The Keys of Marinus

Dear Gary—

What a shame that the next story in the Doctor Who saga, Marco Polo, is lost to us. It exists in the memories of those lucky enough to have seen it so many years ago, but now the program itself is dispersed into the nebulous airwaves of time and space.  I do have the novelization of Marco Polo, but it is not the story alone that defines Doctor Who, it is the actors, the directors, the technicians, the show itself in its entirety. And so, dear Gary, we must regretfully pass over this story and skip on to the next—The Keys of Marinus.

I absolutely love The Keys of Marinus. What a delight these six episodes are to watch, each one almost a separate story unto itself.  Rather a miniature version of the entire Key To Time season of the Tom Baker era.

From the start this story grips me as the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan learn each fascinating detail of this alien planet, from its glass beaches to its acid seas, moving on to the mysterious empty crafts that have traversed the acid, only to discover one that is not so empty—the remains of a passenger, a leak, a torn and empty rubber suit. Piecing together a story of what has happened, and then noticing the magnificent building in the distance, drawing them in to the adventure. And then there are the menacing figures in black rubber lurking amongst the beautifully angular rocks of the land.

Of course, Gary, the central conceit of the story is a rather ridiculous one that is often found not only in Doctor Who but in science fiction as a whole. How anyone can think utopia can be attained, much less attained through the artificial means of mind control over an entire population (in this case the machine known as The Conscience), much less how the Doctor and his companions can admire this idea as something noble, is beyond me. A machine that acts as perfect judge and jury, a populace that no longer has to decide right from wrong—the machine decides for them—evil eliminated from the minds of Man. The fallacy of this belief has been exposed on Marinus in the form of Yartek who has discovered a way to overcome the machine’s control, not only for himself but for his Voord followers, thus wreaking havoc on the helpless inhabitants of the planet who are incapable of fighting back.

Why, oh why, Gary, would anyone think it is a good idea to reassemble the five keys to the machine and again put it in power? Even if they really believe they have found a way to perfect it to counter Yartek’s resistance, another Yartek is bound to come along. The chaos that occurred on Marinus due to the dominance of its Conscience is a screaming endorsement for Free Will.

The first adventure our travelers come upon in search of the various keys is another example of this. The horrid evil little brain creatures have the people believing themselves to be the most contented in the universe. Ian is skeptical of the rich foods and lavish clothes showered upon them at first—‘we don’t know the price yet’—and indeed they do not. Contentment at what price? What truly is contentment? Automatons hypnotized into obedience, seeing silk where there is only rags. Are they content? With no thoughts or feelings of their own?  Barbara alone sees the truth (when the rather flimsy little obedience disk falls off her head). Barbara is not content. She sees the rags and the filth. She is angry and scared and desperate. Would she be better off seeing the silk? But there is the rub; there will always be one who slips through the cracks, who sees the truth, who beats the system. And the one makes it impossible for the whole. There will always be a Logan to run.

Barbara is the Yartek of this second episode of The Keys of Marinus, except without the evil intent. Barbara is not out to bend the Mesmer to her own will, she is out to destroy it. (Another side note, Gary—Mesmer—I just love the naming conventions of Doctor Who.) If Yartek were out to destroy The Conscience he would be a hero rather than the villain he is.

I want to say a word, too, Gary, about the horrid little evil brain creatures.  This is another Who/sci fi conceit. The brain/body disconnect. Beings who develop their intelligence to the point that they outgrow their bodies, however they still need the human body to feed them and carry out their orders. The human body, the horrid little evil brain creatures concede, is still the most flexible instrument around. And I suppose the horrid little evil brain creatures, by use of the Mesmer, are disconnecting these human bodies from their brain.

And I’m sorry, Gary, but I still have more to say about this fascinating little episode two of The Keys of Marinus, and I’m going to jump back to the start when the travelers first arrive in this land of seeming plenty when Ian is skeptical.  How rich and powerful, Ian speculates, does one have to be to give things away for free. What I find most interesting about this speculation is that he attributes it to his materialistic side. One must be materialistic to think in terms of cost and not just accept things as freely given. Do the rich get needlessly richer and richer because they have this constant thought that nothing is free? And if everything is free for the taking, is everything therefore diminished in value? Under the influence of the Mesmer, Ian takes the riches with no question, but the riches are rags. He no longer has a materialistic side; he no longer questions the value; he no longer questions the cost. He takes all, but has nothing.

Now we move on to episode three, and yet another little story within a story and another introduction of a Who/sci fi theme—menacing plants. Nature gone wild. Of course, Nature is wild by its very nature. Perhaps it is more accurate to say Nature accelerated. I could also say Nature with an Intelligence, but then Nature really does have a design and intelligence of its own, so I’m going to stick with Nature accelerated. Nature enhanced. Nature on steroids.

Barbara and Ian are the main characters in this episode.  The Doctor is out of it completely, having gone ahead to retrieve the final key while the others go after the second. This is one of the many strengths of these early seasons—in a show called Doctor Who, the two companions can carry the show for two episodes without the Doctor. I can’t think of any other incarnation of the Doctor in the entire history of the show for whom this can be said.  And that’s not to say that William Hartnell’s Doctor is weak, that is to say that the companions and the writing and the structure of the show are that strong. Ian and Barbara are not mere appendages of the Doctor.

Barbara and Ian also carry episode four, although they are joined by Susan and the two temporary companions they have picked up along the way. In this episode it is not nature, but a great hulking trapper who is menacing, and we have another recurring Who theme—caves with multiple passages that need to be explored (first seen back in the Dalek story). I like the frozen warriors in this episode as well; whenever I see them I can’t help thinking of those in the Tom Baker story Warrior’s Gate. And at least Susan does show herself to be useful by crawling across the treacherous chasm to repair the rope bridge so the others can get across.

This brings us to the final two episodes that find the companions reunited with the Doctor, and yet another story within a story. This one a murder mystery/courtroom drama. The Doctor delights in his full scale role as detective/lawyer here.  He had a taste of it back in the first story when he proved that it was Kal who murdered the old woman, but now he has the complete setting--evidence, witnesses, prosecutors, judges and all. Ian is the hapless defendant, and I love his line when he says, “This business is beginning to run away from me.” How true that line is for every story of Doctor Who.

And now all the keys have been assembled and there is nothing left but to return to the island to complete the new and improved Conscience.  Thankfully Yartek stands in the way and in the end the people are left to their own consciences. The Doctor ultimately sees the wisdom of this—“I don’t believe that Man was made to be controlled by machines. Machines can make laws but they cannot preserve justice; only human beings can do that.” Amen.

I can only wonder if you agree, Gary. I'm positive that you would, but I still await that ehco.