The Keys Of Marinus

Series 1

Title - The Keys Of Marinus

Production Code - E

Serial arc/story - #005

Episodes:

"The Sea Of Death" (also the alternate arc title)

"The Velvet Web"

"The Screaming Jungle"

"The Snows Of Terror"

"Sentence Of Death"

"The Keys Of Marinus"

Original air dates - April 11 - May 16, 1964

Writer - Terry Nation

Director - John Gorrie

Doctor - First Doctor - William Hartnell

Yay! I'm back! Randomly decided to sit and watch this serial tonight. And I've bookmarked the playlist for the next arc that I've not seen, The Sensorites. I did see The Aztecs already, thanks BBCA 50th anniversary specials and Netflix! Will be rewatching though, just for continuity's sake. I've also decided that when and if the time comes that I find myself having watched all available episodes of the classic series, I will continue with the movie and the new series, in their proper order - meaning I will watch 8's regen minisode before I watch Rose. Fantastic! Allons-y! Geronimo! What color are my kidneys?

haha Ian's Chinese Hawaiian style shirt - something he apparently picked up when they met Marco Polo...

So...our premise - 

The TARDIS lands on an island on an unknown planet. After venturing outside, Susan gets separated from the others and taken into the Tower. There the group meets Arbitan, a monk and the creator of the Consciousness of Marinus, a giant computer that keeps law and order for the planet. Arbitan enlists the Doctor and his companions to find the Keys which will control the computer and which will reset it, giving it back control over everyone on the planet. 

After the first episode where we meet Arbitan and the group gets sent on it's way, the rest of the episodes follow their journeys to find the Keys and return to the Tower. Along the way, the group meets others that were looking for the Keys, some with good intentions, some not, and they face a number of trials, including an actual courtroom trial for Ian, while on their search. 

Here we meet the classic villains, the Voord. Their costumes are rather simple - a wetsuit and gloves, flippers, and a full face mask/helmet with a pointed back end. Low tech, but effective. 

Most of what the group faces are typical sci-fi "danger" - plants that move, statues that move, brains in jars...

Not sure when the talking-brains-in-jars thing originated in sci-fi but it's used to full effect here. Very reminiscent of the more recent famous-head-in-a-jar gag from Futurama. I'd guess this was an influence. 

Nice that with this arc, we have episodes where the Doctor doesn't even feature. (Apparently Hartnell was on holiday during part of the time...) Early versions of the "Doctor-Lite" episodes of the reboot. But it's great that we get to see the companions interacting with each other and with those they meet instead of just being there for the Doctor's instructions and orders. Shame though that once again, we have Susan the victim, the whiny, impetuous child. She was supposed to be smart, right? Why does she keep having to be the one to be rescued? Not that Barbara doesn't need her fair share of rescuing, but at least she does other stuff, like keep Ian from getting his head whacked and eventually figuring out who the real criminal accomplice was at the end of the last episode. 

And nice on that too, a murder mystery in the middle of an arc on a sci-fi show :)

And one with a decent twist at the end to boot!

But does Barbara always have to look so dour? The oddly stiff, helmet hair bob and weird neckline sweater don't do her any favors. 

Interesting though how those in the early 60s thought computers would take over the world, or at least could. Having a whole planet's population get their law and order and justice from and all knowing computer? Yeah...we aren't there yet. Computers rule our lives, sure, but law and order is still a mandate of the people and still controlled by human thought and emotion. I'm kinda glad I don't have to rely on a cold, calculating computer in order to seek justice. Though I'm sure it would work a lot faster...

Lovely bits of miniature work for the landing and leaving of the TARDIS.

I wonder if they'll ever bring the Voord back to the new series, and if they do, will they keep the costumes as low tech? The Cybermen are still just people in metal-ish looking costumes, so why not the Voord in wetsuits and masks?

