The Daleks in Colour: Revisited

The arrival of "The Daleks in Colour" on DVD and Blu-ray has afforded me the opportunity to take another look at it. I have only watched it once, on broadcast, and wrote my review on first impressions.

Last night, I watched it again, to see if my opinion had changed in any way...

First things first, the cover: 

There are websites which highlight terrible examples of Photoshop, and this could comfortably be added. It's poor. We simply have a couple of Daleks superimposed onto an image of the Doctor and companions surrounding the TARDIS console. The Daleks have their backs to us, and there seems to be a half-hearted attempt at perspective which doesn't work. 

No artistic merit whatsoever.

The colourisation:

Much has already been mentioned about Barbara's acid pink blouse. At no point do you ever lose sight of the fact that this wasn't made in colour, but has been artificially colourised.

At times I think they've gone overboard and used too much colour - especially with the Dalek city. This has led to an obvious lapse of logic. They've added a couple of POV shots (using the blue-tinted, calibrated Dalek-eye view of the new series). If the Daleks can't see colour, why on Skaro would their city be full of purples and golds? Colour for the sake of colour, with little or no subtilty.

There are colour photos from 1963/4 available, taken by Ray Cusick. He was making a programme to be broadcast in B&W, and had a much better colour-sense.

Other than this, the colour is fine. I love the forest and the views of the city.

CGI:

Which brings me to the CGI effects, which are mercifully few. I've no idea why they used a computerised city when it looks just like the excellent Shawcraft model. The TARDIS shots are poor. The dematerialisation at the end stands out badly, as we see that there are supposed to be Thals standing right next to it.

The edit:

A real contentious issue for many. Seven episodes condensed down to 75 minutes. Even the Peter Cushing movie lasted longer. This edit was designed to make the story fast paced and exciting, as the plan was to attract viewers who might not normally watch archive monochrome material - so we need to keep this in mind.

Sadly, this means that the new viewers are losing lots of lovely character moments, such as the TARDIS food machine sequence. It is irrelevant to the plot, so you can see why it went, but I feel sorry for the intended audience. You are missing so much.

A particular irritation is the need to repeat action every time someone refers back to it. 

When the captured time-travellers talk about the drugs they found outside the ship, we are shown this scene again. Likewise, when the death of Temmosus is talked about, we see it again. And when mention is made of Ian being shot, we see it again...

The implication is that the viewer has the attention span of a goldfish and can't remember what they saw 15 minutes ago. It's treating the viewer like an idiot.

Some of the intercutting is clumsy.

As originally broadcast, the Daleks could manage only a couple of still images of the Thal camp, which they can't even interpret very well, thinking an injured Thal might be Ian until they see him in the next picture. Here, the Daleks can see right into the Thal camp and get sound and moving pictures.

Which begs the question: if they can see and hear what's going on, why don't they know all about the plan of attack against them? The re-edit has created another logic lapse.

The new voices stand out, and not in a good way. David Graham's voice sounds its venerable age, and Briggs is far too recognisable.

The music:

My big bugbear. I've hear it again, and I still loath it. As I said in my original review, for someone who is supposed to be the guardian of the programme's audio legacy, Ayres has a cheek to even consider overwriting the work of Tristram Cary and Brian Hodgson. Style and tone are all over the place, dialogue is drowned out, and the music simply doesn't match the action a lot of the time.

The music accompanying the escape to the lift is stand-out excruciatingly awful. He's certainly no Murray Gold, that's for sure.

I've looked him up on-line, and he has no significant credits outside of Doctor Who projects. No films, no dramas, no sitcoms, no documentaries. I think we know why, and I'll leave it at that.

Value(less) Added Material:

There's a "Making of..." for the colourised version. To be honest, I can't be bothered seeing how they did what they did, so gave this a miss. It was covered in DWM anyway.

The second disc contains the original seven part story - and this actually makes me really rather angry.

I knew from the initial announcement that the original version was not going to be upscaled for Blu-ray, but I didn't think they'd simply use the old DVD version. And it is the old DVD version. It even has the old logo, branding and menu - including the "The Beginning" box-set intro. 

They've quite literally just taken the DVD and slapped a new picture on the disc.

A wee bit of a clean-up and new menu / branding - even just the "Whoniverse" - would have been nice. 

It's not as if we're likely to see The Collection - Season One box-set any time soon.

