The Power of the Daleks

Dear Gary—

“It’s not only his face that’s changed—he doesn’t even act like him.”

A new Doctor.

“It tis the Doctor; I know it tis . . . I think.”

A new Doctor. Patrick Troughton. I have to say, Gary, that I am both looking forward to and dreading the upcoming seasons of this the second Doctor.

I look forward to the Patrick Troughton years because I have enjoyed the few Doctor Who stories of his that I have seen up to this point and welcome filling in the gaps of my knowledge by watching the reconstructed episodes for the first time.

I am dreading it because there are so many reconstructed episodes.

A word here, Gary, about reconstructions. I don’t know how computer savvy you were or if you ever had a chance to view any of the reconstructions available. It does get tedious watching so many of them, but they are invaluable for bringing to life those stories that have been lost to us for so long. I find most of these on YouTube. Hopefully someday the full episodes will be discovered in some dark attic or locked trunk, but until then I am eternally grateful for the painstaking work that goes into making these lost stories available.

Sorry for the digression, but I am hesitating writing about our next episode The Power of the Daleks, not because it is the first without William Hartnell and not because it is a reconstruction, but because frankly the first time viewing The Power of the Daleks  I found the story rather mundane, even for a Dalek episode.

The action takes place on the planet Vulcan where the Doctor stumbles into a colony full of murder, intrigue, rebellion, and Daleks. My impression as I first viewed the recon was rather ho-hum. Another colony seething with rebellion. More sci-fi stock characters like the scientist who believes the scientific discovery outweighs the danger, the authority figure who won’t listen to reason, and the traitor who believes he can control the Daleks and use them to his own end for ultimate power only to be inevitably betrayed and destroyed by them.

However, there was one powerful image that remained with me, even though the image is a flickering, non-existent, recreated one, and that is of Dalek after Dalek rolling off an assembly line until a room full of mass produced Daleks start chanting, “We are the Daleks, we are the Daleks.” How much more compelling that would be if we could witness it in its original entirety.

And so, Gary, with the refrain of chanting Daleks echoing in my mind, I watched The Power of the Daleks a second time and I now appreciate this story so much more. What I found mundane before I now find gripping; what I found ho hum I now find riveting.

But let’s start with the new Doctor. William Hartnell had stumbled into the TARDIS at the end of The Tenth Planet, but it is Patrick Troughton who begins The Power of the Daleks on the TARDIS floor. Polly and Ben, along with the viewers, are confused and skeptical. Polly represents the voice of acceptance. She reasons that the Doctor was the only one to have walked through the TARDIS doors, so this must be the Doctor. Ben is the voice of skepticism. Polly remembers that the Doctor had said his body was wearing out and Ben exclaims, “So he gets himself a new one?”

The Doctor doesn’t help. He starts talking about himself in the third person and ignores Ben and Polly as they question him. The Doctor’s ring falls off and Ben’s doubts deepen. Is this the Doctor or isn’t it? I love how the show doesn’t offer up any immediate answers or explanations.

“Life depends on change . . . and renewal.” Ben locks on the word renewal and the Doctor considers before stating, “That’s it; I’ve been renewed.” And that is the most we get. Off the Doctor goes to explore and Ben and Polly have no choice but to follow.

We follow along, too; the action as ever overtaking the questions.

The action begins with the Doctor witnessing a murder. Searching the body of the dead man, the Doctor takes the credentials and decides to impersonate this assassinated Examiner. Now Gary, my thought is that William Hartnell’s Doctor would not impulsively take on the identity of another in this way. But this is a new Doctor, Patrick Troughton’s Doctor.

“You know its little things like this that make it difficult for me to believe that you’re the Doctor . . . the other one; I mean the proper one.” Yes, it is little things, as Ben states, that distinguish the first from the second. And what fun it will be, Gary, to discover these little things along the way.

However, it is the big things that establish continuity. Like the Daleks. And like the Doctor stating that it is because of the Daleks that they must stay on Vulcan. “I know the misery they cause; the destruction.” And the Daleks know the Doctor, recognizing him even if Ben and the audience do not. Ah, the mysteries of time travel that allows the Daleks to recognize this brand new incarnation.

The tension builds brilliantly in this story. At first only two inert Daleks are revealed, and then a third. What harm can these “pepper pots” do? Diligently the scientists work to bring life to these robotic bodies, foolishly believing they can control their actions and movements.