EXTRA

"The Sets Of Marinus"

Little bonus video at the end of the playlist I used about the sets and designs of the story arc. Moral of it - everything was done as cheaply as possible - and sometimes it looks like it, other times, it looks just as good as what is done in this day and age, particularly the Consciousness computer. Still very futuristic looking, even by today's standards. And all it was was some silver painted pipes, a many sided, lit box made by the visual effects department, and some black curtaining that cost them nothing to use as the background. They made the best of what they had and what they could do. 

I watched the episodes here - http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x2k83v_greendude33_season-1-the-keys-of-marinus-005/1#video=xymu8x

I can't say that these will necessarily still be online whenever it is that you are reading this, but I know that the Dailymotion user is one who continues to upload classic Who videos. It's the same user I've gotten all of my other First Doctor episodes from (aside from the one arc on Netflix...which was the arc used in the 50th anniversary First Doc special...)

They Keys Of Marinus - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Keys_of_Marinus

I will continue to format my heading as I have above, listing all basic info. Too lazy to go back and edit my old posts though. I will also try to link where I've watched episodes online, if I'm not using discs. But I'm pretty sure most of the classic episodes out there in the public view are streaming online someplace...

Skipping Marco Polo

Marco Polo

Series 1
Title - Marco Polo
Production Code - D
Story # - 004
Episodes:
"The Roof Of The World"
"The Singing Sands"
"Five Hundred Eyes"
"The Wall Of Lies"
"Rider From Shang-Tu"
"Mighty Kublai Khan"
"Assassin At Peking"

Doctor - 1st - William Hartnell

Originally broadcast between February 22 and April 4, 1964, the serial "Marco Polo" is one of three Doctor Who serials of which no known copies of the broadcast have survived. As of the date I write this, July 14, 2014, there only remains for public use audio copies of the programs, recorded off air, and "telesnaps" images of the airing broadcast.

The episodes are known to have last aired publicly in Ethiopia sometime in early 1971, but the fate of those copies of the show are unknown.

In the last few years, there has been rumor upon rumor that the copies used in the Ethiopian broadcast do still exist and are in the hands of private collectors, the BBC, archivists, and any number of other groups. So far, there has been no truth to any of these rumors, although most recently, another serial that was missing parts, "The Web Of Fear", was revealed to not only exist but was restored to the best possible quality that could be done and was released to the public. WoF was among those frequently mentioned in what has become known as the "Omnirumor" of the missing but found episodes. Many people assumed that for the 50th anniversary of the show that it would be finally, publicly confirmed by the BBC what episodes, if any, they currently had, and what episodes they might still be negotiating the return of.

But as of today, nothing more has been announced, and nothing more has changed.

With that, I am officially going to skip watching the Marco Polo serial and continue on to The Keys Of Marinus, watching whatever episodes are available.

If any part of Marco Polo does become available, I, like the rest of the Whovian fandom, will rejoice and eagerly watch such a treasure.

Allons-y!

Marco Polo - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(Doctor_Who)

Recent Who Viewings

So in the last two weeks, I've found myself looking for something to watch, so I chose whatever it was that Netflix has to stream of Classic Who.

Aside from the Second Doctor's The Mind Robber, which I'd seen some time ago, I've jumped headlong into the 70s and era of the Third Doctor.

The joke?

The first episode they have of his is his regeneration arc. So all in all not a bad place to start. But the next arc? The one where he gets back his ability to travel in the TARDIS. So, um...no exile then?

Netflix, you have issues.

So far I've watched Spearhead From Space, The Three Doctors, and The Carnival Of Monsters.

Not a bad group, but aside from Spearhead and 3 Docs, aren't there more and better episodes they could've picked?

Well, on to The Green Death.

I promise to get back to watching the First Doctor, and then the rest in order.

Oh, and I think I've decided to skip Marco Polo. There was talk about the Omnirumor possibly including it, but well, who knows how much of that is true. Since only the recreations exist out in public at this point, I'm going to skip it.

The Keys Of Marinus will be next when I can find the episodes.

Allons-y!

Oh, and the Brig's mustache is hilarious. Just sayin...LOL.

Life, the Universe, and Everything

So...

Life.

Life got in the way of this blog last year.