"The Daleks in Colour" has its pros and cons. As someone used to the Aaru movie, I have no issue with an alternative take on the story. It's "as well as" and not "instead of" the original B&W version, and that's the way to look at it. 

From comments I read back in November, parents reported their children really enjoying it - kids who might just want to view some more (just a pity it's a one-off - at least for now - so there's nothing else to show them to capitalise on this interest). If it helps create a next generation, all well and good.

My favourite part of the release? The colourised clips of other Hartnell episodes at the end - accompanied by decent music...

Happy 60th Birthday, Daleks

60 years ago today we got our very first glimpse of a Dalek, It was only the end of the plunger, menacing Barbara (wielded by future Doctor Who director Michael Ferguson). We had to wait another week before we got to see the full effect of what are now an iconic design (which has been meddled with a few times since - always unsuccessfully).

The BBC have released the covers for the Blu-ray and Steelbook versions of the colourised first story, due out 12th February.

The Daleks in Colour - a review

I'm not so much of a purist that I disagree with any and all reimagining of old Doctor Who - provided it remains optional. I usually watch DVDs with the enhanced CGI, and sometimes prefer the omnibus versions of some stories if not feeling like sitting through the whole thing.

Tonight's The Daleks in Colour is apparently the first of four monochrome stories which have been colourised and edited to omnibus length. (If a new video from the BBC today is anything to go by, two of these may be The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Tomb of the Cybermen. The War Games is also rumoured - good luck cutting that to 74 minutes...).

As well as the colour, we have CGI inserts, new music, and a re-ordering of some scenes. Apparently this is to make this early material more palatable for da kids 'n' da yoof.

When it's released on DVD / Blu-ray next year, the original seven B&W episodes will be included - so no-one's being forced to accept this anniversary experiment.

And experiment it is - and only a partly successful one, I'm afraid.

It gets off to a bad start with a dodgy arrangement of the theme music. Overall, I thought the music terrible throughout. Some of it was far too loud and / or slapped over scenes where it just wasn't needed. It was really intrusive - like the scene where Temmosus and the Thals first appear. And as for that lift escape scene... Oh dear.

What was wrong with Tristram Cary's classic score (so good they used it several times afterwards)? I thought Mark Ayres was supposed to be some sort of guardian of the Radiophonic Workshop / classic soundtrack legacy. Dereliction of duty, I think. What made him think he could better any of it?

Personally, I think he was trying to match the Aaru movie at times. If that's the case, he failed, and I can watch the movie itself (where it's handled far better) if I really wanted that style.

The colour looks unnatural. I think they thought that if it's going to be colourised then best go the whole hog, but some constraint might have been nice. Some scenes were excruciatingly gaudy. If only they hadn't given Barbara that horrible acid-pink blouse, some of the scenes in the TARDIS and in the cell would have been fine. It stood out like a sore thumb in the cave sequences.

The CGI looked just like CGI. Not using the Shawcraft model, designed by Ray Cusick, in the opening scene I thought disrespectful to the series' pioneers.

The re-arrangement of scenes I could just about cope with - it was being condensed to 74 minutes after all, and is aimed at people who haven't seen the story loads of times, like me. Having a cut to the flashing radiation meter when the crew first start to feel unwell did smack of treating the audience like idiots though, unable to work things out for themselves or wait for the explanation in the monitoring laboratory scene.

Hartnell's fluff about "radiation gloves" was corrected - which takes half the fun out of these old episodes.

David Graham was brought back to add some new Dalek voices. Nice to use him, but you could clearly hear how his voice has aged. Other times you could hear Briggs, when whole swathes of Dalek dialogue had to be contracted. 

The Daleks say "Exterminate!" a lot, which they never did until later in the '60's. I suppose the newbies expect it.

As far as the actual narrative goes, it did its job reasonably well, bearing in mind that target audience. There were no big crucial scenes skipped. The action concentrates more on the first four episodes of the original. I suspected that the lengthy trek might be curtailed. A lot was padding anyway, when Nation was asked to extend the story by an episode. I was surprised at how much of the crevasse leap sequence was retained.

Did love the montage of clips at the end.

I'm glad I watched it - though mainly so I don't have to again, I'm afraid. Not unless I turn the volume and colour down on the telly... so I might as well just watch the story as Verity Lambert, Terry Nation, Chris Barry, Richard Martin, David Whitaker and Ray Cusick intended it to be seen - seven episodes long and in B&W.

