Doctor Who: The Sensorites
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| There is nothing weird about this. |
However, today, I'm tackling The Sensorites, the seventh serial of the first season of Doctor Who which was originally broadcast in six weekly installments from June 20 to August 1,1964. The little blurb above the Wikipedia article says that this episode will demonstrate telepathy in Susan and make references to her and the Doctor's home planet. Won't that be exciting?
I have found that I'm enjoying these episodes even if some of them are cheesy and the acting is a bit flawed. This isn't really a chore for me other than forcing myself to focus on one thing. Usually I watch a show and do something else, but I've been trying to give Doctor Who my fullest attention. Due to the slowness of some of the episodes, it has been hard, but I've been holding on strong. I wonder if things will pick up next season...
Three Hours Later...
So, this serial was both pretty fascinating and at the same time it was a bit of a disappointment. The story follows Ian, Barbara, Susan and the Doctor landing in a place where they are moving even though the TARDIS is supposedly stationary. This highly disturbs the crew and the ponder where they could have landed that is still moving.
I'm going to give you a moment to let that sink in and then explain to you why that last sentence is ridiculous.
Space is almost always moving. If you're on planet Earth, "stationary" you are moving. If you are on any planetary body or moon or asteroid, likewise, you are moving. Unless you are floating about in outer space as some oddly specific coordinates, you are moving. It's like being disturbed about mold growing on bread.
Anyhow, once we get over that bit of stupidity, you find out they're on a space ship being held in orbit around a planet. The two pilots of the space ship initially seem dead, but it turns out they're only mostly dead and held in a stasis by the local aliens, the Sensorites, who have also invaded the brains of the crew. The crew of this spaceship consists of three people and the third person has completely lost his mind.
Over the course of the next episodes, you find out that the Sensorites live on a planet called the Sense-sphere which is very rich in a mineral called molybednum which I thought was fake, but it's on the Periodic Table. Humans have visited the planets before, greedy for the mineral, but when they left, they're space ship crashed back on the planet. Since then, the Sensorites have been getting ill and dying. They can't determine the cause of the illness.
Not trusting the new humans: The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Susan, or the humans on the spaceship, they have made a place for them all to live on the Sense-Sphere and they will be held captive, but in comfort indefinitely. The Doctor makes a deal: he will try to find the cause and cure of the illness if the Sensorites will restore the crew member, John, to sanity. The Elder of the Sensorites agrees. So, The Doctor, Ian, Susan (who has learned to communicate with the Sensorites telepathically), John, and his fiancee, the pilot Carol all go down to the Senser-Sphere while Barbara and the third crew member are left on the space ship with the TARDIS which had it's unlocking mechanism removed earlier by the Sensorites.
Not long after meeting with the Chief Elder, Ian drinks some water from the aqueducts and falls ill. Everyone else had drunk the same water the Elders drank from a special mountain spring. The Doctor and Susan deduce that their water supply is somehow being tainted. The find the poison: deadly nightshade or Belladonna. He cures Ian successfully and then they go to the aqueducts to investigate. Turns out, some of the humans didn't take off in the shuttle and they're waging a war against the Sensorites without the Sensorites' knowledge and poisoning the water as a result. The Doctor and friends take the people back to the Sensorite city where they're put on the ship with Carol and John so they can go back to Earth.
Simultaneously, one of the Sensorites, the City Administrator, wants more power within the Sensorite government and hates humans because he blames them for the illness and it's useful. He hatches a number of foiled plots to kill or discredit the Doctor and his friends. The most it gets him is promoted to Second Elder, but one scheme too many leads to him being caught and banished from the Sensorite city.
I liked the story because it was somewhat complicated. Of course, one of the plot elements was that John's mind was open to all the minds of the Sensorites and only he could sense that the City Administrator was evil. Unfortunately, contrivance made it so that he couldn't really tell anyone. Even when he was cured he couldn't remember. Meanwhile, Susan's telepathically communicating with everyone the whole time, and she never notices as single thing. When a plot point that comes up often in the serials is that Susan sees or hears something and nobody believes her. Even at the beginning of the serial whens he first starts talking to the Sensorites and wants to handle the problem on her own, the Doctor gets very cross with her and does some things he ought to regret.
If Susan had sensed the City Administrators deviousness and ended up with no one believing her but Barbara when she is brought to the planet at the end of the serial, it could've been very interesting.
This is another case of characterization marches on, however, because they do mention the Doctor and Susan's home planet, but they don't mention the name and they make Susan's telepathic gift seem like an unusual occurrence Very different from the new series, but it's one more step towards the Doctor and Susan seeming more human than alien which is somewhat disappointing.
