Well now. This is, as they say, a game of two halves. The first is, of course, the conclusion to the Millennius story begun last episode; the second - well, I'll get to that later.
This episode is not quite as polished as the last. Jacqueline Hill is finally stumbling a little, and the cut to the visit with Kala, Aydan's widow, is slightly mistimed. Nevertheless there's still a lot to praise; for instance, the cuts from Barbara to Ian and then later from the Doctor to Ian as the condemned man's friends worry about him are spot on.
As is William Russell's portrayal of Chesterton's strained stoicism. This is the sort of setup where Russell shines. He can match anyone for restrained emotion, revealing a lot with very little. Sometimes this style of acting goes underappreciated, I feel, as it's easier to get a handle on those who express their emotions more freely, in real life and on stage and screen. We get a different sort of performance from Fiona Walker. Once Kala is revealed as a scheming villainess she seems to channel Kevin Stoney, playing a wonderfully OTT arrogant, supercilious character. Great fun, and a total contrast to Russell.
Both the rescue of Susan and the reveal of the mystery are well handled. The icing on the cake was the location of the final key, which was fair even though I didn't figure it out. I also enjoyed the Doctor namedropping again - Pyrrho this time, a Greek philosopher and companion of Alexander the Great. I don't know much about philosophy so I decided to find out a little about him and his ideas. A quick trip to Wikipedia later and I know enough; isn't technology wonderful?
Speaking of technology, there's also been some nice touches here. One that caught my attention for slightly the wrong reason was the 'futuristic' tethered phones. I don't dismiss them for failing to predict the future of telecommunications here, but it did date the show.
Moving on to the second half, we are right back on Arbitan's island. These days this would have been filmed in the same block as The Sea of Death, then reordered in the editing. Back then they had to film in order, so the sets were stored for five weeks then set up again. This time it doesn't show; sometimes there is damage during storage which can cause problems.
It's not a bad ending to the serial. I love the rising sound effect for the conscience machine, and - while some people laugh at them - the Voord masks seem effective to me. Everyone is thinking well, and I like the way Ian appears to be taken in by Yartek's ineffectual disguise but then turns out to have seen through him after all. The goodbyes at the end - particularly the tender moment between Iananbarbara - are pitched just right. However, there's something about the pacing that isn't quite right. It feels both rushed and drawn out, and I can't put my finger on why.
Watching the serial over a couple of weeks means that the reversed model shot at the end is pretty obvious, but I doubt I'd have remembered it from six weeks earlier! I guess they had to get their money's worth.
Hm, this entry feels rushed too. As occasionally happens, it's ended up as a bit of a list without a coherent thread of thought, or indeed anything to divert the attention away from its inadequacies. Still, if Doctor Who can have its filler episodes, so can I. I shall adopt Pyrrho's approach and practice ataraxia, and advise you to do the same. What is ataraxia? It's the proper response to the realisation that we know nothing, and in fact can only know nothing. As a certain Big Mouth Billy Bass put it: don't worry, be happy.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 16th May 1964
Viewers: 6.9 million
Chart Position: 43
Appreciation Index: 63
Rating:
6/10.
Next Time:
Serial E as a whole.
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