Doctor Who: Alternative Seasons - Season 1: The Beginning

This is the first part of an ongoing look at Doctor Who as a whole. It also tries to reframe stories to include audio stories and other media. More details can be found here.

 

Season 1: The Beginning

Season 1 is, of course, the first season of the show. There are some stories that canonically take place before this, but this is the true start. The 32 stories in this season are:

·         An Unearthly Child – The Edge of Destruction (DW serials 1.01-03)

·         A Small Semblance of Home (Short Trips 8.9)

·         Marco Polo (DW serial 1.04, Missing: Loose Cannon/Target Novel)

·         The Keys of Marinus – The Sensorites (DW serials 1.05-07)

·         E is for… (Companion Chronicles 13.1)

·         The Transit of Venus (Companion Chronicles 3.7)

·         The Reign of Terror (DW serials 1.08)

·         Rise and Fall (Short Trips 1.1)

·         The Flames of Cadiz (Companion Chronicles 7.7)

·         A Star is Born (Short Trips 4.1)

·         The Wanderer (Companion Chronicles 6.10)

·         The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance and Farewell, Great Macedon (The Lost Stories 2.01-02)

·         The Age of Endurance (The Early Adventures 3.01)

·         The Masters of Luxor (The Lost Stories 3.07)

·         The Destination Wars - The Hollow Crown (The First Doctor Adventures Volumes 1-5)

·         Home Again, Home Again (Subscriber Short Trips 0.43)

·         The Library of Alexandria (Companion Chronicles 7.10)

·         Flywheel Revolution (Short Trips 5.1)

·         Domain of the Voord (The Early Adventures 1.01)

 

Note: Stories in red are additions or changes from the existing template

 

Changelog:

·         12/6/2022 - "Home Again, Home Again" has been moved from Season 2 to Season 1.

 

Reviews

 

An Unearthly Child - 7,8

And so it begins! An interesting introduction in the first episode, followed by... less appealing surroundings. The cavemen aren’t all that threatening in the story, so there's not really a sense of danger. We do, however, get a clear view of the way these characters act and what their personality traits are. The Doctor is merciless and headstrong, Ian is a moral compass, Susan is curious and wants to learn and Barbara…. I can’t pin down yet. Let’s see where it goes. Hindsight tells me the values presented by the companions will rub off on the Doctor eventually. I wonder how that progression will happen.

The Daleks - 8,2

The big introduction to the most famous enemy. Interesting to see how calm and calculating the Daleks are here (also, I think I heard the word “exterminate” only 2 times). They are not that threatening, but it is clear that we should take these guys seriously. However, the Thaals are pretty boring to me here, so the side characters do not add up to much, but the main characters sell it again! It's something that really surprises me from this era. I expected generic monster stories, like a cartoon for kids, but there’s really some good moments and characterization in the background. The Doctor being mischievous leads into this entire adventure. Susan wanders the jungle, possibly alone for the first time ever. Barbara forms a believable relationship with one of the thaals and Ian proves his worth in many scenario’s. The Doctor himself is mostly relegated to sitting around this episode, so he is not really a highlight, but at the end he gets his moment: "I'll never give you advice, never! But if I did: Always search for truth. My truth is in the stars. Yours might be here." That could be a modern day speech and no-one would bat an eye. It shows that twinkle of a man who wants to travel more than anything else, yet also keeps that stubbornness which he still has. Amazing.

 

The Edge of Destruction - 6,8

   The first one that’s on the weaker side. Something is messing up the Tardis and the team suffers from the consequences. Still, a lot of unexplained stuff happens in this story that I can’t really wrap my head around. Why do people randomly have pain in their necks? Was that just from the crash? What do the images on the Tardis screen mean? Why does Susan go mental and stab a chair? It is not very coherent. Which is a shame, cause testing how strong these characters truly are after 2 adventures could be interesting.

I do like the light this story shines on Barbara, finally giving her more definitive traits. She is smart, doesn’t like to be outdone, and can stand her ground when needed. It's a sort of "pragmatic smartness'. 

     The best scene in the story is at the end. The Doctor, stubborn as he is, can’t admit he was wrong earlier, but he comes to apologize later on. This is important, as it is the first time our lead truly shows weakness. He has made mistakes, but we’ve never taken the time to sit down and make amends to the ones near him. It also strengthens the relationship between him and Barbara a lot. As she understands this takes a lot from him, and she gets the validation that she stood for what she believed in and was right.
 

A Small Semblance of Home - 6,0

The first audio story is also the most British story ever. A deadly adventure for a cup of tea. This feels like a nice story to come after “The Edge of Destruction”. It’s a nice emotional note, but it doesn’t really stand out. A solid 6, but that’s not always bad. Marco Polo (Target Novel) - 7,2 This story is most impressive for its large scale. As someone used to modern who, the length of this is pretty special in its own right. The characters of Marco and Ping-Cho are likeable and the journey is varied enough to stay interesting. The locations were sometimes a bit too much to keep track of, but most were distinct. It also dawdles a bit here and there, with several escape attempts and a few too many “Give me key? No!” conversations for my liking. Also, the villain, Tegana, felt aimless at times. His villainy should’ve been obvious for ages, so why do we keep pretending like there’s nothing going on? Same goes for Marco’s regret for stealing the Tardis. They spent ages together, and suddenly on the last few pages, he gets a feeling of remorse. That could’ve been set up way earlier, especially since we have characters that can never reach their home, which is the exact situation Marco finds himself in. Ping-Cho’s marriage plot was also a bit waved away and slightly unsatisfying. She didn’t want to marry someone she didn’t love, so instead she…. married someone she met 2/3 times. I like the way her arranged marriage fell apart though. That was funny to me. Okay, onto the parts I liked the most. Barbara got to flex her history muscle for arguably the first time in the show. It was very clear she knows her stuff. The Susan and Ping-cho combination was also solid and allowed for character building. Clearly portraying Susan as adventurous and optimistic. Which is something that adds to the (otherwise relatively grumpy) group dynamic. Ian got his heroic moments as well. The Doctor shows his intelligence with the games of chess and backgammon, which is the first time he has really shown how smart he actually might be outside the Tardis. One thing I was missing in the latter half of the story, was Barbara. I wish her history skills came up a bit more. We are at a beautiful castle, but we basically stop explaining history at that point in the story. Which is a shame at the end of such a large trip. The scale, as mentioned before, is my favorite part of this story, and quite ambitious! It allows for a new kind of adventure, with some long travels. This makes for a great change of pace, even if some of it is filled with an irritating sense of frustration between the parties. A very memorable tale.

