So a couple of months ago my wife, Jamie was introduced to Doctor Who. For me it was a reintroduction of an alien with a time machine that had been having adventures for nearly fifty years. This all started because we wanted to get a kinect and we realized that the way our apartment was laid out would not allow us to jump up and down like idiots to the maximum effect that we wanted. So I spent an entire day re-arranging couches and televisions and by the time my wife came home I was done and I was exhausted. To say thank you for all my hard work she ordered a pizza and put on netflix through our Xbox. She suggested Blade Runner, knowing it is one of my favorite movies and she is a fan of it herself.
Jamie is into science fiction not in a hard core reading blogs kind of way, but she certainly isn't opposed to watching it. When she was a kid she went to space camp and got the Aviation Challenge Award. She wanted to be a fighter pilot and an astronaut but when she found out fighter pilots had to kill people and didn't just have beach volley ball matches with homo-erotic undertones, she moved away from it, but she still loves space.
I was so tired though that I didn't want to watch Blade Runner. Blade Runner to me is a pretty heavy flick and I do love watching it but it always puts me into a weird head space after. I just didn't want to think about mortality and what makes a human being human. She understood and delved a little further into the insta-watch catalog and then said "What about this thing called Dr. Who? I think you mentioned you liked it."
I did like it. When I was a kid and my mom would only allow me and my brothers to watch PBS. Through the ages of 5 through 12 I was hooked but then Nintendo came out and I moved on to other things. I had very fond memories of the show (my older brother never stopped being a huge fan) but I also remembered terrible special effects and a lot of running through hallways. Erm I mean corridors. I had heard some good things about the new series but I didn't have very high hopes. I told Jamie to put it on but I gave her a warning. "This is a BBC show so the special effects might be terrible, and it might be boring, so if you want to stop watching just say the word and we'll pick something else." She agreed and we watched the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who. And I liked it. I really liked it. I wanted to watch the next episode but I wanted to wait and see what Jamie thought. There was a moment of silence and then she said "I loved it. The way Rose ran to that blue box (Tardis, I interjected) and said yes to adventure. I would've gotten into that tardis too! I want to see more." she said rolling her eyes at the word Tardis.
Cut to two weeks later and we had watched all five seasons and finished just in time for the first half of season six. We got through it all. The good, the bad, and the ugly (I'm looking at you Journey's End) We were both hooked. The problem is when I get hooked on stuff I get really hooked on stuff. I start reading the blogs, listening to podcasts, and looking for people to talk to about the show. In my mania for Doctor WHo I came across a great podcast called Radio Free Skaro where they reviewed all the episodes of the new series. Form there I found Tachyon TV and an amazing blog called the Adventures with the Wife in Space. http://tachyon-tv.co.uk/wife-in-space/. It tells the story of a british couple the husband a die hard Dr. Who fan and his wife Sue who likes the new series but had never watched the classic series. They are attempting to watch all the Dr. Who episodes from 1963 to the present. The blog is very funny if you are a Who fan and if you're not still pretty funny and I highly recommend checking it out. As it is the inspiration for this blog, I will do my best not to make this a total rip off.
Anyway I told Jamie about the blog and how I admired that Sue could get through those early episodes. Jamie being very competitive with people she has never met said she could do the same thing. So now all I had to do was somehow get all the episodes spanning from 1963-to 1989. Which is literally hundreds of episodes. I informed Jamie of the sheer magnitude of the television that we would have to watch and she simply shrugged and said " I got this. I worked on the Shield." which she did, but to this day I still don't know what she meant. Even the signed poster of Michael Chiklis that adorns our wall looked dubious that she would be able to do this task. Anyway I had friend named Brendan (who is currently building a Dalek: http://dalekbrendan.blogspot.com/) who believe it or not (believe it, he's literally building a dalek for christ sake) was a bigger fan than I was, and he had EVERY EPISODE/COMIC BOOK/AUDIO DRAMA available. He actually looked crestfallen when I told him all I would need is the actual television series.
So now we had all the episodes, and we began to watch the longest running sci fi show ever. It will either strengthen our marriage or destroy it. So lets get to it. We begin with the episode one broadcast in 1963 called An Unearthly Child and end with the Reign of Terror a total of over 40 episodes. Over 13 hours of televison watched on my laptop as we were going to bed every night.