“I am your servant.” In the voice of a Dalek these words are eerily sinister.

Slowly the Daleks gain and reveal their power, with the misguided humans helping them along the way, all for their own selfish reasons, ignoring the warnings of the Doctor.

“We will get our power.” More Daleks glide through the colony. Still the humans believe they can control these robotic servants. Still the Doctor fruitlessly tries to raise the alarm: “The thing it does the most efficiently is exterminate.”

“We understand the human mind.” Yes, the Daleks understand and manipulate. The rebels; the scientists; the rulers; all are pawns for the Daleks.

Each ominous statement of the Daleks conveys chilling warnings, but all go unheeded by the unwary colonists. It is only for the Doctor and us to interpret these spine tingling declarations.

And then, a question: “Why do human beings kill human beings?” An interesting philosophical question to ponder, Gary, perhaps at a later date. For now we have Daleks mass producing themselves.

Even in reconstruction this scene of Daleks rolling off the assembly line is engrossing; how much more effective this would have been when originally aired.

Now we have the true nature of the Daleks revealed: “Daleks conquer and destroy.” Now the colonists begin to realize their mistake. Now the extermination begins. And now the Doctor goes to work.

“I prefer to do it my way.” Yes, Patrick Troughton will do it his way. This is his show now.

“Doctor, you did know what you were doing . . . didn’t you?” Polly never would have questioned William Hartnell’s Doctor in this way. Patrick Troughton’s Doctor still leaves questions in his wake. And a bit of destruction of his own: “Did a lot of damage, did I?”

But Patrick Troughton is the Doctor. A new Doctor. A renewed Doctor. A Doctor who plays the recorder and carries around a 500 year diary. A Doctor who fashions sonic keys out of a glass and a jug of water.  A Doctor who never talks nonsense – “well, hardly never.” A Doctor who believes that “a little injustice is better than whole scale slaughter.”

Patrick Troughton is the Doctor.

And I can only wonder, Gary, what you thought of Patrick Troughton, and send this out for that echo of a reply that I can only wait for.

William Hartnell

Dear Gary—

I can't start in on the Patrick Troughton years without first saying a final word about William Hartnell.

When I first started out on this journey, I ranked Hartnell as my second favorite Doctor, just behind Tom Baker. Truthfully, I was rather surprised at myself for giving him such a lofty position. It has only been in the last few years that I have come to appreciate William Hartnell as the Doctor. Previously I always thought of him as that old guy in black and white who started the whole thing, mildly amusing but mostly boring. As I have watched, analyzed, and written about all of these first serials throughout these past few months, though, I can now definitely say that William Hartnell remains solidly in second place.

I still have to rank Tom Baker as my Favorite Doctor out of purely sentimental reasons. Neither would I say that Hartnell is the most entertaining Doctor. Purely on entertainment value, and strictly off the top of my head with no thought put into it, I would say that David Tennant is the most entertaining Doctor. But if I were to objectively and honestly rank the Best Doctor, it would hands down be William Hartnell.

William Hartnell is the Doctor. He defined the role. He did not need the role to define him. He did not need the label of Time Lord or Last of the Time Lords. Time Lord was not even hinted at during all of his run. However, looking back with hindsight, I can believe that William Hartnell's Doctor was a Time Lord.

Future Doctor Who episodes will throw about the Time Lord title often and loudly. Some future Doctors will even regard the title as a badge of honor. Not so William Hartnell. Hartnell's Doctor is quietly heroic. To paraphrase his own words, he is a citizen of the universe, not a Doc and not a god.

From the moment he stepped into that foggy junk yard and into the TARDIS he was the Doctor. He didn't need impressive special effects; he didn't need a sonic screw driver; he didn't even always need an alien threat. He simply was the Doctor.

Barbara, Ian, and Susan were perfect companions to start out the show. Susan provided stability to the character of the Doctor, establishing a history and past without needing any elaborate explanations. Barbara and Ian gave the audience a voice, discovering this new and alien world of the TARDIS and this strange man they would come to know as the Doctor. Their initial skepticism and animosity quickly turned to trust, then respect, and eventually deepened from affection to a loving friendship. William Hartnell as the Doctor won their hearts just as he won mine.