 

 

The Keys of Marinus - 6

      The general hook of this story is that several keys need to be collected by travelling to different locations. Since these locations each take an episode, it feels fair to take them as standalone episodes, as the narrative between them basically doesn’t exist.

The first is ‘the velvet web’ in which people are held under a guise of luxury and happiness, while being actually being poor and suffering. It is an interesting take and allows for some good moments with Barbara. It is generally intriguing, but the actual confrontation and larger consequences of destroying the illusion are left unclear, which is a shame. (7/10)

Next is ‘The screaming jungle’. This one is not all that interesting. Just a lot of wandering around the location. Some people are lost, then found again. Not all that different from the introduction episode. There are tidbits of interesting ideas in the actual screaming of the jungle and the scientific formula that gets used later on, but these don’t really get any time to shine. (4/10)

After that we get to ‘The snows of terror’. A cold, barren land. The group meets Vasor, a dangerous man, who is portrayed quite well and actually fooled me with his kindness in the beginning. After that it moves to a rescue mission in a cave which isn’t all that interesting. The highlight here is Susan climbing on a shaky ice bridge. Which honestly leads to a bigger point about her character: For now, I still don’t see Susan as pathetic. The character is often talked about as weak, even by the actress, but I think she gets the most direct action scenes after Ian. She can be screamy and weak, but often shows bravery and initiative when no one else will. Maybe these moments drop off later and will only leave the blubbering mess, but for now, I don’t feel like it is that black and white (hehe). (5/10)

We move on to “Sentence of Death”. As an Ace Attorney fan, this premise is right up my alley, although that first court session that lasted less than a minute made me laugh out loud.
The episode shines quite a welcome light on the first Doctor, who we’ve missed for a few episodes. He gets to show his smarts, have some fun investigations with Susan and Barbara, and is generally a joy to see on screen. It also reinforces his growth quite well. A few stories earlier, he would’ve left Ian there without a second thought.
This is one of the few stories which focuses on the characters first instead of the actual location. It also gives them more to do than the last few stories. It’s a breath of fresh air after some aimless location scouting. (9/10)

The last episode rounds it off pretty well. Locking Ian away allows for the rest of the cast to get more screen time, and the conclusion to the murder was actually pretty clever. It also includes the first namedrop in the show, with the Doctor boasting he has met Poirot. After that we get a rather hasty resolution to the Voord and move on.

In general the story lacks cohesion. It has a lot of moving parts and by the time the end was reached, I had forgotten what the keys actually did. The individual parts have clever ideas, but the ones purely based on environment don’t always land. If the characters interact and react to the environment in interesting ways, it gets miles better. Let’s hope future stories see this too.

The Aztecs - 7

      Psh. And they say the classic Doctors are non-sexual creatures.

This is a Barbara episode, which was just what was needed. She had until now established herself the least, but this gives her the chance to show off her pragmatic cleverness and some of her morals. Which is great stuff.

The other focus is the rewriting of history. Can it be done? And should it be done? It’s kind of difficult to look back on with the modern knowledge, because that doesn’t really allow me to judge this attitude on its own. It also feels slightly contradictory. Didn’t they interfere with the daleks? With Marco? With Marinus? So why now?

Modern knowledge pushes me towards this being a ‘fixed point in time’, but that’s very handwavy. Instead, I think we can look at it as the show discovering what it wants to be. At this point, that’s still a diary through history, instead of true fiction. I know a shift in that perspective is coming, and I wonder how it is handled. Will it suddenly appear or will it transition. Time will tell.
The other elements in this story work well. Ian has shown himself as capable throughout the episode, but might comes before the fall, which is a small, but fun subplot. The Doctor's romance is mostly comedy, but it gave me a big smile. I also like how the 2 overlap to test the relationship between our cast, which is very strong by now.

I do think the major villain is pretty weak. He basically walks around, plans and hates, which could be good, but gets monotonous. The strongest villains are the ones who have an understandable perspective, but are still a hindrance (like Marco Polo). Still, he works for getting the most out of our cast (except Susan, but that’s fine for an episode).

I wonder if moral clashes are going to come more often in these stories, that would be interesting. For now we have a pretty good tale of a society that just wasn’t ready for change, but also some hope, because there was a first shift within its people. It’s a bit of a pessimistic approach, but it is done well. History isn't always kind after all.

The Sensorites - 8

       I actually really enjoyed myself with this one. The Sensorites are unique amongst the “monsters” we’ve seen, since they’re not really monsters at all! Their society is well thought out and there’s good and bad people amongst them, and the same goes for the humans. It strikes a really nice balance that I’ve always wanted modern who to have more often! Science fiction is in its very essence left-leaning, but at the same time it often presents whole groups or races as ‘the evil ones’. It is odd that this is something the modern series can struggle with, when it’s done so well here (although I’m not entirely convinced the concept will stick around).

