quite decent. I do still find Steven somewhat annoying but over all the story is entertaining.

Doctor Who 0023 The Ark Four part story that aired March 5-26 1966. Written by Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott, directed by Michael Imison.

I posted about this back in 2013. Click the link above to see the post, I pretty much feel the same about the serial.

Science Fiction Sunday 648

Doctor Who 0021 The Dalek's Master Plan Twelve part story that aired November 13 1965 to January 29 1966 Written by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner, directed by Douglas Camfield. Linking script by Sue Cowley, read by Peter Purves. Nine of the episodes are missing, only episodes 2, 5 and 10 have video.

I listened to the audio CDs, the story fills 5 discs. The first disc has the Mission To The Unknown episode and some short interviews with Peter Purves, the rest of the discs have the 12 episodes, 3 per disc. Peter played the companion Steven, in this story he's joined by Adrienne Hill as the new companion Katrina. Sadly, she won't get to the end of the story and she becomes the first companion to die on the program. Jean Marsh sort of takes her place but she too doesn't survive either.

In Mission To The Unknown the Tardis passes the planet Kembel as the Dalek's meet with other aliens to discuss a union of forces to attack the Earth. Six months pass and the Tardis arrives on Kembel. They get aid for the wounded Steven from Space Agent Bret Vyon, played by Nicholas Courtney. The Doctor finds out that the Dalek's have a new weapon, the Time Destructor, and it needs the power of some stuff called Taranium.

 

The Guardian of the Earth has taken up with the Daleks and he's got some Taranium. The Doctor steals the Taranium and escapes the planet in the guardian's spaceship. Katrina sacrifices her life to save the Doctor from an escaped convict that wants to go to Kembel. When the Guardian's ship lands on Earth, Bret kills an agent and Jean Marsh kills him. It's no wonder the episodes were not allowed to air on Australian TV for being too violent for children. A set of the episodes were sent to Australia, they never aired there and it's unknown where the films went.

 

The Meddling Monk, played by Peter Butterworth, turns up for a while, the Doctor leaves him stranded on a desolate icy planet. The Doctor and the Daleks chase each other through space and time. The Tardis visits include a visit to an early Hollywood silent movie set, an 1960s London police station at Christmas, and ancient Egypt. Eventually they get back to Kembel where the Dalek's have turned on their allies. The Doctor frees the allies and they vow to get their planets to fight the Daleks. The allies leave the planet and the Doctor turns the Time Destructor on, sadly Sarah doesn't make it back to the Tardis and she turns to dust. The Doctor and Steven survive.

I thought it was a good bit too long. I was getting tired near the end and I was listening to them at 1.5 speed. There was so much of it that had nothing to do with the Dalek story, it could have been a nice six part story. There's video on the Lost In Time DVD set that I'll probably watch next week.

Science Fiction Sunday 647

Today's three stories are all lost episodes, stories that were wiped without making sure that there was a backup copy on film. All have audio, recorded by fans when they were broadcast. I missed them on my first run through Doctor Who back in 2013. They weren't available at the library at the time. I've since obtained the audio versions of the serials and listened to those today.

Doctor Who 0018 Galaxy 4 Four part story that aired September 11 to October 2 1965. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus with an uncredited Mervyn Pinfield. Linking script by Sue Cowley, read by Peter Purvis. I found I enjoyed the linking script which narrates the action. The CDs have two episodes on each disc and the sound is nice and clear.

The story has some surviving video, 6 mins of the first episode and the complete third episode. The audio of the missing episodes has been augmented with animated photos and combined with the available video into a 62 min program. Complete episodes usually ran about 24 mins, so there's a fair bit of dead space missing. I thought it worked quite well, tightens up the story nicely. You can find it on the 2 disc Special Edition of The Aztecs. When I saw The Aztecs back in January 2013 the there was only the single disc edition, the 2 disc came out later that year. 

 

The Doctor, Steven and Vicki land on a planet where they encounter some squat robots Vicki calls Chumbleys.

 

A couple of warrior women arrive and toss a net over the robot. The women tell the Tardis gang that they are warriors from the planet Drahvin in Galaxy 4. The robots are in control of another race called the Rill and they are dangerous murderers.

 

The women take the Doctor and pals to their ship where they meet Maaga, the captain of the ship. They're a cold hearted aggressive race and their warrior women are genetically engineered clones breed for battle. Maaga is the only one with higher thinking ability and sadly she hasn't gotten much.

 

Maaga tells the Doctor that they were in space when they encountered the Rills, a race they hadn't encountered before, both ships were damaged in a fire fight and crashed on the unnamed planet. Maaga tells them that they tried to communicate but it didn't work out and one of her warriors had been killed by the Rill. We soon learn that Maaga is a big ass liar, she killed her own soldier for getting wounded. Maaga and her crew haven't been able to repair their ship, she wants the Rill ship to save her crew. She isn't willing to share the Rill's ship with them.

