After the false end last time, this episode needs to set the plot in motion again - and while the writing does so, it is sabotaged by the weakest production so far.
Terry Nation doesn't get off the hook completely, but he only makes two missteps. It's unfortunate that these are the beginning and end. The problem with the conclusion is that the cliffhanger isn't. I said last time that Nation was writing a serial, which means he should have got this right; but Barbara and the others in the swamp are under no more threat at the end than they have been for the last ten minutes, and the death of a Thal was so well telegraphed that my reaction when he died was, "finally!" - a release of tension rather than a build up. They have also just spotted the way out of the swamp, so there's nothing new and the threat is reduced.
The problem with the opening shot of Daleks is to do with tone. This scene is supposed to bring new viewers up to speed and convince us that the travellers are still under threat from the Daleks, but it feels more like one Dalek showing holiday snaps to the other. "And here's a view of our ho-tel. You can't see it clear-ly be-cause Zeg got in the way, but it was quite com-fy rea-lly. I've still got a sou-ven-ir bar of soap if you want to see it." Pictures at an Exposition worked fine for ELP, but it's not so good here.
Still, Nation gets a lot right. Even that scene has the Daleks assuming the Thals will attack because it's what Daleks would do, which is a nice touch. The initial discussions in the Thal camp work very well, with some great moments such as the Doctor assuming he will lead and that his brains will triumph. The "Chesterton" discussion is fun, and makes me wonder whether it was written in response to the first Billy-fluff or whether that original wasn't a mistake after all. Ian taking such a strong moral stance while the usually more empathetic Barbara sides with the Doctor works surprisingly well, and though the show's anti-pacifist stance is obvious the Thals were at least given rational arguments rather than straw men. Even the swamp scenes probably sounded good on paper.
Which brings us back to the problems with the production, and particularly the direction. Given Richard Martin's reputation I wondered if this was the episode that put people off, but (as I found out at the end) it's one of Christopher Barry's. Barry had the longer history with Who, directing such popular stories as The Daemons and The Brain of Morbius, but there's little promise on show here. Again there are some moments that buck the trend - the low shots in the early swamp scenes are good, and there are some nice transitions - but mostly it's a mixture of the too wildly experimental and the bland, with some absolute clangers. The worst of these is shooting the cardboard cutout Daleks (a) low so we can see their stands, and then (b) at an angle so we can see they are flat! The experimental includes a Dalek-eye viewpoint that is just weird (unlike the extremely effective version used 42 years later in Dalek), some camera moves that were beyond the capability of the cameraman, and some of the "dangers of the swamp" shots (though others, like the creature lifting itself up and revealing two eyes, are effective). The bland includes the uninvolving shots of a dying Dalek, which is not helped by the humourous vocal performance.
So, a bit of a letdown for me - though not for the original audience, since it maintains the AI of 63 reached last week for the first time since the opening episode, when the audience was less than half its current level.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 18th January 1964
Viewers: 9.9 million
Chart Position: 27
Appreciation Index: 63
Rating:
2/10
Next Time:
The Ordeal.
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