The thing that instantly grabs me about this episode is both how similar and how different it is from Flashpoint.
It's very small-scale, with only six characters including the regulars,
and almost totally character-focused; in this, it's just like the
closing scenes with Susan's farewell. On the other hand, that's pretty
much all there is: it's not combined with a big adventurous plot like
last time, and, in fact, there's probably less action than any episode
since An Unearthly Child.
I like it. There are parallels with the opening episode of the previous
two-parter (also following a Dalek finale and written by David
Whitaker); and also with the opening episode of the show. The reason for
this, of course, is that the story's main purpose is to introduce
Vicki: the first ever replacement companion. To do this we need a
small-scale, character-driven production, and that's exactly what we
get.
The story is quite slow, and allows us to get to know Vicki even before
she meets any of the TARDIS crew. Whitaker gives Maureen O'Brien plenty
of opportunity to show emotion, and we can immediately see how different
her character is from Susan. There's nothing unearthly about Vicki!
This continues after she meets Barbara, and we have the fun of seeing
two very good actresses in what is almost, for a while, a two-hander. I
particularly enjoyed Barbara's awkwardness with Vicki's emotional
retelling of her backstory. And what a lot of backstory there is! Often
this would be a problem, but here our attention is kept on the people,
so we absorb the information without realising. Masterfully done.
I've praised the acting and the writing, but this could easily have been
ruined by poor direction. Fortunately Christopher Barry's works for the
production, keeping it intimate with lots of closeups, and at points it
becomes quite claustrophobic. He consistently chooses simple but
effective shots - Vicki's shadow falling across Barbara, for example -
and the view we get of the Didonian (presumably Koquillion) standing in
the strobing light of the TARDIS's lantern is very threatening.
Ah yes, Koquillion. Sydney Wilson plays him as a classic villain,
sadistic and menacing. Meanwhile Ray Barrett plays Bennett as a bundle
of smouldering bitterness and depression. Both of these provide a
contrast to Vicki's animated youngster, and so act as more foils to
broaden O'Brien's opportunities to strut her stuff.
Ian, however, is unusually sidelined. William Russell isn't on top form,
over-egging the pudding after the explosion in the cave, and I think
that perhaps he was a little bored. His only contribution to the plot is
to get threatened by the blades in the cliffhanger, a pointless scene
which makes little sense and is only there to provide a moment of
physical threat on which to end the episode.
It's a different story for the Doctor. He gets even less screen time
than Ian, but is much more significant. And he's changed more than his
cravat: he's jollier, more relaxed, though he's also very tired. In
fact, from the change in him you might think that quite some time has
passed since leaving Susan behind - which of course is true in both the
expanded Whoniverse and real life, though not on TV. The best support
for Ian Potter's positioning of The Revenants actually comes from watching this.
Still, most of the important stuff takes place in the crashed spaceship,
and I have to add some praise for Ray Cusick's set design. The slanted
floor, sticking doors and general accoutrements all support the
impression that Vicki and Bennett are living in a tiny, still-habitable
part of a wreck; and even without Koquillion you understand why they are
so keen to be rescued. The model ship (built by Shawcraft to Cusick's
design) matches up well, and works even in the inlay shot when
Iananbarbara see it for the first time.
Overall, then, a fantastic episode let down by the pointless scenes of
Ian and the Doctor finding their way out of the cave, which probably
knock a full mark off my score.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 2nd January 1965
Viewers: 12.0 million
Chart Position: 11
Appreciation Index: 57
Rating:
8.5/10.
Next Time:
Desperate Measures.
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