The Reign of Terror

The first season concludes with another historical, this time from the pen of Dennis Spooner. After the events of The Sensorites, the Doctor promises to put Ian and Barbara off the ship at the earliest opportunity. However, instead of London in 1963, the regulars are plunged into the darkest years of the French Revolution, where they are embroiled in the chaos and fear of the time.

Although Spooner doesn’t have the same knack for writing lyrical dialogue as Lucarotti and the script isn’t as thoroughly researched, this is still a great adventure for the regulars. In particular, the Doctor is at his most active yet. We see him donning disguises, knocking people out and, for the first time, getting his companions out of trouble. Hartnell relishes these scenes, from his brisk strolling down the road to Paris, to the look he gives when he is nearly found out. Jacqueline Hill is again on strong form. I love her flirtation with the Doctor in the first scene, and her strength remains undiminished throughout.

A good sense of time is established by the script, perhaps because this is the first story that depicts actual historical events. Although there is a good deal of humour, particularly the Doctor’s escapades and the drunken gaoler, the horror of the era is not forgotten. Robespierre is shot in the jaw and, although we don’t see the event, we hear it and see the aftermath, which is handled expertly by director Henric Hirsch. Also, the scene where the Doctor knocks out the foreman makes us wonder for a few seconds whether the Doctor has actually killed him.

Barry Newberry’s sets are again brilliant, aided by some effective lighting. The gaol set is 100% convincing and at no point do we think that any of the sets are not the real thing. The costume design is also excellent. The burning house is a tad unconvincing though- the model is too small for it to look like anything but an out-of-control birthday cake.

There are a couple of under-par performances, however. The child in the first two episodes is awful and James Cairncross's performance as Lemaitre starts off well, but is poor in the last episode. Donald Morley is excellent as Jules Renan and Tony Wall makes an instant impression in Napoleon’s brief cameo (it is nice to see him portrayed as being of average height, which he was in real life). Unfortunately, I cannot judge Keith Anderson's performance as Robespierre as he mainly appears in Episode 4. Vocally, he seems fine, though.

Overall, this is a fine end to a fine season. One down, 29 to go!

NEXT: Planet of Giants