Day Four — January 4th 2021
The Escape and The Ambush
The Escape (The Daleks — Episode Three)
Over the years, Carole Ann Ford has often voiced her frustration at the character of Susan not being the one that was sold to her when she joined the programme. Certainly, the character of Susan in the Pilot is far more interesting than the one we have here, only seven episodes into the run. Even the toned-down version of Susan in the broadcast version of An Unearthly Child has more to her.
I have to confess that I’m not a huge fan of Susan. I don’t outright dislike her, but she doesn’t stand up well against later Hartnell companions like Vicki, and she’s definitely the weak link in this original TARDIS line up. What’s surprised me watching this time is just how quickly that happens. I always think of it as being something that takes place across her 50-or-so episodes, starting out with something to her and gradually becoming a slightly useless screamer.
But already in The Cave of Skulls she’s going hysterical because she hasn’t seen her grandfather for approximately four minutes. Don’t get me wrong, Barbara also has a breakdown in that episode, but hers feels like it comes at a natural point in events, when everything has gotten too much. Susan’s comes from nowhere.
In todays episode, she’s a mixture of things. Her fear at encountering the Thal feels believable, and she then managed to control it and have a good conversation with him. But it makes me long for a slightly more alien version of the character, who’s not frightened of the forest, and it only scared when taken by surprised.
It feels as though the team don’t quite know who they want her to be. The original ideas for Susan’s character were totally out there — with visions of her being an alien princess with a kooky name — but Sydney Newman was keen for her to be an every day ‘kid’, and it feels as though the decision has been taken to go that route already. There’s moments today, such as when she giggles at the Daleks asking what her name means, which feel written for someone younger than 15.
I have vague memories of being quite pleased when Susan left on my last marathon, and while I’m certainly not wishing her away yet, it’s a shame to see her character reduced so much so early on.
Today’s episode is a 7/10.
The Ambush (The Daleks — Episode Four)
Tell you what; the Daleks look great when we see them on film here, for the sequence of them cutting through the door. I’ll confess that I’ll spend a lot of time during this marathon lamenting the fact that Doctor Who wasn’t all shot on film in the olden days, because whenever we cut to some it looks so, so beautiful. Watching Spearhead From Space on blu-ray was a revelation, and I can’t wait to dive into the blu-ray season sets where the film elements survive, because I’m betting they’ll look gorgeous.
Fair play, though, the Daleks look pretty good in this episode all round. There’s something truly menacing about them slinking into hiding in unison as the Thals arrive, and the way their gun-sticks twitch while they wait to make their attack. I really love the original 60s Dalek design, and I don’t think any of the revisions during Old Testament Who manage to better it. I’m particularly fond of these ones, where they don’t even have the slats around their middle, but rather the two bands.
And while I’m not a fan of bringing back the ‘classic’ props to appear alongside the gorgeous Bronze versions in the New Testament, I really love the colour scheme they give this style of Dalek when they show up in Asylum or The Magician’s Apprentice — painting the middle section blue to match the bumps really works, and that’s how I’m imagining them looking here.
I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve heard the Daleks talking about Exterminating — they don’t have the catchphrase yet (I don’t think we hear that until The Dalek Invasion of Earth), but they do say here that Doctor Who and his friends are to be ‘Exterminated’, so the genesis of the idea is certainly there.
Another notable first today, and another one of those things that might only be of interest to me. The first (known) colour photos from Doctor Who were taken during the production of this episode. Specifically, they were taken during filming at Ealing on Tuesday 26th November 1963, which also happened to be the first recording on the series following broadcast of the first episode.
There’s two known photos from this filming, and one can be identified as being taken first because it features a Dalek casing being blown up, while the other shows the aftermath of that event!
7/10
