Day 28 — January 28th 2021
The Slave Traders and All Roads Lead to Rome
The Slave Traders (The Romans — Episode One)
Yesterday’s episodes left me in such a bad mood that I didn't comment on one of the best parts — the cliffhanger for this story, where the TARDIS falls off a cliff. Luckily it gets shown again here.
Cor it looks brilliant, doesn’t it? What a brilliant idea! I’m trying to remember if they’ve ever done anything like this in New Testament Who, and I don’t think they have which is bonkers.
The sequence here (filmed as part of The Rescue because it was needed for the end of that story) makes use of a brand new model of the TARDIS, specially created for this cliffhanger. It’s a great model, and we’ll be seeing a lot more of it as the series goes on. I love the addition to the reprise showing it languishing in the foliage at the bottom of the mountain, and I find Doctor Who’s lack of concern about the ship oddly amusing. It can take off from any position, he says, so why bother moving it?
Elsewhere, I think you can really see the success of the series showing in this story. Now that we’re out of Lime Grove and into Riverside the sets are so much more expansive. And I’m guessing there must have been an increase in the budget, too, because we’ve got loads of extras again today! I thought they were a one-off for the return of the Daleks, but in the main square here it’s packed.
Or maybe having only three guest cast for The Rescue meant they could bulk up the numbers in Rome.
It’s quite nice to see our regulars enjoying themselves and having a bit of time off. So many of these early stories lead directly into each other that you get the sense they’ve barely stopped since leaving 1963. I’ve been trying to work out where they could have had a gap so far. I reckon between leaving Marco Polo and reaching Marinus there’s room for a breather, and again between Marinus and South America (we see a reprise of the ship leaving Marinus at the start of The Aztecs, but that’s more of a reprise for us than a direct continuation). Both of these gaps can only have been small, though, or we’d have had other adventures recounted at the start of The Sensorites.
Planet of Giants opens with Doctor Who confirming that they’ve just left ‘the 18th Century’, but as I said a few days ago, that doesn’t necessarily mean it follows directly on. I reckon the best spot for a gap is between Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The scanner is broken at the end of the former and at the start of the latter, but considering the TARDIS is on the blink fairly often, I don’t think that’s any particular reason to assume they’re consecutive.
The Rescue opens with Doctor Who missing Susan, but I reckon there’s room for a couple of adventures to have happened since she left — he has just woken up from a nap, after all, so he could be feeling bit out of sorts. So there’s not much room for them to have taken a break, but there’s a bit of wiggle room all the same.
People tend to describe Barbara and Ian in this story as being post-coitial, but I don’t think that’s the case at all. If anything, I think they’re distinctly pre-coitial, with lots of flirting (‘what a splendid Roman you make…’). I bet they were looking forward to Doctor Who going away for a few days so they could finally give in!
Something that always comes up about The Romans is that it’s Doctor Who’s first ‘comedy’ adventure, and I’m pleased to see that there really are a few good laughs in this one. Doctor Who being alarmed that he’d eaten ants eggs gave me a good chuckle (there’s a running theme about ants in this second season, isn’t there?), but my favourite is probably;
Doctor Who: I didn’t know that I was under any obligation to report my movements to you, Chesterfield.
Barbara: Chesterton.
Doctor Who: Oh, Barbara’s calling you.
7/10
All Roads Lead to Rome (The Romans — Episode Two)
I’m really pleased that I’m finding the humour in this one, because I’m sure the last time I watched it fell flat for me and I didn’t find it funny at all. The introduction of Nero has shades of Shakespeare in The Shakespeare Code — you’re expecting to meet this great historical figure and you’re presented with someone totally unexpected, and very human.
His introduction here, belching, eating a chicken leg and wiping his hands on a courtier’s robes, is surprisingly funny, and Hartnell is enjoying the chance to play some comedy opposite him. My biggest laugh from the episode is Nero calling for a stool to put his foot on, and Doctor Who trying to sit down on it by accident. It works so well, and it feels nicely spontaneous — I wonder if it was scripted or made up in rehearsals? I like to imagine it’s the latter, and I’m not going to check because I don’t want to spoil it for myself! I also enjoy Tavius whispering to get Doctor Who’s attention, and the man replying by telling Vicki to ‘stop making that funny noise’.
It’s also fun that Doctor Who and Vicki just miss seeing Barbara in Rome — I know there’s a joke about it coming at the end of the story (It’s one of the few things I can remember about this one), and it feels just the right side of contrived at this stage.
Something that surprises me, though, is how much they’ve blended the comedy with some really dark material. Ian and Barbara are properly sold into slavery! He’s been consigned to a ship and she’s been sold at auction. You can really see how this story might have been stretched out to seven episodes, with Ian at sea for two weeks before touching down hundreds of miles from Rome. The pace is probably better here, but it doesn’t feel like it wouldn’t work longer.
7/10
One last thing I’ve noticed today; the TARDIS’ ornaments are starting to leak out from the ship. The bronze pillars turned up in the ceremonial hall on Dido yesterday, and they’re outside Doctor Who’s room in Rome today! I know they’ll be showing up again later in the season as part of Richard the Lionheart’s decoration, so I can only assume that the TARDIS in Season Two is homing in on places that specifically feature these pillars!
It fascinates me that these same props are still available to rent from a prop store, and as such feature in modern recreations of Hartnell’s TARDIS like An Adventure in Space and Time and Twice Upon a Time. Somehow, there’s something magical about knowing they’re still kicking around the universe almost 60 years later.