SEASON 1
So me and Jamie almost get into a fight when I ask her to sum up what she thought of the first season in a sentence. She has me do a recap of all the episodes and I get annoyed because I want her to just sum up her feelings. She tells me to just accept her creative process and relax.
So Jamie sums up the first season of Doctor Who as: Isn't it funny when you know history you get to escape history.
I sum up the first season of Doctor Who as: Wow the Doctor is really a dick, isn't he? (And Jamie agrees)
Now lets get into the main characters, in the first season there are five main characters. There is the Doctor (who is never called Doctor Who), his granddaughter Susan (Who is never called calm by me or Jamie), Ian a science teacher who teaches Susan (Who is never called by his correct last name by the Doctor) and Barbara ,Susan's history teacher (who is never called on the fact her hair is HUGE), and finally the police box which is in fact the time machine they travel in called the TARDIS (But is never called a reliable piece of machinery)
FIRST UP ME AND JAMIE'S THOUGHTS ON:
THE DOCTOR-
JAMIE: I honestly think when he first shows up he is the uncle that would touch me in weird places. Then he softened a little bit and just turned into my drunk judgmental grandfather.
PETER: So safe to say you didn't like him.
JAMIE: He's a guy who doesn't have a filter, there are certain things you just don't say and he says all of them. He's just condescending all the time, half the time he's telling people their wrong and threatening to throw them off the ship and then it turns out HE'S the one whose wrong or fucked shit up. He never admits he's wrong. JUST LIKE MY GRANDFATHER.
PETER: This isn't about your grandfather. Is there anything you liked about the doctor?
JAMIE: I loved his sense of adventure, and the fact he kept fucking up his lines. It made him more real. It made me realize the constraints the production was under that this poor actor (William Hartnell) wasn't allowed a second take. He was not a one take Susan.
PETER: True susan never flubbed a line, but its hard to flub a line when all your lines are just screaming. but the character himself was there anything you like other than his sense of adventure?
JAMIE: I loved his laizze faire attitude in the Reign of Terror when all his friends and his granddaughter are going to the guillotine and he spends two episodes lazily making his way to Paris to save them?
PETER: Actually the guy walking was a stunt double. So in the end Jamie you like the way the doctor walks and his sense of adventure.
JAMIE: It's laizze faire...with a dash of prick. I mean he's arrogant and he let Ian and Barbara do all the work. I don't know what else you want me to say. Except that I was never touched by my uncle.
PETER: Well I agree with you he is a jerk, but I find it absolutely hysterical. I find the Doctor so funny for all the wrong reasons. Its like what we were talking about earlier. The doctor in the new series is very old so seeing this doctor who looks old but is in fact young is great. He acts like someone in his early twenties. He knows it all, he tricks people into doing the things he wants to do, he tries to get people to like him by being a jerk, and he has a shit ride that he freaks out if you make fun of it.
JAMIE: Yeah, he's a really angsty teen. He's all like I know it all, and I'm above it all. JUST LIKE MY GRANDFATHER.
PETER: THIS BLOG ISN'T ABOUT YOUR GRANDFATHER.
PETER: So I guess when it comes down to it, in the first season Jamie not a fan of the doctor, Peter a fan of the doctor but Peter enjoys people who are assholes.
So moving on. The next character is the Doctor's Granddaughter Susan.
JAMIE: She was written poorly.
PETER: I totally agree.
JAMIE: Here is a girl who in the first episode can do fifth dimensional geometry but yet had no balls. She's been traveling through time and space but couldn't handle a vine brushing against her leg without going into a screaming fit. Seriously Susan grow a pair.
PETER: Yeah, I thought it was weird the two humans who have no experience with time travel handle it better than the girl who is part of an alien race whose only claim to fame is that they are time travelers. So I guess it begs the question was there anything about Susan you liked?
JAMIE: (Sighs) Yes. I do like her. I like her a lot. I like her because their is always a sense of mystery around her. Why did she leave her planet? Why did she go with her grandfather who is a dick? I mean if the doctor is like a twenty year old then susan is a toddler the problem is that the writers, write her like she's four years old instead of sixteen. She's a good actress trapped in bad writing.
