Doctor Who continued …

Almost a forerunner to The Seeds of Doom, this episode has some impressive sets.  Some jeopardy/suspense in the guise of the fake chip, and in trying to find out where the key was hidden.  A little bit rushed at the end for time again, with the scientist wanting to check out Barbara’s time device before trusting her, to the next scene of him being strangled, burbling out the rest of the story, then dying at the most inopportune moment.

For an alien wanderer in the dimensions of time and space, Susan is a right little scaredy-cat.  The littlest of things sets her off.  No wonder Carole Ann Ford wanted to leave.  Her character is so completely different to how she began that it beggars belief that she stayed this long.  I actually started wishing for Vicki to turn up.

Barbara is often nearly as bad, but that’s largely due to ridiculous dialogue and scenes.  Twice now we’ve had scenes that go like this –

Ian: Barbara, don’t do anything until we’ve all got back.
Thal / Susan : Do you always do what Ian says?
Barbara : No.
Barbara then falls into a trap so blatant that it seems she only does it to prove how stupid she can be, and which results in her screaming for Ian’s help.

The thing is that Barbara wouldn’t look so stupid if not for the preceding piece of ridiculous dialogue.  Dialogue that suggests that Barbara is deaf to sensible and sage advise if it comes from a man.  Without that dialogue, Barbara would come across as an adventurous explorer, led by her own curiosity, safe in the knowledge that she has reliable friends to fall back on if things go wrong.  With the dialogue she comes across as falling into silly traps just to spite the man.

Next time … The Snows of Terror