If I had to pick a favorite story from the Hartnell years it would have to be The Romans, and my least favorite as you probably have guessed is The Gunfighters. But there are so many great stories in between. The Keys of Marinus, for example, is one that grabbed me from the start. Others had to grow on me with repeated viewings. I would say that the one that I came around on the most is The Aztecs, but An Unearthly Child and The Sensorites are close behind. If I had to pick one of the lost serials that I would most like to see in its original form, it would be Galaxy Four.

But they are all good, and it is William Hartnell that makes them so. I can even tolerate The Gunfighters for his sake. His most heartfelt moments are his parting from Susan and more especially his parting from Barbara and Ian. His most defining moment comes in The Rescue as he awaits the arrival of Bennett/Koquillion, and his most defining story is The War Machines.

“Always seek the truth; mine is amongst the stars.” “Our destiny is in the stars.” The stars, yes, but William Hartnell’s Doctor was just as effective battling nothing but human history. Some of the historicals could get rather long and tedious, but when done right they were some of the best. This is something that gets lost with future Doctors.

None of this is to take away from subsequent actors taking on the role. With new blood and as the show progressed, certain questions naturally had to be addressed. However, with William Hartnell one never required an answer to 'Doctor? Doctor who?' William Hartnell himself was the answer.

Certainly modern production values, special effects, and shorter story lines have given current Who serials more entertainment value. I have to admit to wishing for a good Tennant story in the midst of my Hartnell marathon. There is something to be said for the Doctor’s way of skipping through timelines, sampling a little Pertwee, perhaps some Eccleston, then on to a few Bakers; whatever strikes one’s fancy.

However, I will stick to my slow path for now.

I hope, Gary, that out there in the Doctor's time swirl William Hartnell's shimmering shard somehow somewhere and at some time has intersected with your own.

The Tenth Planet

Dear Gary—

“This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin.” At first I was disappointed with this rather anticlimactic end to William Hartnell. But now I realize how fitting it is. He goes out just as he lived. Subsequent Doctors can have the dramatic, heroic, larger than life, big bang finishes. This first, this original Doctor does it his way. Simple; understated; honest. “This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin.”

The Tenth Planet is significant not only for the end of the Hartnell era, but it also introduces another race destined to become an arch enemy of the Doctor—the Cybermen. And it is a fascinating little slice of history for the Cybermen. The tenth planet of our title is Mondas, the Cybermen’s home planet and apparently a twin planet to Earth that somehow and for some reason unexplained, the Cybermen moved through space, turning the planet into their own space ship it seems. They are now returning, their planet drained of energy, set on absorbing all of the Earth’s energy and turning humans into Cybermen while they’re at it.

This, Gary, is a fundamental difference between the Daleks and the Cybermen. While both are races that once had human form but have had all emotions erased and are now robotic in nature, one (the Daleks) seeks only to destroy all of life while the other (the Cybermen) seeks to remake all of life into their own image. Similarly, while the Dalek’s main objective is victory, the Cybermen’s main objective is survival: “We are equipped to survive. We are only interested in survival. Anything else is of no importance.”

An advance guard of the Cybermen has landed at the South Pole in 1986, where the Doctor, Ben, and Polly have also arrived. The base which becomes the center of the action is under the command of General Cutler, a typical Doctor Who thick headed military leader who refuses to listen to the Doctor and as a result causes more complications for the Doctor to sort out.

William Hartnell, appearing for the last time as the Doctor, stands calmly and proudly above the commotion about him. General Cutler barks orders, ignoring and dismissing the Doctor; scientists and soldiers rush about; Cybermen invade. All the while the Doctor persists in stating exactly what is happening and what should be done, refusing to be talked down by the General. The Doctor knows before anyone else that the unknown image on the screen is in fact Mondas; he knows what Mondas is; he knows that the Cybermen will be arriving; he knows that Mondas is losing energy and attempting to steal Earth’s energy.

And that, Gary, is William Hartnell. He knows. He is composed. He is steady. He is fact.

What I don’t like, aside from the fact that the final episode of The Tenth Planet is missing, is that the Doctor is missing in action for a good stretch of time during the middle of our story. It would have been nice to have William Hartnell for the full four episodes in this his final outing. Instead, half way through, after revealing all he knows and setting out what should be done, he succumbs to some ‘outside influence’ (presumably the energy drain from Mondas) and spends a good portion of the adventure passed out on a cot, leaving much of the action to Ben, the military, and the scientists.

