Wibbly Wobbly

Welcome to the Space Museum. Where you will exist outside of time, and that gives you the ability to move through objects. Also, you can drop glasses have them reform, but still leave the mess behind, apparently.


Nothing really happens. They explore a museum on a dead planet, invisible to the guards and objects. It tries to explore time and the like, but it doesn't make much sense. At least it wasn't needlessly convoluted. So I'll settle for stupid. Also Vicki thinks Daleks look cute, much to the horror of Ian and Barbara, and The Doctor walks through the Tardis. I think I got everything of note for the episode.


Now, all I really want to know is, how did they change clothes. If this story doesn't tell me, I'm going to be very...very...mildly miffed.


Well, that was short and kind of...meh. What's next?


The Dimensions of Time.

The Night None Shall Speak Of

The Crusade - Episode 4 The Warlords

This is a perfect example of the recon doing the worse for ware. It becomes too easy to zone out during these. And so when the Episode finally wraps up, I am struck with the belief that it had only lasted a few minutes. The plot threads are wound up, the individual cliff hangers quickly dispatched, and History is let to continue.

But it ends with a pretty good gag, and our heroes are whisked away off to who knows where.

I honestly don't have much to say. I just saw this episode and nothing is sticking. So...What's Next?

The Space Museum? Well...I do like Museums.

You have Choosen...Wisely

The Crusade - Episode 3 The Wheel of Fortune

I am greatly ashamed that this is incomplete. For the recons do not do it justice. This is the third story from David Whitaker, and it's simply marvelous. I can not say just how much I love Edge of Destruction and the Rescue, and with this as a follow up is just...so good.

There is so many things. Barbara staring at the dagger that is meant for her to kill the girl then herself. Leaving the girl hidden, and seeing the girl cry as Barbara is taken away. The court intrique is stunning, a masterful use of pretty much two sets. A back and forth running to and fro as the king and his sister argue. Those two actors give that moment their all and it shows.

William Hartnell's performance as he matches wits with the knight over what should be done. His worry that these things will cause more problems than help. His expression when the king demands he leave the king's prescence.

Any downside is the Victor/Vicki thing was weirdly a waste of time, but amusing slightly. As well, Ian was in a filmed insert for this episode, so not much to be done.

So with this, the wheel has stopped turning and now we face The Warpriests.

Sir William Russell

The Crusade - Episode 2 The Knights of Jaffa

Ok. Recons are tough. And I started this one late at night. So you're get an amalgamation of my future and past selves thoughts on this episode. As for past self's thoughts on all this, recons are hard.

I suppose more should be said. Like did that one guy have a scar last episode, or is he a new character? I watched it this morning and I don't recall. Also, it's like stepping into the twilight zone, the 1960s being more progressive then modern times. Well in some areas. Fine, it's just nice to see that Muslims or middle easterners aren't evil terrorists in fiction. They're just lazy stereotypes. Saying that out loud, I realize that while not depicting a group of people as murders is technically better, it's just white dudes in brown-face. So...yeah, still pretty not good.

The Doctor manages to double talk his way out of being a thief, and Barbara is kidnapped. I am increasingly confused throughout the episode if there are two merchants or just one, it perhaps doesn't help that I wasn't paying 100% attention. I would say this is a breather of an episode from the last one. Now that everyone is in their established place, we can take a moment to then change places all over again. I will say I do enjoy that neither side is evil, or the badguy in this conflict. It's something I've noticed with this era of Doctor Who, a willingness to perceive things from a different point of view.

But enough of that rambling. Onto the next episode.

The Wheel of Fortune.

[insert Wheel of Fortune joke here]

Shakespeare's Richard I by the Doctor

The Crusade - Episode 1: The Lion

I'm settling into my routine now. I can watch an episode at the gym, and do a quick write-up at home before I leave for work. Win-Win. So, we have the first Episode of the Crusade, chronicling King Richard I and the crusade into the Holy Lands. And you know what that means. Brown face. A whole lot of brown face.Though I do think I saw a black person in the background of a few shots. Which might actually be the first black person in Doctor Who. I'm a little too lazy to look that up.

So, the action gets rolling, and Barbara gets kidnapped by the Saracens, of course. And Ian and the Doctor get some nifty 1960's TV sword fighting in, before a sword is thrown into a man's chest. The Doctor steals some things in a fit of stealing the stolen things is good, and Vicki dresses as a homeless person outside a hut for no discernible reason.

And this gets me to Barbara. She's been captured and meets the man who was claiming to be King Richard so the real king could escape. But I wonder how long it took Barbara to figure out what was going on, because her clueless-ness for a History teacher was kind of painful to watch. I know History is a big subject and all that, but when you're in a children's program where character trait #2 is "History" teacher, I'd hope that you'd not be on the receiving end of an info dumb about what is going on.

It's a good start to a story, and curious to see how this goes. I understand it's a recon for the next episode, so...yay?

Episode 2 - The Knights of Jaffa

The Web Planet - Thoughts on a Whole

With the end of The Web Planet, it's time to reflect on the story as a whole. And what my thoughts on it are. And in the end, I feel pretty positive about the story.

It's the first story without any humans in it. Thals don't count. We have bumblebee footie pajama people and giant ants. And a living tentacle brain. And it all looks good, I mean it's mid 1960s tv, and it looks pretty good, special effects wise. Costumes are creative, even if I poke fun at them. And the actors playing the Menoptra are doing a bang up job. Sound effects are great. It's a good Barbara story.

It's only faults is that it is a 6 episode story. It could be trimmed down an episode to make it a touch tighter.

Overall it's an interesting romp, and I'm kind of sad we never got a return of the Zarbi or Menoptra. I would have actually liked a Menoptran companion on the TARDIS.

War for the Planet of the Ants

The Web Planet - Episode 6: The Centre

Now I completely forgot about this last post, but that cliff hanger into this episode was incredibly phallic. It was kind of disturbing, to me at least.

Though off that and to never return. So this episode makes the events of last episode irrelevant. Whatever the Doctor needed to bring to the Animus was left behind for the menoptra to find and take themselves. After the last episode when the menoptra gave the Doctor that thing to take to the Animus so they'd be able to do...something.

That's about where this falls for me. Things happen, but I'm not really sure why they are happening. And a lot of running in place with the plot. You could have trimmed the episodes down to just Barbara's plot, and with a tweak here and there, you'd have the same story. That's how little there was actually going on.

Also, I feel bad for William Russell. Talk about absolutely nothing to do for several episodes. Just roam around until the end of the story and find everyone just in time for them all to leave.

And with that we say good bye to the Zarbi, their new overlords the jammy footed Manoptra, and the regressed evolution Optera. I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen here again.

Next Episode: The Lion.