An Unreasonable Child

You may have read today the news that An Unearthly Child is not going to be included in the release of Doctor Who's back catalogue onto iPlayer on 1st November. This is the result of an issue that has been brewing for the last week or so, which I've been following on Facebook. Up until now it's been speculation, but today it has been confirmed.

The problem is that the writer's son - Stef Anthony Coburn - has fallen out with the BBC over money. He owns the copyright to the four episodes now that both his parents are dead. He has asked the BBC for a sum of money to re-licence them, an amount which they have rejected.

He is arguing that this has less to do with money but more about preserving his father's legacy. He has gone so far as to claim that working for the Corporation actually led to his father's untimely death.

He purports to be standing up for fans against a corrupt, money-grabbing BBC.

Unfortunately this new stance does not tally well with previous comments he has made, in which he has attacked his father as a bad one.

Unless the original agreement over commercial exploitation of the story covers new formats (i.e. Blu-ray) then we won't be seeing a Season One Collection boxset any time soon.

As things stand, he owns the copyright and there's nothing anyone can do about this unless they are prepared to go to court. Stef cannot exploit the episodes himself, as they include elements like the TARDIS, Doctor and companion characters which are BBC-owned so, whilst he digs his heels in, his father's estate (he and his family) can't benefit, so it's as good an example of "cutting off your nose to spite your face" as you'll ever come across.

The story can still be found on some digital platforms which had agreements prior to this current controversy, but they'll disappear when rights run out. You might want to pick up a copy of the DVD cheap on Amazon etc. just to have it, because who knows how long this situation will drag on for. 

Episode 42: Prisoners of Conciergerie

 

Synopsis:

The Doctor arrives at the home of Jules Renan, and everyone is shocked to see that he has brought Lemaitre with him...

The Official informs them all that he is the man they have been searching for - James Stirling. The Doctor explains that he has been forced to bring him here in return for his help in freeing Susan.

Ian gives him the message from Webster - that he has vital information and should return to England immediately. When forced to remember anything else the dying man said, Ian recalls something about a "Sinking Ship". Jules recognises this as an inn on the Calais road.

Stirling strikes a deal with the Doctor and his companions. He has heard of a plot by Paul Barrass which is brewing against Robespierre, which could take place any moment. They must go to the inn and report what they see and hear there, and he will have Susan freed on their return. Only Ian and Barbara will go, as the Doctor must remain in Paris with Stirling should Robespierre summon them again.

Jules takes the two teachers to the inn where the owner is locked up in the cellars. Ian and Barbara then pretend to be friends filling in for him. Once the last guest has gone Barrass arrives and is shown into a private room which he has booked. Ian had earlier drilled a spyhole in the wall, however, so that he could eavesdrop. Barrass announces that he is expecting only one more person. This proves to be the army officer Napoleon Bonaparte. If he can promise support, the soldier will be given a role in the new government once Robespierre is deposed and executed.

The next morning Ian and Barbara report back to Stirling. The Doctor goes to fetch Susan from the prison whilst Ian and Stirling witness Robespierre's arrest - the tyrant being shot in the jaw as the soldiers seize him. The Doctor and Susan see him being brought into the prison as they hurriedly leave it.

Stirling must flee Paris back to England with his information, and agrees to accompany the TARDIS crew as far as the farmhouse near to where the TARDIS landed. Jules will remain in the city to see what happens next. He scoffs at Ian's suggestion that Napoleon might be the next ruler of France...

Safely back in the TARDIS, the Doctor's companions discuss what would have happened had they warned Napoleon of his future. Would they have changed history? Susan suggests that the future Emperor would have dismissed them as crazy, or forgotten all about their predictions, and history would still take the course they were familiar with. The Doctor indicates that they have their own destinies to fulfil - and theirs lie in the stars...

Next episode: Planet of Giants

Data:

Written by: Dennis Spooner

Recorded: Friday 14th August 1964 - Television Centre Studio TC4

First broadcast: 5:30pm, Saturday 12th September 1964

Ratings: 6.4 million / AI 55

Designer: Roderick Laing

Director: Henric Hirsch

Additional cast: John Law (Paul Barrass), Tony Wall (Napoleon), Patrick Marley (Soldier)

Critique:

This episode brings the first season of Doctor Who to a close. 

At one point the season was to have ended sooner, with The Sensorites, but they decided to continue with this story. Thoughts also went the other way - to extending Season One further - but a late decision was made to end it here with Prisoners of Conciergerie. The end sequence in the TARDIS, with the Doctor's speech about their destiny lying in the stars - his words spoken over a starscape - was a last minute addition to the script.

