TV Review: Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus (1964)

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus (1964) written by Terry Nation and directed by John Gorrie

The First Doctor (William Hartnell) lands on a strange island on a strange planet called Marinus. The beach has sand and glass, the ocean is acid. One-man submarines (they look more like torpedoes) deliver some locals to the island. One of those locals menaces Susan (Carole Ann Ford), so they must be the bad guys. The Doctor and his companions head to the only building on the island. Inside they discover Arbitan (George Colouris), the last scientist in charge of the Conscience of Marinus, a machine that eliminates evil inclinations and thoughts from the planet's population. The machine was shut off when the Voord (those are the guys from the subs) rebelled and started taking advantage of the people who would not fight back against the Voord's violence. The scientists have decided to restart the machine with a stronger setting to overcome to Voord. The only problem is that four microchips from the machine have been scattered across the planet. All the other scientists, including Arbitan's daughter, have gone to get the chips but never came back. Arbitan enlists the Doctor's group to help him. Well, he throws up a force field around the TARDIS so they can't leave until they help him. They reluctantly agree.

They travel all over the planet, encountering different people in different situations (a forest full of evil plants; a trapper on a frozen mountain; a big city). They eventually join up with the daughter who helps them out. The story follows the standard solve problems/get captured/escape from capture routine that is in a lot of Doctor Who stories. The variety of problems is nice and viewers get a sense that the planet has all sorts of people on it. That part is fun. They could have been stand-alone single episodes except for the overarching mission.

The sets exhibit a variety of quality from well-done to barely finished. One city treats the TARDIS crew to a luxurious life and the room has plenty of statues and hanging decorations. On the other hand, there's an ice cave that looks like plastic wrap on cardboard boxes. The rubber-suited bad guys at the beginning are locals wearing rubber suits to protect themselves from the acid ocean, so it is not as bad as it looks.

Recommended--I found the show entertaining and I make allowances for their low-budget.