The Chase

The Executioners

The Daleks are back! Written by that Nation chap again, though. His second story in his last three which involves a new location each week, too. I love the idea of the Chase, though, and I always try so hard to like it. It's admirable and fun, and very undeservedly criticised. What it does have, however, is Richard Martin, and his directing seems to be getting worse. There's a scene in the TARDIS when the Doctor speaks right to camera where it looks like you can see the studio in the background. Then in the scenes with Ian and Vicki you can very clearly see the studio wall. Still, we do have Dudley back once more, for the third time this season, and he really brightens things up with his jaunty music.

The Time-Space Visualiser is a strange device. For some reason it has the planets of our solar system written all over it. Not entirely sure why. It's a fun way to start a story, though. I have to admit, I do really like the horribly contrived joke of Ian reading a book called "Monsters" and calling it far-fetched. I also unashamedly love that "what's that horrible noise?" joke with the Doctor and Barbara. The Daleks really start repeating things like mad in this story. This is the start of all of that, sadly. It makes Barbara look silly, too. Barbara and the Doctor watch the Daleks chanting "TARDIS" over and over and over again, and Barbara turns to the Doctor to say, "they said TARDIS!" Gee, thanks Barbara. I'd never have noticed!

Gosh, a desert planet called Aridius? How original. I have to admit, I do find that a lazy method of naming. Why not just go the whole way and call it "The Desert Planet"? Still, I shouldn't complain, at least the Aridians themselves actually have names! The Moroks in the previous story didn't even get that luxury (Lobos aside).

This is, in spite of everything, a relatively fun opening episode. I know half of it is spent watching the regulars watching TV, but it's warm, cosy and fun. Ian and Barbara are just so right, and part of the furniture, so to speak, just as much a part of the show as the Doctor at this point. It's hard to believe this is their last story. It's always been sad, but I fear that watching like this will make that point even sadder. Still, that's not for a while yet, and here we have a promising-ish story on our hands, even with the ridiculous choking Dalek rising through the sand. 7.5/10.

The Death of Time

Well, Terry is at least trying with his titles now, but the Death of Time? What? That title has no relevance to this episode whatsoever. Oh well. I suppose it needed a dramatic title because it's such a dull episode.

Vicki screams here, which is totally out of character, but once again it's all for a joke, as Ian tells her that running is a better option (judging by the comment on this joke, whoever wrote the article about this story on the BBC Doctor Who website doesn't appear to have ever seen Vicki before). Then straight after that Ian stops to gawp at one of the mire beasts, and Vicki tells him that running is a smarter idea. That's about the most interesting thing about this episode, though. Though Ian calling a Dalek Fred, and the Doctor calling it Auntie are also highlights. Also, the Dalek shoots right at Ian, who waits for a few seconds before deciding to duck. Clearly Dalek rays are very very slow moving!

I like the reference to the previous story as Ian asks for Barbara's cardigan and she says, "not again!" Ian says he needs it for the Dalek and Vicki says, "I hope it looks good on him". I do like the humour in this story, it's just a shame there's not much to this episode. The Aridians are a pretty dull bunch. Dudley's music is great again, though, which helps. Fun music gives you something to latch on to when the story itself is struggling. 4/10

Flight through Eternity

Well, there's a flight. Not sure the Empire State Building and the Mary Celeste exactly count as eternity, but it's a more accurate title than the previous episode! The Daleks shoot the TARDIS at the start of this episode, even though they established last week that they can't damage it, so what's the point? Why does the Doctor think they gave the Daleks a good hiding? They managed to make one fall off a sand dune. The first thick Dalek appears here, uhming and ahing. To be fair, though, they all seem pretty stupid. Maybe Dalek high command have decided to send all the stupid Daleks after the Doctor in the hope he'll get rid of them?

What can you say about Morton Dill? Well, for one, I like the joke where Barbara says, "you're from Earth?" and he replies, "no Ma'am, I'm from Alabama". So New York was destroyed during the events of the Dalek Invasion of Earth? Funny, I'd have thought they'd just concentrate on Bedfordshire, myself. I love how the Doctor accidentally says "no it ain't" to Dill. I love the way the Dalek's head spins right the way round when Dill walks around it. That's quite creepy, but I'm not entirely sure why the Dalek doesn't kill him. Dill laughs at it, makes fun of its voice and generally gets in the way! He must be one of the luckiest people alive. The Daleks were killing Aridians that were helping them just 25 minutes ago!

Barbara very stupidly gets herself caught on the Mary Celeste. In her final story she should really know better by now. It does allow Vicki to save the day again, though by bashing somebody on the head. Then for no apparent reason she bashes Ian on the head. That's twice in two episodes Ian has been knocked out. No wonder he's so keen to leave at the end of this story! I love the way that when the Daleks arrive everybody jumps off the ship, even though the Daleks actually don't want to kill them, just ask them a few questions.

