This serial is certainly a rollercoaster ride! And I'm not thinking so
much about the travellers, here; it's that the rules seem to change
every week.
Including what's good and what's not. The direction has become duller
again, though it is at least competent (and the camera moving up and
down to indicate motion on the sailing ship is a really nice touch). The
designers give us an odd mix of the effective and the "Oops! We've run
out of money." And the script...is interesting. Which is more than can
be said for last time. It's a sketch show, basically, so let's look at
the sketches in order.
Via the Vortex
Okay, so this is the framing device, really; but it's front-heavy, so it
makes sense to tackle it here. I mentioned the budget running out, and
this is most evident with the Daleks' time machine - the DARDIS,
according to fans, although some believe this was also its name in the
original scripts. The inside looks cheap and tatty (though the swirly
things add a bit of colour); the outside is just too plain. In general
appearance it does remind me of the Genesis Ark, from much later in the
show, which would have worked much better here.
The vortex shots are also inferior. The one at the beginning is vaguely
passable, the one at the end is atrocious! It's doubly annoying because
it isn't even needed. The episode is over 25 minutes long, and there was
a good cliffhanger in the internal shot just before. Sigh.
Inside the TARDIS, there are lots and lots of lights. Another sign of a
cheap set, though not so bad as the DARDIS. As for the story, we get
some whimsy - guava flavoured food bars (yum) and a mumbling Dalek
(err).
We also get the bit about the TARDIS being 12 minutes ahead of their
pursuers. Now, some reviewers think this is ridiculous - that the Daleks
should just jump ahead and be waiting for our heroes when they arrive.
Presumably they think the opening of The Empty Child doesn't make
sense either. But really, such a solution depends on the Daleks knowing
where and when the TARDIS is going, and that's not necessarily the
case: a tracker may have to follow a spoor for days even if the prey
quickly doubles back so that waiting would have been a better option. If
you happen to spot their arrival by some other means, sure, you can lie
in wait; but not if you are simply tracking them. And going back once
you've arrived and become part of events is generally strictly
forbidden. In addition, 'speed' in the vortex is the subject of an
entirely different physics, and all the visual references we've seen
make it analogous to speed through a spacial medium, so overtaking is
only possible with better manoeuvring or a faster vehicle. What happens
here makes as much sense as any other theory of time travel. There -
rant over.
Looking Down on the World
The first stop plonks us down on the Empire State Building (floor 102
according to the guide, but with a set matching floor 86 according to
Alan Barnes in DWM). Here we are subjected to some very dodgy American
accents, but because this is broad comedy it doesn't bother me in the
slightest. There's a good variety of tourists, milling about
interestingly; and we get our first look at Peter Purves as Alabama hick
Morton Dill.
Ah, Dill. We've already seen national and racial stereotypes, but Dill
is the first in a long line of regional stereotypes, and he's a
controversial figure among fans. Purves' performance is, of course,
completely over the top; but it is very deliberately so, a case of a
good actor playing a fool rather than an amateur hamming it up. For me,
it just about works, but only because the performance is as finely
nuanced as it can be in such a cartoon role. That, and the fact that I
expect stereotypes in such broad comedy.
Some people comment on Iananbarbara not even considering getting off
here, since it's their own time - but how can they with the Daleks in
hot pursuit? And speaking of those nasties, this is of course the second
time (historically) they have visited the Empire State Building; and
Russell T. Davies has stated that he believes they got the idea for
their emergency temporal shift in Doomsday from this visit!
Nothing of importance happens in this scene, and yet it's my favourite.
There's good direction of the actors/extras, and the comments about
Hollywood in an episode which feels a bit Keystone Cops provide a nicely
'meta' angle; but it's mostly how everyone reacts to Dill and his
world. This starts with the other tourists, where it quickly becomes
obvious that he's an outsider in that group. The Doctor gives him the
brush-off, too, Iananbarbara are polite, and Vicki is open and
interested. The Daleks quickly realise he has nothing to offer, roll
their eyestalks and leave; while he reacts to them just the way anyone
would who had never heard of Daleks, as silly things, laughing at them
and talking into a plunger. It's just full of nice touches.
Sailors on the Seas of Fate
The next scene is more problematic. To start with, why does Barbara
insist on going sightseeing on the ship? Ian pointing out how silly this
is raises the question of why they did it on their last stop, too, even
though his main reason for trying to dissuade her seems to be that he
is feeling seasick.
Poor Ian; he gets hit on the head as well, a victim of 'friendly swing'.
Still, at least he doesn't get assaulted like Barbara - and as Barnes
points out, it is in extremely bad taste to portray a real historical
figure of good repute as the perpetrator of attempted rape! Ian can also
count himself lucky that he didn't end up drowning in the sea with his
child, along with everyone other human on the ship (and one unbelievably
incompetent Dalek).
It is possible to extract humour from this level of violence and
tragedy, but it can't just be treated as a bit of fun like the New York
stopover - and unfortunately that's what the script does here. Oh, the
production team do their best, and there are some good points. Other
than the model ship it looks fine, and having people actually fall or
jump into the water is impressive; the creaks and camera movement
mentioned earlier really set the scene; and the hints to the ship's
identity are subtle and effective. But none of that matters in the face
of a script that has Iananbarbara delightedly discovering the name of
the ship and sparing not a thought for the deaths of everyone on board.
Ugh.
What is interesting about this episode is the way it treats the Daleks.
Contrast the way Dill reacts to them - as a real-world person might,
despite the fact that he's a cartoon - with the way the sailors are
affected. They are taken from real history, but their total, unreasoning panic is how we expect people to behave in-universe.
And that's it from me on this curate's egg curio.
Broadcast:
Date: Saturday, 5th June 1965
Viewers: 9.0 million
Chart Position: 12
Appreciation Index: 55
Rating:
4/10.
Next Time:
Journey into Terror.
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