Day Six — January 6th 2021
The Rescue and The Edge of Destruction
The Rescue (The Daleks — Episode Seven)
One of the Thals describes the events of today’s episode as ‘the final war’ between the Thals and the Daleks. Which is unfortunate, really, because it make the action here seem even more lacklustre than it would usually.
Oh, I know, you have to make allowances with Doctor Who. It’s made for thruppence in a pokey studio in Lime Grove, and right from the start the corporation which made it took against it, but… well, the final battle with the Daleks really is a bit rubbish, isn’t it? It goes on for a couple of minutes, we see a small band of heroes overturn a couple of the props, and then it’s all over.
Throughout the serial, there’s been an attempt to imply that there’s lots more Daleks scattered about all over the city. Be it cardboard cut outs swelling the numbers in their Main Control, or talk of the Daleks in other sections getting sick from the Anti-Radiation Drugs. But there’s none of that here. It feels as though they overpower the four Daleks and that’s the day won! I want to hear about other Thals going in and overpowering the rest of the Daleks!
I think I’m probably being a little harsh, and it’s certainly not fair to judge this episode under the weight of knowing that off-screen the Daleks had captured the imagination of the public, and would become an important part of the programme forever more. But it’s hard to escape the fact that it simply is underwhelming, and that’s a shame.
When I started this marathon, I said that I’d like to find something to love in every episode, and true to form I will say that the Doctor and Susan imprisoned by wall restraints in the Dalek City looks brilliant.
The episode itself, though, is only a 4/10.
The Edge of Destruction (The Edge of Destruction — Episode One)
I don’t really know how fandom as a whole views this story. There are some tales — like The Caves of Androzani or The Twin Dilemma — where you just know what the general opinion is. Heck, when you become a part of the fandom, you’re practically handed a list of which stories it’s okay to like, and which ones you should dislike. But this story feels like one that’s fallen through the cracks, because I feel like no one ever really talks about it.
I also can’t remember what I thought of it the last time around, but I’m sorry to report that I’ve not particularly enjoyed it today (look, I know, but we’ve got Marco Polo coming up tomorrow, so I’m sure to be sounding a bit more positive in these posts before long).
In theory The Edge of Destruction is a killer idea, and it’s one that would work the best with this TARDIS team, right here at the beginning of their adventures. They find themselves trapped alone in the TARDIS, unable to escape, with strange things going on around them. Suspicion falls on each person in turn, the cracks start to show… In my head, I want this story to feel more like the classic Twilight Zone episode The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. If you’ve not seen it then it’s certainly worth seeking out.
A small community find themselves without power one day. They all gather in the street to debate what might be happening until… the lights come on in a single house. There’s more confusion, and then there’s anger. How come he has power? Is he responsible for the loss of everyone else? On and on it goes, tension mounting as night falls, suspicion shifting from person to person… Ooh, it’s good. And I want more of that here!
As it is, things seem a little flat, and most of the cast seem to be using it as an excuse to give some slightly bizarre performances. The real standout, and I feel like I might say this a lot in the marathon, is Jaqueline Hill as Barbara. She’s so good here, when she lambasts Doctor Who for the way he treats them. Her whole speech to him is incredible, and she delivers it with some real venom;
How dare you! Do you realise, you stupid old man, that you’d have died in the Cave of Skulls if Ian hadn’t made fire for you? And what about what we went through against the Daleks? Not just for us, but for you and Susan too. And all because you tricked us into going down to the city. Accuse us? You ought to go down on your hands and knees and thank us. But gratitude’s the last thing you’ll ever have, or any sort of common sense either.
A slightly odd thing that comes off the back of this is the images appearing on the TARDIS scanner. Doctor Who tells them that the ship keeps a record of all the places they’ve visited, and that’s what’s being played to us here. We get a glimpse of the English countryside (which retroactively you can apply to the adventure with Henry VIII which is referenced in a few stories’ time), and a glimpse of another alien world, where Susan and Doctor Who ‘ nearly lost the Tardis, four or five journey’s back’.
I really like this idea, that the ship is playing their adventures backwards, but it seems such an odd missed opportunity to not show the Petrified Forest on Skaro, the desert of 100,000BC, or the Junkyard on Totter’s Lane. They’ve got photos of them all, and they’ve had to dig up some entirely new ones for the sequence we get on screen, so why leave them out?!
One final thought for today, and it’s sticking with the subject of photography.
The Radio Times preview for this episode includes a gorgeous photograph of the TARDIS crew looking fearfully at the Westminster Abbey clock’s melting face. It’s probably one of my favourite Doctor Who photos of all time. The Doctor’s pose and expression especially are brilliant. But it’s a ‘lost’ photograph, which we’ve only got copies of in 2021 via the issue of the magazine. The negative is long since lost, so chances of ever seeing the photograph in high resolution are slim, and that makes me ridiculously sad!
5/10