This discussion suggests that Time has some "proper" course - a sequence which it is always destined to follow. Any attempt to meddle with this will be undermined by various circumstances, which would intervene to make sure History followed its intended path. Dennis Spooner would come to adopt a totally different view on History once he took over from David Whitaker.

Originally Verity Lambert and Whitaker were informed that they would be responsible for devising the series that would plug the gap between Seasons One and Two. Before they gave this any serious thought, however, it was agreed that the comedy series The Valiant Varneys, starring Reg Varney, would fill the break. (The future On The Buses star played various ancestors of his through history).

The episode revolves round the fall of Robespierre, and introduces his later replacement as de facto ruler of France - Napoleon Bonaparte.

The meeting between Barrass and Napoleon depicted here is a total fiction.

Paul Francois Jean Nicolas, Vicomte de Barrass, was born in 1755. President of the National Assembly he later became Member then President of the National Directory. This body governed France between the fall of Robespierre and the rise of Napoleon. He voted for the execution of Louis XVI, but spent most of the Revolution working outside Paris. He never led on the overthrow of Robespierre, but did join the faction who did. Later he was placed in command of the defence of Paris when it came under attack by disillusioned National Guardsmen. He employed Napoleon, who ruthlessly put down the insurrection. The two men had met during the siege of Toulon in 1793. Barras lived right through the Empire, dying in 1829.

Napoleone Buonaparte, as he was born, was of Italian descent. His father had fought for the independence of Corsica, and later acted as governor of the island under Louis XVI. Napoleon was born in 1769, and joined the Paris Military Academy in 1784. By the age of 24 he was already a brigadier general in the republican army.

When Robespierre fell, the future Emperor was actually placed under house arrest, as one of his biggest supporters was the tyrant's brother Augustin.

In the episode it is implied that Robespierre is shot in the jaw to prevent him from talking the soldiers out of arresting him. It is generally thought that it was really a botched suicide attempt. He was executed the very next day - Monday 28th July 1794. It is claimed that when the bandage was taken off his face whilst on the scaffold, his whole jaw came away with it.

For the third time this story, the four regulars were taken out of rehearsals for filming at Ealing for Planet of Giants. In this instance, it was because reshoots were needed.

Carole Ann Ford's daughter Miranda visited the studio on the afternoon of camera rehearsals. 

A new set was that for The Sinking Ship, which was a two room linked set. A second hole - much bigger than the one Ian drills - was made in the wall between the two rooms for the camera to view through.

Strangely, we never heard anything about "the sinking ship" in the second episode, where Webster spoke to Ian in the prison cell - and Ian never mentioned it when he first met Jules. Some fans claim that this is a mistake - the Chien Gris being replaced with The Sinking Ship, but it is really an addition rather than a replacement piece of dialogue. The Chien Gris was an entirely different inn - the one where Ian was to seek out Jules. 

We ought to question why one inn is named in French, whilst the other is named in English.

It is noticeable that the stock footage of the coach at the end of the episode is shown twice, but the second time in reverse.

As mentioned under the first episode, this story saw the sole contributions to Doctor Who by some of the key crew members. Henric Hirsch did not stay with the BBC for much longer. He went freelance, then worked a great deal with ITV companies. Frazer Hines would have encountered him on Emmerdale Farm in the mid-1970's. He died in March 1999.

Composer Stanley Myers went on to have considerable success in TV and cinematic music. His work can be heard in My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up Your Ears and the original film version of The Witches. Amongst his TV themes is the music for the BBC's Question Time, still used today. Beyond doubt his most famous piece is Cavatina, which was the theme from The Deer Hunter. His guitar piece had words added, to become He Was Beautiful. Both versions were Top 20 hits in the UK.

Myers died in 1993.

Trivia:

• This story had replaced an intended six part adventure from David Whitaker known as "The New Armada", which would have been set at the time of the historical Spanish Armada. This was still under consideration for Season Two.
• The Napoleon I Society wrote to the production office following broadcast of this episode, complaining about the historical inaccuracy of the Napoleon / Barrass meeting. A Mr Oborski, the society's honorary secretary, was unhappy that children were being taught bad history.
• Another letter a couple of days later addressed the fact that everyone in the programme spoke English - an old chestnut when it comes to TV drama. David Whitaker wrote back to say that no-one wanted to hear actors doing dodgy Fronch accents, nor could they have everyone speaking your actual French - so some middle ground had to be followed.
• Patrick Marley is the speaking role soldier who arrests Robespierre. Hartnell's double Brian Proudfoot returns as a non-speaking soldier.
• The audience numbers drop by half a million on the previous week yet again, though the appreciation index rises from 53 to 55.
• In late October 1964, regular cast and producer attended a function in the Bridge Lounge at the BBC to celebrate the overseas sales of the first season episodes. Had the series not sold abroad, we would have very few of these episodes to enjoy today.

