Strangers in Space - We start in the TARDIS with the team reminiscing about the previous adventures we've seen. This is a nice touch which shows how far we've come on this journey. The Doctors reference to an adventure with Henry VIII tells us that there were adventures before we joined the team and doubtless many more aside. Leaving the TARDIS, the team come across two seemingly dead bodies. These are quickly revived with a strange gadget, and it is revealed that the two humans have been trapped there by the Sensorites. While this is happening, the TARDIS lock is stolen, trapping everyone one the spaceship. Barbara and Susan get trapped with a third human, who has been driven mad by the Sensorites mind control, and it is while a rescue attempt occurs that two Sensorite ships are seen through the spaceships window The episode end with the reveal of a Sensorite climbing up the outside of the spaceships window...
The Unwilling Warriors - The Sensorites board the ship and attempt to control Barbara's and Susan's minds. The mind control is reversed by Barbara and Susan thinking of the same thing the same time. Once Ian has used his magic super strength to open the massive metal doors, Barbara and Susan are safe. The majority of the rest of the episode is Ian and Barbara creeping through a particularly flimsy set until they come across the recently boarded Sensorites. They are then slowly lured back to the control room and the rest of our gang by Ian, waving around a wrench. The episode concludes with Susan telepathically conversing with the Sensorites and agreeing to go down to their planet,the Sense Sphere, with them as a bargain against the lives of the others...
Hidden Danger - The team, minus Barbara, accompany the Sensorites to the Sense Sphere, where they hope to retrieve the TARDIS lock. The Sensorites are wary of the humans due to a previous group, who tried to exploit them over the precious minerals inside the planet. The Doctor and Ian don't really help their cause by utilising a suspected aversion to the dark to great effect. The Sensorites are cautious, but seem to be won around by the Doctor, claiming that they are trustworthy as they did not attack when the Sensorites were blinded. It is also revealed that the Sensorites are suffering from a disease, and I suspect that part of the trust they put in our group is that they hope the humans can assist with finding a cure. Two of the Sensorites are not convinced and unhappy at the human presence, plan to kill them with a laser to the heart, but this is thwarted. The episode ends however, with Ian choking after he has taken a drink from the water offered to him by the Sensorites...
A Race against Death / Kidnap - I watched these two episode together so am lumping the writing bits together. The Doctor deduces that it is the water that has poisoned Ian, as Susan and himself had only eaten the fruit. We are treated to a water testing montage, many test tubes of water and a piece of card that is moved across as each vial is tested. The Doctor finds out which aqueduct is tainted and sets out to investigate. He is warned off as there are 'creatures' out there, but he is undeterred. This ultimately leads to him being attacked and his jacket is shredded, he is given a rather fetching cape to replace it. It is this cape that leads to the reveal, to our team and the Sensorites, that some of their number are scheming. The Doctor is accused of attacking someone, by taking a weapon out of his coat pocket, which is not possible after it was shredded earlier. The viewer is quite aware that two of the Sensorites are scheming, having seen them discussing it quite loudly. My favourite moment of scheming comes from the Sensorites realising that the only thing differentiating them, in the humans eyes, is their sashes and collars. There is a speech, almost directly to camera, where two of the characters discuss that if the Sensorites where to switch there clothes they wouldn't be able to tell them apart. To link it to 'new Who', it is similar to the Sontaran Stratagem, where one of the characters says that the Sontarans, being a clone race, all look the same. It is quickly countered with the Sontaran saying that to them, all humans look the same. The episode ends with one of the humans being kidnapped by the two scheming Sensorites...
A Desperate Venture - She is forced to write a note saying she has gone back to the spaceship, so that the rest of out team do not suspect she has been kidnapped. Our team know this to be a lie as they have just retrieved Barbara from the ship (and I assume Jacqueline Hill was on her annual leave for the two weeks/episodes Barbara was absent). The Doctor and Ian head back into the sewers to find out who is poisoning the water supply. It turns out that the poisoners are the survivors from the previous human mission to the planet. They have been driven mad by the Sensorites mind reading and believe that they are at war. The Doctor and Ian lure them out of the sewers by claiming to be a further human mission and that they have defeated the Sensorites and won the 'war'. Upon leaving the sewers, a group of Sensorites meet our group. The Doctor pleads leniency on the survivors, which is granted and they are free to leave with the rest of the human contingent. The story is wrapped up very quickly and we find our TARDIS team in the control room, watching the humans leaving the Sense Sphere. Ian makes a comment about the humans knowing where they are heading, and the Doctor erupts with rage, accusing Ian of calling him a fool and deliberately not taking them home...
I've made a change to the story pictures at the bottom of each post. My plan going forward is to do one post per story, and add an appropriate image at the bottom. The original plan was to use the title card from each story, but as I've watched further stories, the single episode names do not really reflect the overall story name. Anywho, onto the The Reign of Terror...
36 of 798 episodes watched
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