I started writing on a weekly basis for a Doctor Who fansite, so my writing energies seem to frequently go there.

I also managed to find a paying job that was only for 2 months...then find another one that started right after the first ended!

But things have changed once again, and due to unforeseen circumstances, I am now unfortunately no longer employed.

Getting used to that this week has been, well, weird. Funny how easily you slip into routine (even if your schedule is ever changing) and get into thinking long term  and planning your life as if the job you have is a permanent one.

So this week has been a bit of transition week. Next week I will restart (though I never really stopped) the job hunt in hopes that this time I won't be out of work for more than a year and a half like last time. We're working on really cleaning out all of the junk that has collected in this house in the last 30 (yes 30) years. VBS is coming up at church. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that first job I had last year calls back, like they said was very possible, though that wont be till the end of July.

In the mean time, I'll also get back to this Whovian blog, and my movie blog. I've had the next movie on the list for a few months now but could never find the time to watch it. I'll have to go searching for the next DW episodes as I'm sure all my saved links are junk now.

And while we haven't had any new content since the anniversary back in November, I have been keeping myself in the Who-niverse in various ways. I never really was a fan of comics and graphic novels, but I've found a number of DW issues that have been interesting. I've also been playing a jewel-matching puzzle game with a Who story all it's own that integrates characters from across the Who-niverse.

And well, that's kinda the other reason for this blog post. There's a neat site that keeps up on the latest Who products out there called Doctor Who Gifts. They also frequently run giveaways and are currently running one for some goodies for the Doctor Who: Legacy game. If you play the game, head on over to http://www.doctorwhogiftsguide.com/category/giveaways/ and enter to win!

B

(This post is in no way endorsed by anyone other than me, the writer of this post!)

The Edge of Destruction

The Edge Of Destruction

Series 1
Title - The Edge Of Destruction
Production Code - C
Story # - 003
Episodes:
"The Edge Of Destruction"
"The Brink Of Disaster"

Doctor - 1st - William Hartnell

We've crashed. Everyone is hurt. As they all wake up in various states of confusion, the TARDIS doors are inexplicably open. Could something have gotten in?

The Doctor is injured, but carries on, trying to figure out where they've landed. Susan, though, has a momentary memory lapse and tries to attack Ian and isn't acting like herself.

Could something have gotten in - and be in Susan?

And why is everyone fighting with each other?

We have a mystery on our hands, and one that could be very dangerous. Something is messing with the TARDIS and everyone in it.

It's interesting to see a story completed in only two episodes rather than four or five. Is it wrong to say that sometimes those longer arcs have seemed, well, too long? Drawn out to fill the episodes?

This is the first time we get the feeling that the ship isn't just a machine - the TARDIS is alive, in it's own way. It tries to tell them that something is going wrong - but that doesn't necessarily come across as evidently as the show would like you to believe. The "fast return switch" seems like a bit of a left field explanation as to what caused the problem in the first place. The "clues" the TARDIS gave are about as clear as mud. Until Susan and Barbara explain it, I didn't understand why they both screamed when seeing the clock. And why exactly did they need to be fighting with each other? Yes, it does resolve the story nicely so that we see the Doctor actually apologizing to Barbara for how he acted and we see the four of them are friends, but I wonder if there was another way to have gotten them to work together.

I also get the sense that the Doctor really is still learning how this ship works. He knows the knobs and switches alright, but doesn't seem to know that it is alive and can think for itself - yet this is something in NewWho that is very evident and considered obvious. "She" is just as alive as the Doctor is. His TARDIS, her TimeLord. One example of how the concept of the TARDIS has evolved over the last 50 years.

The Edge Of Destruction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_of_Destruction


Now I have a decision to make - do I watch the recreated fourth arc, "Marco Polo," or do I skip it and keep watching the episodes whose videos are still available?

Foreshadowing: Part...Whatever (Four...I think)

Ok so things in my Real Life have been busy. HORRORS! LOL This is probably the first time I've had to sit and properly watch a full episode in a while. In fact, its been a few weeks since I watched the first episode mentioned here, Vincent and the Doctor, and the second, The Lodger. 

