Season One Review

Best Story:

The Aztecs

Worst Story:

The Reign of Terror

It was unfortunate for me that Season 1 ended with my least favourite story. I am a little disappointed in how under used Susan is. William Hartnell as the Doctor does mellow a little bit I didn't really care for the grumpy old man in the beginning, I'm not sure what Season Two has in store.

There is probably gonna be a bit a gap before I get to reviewing Season Two.

 Season Rating, (Taken from the Average rating I gave to each story) :

7.5/10

Story 008 - The Reign of Terror

This story has 6 episodes in it and was aired from:  8 August–12 September 1964.

The Reign of Terror was the last story from the first ever series of Doctor Who. 

Currently, the original master copies of episodes 4 and 5 remain missing from the BBC archive. However, the missing episodes have been reconstructed in animated format for the 2013 DVD release of the serial. Though the actual footage is yet to be recovered, both episodes retain the full-length audio soundtracks originally recorded during the original transmission.

Official Synopsis:

The TARDIS materialises not far from Paris in 1794 — one of the bloodiest years following the French Revolution of 1789. The travellers become involved with an escape chain rescuing prisoners from the guillotine and get caught up in the machinations of an English undercover spy, James Stirling — alias Lemaitre, governor of the Conciergerie prison.

My Opinion:

I found this episode quite slow and a little boring. I don't know how many times the characters have to say guillotine :(  lol. 

Susan again in this is sidelined the people behind the scenes seemed to have no faith in Susan preferring to give the better parts to Barbara and Ian.

My Rating:

5/10

Story 007 - The Sensorites

This story has 6 Episodes in it and was aired from:  8 August–12 September 1964.

Thoughtful, genteel, and afraid of the dark, The Sensorites were never going to be as popular as other Doctor Who aliens such as the Daleks, Cybermen or Sontarans. Yet the issues explored in this story were arguably pivotal in the moral and ethical development of the Doctor's character, and of Doctor Who itself.

In 2008 episode Planet of the Ood the Doctor mentions that the Ood -Sphere is a near neighbour of the Sensorites home world. The Ood and the Sensorites share common characteristics: Essentially intellectual and gentle being, they reveal the true nature of the human beings who come into contact with them.

Official Synopsis:

The Doctor and his companions land on a spaceship orbiting a distant and mysterious world, where a human crew lie frozen somewhere between life and death. The planet is the Sense-Sphere, home of the Sensorites, beings of immense intelligence and power. Unable to leave, the Doctor and his companions must deduce the Sensorites' intentions: Are they friendly, hostile, or frightened?  And what is the deadly secret at the heart of the Sense-Sphere?

My Opinion:

I enjoyed the first 3 episodes it has mystery and a little chilling, but once we meet the Sensorites the story falls off abit and isn't as interesting when they go down to the planet.

My Rating:

7/10 

Story 006 - The Aztecs

This story has 4 episodes in it and was aired From:  23 May–13 June 1964.

The Aztecs is a pitch perfect example of a Doctor Who serial that completely fulfils the original intention of the series. The four episode adventure is an educational trip into History for viewers and the only monsters found in the story are human.

This is the third trip into the past for the Doctor and his companions since the first episode. John Lucarotti had already written the popular historical story Marco Polo, so was chosen by the production team to write another educational Doctor Who adventure. Lucarotti had spent some time living in Mexico and was fascinated by the Aztec culture. Using this as his inspiration, he set about writing his second Doctor Who story.

It's not every day one of the Doctor's companions gets mistaken for the reincarnation of a high priest, but luckily the Aztec period is one of the history teacher Barbara Wright's specialities, so she copes with it remarkably well. At least until she decides to educate the Aztec people and make them stop sacrificing humans. And this is where we see William Hartnell shine as the Doctor 'you can't rewrite history' he shouts 'Not one line!'

Recreating 15th century Mexico works brilliantly thanks to Barry Newbury's sets, and this is a story of love, death, cocoa, good intentions and a huge dilemma for the History teacher.

Official Synopsis:

The arrival of the TARDIS in 15th century Mexico leads the crew to the doomed Aztec people, a mixture of high culture and brutal savagery. Matters are further complicated when Barbara is mistaken for a god and the Doctor becomes engaged to be married.

My Opinion:

This is my favourite story so far, I think Jacqueline Hill is outstanding in this as Barbara. It also has my favourite line yet in the series the Doctor tells Barbara You can't re-write History not one line!

My Rating:

10/10 !!!

