TV Review: Doctor Who: The Sensorites (1964)

Doctor Who: The Sensorites (1964) written by Peter R. Newman and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox

The First Doctor (William Hartnell) lands the TARDIS on an Earth spaceship from the 28th century. The ship is trapped near the Sense-Sphere, where the locals (the Sensorites) have kept them. The locals do some brain manipulation on the humans but are otherwise not hostile. One of the crew has been driven mad--he was a geologist who discovered a valuable mineral on the planet. The locals fear being wiped out by humanity when they come to mine their homeworld. The Doctor works with the future humans and the Sensorites to resolve the situation.

The show is fairly interesting. The Sensorites' government is clearly patterned after Plato's Republic, with a leader class, a warrior class, and a working class. These classes live in harmony for the most part. The occasional bad eggs are messing up the system with their personal ambitions and xenophobia. They want to solve the problem by killing the humans. The good leaders are very mild and forgiving. The conflicts with the humans and the hard work of peaceful negotiation and trusting others makes for good drama. Even the costumes and makeup for the Sensorites looks good by Doctor Who standards.

Recommended.