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.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Daleks (1963)

Doctor Who: The Daleks (1963) written by Terry Nation and directed by Christopher Barry and Richard Martin

The First Doctor (William Hartnell) lands the TARDIS on an unidentified planet. The local plants have all been petrified and radiation is high. As the Doctor and his companions investigate, they spot a seemingly abandoned city. Earthlings Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) are eager to return to Earth (this being their second adventure with the Doctor, and indeed the second series of the show) and aren't interested in exploring the city. The Doctor is interested and contrives a reason to go to the city (the TARDIS is out of mercury!). Once they get there, the group is separated and Barbara is the first to be captured by the citizens of the city--the Daleks! They were at war with the Thals, a war that went nuclear, turning the planet into a wasteland five hundred years ago. The Thals are back in the area looking for food and to make peace with the Daleks, so everyone can live happily on the planet.

This is the very first appearance of the Daleks. The story includes a lot of background for the Daleks that has remained canon. They are cunning and xenophobic and do say they will "exterminate" enemies in their monotone, robotic voices (the shoutiness comes later). They have an aversion to stairs and are yucky little monsters inside that big metal casing. No wonder they became the iconic villains of the show.

The plot moves along slowly (it's seven half-hour episodes!) but intelligently. A lot of character development happens, something you don't quite expect from a show that was aimed at children. The Doctor's selfishness is depicted negatively, which surprised and satisfied me. Everyone has their flaws and their strengths. Overall, it's a great series.

Highly recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks (1975)

Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks (1975) written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney

Third Doctor Tom Baker gets stranded by the Time Lords on Skaro, the home world of the Daleks. A Time Lord is there to explain their plan: they want the Doctor to alter the evolution of the Daleks, to find some weakness in them (yeah, good luck with that!), or to eliminate them. Skaro is at the end of their cataclysmic civil war, when mad scientist Davros created the Daleks so that his race, the Kaleds, would overcome the Thals, the other humanoid race on the planet. Companions Sarah Jane and Harry are also stranded with the Doctor. They find their way to the Kaled scientific base (an underground bunker, naturally) where they confront the Kaled military leaders, scientists, and Davros himself. Davros is in charge and has made a great deal of scientific progress but he's tipping over into the shouty madness of a megalomaniacal mass murderer, a perfect father figure/creator for the Daleks.

While the Daleks are their usual evil selves and Davros is his usual evil scheming self, the other characters have more depth. Many of the Kaled scientists and military have doubts about the Dalek project and are willing to overthrow Davros. As options start vanishing, the Doctor has to confront whether he will destroy the Daleks, essentially committing the sort of genocide that the Daleks themselves are bent on achieving. The show has some interesting moral reflections to go along with the well-paced plot and action. Davros' schemes are interesting and the make-up job is respectable if not perfect. This six-part show is very satisfying and well worth a watch.

Highly recommended.