PETER: But we're not talking about the actress we're talking about the character. So anything else you like about Susan?
JAMIE: She a nice girl, who I relate too because I have a shitty grandfather too...but honestly grow a pair. I had to.
PETER: I thought she was very good in the Sensorites where she stood up to the Doctor and actually was working on a peaceful solution with the aliens. There is another blog that talks about the problem with the character of Susan. That because she's there the doctor has to worry about taking care of her instead of going on adventures. Then the blogger went on to talk about her becoming a sexualized creature and he kind of lost me. I think she is a girl way in over her head, and I like the character because as you said, the sense of mystery. Of why she left in the first place. it almost seems like she got foisted on the doctor. And once again her screaming at everything makes me laugh.
JAMIE: The Doctor went off on a great adventure and he brought someone who is always crippling him. A sweet girl but she does get captured a lot. I mean he treats her bad, so why did he choose her? Is there a story that explains WHY SUSAN? Didn't he have a brother or something he could have brought along?
PETER: that sounds like a great episode title but no we never find out WHY SUSAN. But we both agree we like her, but she does need to grow a pair.
So now we get on to the other male lead Ian.
JAMIE: Fuck him. He's a douche bag.
PETER: Care to elaborate?
JAMIE: I hate both the Doctor and Ian.
PETER: I'm amazed that you hate almost half the cast and yet we've made it through the whole first season. So what about Ian do you dislike specifically.
JAMIE: He's so arrogant. The way he treats the women, he is so condescending. He keeps interupting Barbara. He thinks he can solve all the problems. He's the one who pushed his way into the tardis and he's the one who teased the doctor which got them into all those problems in the french revolution. It wouldn't surprise me if Ian was sent from the future by the Daleks yo punish the women.
PETER: I agree. I am not a huge Ian fan. It seems like half the stuff he does he does to impress Barbara, when what would really impress Barbara is letting her finish a sentence. I guess he just kind of epitomizes what men were like in the early nineteen sixties. Kind of like Mad Men, but less sophisticated, maybe if he smoked and actually showed he had deep thoughts I would like him more. I love the fact that he got along great with Marco Polo who was also a prick. So I guess was there anything we liked about Ian?
JAMIE: He actually got things done as opposed to the Doctor who whined a lot. He was an optimist who believed he could get everybody out alive. Also I hold out hope he will become a better character next season. Plus, great haircut.
PETER: I liked the fact no matter where he was in time and space he almost always wore a tie. He was a sharp dresser. I also found it hysterical he acted as though Barbara was his girlfriend, as if she didn't have a choice in the matter.
So now we get to Barbara. Jamie your thoughts?
JAMIE: She is the nineteen sixties. A strong woman with a voice and a strong point of view who is being bogged down by the men around her. She knows she has the right answer but nobody is listening and eventually she is heard and becomes important.
PETER: Once again I concur with you. I don't know if I would've made it through the first season without Barbara. She's smart and resourceful and she seems to only flip out when it would make sense to do so. She tried to get the Aztecs to stop sacrificing people which didn't work out so well but she at least she made the attempt. She also killed the brains in the jar in the Keys of Marinus and freed the rest of the crew, although she smashes a lab like a girl. Plus, (and this may be me being an adult watching a show that is meant for kids and me putting stuff into it that might not be there, but...)she GOT IT ON A LOT.
JAMIE: Someone needed to get some action on that show. Not like anybody was going to sleep with big ego Ian.
PETER: Or the Doctor, he would probably make a comment about the girl's weight or how stupid they were. Barbara though once freed of the social mores of her time of 1963 truly embraced free love ideal about four years ahead of everybody else. She got it on with a Thal in the Daleks, Leon in Reign of Terror, and I have a sneaking suspicion when she was gone for two episodes in the Sensorites and hanging out in the space ship, she was spending "quality time" with John the pilot. She always kept it classy though, no kissing and telling. Although if she ever did get with Ian I would love to hear that conservation. "Barbara you didn't sleep with that Thal did you?" "Of course not Ian, don't be silly you're my first." as she looks up wistfully to the stars, and remembers a determined Thal who was genuinely interested in her opinions and knew how to get a turtle neck off a woman.