This story is, however, the most interesting in its first 2 episodes, and dwindles a bit in its last 2. The addition of the hidden humans plot drags quite a bit and feels unnecessary, even if it is a nice contrast against the good and bad Sensorites. Still, when it is focused, it is very high quality. Props especially go to the portrayal of John, a role of so little note that he does not even have his own page on the Tardis Wiki. He is the one most effected by the mental attacks, and shows a combination of fear and craziness that establishes the threat of the Sensorites before they’ve ever been on screen. His job makes their powers much clearer early on, even if they don’t intend to use them all that much.

As for the regular cast, Barbara gets shoved to the sideline a bit this episode. I assume Jacqueline Hill was on vacation. It is fine however, since she just had the last story, where the focus was completely on her. The rest of the cast shines as brightly as usual for me. Ian has to show more restraint than usual, which proves troublesome in the first few episodes, since this is a foe they actually shouldn’t attack. It makes sense after the last few adventures to take an offensive stance at the unknown, but it is dealt with in a nice way. Susan shows off some standoffishness, which I don’t really find either appealing or distracting for her character. It doesn’t really add much in the grand scheme of things, but it does fit her character. It is fine. Meanwhile the Doctor seems to show a bit more stubbornness and grumpiness than he had in the last few stories, which is less appealing, since he had started to soften a bit more than this, but it isn’t too distracting.

The Gallifreyan mind powers also come into play for the first time, with both the Doctor and Susan showing them off a bit. They’re neat I suppose. Not that interesting in the grand scheme of things.

Overall this is one of the better episodes. It is not the best story ever, but it has an interesting opponent which leads to nice interactions and an understandable conflict. It’s a good time.

E is For.... - 7,8

      A really enjoyable Susan side-story. It gives her some action to work with, shows her make a personal connection, and proves her strengths when on her own. It is not a mind-blowing new concept or anything like that, but it is a story about character, and I value that a lot.

Is it perfect? No. The villain is ridiculously one-note, and it leaves some large-scale issues open at the end, but it sets out what it wants to achieve and, in my eyes, is the clearest example of Susan being the Doctor’s granddaughter.

The Transit of Venus - 6

      A very promising start, but it falters in the latter half and has some weird inconsistencies. (How did Barbara and the Doctor switch places at the beginning? How did Susan suddenly gain superhuman swimming abilities?)

The setup is good. Ian and the Doctor are alone on the boat that is about to discover Australia. Sure. That can work. Meanwhile Barbara is MIA and Susan is stuck on the bottom of the ocean. That’s an amazing premise! It can go loads of ways! How are they going to solve this?

Then Ian gets weird ‘visions’ while on the ship and the story decides to throw away all focus on the stakes it just set and put all the eyes on those vision. And frankly, while neat, they are not that interesting. We start having a routine of showing a vision, then Ian being confused, going to the Doctor, who waves it away. Repeat. It diminishes the whole.

It also makes the Doctor feel out of character. The first Doctor was stubborn, yes, but audio seems to paint him only in the light that the first episode puts him in. Stubborn. Old. Grumpy. Will never change his ways.

Compare that to what was actually on screen, and you’ve done this Doctor a huge disservice. It get that it is not helped by the 3rd person perspective in stories either, but the Doctor became a lot better than this. He talked it out with Barbara in Edge of Reality. He has had heart to hearts in multiple stories, and generally did not boil down to just a grumpy old man. Hopefully later audio’s pick up on that.

Last thing about this audio story is that I don’t like is its resolution. It basically sorts itself out without any characters making an effort. This just leaves it as the story where Ian is delirious on a boat. Could have been way more.

The Reign of Terror - 3,2

      One thing I’ve learned with the modern series, is that a boring story is worse than a bad story. Because with a bad story, you can still be entertained.

That being said, this story is very boring. One of the major causes for this is that all main characters don’t really interact. Which can work, if they were tested in some way. However, everything mostly comes down to idle dawdling until a conclusion is reached. It feels like pure padding, and has no real redeeming qualities to make up for it.

It wouldn’t be as bad if there was some background on the events that take place. As happened with Marco Polo, but even that is not really a thing. And I’ll be honest, I don’t know who Robespierre is, but I don’t know if it is up to the story or my general knowledge to make that known.

This leaves the first TV season with its first dud on the last episode. Hopefully future stories take more inspiration from the other stories in this season, instead of this one.

There was a nice end-note though:
“Our lives are important, at least, to us. But as we see, we learn. Our destiny is in the stars, so let’s go and search for them.”

 

Rise and Fall - 4

      Boring and routine to a fault. This is the simplest concept to get, but the story does not do anything of value with it. The Doctor and Ian watch over a society that grows and dies faster than they can conceive. Problem is that there is no real stakes, message or anything else of value to make the story interesting. It just skips over some (pretty safe) highlights from the civilization and calls it a day. Could have been much more.

The Flames of Cadiz - 7

     This story had to grow on me a bit, but after a while, I really liked what it was doing. This is a historical story, but in comparison to similar stories, it takes a more grim tone. It makes quite the effort to make this clear to the listener.

Ian is the main focus of the story here. He has a (at times ridiculous) love for the tales of Sir Francis Drake during the Spanish inquisition. The true nature of history disappoints him, however, as he gets locked up for doing the right thing and helping an innocent bystander. This takes up the first part of the story, as the party tries to get him out. The Doctor even dons clothes to fool the Spanish king, but, as a contrast to the Reign of Terror, fails miserably. This is the moment I realized the tone shift the story makes.

After the eventual freeing of Ian, the story sort of splits. We move on completely to a new story with Ian wanting to meet Drake. The shift is kinda rough and feels unnatural. Ian is finally freed, but without even seeing the party immediately moves on. It felt out of character.

The second part stands on its own as a version of “The Aztecs”, but for Ian. He meets his hero, but is thoroughly disappointed by his character and attitude. Combine that with the burning and killing of Cadiz, and you get quite a harrowing tale for the era. It gives a new perspective. History isn't always perfect or kind.

