The Reign of Terror (and thoughts on Season One)

A Land of Fear

Here we are back in home territory. After the Doctor's outburst at the end of last week, he's calmed down enormously. Presumably he knows we're in an historical. Here also is the debut of one of my favourite Doctor Who writers and script editors, Dennis Spooner. First with this story I should mention the highly distinctive score by Stanley Myers. I know it has been criticised in certain places, but I absolutely love it. For me it sets the whole tone perfectly. It stands with Marco Polo as my two favourite scores from the first season, and actually possibly the first two seasons. I'll be finding that out shortly.

There's no materialisation noise when the TARDIS lands, which is sad. It's very sweet the way Susan hugs Ian and Barbara and runs off when she thinks they're leaving. As much as I don't like Susan, that is a lovely moment. I know audiences of the day weren't given as much information as we have access to now, so I wonder if people did think this may be Ian and Barbara going back home? Anyway, they're terrific here flattering the Doctor. They've really got playing to his ego down perfectly. Ian says it would be much better to part in amicable circumstances. In spite of all this, it's terrific that Ian and Barbara are actually happy when they realise that they aren't home after all. As much as they do want to go home, they don't want this adventure to end just yet!

The quietness of the area and of the house are quite good for first episode tension building. Barbara's a bit slow here. Ian mentions Robespierre has signed what he's holding, yet he's the one who has to tell her what period they're in. I have to admit, I've never really taken in how in the first season the historicals get closer and closer to the modern day. If An Unearthly Child is on Earth, it's apparently "100,000 BC" or some such date, Marco Polo is 1289, the Aztecs is 15th century and the Reign of Terror is 1794. Season two ruins that, of course, by visiting the Romans and then going forward and back. Anyway, Ian and Barbara are getting closer to their own time with each historical!

The Reign of Terror is the Doctor's favourite period of human history! Sheesh, Doctor, that's rather brutal of you! As seen by the pretty brutal murder of Rouvray and D'Argenson here. That really sets the tone very well of how unsafe the situation is for our heroes, a situation where they find a bunch of clothes and just put them on.

The fire at the end does burn quite a while, and though this is good, it is a little slow, though that is forgivable for a first episode. It is a great start for what promises to be a good story. Spooner, history, fun music. I'm much much happier here than on the Sense-sphere. 8/10.

Guests of Madame Guillotine

I should say that I love the episode titles throughout the Reign of Terror. They're not especially different to any we've already had, but they do all sound good. Give me Prisoners of the Conciergerie over the Escape any day of the week. This episode, like with the second episode of the Sensorites, is a little slow. It just feels as if everything is being set up for later. The difference between this story and the previous one, though, is that the Reign of Terror is simply so much fun. For example, though it leads absolutely nowhere, it's great how Barbara calmly assesses the situation, and works on trying to escape. It's also great how she repeatedly tells Susan everything will be okay, trying to keep her calm, too. Strangely I think Susan is still quite good here with her pessimism. It's all very well Barbara saying they'll be okay, but she clearly doesn't believe it. "We've been lucky, we can't go on being lucky," she states. Maybe I just like this because it's so unusual for Susan to be speaking rationally rather than screaming, whinging or crying?

The Jailer is an interesting character. He is purely a figure of fun, and yet he's also very dangerous at the same time. The way he talks to Barbara, and suggests he'd let her escape "if we were to be friends" is quite creepy, particularly the way when she rejects him he takes pleasure in telling her she'll die soon as a result.

The scene with the Doctor and the boy is quite sweet, the way the boy wants to travel to Paris and help. I'm not too convinced by Brian Proudfoot. His walk is a bit upright and jumpy to be an accurate Hartnell. The Doctor gets the (deservedly) oft quoted line where the Overseer says he must think he's very clever and the Doctor replies, "without any undue modesty, yes". Those scenes are quite funny, and the way Hartnell smacks the Overseer is really quite violent! I'm not too keen on the comedy snoring, though.

