Gavin WintersRIP Sara, we hardly knew ya (but at least a bit more than Katarina) đ¤ˇđťââď¸
The Massacre (âŚâof St. Bartholomewâs Eveâ if you insist, but I prefer the short version). Just weeks since this show gave us the madcap antics of The Feast Of Steven and now we get this extremely heavy political and religious drama. Mustâve been a bit hardgoing for kids at the time. #DoctorWho
Stevenâs big argument with the Doctor before storming out, and Hartnellâs poignant monologue afterwards (mentioning his home world!), must be one of the most âI wish the visuals still existedâ moments In sixties #DoctorWho
Oh, hello Dodo, random young person with no apparent life or backstory or reason to stay on Earth and so is a ready-made companion after stumbling into the TARDIS. Thatâs pretty convenient! #DoctorWho
#DoctorWho : The Ark. They must have spent a bit of cash on this one - huge sets, loads of extras, even a bloody elephant in the studio!
The visual FX are noticeably starting to improve too, with some new tricks for merging one picture with another.
âTake them to the Security Kitchen! Where they can⌠make my breakfast! Securely!â #DoctorWho
The Monoids really are the most rubbish villains for *constantly* blurting out their evil plans and letting everyone else hear. #DoctorWho
The Celestial Toymaker: Hmm, for many years âreceived fan wisdomâ said this was an all-time classic. I always think it was just people who were kids at the time found it mind-blowing. So weird and surreal and format-breaking. But itâs all a bitâŚnothing, really. #DoctorWho
The Toymaker himself is a fun and interesting villain, and after watching this again Iâm now looking forward to his (apparent) return, but the plot is wafer-thin. Same runaround nonsense repeated for four episodes. #DoctorWho
Still, the totally-not-copyright-infringing-and-definitely-not-Billy-Bunter character of Cyril in the final episode is such an odious, annoying prick that his eventual death is one of the most satisfying in all of #DoctorWho ! đ
The complete inverse of The Celestial Toymaker, The Gunfighters had a reputation for being rubbish⌠until people actually got to see it. A perfectly enjoyable and funny story.
And yeah, I even donât mind âThe Ballad Of The Last Chance Saloonâ. So sue me. đ #DoctorWho
Hartnell once again showing how good he is when given a bit of comedy business. All the bits with the Doctorâs toothache in the dentistâs office are hilarious. #DoctorWho
River Song: âA Time Lordâs body is a miracle. There are whole empires out there whoâd rip this world apart just for one cellâŚâ
Well donât leave your bloody tooth on 19th-century Earth, Doctor!
*spaceships gather in the sky above Tombstone*
I thought Dodo had a wandering accent. Itâs nothing compared to some of the âAmericanâ accents on display here. Arizona via Yorkshire. #DoctorWho
âYour humble servant, Doctor Caligari!â
âDoctor⌠Who?â
âQuite so!â
First example of that joke? Unless you count when Ian said it in the very first episode. #DoctorWho
The Savages: a very underrated story about a parasitic ruling elite literally draining the life from the lower echelons of society. Always think this would be much more highly rated if we could see it. Hope itâs considered for these new animations at some point. #DoctorWho
The Doctor seems to be using a bulky, proto-sonic screwdriver at one point. Which he describes as âMy reacting vibrator!â
Good grief. đł
âWe can make the brave man braver, the strong man stronger, the wise man wiser!â
Just as youâre thinking, âwell donât these qualities apply to women?â he adds:
âThe beautiful girl more beautiful still!â
Oh⌠okay. đ #DoctorWho
Jano in The Savages âbecomingâ the Doctor is a nice twist, with a fun impersonation by Frederick Jaeger, but itâs sad to see that at this stage they have to write Hartnell out at every opportunity to give him a break.
