The Space Museum

The TARDIS jumps a time track, landing the Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Vicki on the planet Xeros where they discover a vast space museum. While time is out of joint they are able to move around without being seen or heard and then realize that they are seeing the future - a future where they and the TARDIS become exhibits in the museum. Desperate to escape this fate the travellers are torn between taking action or taking none at all, not knowing if they are able to escape the future or if their future as captives is inevitible. The one element of chance lies with the native Xerons; if they can rise against their oppressors, the Moroks who run the museum, the future may be changed, but could they succeed?

This isn't exactly the most lively episode of the classic series, despite the fact that is has a pretty striking score and a laser fight in the fourth episode. Other reviewers have said they took this to be the ultimate episode in corridor running, and they're not far off the money; it's painfully obvious that there was a limited set budget for this one and the same corridors and bland rooms were shot again and again from different angles. Even some of the props were recycled, including a Dalek which was shown as a display piece. The inclusion of the Dalek is interesting in itself; as the museum is a monument to the warmongering past of the Moroks does this mean they conquered the Daleks at some point? But what the episode lacks in visuals it does score big with its script; the Doctor is very much opposed to the notion of changing the past but when it comes to the future he is very philosophical about possibilities. Ian and Barbara do what they can to fight against it in obvious ways - breaking things, causing damage to the museum, but Vicki realizes that their best hope is if something from outside of their group acts to save them.

The Moroks are not really much of an adversary, they're really just washed up thugs with bad hair who rolled over a peaceful planet and killed all the adults and just tolerate the children they let live. Their glory days are over and they know it, but bullying a planet of kids seems to help them pass the time. The Xerons are growing up though and starting to pose a threat, but they are not very effective until Vicki falls in with them and stirs them up to start a revolution. Catch a very young Jeremy Bulloch leading his friends the funny-eyebrowed Xerons, years before he would be cast as Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back.

There's not a heck of a lot more to really say about this one, aside from how it is directly linked to the final moments of The Crusade and while a Dalek does appear at the end of the final episode it's not exactly a direct flow to the next one, leaving a bit of room for other adventures. Both Virgin Publishing and Big Finish have provided.

NEXT EPISODE: THE PLOTTERS

The Crusade

The TARDIS drops the time travellers into it again, landing smack in the middle of a battle between King Richard's men and the Saracens in Palestine in the 12th century. Barbara is grabbed and taken prisoner, while the Doctor, Ian and Vicki rescue a member of the King's party from death and earn his majesty's good favour. Barbara runs afoul of El Akir in the Saracen camp and Ian is knighted by the king, and the Doctor is drawn into the politics of the royal court as the king devises a plan to end the war. Oh and Vicki pretends to be a boy for a bit to keep her safe.

The Crusade is another of the purely historical adventures that the original series was known for; no aliens, no rogues trying to twist history to their own ends, just the Doctor and company getting caught up in the tide of events and hoping to come out the other side alive. Unlike some of the other
historicals, though, there is not some cataclysmic event they have to escape like Rome being burned. Barbara is in the most danger of all, first being captured and mistaken for the king's sister, Joanna (king and princess played by the brilliant Julian Glover and Jean Marsh respectively), and then taking on a role as an entertainer to the Sultan to survive, and then going on the run from El-Akir's vengeful ways. Vicki's deception at being a boy is played for laughs for the most part, at the expense of the bumbling chamberlain. When not duping hapless (yet crooked) shop keepers, the Doctor proves to be very good at getting immersed in the politics of the royal court, sparring with the king's advisors openly in debates, and Ian, well he gets to be a knight, how's that for cool? And while she's pretending to be a boy Vicki... well Vicki doesn't get to do much although she does have her own moment of abandonment anxiety, fearing that the Doctor and company are going to leave her behind.

The sad fact of the matter is that The Crusade is half-missing; only episodes 1 and 3 are held in the BBC archives but episodes 2 and 4 exist as audio recordings so the whole tale is available, it just requires switching between media to enjoy it. The two existing episodes were released on a DVD with a collection of others, but unlike other half-finished stories there was no effort made to restore the missing material with animation or reconstructed stills for a dedicated release. The first commercial release of the episodes was on VHS when they were paired with the next story, The Space Museum along with some linking narration and a clever intro by William Russell in character as Ian, looking back at the adventure after getting back home to Earth with Barbara. That release came with a single CD of the two missing episodes, and later the full audio soundtrack was released with the usual linking narration added in.

The first time I came into contact with the story, though, was the Target novelization which was done up as a standalone more than part of a series so it had a lenghy preamble to it including a reference to an adventure with the talking stones of the planet Tyron. The stones reference made it to the script for the introductory bit of the VHS release, along with a reference to the Salem witch trials (The Witch Hunters was published the same year, so does this mention make it canon?). The novel also had illustrations, which was a rare thing for the book series, but it was also a grittier version complete with Barbara being flogged for disobeying El-Akir. And it was not without its own hints about the growing relationship between Ian and Barbara.