A lot of the episode was a bit silly with certain things.
You remove the lock... does the TARDIS must remain locked? Why wouldn't that... unlock the TARDIS as well? You're moving through space and that's surprising because you think you should be stationary? What in space is stationary? How could no one else tell the City Administrator was evil?
However, it did have an interesting plot and it was engaging. So that's good.
Next time...The Reign of Terror. Which is also the last serial of the first season!
I'm going to give you a moment to let that sink in and then explain to you why that last sentence is ridiculous.
Space is almost always moving. If you're on planet Earth, "stationary" you are moving. If you are on any planetary body or moon or asteroid, likewise, you are moving. Unless you are floating about in outer space as some oddly specific coordinates, you are moving. It's like being disturbed about mold growing on bread.
Anyhow, once we get over that bit of stupidity, you find out they're on a space ship being held in orbit around a planet. The two pilots of the space ship initially seem dead, but it turns out they're only mostly dead and held in a stasis by the local aliens, the Sensorites, who have also invaded the brains of the crew. The crew of this spaceship consists of three people and the third person has completely lost his mind.
Over the course of the next episodes, you find out that the Sensorites live on a planet called the Sense-sphere which is very rich in a mineral called molybednum which I thought was fake, but it's on the Periodic Table. Humans have visited the planets before, greedy for the mineral, but when they left, they're space ship crashed back on the planet. Since then, the Sensorites have been getting ill and dying. They can't determine the cause of the illness.
Not trusting the new humans: The Doctor, Ian, Barbara, Susan, or the humans on the spaceship, they have made a place for them all to live on the Sense-Sphere and they will be held captive, but in comfort indefinitely. The Doctor makes a deal: he will try to find the cause and cure of the illness if the Sensorites will restore the crew member, John, to sanity. The Elder of the Sensorites agrees. So, The Doctor, Ian, Susan (who has learned to communicate with the Sensorites telepathically), John, and his fiancee, the pilot Carol all go down to the Senser-Sphere while Barbara and the third crew member are left on the space ship with the TARDIS which had it's unlocking mechanism removed earlier by the Sensorites.
Not long after meeting with the Chief Elder, Ian drinks some water from the aqueducts and falls ill. Everyone else had drunk the same water the Elders drank from a special mountain spring. The Doctor and Susan deduce that their water supply is somehow being tainted. The find the poison: deadly nightshade or Belladonna. He cures Ian successfully and then they go to the aqueducts to investigate. Turns out, some of the humans didn't take off in the shuttle and they're waging a war against the Sensorites without the Sensorites' knowledge and poisoning the water as a result. The Doctor and friends take the people back to the Sensorite city where they're put on the ship with Carol and John so they can go back to Earth.
Simultaneously, one of the Sensorites, the City Administrator, wants more power within the Sensorite government and hates humans because he blames them for the illness and it's useful. He hatches a number of foiled plots to kill or discredit the Doctor and his friends. The most it gets him is promoted to Second Elder, but one scheme too many leads to him being caught and banished from the Sensorite city.
I liked the story because it was somewhat complicated. Of course, one of the plot elements was that John's mind was open to all the minds of the Sensorites and only he could sense that the City Administrator was evil. Unfortunately, contrivance made it so that he couldn't really tell anyone. Even when he was cured he couldn't remember. Meanwhile, Susan's telepathically communicating with everyone the whole time, and she never notices as single thing. When a plot point that comes up often in the serials is that Susan sees or hears something and nobody believes her. Even at the beginning of the serial whens he first starts talking to the Sensorites and wants to handle the problem on her own, the Doctor gets very cross with her and does some things he ought to regret.
If Susan had sensed the City Administrators deviousness and ended up with no one believing her but Barbara when she is brought to the planet at the end of the serial, it could've been very interesting.
This is another case of characterization marches on, however, because they do mention the Doctor and Susan's home planet, but they don't mention the name and they make Susan's telepathic gift seem like an unusual occurrence Very different from the new series, but it's one more step towards the Doctor and Susan seeming more human than alien which is somewhat disappointing.
A lot of the episode was a bit silly with certain things.
You remove the lock... does the TARDIS must remain locked? Why wouldn't that... unlock the TARDIS as well? You're moving through space and that's surprising because you think you should be stationary? What in space is stationary? How could no one else tell the City Administrator was evil?
However, it did have an interesting plot and it was engaging. So that's good.
Next time...The Reign of Terror. Which is also the last serial of the first season!
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