Episode 41: A Bargain of Necessity

Synopsis:

In the crypt of the derelict church Ian realises he has walked into a trap when soldiers appear - accompanied by Leon Colbert...

Leon has him tied up and then begins questioning him about the identity of the English spy James Stirling. He has been searching for this man for months.

At the prison Lemaitre is listening in as the Doctor is reunited with Barbara and learns of her recapture with Susan. Once Lemaitre has been called away by Robespierre, the Doctor decides to trick the Jailer into freeing the women. First of all he lets the man know that Barbara is a leading opponent of the government. Capturing them is why he was sent to Paris in the first place. Were she to be allowed to leave, she would lead them to her co-conspirators. The Jailer is taken in by this, and Barbara suddenly finds herself allowed to go free. She makes straight for Renan's house - who is now alerted to the fact that Leon is a traitor. 

He goes to the church crypt and is in time to rescue Ian. He is forced to shoot Leon dead.

Back at his house, Barbara is upset by the news of Leon's death, and argues with Ian and Jules about taking sides in such a complex conflict.

The Doctor has been able to meet with Susan when the Jailer demands to know why he is not following Barbara. The Doctor counters that he expected the Jailer to have followed her - so her escape is all his fault. He then proposes that they can redeem the situation by repeating the plan with Susan. 

However, Lemaitre arrives back and puts a stop to this. He informs the Jailer that Susan is not to be removed from her cell unless by his direct command.

He then confronts the Doctor privately and informs him he knows he is not a Regional Official. He shows him his old clothes and ring.

Lemaitre tells him that he will release Susan - but only if he is taken to Renan's home.

There, Barbara has made peace with Jules and Ian over Leon's death.

The Doctor arrives - and everyone is shocked to see Lemaitre walk in behind him...

Next episode: Prisoners of Conciergerie

Data:

Written by: Dennis Spooner

Recorded: Friday 7th August 1964 - Television Centre Studio 4

First broadcast: 5:30pm, Saturday 5th September 1964

Ratings: 6.9 million / AI 53

Designer: Roderick Laing

Director: Henric Hirsch

Critique:

For this episode the story moved to TC4 at Television Centre. Verity Lambert agreed to another drama carrying out some filming during the studio rehearsals. In the end only material in the production gallery was filmed apparently, featuring the crew running the title sequence (according to the screenplay). Even this was eventually cut - if it ever existed at all - when the programme - The Day of Ragnarok - was finally broadcast in January 1965.

Earlier in the week, the cast had relocated to a new rehearsal venue - a London Transport training centre close to Television Centre in White City.

William Hartnell insisted that the snooker table not be used, as the noise disturbed his concentration. Ordinarily he was a keen player of the game. (He was also a big fan of the dartboard, and would spend his weekday nights based in London playing the game at his local pub). Hartnell also objected to some aspects of the catering at the new venue - specifically the powdery camp coffee. He insisted on Nescafe or fresh filter coffee. Tim Combe had to go out and buy a jar of the former.

An additional issue was Carole Ann Ford's habit of sunbathing in full view of the LT personnel attending their training courses.

After being side-lined for much of the first four episodes, Barbara gets the chance to shine in her arguments with Ian and Jules over the rights and wrongs of the Revolution. Her argument is that in this sort of conflict such shades of black and white are harder to define. Leon had been just as much a patriot as Jules and believed he was doing the right thing for the cause. It is another fine moment for Jacqueline Hill, and reminds us of her character's moral debate with the Doctor in The Aztecs.

As with the previous episode - The Tyrant of France - this instalment no longer exists in the archives. We mentioned last week how the only known surviving copies were destroyed by bombing in Cyprus. The director opted not to purchase telesnaps either. For the DVD release in 2003 both episodes were animated to complete the story.

Backgrounds, and the majority of characters with their costumes, could be copied from the surviving recordings. In some cases however, no image existed of a character - such as Ronald Pickup's physician, or of a specific location such as his surgery or the church crypt.