JAMIE: I wonder if she ever thinks about that fat guy who tried to rape her in the cabin.
PETER: I think we're all trying to suppress that memory.
So now on to the final character the TARDIS. The time machine that looks like a police box. TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space and was given that name by Susan. Other than the Doctor it is the only constant in this show and proves even in this first season that is a character in its own right.
JAMIE: It sticks out like a sore thumb wherever they go.
PETER: I think thats the point.
JAMIE: I like that its small on the outside and big on the inside. Although I don't understand why the doors when they open they look like the interior of the tardis instead of the exterior of the police box. Why is that?
PETER: Uhmmmmm I have absolutely no idea. I like the fact that the Doctor doesn't seem to know how to use it. In this first season it seems like they end up everywhere by mistake or not hitting the right switch. For the first few episodes when Ian and Barbara want to get home they can't get there. Which is odd since the TARDIS is equipped with a fast return switch clearly labeled in sharpie marker.
JAMIE: It should have a time dial.
PETER: It seemed to have a lot of dials
JAMIE: How about one with a date and time.
PETER: Maybe it does but he forgot to label it with a sharpie. I do enjoy the fact though that its warning system to let people know its malfunctioning is to make everybody crazy. So anything else on the Tardis Jamie?
JAMIE: I found it frustrating that in the new series they always make a point of telling us that the Tardis translates languages for the crew but in these episodes its never addressed. Which makes it feel weird that everybody wether there from an alien planet, a caveman or an Aztec all of them sound British.
PETER: A lot of things about the Tardis get explained far later in the series. So just enjoy and let it go. Think of it this way, if you are a little kid, you assume everyone speaks the same language you do.
So lets talk about the season it begins with The Unearthly Child where we meet Ian, and Barbara who are curious about their student Susan who is very smart in some things and not so smart in others. They follow her to a junkyard where they meet the Doctor and discover the Tardis. To prove the Tardis is a time machine he takes them to prehistoric times were they run afoul of cave men locked in a political debate similar to our current debt ceiling debate. Whoever can make fire leads. If this fire debate seems stupid, I find the debt ceiling debate even moronic. So Jamie what do you remember? ( Note: its been weeks since we first watched it.)
JAMIE: You go first. I'm trying to watch flipping out.
PETER: I like the fact, that they really did in that first episode create an air of mystery and dread. The Doctor was creepy, the junkyard was creepy, and Susan's dance at the beginning of the episode super creepy.
PETER: I love that the Doctor essentially kidnaps Barbara and Ian just to prove he's telling the truth that he has a time machine. The Doctor gets captured in prehistoric times and is forced to try to make fire. The Doctor can't because he doesn't have matches.
JAMIE: Rub two sticks together bitches. You would think a guy who can work a time machine could make fire. I think its funny they save that one cave man's life and then Doctor nearly kills him with a rock because he's slowing them down.
PETER: I think its funny that when running away from the cave men the Doctor runs over Barbara. Its the least violent thing that happens in the episode. In these first episodes you can count on it being violent and the Doctor complaining non-stop. I do remember liking Ian in these beginning episodes. Jamie any other thoughts.
JAMIE: Ditto. I agree Ian in these first episodes.
PETER: So the Doctor and company eventually get away from the cave men and head back to the Tardis. The next place they go is an alien world, where they meet the most popular villains of the series. The Daleks!
PETER: So Jamie since you were accustomed to the current version of the Daleks, what did you think of their first appearance?
JAMIE: It was exciting to see them in their primitive form. Even though its the future they seem really easy to dominate.
PETER: Well yeah, they could only move on metal floors powered by static electricity.
JAMIE: Even worse than that you can sneak up on them from behind, and the Daleks aren't sneaky because you can hear them squeaking when they move. They also have no peripheral vision. I like that it looks like they're x-raying people I liked that a lot. Plus they were the most polite version of the Daleks I've ever seen.
PETER: Agreed. Again I have to point out the Doctor is a complete prick in this episode and I love it. He tells the crew he needs mercury for the ship, and its a lie. He just wants to explore the Dalek city and ends up giving everybody radiation poisoning. So what did you think of the Thals. The other inhabitants of the planet , Skaro. Whom the Daleks have sworn to destroy.
