The Space Museum

The Space Museum is perhaps the most overlooked Hartnell episode of all- when it was released in VHS, it was put on the same tape as the surviving episodes of The Crusade and, of course, it was treated as a ‘supporting feature’ and therefore one would assume that it was just filler. It has a simple plot- the Morok Empire has conquered the planet Xeros and turned it into a museum dedicated to their empire building. The Xerons are planning a rebellion to overthrow the Moroks. So far, so generic. However, the way in which the story does this is what sells this.

The eponymous first episode is truly brilliant. The TARDIS crew arrive on Xeros, but they find that they are wearing their usual clothes, not the clothes they were wearing at the end of The Crusade. They leave no footprints, cannot be seen, cannot hear the Moroks or Xerons and cannot touch anything. Finally, we see their bodies in display cases- they have arrived in their own future, but are not fully synchronised with time. This episode is brilliantly disorientating and keeps the viewer wondering what the hell is going on (in a good way) thanks to Mervyn Pinfield‘s assured direction, great performances and some simple, but very effective effects work. The remaining three episodes are not as striking, but are effective enough. I must also mention that the fight scenes are some of the most effective I have seen in any era of the programme.

On a deeper level, the story deals with the age-old philosophical propositions of free-will and determinism. The characters are obviously trying to avoid ending up in those display cases, but wonder if their attempts to avoid it are actually leading them to that fate. Of course, free-will wins out, and furthermore the story seems to suggest that the fact that they acted at all, as opposed to accepting the ‘future’ is why that future did not come to pass. Which is brilliant. Just as importantly, the triumph of free will shows, for the first time, that history can be changed. It is this that lifts episodes 2-4 from the standard ‘rebels vs invaders’ story it could have been.

The performances of the regulars are brilliant as usual. There is a great sequence in "The Dimensions of Time" where the Doctor is interrogated by Lobos, the Morok Governor. He makes the mistake of informing the Doctor that he can see what he is thinking on a screen, whereupon the Doctor brilliantly misdirects Lobos with images of penny-farthings, walruses and himself in a bathing suit. The Doctor’s giggling at his own cleverness is a joy to behold. Ian is the consummate hero here, being intelligent, resourceful and single-minded in his quest to rescue the Doctor. However, this is the story where Vicki shines. We see her inspire the Xerons to seize control of the Morok Armoury, where she fools the computer into allowing the Xerons to take the weapons. Maureen O'Brien is fantastic throughout.

On the minus side, the Xerons and Moroks are slightly disappointing in their realisation (The Xerons’ alien feature is that they have four eyebrows) and although their portrayal is sound, there are no real stand-out performances amongst the guest cast. It is also unclear as to what exactly happened when the TARDIS crew saw their futures and the Doctor’s explanation makes no sense. These days, of course, there would be a wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey explanation that would be more convincing. Also, the presence of the Dalek in the museum sort of implies that the Moroks conquered them, which I doubt- although, of course, there is another reason for the Dalek’s presence…

This story is a neglected gem of the Hartnell era. Watch it now!

NEXT: The Chase