Compare the top image below from the animation with the actual screen image from the synopsis above to see just how close the artwork was for the scenes where footage existed to copy. The image at the bottom, of Jules aiming his gun at Leon in the crypt, had to be made up entirely from scratch as no images using this particular set exist. BBC / Radio Times photographers tended to only attend a couple of recording sessions at most - sometimes only the one.

When it comes to animating lost episodes, there are three routes to take. The first is to try to ensure that the new material matches as seamlessly as possible with any existing episodes. Two examples of this might be Episodes 1 and 3 of The Moonbase, or Episodes 2, 4 - 6 of The Faceless Ones. The second route is to seize the opportunity to do whatever you like - especially when there are no existing episodes to compare things with. The most obvious example of this is The Macra Terror.

The third route carries the most risks. This is where you do something to honour existing material, but still attempt to stamp your own mark on the animations, borrowing some of The Macra Terror's "I can do what I want with this" approach. The recent animation of The Abominable Snowmen is a good example of this. They have honoured the cast playing western characters, the sets and locations - but then imposed totally new character design for the Det-sen monks - making them fit their idea of what Tibetan monks look like, despite being voiced by white English actors. (The design chosen for Songsten does not fit the voice at all).

Parts 4 and 5 of The Reign of Terror do honour the cast and sets of the lost episodes very well. Where they've had to make things up, they don't stand out like a sore thumb.

The problem, however, lies in the direction. It's dreadful. Had they decided to ignore the surrounding episodes and done their own thing that might have been acceptable - foolhardy but brave - but they are trying to match their animation with very static studio scenes, mostly medium close-up 2 / 3 shots, with only a few portrait close-ups dotted about.

The animation opts for lots and lots of close-ups - but not of the variety shown in the actual episodes, where a close-up means a portrait shot of the actor. Instead we get many shots of people's eyes and hands, which simply aren't evident in any of the four existing instalments. There is also the problem of too many shots per scene and fast intercutting between. Someone opening a door involves about a dozen individual shots, including close-ups on eyes and hands. The short, simple line: "It's probably just a chill" has three shots covering it.

Had a film or TV programme been directed and edited in this way it would have been laughed off the screen as amateurish or pretentious. It is significant that no later animations ever adopted this directorial style. The company behind this effort was Big Finish. They clearly needed to stick to audio.

Trivia:

• The half million viewers lost last week were regained this week but the AI figure remained at 53.
• A competition was run by Big Finish, the prize being an animated version of the winner. This was to be used for a speaking soldier in the church crypt scenes, for whom no real image existed. He's the soldier with the anachronistic-looking beard.
• Fight Arranger David Anderson, who had played the Guard Captain in The Aztecs, once again plays a soldier in this episode.
• It was during rehearsals for this episode that David Whitaker announced his departure from the show, and that Dennis Spooner would be replacing him.
• The day before broadcast Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop featured on the BBC Light Programme in response to a listener's letter about the electronic music used in the series.

The Art of... The Reign of Terror

A quick glance at the various versions of The Reign of Terror which have been made available for home consumption reveal that all of the artists and designers are very much taken with the image of the First Doctor in his fancy Revolutionary Official of the Provinces uniform.

Every one of these covers uses it - often making use of one specific publicity photograph. This depicted Hartnell in the distinctive costume with its plumed hat, flanked by the Jailer and Lemaitre on the Conciergerie prison set.

We first see it on the cover of the Target novelisation, which was written by Ian Marter and published in 1987. The artist is Tony Masero.

Marter, who played Harry Sullivan in Seasons 12 and 13, novelised eight stories, beginning with a couple of adventures in which his character had featured  -The Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. His works were notable for some explicit gore and strong language. Towards the end he was helping range editor Nigel Robinson to finish off the outstanding Hartnell stories such as this one.

Something else which most of the various covers have in common is the image of the guillotine, despite this only appearing in one very brief (2 secs) scene at the opening of the second episode - appropriately titled Guests of Madame Guillotine.

If there's one objection I might have to Masero's cover, it's the fact that it looks like the Doctor is on his way to the guillotine, and the people are shaking their fists at him.

The UK VHS release bucks the trend by not featuring the guillotine and using a different image of the uniformed Doctor. Instead we get the tailor character rather prominently featured, who is hardly of any great importance or significance in the story. Lemaitre, Leon or even the Jailer would have been more apt.