The cliffhangers in this story are rubbish. This episode's cliffhanger is "the Daleks are still chasing the TARDIS". Great. It's arguably the worst cliffhanger so far, since it's absolutely identical to the one at the end of the Space Museum AND at the end of the previous episode! When the best cliffhangers of a story involve a Dalek rising from sand and coughing, and a robot Doctor saying he shall infiltrate and kill, you know you're in trouble. Anyway, this episode is okay, but nothing special. It's fun in bits, but it's quite unsatisfying, really. 5/10

Journey Into Terror

Now this somehow is a lot more fun. It's ridiculous, but it is actually enjoyable. I love Ian's statement that this is a perfect place to fight the Daleks because there are good, stout walls. Yes Ian, those Daleks hate stout walls. Still, he redeems himself by saying they won't like the stairs. The Doctor for some reason says, "we'd better check where Vicki and Barbara is". That should be "are", Doctor. According to the Doctor, "this house is what you'd expect in a nightmare. We're in a world of dreams...we're in the dark recesses of the human mind". Ian, who questions almost everything the Doctor says, accepts that! Maybe the repeated blows to Ian's head have done him more damage than we think? The actual explanation is a fairly obvious one, after all.

I find it interesting that one of the Daleks says to Dracula, "I am a Dalek". It's quite unusual for a Dalek to say that. The directing is really messy around this point, and it is a bit strange that they don't notice they've left without Vicki. Ian's plan to take the Dalek time machine is quite mad, too. The Daleks screaming "Embark!" over and over again is also a bit silly. And we get another Dalek saying "er" a lot. The Doctor Robot is a bit rubbish. Aside from anything else, it changes in appearance depending on whether it's a long shot or a close up. In the close up it looks identical to Hartnell, but from the longer shots it looks a lot like Edmund Warwick. The Daleks are clearly no good at building robots.

This episode is a bit rubbish, really, but a lot of fun. The scenes in the "recesses of the human mind" are silly, but fun. 6.5/10

The Death of Doctor Who

The Death of Doctor Who? I know this isn't a great story, but it's not that bad! Sorry all, but I had to say that. Dudley's music has suddenly perked up here as we arrive on Mechanus. It's great! Distracts from the story, too, which helps. Particularly as Richard Martin has totally lost the plot, in more ways than one. This is a jungle planet, so helpfully we get lots of long shots of the studio floor. Anyway, the whole two Doctor thing is quite fun, particularly Vicki thinking the real Doctor is the robot. Then the two Doctors fight! Great fun. However, although that is all enjoyable in itself, this entire episode revolves around that one scene. Pretty much nothing else happens, and it is a pretty ridiculous plan by the Daleks anyway. Why on earth do that rather than just do the work themselves, far more easily?

Frankly, the only other thing of note in this episode is one lovely moment where Ian suggests that the Doctor pretends to be the robot to hold off the Daleks for a bit. Barbara angrily tells Ian that it's far too dangerous, but behind their backs the Doctor goes off to try anyway. It's a very sweet moment. Maybe my knowledge that they're leaving in under half an hour makes it even sweeter. They've come so far.

In spite of very little happening, this is a fun episode to watch, but quite weak plot-wise. Ian and Barbara deserve better than this. 5/10.

The Planet of Decision

As with the final episode of the Dalek Invasion of Earth, the mark for this part will be skewed somewhat. The episode itself is pretty rubbish, but that isn't remotely important. What is important is that this is Ian and Barbara's final episode. It's so touching. I wish the new series could do the big emotional scenes as well as this. As I said in the Dalek Invasion of Earth, Hartnell is really terrific in moments like this. It's quite sad to think that this is also his last one, as his later companions weren't allowed such send-offs. He plays the Doctor's sadness here beautifully. I love the way that the regular pattern takes place of Ian and the Doctor disagreeing and shouting at each other before Barbara comes in to placate the Doctor and sweetly appeal to him. Only this time, for the first time ever, her efforts fail because The Doctor is so desperate to not let them leave. He's selfish, but he is because he's come to depend on Ian and Barbara, and never faced up to the possibility they might actually want to leave. It's a lovely touch that it's Vicki's intervention (and her assurance that she isn't going to leave him) that finally persuades the Doctor to allow them to leave. Then when Vicki and the Doctor are watching the Time-Space Visualiser and see that Ian and Barbara have made it, Vicki's reaction of joy that they're safe is a nice contrast to the heartbreaking sadness of the Doctor. Ian and Barbara are the ultimate companions, and shall be missed terribly.

The rest of the episode is a bit rubbish, really. I like the Mechonoids, and I love their voices, but not a lot happens, and the fight between the Mechonoids and the Daleks is rather dull. They're more fun when they're talking, bizarrely, like when a Dalek asks a Mechonoid where the "space travellers" are, for some reason the Mechonoid answers, "zero". Then one of the Daleks later screams "am exterminated!" Ian pretending to be a Dalek at the end is rather silly, as are the scenes of Ian and Barbara back home. I do have to say, I worry about how they managed to explain disappearing off the face of the Earth for two years! I hope they got out of it okay. Steven's first appearance is okay, but not particularly exciting.

So, to sum up, the episode itself is pretty useless, but Ian and Barbara's farewell is so touching it bumps the score up massively. 7/10.

Conclusion

Hmm. I've given this a (marginally) worse score than the first two Dalek stories. I love stories that are fun and silly, but somehow the Chase although it aims to be, somehow falls short and just ends up being dull for long stretches. It has good moments, but I just find stories like this quite unsatisfying generally. I tried hard to like it, but it's just awkwardly stuck between silly and serious. Richard Martin is at his poorest, and Terry Nation doesn't help matters much. It's sad that Ian and Barbara, the definitive companions, get such a poor final story, but at least they get a wonderful exit, an exit which makes wading through this story entirely worthwhile. Sorry, although 6 out of 10 is a good mark, it is a slightly inflated one, and this story must go down as a fail.

Average score: 5.83

Old Rating: 7

New Rating: 6