Story 005 - The Keys of Marinus

This story has 6 episodes in it and was aired from: 11 April–16 May 1964

Official Synopsis:

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Marinus on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The travellers are forced by the elderly Arbitan to retrieve four of the five operating keys to a machine called the Conscience of Marinus, of which he is the keeper. These have been hidden in different locations around the planet to prevent them falling into the hands of the evil Yartek and his Voord warriors, who plan to seize the machine and use its originally benevolent mind-influencing power for their own sinister purposes.

The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara visit a mysterious temple on planet Marinus. Here they meet Arbitan; Keeper of the ‘Conscience of Marinus’. The Conscience is a dormant mind controlling computer, which once controlled the populace of Marinus with a justice field and prevented evil behaviour.

Coerced by Arbitan, the quartet are forced to travel to various locations on Marinus. To attempt recovery of 5 keys, to restart the justice field and abate the activities of Yartek and his wetsuit clad Voord, who are immune to the Conscience.

My Opinion:

I liked that each episode of this story is its own mini adventure, trying to find the five keys. The team spilts up and the Doctor goes to the end of the quest thus he doesn't appear in episodes 3 and 4.

As a result, we are taken on quite the adventure, to different areas of Marinus to look for the keys. There is alot jammed in here. Including; a trip to the polar region, a jungle setting, and a city controlled by brains in jars. We even have time for a bit of courtroom drama (when Ian is accused of murder).

Overall a very good story :)

My Rating:

9/10

Story 004 - Marco Polo

Marco Polo is the first Doctor Who story to be lost in it's entirety.

It had seven episodes in the original story, Marco Polo was aired From: 22 February–4 April 1964.

I watched a condensed 30 Minute version of the story which was made up of a tantalising glimpse of this lost story using an off air recording of the soundtrack and stills and production photoraphs.

Official Synopsis:

Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay.

Having witnessed many incredible sights and survived a variety of dangers, they arrive at the mighty Kublai Khan's Summer Palace in Shang-tu, where the Doctor strikes up an extraordinary friendship with the now-aged ruler.


They move on at last to the even more sumptuous Imperial Palace in Peking, where the travellers save the Khan from an assassination attempt by the Mongol warlord Tegana — supposedly on a peace mission — before departing once more in the TARDIS.

My Opinion:

I think I would have really liked this story, it is a shame I will probably never get to see the original recording. You do get the jist of the story from what I watched and even from this I thought Mark Eden was really good as Marco Polo.

My Rating:

It is hard to give a rating for this as I haven't seen it in it's entirety but it showed a lot of potential so I will give it 7/10 I have a feeling it would have been higher.

Story 003 - The Edge of Destruction

This story was a short one compared to they first two it only has 2 episodes.

The episodes aired from: 8–15 February 1964.

The Edge of Destruction was the third serial of season 1 of Doctor Who. The story is unique in the original series in that it is set entirely inside the TARDIS and features only the regular cast members.

Narratively, the story was crucial as its events bonded the travellers so they were no longer just mismatched people forced together but a group who could trust one another. It also offered the first hint that the Doctor's TARDIS was not his own, shown by his lack of understanding of its abilities. Finally, it was also the first instance of the Doctor namedropping historical figures.

The second episode of this serial, "The Brink of Disaster", is as far as viewers can watch the Hartnell era, and the series itself from the very beginning in televised format, before running into a single missing episode: the following serial, Marco Polo, remains absent in its entirety.

Official Synopsis:

As they slowly recover from the shock of being thrown to the TARDIS floor, the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara all seem to be acting strangely. Unexplained events occur and suspicions are raised that an alien force may have entered the ship. The Doctor even accuses Ian and Barbara of sabotage.


It gradually dawns on the travellers that what they have been experiencing is an attempt by the TARDIS itself to warn them of something. The Doctor finally realises the fast return switch he used when leaving Skaro has stuck, and the ship has been plunging back to the beginning of time and its own destruction.

My Opinion:

The BBC commissioned 13 episodes to be made, well originally 4 which I think is what caused the probablems. The first two stories came to 11 episodes so they needed a small story of two episodes to get to 13, and with NO budget they had to use existing sets and only use the 4 main actors for the series with no guest stars. 

This is a very good character piece which helps to fill in some gaps and explore the TARDIS more. I am not sure what Susan is doing in this episode it doesn't go anywhere and makes very little sense, scissor attack. We do get the Doctor with his head bandaged up (Classic Iconic Who) The ending of this is terrible a switch had got stuck?  lol. But I suppose for having no money they did well to put anything together. I did enjoy this and it shows you can get away without spending on Monsters and Guest Stars, sometimes a minimalist approach works.

