Galaxy 4

Galaxy 4 starts a long line of episodes that, sadly, must be enjoyed by sound alone. In this adventure, the Doctor and his companions arrive on a desolate planet with two crashed spaceships on it. One belongs to the Drahvins, beautiful humanoid women. The other belongs to the Rills, whom the Drahvins describe as ‘disgusting’. However, beauty turns out to be only skin deep….

The story is a very simple one, and there are no prizes for guessing the outcome. There is only one real character in the story, that of Maaga, leader of the Drahvins and a limited number of locations. Yet this story works, and works very well. Stephanie Bidmead’s performance as Maaga is masterful. She commands her troops mercilessly, but introduces a hint of perverted maternalism which makes for a very interesting dynamic between Maaga and her troops. Although they are killers, they whimper like scolded children when faced with Maaga’s wrath. Her description of what it would be like to watch her enemies die is genuinely chilling. It is not surprising that she harbours an extreme xenophobic hatred towards the Rills.

Of course, it is the Rills who are truly the noble creatures and their realisation is very striking, with the tanks of ammonia that they dwell in and the Chumblies which are their voices and charming servants. It is a real pity that we are denied the shock cliff-hanger at the end of "Trap of Steel" where the Rill is finally seen by Vicki. By this point, even through the soundtrack alone, we realise that it’s the Drahvins who are the monsters. They are said to be ‘inferior products’ bred for war, and are incapable of abstract thought. However, they seem to crave Maaga’s approval, an approval they will never get. There is something simply ‘wrong’ with them, and there are times that I really pitied them, like one pities all the archetypal monsters.

Again, the regulars put in great work, with Vicki still managing to be lively and humorous without being annoying. Peter Purves shows in this story that, although Steven fills the same role as Ian, he does it in a completely different way. Hartnell manages to convey joy at new things with a stern morality that guides his actions throughout.

What is left of the story, visually, is excellent. The realisation of the Chumblies manages to be cute without being impractical. The sets and costumes also seem to be first rate. William Emms works in some gorgeous dialogue, such as when the Doctor describes the vapourisation of the planet as being ‘like silver’.

A summary of this story would make it look like a dumbed down version of The Sensorites. In reality it is so much more.

NEXT: "Mission to the Unknown"