It's a fairly uneventful (but fun) episode, though it does set up an interesting mystery. Lemaitre interrogates Ian, and then finds out from the Jailer that Ian lied about not having spoken to Webster. He then crosses Ian off the "to be killed" list. Why? It also has the Doctor nearing Paris, and as the episode concludes, Barbara and Susan are being led off to their execution. Everything is nicely ready for the next episode. 8/10.

A Change of Identity

The Doctor finally arrives in Paris, and blends in rather well. The way he tricks the shopkeeper is very amusing. Surely the shopkeeper should be in rather a lot of trouble for selling the clothes of a Regional Officer of the Provinces? So are his scenes with the jailer, actually. I love how the Doctor has come all this way, and disguised himself in such an absurd outfit, and finds that his companions have all escaped already! So rather than see his friends, he's forced into a meeting with Robespierre. That's rather unfortunate. Lemaitre later claims that he arranged for the jailer to leave the key in the lock which allows Ian to escape. How he knows the jailer will leave the keys there is beyond me.

Susan is all moans and complaints again now, although at least it has a function within the story, rather than just being there to test Carole Ann Ford's patience. I quite like Jules and Jean, they rescue Susan and Barbara and start offering them drinks. Then Leon arrives, played by Edward Brayshaw, and Barbara gets all excited by him. Come on Barbara, this is Edward Brayshaw, he's clearly a baddie! All that smoothness can mean nothing else, especially compared to Jules earnestly telling of how not all Frenchmen can allow the innocent to die.

This is a rather uneventful episode again, all told, and yet it's still a lot of fun. Not a great deal happens, but it's enjoyable nothingness, and any episode that has William Hartnell in that hat deserves at least 7/10.

The Tyrant of France

I think it's a bit unfair to criticise the Doctor's meeting with Robespierre here. I think he goes further than most would dare if they met him. First Robespierre criticises the Doctor for his province's inefficiency at catching traitors, and the Doctor merely replies by saying his province has fewer traitors than Paris. He then says, "what can this reign of terror possibly gain? For every enemy you execute, two more pop up", and when Robespierre complains about his supposed allies plotting against him, the Doctor asks if it's just that they wish to keep their heads. Maybe it would have been nice to see a slightly more forceful tirade against him, but I think the Doctor goes as far as you would dare. He also complains later to Lemaitre that Robespierre twisted everything he said.

The shopkeeper really is a fool, isn't he? He became suspicious when the Doctor decided to take a costume of an Officer of the Provinces? Well, duh! The bit at the end where the Doctor and Barbara meet up is really sweet. They haven't seen each other since the end of episode one, so it has been a really long separation. Sadly we can't see it, of course, but it certainly sounds like a lovely, warm embrace.

Funny how Jules is so insistent earlier on first names only (in spite of talking about Rouvray and D'Argenson), and yet cheerily answers to "Jules Renan" when Ian asks him if that's his name. And they don't stop drinking! They have a drink when Ian arrives, and then another when he's finished telling his story, and probably a few in between. That's not a good idea if you're going to walk into a trap, Ian. What exactly is the point of Leon's trap, though? Ian is pretty insignificant, I'd have thought, but oh well, it makes for a cliffhanger.

It's another enjoyable episode. The Tyrant of France of the title only appears in one short scene right at the beginning, but I can forgive it that. There's nothing that especially stands out in this episode, aside from what I've mentioned, but it's a lot of fun and a good story unfolding. 8/10.

A Bargain of Necessity

I love the way the Doctor tells Barbara, "you should know by now young lady that you can't get rid of the old Doctor just like that". Hartnell and Hill are a great combination, and the warmth between them and their characters is lovely to watch. Once again the Doctor fools the jailer and lets Barbara out, and once again he is caught by Lemaitre, who forces the Doctor to take him to the hideout, even though the Doctor has never been there.

Ian echoes what I said, calling himself "very small fry". But Leon doesn't want to hear it. He also presumably doesn't want to hear Ian saying things like, "I flew here with three friends in a small box. When I left England it was 1963". Anyway, Jules comes to the rescue and sets Ian free, allowing him to have an argument with Barbara. Unfortunately, this argument between them isn't as good as the one they had in the Aztecs. Barbara gets all fired up and says, "he was a traitor to you, to his side he was a patriot," and so on. I think the main reason why this isn't as good as their previous argument is that Leon was going to kill Ian. Barbara doesn't seem particularly bothered about that when defending Leon.

