The Sensorites

My journey through the very first season of Dr. Who is coming to a close with its second-to-last story, the Sensorites. This six-parter begins with a mystery on board an earth ship of the 28th century. The crew appears to be dead, but are revived before the Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara manage to leave. The two crew members tell of being held in stasis by a mysterious race known as the Sensorites, but all is not as it appears and our heroes discover that maybe the Sensorites aren't as sinister as first thought--at least not all of them.

I find six-parters long, but the writers of the first season do an excellent job moving the story along and keeping the viewers attention. I liked this story and thought its themes of trust and not being quick to judge others were ahead of their time.

What's more, the Sensorites depict a Plato-like "ideal state" ruled by a wise "elder" (Plato's "Philosopher-King) and consisting of three simple classes: the Sensorites (Plato's "Guardians"), the Warriors (Plato's "Auxiliaries"), and the working class (Plato's "Craftspeople"). There is even mention of "family groups," akin to Plato's ideas of marriage and family.

The Doctor, Ian, Susan discuss the situation with the First Elder and Carol, a woman from 28th Century Earth

The foursome have come a long way in the first season and I think it's interesting that at a time when the four seem to be bonding and trusting each other more, there is a story that centers on trust. Do the Sensorites trust the Doctor and company? Can the Sensorites trust each other--even though their society is built on trust? Can humans trust each other? The story actually begins and ends with a betrayal amongst human explorers.

Very well done. It was nice to see the group of four recap their adventures thus far and to see Susan coming into her own, preparing us for her eventually departure in the next season.

Next up: The Reign of Terror, and a Season 2 preview.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo Audio CD Cover

While the original video for this seven-part story remains lost, it is available on audio and in book form. I listened to the audio as part of the "Lost TV Episodes" audio, which contains this story and several others. There are also images, video clips, and reconstructions all over the Internet.

I was impressed and this had been one of my favorite stories, not only of the first doctor, but of the entire run. At first I thought, "seven episodes, wow that's long," but the story moved along the entire way with suspense, side plots, and sub stories.

The casting was good, especially Mark Eden as Marco Polo -- but that's not to take away from the work of the others, who all did a fine job.

Mark Eden as Marco Polo

Yes, Marco Polo is definitely worth the listen. The only problem I really had (besides wanting to shout "Polo!" every time someone shouted "Marco!") was Susan's constant screaming. I don't know if her character was developing the way it was intended--as a frightened teenage girl, or if the writers just did not know what to do with her. I would have liked to have seen more screaming from Barbara (the human who is not accustomed to aliens and danger) and less from Susan (who grew up with aliens and danger).

Next up: The Sensorites.