JAMIE: for some reason the women wear pants and the men don't. Really attractive, though. It looks like they all came from a modeling agency. So tall and blonde, very aryan.
PETER: I think Susan said they were perfect. I wonder what that says about 1963 society? Very beautiful people who can't seem to jump across a four foot gorge.
JAMIE: yeah, it was funny that the least attractive Thal ended up falling in the gorge. Although he did keep talking about how he was going to die.
PETER: If I was surrounded by people who looked like that I would want to die too. I remember seeing this episode as a little kid and loved that there was some gross mutant inside the Dalek shell, which was the size of a baby. It really bothered me when I was little, and I think it still holds up.
JAMIE: I'm sorry I'm still thinking about the outfits the Thals wear, they can produce medicine for radiation poisoning but they cant make pants.
PETER: You can't blame Barbara for getting it on with one of them. It is surprising though that Barbara and Ian are so willing to forgive the Doctor after putting them through all of this. Anything else about this episode Jamie?
JAMIE: I liked it didn't take much to beat them. I think they just had to break e a fuse box.
So after beating the Daleks they hop on the Tardis an explosion happens and everybody passes out, we are informed we are on the Edge of Destruction. An episode where everybody acts crazy. Apparently there is a problem with the ship and if they can't fix it they will die.
PETER: Jamie what do you remember about the Edge of Destruction?
JAMIE: You would think there would be a warning light to let you know the ship was broken instead of making people crazy. The tardis takes away their sense of judgement! How is that effective in solving the problem?
PETER: I just remember you mentioning the bandage the Doctor wore around his head looked like condoms. Oh and Susan running around with scissors stabbing things, oh and the doctor blaming everybody and threatening to throw them off the Tardis and into deep space. Oh wait I also remember that all they had to do was replace a spring to fix the ship. This is the craziest 40 minutes of television I ever watched. Anything else Jamie?
JAMIE: I think the actors had just finished a method acting class and wanted to show off. Is that the episode with the water and milk machine? A huge machine and your only choice of beverage is water or milk...in bags.
PETER: Its crazy enough that it could be in this episode.
So after this they go to the time of Marco Polo in China. Its Jamie's and I's first experience with a recon. 108 episodes of Doctor Who were destroyed by the BBC because they didn't think anyone would want to watch these shows in the future. The weird thing is that all the audio for these episodes still exists so fans have cut together stills and the audio so you can sort of watch the episodes. I should point out that all of these stories are broken up into twenty two minute parts. Marco Polo is seven parts, all of them recons.
JAMIE: ZZZZZZZ
PETER: I told you we didn't have to watch them.
JAMIE: If that girl in Britain can do it so I can.
PETER: It's not a competition.
JAMIE: But aren't we getting through the episodes faster than they did?
PETER: Not a competition.
JAMIE: But you said they only had to watch a half hour version of Marco Polo....
PETER: Moving on. So before we even talk about the Marco Polo the story. Jamie what did you think about the recons.
JAMIE: Oh you explained them? How did you that? Did you use the word torture? Its funny that I get engrossed in a show that spans so many decades and now I'm being challenged to try and focus on episodes that put my ADD and DYSLEXIA to the test. Its like I'm being punished, for being a fan.
PETER: I told you we didn't have to watch them. I personally didn't mind them. I listen to a lot of podcast and audio stories so it wasn't too bad.
JAMIE: it took awhile to get used to. As long as I didn't watch too many I could get through it. Talk about a road trip with that marco polo.
PETER: The Doctor and company land on top of a mountain and again the Tardis is broken, it needs a circuit and the doctor needs to build one. They get captured by mongols who turn them over to Marco Polo who takes ownership of the Tardis in the name of Kublai Kahn and they make their way to his city. The Doctor bitches the whole trip and Ian finds a kindred spirit in Marco Polo.
JAMIE: Surprised Barbara didn't get with Marco Polo. He was cute.
PETER: He was kind of a jerk. He stole the Tardis so he could go home.
JAMIE: Although it was cute that the Doctor and Kubla Kahn became besties. The villain though, Tegana, you could tell he was a villain just by his name.
