The fact that this was the final episode of the story was not shown on screen or in the Radio Times, so most viewers in 1963 wouldn't have known it in advance - unless some continuity announcement revealed this. I'd be grateful if someone could clear this up for me, as I find it hard to imagine these days what it would have been like to know so little.
I've not got a lot to say about the story itself. It's generally a satisfying conclusion, though the trick with the flaming skulls requires some suspension of disbelief. The violence level continues to be high, Za crushing Kal's head with a rock and the Doctor instigating a stoning. The final fight between the rival cavemen was less extreme, though, and worked fairly well as the centrepiece of the action. The accompanying music was not the best, and I kept imagining Kirk's fight theme from the original Star Trek in my head as I was watching - when the fight was shown on Junior Points of View they apparently had someone commentating as if it were a wrestling match, so I wasn't the only one thinking along these lines!
The characterisation and interpersonal relations continue to be a strength; this time the Doctor gets to contribute effectively, and the rivalry with Ian settles down into something more manageable. I'm not sure about Susan since you could read her discovery of the flaming skull effect in two ways: as a scatty child suddenly getting unrealistically interested in something irrelevant in the midst of danger, or a bright mind looking for anything that could help. This episode was Barbara's turn to take a back seat, which is fair enough as she's been at the centre for most of the show so far. As for the tribe, Za took the focus this time and I liked his decisions - he surprised me in betraying the travellers, but when it was revealed that he didn't remember much of what happened while he was ill it felt right.
Waris Hussein's direction was quite different in this episode, more experimental; sometimes it worked well and sometimes it took me out of the story. I liked the closeups in the caves and the face-to-camera scenes with the tribe gathered around the fire (which put me in mind of the Bohemian Rhapsody video), but the face shots of the regulars running for the ship didn't look real enough. I'm generally glad when directors don't play it safe, but this went perhaps a little too far.
So, I've finally got to an entry that hasn't grown bloated with the things I've wanted to say, and reading it back it sounds more like a bullet-point list. Still, I'll let it stand. There's only one more thing I want to discuss: the ending.
Let's start with effects. This is the first time we get to see the TARDIS dematerialise, and that dread phrase springs to mind, "good considering when it was done." It would have worked better without the spear-throwing, to be honest, but if I can just discard my memories of later dematerialisations, it's not bad - and it does show that the ship is actually moving.
Then, of course, we get the interplay between the travellers. There's not been a messed-up line in the show so far, and the almost-live nature of the recording has not been apparent at all. There's a bit of conflict thrown in to show that not everything's hunky-dory after the teamwork shown while escaping their prehistoric prison, which feels natural; and we get an explanation of why the Doctor can't take Iananbarbara straight home - which implies that he can do so given some breathing space. Wearing my future hat I know that he's either wrong or lying. At this stage I'm inclined to believe he's deluding himself, thinking he can do more with the ship than he actually can. Or maybe he could do it if it weren't for something else going wrong in the TARDIS.
Finally finally, we get the cliffhanger introduction to the next story. This is just like the 1001 Nights, making sure that people want to come back even though this adventure's over, and is an interesting approach. The new series actually does something a little bit similar with the "Next Time" trailers, but I like the continuing saga feel of the original - and the way the radiation gauge ties in with the smashed geiger counter is neat, too. The stories aren't neatly packaged like they became later. But more on that in the next entry...
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 14th December 1963
Viewers: 6.4 million
Chart Position: 70
Appreciation Index: 55
Rating:
6/10.
Next Time:
Confusion abounds as I think about the first story as a whole. Or perhaps the first two stories?
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