If it had pushed its tone a little harder, or lead more into it, I think this could’ve been something truly special. For now it is still good, but noticeably clunky in places, which detracts from what it was going for.

 

A Star is Born - 4

      I just can’t pin this story down. What does it want?

Is this meant to entertain? The huge focus on pessimism would suggest otherwise.

Is it meant to teach? If so, what’s the lesson?

Is it meant to be emotional? If so, who am I supposed to feel emotions for?

This story is paced oddly for a 20 minute tale. We rush through some setup, then we linger on one man’s pessimism for a long while, and then we end it really quickly. It feels unfocused. Like a human without a skeleton, it misses a structure that keeps it upright.

Is it bad? No, not really. It doesn’t really fail, because what does it even attempt? Stuff just happens and it ends. It feels like a first draft to a better story, but for now it is a sketch of what could be.

The Wanderer - 4

     Gee, this story has a religious man who gets driven crazy. In Russia.
With the ability to see the future. Where could this go…..

It’s Rasputin. Of course it is Rasputin. What else.

This story feels very soft. Doesn’t really have any impact. We have the Doctor in a coma, and Susan has been kidnapped. Yet the stakes just don’t feel there, because we are focusing on a Russian madman. It doesn’t take these things as seriously as it should.

I’m noticing that the Companion Chronicles are usually pretty bad at pinning down any other character than the main person. They all feel like an afterthought. An obstacle in getting the main companion alone. It really brings them down. Hopefully they get better as time goes on.

 

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance - 5

      A surprisingly short story. Almost felt like a short trip. That in itself is not a downside, but the way the time is divided feels off.

At first I had trouble pinning down what this story wants to be. It has no real threat, there’s no real moral and it’s also not really about a societal issue. None of this is a problem, but what is it trying to achieve?

The only thing that makes sense to me, is that this story is a tragedy. There is a real and (shortly) well-presented emotional core between Barbara and Rhythm. Problem is, for a tragedy, the story is very preoccupied with, frankly, unimportant stuff. The Doctor explores the Tardis in great depth with a few locals, but that adds nothing to the overall tale, which is, as mentioned, already very short.

For this story to work, I think it should have had Barbara alone. Left stranded by accident or something similar to that. It could honestly just have been the conversation about love for 30 minutes between 2 people who grew up with very different principles. For now, it has to give so many pieces a place that it detracts from an actually very interesting topic that could add depth to a main character. It could’ve been a lot, but it just isn’t in its current form.

Cover art is real nice though. And the acting is top notch. So that’s something.

Farewell, Great Macedon - 9,8

      An absolutely phenomenal historical story. It does almost everything right. It lets you experience a historical period, teaches you something new about that era and the people involved and makes it personal for both you and the characters.

It is surprisingly lengthy, but that length never feels padded. Alexander is well established and the cast interacts with their surroundings in interesting ways. It is just plain fun, and a very good example of how pure historical should be done.

It benefits from its audio roots. It can go up in scale without fluffing the story up. It also performed really well. Special props to John Dorney, who plays an impressively convincing Alexander. His speech at the end about Alexander's ambitions is phenomenal, and a true highlight for this season.

It’s funny, for as long as it is and how much I enjoyed it, I don’t really have much to say about it. Maybe that’s because it feels like it sets a standard. An incredibly solid base that future stories could take note from. That probably won’t be done, because the pure historical died out, and this story was recorded years later. Still, if the show ever decides to pick the historical back up, there would be way worse inspirations than this one.

The only nitpicks I have with it are minor. Barbara knows history, but stays quiet for quite a while, which doesn’t really make sense. Also the members of the conspiracy group have similar sounding names, and without each having a distinct voice actor, they kind of blend together. Still, these are minor and don’t really detract from the story. Which is a masterpiece.

The Age of Endurance - 4

      Very, very dull. This story tries to tell an interesting story about survival and maternity, but does absolutely 0 work to make it land.

It’s a story that’s very reliant on your investment in the characters that it presents, but these are nothing but uninspired footsoldiers. They never show any deep thoughts or reflection. No interesting dynamic between them. No lookback on the horrors it presents.

There’s something valuable in the original premise: Immortal humans, who are also infertile, have experimented on lizards to stop their extinction. But nothing gets shown, nothing gets learned besides “wow, it sucked we did that”. This would have been a good story to time travel in. If the people were given the same choice again, but with the wisdom of what would happen. Would they do it again? Really push up the moral quandry.

Instead it’s a base-under-siege runaround with no reason to care for the base and its inhabitants. Even the main cast has zero character to show. They run, get lost, attacked, but it is nothing they haven’t seen before. Or will see again. And they act like they know that.

It also has the problem that the Companion Chronicles of has: Shoving aside members of the team they don’t have a voice for. Both Barbara and the Doctor go missing in this tale and are gone for a long while. It feels so unnecessary to keep doing this. William Russell has shown to do a really good first Doctor, and if the first Doctor adventures can recast Barbara, so can this range. It is an arbitrary limiter on stories that just doesn’t always work. Even the characters notice this. The Doctor dies, but Ian doesn’t even flinch or stop to believe this. We just move on. We know he’ll be back.

That leaves the story with 0 stakes. I’m not invested in this one-off cast, and the main cast is basically jovial towards the entire situation. That leaves this story with absolutely nothing, except a good premise. It feels like it should be reworked from the ground up.

The Masters of Luxor - 4

      A disappointment. It starts out interesting enough, with the establishment of a dead world that feels weirdly alive, and the first episode portrays that well, but after that, it takes a bit of a nosedive. This is, partly, because we live in a post-cyberman world. We’ve seen the struggle between human and machine in a thousand different ways. So the question becomes, what does this script bring to the table?