PETER: Yeah, I couldn't believe Marco Polo couldn't figure out that Tegana was going to fuck him over. Although Susan finally found a friend and hardly screamed at all. Although I'm not sure what the Doctor used in China in that time to make a circuit. Oh and how about the Doctor playing backgammon with Kublai Kahn to get the Tardis back, and then there was that one eyed guy with a monkey. Remember him Jamie? Jamie? Jamie?
(NOTE: JAMIE IS FALLING ASLEEP JUST REMEMBERING THE RECONS, SO WE'RE MOVING ON)
So now we're at my favorite episode of the season by far, The Keys Of Marinus. I watched it all in one sitting and laughed through most of it. We have aliens called the Vrood,( which I call scuba warriors),the worst/best special effect of a man falling down a trap door to his death ever, ice knights, guys with no pants, brains in jars, a huge courtroom scene, a plot that makes next to no sense and in the words of Adventures with the Wife in Space a big fat hairy rapist. The Doctor is a no show for a couple episodes, and it also has the worst villain disguise ever. This episode is all over the place and I love it. Here is the trailer.
JAMIE: Well this was weird. Yeah, the Monk just kind of wandered around to see if the Doctor and company made it to his machine so that he could send them to get the keys.
PETER: Yup, and this was where Susan screamed "I nearly paddled in acid!"
JAMIE: Wasn't this the episode where you catch sight of a PA when on of the doors revolves
PETER: Nuff said. A true classic.
Although the next episode is widely regarded by fans as the best of the first season and maybe the best of the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who. The Aztecs. After leaving Marinus the Doctor and crew end up where the title suggests they would. With the Aztecs. Barbara is mistaken for a God, and tells the Aztecs to stop sacrificing people. Which doesn't really go well. So Jamie how do you feel about it?
JAMIE: It was the best looking episode by far of the season. The costumes, the design of the tomb, everything looks authentic and historically relevant for that time.
PETER: Then they start talking, and it sounds less like Apolcalypto and more like Mr. Belvedere (if everyone in Mr. Belvedere was played Mr. Belvedere)
JAMIE: I find it funny they keep getting trapped. The tomb has a door that only works one way, and they all go through it but not at that the same time, and no thinks to say, "Dumbasses don't go through the door unless you have something to prop it up. Since we might want to get back to our time machine."
PETER: Pretty silly I'll grant you, but they needed some way to keep them there. I like how the Doctor warns Barabara not to try to change history and she doesn't listen. And for once its Barbara and NOT the Doctor putting everyone's life in jeopardy. Except Barbara feels bad about as opposed to wildly giggling, and touching her chest as the Doctor. The Doctor touches his chest not Barbara's.
JAMIE: Yeah everything is reversed in this episode. The DOCTOR GETS SOME!! He gets engaged to that woman in the garden. Although, the Doctor was aware he wasn't going to stick around.
PETER: The Doctor's expression when he finds out a cup of coco is the same as slipping a thousand dollar ring on a girl's finger is priceless. Almost as priceless as the Priest with the Ronald McDonald mouth pretending to be a hump back when no hump was visible.
JAMIE: Beginnings of Osteoperosis . He should have put milk in his coco.
PETER: Yeah, and Susan gets forced into an arranged marriage to a guy called the Perfect Victim.
JAMIE: He was really cute! Too bad he was going to be sacrificed.
PETER: You would think Susan of all people would want to marry someone called the Perfect Victim since it was the title we gave her up until that moment.
JAMIE: yeah, and Barbara put her in that school or monastary or whatever to keep her safe, then that happens. Barbara really was the Doctor in that episode.
PETER: Anything we want to say about Ian fighting a guy with a cheetah on his head while he wore a rooster on his head?
JAMIE: No. I think I'm good.
PETER: Wait, I just remembered the Doctor gave the potion to Ian's enemy which caused him to be beat. The Doctor still was a prick in this episode. Oh and he almost had Ian drown in a tunnel leading back to the tomb. So yeah, that happened to Ian. The interesting thing is that the doctor was right, Barbara couldn't change hisory, and they didn't win the day, they lost, which is unusual in Doctor Who. Great episode.
JAMIE: Great.