A word here, Gary, about Ben and Polly. The show seems to have remembered that Polly is only a girl, relegating her to serving coffee, crying hysterically for some unknown reason, and getting captured. Ben, on the other hand, has begun to show some intelligence and gumption. First he escapes by turning a projector on a Cyberman to blind him, and then he figures out that the Cybermen can be overcome by radiation. He also comes out with some words of encouragement and wisdom: “While there’s life there’s still hope.” And “Your number’s up any way so why not try?”

But the show still belongs to William Hartnell. He starts the story on a firm and cautionary note: “Stop being so flippant; we don’t know what we’re in for outside there.” He sarcastically deflects the rude shouts of a brash interrogator: “Why don’t you speak up—I’m deaf.” He thoughtfully looks after his companions: “Very well, child, off you go; and don’t forget your coat. I don’t want you to get cold.”

William Hartnell has been all of these things as the Doctor. Firm. Cautionary. Sarcastic. Thoughtful. He has also been calm, steady, true, loving.  And too: wise, gentle, determined, inquisitive.  Also at times proud, arrogant, cranky, tetchy.

“He seems to have lost his sense of humor,” Ben says as the Doctor stumbles back to the TARDIS after Mondas has been destroyed and the Cybermen defeated.

“What did you say my boy? ‘It’s all over’—that’s what you said . . .” It’s all over. The Doctor knows his time has come.  But . . . “it isn’t; it’s far from being all over.”

Yes, brilliantly the show has kept the magic alive. William Hartnell is departing, but the show must go on.  Sadly these final few moments of William Hartnell and the first of Patrick Troughton are lost to us, but this historic ‘renewal’ (regeneration is not yet used to describe the process)ensures that Doctor Who will continue.

But I shall miss him; yes, I shall miss him.

As always, Gary . .

The Smugglers

Dear Gary—

“How dare you follow me into the TARDIS?” And so two new companions are greeted as The Smugglers begins. “Oh dear, all this distraction; and I really thought I was going to be alone again.”

But Polly and Ben have entered the TARDIS and are now on an adventurous ride with the Doctor. I find it amusing, Gary, that these two seem to have a role reversal going from your usual male/female companions.  Polly shows more intelligence and wherewithal, whereas Ben, as Polly exclaims, has “no imagination.” Ben just wants to report back for duty on his ship; Polly finds the adventure exciting.

As we begin this new jaunt with our new companions, we find the Doctor admitting from the start that he cannot control the TARDIS. In the past he has been quick to defend his TARDIS and his mastery of it. Now, however, he confesses, “I have no control over where I land; neither can I choose the period in which I land in.” This, he claims, is the cause of half his troubles.

Polly has worked out from their surroundings that they have landed in Cornwall. But, as the Doctor states, “You may know where you are, my dear, but not when. Oh, I can foresee oodles of trouble.” The when turns out to be the 17^th century, and the oodles of trouble comes in the form of smugglers and pirates in search of hidden gold.

“We’ll just have to like it and lump it,” Polly states when informed that they are no longer in the 20^th century. Later, when she and Ben are captured, she uses her wit and imagination (that she claims is lacking in Ben) to fashion a straw doll with which to threaten wizardry, thus bluffing their way out. She is a shrewd and practical companion. In fact, despite the Doctor deciding that he must follow his two new tagalongs because they are “quite incapable of looking after themselves,” both Polly and Ben (after he gets into the full swing of the escapade) prove that they are capable of handling themselves in a pinch.

The Doctor, meanwhile, finds his own trouble, but as usual he is more than capable of handling himself. He too uses a bit of ‘wizardry’ to manage his escape, distracting his captor by pretending to read his fortune in the cards.

I find this story (yet another lost one available only through reconstruction) difficult to follow, however. Without proper visuals, I get the ranging cast of characters mixed up. Between Pike, Cherub, Blake, the Squire, and Longfoot, I find it hard to sort out who is good and who is bad; who is a pirate and who is a smuggler and who is the revenue man.

But as with any good Doctor Who story there is enough action and humor to keep me entertained. It is amusing, for example, how one of our confusing cast of characters, I think a pirate, keeps calling the Doctor ‘Sawbones.’ Finally in his most exasperated style the Doctor responds, “I would prefer you to use the correct term, sir. I am a Doctor.”

Finally, the Doctor passes on to his new companions a lessen he has learned from previous companions. That is, when faced with the opportunity of returning to the TARDIS to make his escape, instead he feels himself “under a moral obligation” to stay and put things right again. “I feel that I might be responsible for its destruction,” he says of the village that is under threat of pillaging. He must stay to try and avoid this; after all, “there is no need for innocent people to suffer.”