Especially when he was so good in the earlier scene when the Doctor makes a furious condemnation of how their society works. #DoctorWho
The revolving door of companions in season three continues as Steven leaves for⌠no apparent reason. The only man who can help this society rebuild? Eh, really? Oh well, bye then! đ #DoctorWho
The War Machines: a return to contemporary earth, with the world under threat from a megalomaniacal computer, and the Doctor has all sorts of establishment contacts with scientists, the military, government⌠hang on, are we in the Pertwee era by mistake?? #DoctorWho
The Inferno Nightclub! The most âwith itâ, happening place in town! Where all the teenagers are at least 35! #DoctorWho
Stop calling it âVOTANâ when itâs spelled âWOTANâ! Honestly, this is gif and jif all over again. #DoctorWho
Now itâs Dodoâs turn to be unceremoniously dumped in one of the worst companion exits ever, with an offscreen goodbye.
Oh well, at least weâll now have a bit of stability for a while with Ben and Polly. #DoctorWho
The Smugglers: one of the least gripping historicals. You can see why they started phasing them out. Weâve come a long way from when The Aztecs or Marco Polo would be the highlights in a season. The sci-fi stories are now the far more interesting ones. #DoctorWho
Ah, the old convention of, when in a historical setting, put a woman in trousers and everyone immediately starts going âYou there, boy!â
Come on lads, get your eyes tested! đ #DoctorWho
The Tenth Planet: Well, after several years of attempting to come up with a creature to rival the popularity of the Daleks, through Zarbi and Mechanoids and War Machines, it finally happens almost by accident as these guys stumble through the snow⌠#DoctorWho
Twice in recent stories weâve had the modern convention of seeing news reports on the unfolding events. Long before RTD did it!
In fact everything feels subtly more modern, with the Doctor himself being the only leftover from a previous era that needs replacing⌠#DoctorWho
These early Cybermen might look cheaply knocked together with bits of tape and plastic and surgical stockings on actors faces, but theyâre still one of the most effective designs, with elements of the human being still visible. #DoctorWho
(Just kidding!)
Power Of The Daleks: âŚand hello Pat! Instantly likeable as the Doctor. Of course some contemporary viewers werenât happy with the change⌠đ
Itâs a clever device to have people investigating the Daleks as some ancient and dead curiosity, with only the Doctor (and the viewers) aware of the danger. Immediately puts you on the side of the new Doctor. You can see why they did it again with Tomb Of The Cybermen. #DoctorWho
Is the Dalek capsule meant to be bigger on the inside? Because when we finally see the full extent of it itâs bloody enormous! With a whole Dalek factory inside. How did they drag something that big into Lestersonâs laboratory? #DoctorWho
The rebels in Power Of The Daleks fit the gun-arms back into the disarmed Daleks to use them to overthrow the Governor (and of course the Daleks end up killing them!)
Did they not think to just try figuring out a way to operate the guns themselves? #DoctorWho
The Doctorâs clothes magically changed when he regenerated! Well, letâs hope nothing as silly as that ever happens again⌠#DoctorWho
Though I always assumed the intention with Troughtonâs costume is that itâs a baggy oversized version of Hartnellâs, so people watching on tiny 1960s TVs would think itâs the same clothes and the Doctorâs just shrunk a bit. #DoctorWho
The Highlanders: well itâs the last of the (by now, slightly plodding) historicals. But the best thing is that Jamieâs arrived. đ
Fair play to Frazer for getting on so well with the cast and crew they took an incidental character and turned him into a new companion! #DoctorWho
I donât know if they could have kept up this character trait of the new Doctor being a master of disguise and accents over the long term, but it was fun while it lasted. #DoctorWho
Oh no, donât let the right-wing papers see this, eh Russell? đ #DoctorWho
The Underwater Menace: Hooo boy! đ
Atlantis! Mad cults! Even madder Professors! Humans surgically-altered to become Fish-People! (!!) This is #DoctorWho at its most bonkers and comic-strip. Makes the 1960s Batman series look like I, Claudius.
Previously weâve had âDoc-Tor Whooo isss re-quired!â and âDoctor Von Werâ, now he signs off as âDr. Wâ. They were really leaning into the whole idea of Who as his surname at this point. #DoctorWho
The Moonbase: this feels like the proper debut of the âbase-under-siegeâ story, with The Tenth Planet having been a sort of practice run, before they got it down to a fine art. (Or became repetitive and predictable, if thatâs how you feel about them!) #DoctorWho
Three times in about 30 minutes a Cyberman strolls into the sick bay through the back entrance, sees Polly (who screams), then casually picks up a patient and walks out.