My Rating:

8/10

Story 002 - The Daleks

This story has 7 episodes in it which aired from 21 December 1963–1 February 1964

The Daleks was the second serial of season 1 of Doctor Who. Initially titled The Mutants, its most obvious contribution to the Doctor Who mythos was the introduction of the Daleks, along with the Thals and the planet Skaro. It also continued and deepened the antagonistic relationship between the First Doctor and his new human companions, Ian and Barbara, which would come to a head in the next story.

The serial was writer Terry Nation's first for the programme. Its reception led to his recommissioning for The Keys of Marinus later in the season, as well as the return of the Daleks every season until season 5. It also was the proximate cause for Nation's financial success, since his agent had cunningly negotiated Nation's co-ownership of the Daleks.

Official Synopsis:

The TARDIS has brought the travellers to the planet Skaro where they meet two indigenous races — the Daleks, malicious mutant creatures encased in armoured travel machines, and the Thals, beautiful humanoids with pacifist principles. They convince the Thals of the need to fight for their own survival.


Joining forces with them and braving Skaro's many dangers, they launch a two-pronged attack on the Dalek city. The Daleks are all killed when, during the course of the fighting, their power supply is cut off.

My Opinion:

Really good Sci-Fi story which also has Horror elements to it.  This has a really effective closed in claustrophobic quality to the camera work, especially in the lead up to the meeting with the Daleks. The Doctor shows he always gets what he wants when he pretends he needs a part from the City to fix the TARDIS, when there was nothing wrong with it. The others didn't want to go, so he manipulated them into doing what he wanted. Ian in particular is against going to the City and is mad when he discovers what the Doctor did to get them to go.

They remade this episode into a big budget film, the same year; Doctor Who & The Daleks – starred Peter Cushing as the Doctor. It used almost exactly the same script and setup as the television episode but none of the TV actors.

Overall though, the simple and claustrophobic appeal of The Daleks is left intact because it takes it’s time to build to a slow and suspenseful conclusion. If you like Daleks and want to witness their evolution from small beginnings, then this is for you.

My Rating:

I'm gonna go 9/10 I really enjoyed most of this story.

Story 001 - An Unearthly Child

An Unearthly Child had 4 episodes in it and was aired from:
23 November–14 December 1963 

An Unearthly Child was the first serial of Doctor Who. It was the first televised Doctor Who serial and the beginning of the Doctor Who franchise in general.

It saw the first appearances of the Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, played by William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell and Jacqueline Hill, respectively. Ian and Barbara became the Doctor's first companions, unwillingly whisked away on the Doctor's TARDIS. At the end of the fourth episode, "The Firemaker", the jungles of the recurring alien world of Skaro (not named in this story) were briefly seen before its first full appearance in the following serial.


This adventure also introduced the Doctor's TARDIS, which, in spite of it usually possessing the ability to change its outward appearance (having already previously disguised as an Ionic column and as a sedan chair), was stuck in its most recognisable form of a police box after leaving London in 1963.

Official Synopsis:

Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton, two humble teachers during 1963, are surprised by a bright student named Susan Foreman. Confused by the contradictions in Susan's knowledge, Barbara had decided to visit her home, only to learn that the address on record is a junkyard. She and Ian decide to wait at the location until Susan or her grandfather show up. There, they discover a junkyard inhabited by her grandfather, simply known as "the Doctor", and he doesn't want them lurking about.


When the teachers refuse to leave, they discover that an ordinary police box is actually bigger on the inside. The Doctor decides they know too much about his and Susan's otherworldly origins and takes them on a journey across space and time in his TARDIS, the place he and Susan now call home.

My Opinion:

It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to watch this first ever episode of Doctor Who. I liked the mystery behind the characters at this stage. It is a little uncertain exactly what the show wants to be. I liked the fact that Susan named the TARDIS. I also liked the way the first episode is told through Ian and Barbara's eyes which you can really feel like you are one of these two characters learning everything about the Doctor and his world. I thought the whole Cave Man Story in this was very cringe worthy. I liked episode 1 then the next 3 for me were a bit hard to watch.

My Rating:

Episode 1  -  7/10
Episodes 2 - 4  -  4/10

Introduction

So for this Blog I have decided to Review Every Story from Doctor Who. Stories included a different number of Episodes in each for example Story 001 An Unearthly Child had 4 episodes in it. Some of these stories I have seen before, others it will be my first watch of them. It is going to be an ongoing project which could take me awhile lol. So I will just jump into my TARDIS to see this task complete :)   I wonder where we are going to begin ?