Day 27 — January 27th 2021
Powerful Enemy and A Desperate Venture
Powerful Enemy (The Rescue — Episode One)
I feel the need to get this out of the way right up front; I’ve not enjoyed today’s two episodes very much. I can’t recall what I felt about them the last time I did a marathon, but they’ve fallen beyond flat for me here. And the reason I’m saying this right at the top of my review is that I’ve enjoyed lots of individual bits of the episodes, but I think they end up being less than the sum of their parts. I just didn’t want to spend the next few paragraphs saying ‘this bit is really good’ and then whack out a 4/10 from nowhere.
So. Good things. We get a lovely shot of the TARDIS materialising, and not long after this there’s a brilliant close up of the middle part of the Console. It feels like some real thought has gone into the direction of the TARDIS in this episode, and we get a great camera move as our heroes step out of the box and into the cave. It feels fresh for the series; I’m not sure we’ve had anything like it before.
We also get a look at the newly repaired TARDIS prop, with a new roof light. And they’re making the most of the new light by having it flash and illuminate the set over and over. The materialisation for this episode was achieved by taking a photo of the TARDIS prop on set, and then fading from a view of the empty set to a view of the photograph. It’s a technique we’ve seen used in the series before, but this time around they’ve cut a little hole in the photograph to flash a light through, se we get to see it flashing even while the ship is landing. That’s quite clever (and it’s a trick they’ll use again in the series).
There’s some great interplay between our regulars, and I’m particularly fond of the following exchange;
Barbara: Doctor, the trembling’s stopped.
Doctor Who: Oh, my dear, I’m so glad you’re feeling better.
Barbara: No, not me, the ship!
Every now and then I find myself remembering this line — not just today, but in everyday life — and it always makes me laugh. We’re so used to seeing Barbara and Doctor Who argue with each other that it’s wonderful to see them share a light hearted moment.
I’m less keen on Doctor Who’s new necktie — it’s not as nice as his regular one — but that’s me just being picky now.
Also in the list of good things is the design of Koquillion. It looks a bit ropey now, but that sort of works given the revelations in the second episode. It’s striking, though, and it feels like an attempt to create something really alien. When we suddenly sut to him examining the TARDIS it’s a great moment.
But in spite of all these good things… oh god it’s dull. It’s so crushingly dull. I don’t care about Vicki. I don’t care about Bennett. I don’t care about Dido or the crashed spaceship, I just want to hop in the TARDIS and fly off somewhere else!
A Desperate Venture (The Rescue — Episode Two)
Probably the best thing in this episode is the shots of Doctor Who and Ian perched on a ledge above a terrifying alien creature. Okay, maybe terrifying is a little strong, but it is a great effect, and I really like the design of Sandy the Sand Beast, so there.
So great are these shots that although I was totally sure they were a two-source effect — like when we see the Dalek City in shot with the regulars in The Dead Planet — but I’m looking at screengrabs to upload here and I’m actually thinking they’re just in the one set. I love it when I have to question how something has been done, and usually the simpler it is the better it looks.
My big problem with this episode, aside from it continuing to plod along being ever so dull, is that all of our regulars are arseholes throughout. Genuinely, I’m amazed that Vicki chose to go off in the TARDIS at the end based on her experience of Doctor Who, Ian, and Barbara here.
Exhibit One; Barbara shoots Sandy the Sand Beast. Now, yes, she thought it was about to attack Vicki, had no idea it was domesticated, and was acting to save the girl’s life. But it’s the way she reacts afterwards that really bothers me, because she’s not very repentant at all. ‘Well, I didn’t know that did I? I mean, how could I?’ she protests when Vicki announces that Babs has just shot her pet and only friend. But as Vicki points out, she was loudly shouting at Barbara not to shoot!
Speaking of which, when have we ever known Barbara to be the kind of person who’d see an alien creature and shoot at it? Oh, sure, the Daleks and the Voords and the like have turned out to be evil, but she’s met the Sensorites, too, who looked a little weird but turned out to be (mostly) good people. It feels oddly out of character for Barbara to be so bloodthirsty.
Exhibit Two; Ian seems to find it funny that Vicki is upset about Sandy the Sand Beast’s death. ‘Cheer up, Vicki. And don’t forget, if old Kokylikin comes round, I’ve always got this,’ he says, waving in her face the gun with which barbara has just shot her pet.
And don’t even get me started on ‘Kockylickin’…!
Exhibit Three; Doctor Who tells Vicki to go away and sit with Barbara and Ian. When Vicki expresses trepidation at the idea, he replies ‘You mustn’t be like that. You’re not giving her much of a chance, are you? She’s nice, you know. You’ll like her.’
Not giving her much of a chance?! If someone rocked up and shot my pet in the face, I reckon I’d feel pretty pissy about it too! What makes me even more annoyed is that this conversation guilts Vicki into going and apologising to Barbara, which feels like abuse, frankly.
And then! Doctor Who knocks on Bennett’s door. ‘You can’t come in,’ a voice replies. Bear in mind that at this point, Doctor Who has only a vague suspicion that something isn’t right on the planet Dido. Which in no way justifies him deciding the appropriate response to being told he can’t enter a man’s private room is to pick up a metal girder and batter the door down!
All of the regulars feel like they’ve been written totally out of character for the majority of this episode, and it actually annoyed me. I love these three. I’ve loved them since Day One. They’re brilliant characters, great people, and Vicki should want to travel time and space alongside them. But the people she meets here aren’t the ones I know and love.
Today’s episode was heading for a 4/10, but having typed it all out, I’m even more annoyed by the behaviour of the regulars here than I realised, and I’m dropping right down. It’s a 2/10 from me.