Lock the bloody door, guys! 𤪠#DoctorWho
At least Polly gets to be proactive and clever by coming up with the idea of the âcocktailâ to dissolve the Cybermenâs plastic parts.
But of course sheâs still given the role of making the coffee, and has to put up with Benâs âNot you Polly, this is menâs work!â đ #DoctorWho
The character of Benoit is visually distinguished as being French by his fancy cravat, in case you couldnât tell by his Fronch ucksent. #DoctorWho
As an aside, Iâd forgotten how good these early animations were. Very rich and detailed compared to the later ones, which seemed to adopt a flatter, more âCaptain Pugwashâ style. #DoctorWho
The Macra Terror: or â #DoctorWho Gets A Dose Of The Crabsâ or The One With No Villain At All, because as we all know: THERE ARE NO SUCH THING AS MACRA! MACRA DO NOT EXIST!
A similar theme to The Savages (by the same author), with an idyllic-seeming colony hiding a dark secret.
The Macra are comically rubbish at concealing whatâs going on, broadcasting an image of a whacking great claw threatening the supposed leader. Doh!
Still, Pollyâs response of screaming about how âTheyâre in control!!â makes a good cliffhanger. #DoctorWho
Thereâs an official called Officia. The poor sod must have suffered from Nominative Determinism ever since his parents lumbered him with that. #DoctorWho
The Cold War paranoia of the Sixties led to all sorts of ideas about brainwashing and mind control, cropping up everywhere in TV and film. So now itâs Benâs turn to have his mind reprogrammed. Pretty easily, as it turns out! #DoctorWho
For a crab, the lead Macra has a very distinguished voice, with good clarity and projection.
If the whole evil plan of parasitically controlling space colonies doesnât work out, then surely a career in the theatre beckons. #DoctorWho
The Faceless Ones: another abrupt companion departure, as Ben and Polly disappear after a couple of episodes. At least they get to come back for a goodbye at the end.
Ah, Samantha Briggs, with her crazy hat and flirting with Jamie. The great lost potential companion. #DoctorWho
The airport commandant getting increasingly frustrated with the Doctorâs antics reminds me of this guy from Airplane! #DoctorWho
Ben and Pollyâs absence means that this is where the Doctor and Jamieâs relationship (with their occasional comic double-act) really starts to develop. Jamie had been a bit lost among the larger cast until now. #DoctorWho
Fairly daft of the Chameleons to leave some of their originals hidden in the car park, where theyâre easily found, instead of taking them with them. A bit of a contrivance to help wrap things up at the end. #DoctorWho
Evil Of The Daleks: some very good Sherlockian deduction by the Doctor at the start, following the flimsiest of clues to find Kennedy.
And of course, this day was a huge temporal nexus in #DoctorWho , with War Machines, Chameleons and Daleks all active at the same time!
Riggio@gavinwinters âLooks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glueâ
Metebelis Two PodcastDoesn't Polly basically respond to Ben saying nuts-to-that, I'm coming with you and then does though? So, yeah Ben's a chauvinist, but Polly doesn't back down.
Ben gets his coffee busboy task earlier in the story, when Benoit gives Ben the job clearing up coffee cups after Ben offers to help⌠maybe a draw on the coffee?
@Metebelis2 Well she doesnât say anything, the animation just has her wrinkling her nose at him in annoyance. But yeah, she does join in with the spraying of the Cybermen.
I've not watched the animation for years, so I was looking at the transcript. Maybe this was cut from the animation?
Here's the next scene after they cut back from the control room:
BEN: Polly. I thought that I told you to stay behind.
POLLY: I'm coming with you.
JAMIE: You'll maybe get hurt. Now go back.
POLLY: I'm coming with you and that's flat! You still need someone to look after you.
BEN: There's no time for arguments. If you're coming, come on.
@Metebelis2 Oh yes thatâs there a few minutes later, I just meant she didnât say anything immediately after Benâs comment and then it cuts away to the control room.