There are a few things of note for foreshadowing here between these eps but most of this entry is just things I've noticed or that seem like they might be of some note later on in my rewatch, or just thoughts I've had while watching the eps. 


Vincent And The Doctor

21.) We start with Amy not knowing why the Doc is being "so nice" to her. The viewer knows, however that she still doesn't remember anything about Rory or what happened to him, thanks to the crack in the wall. The Doc IS being nice to her.

But anyone else catch that she's not flirting with the Doc (or Vincent) anymore?

And we do have a moment where the Doc forgets himself and says Amy, Rory...and she's all Who?

Another little bit, more of a theme beginning this season, is the Doc mentioning getting old. We have multiple shots of the 1st Doc, Hartnell, in little places like the library card in Vampires in Venice. Here when the Doc digs out his gadget to identify the monster, it sees his face and prints out Hartnell's image, then shows Troughton's. When he realizes that he made a mistake in not recognizing that the creature is blind, which is why it got left behind, he calls himself stupid...and says he's growing old.

Obviously with the 50th coming up later this year, we can see mentions of it going all the way back to Moffatt's and Smith's first season.

Once again an ep that isn't overall plot advancement, but this time more about feelings...or the ones Amy lacks at the moment.

Btw, I absolutely hate their pronunciation of Van Gogh. Look I know its supposedly "correct" but its still annoying when no one else in the world really says it that way...

The Lodger

(Starting with an interesting note here - there is a shot of Amy in the TARDIS alone at 0:40 (or so) that is an upshot of the console room. Not seen this angle before and those rings at the top of the center console...we'll see them later in the S7.2 redesign...just a detail I noticed. Not important LOL)

22) Throughout the episode, we see/get all sorts of references to Smith being the 11th Doctor - from the fact that this is the 11th episode of the season to the number on the jersey he wears to the very literal of the Doctor telling Craig that he is the "Eleventh" (So for future reference, whatever a certain new character may turn out to be, he is NOT going to be among those numbered regenerations. Eleven is CLEARLY established as ELEVEN.)

(MATT IN A TOWEL ALERT!! I REPEAT MATT SMITH IN NOTHING BUT A TOWEL ALERT!!)

(Oh and the Doctor speaks Cat btw...)

(And oh Sweetie...you do know you don't need to headbutt to transfer info between minds? Poor Craig! But then again the Madame was able to see into places you didn't intend when you were more gentle with her...)

Okay finally something else. 

23.) The 2nd floor. That shouldn't be there. Looks like someone has built themselves a Time Engine and is trying to go...somewhere. But who? And why? Will we ever get that answer?

Yet ANOTHER note - a bit has been made about how the Doctor gave Amy a key but then took it away...though seemingly she and Rory can come and go from the TARDIS at will, so there must be a key involved, or the TARDIS just lets them in. Or whatever. So its cute to note that at the end of the episode, as the Doc is trying to quietly leave the flat, Craig stops him and gives HIM back the keys to the place he was trying to leave. Gives him the knowledge that he's got more friends here on Earth than he realizes :)

24.) AGAIN! A CRACK! This time behind the refrigerator in Craig's flat. 

25.) And...BAM! Amy finds the engagement ring in the Doctor's coat pocket. This after making a crack about him being a matchmaker. This very obviously stirs something in her head, though what, we don't know. But she finally realizes SOMETHING is...off. 

Gonna stop here because...well...BIG things are about to happen!

Foreshadowing: Part 3

Moving right along...

This whole idea is on Moffat's foreshadowing. Yes I know that he doesn't write all the episodes in the series but as the show runner, his hand is a guiding force in everything, so in a way it's still all his. This is another reason why I've chosen not to go back to those episodes from the RTD era unless absolutely necessary. Starting with this series, the show is all Moffat's.


Vampires In Venice
This episode if more about getting Amy back to focusing on Rory than much else. We'll see that to in the next episode, Amy's Choice.

