The Sensorites

The Sensorites is one story that seems to be very much overlooked, which is strange, as this story introduces many features which would become intrinsic to Doctor Who. For the first time, the story is set in the future. For the first time, there are scenes set on a spaceship. And for the first time, we have aliens portrayed as having a real culture, rather than being just ‘monsters’. Most importantly, the Doctor is not merely observing events or helping himself and his companions, for the first time he takes a truly active role in the events. In fact this is a very important story in the development of the programme.

The story is one of two races who do not trust one another. The fear of the titular aliens is very well realised in the first two episodes, with the dimply lit spaceship set. The shock appearance of the first Sensorite must have been truly frightening at the time. There is also a fantastic bit of direction and acting in this scene, where the camera follows Ian’s face and we see his reaction to the Sensorite. However, the Sensorites are portrayed increasingly sympathetically- their fear of loud noises and darkness is put across well by the actors and makes the audience see them not as monsters, but as people. The realisation of the Sensorites is very effective and the simplicity of the design is inspired, as they can appear as terrifying faceless apparitions at one point and meek bearded old men at another.

The human supporting cast are excellent, with the exception of Lorne Cossette as Maitland- thankfully he remains on the ship after the action transfers to the Sense Sphere. Stephen Dartnell deserves special mention for his performance as John. There are none of the histrionics and eye-rolling you would expect, had this been any other 60s science fiction programme. Ilona Rodgers as Carol is also solid, and her scenes with John are very poignant. The survivors of the previous expedition are interestingly depicted as half-crazed colonialists who still maintain the trappings of military discipline.

The regulars do their usual sterling work. Carole Ann Ford is easily the weakest performer of the quartet, but she is totally convincing here. Barbara is fast becoming one of my favourite companions, even though she has less to do here. And we come to the most interesting development in the character dynamics of Doctor Who. Ian is incapacitated for a time, and it and it is the Doctor, not Ian, who is the most physically active character in the story. We see him explore the aqueduct, find the cause of the poisoning and concoct a cure for the plague.

There are a few nit-picks. The Hartnell era has a reputation for fluffed lines which is unfair, but is fully justified here, as many characters are guilty of it. (Mind you, molybdenum is a bit hard to say!) Also, while I can accept that the Sensorites can survive in space without a pressure suit, it is implied that sound travels through space (of course, the Sensorites could be sending a radio transmission of the sound). We all take it for granted that everyone in the Universe speaks English, but writing messages to aliens in it is a bit much. This was also a problem in The Daleks, by the way!

However, this is a better story than The Daleks and therefore the best science-fiction story in the first season. As said, is very important in the development of the character of the Doctor- although, again, he is compelled to stay because the TARDIS is incapacitated, this is the Doctor as hero and enabler who has endured as a character until the present day.

NEXT: The Reign of Terror

The Edge of Destruction

The ‘bottle episode’ it’s called. Use only the regular sets and regular actors and save a lot of money. They can be turn out to be exquisite character pieces that can define the basic appeal of a programme for both the audience and its creators. They can also be speed-written tosh used to pad out the schedule. Or, as in this case, it can be utterly bonkers.

The first scene is almost like a Beckett play with characters being slightly out of synch with the audience and we get the impression that there are whole chunks of the conversation we haven’t heard. Indeed, after the very interesting visual dynamism of some of the earlier episodes, this is the ‘televised theatre’ that we often hear references to when talking about 60s British Television. That is not to say that there isn’t arresting imagery- the melting clock is a great shock moment. However, this is primarily the actors’ show. Russell and Hill convey the confusion of the characters very well (possibly because they were pretty baffled themselves!) but, sadly, this reflects badly on Carole Ann Ford. Martin and Cox seem to enjoy putting her in tableaux, which become a tad unconvincing as a dramatic device after the nth iteration. Hartnell, however, continues to impress- his delight at viewing the birth of a solar system is infectious and he holds out interest from the start.

Now let’s turn to the script. The best way I can describe its structure is in the direction George Martin gave to the orchestra for “A Day in the Life”- here is the start note, here is the end note, anything in between is up to you. There are no plot holes because there is no plot, only a story. Why do the doors keep opening? Is the TARDIS possessed? Is Susan possessed? Is David Whitaker? Then there’s that dénouement based on a faulty spring- I suppose it is the privilege of a script editor not to edit his own script, but still….

The directors and the cast fight valiantly to realise the script, and it’s not surprising there are misfires. ‘Can it be that this is the end?’ declaims the Doctor, looking at the camera. Watching it now, I half expected the rest of the cast to look in the same direction, wondering whom he was talking to. Does this sound garbled? Try watching it.

This is not to say that this is a bad story. The whole is less than the sum of its parts because the parts have been fitted together poorly (with some, possibly, back to front or in the wrong order) but there is too much good stuff here to totally dismiss the story. So let me just say again: it’s bonkers.

But bonkers is better than boring any day.

NEXT: Marco Polo