He does avoid it, after solving the riddle to the hidden gold, and with some help from the revenue man. Only then can he enter the TARDIS and leave.

But where can he leave to? Where to now, Polly wonders—forward or back in time? She is up for the excitement of time travel. Ben, however, still only wants to get back to 1966. The Doctor can’t promise them anything: “I have no idea; I have no control over such matter.” He can’t even guarantee that their journey won’t lead them into even more danger than they have just left.

Where to now? Forward or back? Into the swirling uncertainty of time and space . . .

The War Machines

Dear Gary—

The War Machines is winding down William Hartnell’s run as the Doctor; what a shame, for in this story he really takes command of the role. I have already stated that for me his moment of confrontation with Bennett/Koquillion back in The Rescue was the single most defining moment for William Hartnell as the Doctor; I consider The War Machines as his single most defining story.

I will go so far, Gary, as to say that the The War Machines is the archetypical Doctor Who story. It contains several firsts that are destined to become Doctor Who staples. For the first time the Doctor has an entire adventure in contemporary (for its original air time) London. For the first time the Doctor faces down a menace threatening this contemporary London and all of Earth. For the first time the Doctor cooperates with the military to defeat this menace. And through it all William Hartnell takes charge of this script.

From the moment the TARDIS lands in 1966 London the Doctor ‘smells’ trouble. There is something alien about the new post office tower, he says, “I can scent it.” What he finds in the tower is WOTAN, an advanced computer with visions of grandeur.

It doesn’t bother me, Gary, that WOTAN breaks the cardinal rule by referring to the Doctor as Doctor Who; as I have said, in this story William Hartnell truly is Doctor Who. Besides, presumably WOTAN has obtained information on the Doctor directly from Dodo’s mind, and I can imagine that she has often wondered to herself, as Ian did so long ago, “Doctor? Doctor Who?” and WOTAN merely adopted this as his appellation.

WOTAN has decided that mankind can no longer be trusted to run the world and so plots a takeover by controlling all of the world’s major computers that are soon to be linked up to him. WOTAN has already established mind control over some key players, including Dodo, and has a hypnotized workforce creating an army of war machines to seize control of London.

The Doctor, as usual, has other ideas. He declares that he is not a specialist when it comes to computers, “But I dabble. Yes, I dabble.” Dabble indeed. A little dabbling by the Doctor goes a long way.

It is marvelous to watch the Doctor/William Hartnell as he takes control in this story. The highlight, for me, is when he stares down a rampaging war machine while the military cowers behind boxes. Confidently the Doctor stands his ground in that classic William Hartnell hands-on-lapels pose.  Calmly and slowly he walks towards the trapped machine as the military cringes behind him. Triumphantly he dismantles the defeated adversary to discover its secrets.

His ambivalence towards the military and authority figures is also typical Doctor Who. He will help out in a crisis, but he has contempt for the “strong arm methods” they use, not to mention their seeming lack of intelligence: “The official mind can only take in so much at a time.”

The Doctor very much takes charge of the military in The War Machines; making all the plans and handing out orders.  There is no need for weapons or ‘strong arm’ tactics in the Doctor's plans. An electromagnetic forcefield and a screwdriver are about all he needs to trap a machine, reprogram it, and destroy WOTAN.

All the while the Doctor resists WOTAN’s hypnotic control. The others are easy marks—the scientists, Dodo, the workmen, Polly. But the Doctor’s mind bests WOTAN’s efforts. Not only that, but he can break the hypnotic control on others (with the use of his handy ring).

Speaking of Dodo, Gary . . . poor Dodo is unceremoniously dumped as a companion in this story. “She’s a little under the weather and she’s gone into the country for a few days.” Yes, and your dog’s up playing on the roof, too. Poor Dodo, sent off to her aunt’s after being de-hypnotized and never to be seen again.

The Doctor, ready to take off in the TARDIS and waiting for Dodo, is informed that she has decided to stay behind, but she sends him her love.  “Her love,” the Doctor harrumphs. “That’s gratitude for you. Taker her all the way around the world, through space and time . . . .” And such is the end to Dodo’s brief journey with the Doctor.

