The action starts again with a recap of the cliffhanger, by the
riverside - which is actually highly appropriate. Production of the show
officially moved from Lime Grove to Riverside Studio 1 with this
serial, though they had been able to use Television Centre Studio 4
since A Bargain of Necessity. Despite having originally been
built for industrial purposes this had been a film studio for many years
and was a much better location for Who, far less cramped and
with less antiquated equipment. It was the Daleks that allowed the move,
as Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert were able to exert more pressure on
the BBC thanks to the monsters' enormous popularity.
The space afforded by the new studio allowed much more freedom for the
designers and directors. Spencer Chapman, stepping into Raymond Cusick's
shoes as production designer, talks on the DVD extra "Future Visions"
about how the extra space enabled him to design sets on multiple levels
and allow wide-angle shots that gave more of a sense of scale. Richard
Martin ran with this, with the high heliport shots being a particularly
fine example. Couple this with the large numbers of Daleks and robomen
and you get a serial that feels truly epic.
Everything starts off really well, with the backstory being delivered in
a not-too-blatant manner and good cutting between the rebels' base and
the riverside. The way the Doctor flounders, muttering about "the middle
period of Dalek history" while refusing to acknowledge that he is out
of his depth is spot on. The characterisation of the (speaking part)
rebels is enough to distinguish them and make them feel like
individuals, which is all that we need. Jenny seems the most complex - I
thought she was poorly acted at first, but the revelation about her
brother made me realise that she is someone who is holding in a lot of
her emotions too tightly, and the combination of suppressed anger and
blankness is entirely appropriate.
The direction is confident, with some fine camera moves. Take, for
example, the moment when we zoom in on Susan and then cut to a closeup
of Ian and the Doctor. There's plenty of opportunity for this to go
wrong when the edits have to be so limited, but it works really well.
The only real negative (other than the robomen voices) is the way the
Daleks wobble back and forth. I reckon they need a pee and can't keep
still.
There is a different sort of negative when we get to the first
extermination (though the Daleks are still saying "kill him", rather
than using their eventual keynote phrase). The effect used in the first
Dalek serial still does the job, and I get a frisson of (un-PC)
excitement when it happens.
Unfortunately, the good run isn't sustained. The idea of an intelligence
test for robotising is ludicrous, and watching the Doctor solve a
puzzle box doesn't make for thrilling television. "X equals gamma",
indeed! Curiously, the audio Solitaire does something very
similar years later, but it works because the story focuses on the
relationship between the characters and the puzzle itself becomes a
backdrop, an excuse for them to interact.
It's not just the script, though. Richard Martin's forte is not to be
found in big battles, and the climactic confrontation is shot nearly as
badly as in the last episode of serial B. There is also a marked
shortage of eye contact between the actors, which makes the thing feel
less personal, less engaging. Couple that with a fade too soon at the
end, before we can see the Doctor really threatened by the robotiser,
and we have an episode that ends with a whimper.
In fact, this is (IIRC) only the third time on TV that the second
episode has failed to surpass the opener. Let's hope this isn't the
start of a trend...
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 28th November 1964
Viewers: 12.4 million
Chart Position: 10
Appreciation Index: 59
Rating:
6/10.
Next Time:
Day of Reckoning.
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