There also appears to be a large army on the horizon, which has no relevance to the story whatsoever. The missing Parts 4 and 5 were covered by Carole Ann Ford describing events to camera, filmed at the Museum of the Moving Image on London's Southbank. It was hosting a large Doctor Who exhibition - "Behind the Sofa". I first saw this material when the story was shown at the NFT, where it raised a laugh as it was nigh impossible to follow.

Having two missing episodes, The Reign of Terror VHS was released as part of a box set of incomplete material alongside a second tape containing orphan Patrick Troughton episodes. These were the surviving Parts One and Three from The Faceless Ones and Part One of The Web of Fear - the only existing episode from that story at the time. The box cover promotes the fact that this release coincided with the 40th Anniversary in November 2003, and the set included a metal pin badge commemorating this.

The US VHS cover is different to the UK one. It features our Hartnell image again as well as the guillotine, but adds Barbara and Susan on the tumbril, which is far more appropriate than the UK version. Again it was coupled with the orphan Troughton material. It was released as part of the 11 story set "The End of the Universe Collection" which completed the VHS range in the USA.

I don't usually mention the Australian version of the covers as they are generally identical to the UK ones, other than some typographical differences. However, the Aussie cover for this story combines the UK release with images from the Troughton material. The Troughton image is the one from the box set cover (a photograph from The Ice Warriors) whilst the Yeti picture is taken from The Abominable Snowmen, but has had glowing eyes added to match their appearance in The Web of Fear.

Lee Binding opts for both our Hartnell image and the guillotine for the DVD cover, which is the same for both UK and US markets. He mirrors the shape of the guillotine with that of the TARDIS - surprising no-one else thought of this before - and an image of the tumbril with Susan and Barbara is used again.

The feathered plume on the Doctor's hat is too big to be contained on the UK cover and actually overlaps onto the TARDIS roundel banner. A large sticker promoted the fact that the story had animated episodes. The UK version of the DVD was released in January 2013.

The story's soundtrack was released in February 2006, with narration by Carole Ann Ford, who also supplied a bonus interview. This manages to feature our Hartnell image, the guillotine and the ladies in the tumbril, but adds that treacherous tailor, Barbara being chatted up by Leon Colbert, and the burning farmhouse from the first cliff-hanger.

Marter's novelisation was released on CD in 2021. As with The Keys of Marinus audiobook, the reader is Jamie Glover who played William Russell in An Adventure in Space and Time, and who has subsequently played Ian Chesterton on audio.

The Masero cover is expanded only very slightly on either side, with more of the background buildings showing. Very few of the audiobook covers will take advantage of the squarer shape to fully expand the images. Like the cover for Doctor Who - The Sensorites, the background colour has been toned down and is not so bright.

Episode 40: The Tyrant of France

 

Synopsis:

The tailor from whom the Doctor obtained his uniform has come to the prison, claiming to have information about a traitor - and he shows the Jailer the Doctor's ring as proof...

Lemaitre accompanies the Doctor to Robespierre's office. When he attempts to criticise efforts in the South to eradicate the enemies of the Revolution, the Doctor manages to turn the discussion towards criticisms of the situation in Paris. He bluffs his way to the end of the meeting, so there is no time to go into detail about the region he is pretending to represent - but Robespierre insists he come back the next day to talk about this.

At Renan's home, Susan's illness has not improved and it is decided that she should see a physician. Leon recommends one who he says can be trusted and goes to see him.

Jules and Jean arrive back at the house with the man who had been asking questions about them. He has a sack placed over his head to prevent him seeing where he is being taken - and when it is removed Barbara is overjoyed to discover that the man is Ian. He had been searching for Jules following the instructions of his dying cell-mate Webster. When Ian mentions the name 'James Stirling' to Jules, he informs him that he has not heard of him - but there are many agents in Paris operating under false names. He suggests that Leon might know of him.

The Doctor finds that he must once again remain overnight at the prison, due to the next day's meeting with Robespierre.

Lemaitre meets with the tailor. He takes the Doctor's clothes and ring then dismisses the man, assuring him that he will deal with this personally.

The next day Leon sends a message to Jules stating that his physician can't come to his house, so Susan should be taken to him. Barbara agrees to take her herself.

They think the man suspicious, and when he leaves to fetch something they discover that he has locked them in.

Ian receives a message asking him to meet with Leon at a disused church.