The answer is, sadly, not much. It touches on concepts, like generations, religions, the meaning of life, but it also feels the need to pad itself out and add a lot of superficial elements on top of it, so these topics don’t get the room they should’ve had. Maybe that’s the consequences of an old script, but well, the story was adapted in 2012, so more could’ve been done.

But it is not without good sides. William Russell’s first Doctor is great. When he gave the speech about the death of his Tardis, I felt that to my core. And the runaround and interactions with Ian and Susan at the beginning are great as well. After that, it sadly just becomes standard fare with a lot of padding. A shame.

The Destination Wars - 8,5

      The first story of the formal “First Doctor Adventures”. It is quite a good one. It combines modern sensibilities with the old form storytelling, which works wonders.

This is particularly noteworthy for being the first story where the Doctor feels like a hero instead of a observer. This is a risky take, considering interfering is something this Doctor is vehemently against. However, it is done well by making it necessary through the plot of the master.

Introducing the master before his later appearance is a risky choice, but a worthwhile one. It allows, as mentioned, for the Doctor to take a clearer stance against an oppressing force. The dialogue makes sure this never feels out of place, as all characters are written well and act like they would’ve on TV.

This early master is also performed very well (fuck transphobes, but that is out of the bounds of this story). It might come across as a bit generic, but he is menacing in a way that feels at home in this era. I was hoping to see more of him, but well….

As for the actual plot, the Doctor enters a city controlled by the master, who speeds up time in waves, so he can control their progress. It is a simple concept, which fits. The town is established well before being ruined, with several interesting side-characters and locations. The actual consequences of the masters action are pretty lacking, however. The war is shown only shortly, the manipulations he has done are at times ridiculously simple, and while playing 2 sides against each other, we only truly see how it works on one. Also, the Doctor and Susan are eventually abandoned for 2 years, and everything is fixed, which was a bit too minimal for my liking.

Still, the overall story is coherent and the characters are great. It’s a great way to tell the Doctors beginnings as a hero and doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a good time.

The Great White Hurricane- 7,8

      Another great story in the first Doctor adventures. This one is particularly noteworthy for the way it divides the characters over the story. All characters are doing different things and helping different people, but the same threat hangs over all their heads: The storm is coming.

However, this plot thread seems to be forgotten near the end. The party is safe and together, and has helped all the people. They move on, but what about the storm? Are all these people going to die now? If so, that should at least have been mentioned or addressed.

Other than that big hole at the end, it’s a fun romp that stays interesting throughout. Characters are great and acted really well, and the cast is likeable. I did feel the Doctor was a bit out of character in his worry for Susan, though. She has been shown as capable, and has been taken away multiple times. And while the Doctor has always protested this, he never seemed to get this emotional about it. Those moment are small, however, and the story does enough that the mistakes don’t matter.

The Invention of Death - 10

      A masterpiece of storytelling. It does everything this era does best and cranks it up to 100.

It takes the concept of the Sensorites, where a non-hostile species takes center stage, but adds a moral conundrum by making this species immortal and unkillable.

This opens up so many venues and questions, and they all get asked throughout.  What does a lack of pain mean? Can love exist without loss? Is pain the price for progress?

As the party interacts with the species, they both learn. However, the main cast are careless with what they teach, which leads the species to wrong, but understandable conclusions. They have created their own enemy, but even that title might be too rough for a species that does not even have a concept for evil.

It just takes what we take for granted, and makes you consider on a base level if those assumptions are truly natural. The contrast the classic party brings to the table works wonders here. They don’t act differently from any other stories, but they just have such a low margin of comparison with the aliens that it spirals out of control.

It is a masterwork. It leaves its ending a bit open, like usually happens, but that only plays to its strength. We don’t know what will happen, and we might not even be able to conceive it. All we can do is hope.

 

The Barbarians and the Samurai - 3

      Utterly dull. Almost 2 hours of pure filler, without any heart behind it.

I’ve mentioned before how historicals work best if there is motivation behind the characters that it present. This one has none of that. Characters are one-note, cliché and maybe even offensive.

It just feel thoroughly run of the mill. Party gets split up, they interact with some samurai, the word honor gets thrown around a lot, and we end it.

It doesn’t really have a leg for itself to stand on. It only borrows. Barbara gets harassed? Keys of Marinus. The young girl wants to find true love, instead of forced marriage? Marco Polo. The team uses smoke bombs? Marco Polo and Flames of Cadiz.

There’s just absolutely no creativity with the setting. Which is a shame, cause there definitely could be. This is a country which separated itself by closing all borders for ages! Why not focus on the reactions caused by western inventions? Why not focus on the benefits of mingling cultures? Take the Bushido to a true multicultural society for all I care! Do something with it!

Instead it’s a runaround with 0 character work for anyone. It’s also weirdly fetishistic towards Japanese culture. Why is the English translation full of Japanese sentences and words? Why do all the people have accents? This never happened in other stories. That’s not even mentioning the glorification of the English by making one English samurai which is “The best samurai this Bushido has ever had”. It’s just stupid.

So that leaves us with a mess of weird cultureblending without a true message, character discovery, or frankly, a point. A story that accomplishes nothing, yet takes 2 hours to do so. A waste.

Let’s hope the next time Susan goes swimming, there’s actually a good story connected to it. Because between this and "Transit of Venus", weird patterns are forming.

The Phoenicians - 6

      This one scrapes by for me. It can be good in spots, but it suffers from being a bit too unfocused and a main character (Elissa) being annoying and cruel without ever being reprimanded for it.

The main characters however, are very likeable in this. We get some new light on the relationship between Ian and Barbara, and Susan shows her optimistic side well. The Doctor is a absent for quite a part of it, which fits with the old tone of the episodes I suppose.

