The Chase

Parts One and Two.

The Doctor: William Hartnell had "found his groove." This is the Doctor as we've known him for over 50 years; disinclined to violence, intensively inquisitive, fiercely protective of his friends. While the Doctor is not yet  completely the lead as Patrick Troughton would make the character in a few years, this is definitely no longer the Ian Chesterton Show.

The Companions: it's clear here that William Russell has seen his character mature into a foil for the Doctor, an equal instead of a competitor. Barbara thus far here is been mostly a comfort for Vicki and it's pretty clear to me that Team Who have started running out of ways to make stories work with a four-member Team TARDIS. Vicki has mostly varied between classic screamer and Going To Get Help.

The Story: I was looking forward to the Beatles' cameo; is it not on Britbox or later on? At any rate, this is how DW should treat technology. Make a plot element sort of sciencey and press on, like the TV that can see history or Daleks somehow getting time travel technology. Note to Chibnall: This story doesn't waste time trying to make everything Make Sense. It's entertaining and engaging. Not plodding like so much of Barry Letts' work was in the Pertwee era. Tells one story, tells it well, presses on. Verity Lambert is definitely a master of the craft.

Effects: The Dalek music is suitably eerie, and we see Daleks NOT on a metal floor. (I have to mention in passing this story doesn't waste time explaining WHY the Daleks somehow can move about in the desert). We have the classic Dalek ray gun effect, classic Dalek incidental music, but the rest of the incidental music is somewhat... experimental. Reminds me of Pertwee-era music. You definitely get the feeling the Beeb is trying to recapture the early 'magic' by tweaking the formula.

Oveall, I'm enjoying this and will continue this Hartnell Marathon hopefully til Christmas Eve.

Part Three.

The Doctor. I'm seeing just a hint of the tinkerer later Doctors built on, very interesting.

The Companions: Vicki is given something to do other than Go For Help, as she rescues Barbara from what could be a tight spot. I'll throw Peter Purves' execrable Alabama hillbilly in here. I simply don't see what Team Who saw in this man. Either he's a world-class plumber out of his depth or the victim of almost criminally inept writing; not sure which. Tempted to think Mr. Purves' calling in life was as a longshoreman, though. Ian and the Doctor are switching out as the lead, and that's interesting.

The Story. More of the chase across space and time. Team Who is just going with a fun story and not letting the details get in the way. It's sciencey enough to seem plausible, but not getting bogged down in technobabble like we'll see in 20-odd years after JN-T gets hold of the show. The Americans on the Empire State Building seem much more plausible than the denizens of Tombstone in The Gunfighters, as did Emperor Abraham back in Episode One. Team Who is starting to explore the ideas of time travel, especially with a Bad Guy following Team TARDIS. Good guys and bad guys going through time is a theme Quantum Leap took and ran with 20 years later. The effects here are considerably better than in earlier programs.

Part Four.

The Doctor. We're finally starting to see the incurably curious Doctor we've come to know over the last 50 years.

The Companions. Barbara and Vicki basically keep each other company for a good deal of the episode, and Ian and the Doctor advance the plot. Marooning Vicki on the Dalek time machine is reasonably effective, and it strikes me it's done to solve the problem of what to do with Vicki. There's very little that advances the story in her direct involvement on the Dalek ship, and would as easily be advanced from the Dalek POV.


The Story: The Haunted House is criticized as not being Doctor Who-ish, but it's reasonably engaging for what it is. Some people criticize how weak the Daleks are in this episode, but it might just as easily be said that Team Who is setting them up as not being completely invincible; The Dalek Invasion of Earth was very recent at this point. The "robot Doctor" is a bit cheesy, but I give Team Who credit for being inventive.

Part Five.

The Doctor: The fight scene between the Doctor and RoboDoc is a reasonably effective transition. The Doctor is now the hero of the story. In general, this is Hartnell at his best; duty of care for his assistants, intensively curious, but just a touch of the old xenophobia. Well founded this time, as we see the local fauna isn't exactly benign.

Companions: Ian slowly relinquishes his leading position and really is co-lead with the Doctor here. Vicki is a relatively effective Screaming Damsel, and Barbara is the Fifth Wheel here.

The Story: Team Who lands on the planet Mechanus and is preparing for a final battle with the Daleks. And we have RoboDoc for another variable. I keep seeing that Team Who has more or less run out of ideas for a four member Team TARDIS, and here RoboDoc just clouds the story. Note to Chibnall: Four member Team TARDIS has been tried several times and there's just not enough story to involve 3-4 POVs consistently in a television program.

The Doctor: He completely takes over as prime mover of the action in this ep. And the parting with Ian and Barbara is the single most poignant companion departure of the entire 1963-89 run I have yet seen. You can really tell the Doctor is heartbroken.

The Companions: Ian and Barbara, the last of the original Team TARDIS, make their exit. The sequence in contemporary London is very effective, even more so than End Of Time and the revisitation to all Tennant's companions. We see Steven Taylor for the first time, and I see echoes of Steven here in Tom Hanks' Castaway. Just like Wilson was Hanks' sole companion, the teddy bear was Steven's. I may have to revise my estimate of Steven; his 2 years of total isolation make him a deeply flawed person.

The Story. While the Mechanoids look a lot like rolling Christmas tree ornaments, I give Team Who credit for coming up with a new villain that didn't look like an old one with a coat of paint or just a person in a rubber suit. I'm seeing a trend in early DW that in the Dalek episodes all the Daleks are killed off. And I have already mentioned the poignancy of Ian and Barbara's exit; I wonder if anybody at the time caught the very subtle callback to An Unearthly Child in the exchange on the bus about fare. Ian tried to pay in shillings(?), but Britain had JUST gone to the decimal New Pence in 1965 IIRC. And for the uninitiated, Susan wasn't clear on the date of the transition to New Pence in AUC. A very subtle thing, and in no way essential to the ep's plot or the viewer's understanding of DW.

It is now official. William Hartnell is the most underrated Doctor in the show's history.