From: doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Jason Abner Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: "Doctor Who" Episode Reviews (A New Thread):  SEASON ONE
Date: 26 Jan 1993 21:02 EST
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
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	Well, the other day I ran out and bought a whole stack of
"Doctor Who" videos, and this afternoon finished watching "The Troughton
Years", and found it quite enjoyable.  Then, I read 10 more pages of
_Transit_ (I'm up to Page 60 now ... it's a slow climb to nowhere), and
said "Dang!  Those old episodes really were charming!  How I miss them!".
	So, I've decided to drag out my old _Programme Guide_, retrieve
my old "Doctor Who" Episode ratings system (which I compiled some time
ago), and will now proceed to review every existing "Who" episode, from
all of the 27 seasons.
	I'm gonna use the super-original 4-star rating system, since
I really love typing asterisks, and will judge the episodes primarily
on the basis of dialogue, concept, and acting.  Not until Season 18,
when the special effects actually moved into the modern era, will I
trash a story because the effects were clumsy or goofy.
	Hopefully, this will inspire a lot of debate, and will help
me to remember that I shouldn't judge the series primarily from the
standpoint of _Witch Mark_ ... I'll try to include brief plot
summaries for every story, and will elaborate more for the lesser
known ones.  I will not review stories that no longer exist ("Power
of the Daleks, for example).
	Here goes:


SEASON ONE:  Producers:  Verity Lambert & Mervyn Pinfield

"An Unearthly Child" (Story A) by ANTHONY COBURN

Rating:  * * * * (that's four stars)

Plot:  Two schoolteachers, Ian and Barbara, follow one of their
students home because they're curious and think she's spooky.  They
meet this Doctor guy, find out he has this really funky time machine
which his granddaughter Susan calls a "TARDIS", and they all go back
and have fun in they year 100,000 B.C.  They all wind up friends

	This being the first "Doctor Who" story ever, it's impossible
to give it anything other than the highest rating.  William Hartnell,
the original Doctor, plays a grumpy, abrasive character, and the
story seems to be told primarily from the standpoint of Ian and Barbara.
The writing for Part 1, "An Unearthly Child", is brilliant, although
parts 2-4, the caveman stuff, is less inspired.  The acting among the
four leads is admirable, and there is no tendency towards camp, giving
the series a credible, dramatic edge that will last for over 20 years.
The early dialogue between the Doctor and the schoolteachers is both
intelligent and captivating, even today.  All in all, the story
was more visually impressive then than it is now, but I will not attempt
to find fault with the sets, since it was the best they could do and
the TARDIS set generally works quite well.

"THE DALEKS" (Story B), by TERRY NATION

Rating:  * * * * 

	The story that catapulted "Who" into the national (and later
international) spotlight, features a well thought-out alien species,
the Daleks, in a unique form, and the cliffhanger to Episode 1, "The
Dead Planet", with the first appearance ofa Dalek arm, is still
one of the best the series produced.  The Daleks are very convincingly
alien, down to the grating voices, and some of the mythology between
the Daleks and the Thals shows great thought.  At 7 episodes long, this
was the first epic story, and there are very few dead spots.  The
characters of the Thals Temossus, Antodus, and Alydon, are very
strong, quite 3-dimensional, although the girl Dyoni can grate on one.

"THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION" (Story C) by David Whitaker

Rating:  * * * *

	David Whitaker's first "who" story is more of a character
developing device than an actual plot.  Done on an absolutely 
shoestring budget, with no new sets, only the interior of the TARDIS,
there are many techical gaffes which intrude on the enjoyment of the
story.  Still the dialogue is sharp, and we see The Doctor finally
begin to mellow out towards his two reluctant Earth companions.  The
bit with Susan wielding a pair of scissors at Ian does not work, and
the Doctor seems overly nasty, but he undergoes a catharsis at the very
end, and we see that, hey, these guys are actually gonna get along!


"THE KEYS OF MARINUS" (Story E), by Terry Nation

Rating:  * * * 1/2

	Nation's first non-Dalek script is the first in the series
to introduce the concept of frequent space travel within an episode
(featuring one set per episode), although the TARDIS is not involved
much in the action.  The middle stories, "The Screaming Jungle"
and "The Snows of Terror", are fairly week, but the last segment to
the Key of Marinus, found in the city of Millenius, features good
courtroom drama, and the first of Fiona Walker's two appearances as
a female villain.  The costume for the major villain, the Voord, is
vaguely disappointing, and they are portrayed as more of a generic
villainous race than the Daleks, i.e no evident history or motivation
other than evil.

"THE AZTECS" (story F), by John Lucarotti

Rating:  * * * 

	The first remaining historical piece, takes us to 15th century
Mexico, as the four travellers become inmeshed in some historical
intrigue concerning the Aztec indians.  Historical accuracy is not
paramount in Lucarotti's second "Who" script, but Tlotoxl remains
a chilling villain, a priest imbued with his own power.  The major
fight scene between Ian and Ixta is a wee bit clumsy.  The Doctor
almost falls in love, and actually gets engage.  We see more sweetness
in his character, as he takes his leave of Cameca at the end of the
story.  Barbara shows a new character trait, the wish to change what
she sees, and we suffer with her as we see the inevitable sacrifice
occur at the end of the story.  Susan takes her vacation in this story,
and appears only in small clips in the middle stories.  She takes
hia little bit of womens' lib to the 1430's.  Overall, a satisfying
historical script, one of the best remaining.

"THE SENSORITES" (Story G), by Peter R. Newman

Rating:  * * * 

	The first story to show a friendly alien race, exploring some
elements of xenophobia, short-sightedness, and Walt Disney.  At
first, we are led to believe these orange aliens are evil, as they
ensnare Captain Maitland, Carol, and John on their own ship and employ
mental tricks to throw them off guard, but we later learn they are
merely trying to protect themselvs.  Still, some cruel tricks are
played, and it's hard to feel *too* sympathetic for these aliens
with the bald heads and Mickey Mouse feet.  The villainous City
Administrator is shown as more cunning than actually evil, and is a
bit humorous to watch, although not overwhelmingly so.


MISSING EPISODES:  "Marco Polo" (D), "The Reign of Terror" (H)

OVERALL:  A quite solid opening season for The Doctor and Ian, Susan,
and Barbara.  Not one story is a true clunker, and the special
effects (i.e. time travel sequences and the TARDIS) were good for their
day.  There is a lot of continuity, since at this point there was only
one script editor, David Whitaker.  Many today find these stories
boring, and since they were aimed at young children, they do tend
to be at times, but this is one of the better overall "Doctor Who"

seasons.

BEST MOMENTS"  All of "An Unearthly Child" (Episode 1 of that story),
the cliffhanger to "The Dead Planet", the Doctor's monologue about
the creation of a solar system in "The Brink of Disaster", the
Doctor's speech to Barbara about non-interference in "The Day of
Darkness", Part 4 of "The Aztecs"


						Jason Miller
						"some doctor guy"