So next in the series is the Sensorites. What excited me and Jamie most was Susan acting like a normal adult, and a surprise appearance by Jeremy Irons at the end. The Doctor lands on a space ship where the crew keeps getting put into a death like coma by telepathic aliens called the Sensorites. The Sensorites are trying to protect their planet from humans who want to mine a valuable mineral. The Doctor gets caught up in the political intrigue of the Sense Sphere (the sensorite planet) as some Sensorites are dealing with a massive case of xenophobia.
JAMIE: This is the episode where the aliens look so disfigured and unattractive not if they can tell each other apart unless there wearing a sash.
PETER: A lot of the intrigue of this episodes revolves around changing clothes. Oh and Barbara dissapears for two episodes. We believe the actress is on vacation but the character is getting it on with an astronaut. The best thing about this episode though is Susan. Its the one episode where you can see how her character could work and grow on the show.
JAMIE: I think its a comment on acid.
PETER: Explain.
JAMIE: Well the humans under the ground who were posioning the sensorites had there minds expanded by using Sensorite technology. Much like an acid trip gone wrong. You can expand the mind to far. Then they were posioning the water supply, which was something people worried that the counter culture was going to do with acid. Its that idea that what you can't see can hurt you.
PETER: I think that was a theme that ran through the whole story. The Sensorites use their mind powers to hurt the humans, and the humans use an unseen poison to hurt the Sensorites.
JAMIE: They were too trusting...the Sensorites and it came off as arrogant to me. The Doctor had to keep proving he was trustworthy but the leader of the Sensorites immediately took eveything the evil Sensorite said at face value.
PETER: Well Susan does bring that up to them. Again Susan finally acting like an adult and solving something. Susan is the voice of reason through the whole episode and it turns out she has psychic powers.
JAMIE: I did like Ian going after the monster in the tunnel with a rolled piece of paper as his only defense and the Doctor egging him on.
PETER: Yup Ian is the egotistical brawn, to the Doctor's cowardly brains. Oh and the monsters they were humans the whole time. Humans carrying huge pencils. Humans carrying huge pencils being led by Jeremy Irons. Don't believe me? Check out the Sensorites.
JAMIE: Yeah, there's a guy who wears a milking machine on his head! And a Sensorite who won't stop touching his penis. Hooray!
So now we're at the final story of the season. The Reign of Terror. Where the Doctor goes to the French Revolution and everybody gets thrown into prison and escapes prison a lot.
JAMIE: I loved the fact that right at the beginning of the episode they find a safe house with clothes. So that they play dress up and actually fit in to what is going on around them. Unlike the Aztecs where even though the Aztecs think they're Gods its odd that no one mentions the Doctor's plaid pants. Which are fantastic. The Doctor gets saved from a house set ablaze by French soldiers by a boy, who tells the Doctor he needs a father and the Doctor responds by saying "I gotta go." and then patting the kid on the head and taking a two episode to Paris.
PETER: The dick streak continues unabated. Also because the Doctor runs into the guys who are being forced to work because they couldn't pay there taxes, and the Doctor no good reason decides to insult the jailer and makes everybody's situation worse.
JAMIE: He pick pocketed the jailer and then hit him with a shovel, but didn't have the sense to take his money so he could buy all those ridiculous clothes he got when he arrived in Paris.
PETER: I felt sorry for Barbara in this episode. Susan who had started becoming an interesting character in the Sensorites took to giant steps backwards and refuses to escape prison with Barbara because there are rats in the sewer. I loved Barbara's look of " you gotta fucking kidding me."
JAMIE: Who wants rabies?
PETER: Who wants to end up under the guillotine?
JAMIE: Fair. Although, this episode really shows how the Doctor uses lies, deception, and chicanery to his advantage and to get him and his friends out of situations. Although with the situations they get in its a wonder why they left home.
PETER: They were kidnapped.
JAMIE: Wasn't this episode where the Doctor was going to take them home because he was so pissed at them. He thought it was Somerset because Barbara says it looked like it, but it wasn't. It wasn't even England. It wasn't even the right century!
PETER: Yeah, thats kind of the whole premise of Doctor Who.
JAMIE: but if they hadn't have gotten thrown in prison, Barbara would never have met her next one night stand Louis, who turns out is a traitor. Who needs speed dating when you've got a Tardis, talk about no regrets, and no need to look back.