14.) We have our first mention of the Silence. The aliens here fled the Silence thru a crack in time and ended up in 15th century Earth, Venice. These Silence...we'll get to know them better as we go...

Amy's Choice
15.) This whole episode is a payoff in who Amy really "chooses" to be with, the Doctor or Rory. In the end, she wants and gets both.

Oh, and Rory dies. (But only in the dream world. But...)

16.) This is the interesting bit - in this episode, the trio is at the hands of someone calling himself the "Dream Lord" We, the viewer, don't necessarily get who exactly he really is, and depending on how long you've been a fan, I bet there are a few ideas flowing, the Master or the Valeyard being first on the list. When the Doctor tells him "There's one only person that hates me as much as you do..." we get that sense he knows exactly who this "Dream Lord" is. He also notes that he's not sure how this person or being is even "here" meaning about to communicate and manipulate their realities. Now, if like me, you are watching this episode having see the series 7.2 finale, this is going to send massive ALARM bells ringing in your brain. O.M.G. Here we have for the first time (for the new series) this possibility of there being parts of the Doctor's personality that are cut off in some fashion, but that can still affect time and space. This "Dream Lord" is a dark side of the Doctor. Its part of his personality, albeit one that he doesn't let to the surface much, mostly likely because of what it represents. Throws a new light on that last minute of the 7.2 finale, doesn't it? Heck, we even have the taunt to Amy of the fact that she doesn't even know the Doctor's real name!!
Granted, this "Dream Lord" was all just a bit psychic pollen knocking around in the Doctor's head...but still. If there are parts of him like that in his head...are there others? Is this were Hurt's character will come from?

The Hungry Earth
A lot of what we get here will be paid off in the next episode, Cold Blood. This is one of the fewer 2-part episodes of the Moffat era. They are rather stand alone in the series as a whole, with the exception of what happens at the end of Cold Blood. The foreshadowing mostly relates to the second part of the story - Amy waving at what is possibly herself, Rory saying she should leave her ring in the TARDIS, Amy being taken underground, Nasreen and Tony's feelings for each other, who will eventually kill the Silurian - and this really isn't the true foreshadowing like we've been tracking, just parts of the plot. In a few ways, I almost wonder if what happens at the end of Cold Blood wasn't almost a tack-on, like this elements were what was needed to advance the story and they couldn't find a place for them in another story.

17.) Rory makes Amy leave her ring in the TARDIS - I'm only adding it here because that one little bit will become significant later in the series.

Cold Blood
18.) We see a crack. A BIG one. Bigger than before. And this time, the Doctor says there must be shrapnel because all these cracks are from an explosion, one big enough to cause the cracks in all of space and time.  He actually goes and sticks his hand into it - because YES that is totally safe for the Time Lord - and pulls out...something steaming and very hot. That something? A piece of the TARDIS sign.

OH BOY

19. and 20.) Rory the hero - Reztac is still kicking, because she needs her revenge. She aims for the Doctor, but Rory steps in the way and is hurt...and dies. Because we need any more feels.

And then...because of course there is more...he gets sucked into the crack, which will erase him from Amy's memory. She can remember the clerics who were sucked into the crack on the ship but this is her own history changing.

And the Doctor leaves him.

Pardon me while my heart is TORN IN TWO.


And, try as he might, the Doctor can't get Amy to keep Rory in her memory for very long. We humans have such trouble with that...

Back out on the hill, she waves to her other self, though for an instant she thinks she saw something else, but the thought is fleeting.

Except...not everything of Rory has been erased.


Because there is the engagement ring, safe in it's box.

(Also to note this all happens while the TARDIS had landed in a graveyard. We'll be back in one eventually...)

(And is it me or is the color of the piece of the TARDIS that was pulled from the crack more like the blue of 9/10's TARDIS? Or is that just because it was a piece that was smoke damaged? Looks to me like the more gray-blue than the current more royal blue...)

This is a double number because Rory's death and remembering him are part of the same thing, but the also things that will be dealt with and have meaning separately later.