 

Vicki and the Doctor make friends with the Rill and help them get their ship repaired. Sadly the Drahvinians are left behind. Ha Ha.

That's the Rills, they have to stay behind the transparent wall because they breathe ammonia. I was entertained.

Doctor Who 0019 Mission To The Unknown Single part story that aired October 9 1965. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Derek Martinus. Linking script by Sue Cowley, read by Peter Purvis.

This episode appears on the first CD of The Dalek's Master Plan CD set even though there are 4 more episodes that come between the two stories. It's really like a teaser or prologue for The Dalek's Master Plan.

An odd one off story that doesn't feature any of the Tardis gang. Apparently Producer Verity Lambert wanted to give the cast another week off before they started the next round of production and this episode was born.

Members of the UN Deep Space Force discover a Dalek plot on the planet Kembel. The Dalek Supreme is meeting with the representatives from the seven galaxies to deal with the Human invaders and take over the Galaxy.

That's Verity Lambert with some of the aliens. This is her last production for the series, she would go on to produce other programs like Adam Adamant Lives!, Minders, and a favorite of mine, Jonathan Creek.

I hadn't heard this episode before, it's kind of interesting but it really should have been placed before the 12 episodes of The Dalek's Master Plan to be more effective. I'm sure that's why they put it on the first CD in that serials CD set. From what I read it's not even that important to the overall serial and there are character changes between 0019 and 0021. I'll get to 0021 next week.

Doctor Who 0020 The Myth Makers Four part story that aired October 16 to November 6 1965. Linking script by Sue Cowley, read by Peter Purvis. The program is now being produced by John Wiles.

 

I hadn't heard the story before. The Doctor meddles in the Battle Of Troy, giving the Greeks the idea for the Trojan Horse and riding along inside. This serial sees the end of Vicki's run on the series. She decides to run off and marry Troilus. I wouldn't want to live in those days.

 

Katarina joins the Tardis gang briefly and Steven will stay on for a bit. There are some video clips in the Lost In Tie DVD set but I didn't bother with those. It was an alright story, nothing much special about it.

Science Fiction Sunday 646

Doctor Who 0015 The Space Museum Four part story that aired April 24 to May 20 1965. Written by Glyn Johns and directed by Mervyn Pinfield.

I'm still thinking this isn't one of the better serials. Plodding help the rebels story that has few nice moments. I still get a kick out of the Doctor hiding in a Dalek shell.

Doctor Who 0016 The Chase Six part story that aired May 22 to June 26 1965. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin.

The Tardis gang lead the Daleks on a chase through time. At the end of the story Ian and Barbara leave the Tardis and take the Dalek's time machine back to their own time. They land in 1965, two years after they left, which makes me wonder why they couldn't have gone back to the night they left in the first story. Now they have to make up a story to explain why they were gone for two years. It's that sort of story telling that bothers me some. Not enough to remember about it tomorrow but in the now - annoying.

 

Doctor Who 0017 The Time Meddler Four part story that aired July 3 to July 24 1965. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Douglas Camfield.

That's Peter Purvis with William Hartnell in the picture above, he's the new companion. The Doctor has found a helmet that he id's as viking. We all know that vikings didn't have horns on their helmets. The Tardis gang are in Britain in 1066 and they encounter Peter Butterworth who's playing a monk who wants to change time. That's a big no-no to the Doctor.

That ends Series 2 of the show. Verity Lambert has left the building. There are big changes coming in Series 3.

Science Fiction Sunday 645

 

Doctor Who 013 The Web Planet Six part serial that aired February 13 to March 20 1965. Written by Bill Strutton and directed by Richard Martin.

I watched this back in November 2012 for the first time. Here's the post. I'm still thinking it's too long a story and I'm wondering if I'm doing myself a disservice in not watching all the extras. My post reminds me that I found them as much or more entertaining than the actual episodes. Maybe once all the Blu-rays are published I'll watch the series again and listen to the extras. Right now there's 8 out of 25 seasons out. On the whole I'm enjoying the stories even if I find the Doctor annoying at times.

 

Doctor Who 014 The Crusade Four part story that aired March 27 to April 17 1965. Written by David Whitaker and directed by Douglas Camfield.

I didn't get to see this story right after The Web Planet, the library had a bit of a wait list on the Lost In Time DVD, I got it about 3 weeks later. The Crusade is a serial that has 2 of the 4 episodes missing. There are audio recordings of them both and they are on the Bill Hartnell DVD in the 2 disc Lost In Time DVD set, the other disc has surviving episodes with Patrick Troughton as The Doctor.  The other two incomplete Bill Hartnell serials are The Daleks' Masterplan and The Celestial Toymaker. Here's my post for all three stories on the disc.

