The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Hidden Danger - A Desperate Venture
Doctor Who - Hidden Danger (11/07/04)
No episode last week because of the Tennis, but interesting developments this week and a somewhat obvious plot and cliffhanger. The Doctor wasn't impressed with Susan's decision to go down to the planet with the Sensorites, but seemingly more because she didn't include the others in her decision making. The Sensorites agreed to cure John and return the TARDIS lock in exchange for the Doctor's help curing a disease which has affected the Sensorite people since the previous Human visitors left in their ship which exploded in the atmosphere. Since the disease only affects the commoners and not the Sensorite Elite, it's obvious that the water the commoners are drinking is poisoned (I think it'll be radiation from the exploded ship) because the Elders all drink water from a special spring the First Elder found. This is underlined by Ian drinking some of the normal water and immediately coming down with the illness.
Also, the City Administrator has it in for the Doctor, Susan and Ian (Barbara and Maitland have been left on the ship). He's fat and scruffy and very xenophobic - this story's basically all about isolationism and fear of the alien, but from the aliens' viewpoint! John, whose mind was opened by the Sensorites (sending him mad) can sense there's an 'evil' mind at work but doesn't have the capacity to elaborate. All in all, this is a very intelligent script, perhaps showing some dated ideas regarding Susan, but still very good.
And I hope I never get confronted by a cross Ian and Barbara. I don't blame the Sensorites for shitting themselves when the pair went to get Susan back!
Doctor Who - A Race Against Death (18/07/04)
Fascinating politics in Sensorite land this week with the City Administrator kidnapping and impersonating the Second Elder, the First Elder unsure who to trust, and the Doctor both curing Ian and the Sensorites and going off in search of the cause in caves inhabited by monsters!
The Sensorites' similarities in appearance was used to good effect as was their use of sashes and collars of office. Also, plenty of miscommunication between species. No Barbara this week, except in the end credits, but this is turning into a good story for Susan. I don't think she's been so proactive in any other story, and it does seem to indicate that she's growing up.
The set for the interior of the aqueduct cave system is very nicely lit - pitch black in places which goes well in support of the script. Good cliffhanger, too, as the Doctor discovers some Deadly Nightshade (responsible for the poison) and hears one of the monsters. I wonder what they'll be, though, as the Sensorites themselves are very nicely realised. Definitely the best Sci Fi story so far, but still a few episodes to go. Hope it stays this good.
Doctor Who - Kidnap (25/07/04)
Lots happened this week! The City Administrator's plot thickened as he and his lackey killed the Second Elder in a struggle and failed to frame the Doctor for it. The Doctor, meanwhile, was attacked by the monster in the aqueduct caves which tore up his jacket - this became instrumental in his alibi. John has been cured but can't quite remember what happened to him while he was ill. For a while, it looked like the Second Elder had been blamed for acting against the Doctor's party and the First Elder found this unlikely, but all the evidence seemed to point that way. Of course, the evidence came from the City Administrator, and because he'd been helpful the Doctor suggested he be promoted to Second Elder. Despite him acting VERY suspiciously practically all the time, it took them ages to figure out he may be behind it all and then Susan seemed to leap to the conclusion that the 'evil' Sensorite John sensed was him because of 'something about his clothes'. Granted, everyone else in authority has sashes, arm bands or badges and only the City Administrator wore a collar, but even so!
Even with their similarities, the Sensorites are very well developed as characters - the First Elder in particular coming across as likeable - and apparently they don't have eyelids! Susan was very racist at one point when the Doctor told her the 'Second Elder' had run away from him. And now the Doctor and Ian have gone off to explore the aqueduct with disabled weapons and a dodgy map provided by the City Administrator. And for some reason it seems Carole has been kidnapped! Likely by the City Administrator as, just like on Marinus, the Doctor realised that they couldn't accuse him to the First Elder without proper evidence. And it looks like Barbara will be back next week (Yay!). It's all very interesting!