This is yet another slightly uneventful episode, although maybe I was simply enjoying it too much to think about it? Either way, the best moments are with the Doctor and Barbara and the Doctor and Lemaitre. 7/10.

Prisoners of the Conciergerie

The start of this episode sees something that we haven't seen for a while as the actors all stand perfectly still whilst the names of the episode and writer are flashed on the screen. I should be watching out for those. There weren't any in the Sensorites. They're already being phased out, which is sad. I'd love for a new series episode to do that. Day of the Moon is a perfect opportunity!

I love how the Doctor is still in his costume and hat. I know the plot does actually require it, but it's still funny, particularly as he never takes the hat off, and takes it with him when they go back to the TARDIS! That's another thing the new series could do. If they are going to have a running joke of Matt Smith liking various types of hat, surely that one is perfect!

Anyway, this is a very strange episode, which essentially revolves around the shock revelation that Napoleon will become Emperor of France. Ian and Barbara watch him discussing plans in the back of a pub, which is quite amusing really. Ian's acting is atrocious! And I mean Ian rather than William Russell, who does bad acting very well. Not just atrocious, but completely pointless, too! Still, it beats Barbara's horrendous attempt at a French accent, which is made all the more peculiar by the fact that she's the first person in the entire story to put on a French accent. The scene with Barbara and the Doctor is quite touching where she admits that influencing history is beyond them. Clearly they enjoyed the Aztecs as much as I did. It's been referenced in both stories since.

Carole Ann Ford has never been "my type", but in the scenes at the end when the Doctor rescues her from the prison and they watch Robespierre's arrival, she looks really attractive. I wish she looked like that all the time. Anyway, the long carriage scene is rather bizarre at the end here. That must be a unique scene in Doctor Who's history.

After meeting Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Ian here sees Boney's plotting, then witnesses Robespierre's downfall. He really is ticking the boxes, isn't he? What next? Something ridiculous like meeting Richard the Lionheart and becoming a knight, no doubt. There is a little bit of finality in this episode as the first season draws to a close. Lemaitre and Jules watch our heroes leave and wonder where they're going. Lemaitre says, "I get the impression they don't know where they're heading for". Then the Doctor does the silly "destiny in the stars" speech to end things off. It's quite sweet really, and a nice way to finish off both this story and the first season of this promising young series. 8/10.

Conclusion

The Reign of Terror is a good introduction for Dennis Spooner. It won't be his strongest story, but it is one of the highlights of the first season, and closes it off with tremendous style. I should state again that I love the incidental music. My only wish is that there should have been more of it. The story is a bit slow at times, but even when it is, it's still enjoyable to watch. The guest cast are all good and all provide something useful, and the regulars are all on top form, particularly Hartnell, who is a joy to watch at this stage. The role is truly his now, and he is absolutely terrific.

Average rating: 7.7

Old Rating: 8

New Rating: 8


Season One

The first season of Doctor Who is a promising one. It isn't as strong as later seasons, and it is very inconsistent, but it is experimental, and explores what the show is capable of. There were two disasters, two classics and some strong stories in between. Most importantly though, it established the characters beautifully. The Doctor settled down quickly with Hartnell, who is a revelation. He is a commanding presence, and is terrific to watch. Russell and Hill make for superb companions, both developing their roles well to the point where they're clearly enjoying their adventures by the close of the season. It's a shame Carole Ann Ford never really got the chance to do much, but she's off soon anyway, thankfully, her character replaced by the far superior Vicki, who is one of my favourite companions. 

I think that even if people don't want to do a full marathon, it is definitely worth watching this season in order. It is where it all started, after all, and in many ways here as flexible as Doctor Who ever has been. Though it is still a daunting task, I'm glad I forced myself to start this marathon. I've been able to see and re-assess stories I generally avoid, such as An Unearthly Child, which is far better than I remember. One down, twenty-five to go.

Old Rating: 7
Average Rating: 6.58
New Rating: 6.63