Science Fiction Sunday 644

The two Doctor Who stories today were both packed in a 2 disc box set. That's the slipcase cover of the UK edition. The two serials each are put in their own case with printed cover and printed insert with a synopsis of the serial and a detailed listing of the extras.  The US edition puts the two discs in one case without the insert. I've always thought that releasing each serial as a separate unit was the best way to get the most money out of your fans. Admittedly they do pack each serial with plenty of extras and those extras have a good bit of added value for me but an added cost for the BBC. Taken as a whole it's a phenomenal package with hundreds of hours of extras.

Doctor Who 011 The Rescue Two part serial that aired January 2-9 1965. Written by David Whitaker and directed by Christopher Barry.

Not one of the more interesting stories, a quick rescue to pick up another sidekick. It's the first appearance of Vicki, played by Maureen O'Brien. She's kind of in the same mold as Susan. I thought she was a bit annoying when I watched the series before and she's still kind of annoying.

Doctor Who 012 The Romans Four part serial that aired January 16 to February 6 1965. Written by Dennis Spooner and directed by Christopher Barry.

The Tardis gang spend months in Italy and the Doc gives Nero the idea of burning down Rome. Always a bag of laughs, our Doctor. Still think it could have been cut down to make it faster paced but that's something I prefer.

Science Fiction Sunday 643

The second series of Doctor Who started with two ambitious serials. The second story was the first to feature a good bit of outdoor shooting on film. Several recognizable London locations were used. The studio sets were still a bit cramped even though they had moved to a different studio. Riverside studios had better equipment and large studio rooms.

 

009 Planet Of Giants Three part serial that aired October 31 to November 14 1964. Written by Louis Marks and directed by Mervyn Pinfield (1 & 2) and Douglas Canfield (3).

As I look at the old post I see I got the airing date wrong. I'll have to remember to go back and fix that. I enjoyed the story about the same and did think that the condensation of episodes 3 and 4 did make the story move along better. It's still nice to have the option of seeing as it was originally shot.

 

010 The Dalek Invasion Of The Earth Six part serial that aired November 21 to December 26 1964. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin.

I'm still unhappy with the end of the serial, where the Doctor dumps Susan into a post alien invasion England. Carole Ann Ford wanted to leave the series, she wasn't happy playing a teenager that screamed and fell down all the time. I can't blame her, she was the worst written main character on the show.

My biggest complaint is that the Doctor dumped her there, She didn't get a say in it. I'm still thinking the Doctor is a dick. I thought she could have had a nice moment where she decides to stay on her own. Cue tearful goodbye. I suspect that sort of scene wasn't the sort of thing Terry could write. Maybe he hadn't even thought of it. His writing hasn't made me a fan of his work.

A lot of people watched that serial, 11.4 mill at the start and 12.4 mill for the last episode. That was when Britain had 53 million people in it. I wonder how many people have seen it since.

Science Fiction Sunday 642

007 The Sensorites Six part serial that aired June 20to August 1 1964 Written by Peter R Newman, directed by Mervyn Pinfield (1-4) and Frank Cox (5-6).

 

I still find the First Doctor a bit of an arse at times. He's cantankerous and off putting but he does get the job done. When I first watched this story it was 2012 and over the years I had grown fond of William Hartnell's Doctor. On watching the story again I was reminded off the times when he was an annoying old man. I don't try to pick a favorite Doctor, I enjoy all the variants as they come, but Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker edge the others out a bit. They are the three actors that really brought character to the Doctor. Mind you I haven't seen any of the Doctors from 2005 on. I know of them, who could you know, but I've not seen any whole episodes. I have the DVDs waiting to watch once I get through this first lot again. 

I enjoyed the Sensorites again, even if their costumes aren't very good. They are a peaceful people but they have their limits. That one guy, he's really ambitious and he'll kill to get ahead. He tries his best to kill the Tardis crew but he's just not that good at being a villain. It's also lucky for the Tardis crew that the Doctor cured the strange illness that's been killing the locals. Gets him in with the top man on the planet, good when things get sticky. 

Over all an enjoyable story that I'd watch again someday.

008 The Reign Of Terror Six part serial that aired August 8 to September 12 1964 Written by Dennis Spooner, directed by Henric Hirsch.

The Doctor and the Tardis gang stumble into the middle of the downfall of Robespierre. They get caught and imprisoned at times during the story. It seems like they're always popping in and out of jail. At one point Barbara and Susan are bound for the guillotine. Luckily, they get rescued.

