The Savages

DOCTOR: This is my Reacting Vibrator.

(Oooh er!)

EDAL: We have no information about your companions.
DOCTOR: Oh, they're very pleasant. Yes, they're both very pleasant apart from their juvenile exuberances.

DODO: I hate conducted tours.

DOCTOR: Oppose you? Indeed I am going to oppose you, just in the same way that I oppose the Daleks or any other menace to common humanity.
JANO: I am sorry you take this attitude, Doctor. It is most unscientific. You are standing in the way of human progress.
DOCTOR: Human progress, sir? How dare you call your treatment of these people progress!

DOCTOR: You know, my dear, there's something very satisfying in destroying something that's evil, don't you think?
DODO: Yes!

(Smash!)

• The music is harsh and strange, but really effective. I like it when we get something unusual or risky, and this is not far off Sea Devils levels of bizarre. 
• I like the idea of the Doctor having his own fan club! A Doctor Who fan club, indeed, whatever next? 
• It's very sad seeing Steven leave. It really does feel like the last stages of the Hartnell era, as (apart from the Doctor, of course), Steven is the last real link we have to the very beginning of the show. Now we're left with companions who have never even met Ian or Barbara! It is a shame Steven wasn't retained for longer, as he's a really underrated character, just as Peter Purves is a really underrated actor. It would have been nice if he could stay on a bit longer. As it is, fingers crossed that his missing stories will be found so he can be better represented. 
• It's also sad as we head towards the end of the Hartnell era to see so little Hartnell. He's sidelined in the Massacre, hardly in Toymaker and now he spends half of this groaning or being very un-Doctorlike. 
• The way Avon and Flower are punished just because Dodo wandered off is really unpleasant. It's a nice way of emphasising what a horrible society this really is. 
• I'd love to be able to see Frederick Jaeger's Hartnell impression. It sounds great, but I wonder how good the visual mannerisms are. I also wonder what will happen if Jano suddenly loses the "sense of right and wrong" the Doctor has given him. Steven will be in quite a pickle then. 
• In a marathon, the Savages is by far the bizarrest story of the lot. It's like it's suddenly a completely different show. The Doctor is a doddery scientist happy to chat for hours with self-appointed "Elders" about perfect civilisations, Steven is a naive idiot and Dodo is suspicious and inquisitive. And it just feels so Star Trekky. Which is quite impressive as it pre-dates Star Trek! It's difficult to explain exactly why, although I suppose the whole "perfect society that's actually rotten to the core" has been done countless times on Trek. It's also the first time beyond the Daleks holding a grudge that we see people who actually know of the Doctor.

Verdict

The Savages is okay, but I don't think it's up to too much. It's also rather bland. There's nothing much actually to it. The strangeness of it helps to distract from what really is a fairly generic-feeling story and lack of much real action. A large part of episode three involves Steven, Dodo and Chal wandering around dark caves to escape Exorse. A decent first effort, but could do better.