Doctor Who continued …

A bit of a courtroom drama, almost a forerunner to similar scenes in the first episode of “Blakes 7”.

Hartnell has clearly benefitted from his holiday, as he’s more on form here – giving the Doctor a commanding presence.  Him knowing the location of the hidden key while still being prepared to walk everyone else through the investigation is good.

The “guilty until proven innocent” angle (not the last time we’ll see this!) wasn’t played on strongly enough.  It still came across like the prosecutor was “proving” Ian’s guilt, when he didn’t need to do any such thing, and the Doctor never really proving “beyond any shadow of doubt” Ian’s innocence until the trap-reveal at the end.

And how did no one see who shot the culprit in the courtroom?  And no one bothered to investigate it either.  Or worry that there was a killer in there with them.  This was the most disappointing part of the story – not quite beaten by the culprit’s wife giving herself away in a manner in which even Columbo would have been proud.

Next time … The Keys of Marinus