But not to worry—Polly and Ben are on hand to become the new companions. Polly and Ben seem to be updated models of Steven and Dodo; although Polly is a bit more level headed and resourceful than Dodo. Even when hypnotized Polly had the presence of mind to save Ben. Ben, on the other hand, is a bit more reckless than Steven, but he is brave and quick to jump in when a fight or a helping hand is needed.

Good thing the Doctor gave that TARDIS key to Ben so the two of them have an excuse to enter the TARDIS and accidently get whisked off by the Doctor. (It seems that Susan’s claim that the TARDIS lock has 21 different holes with only 1 being correct and the rest booby trapped might be a little off.)

Whisked off into the Doctor’s time swirl. As ever, Gary, I whisk this off to catch that time swirl.

The Savages

Dear Gary—

“You are known to us as the Traveler From Beyond Time.” The Doctor’s reputation is beginning to precede him.

The Doctor takes this to heart: “I can’t just sit here in all these grand clothes without asking a few questions. After all, there’s my reputation to think of.”

And in The Savages there are a few questions to be asked by our travelers from beyond time. The Elders of the planet seem to have created paradise. Through one simple discovery, they claim, their people now have “greater energy; greater intellect; and greater talent.” The Doctor has come across this before—the seeming perfect society that in reality has its dark underbelly.

“Well, if I accept your gifts,” he tells the Elders, “I must endorse your life.” Therefore, he must first dig deeper into this idyllic civilization.

However, it is Dodo who is the first to stumble into the secret lab and to learn the ugly truth. The Elders have discovered a means to drain the life force from an individual and transfer it to themselves. While the Elders and their people live at ease in their enclosed and guarded city, the Savages on the outside are hunted down and captured, their life force sapped, and then dumped back into the wild stunned and drained.

The Doctor cannot let this go. He is going to stop them, “just in the same way that I oppose the Daleks or any other menace to common humanity.”

Now Gary, I have to pause here to again mention the evolution of the Doctor from the mere vagabond adventurer of early Doctor Who stories to this newly roused Doctor for justice. It has been a long journey for the Doctor, and I think it no coincidence that he mentions the Daleks when citing his resolve. We don’t know what life was like in the TARDIS with just the Doctor and Susan, but we have seen the progression since the arrival of Barbara and Ian and all subsequent companions and escapades. And we have seen the impact the Daleks have made upon the psyche of the Doctor. The Doctor of The Savages would not have been willing to leave the Thals to their own fate back on Skaro only to later take advantage of them when he needed their help to recover his fluid link. But the Doctor back then had never before run across the Daleks, and he did not yet have the subtle influence of Barbara and Ian working on him through all time and space.

The Doctor of The Savages has truly come a long way. He now has the Daleks as relentless enemies, and just as the Daleks had tracked him down through The Chase, our Elders in The Savages have also kept track of him, charting his journeys on their star charts. Unlike the Daleks, however, the Elders have nothing but admiration for the Doctor.

The Elders have a rude awakening. “The sacrifice of even one soul is far too great,” the Doctor states when he learns the truth behind the Elders’ Eden. “I don’t intend to leave these people in this oppressed state.”

The Elders have their own ideas and subject the Doctor to the energy transfer process. Little do they know that when the Elder Jano takes on the Doctor’s energy, he not only receives the Doctor’s intelligence but his personality as well. Jano can no longer countenance the treatment of the Savages. “Jano is now saddled with the sense of right and wrong which makes him an explosive element in a civilization such as his.”

The Savages, in the meantime, have had a little help from Steven and Dodo. Another aside, here, Gary, on Steven and Dodo. The Doctor has now had several companion pairings throughout this early going of Doctor Who, each providing a unique influence on the Doctor. The Doctor says of this pair: “They’re both very pleasant . . . apart from their juvenile exuberance.” Barbara and Ian had been more on a par with the Doctor. Both mature and intelligent, they had a mutual respect and understanding with the Doctor and developed a true and deep friendship. Susan and Vicki were both young teens under the protection and guidance of the Doctor. Steven and Dodo are somewhere in between, and I believe that the Doctor is enjoying this “juvenile exuberance” that has entered the TARDIS.

Unfortunately, this is the end of the road for Steven. With the Savages rising up against the Elders, and Jano undermining them from within, Steven remains behind to act as a mediator to sort out some kind of new civilization where the two sides can live together in peace.

