On to serial B, then - but not to the next episode shot. There was a technical problem with the recording first time around, and the whole episode had to be remounted three weeks later. You can certainly see the effect on William Hartnell - he's suddenly looking tired and we get the first errors in his delivery, the so-called "Billy fluffs" for which the First Doctor became well known. In fact he starts with a classic, getting Ian's name wrong ("Chesterfield"). My guess is that this will happen less in episode 6, but I can't remember from previous viewings so I'll have to wait and see.
The Dead Planet is my favourite episode since An Unearthly Child, and I've realised that this isn't just because Doctor Who writers are better at beginning stories than ending them (although I suspect that it plays a part, too). This is another one centred on a mystery, as openings naturally tend to be, and I think these resonate with me more than the action-based ones. There's also a lot that's new - we're visiting an alien world for the first time and we get to see other rooms in the ship - so our interest is held throughout.
Speaking of the other rooms, we get introduced to the food machine - and is there anyone who first saw this after hearing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that didn't immediately think of Douglas Adams' nutrimat? Which is, quite possibly, the reverse of cause and effect, since Adams was certainly influenced by Doctor Who in other areas. Personally I can't imagine enjoying eating those bars instead of a proper meal, no matter how tasty they were. Anyway, five weeks from the start of the show we have already seen more of the TARDIS than we saw in five years following the revival. It may all be bland roundels, but it still helps to create a sense of scale.
Also inside the ship, we get a lovely little discussion between Iananbarbara wherein they effectively outline the premise of the series. It's a good, unobtrusive way to bring new viewers up to speed (and there probably are new viewers - this episode has the joint highest viewing figures so far, matched only by The Forest of Fear, though that situation will change very soon). I'd rewatched the movie Serenity the day before, and Ian's speech about believing reminded me so much of Shepherd Book's that it brought a lump to my throat. As a viewer, while I'm willing Iananbarbara to get home, I'm also hoping they don't for a good long time.
Moving outside, we have the forest - and what was with that weird negative effect at the start? I think Christopher Barry (who generally does a good job here) misjudged that. It was probably meant to make things look alien, but all it did for me was draw attention to the fact that I'm watching a TV program. I found the forest sets to be the most stagelike so far, and this wasn't helped by being taken out of the story just before we saw them properly for the first time. Still, almost everything else about this sequence keeps it alive for me, the exception being the joke about crushing petrified flowers. And then we get the alien city which looks fantastic, but the illusion is spoilt slightly by the long shot with the characters standing in the foreground against a rock wall. Overall the outside scenes are a mixture of the effective and the not so convincing, with the balance fortunately towards the former.
Inside the city the sets are impressive, and well shot. The fact that Barbara has to duck increases the alienness and shows that the city wasn't built for regular humans, an impression supported by the strange-shaped doorways. As the final few minutes of the episode pass we get some very interesting shots - with Barbara's hand against the camera, through walls and doors - leading up to the best cliffhanger so far: that plunger. About which, more next time.
It occurs to me that I've not actually said much about the story. The radiation subplot is nicely handled, in a surprisingly understated way - you can tell the travellers are in for a shock soon. The implied duplicity of the Doctor is alarming, though it certainly fits with his character as we have seen it so far. And there are a lot of nice little touches in this episode, such as the Doctor suddenly producing a pair of binoculars with spectacle-like arms (which made me think of the fourth Doctor's pockets), or the classic horror serial way the regulars separate to explore the city. But really, the story's just there to let us explore the world and the cast's reactions to it. Which it does well.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 21st December 1963
Viewers: 6.9 million
Chart Position: 67
Appreciation Index: 59
Rating:
8/10.
Next Time:
The Survivors.
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