Doctor Who: Season Three Overview

All is not as it seems...

This season of Doctor Who once again lacks and over-arching plot, but looking over the episodes, I can see a theme in the works that may or may not have been developed of "all is not at it appears" or "look beyond what is on the surface".

Now hear me out.

In the first episode, we have beautiful buxom blonde women who turn out to be deathly villains responsible for the whole mess while the monstrous thing turns out the be the more civilized creature. The next episode contains the discovery of a hidden plot engineered by the Daleks to take over the universe and destroy Earth and trying (but failing) to get the message out. The Myth Makers has the Doctor pretending to be a god and then Vicki changing her name and joining the Trojans. The Daleks' Master Plan involves turn-coats and convincing a woman to ask questions about things from authority figures rather than trusting them blindly... especially with said authority figures being traitors. The next episode consists of Steven stumbling around trying to help people who don't trust him because he might be a spy and a double-agent. The whole second half of The Ark happens because humans overlook and ignore the Monoids. The Celestial Toymaker's games were all about looking for tricks and other things just under the surface. The Doctor is set up to be hunted at Doc Holliday because of an unwise off-hand remark. I don't think I really need to explain to you why you need to look beneath the surface of The Savages. A civilized society hunting and draining people of energy isn't that civilized. Finally, The War Machines consisted of people outright ignoring things right in front of their eyes.

I mean, really, it took Ben Jackson more than five minutes to realize Polly was hypnotized? Really? Really?

So yeah... Doctor Who the show that teaches you to examine everything you encounter... in 1966!

Other than that... I've got nothing.

Let's address the characters, now... because there's a huge list this time around.

Vicki

Now, I really liked Vicki when she wasn't fighting with Steven. Vicki really only appears in two storylines this season: Galaxy 4 and The Myth-Makers. In Galaxy 4, she names these robotic things "Chumbleys" and in the Myth-Makers, she falls in love with the youngest prince of Troy, Troilus and they run off together after she saves him from dying at the hands of the Greeks. We never see her again, unfortunately. I liked Vicki with her open expression and smile and the way she and the Doctor responded to each other. They had good chemistry and I was sorry to see her go. I somewhat with that Maureen O'Brien had portrayed the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman and not Carol Ann Ford. I think I would've lived her better. There was just something so nice about her manner compared to Carol's. 

Steven Taylor

By the time I grew to like Steven Taylor and his personality, he was also leaving the show. This guy argued with the Doctor about everything. Worse, he was always wrong and the Doctor was always right. I hate those kinds of characters, the one's who are supposed to be stupid and the audience-stand-in so they always have to learn a lesson. I kind of wanted to bash his head in by the time we came across the Daleks. Then, he won me over. Peter Purves did quite well in The Massacre at St. Bartholomew's Eve. I also thought he was pure comic gold in The Gunfighters. He and Dodo had some good on-screen chemistry and they worked together well in The Celestial Toymaker. I was actually sorry to see him go in the end. He was a pretty cool guy with solid convictions and a belief in himself that was respectable and really interesting to watch when he was left to his own devices. Just... ignore him when he starts pointless arguments with the Doctor. 

Katarina

Katarina, portrayed by Adrienne Hill is a bit of a gray area. She was a bit of comic relief when she first showed up on the TARDIS, believing it to be a vessel through which she would reach the Underworld. Then, her character does a complete 180 and sacrifices herself for the Doctor. Basically, you don't learn much about her, she was Cassandra's (yes, that Cassandra) hand-maiden. Vicki sort of put her on the TARDIS to save her from the fall of Troy and to take care of the Doctor and Steven. In the end, Katarina does just that. She helps to heal Steven and then she sacrifices herself for both. I have a lot of respect for this character even though she pretty much had next to no arch and I never really got to know her. I still felt sad. I was also shocked.

I had forgotten that the Doctor's companions sometimes met with messy ends. Then again, she's the first companion to do so!  Unfortunately... she's not the last... not by a long shot...