One small aspect that really added up unintentionally was Ian’s watch. It has not been mentioned in this range or on television, but the watch makes several appearances in the Companion Chronicles and Short Trips. Him losing the watch and musing that it was one of the last mementos from home got an added layer on top of that, which was very sweet. Especially after he trades it in later to get a gift for Barbara.

The actual setting is a bit hit or miss. It is varied and travels a bit, but it could stand to be explained a little more. We have a history teacher and a smart student here. We can hear a bit more about the myths and history than a few short mentions of the bible and some poems. Good thing is, I want to know more because I’m intrigued. The little setup we get is quite good!

As mentioned though, the supporting cast are quite bad. The only enjoyable one was the assassin girl with the hawk. In another time, she could’ve been a really interesting companion for the first Doctor. The rest suffers from being actively annoying. Their actions make no sense, and even if they would for them, it is explained poorly and never punished. The princess is the worst offender of this.

The dreaded accents also return. I don’t know why these sets are so insistent on using those. The actual series never did, and they are distracting at best, insulting at worst. They could be done well, like in ‘The great white hurricane’, but that’s because it is an accent based on the English language. For others, it feels out of place and worsens the listening experience.

All in all, this one’s a mixed bag. Some good stuff, some bad stuff. A shame. If it got a solid structural check, with some clearer information on the actual history and setting, it could’ve been quite good. As it stands now, it is, at best, a worse Marco Polo.

TIck-Tock World - 6,5

      A decent Susan-centered story. It talks about her lack of agency and the role the Doctor plays. Which is an interesting point, because, as mentioned before, I don’t see her original characterization as weak. However, she is often presented as weak against the Doctor. Her most brave moments are when the Doctor is not there.

This story does something quite clever with that tidbit. It makes the Doctor an onlooker from above, while Susan shows her agency as she would when he’s not there. This works very well, since the Doctor can’t interfere or opinionate even if he wanted to.

It's not perfect though. It could be paced a little better. The beginning is quite slow, while the ending feels rushed. Ian and Barbara get killed off in quick succession, which leaves Susan completely alone for a very small time. If their disappearance was spread out a little more, and if we had a few failed ideas with Susan, I think it would stand a little stronger.

It would show versatility, perseverance and cleverness. Now it shows her being capable once, making the Doctor feel impressed, and then it ends. The ending isn’t even caused in a particularly clever way, since Susan has to be told what to do by the Doctor. This diminishes the point the story tries to make.

I will give it that the choice Susan got was interesting. Spending a life in fear or taking a risk, but I don’t think it is particularly fitting for her as a character. Hell, in the end she doesn’t even remember how brave she was. And she has been brave before. I don’t think that was a necessary way for Susan to go. Also, why does only the Doctor remember the choice (albeit barely), when Susan was the lone survivor?

This story was clearly made to show the values Susan has. It even got Carol Ann Ford involved for that. It is a bit disappointing that the story does not seem sure in the values it actually want to leave Susan with. With the reset at the end, I doubt even the Doctor got that much out of it, which is a shame. It swings big, and could have been so many thing, but except a few minor things, it misses. Foul ball. I don’t know baseball.

Although I will say. Those Ian and Barbara death scenes? Perfect. Couldn’t have been better.

Return to Skaro - 4

      The fact that this even is a story is quite interesting. In the modern day, the Doctor and the daleks are intermingled in a web of wars and conflict, but to add in a new story in the early stages, is quite a risk. Still, I believe it can be done.

This story does it decently, but sadly, it fails to add anything of value to the concept of the daleks. Even if there, timeline wise, would only have been 1 story before this.

We return to Skaro, a few decades after the original Dalek tale, and discover the Thaals thriving. The interesting thing about them is their skewed development. They have great technological inventions because of dalek remnants, but they don’t have created that much on their own.

So what would happen if you bring the daleks back to them? That could be more interesting than it seems at a glance. If we keep it in perspective, this is the second dalek story ever. At this point, they are purely ugly blobs in metal containers. No lump of hate, no creation with Davros, no Time War. Just one of the monsters faced in a season. And now it comes back. Asking for a second chance. It’s gun replaced with a second sucker (take note, cover). What would the Thaals think after so long? What would the Doctor think after their previous encounter?

Turns out those questions don’t matter. The Doctor barely walks through a door before the Daleks show themselves as evil again. What a waste.

Think of what could have been! What if the Daleks were sincere, but the Thaals were fearful? What if the Thaals wanted the benefits, but not the risks, so they decide to try and kill all Daleks? What if the Doctor had to save the Daleks, so the original script is flipped? This story could’ve done so many original things, but it is limited by a modern vision.

So what does this story end up with overall? Well, the Daleks have some new traits. This is the first time a leader Dalek is used. The Daleks no longer need magnetic floors. Their guns are now used purely for killing. Basically, they’ve made steps towards modernity. Maybe those steps could’ve been more subtle or smaller, but this is fine. Otherwise, I guess there’s some more life on Skaro, but that is really all it has. Quite disappointing.

This is just a story that’s too caged by lore and the image the Daleks have gotten over the years. Which is shame when you go back to a time where the road is not yet paved. It could have been a million things, but it is, in the end, a rehash of what came before, and what will come after.

Last of the Romanovs - 7

      A decent story with a very interesting subject. Last of the Romanovs takes place moments before the execution of the famous tsar family.

This concept works for this Doctor. All of the cast knows how time can’t be what you want it to be. Barbara learned this is Mexico, Ian learned this in Cadiz, Susan and the Doctor have always known. So the idea to put them all together to face this in a gruesome piece of history is a stroke of genius.

The execution is not perfect, however. Although the characters do at various points describe how dreadful this piece of history is, the actual victims seem almost unfazed. There’s also not much room for the character to discuss what this all means to them. There are good snippets. Barbara and Susan talk it out a little, and the Doctor has a nice moment with both the tsar in the middle, and Ian at the end. The piece at the end may even lead to things long term.