PETER: We also see Napoleon in this episode mostly because I think the producers were like how do we pad this episode? Napoleon!
JAMIE: He was way to tall.
PETER: Or maybe Ian and Barbara are far shorter than we think they are. Again though we have an episode where since nothing can be changed in history, you kind of know how things are going to turn out. I find it hurts the stakes of the show a little.
JAMIE: They are only supposed to be there to view history.
PETER: I understand. But they never just view, they always get involved.
JAMIE: Well they are from the future so they are always going to create a rift, and upset the people around them. Except for Barbara which creates an effect on people which makes them want to sleep with her.
PETER: Kind of like Inception?
JAMIE: No, this isn't a dream its supposed to be real.
PETER: I just meant that the subconcious people in Inception might be like people in the past being with someone from the future and instinctively feeling something is wrong and acting out on that.
JAMIE: NO THIS ISN'T A DREAM! ITS SUPPOSED TO BE REAL!
PETER: So what are you saying?
JAMIE: That once you go back and walk around in the past, you are now part of the past affecting the future, and that causes problems, and the Doctor does it constantly.
PETER: SO this goes back to the Doctor being a prick.
JAMIE: Yes.
PETER: I like my Inception theory.
JAMIE: You just want to bring everything back to Inception.
PETER: I think this the most that anyone has discussed the Reign of Terror...ever.
JAMIE: Are we still talking about that? I thought we starting a new blog on Inception. Spoiler! Leonardo DiCaprio was never awake.
PETER: Yes he was! ahhh lets just sum up our feelings on the season with some rankings.
Ladies first.
JAMIES RANKING OF EPISODES FOR FIRST SEASON OF DOCTOR FROM WORST TO BEST-
9.(10 mil. BC) Caveman stuff- if you are only going on one trip through time why would you go there?
8.Sensorites- i always keep forgetting this episode and I just want them to be the Ood.
7. Edge of Destruction -It was just crazy, it made me feel crazy.
6 The Daleks - They were to easy to defeat.
5-Marco Polo -It would be higher up if it wasn't for the recons. The photos are gorgeous.
4- Keys of Marinus - Best kid show ever! A televised choose your own adventure.
3. The Reign of Terror - Don't go on a road trip with your grandfather.
2. Aztecs - It was brilliant watching a woman trying to change a whole society. Well shot.
1. An Unearthly Child - Great foundation to a brillaint TV show. Made me want to watch more.
PETERS RANKINGS OF EPISODES FROM WORST TO BEST
9. (10 MIL BC) My home for politics caveman or otherwise is MSNBC
8 Edge of Destruction- Seemed like an improv scene gone horribly wrong
7. Reign Of Terror- A lot of escaping and getting recaptured.
6. The Sensorites - It ends so abruptly and I keep thinking the aliens look like testicles.
5. The Daleks- Too long, spent half episode watching people jump over a gorge.
4. Marco Polo- I really like Chinese history so I'm biased.
3. Keys of Marinus- So good for all the wrong reasons. As a comedian I dare you not to love it.
2. An Unearthly Child- really creates a sense of wonder, which they promptly lose with the caveman.
1 The Aztecs- Just the right length, interesting issues, and looks good.
So Jamie and I have finished the first season and our first blog together ever. Jamie some last words before we start actually watching and taking notes on Season 2.
JAMIE: I want to make it clear that I wasn't going to judge this to harshly. The first episode really got me. I wanted to see where they were going to go. Even though I can laugh at the production values and a lot of the writing I do care about these characters and am invested in where they are going to go next. I have a sense of adventure and this a worthwhile adventure.
PETER: I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get through it, and that it would only be laughable at best and annoying and trite at worst. Instead it has done its job. I wouldn't care that Ian is a dick if I didn't like the show I would just stop watching. Plus, I deseperately want to see some consistency from the Doctor. He keeps coming close to what I view the Doctor should be, but hasn't quite landed yet. And how can you not love Barbara and cardboard cut out Daleks.
JAMIE: I just want to add I love Barbara too and her sense of fashion is awesome for any time.
OK anyone who reads this we'll see you after season 2.