The story ends with a lead-in right to The Space Museum so despite what authors may try and squeeze in between these stories there's really no discernible gap between them. So we stay with video for now....

NEXT EPISODE: THE SPACE MUSEUM

The Dark Planet

The TARDIS travels millions of years into the past and lands on a planet which is lit only by a dying sun. There is no immediate sign of life, just a few crystalline forms like statues on the barren plains. Upon exploring, though, the TARDIS crew realize that the planet is very much inhabited, but by a species which can convert its very being into either light or dark, and both factions have been at war for supremacy. As the planet's final days draw closer, the Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Vicki are drawn into the conflict, and if they are to survive they are either going to have to pick a side, or make peace.

The Dark Planet is another of the Big Finish Lost Stories range originally written by Brian Hayles. It's easy to understand why it might not have been selected for broadcast as it would have been far too ambitious for the series at the time (they would require effects levels similar to those in the 2005 episode The Unquiet Dead to make it work). The people of light are capable of freezing into solid statue like shapes of crystal and then transforming into intangible light waves which are transmitted through other crystals as their means of transport. The dark forces are able to merge together into a huge mass which smothers out the light, moving in the spaces between molecules to travel. It is through such levels of molecular movement that the darkness is able to invade the TARDIS in what would have been a frightening scene for young viewers back in the day.

The story is six episodes in length, which was common for the epic tales of its time, but it did not feel like six episodes when I listened to it. Granted I split it up over three days, taking in two at a time while I did other things around the house (sitting and just listening I find I nod off, no matter how good the story is). It has a similar feel to The Web Planet with its described vast open spaces and featureless plains, which could be another reason why it was shelved. Now that is has been resurrected, though, we get the "hurrah" factor that comes with finally getting to hear the story, but the letdown that is the fact that neither William Hartnell nor Jacqueline Hill are with us to act their old roles as the Doctor and Barbara respectively. Surviving cast members William Russell and Maureen O'Brien do return as Ian and Vicki, as well as performing other roles in the story with some added voice modulation; in Russel's case, though, he needs very little mechanical assistance in delivering his take on Hartnell's Doctor. Incidentally, William Russell is 91 years old this November (2016) so he manages to sound both like his younger self and the aged Doctor in this and other Big Finish tales - truly remarkable.

I did not find any direct continuity links between The Dark Planet and any other episodes from the era in which is it set, so sticking it in between The Web Planet (and subsequently The Eleventh Tiger as a buffer) and The Crusade is my best option. No-one on the regular cast says or does anything that would contradict any other stories around it, and unlike the BBC Books there is no further delving into the growing bond between Ian and Barbara. Originally I had planned to follow this with another audio, The Doctor's Tale, but have since discovered it contains references to stories to come, so I have placed it further off now, and we will return to the televised episodes next...

NEXT EPISODE: THE CRUSADE

The Eleventh Tiger

The TARDIS comes to China in 1865 and it is far from a peaceful visit. The ship's landing has the Doctor unnerved and everyone already seems to know - and want to kill - Ian. Barbara and Vicki are seeing ghosts. And a man claiming to be the reincarnation of the First Emperor is wreaking havoc and stirring up internal strife in the Chinese Blag Flag militia. The British Empire is present, attempting to keep order with the help of the Ten Tigers, experts in martial arts, but the trouble that is brewing is too big for them to stop. And if matters were not already bad enough, the malevolent force at work already knows who the Doctor is.

Author David A. McIntee had been self-outed as a video game enthusiast when he wrote his first Doctor Who novels for the Virgin Publishing ranges, citing the X-Wing game as his inspiration for the space battles in one of his novels. With The Eleventh Tiger it's obvious that his inspiration this time is none other than Mortal Kombat. Tiger is laced with enough detail to actually make a reader feel the heat of the midday sun let alone hear the woosh of thrown punches and the slap of knuckles connecting to faces, right down to a violent fight where the Doctor is challenged. Fear not, though; despite the arse kicking he laid on Ascaris back in The Romans (a memory which makes Vicki a little less nervous when she realizes the Doctor is going to fight someone) the Doctor doesn't exactly go all Yoda vs. Dooku on page. Even McIntee knows there are limits.

And let me toss this out there right now in case any of those nu-Who people are getting themselves worked up: the fact that the number eleven is referenced does not mean Matt Smith's idiotic version of the Doctor makes any form of appearance. This was published back in 2004, before Eccleston hit the screens.

