Before I look at the story a quick aside. I've been looking at the figures with regards episodes watched and days to go. A quick Google search tells me that 23/11/13 is the 327th day of the year, so from the beginning of the year I would have needed to watch 2.44 episodes a day (798/327). As I have clearly been slacking, the episodes to days ratio is now 2.71 (798-42 episodes / 327-48 days) So just over two and a half episodes a day, that's easy right? We shall see.
A Land of Fear - We begin with a rather cock-sure Doctor adamant that, following Ian's apparent insolence at the end of the previous episode, he has landed on Earth in 1963 to return Ian and Barbara home. The TARDIS scanner shows trees and fields which Barbara suggests could be Somerset as she once holidayed there. Ian asks the Doctor to join them for a drink so that they part on happier terms and the Doctor duly accepts. Upon leaving the TARDIS our team hear a noise which Ian goes to investigate; returning with a young boy. This boy confirms that they are in France, 12 kilometres from Paris. The Doctor seems happy with this as '100 miles' either way is quite accurate, bearing in mind the travel capabilities of his ship. Ian and Barbara are quite sarcastic in their dismissal of the Doctors statement, saying that maybe there is a 100 year buffer as well.
A seemingly empty farmhouse offers refuge although, as ever, we find it is not deserted and our team is quickly apprehended by two French men. The Doctor is bashed about the head and is left upstairs, while Barbara, Ian and Susan are caught downstairs, shortly after they have changed into clothes that they have found. The farmhouse is suddenly surrounded by soldiers and our team are accused of leading them there. The two men inside the house are on the opposite side of the revolution than the soldiers outside. It seems that the way to tell the two side apart is that the surrounding soldiers are all wearing hats, compared to our rather dishevelled men inside. The soldiers outside intend to wait until the insiders give in and surrender themselves, this tactic proves to be very effective as one of our insiders cracks immediately. The second Frenchman follows his outside and is promptly shot, the first Frenchman is also killed and Barbara, Ian and Susan are captured. The outsiders briefly consider killing them there and then, but decide that 'Madame Guillotine' would be a much better option, this does involve marching to Paris I assume is where the next episode will pick up. The episode ends with the outsiders setting fire to the farmhouse, unaware that the Doctor is still inside. He wakes up and attempts to escape the burning building but is overcome by the smoke. We see the young boy from the beginning of the episode hiding in the trees just outside, and a slow pan up from the burning building ends the episode...
Guests of Madame Guillotine - This episode continues the bad guys wearing hats theme, our jailer and his men have a variety of head gear between them. Very much a filler episode, we spend most of our time with Barbara and Susan in a jail cell, attempting to dig their way out. The Doctor is saved from the burning building and takes a fanciful and elongated stroll to Paris, shown in a lengthy walking montage. On the way he is forced to assist in digging up a road, and gets out of it in a genius move of deception. Tricking the labour master into thinking they had found treasure, when really it was money the Doctor had pick pocketed from him moments before. The main crux of the story continuation lies with Ian who is in a separate cell from the Ladies. His cell mate passes away but not before he has told him to seek out James Stirling, and to tell him that he must make it back to England. The episode ends with Ian, who has been pardoned from the guillotine as the master jailer believes he is withholding information received from the dying man, watching Barbara and Susan being led to the guillotine...
A Change of Identity - As Susan and Barbara are being transported to the guillotine, their cart is ambushed and they are rescued by two men who take the two ladies back to their safehouse. Ian escapes from his cell, after the jailer conveniently leaves his keys in the lock, and disguises himself in some clothes he finds in the jail. The Doctor arrives in Paris and enters a shop looking to swap his clothes for that of a regional officer. The shop keeper agrees, but only if he can have the Doctors ring. It is this ring that forms the episodes cliffhanger, when the shopkeeper tells the guards that the owner of the ring is a traitor...
The Tyrant of France - After escaping in the previous episode, this one sees Ian, Barbara and Susan recaptured. Susan falls ill and, despite protestations from the two men who took them to the safehouse, Barbara takes her to a physician, who promptly rats them out as escaped prisoners. They are taken back to the prison and are to be interrogated by none other than the Doctor in his regional officer disguise. Ian is initially rescued and taken to the safehouse. He then arranges to meet with Leon, who is trying to find out the message that Ian was given by the dying man in the prison, and is captured by Leon's armed guards...
A Bargain of Necessity - Ian is chained up and told he will not be released until he tells Leon the information that he wants, Ian pleads ignorance and says he has no information. Jules enters and says Ian, killing Leon in the process, they both return to Jules' safe house. Meanwhile in the prison, the Doctor has come up with an ingenious plan to break out Barbara and Susan. The Doctor convinces the Jailer that if he releases Barbara they can follow her back to the secret safehouse, the Jailer takes the credit for the idea and releases Barbara, who returns to the safe house. The Doctor tries the same trick for Susan but the Jailer is wise this time. The Doctor instead tells Susan to hide behind her cell door so it looks like she has escaped. The Jailer opens her door and the Doctor bashes him on the head. The Doctor and Susan attempt to escape but he is caught by LeMaitre, the head Jailer, who tells the Doctor that he was wise to his dress up deception from the off. The Doctor and LeMaitre turn up at the secret safehouse to provide a cliff hanger for the episode...
Prisoners of Conciergerie - LeMaitre is Stirling, the man who Ian has a message for. This message reveals that a secret meeting is to take place at The Sinking Ship Inn, between conspirators looking to overthrow Robespierre. The conspirator leader is Barras who is Robespierre's second in command, the man he is meeting in no other than Napoleon Bonaparte! Following this meeting, Robespierre is overthrown in Paris and shot in the jaw, which paves the way for the revolution to start. Our TARDIS team are reunited, after the Doctor sneaks Susan out of the jail, while the jailers are distracted by their latest prisoner, Robespierre. Our team are dropped off at the TARDIS by LeMaitre/Stirling on his way to Calais as he returns to England. We end with a shot of the stars and a voiceover from the Doctor...
'Our destiny is in the stars, so let's go and search for it.'
This story is a fitting end to the first series of Doctor Who. There seems to have been no expense spared as we follow the TARDIS crew through France/Paris. This is mainly true throughout the series, the wobbly walls in The Sensorites are an exception, and with the many different places and time zones encountered this is testament to the whole crews dedication to producing the best show that they could.
42 of 798 episodes watched
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