Doctor Who - A Desperate Venture (01/08/04)
That was really good, although the conclusion felt a bit rushed. It turns out that the monsters in the aqueduct were the three remaining Humans from the first expedition. They'd messed about with the Sensorites' communicators, or something, opened their minds and gone mad, thinking they were at war! I'd've liked to have seen this explored a bit more thoroughly but it was an interesting twist for the final episode.
Susan guided Barbara using telepathy to rescue the Doctor and Ian, Carole was recused fairly early on and the City Administrator's lackey was caught and locked up. Susan and the First Elder had a discussion about trust and Susan described her home planet with a burnt orange night sky and trees with silver leaves!
It's been a fascinating story and had a very good plot with some interesting ideas about the Sensorite culture which could perhaps have been explored more, but they were far more interesting than the Thals and the people of Marinus. Some real thought had been given to their design, and even though the Daleks were really inhuman, they'd originally been Humanoid and not that different. It's a shame Maitland, Carole and John didn't get a proper farewell and the repercussions of what the Humans had done, and what happened to the City Administrator, weren't fleshed out more. The City Administrator was banished, but seemingly with little more evidence than the maps. I'd've liked a proper confrontation and admission.
Nevertheless, this has been a great story, the best of the Science Fiction stories so far. We did get an odd cliffhanger of the Doctor taking the hump and threatening to throw Ian and Barbara off the ship, though. Odd.
No episode last week because of the Tennis, but interesting developments this week and a somewhat obvious plot and cliffhanger. The Doctor wasn't impressed with Susan's decision to go down to the planet with the Sensorites, but seemingly more because she didn't include the others in her decision making. The Sensorites agreed to cure John and return the TARDIS lock in exchange for the Doctor's help curing a disease which has affected the Sensorite people since the previous Human visitors left in their ship which exploded in the atmosphere. Since the disease only affects the commoners and not the Sensorite Elite, it's obvious that the water the commoners are drinking is poisoned (I think it'll be radiation from the exploded ship) because the Elders all drink water from a special spring the First Elder found. This is underlined by Ian drinking some of the normal water and immediately coming down with the illness.
Also, the City Administrator has it in for the Doctor, Susan and Ian (Barbara and Maitland have been left on the ship). He's fat and scruffy and very xenophobic - this story's basically all about isolationism and fear of the alien, but from the aliens' viewpoint! John, whose mind was opened by the Sensorites (sending him mad) can sense there's an 'evil' mind at work but doesn't have the capacity to elaborate. All in all, this is a very intelligent script, perhaps showing some dated ideas regarding Susan, but still very good.
And I hope I never get confronted by a cross Ian and Barbara. I don't blame the Sensorites for shitting themselves when the pair went to get Susan back!
Doctor Who - A Race Against Death (18/07/04)
Fascinating politics in Sensorite land this week with the City Administrator kidnapping and impersonating the Second Elder, the First Elder unsure who to trust, and the Doctor both curing Ian and the Sensorites and going off in search of the cause in caves inhabited by monsters!
The Sensorites' similarities in appearance was used to good effect as was their use of sashes and collars of office. Also, plenty of miscommunication between species. No Barbara this week, except in the end credits, but this is turning into a good story for Susan. I don't think she's been so proactive in any other story, and it does seem to indicate that she's growing up.
The set for the interior of the aqueduct cave system is very nicely lit - pitch black in places which goes well in support of the script. Good cliffhanger, too, as the Doctor discovers some Deadly Nightshade (responsible for the poison) and hears one of the monsters. I wonder what they'll be, though, as the Sensorites themselves are very nicely realised. Definitely the best Sci Fi story so far, but still a few episodes to go. Hope it stays this good.