Another sad goodbye. Yet these goodbyes are getting easier. The first two partings were the hardest. The loss of Susan followed by the loss of Barbara and Ian left an indelible mark on the Doctor. While these latest departures are sad, they are not quite as meaningful as when he lost his granddaughter and then his two good friends. It helps that Steven and he part on a good footing. When Steven and the Doctor quarreled at the end of The Massacre and Steven had stormed off, the Doctor was deeply affected, not to mention he was left completely alone. But now, at the end of The Savages, the Doctor is leaving Steven behind to do good work, and he still has the exuberant Dodo by his side.

Still, goodbyes are never easy, and so Gary . . .

The Gunfighters

Dear Gary—

Even the great ones are allowed their misses. As much as I love Fred Astaire and Cary Grant, Yolanda and the Thief is a shambles of a movie and Kiss Them For Me has no reason to be. And so I must make allowances for Doctor Who and The Gunfighters.

I don’t know what annoys me more about this story: the gratingly phony American accents the actors attempt or the inane refrain sung throughout the entire four episodes. I think it’s the song. The first two lines sung at the beginning of the first episode are OK. It should have stopped there. But no, it goes on and on and on, repeating the same lines over and over and over. Will it never end? No. Not until the bitter end of this story.

And it is all Cyril’s fault. Cyril from The Celestial Toymaker and his bag of sweets. The Doctor takes this sugary souvenir and the next thing we know he has a toothache. You would think he would know better than to look for a dentist in the Old West, and in fact he does: “Fat chance I’m going to find a dentist in the Middle West.” He looks anyway, tut tutting the suggestion that he find some pain killers in the TARDIS, and Saloon Song Sally’s song goes on.

It’s not just the accents and the song, however. I also don’t like how this story turns Steven into a clown. “Why can’t you wear inconspicuous clothes like I do?” the Doctor admonishes Steven as he emerges from the TARDIS in his “ridiculous” outfit that makes him look like Tom Mix. The outlandish costume and atrocious accent he dons trying to mix in with the locals are bad enough, but the Don Knotts buffoonery in dealing with the town toughs is demeaning to the actor, the character, and Doctor Who.

At least the Doctor gets to wear a dapper black hat that Dodo puts on his head. “Most suitable.” And surprisingly the Doctor has guns aboard the TARDIS, with Steven taking one that the Doctor says, “belongs to my favorite collection.” Despite stating “I certainly disapprove of violence,” the Doctor accepts a gun from Doc Holliday and even displays a bit of gun spinning wizardry. However later he says, “People keep giving me guns; I do wish they wouldn’t.”

Saloon Song Sally keeps singing; I do wish she wouldn’t.

The Doctor goes to Doc Holliday to cure his toothache and gets mistaken for the Doc. Wyatt Earp (or Werp as the Doctor calls him) and Bat Masterson take the Doctor into custody for his own protection (from the Clanton boys and Johnny Ringo). Dodo is kidnapped by Doc Holliday and his paramour Kate. Steven strides around in his rhinestone cowboy suit. And Saloon Song Sally won’t stop singing.

What’s not to hate about this story?

More Earps (Werps) show up, a couple people get shot, Doc Holliday drags Dodo back and forth between towns, Steven gets taken by the Clantons. Tombstone. The Last Chance Saloon. The O.K. Corral. And Saloon Song Sally just won’t shut up.

Editorial comment, here, Gary. For a show that keeps pounding home that one should not tamper with history, The Gunfighters takes all kinds of liberties with history. And Saloon Song Sally just won’t stop singing about it.

As long as I am asiding here, Gary, and to take a break from Sally’s relentless song, I do rather enjoy the Doctor in all of this. He seems above everything. He knows that the action around him is unnecessary and irrelevant and tut tuts it all. With his proclamations (“I certainly disapprove of violence.” “I never touch alcohol.”) he rejects. With his introductions (himself as Dr. Caligari, Steven as Steven Regret) he mocks. And his final commentary on this story: when leaving he tosses away the one souvenir offered him. Fittingly it is a Wanted Poster. The Doctor doesn’t want it.

And one final aside. We have another inside joke of a reference to the Doctor. After referring to himself as Dr. Caligari: “Doctor Who?”  “Yes, you’re quite right.”

And with that, Gary, I am going to leave behind Saloon Song Sally, because I just can’t abide her anymore. Doctor Who—quite right. Saloon Song Sally—quite wrong. The two just don’t mix.

I hope, Gary, that this finds you somewhere in the echoes of time.