I listen to the audiobook of this. I enjoyed it more than the TV episodes. A lot of the story is in the character’s heads and thoughts, which fits well in a book. The story is still nothing special but it has some great moments.
3.5/5
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There’s a lot more exploration of the TARDIS as well, if I remember rightly. Far more than is ever seen on screen until something like The Invasion of Time.
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Sounds intriguing! I’ll probably give the novelization a go then because I like it when they expand upon the original episode.
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The actual episode was bonkers, in my marathon I got seriously worried - had they run out of ideas already? Or just money?
But it is a little like a very, very, very basic precursor to things like Midnight and Wild Blue Yonder.
This reminds me how much of a disappointment Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS was for me, I was hoping it would be an epic episode where we got to spend time in the TARDIS and explore it in ways they couldn’t do in the past, but instead it was a bit naff.
But that’s quite off topic. I need to watch this serial again to remind me about it 
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I change my mind about it every time I watch it. It didn’t impress my eldest but I know I’ve enjoyed the intensity of it in the past, especially the scissors scene and the melting clocks.
I do love the anecdote that BSB broadcast the two episode the wrong way round when they showed it as part of their Doctor Who weekend back in the 90s - what must people watching have thought was going on!
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To be honest I think it would make just as much sense the wrong way round as it did the right way 
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As previously mentioned, I really love this one. One of my favorites of the classic stories I’ve seen. Bold move to have this early of a story be a bottle episode of the leads just tearing into each other but I think it’s great
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It’s less a bold move and more a necessity of circumstance. Toby Hadoke’s excellent Too Much Information podcast goes into a huge amount of detail as to why this story happened (and it’s nothing to do with sets not being ready for Marco Polo as urban legend sometimes suggested (and by urban legend, I mean the hazy memories of those who worked on it)).
I’d say that something can be out of necessity and still be bold (which I find is frequently the case with bottle episodes)
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Maybe, but I think, for me ‘bold’ suggests making a decision which isn’t necessarily one forced upon you which is, more or less, what happened with this story.
I think what’s bold is the direction that they took the story when they had to do a bottle episode. It could have easily been some sort of safer and more straightforward story with the same production constraints but instead it’s this eerie and paranoid episode of the main cast turning on each other under an uncertain threat. And I think that’s a lot to do in a show that’s barely even established any sort of status quo but it pulls it off really well
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That’s a really good point. Actually the way the relationship between the Doctor and Barbara in particular is written is rather bold with Barbara willing to challenge the Doctor’s authority.
I concede to your analysis! 
I really don’t remember much about this one. I vaguely remember the scissors scene and the fast return switch, and the mention of Quinnis. I have little snippets of memories. I really should watch this again.
This was actually one of my complete favourites when I first watched Classic, and having just rewatched, I remember why. I love the first part especially, I love how we don’t know who to trust and how it feels so tense and scary. And the Doctor trying to be nice to Ian and Barbara at the end of the second episode with questionable effect is so wonderful to me. I love how not human he and Susan seem
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Really liked this one! It is fairly simple but showcases how well our main cast work, some brilliant Hartnell Moments sprinkled in it and bam you got a very good 2 Two Parter. Personally, the idea of something going wrong and Ian & Susan going a bit mad is great, Carol Ann especially does great work with it. I will say if it was longer it probably wouldn’t have worked as well as it did, always a nice change of pace after the rather long 7 Parter “The Daleks”.
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My absolute favorite First Doctor story so far, is it simple? Yes. Is it atmospheric? By the boatloads. I remember watching it and being astounded by the nature of it, so eerie and such a marvelous character piece, my absolute favorite classic series story in the 54 odd stories I’ve seen.
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I liked this more this time. Still not a favourite but an okay story. I love Barbera, she is a fantastic character. I still think that the Target Novel is better than the TV story but I changed my rating of this story to a 3/5.
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My goodness you are having a true Road to Damascus experience with these classic stories!
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Maybe in a way. I think that I was too hard on them with some of the ratings.
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After a longer serial with The Daleks , I found The Edge of Destruction to be a nice break. It follows a pretty standard plot of paranoia (I was reading in some parallels to Cold War era anxieties) and mystery around being trapped—which you can definitely see the influence of in future bottle episodes i.e. Midnight, Amy’s Choice, Wild Blue Yonder. It doesn’t drag too terribly but it’s a fairly unremarkable serial. I did enjoy the start of the ongoing mythology surrounding the TARDIS, establishing that it thinks. Barbara was the standout for me in this episode, I loved getting to see more of her cleverness and self assurance as well as her developing relationship with the Doctor at the end.
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