But it misses true reactions from the characters. Susan gets the most emotional about it. She even gets a bit defiant at the end. But the rest of the party just sighs and carries on. It’s clear they cared at least a little, but they don’t do enough to make me as a listener care, which is a shame.

The actual plotting of the murder isn’t all that solid either. There’s several parties involved, but their roles and distinctions can be a bit muddled at times.

That leaves us with a decent tale about a tragic event, but nothing truly outstanding. Had it focused more on the feelings this brought about, instead of just putting that in small places, this story could have been better. But it is what it is, and that is still quite okay.

For the Glory of Urth - 3

      Have you ever been to a party from a family member, where you were completely surrounded by absolute nutcases that spend too much time on facebook? This story is that party.

It takes place on a lone sattelite where humans live under a dictator. The people here (Or at least, the people in charge) believe themselves to be the last true humans in the universe, while the rest has gone off and "danced" with every alien under the sun. This has led to a secluded society, where every outsider is treated like a criminal.

As far as setup goes, we're on the right track. But it focuses on all the wrong parts. This story could be fun if the people saw the light when they see what the outside world can bring, or even if they refused to see the light and gave up their  existence instead. Not being able to live without their beliefs. And to be fair, the story gets there. At the end, this conclusion is reached. But why only at the end?

This story is 90% dealing with the most annoying surroundings and cast I've heard in ages. All of them are loudmouthed screamers. Which is fine, portray your characters like that if they are like that. But I have to listen to this for 2 hours, and all the focus is on them. It's like a baby screaming in your ear. It just breaks the entire thing down.

The rest of the story is fine. The idea is solid. The alien character is likeable and very interesting as a species. The way the cast is split is pretty good (although at this point, I wish they stuck together every now and again). It all hangs together in an organized manner. It's just that the focus is off. By focusing on the annoying environment. The ending does not get the chance it deserved. It makes the story feel pointless. In the end, nothing was learned.

    
It could have been better. Some of the notes it hits could have worked. The life of a dictator is an interesting point of view and, as I'm typing this, is as relevant as ever. The focus on working together to deal with a disease could work too as, again, that topic is more actual than it has been in the last 100 years. But instead it hangs around with annoying people, and calls it a day. That can work too, but make sure your story has a viewpoint or opinion about it.

The Hollow Crown - 7

      A very nice story and some good continuity with the new series. Characters are likeable. It has some fun story beats, but it is not exemplary.

The setting for this one is very well established. I feel like we are in ye olden days. Music is also especially noticeable in all the right ways, which I haven’t really experienced in this range before.

The story itself is also good. Characters are likeable and get good interactions. The Doctor and Shakespeare in the tower are definitely a highlight, but Susan and the queen get some good moments too.

Still, the story doesn’t excite me all that much. At first I had trouble pinning down why, but I think it’s because the story lacks stakes.

The core conflict is a small revolution towards the queen/her advisor. And although a lot of people take part in this revolution, and the main revolutionary is presented as likeable, it just doesn’t feel as impactful as it should.

First of all, the story decides to not rock the boat towards the queen. The queen is not the problem, her advisors are. Feels a bit weak, but it is probably closer to history, so sure, I can live with that.

But why is the advisor a bad guy? We’ve not seen him do that many terrible things. He’s talked to Spaniards and the people booed at him once. That’s all the context the story gives for a revolution. I know (from Flames of Cadiz) that the English and the Spanish were not exactly on speaking terms, but I know that from a different story on a different boxset in a different range. So the story should probably make that point a bit clearer on its own.

It feels a bit black and white, and with 2 hours runtime, it really doesn’t have to be. It has loads of good moments for all characters. From lady Rich to Jude Shakespeare, but it fails to connect those with a proper overarching tale. It makes it feel a bit too fragmented. Actions follow each other, but why?

I want to like this story more than I do, but it is like a broken candy necklace. There’s good bits, but it isn’t strung together all that well. Still, the good bits are good, so some fun can still be had.

 

Home Again, Home Again - 9

A great little reflective piece. The Doctor finally reaches 1963, but is too early. He forbids his companions, who can finally taste escape, their freedom.

This story has a sci-fi element with the party arriving too early in their own timeline, but the focus is on character conflict instead. It is done perfectly. It’s a great mid-point in the doctors growth, and subtly gives us some background on him, his granddaughter and their drives for travel. It gets resolved with a good talk, but it doesn’t feel cheap. It is very clear that the Doctor cares about these people, but he has trouble just saying that out loud.

 

The Library of Alexandria - 8,5

      A very fun story! The library of Alexandria is a well-known historical event, and this story focuses on it in all the right ways.

The clever part of this story is the focus on Ian and his passion for science. Putting him near an environment where a love of science is blooming is a joy to see. It shows a great respect for the time, but also the human mind, by allowing them to talk on equal footing.

It also puts on some relationship tensions, and those feel earned. I completely believe Ian being oblivious to love while babbling on about the sun or whatever. It feels realistic.

It is also notable for being the first combination of a historical and alien story. The Mim are not particularly likeable, but I like how the Doctor makes a stand against them. Sure, he still believes (albeit doubtfully) that history can’t be changed, but he is also aware that he is not the only actor for change. It’s a new but realistic perspective.

It's not a perfect tale. As mentioned, the Mim are not exactly a highlight. Susan and Barbara also get swept aside a bit, but it portrays Ian and the Doctor well and tells a good tale. Worth a listen.

Flywheel Revolution - 8,5

     A small glimpse in the first Doctor on its own.

This story is set on a junkyard of a robot planet, where robots with any kind of malfunction get dumped. Until the Doctor comes along and starts a revolution.

It’s basically the long-form characterization of the first Doctor done in a miniature version. Turns out that really works.