Doctor Who - Kidnap (25/07/04)
Lots happened this week! The City Administrator's plot thickened as he and his lackey killed the Second Elder in a struggle and failed to frame the Doctor for it. The Doctor, meanwhile, was attacked by the monster in the aqueduct caves which tore up his jacket - this became instrumental in his alibi. John has been cured but can't quite remember what happened to him while he was ill. For a while, it looked like the Second Elder had been blamed for acting against the Doctor's party and the First Elder found this unlikely, but all the evidence seemed to point that way. Of course, the evidence came from the City Administrator, and because he'd been helpful the Doctor suggested he be promoted to Second Elder. Despite him acting VERY suspiciously practically all the time, it took them ages to figure out he may be behind it all and then Susan seemed to leap to the conclusion that the 'evil' Sensorite John sensed was him because of 'something about his clothes'. Granted, everyone else in authority has sashes, arm bands or badges and only the City Administrator wore a collar, but even so!
Even with their similarities, the Sensorites are very well developed as characters - the First Elder in particular coming across as likeable - and apparently they don't have eyelids! Susan was very racist at one point when the Doctor told her the 'Second Elder' had run away from him. And now the Doctor and Ian have gone off to explore the aqueduct with disabled weapons and a dodgy map provided by the City Administrator. And for some reason it seems Carole has been kidnapped! Likely by the City Administrator as, just like on Marinus, the Doctor realised that they couldn't accuse him to the First Elder without proper evidence. And it looks like Barbara will be back next week (Yay!). It's all very interesting!
Doctor Who - A Desperate Venture (01/08/04)
That was really good, although the conclusion felt a bit rushed. It turns out that the monsters in the aqueduct were the three remaining Humans from the first expedition. They'd messed about with the Sensorites' communicators, or something, opened their minds and gone mad, thinking they were at war! I'd've liked to have seen this explored a bit more thoroughly but it was an interesting twist for the final episode.
Susan guided Barbara using telepathy to rescue the Doctor and Ian, Carole was recused fairly early on and the City Administrator's lackey was caught and locked up. Susan and the First Elder had a discussion about trust and Susan described her home planet with a burnt orange night sky and trees with silver leaves!
It's been a fascinating story and had a very good plot with some interesting ideas about the Sensorite culture which could perhaps have been explored more, but they were far more interesting than the Thals and the people of Marinus. Some real thought had been given to their design, and even though the Daleks were really inhuman, they'd originally been Humanoid and not that different. It's a shame Maitland, Carole and John didn't get a proper farewell and the repercussions of what the Humans had done, and what happened to the City Administrator, weren't fleshed out more. The City Administrator was banished, but seemingly with little more evidence than the maps. I'd've liked a proper confrontation and admission.
Nevertheless, this has been a great story, the best of the Science Fiction stories so far. We did get an odd cliffhanger of the Doctor taking the hump and threatening to throw Ian and Barbara off the ship, though. Odd.
As I said elsewhere, I'm glad you enjoyed this as much as you did :P It's better than The Keys of Marinus, but a harder slog to get through since there's less variety. The Sensorites themselves are a nice idea though and there are some good ideas. I'd call it a not entirely successful experiment.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the most thought through of all the Sci-Fi episodes from the first series. To be honest, they're all fairly rudimentary and straight forward, which is not something you could accuse The Dalek Invasion Of Earth, The Web Planet, Galaxy 4 or The Ark of being. Because The Daleks was Nation's first script once the main plot has been dealt with it does meander, and Keys is just a bit of a mess due to the constraints under which it was written. The Edge Of Destruction is more psychological drama, but The Sensorites goes from immensely eerie to a bizarre political drama. Given that the Daleks were so inhuman in appearance, the Sensorites are the shows first attempt at creating a Humanoid alien which really look disturbing and inhuman - the show would continue to do this in a far more successful way than the likes of Star Trek in the next three or four seasons. I'm a massive fan of this story. It's one of the later Hartnells I saw (I think when I viewed it in 2004 it was only the second or third time I'd watched it) and it really did surprise me that it wasn't more highly regarded.
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