A fun two-parter. Mauren O’Brien is immediately likeable as Vikki, full of energy, resilience, vulnerability- she goes through a range of emotions in a short time. & Hartnell is really coming into his own as Doctor Who, a more playful edge in his interactions with Barbara & Ian. There are certainly some elements of Doctors from the modern era with his condemnation of the villain of the story. This is another adventure where I think about what it must have been like for fans back at the time of broadcast, after the first departure of a companion the first introduction of a new one.
& lets not forget Doctor Who showing his physical prowess with an impromptu battering ram.
This story is just a bit of fun to bridge the gap between companions, it’s a solid 6.5/10 for me because it doesn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking but isn’t bad by any sense of the word.
The mystery surround Koquillian is very well done with a lovely surprise ending, I always enjoy Vicki and feel this story introduces her well.
So, The Rescue! I’ve always had a mixed reaction to the story, but after rewatching it, I found it to be more engaging than before, demonstrating the effectiveness of rewatching content, as @deltaandthebannermen has repeatedly highlighted.
I’d say this is a 7/10 for me now.
It flows very well because it’s a two-parter with little to no fluff. It’s very focused on introducing Vicki as the new companion, and it works well—we get a decent understanding of her as a character, and she bonds quickly with the rest of the TARDIS team, especially the grandfatherly Doctor.
The production values are simple, but they work. At the end, there’s a rare fight scene for One. There’s a silly sword trap cliffhanger that follows a fairly lame cave-climbing sequence (almost as tedious as the one in The Daleks, but thankfully much shorter!)
Other than his cool mask and the revelation that he’s a murderous psycho, I don’t find Koquillion to be a compelling villain. The main twist has never truly resonated with me due to its obvious nature, which becomes even more apparent upon repeated viewings.
But since this exists solely to introduce the new companion, I consider it successful on that front!
I don’t really care for this one but it’s fine. I’m grateful to it for introducing Vicki, though, who is currently my favorite Hartnell companion and one of my favorites overall
It was really good introduction of Vicky, I was glued to the screen, although I prefer more historical episodes. She’s definitely one of my favorite companions
7/10
A nice little introduction to Vicki, I enjoy the character work in this story. You can really see how they all changed, especially the doctor. Also love how they all just immediately decide to adopt Vicki, the scene with her and the doctor is especially sweet.
Well this did what it set out to do well - introduce Vicki to us as a Susan-subsitute for the Doctor. It was lovely to see how easily he bonded with her.
I too was a bit upset by Barbara’s killing of Sandy - but the aftermath was handled well & of course it removed the one thing that may have tied Vicki to the planet Dido and freed her up to leave.
The ending with the rescue ship didn’t make a lot of sense to me - I had thought it was a fake with one of Bennett’s tape recordings when they were revealed!
And pretty shocked by the unfortunate camera shot in the first episode - I mean Vicki’s dress was ridicuolusly short anyway and the upskirting was clearly accidental, but I would have expected them to cut that shot out!
Not sure what didn’t make sense. The ship had crashed with, we assume at least most of the crew still alive - as they get invited to the meeting where Bennett blows them all up. Therefore it makes sense that they’d sent out a distress signal and were just waiting for the rescue ship to arrive. Bennett had committed a crime and would have been turned over to the authorities. Vicki didn’t know about this apparently and he was keeping her alive as a character witness to confirm his version of events.
The only thing we have to assume is that the rescue ship hadn’t been informed of Bennett’s initial crime or that it was Vicki and Bennett who sent the distress signal for the rescue ship after Bennett murdered everyone else.
Sorry I probably wasn’t very clear. What I meant was, it didn’t make sense for Vicki to forget all about the rescue ship & go with the TARDIS crew when it had travelled for weeks to get there and was now only hours away - in that context it would have made more sense for there never to have been a rescue ship at all.
But you’re right, that would not then fit in with Bennett’s motivation, as he did want to be rescued.
I think this is fine though because she clearly sees the opportunity of a family with the TARDIS crew. Ian and Barbara as her new mum and dad and the Doctor as her grandfather. That and the prospect of adventures in time and space must seem far more appealing than being rescued and returned to Earth or Astra, neither of which place has anything left for her with her father now dead and presumably no other family.
Although if you are interested what might have happened if Vicki did choose the rescue ship over the Doctor and co., The Crash of the UK-201 is a much-loved Big Finish story about something very similar…
Just finished my rewatch. I really enjoyed it. It is a great introduction to Vicky. My only complaint is that I would have liked one story between Susan and Vicky to see more about how Susan’s absence would affect the Doctor. But that is not how TV from the 60s works.
You’ll need to read Venusian Lullaby for that! I was going to add this as a quote:
He wondered how Susan was getting on, though he – of all people – should know how idiotic the thought was. Susan wasn’t ‘getting on’ now at all; she would be ‘getting on’ in about three and a half billion years’ time. But still the Doctor found himself thinking: a day has passed, two days, she will be with David, they will be planning a wedding in some half-ruined church, choosing a place to live –
And then –
‘How will you tell him, my dear?’
I can’t bear your children, David, my people and yours are not cross-fertile –
Maybe they would adopt a child, one of the many orphans of the terrible war; or more than one child. He imagined Susan, happy in the middle of her huge family, teaching her children Earth-things, half-forgetting her own inheritance. And David growing older . . .
Would she try to disguise it? Dye her hair, perhaps? Put something on her skin to make it dry and wrinkled? How long would it be before she had to admit the truth?
I won’t grow old, David, not for hundreds of years. My people are – different. But I’ll put flowers on your grave, David, flowers on your grave . . .
The Doctor swiped the air with his stick, felt it slash into a jetheru bush he hadn’t even seen. Petals scattered onto the granite paving; some eight-fingered thing native to the world of the mereon-builders chittered and scurried away, invisible under the leaves.
Yes, thought the Doctor, surveying the rows of flowers through misted eyes, maybe the Sou(ou)shi way was for the best: a few seconds of terror, and then the end. Better than all this stitching and patching and mending of history, the good intentions that go astray, the misery that can never be prevented, the child deprived of her inheritance by an old man’s whim of rebellion and curiosity.
Spelling “Davison” as “Davidson” always gets me triggered. Same with “Eccleston” as “Ecclestone” or “Tom Baker” as “Colin Baker” (that last one’s a joke).
It’s not perfect– it’s got a few too many characters imo which makes the plot a little hard to follow– but I loved it for how well-written One, Ian and Barbara are and for the nuanced and fascinating exploration of an alien world and society. I’d recommend it!