A lot goes on in the novel, the most noteworthy things being the continuity - some of it cool, some of it not so. For starters this novel is supposedly placed after The Romans despite the direct lead-in to The Web Planet. Whether this is something that BBC Books decided themselves for the back cover blurb remains to be seen, but there are plentiful references to the events in Turkey and Rome (tying together both The Romans and Byzantium) but nothing at all to the adventure on Vortis (and homage to Marco Polo is strangely absent). Tigers doesn't even pretend that this is where the Doctor claimed they were being dragged down to; we cut right to Ian in the TARDIS washroom having a shave. Pity he wasted his time because within hours of landing he gets his ass handed to him in a bar brawl where everyone seems to know and despise him. His brutal beating is a case of mistaken identity for one Major Chesterton who is there with the British Army, although the Major has taken a knock on the head and doesn't remember much from his past, leaving the reader to wonder if this is actually Ian himself just returned to Earth somewhere in the past, yet in his personal future. The romance between Barbara and Ian and the developing "after story" for them once they eventually leave the TARDIS one day gets a bit more of a prod in this story; it seems that all the original fiction takes a moment to develop this future for them and it's actually nice to read. Their romance is growing out of their adventures together and mutual respect, and doesn't need to be peppered with innuendos like much of what we have seen in the Matt Smith era with Amy and Rory's courtship and wedding and then their eventual really stupid family issues. Vicki doesn't get to do much here except be there to watch it all happen; she's not entirely cast aside but still it's like McIntee didn't really know what to do with her. He handles writing for the Doctor alright, though, getting all that characteristic Hartnell inflection and the odd stammer and line flub down on paper perfectly, including getting Ian's name wrong a few times. The last big bit of continuity fun is the fact that the main antagonist doesn't really get a name although it knows who the Doctor is already. Without saying who the baddie is, it's a foe who will not be encountered until the fourth Doctor is at the helm of the TARDIS.

Only minor beefs with this one do I have; I had fun reading it. Thankfully though there was no direct lead into the next televised episode, The Crusades, so there's space here for a couple Big Finish episodes to be dropped in...

NEXT EPISODE: THE DARK PLANET

The Web Planet

The TARDIS is dragged off course and lands on Vortis, a world under seige. With no power in the machine the Doctor and Ian venture forth onto the planet in search of answers while later Barbara succumbs to a mysterious force and leaves Vicki alone inside. Vortis is a planet where the dominant life forms are the humanoid butterfly people, the Menoptera, but they have been driven away by an evil entity they call the Animus, and the Animus in turn has enslaved the ant-like Zarbi to act as its soldiers in the war for the planet. Caught in the middle of it all, the Doctor and his companions realize the true nature of the Animus and ally themselves with the Menoptera, but the web around Vortis is closing fast.

That's an interesting shirt. No I don't know his name or number.

The Web Planet is bloody amazing. The sheer ambition of the production crew is to be admired as they created an entire alien world and monsters to fill it with the only humanoid cast being the TARDIS crew. Visually that's pretty damn impressive, and they even went so far as to create an entire philosophy of movement for the actors playing the Menoptera, credited to the actress Roslyn de Winter who played Vrestin. The Zarbi costumes look a real chore to act in with the actors stooped over and shuffling about thudding into each other and colliding with the cameras here and there; word was they were going to be made as a marketing alternative to the Daleks but with only one appearance it wasn't likely they would take the same spotlight. On the downside of the design angle, though there's the third Vortis species, the underground dwelling Optera who have their own gutteral primitive dialogue but their design is.... kinda sloppy. Whereas the Menoptera are elegant and have giant wings (and in some sequences we get to see them in flight) the Optera hop around and have two real limbs and four obvious dummy limbs on their bodies. And yeah there's the question of the sets... the planetscape of Vortis is a vast painting on the wall of the studio and when the actors get a bit too close they cast obvious shadows on it, and the corridors inside the Animus' lair, the Carcinome, are a bit wobbly and flimsy, but really it was 1965 it wasn't going to be a CGI masterpiece. Naming the lair as such plays into the notion of the web spreading across Vortis as an actual cancer and that it is killing the planet. Some of the design shortfalls are hidden by the atmospheric effect of petroleum gel smeared on glass and placed in front of the cameras, so we get a real feel for the alien nature of the planet.

Over the six episodes of the story the characters are once again split up; the Doctor and Vicki spend a lot of time in the power of the Animus with the Doctor speaking to its disembodied voice through a tube hanging from their ceiling which he at one point refers to as a hairdryer. Ian and Vrestin fall into the depths of the planet and meet the Optera, and Barbara after an absence of an episode is jailed with a group of Menoptera who have had their wings torn off and are slaves workers for the Animus. Split up though they are they all make their way to the final confrontation with the Animus and arrive together by separate means, but it's not the first time they have managed that feat. And as for the Animus itself... well have you ever seen It? Nuff said.

There's really no new ground covered for the regular characters this time, just the Doctor implying that he has a source of great power available to him through the ring he wears and uses it to open the TARDIS doors when the ship's power is sucked dry. The klutz of the story award goes to Vicki who in her panic starts to push all the buttons on the console, which could have led to some terrible consequences. Continuity is held up well as the opening of the story leads right in from the end of The Romans, and there is the odd reference back to that story through the gold bracelet Nero gave to Barbara.

At the end of episode six the NEXT WEEK titles promise the first episode of The Crusades, which goes by The Lion. Before tackling that episode it's back to printed adventures with another feline in the title...

NEXT EPISODE: THE ELEVENTH TIGER