Sara Kingdom

Sara Kingdom, played by Jean Marsh, is the first of the Doctor's female companions to be a complete and utter bad ass. She's a Space Security Agent who is recruited in the serial, The Daleks' Master Plan, to catch "the traitors", her brother, Brett Vyon; the Doctor, and Steven. She accepts orders without question and even kills Brett without a second thought. He is a traitor and he must die because those are her orders. Eventually, she realizes her mistake, but by then it's too late and now she's traveling with the Doctor and Steven to keep a key part of the Daleks' plans away from the Daleks while travelling through time and space.  She knows hand-to-hand combat and she's not afraid to use a gun. Unfortunately, the Doctor sets off a Time Destructor to stop the Daleks and orders Sara and Steven back to the TARDIS.

Sara is no longer mindlessly following orders so she goes back to help the Doctor... this makes her age to death. She helps defeat the Daleks, but sacrifices her life needlessly in the process.  For a woman who spells her first name wrong, I've got a lot of respect for her.

Dodo Chaplet

What can I say about Dodo Chaplet played by Jackie Lane? Well, she was a very positive and intelligent person who seemed to take things in stride. Physically she somewhat resembled Susan Foreman, but mentally she was kind of... bland. Yes, she was smart. Yes, she could come up with good ideas and had an inherent faith in the goodness of people, but... there really isn't much to say about her. She just felt bland. I mean, you could put Bella Swan in her place and not much would change other than werewolves and vampires being added to the show earlier than expected. Really, it kind of feels like they didn't know what to do with her. I mean, at first she had a weird accent, but that went away fast. Then she occasionally used slang, but that felt like the producers were trying to make her sound "hip". They had her experiment with the TARDIS's wardrobe which was pretty cool, but that's about it. She was... blah. Heck, Dodo only appears in  four full serials. I would've liked to see more of her, but with what I was given... meh. 

Polly

Polly, played by Anneke Wills, first appears in the last episode of this season of Doctor Who. Immediately you learn two things about her: one, she's a secretary to a scientist working on a computer and a fast typist; to, she's hip and pretty. She's also shown to be not unintelligent. She flirts with people at a club where she takes Dodo.  I like her immediately and I liked the chemistry between her and Ben. They sort of reminded me of a younger Ian and Barbara if Barbara had all the brains and Ian was more like Steve... if that makes sense. I'm sure I'll like her more when she's not getting hypnotized by evil computers.

Oddly, she doesn't have a last name... huh...

Benjamin Jackson

Benjamin Jackson is portrayed by Michael Craze and he's a sailor in the Navy who is initially depressed because he has a six month shore posting. Polly tries to cheer him up and that's pretty much that. He seems like a pretty solid guy. He tries to break Polly's hypnotism, but fails because she's only known him for maybe a day, but that pull of friendship is strong enough to make her want to save his life even when she's been hypnotized. Like Steven before him, I predict that Ben will be the muscle of the group. The one to act in the traditional hero role when the Doctor is too busy being an old man. Let's see, shall we?

The Doctor

This season saw some rather nice moments from William Hartnell. When Steven Taylor leaves, he finally has a moment to realize he's all alone and he's quite like to go home, but he can't. He also gets to mourn the death of two new companions who were trying to help him. However, he also was as ornery and self-satisfied as ever. I still like him a lot. I like how he pretends to be Zeus after Achilles decides he's Zeus. I also like how he decides the Trojan Horse is a stupid myth made up by fools and then decides to go along with it in the end if that's what history requires. I like how the Doctor runs off to meet a man about scientific discoveries in the midst of a France that is tearing itself apart. I like how he is constantly poking around into things he shouldn't. I also like the way he responds to nearly having his brain invaded or absorbed by WOTON. That was neat. 

This is definitely the Doctor I would travel through history with, checking out various scientists and other events.