This Doctor is always defined by his learning. Not in the traditional knowledge sense (although he does plenty of that), but emotional learning. He has a vision on the world that needs to be challenged every now and again. Which leads to him growing.

So that’s what happens here. The Doctor is in the junkyard where unwanted robots live. It's like a prison for the unimportant. He tries to break free using a machine made of found parts. However, he does not realize that those parts belonged to machines in the past, and that those machines had lives. He has basically made a solution out of body parts from their point of view.

He realizes the error of his ways, and changes his methods by accepting help from those around him. Bringing leadership and skills they did not think of, but learning to be kind and respectful to them in the process.

      It’s just great. It shows what he has learned, but that he is still learning. We get a glimmer of him internalizing his lessons, while we stack on some new ones. It’s what this Doctor does best.

The story has some small flaws besides this. The establishment of the world and Frankie the robot is a bit too long, and the Doctor enters the story pretty late, but well, it is not that bad when the story is only 20 minutes. It’s far from a dealbreaker.

Domain of the Voord - 9

     Just before listening to this story, I was listening to a review of the latest TV episode of the program (which is, at the time of writing this, “Legend of the Sea Devils”). The reviewer mentioned how Doctor Who should look towards its past failed ideas and try those again, instead of trying to recapture existing magic.

Color me surprised when the next audio I listen to does exactly that. And succeeds.

Domain of the Voord has a lot going on in it’s 2 hour length. It starts with a battle on the open seas that feels like a grand space opera. It feels as massive as it presents itself. It takes the only thing we really know about the Voord, namely that they have submarines, and blows up the scale to a massive battle. They make it threatening too, although Ian manages to barely capture 1 Voord, they kill an entire ship. Including both the Doctor and Barbara.

This sets a precedent. Although they were a villain in a 6-part story, the Voord have been poorly established up till now. Yet, with the only trait we know about them, they’ve already become a threat.

After this the story scales down and only lets us see 1 Voord. His dialogue is intriguing. The Voord see themselves as a blessing, and they make it clear that many of the human shall soon “see the light”. Honestly, at this point the story is brilliant. We have seen nothing of the true Voord power, like their skills, their relationships and way of life,
 but we know their motivations and their military strength. It’s a fantastic balance between what’s known and what’s unknown. We know the way Voord are, but we do not understand why.

Afterwards the story does, sadly, get a little weaker. It still has a lot of good parts, but it scales down quite a bit and loses a bit of individuality in the process. We have already seen how threatening Voord are in massive groups, but the story doubles down on that idea and decides to show that again, which doesn’t really serve a purpose.

Still, it keeps going with adding interesting traits to the species. Namely, they aren’t a species. Voord are basically psychic totalitarians. They see their rule as perfect and indoctrinate those around them. If they get true loyalty, the new recruit gets to wear the mask and becomes a true member, who is connected to the hivemind. It’s a combination of a dictatorship and a cult.

The execution has its ups and down. I’m totally down for psychic dictatorships. The stories in the ‘alternative season’ have a huge focus on those 2 aspects in particular. So blending them makes the story feel like a season finale. It’s a unique take I haven’t seen from the modern series.

Problem is that, if the members get connected to the hivemind, they lose their individuality and personality. I’m not a fan of that, since if feels like it closes doors on both the species and the message. Isn’t the point of totalitarian rule that anyone can be affected? That anyone can be a victim to propaganda and brainwashing? It feels like a step back to remove individuality after the victim has expressly rejected a life without Voord. They have chosen dictatorial rule as preferable to the alternative. Why just wipe them afterward, after they’ve reached that conclusion?

The other part I don’t care for is the ‘Voord Bloodline’. There are a few ‘True Voord’ who are basically royalty and have Voord DNA. Just like the loss of individuality, this is a part I could do without. It takes away the idea that Voord can be anyone, since there’s always the same guy/species at the top.

What I do like is the infighting between the Voord leaders, who have personalities. One wants to rule, the other hold to traditions. Like the mask being a tool of choice rather than weaponry. That’s worth exploring.

So that’s the Voord re-established as an actual threat with a unique take. Question is, what does the story do with it?

Sadly, at this point it’s a lot of dawdling. Will they convert Susan? Or won’t they? That’s the focus of the last half hour at least, and it gets tiring. It also wraps up astoundlingly quickly. Suddenly you’re back in the Tardis with the party, and the story is done. It felt like I missed 5 minutes and that was distracting.

‘Domain of the Voord’ is an epic. It feels like a finale. A culmination of elements from previous stories, that come together in a new, unexpected way. Its scale starts grand, it reinvents the species and adds layers that could be explored for years (But sadly, from the looks of it, they won’t be). Not everything works, and the pacing is a bit off in the second half, but I’m just too impressed by the ambition on display to actually care.

 Final Thoughts

      I have been very positively suprised by this first season. There was much more of an arc than I expected, and that goes for almost the entire cast. Everyone has learned something, and learned me as a watcher/listener something in the process.

The highlight here is obviously the Doctor, who goes from stubborn and set in his ways, to a kinder, more doubtful man. I wonder how this arc will continue in the later seasons. And what it will all lead to.

Storywise, the themes of dictatorship, changing history and the powers of the mind take center stage. They get explored well and there's a beautiful (accidental) throughline in this series because of it. I would highly recommend giving these stories a go.

If you're strapped for time, the absolute highlights I'd recommend are:
- The Sensorites, for exploring an alien species in a non-threatening way
- E is For....., for showing a new side to Susan
- Farewell, Great Macedon, for showing what a modern historical could look like
- The Invention of Death, for the contemplation it bring about
- Flywheel Revolution, for being a showcase of what this Doctor does best

I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed making it. If you have any thoughts or ideas about the stories or my presentation here, please let me know. I plan on doing this for quite a while, so I can use all the feedback I can get. And I love reading opinions, so feel free to share those as well!