Doctor Who, season 2 continued …

Not the best episode, but they make up for Hartnell’s absence quite well and the cliffhanger at the end is great.

The Vikings come to town (“Tell the other 10,000 to stay off-camera!”), which leads to a fairly poorly choreographed/rehearsed fight in the woods.

O’Brien & Purves aren’t enough to carry the episode on their own shoulders, as William Russell and Jacqueline Hill would have been, so we’re fortunate to have Peter Butterworth’s excellent monk with a nice line in dialogue and mannerisms.   Interesting choice of gadgets (and snuff?) to represent him being from the future – very 50/60s toaster, radio, and gramophone.  Would have been nice to have some items there from other time periods, but that’s just being a bit picky.

I thought it was very brave of the writer and the show’s producer to touch on the notion of rape.  Heady stuff for a family/children’s show.

In all, a relatively slow-paced episode but with a few good moments.

Next time … A Battle of Wits