The story isn't too bad. This is a serial that had episodes 4 and 5 erased. Audio was found and around 2012 the BBC had animation commissioned. It's better than audio only and might even be better than the use of production stills. Some of the later animated episodes are better. Still, I'd watch this again.

Science Fiction Sunday 641

 

Doctor Who 005 The Keys Of Marinus Six part serial that aired April 11 to May 16 1964 Written by Terry Nation and directed by John Gorrie.

I find I still have some of the same complaints I had when I watched the serial for the first time back in 2013, mostly about Terry Nation's writing skills. Not that I'm hating to watch the show, I understand the problems behind the scenes, no money, no time, having to work with Terry Nation. It's a tough business.

 

Doctor Who 006 The Aztecs Four part serial that aired May 23 to June 13 1964. Written by John Lucarotti and directed by John Crockett.

When I watched this serial back in 2013 I watched the 2003 US DVD, today I watched the 2013 UK 2 disc Special Edition DVD. There was a single DVD edition in the UK in 2002. The content of the first disc is the same in both UK DVDs. The US disc has the same material plus a special Who's Who extra with short bios of the main cast. The second disc on the 2013 UK Special Edition is mostly taken up with a 64 min condensed version of the 18th serial Galaxy 4. The video of the third episode of Galaxy 4 is the only episode of the serial to have survived the big erase.

In this version of Galaxy 4 they've edited out the quiet bits and added stills from the story to make the episodes more interesting to watch. There have been better animated versions of some serials but not all are going to get that treatment because of the cost. Luckily the missing episodes all have audio counterparts out on CD. They've added a good bit of narration to the audio releases and it makes the story easier to understand.

The paper insert in the UK DVD tells me the serial has "greatly improved restoration" and a quick comparison sees some improvement. All the images on the left are from the 2003 US DVD and the right images are from the 2013 UK DVD.

It is a sharper and darker image on the UK side. The audio seems similar to me but I've no high end speakers or high end ears to really put them to the test. Story wise I still feel the same as I did in 2013, mostly a good story with some low points when the characters act like idiots.

Science Fiction Sunday 640

Doctor Who 004 Marco Polo February 22 1964 to April 4 1964. 

Written by John Lucarotti, directed by Waris Hussein (1-3, 5-7) and John Crockett (4), produced by Verity Lambert and Martin Pinfield.

William Hartnell is the Doctor, Carole Ann Ford is Susan Forman, Jacqueline Hill is Barbara Wright and William Russell is Ian Chesterton.

I listened to the 7 part story on audio CD and followed that with the condensed version that was included on the DVD for the 3rd story The Edge Of Destruction. The condensed version is only about 31 mins and it uses stills taken during the broadcast recording to try to give the viewer an idea what the show looked like.  

All of the 97 lost episodes have audio versions and they are on CD in 5 sets. The quality is good considering that the source was most likely from a fan who audio taped the episode when it was first broadcast.

The Doctor, Susan, Barbara and Ian find themselves high in the mountains when the Tardis finally stops after having trouble in the last two episodes. They are immediately threatened by some Mongols. Lucky for them they are saved by Marco Polo.

 

Mark Eden plays Marco Polo and Derren Nesbitt plays the Mongol warlord Tegana. Tegana thinks the Doctor is some sort of Wizard, a carriage with no wheels, it must be magic. He wants to kill the Tardis crew but Marco stops him. He brings the Tardis and crew along in his caravan. Marco gets it in his head to confiscate the magical flying carriage and use it as a gift for the Great Kublai Kahn. Marco hopes to gain favor and be allowed to return to Vienna after being away for 17 years. Against the Doctor's wishes he takes the key.

Most of the episodes are taken up with the Doctor trying to get back into the Tardis to fix a broken part. The Mongols think it's a bad idea to allow the Doctor back into his carriage and Marco goes along with that. It's quickly revealed that Tegana has revenge on his mind. He wants to kill the Kahn and take over. He does what he can to sabotage the caravan but eventually fails in his plan.

The Doctor meets Kublai Kahn and they become pals. Marco and the Tardis gang defeat the evil Tegana and save the Kahn's life. The Kahn allows Marco to travel to Vienna. The Doctor has repaired the Tardis and they depart.

Mostly a fun story, a bit too much repeated capture and escape. That was a complaint I had when I watched the series for the first time. It dawdled along rather slowly at times. Still, it's early doors and the show is still figuring out how to best tell these stories.

The CD set has a bonus disc with interviews of the cast. There's about 40 minutes worth of material that was fairly decent. I liked listening to the interviews and commentaries on the episodes when I first watched the series. There's wealth of interesting material there but it does eat up the hours. I started to run the extras at 1.5 speed to help shorten the time past.