The physician returns with a group of soldiers and accuses them of being escaped convicts, and the women are informed that they are to be sent back to the prison.

In the church crypt, Ian realises he has walked into a trap as a number of soldiers appear, accompanied by Leon Colbert...

Next episode: A Bargain of Necessity

Data:

Written by: Dennis Spooner

Recorded: Friday 31st July 1964 - Lime Grove Studio G

First broadcast: 5:15pm, Saturday 29th August 1964

Ratings: 6.4 million / AI 53

Designer: Roderick Laing

Director: Henric Hirsch

Additional cast: Keith Anderson (Robespierre), Ronald Pickup (Physician)

Critique:

This episode is the first of two for this story which no longer exist - and nor are there any telesnap images. Some twelve (very) brief clips exist from the two instalments in 8mm form - filmed off of a TV screen and so demonstrating strobing. When the story was released on VHS the missing material was covered by Carole Ann Ford delivering a summary of the action, recorded at the Museum of the Moving Image on London's Southbank. For the DVD release, these two episodes were presented in animated form.

The images accompanying this are from other episodes, for illustrative purposes only.

We will look at the animation under the next episode.

Henric Hirsch returned to Monday rehearsals following his collapse the previous Friday. Tensions had been brought to a climax and now everyone knew where things stood. Tim Combe continued to be supportive, Verity Lambert kept a closer watch, and William Hartnell was less demanding of the director, following his meal with Combe. Dennis Spooner helped by playing bridge with Hirsch.

Combe took over the camera planning, which he discussed over meals with Hirsch or at Chelsea FC matches. At the same time he was keeping Hartnell happy at a pub near Kew Bridge.

William Russell had arrived back from holiday to find he had missed all the excitement.

Once again, the regular cast were taken out of the last day of rehearsals for pre-filming at Ealing for Planet of Giants.

"The Tyrant of France" of the title is Maximilien Robespierre, who makes his debut here, after being a dread presence behind the scenes ever since Ian and Barbara found the travel documents in the farmhouse.

Maximilien Francois Marie Isadore de Robespierre was born in Arras, Artois, in 1758. He became a lawyer after studying at the University of Paris. When the Revolution came he was elected to the National Assembly as a Deputy, and quickly rose up the ranks of the Jacobin faction. The Assembly was superseded by the National Convention, and he became its President in 1794. He was also a leading member of the Committee of Public Safety - the powerful body which helped police the Revolution. The Convention had handed over most of its powers to this Committee.

At the time of this story, Robespierre had pushed the political opponents within his own faction too far, and they were now plotting against him. He had introduced some unpopular innovations, such as the quasi-religious "Cult of the Supreme Being", which upset the conventional religious members. He was also obsessed with corruption and was intent on weeding it out wherever he found it.

Robespierre was also frequently ill and missed meetings of the Committee, which his opponents used against him to claim he was becoming increasingly out of touch, intent on ruling by himself like the monarch they had only recently deposed.

Trivia:

• After only a week in its new time slot, the programme had to return to a 5:15pm start due to that evening's coverage of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
• There was a half million drop in the viewing figures, and the AI fell to a low 53 once again.
• The first three episodes of this story were returned to the BBC from a TV station in Cyprus. The missing fourth and fifth episodes had also been held there - but were destroyed by bombing during the Cypriot civil war.
• This was Ronald Pickup's first TV work. He had only just graduated from drama school, and was paid £30. His character was actually scripted as an elderly, bald man.
• The Reign of Terror was one of the stories which had scenes reconstructed for the 50th Anniversary docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time. In one scene William Hartnell (David Bradley) is seen in the Provincial Official's uniform showing the new Dr Who Annual to his co-stars. This is wildly inaccurate, as we all know that the cover featured Zarbi and Menoptra - showing it was produced long after August 1964. It didn't appear in the shops until September of the following year.

Episode 39: A Change of Identity

Synopsis:

From his prison cell, Ian watches in horror as Barbara and Susan are taken away to the guillotine...

In a nearby street, en route to the place of execution, two men are waiting to ambush the tumbril. They are Jules Renan and his friend Jean. When they see that one of the horses is being replaced, taking one of the guards away, they seize the opportunity and attack. Barbara and Susan are rescued, and the men smuggle them away to Renan's home.

The Doctor arrives in the city and makes his way to the vicinity of the Conciergerie. He sees a tailor shop within sight of the prison and enters.

He pretends to be an Official from the southern provinces and arranges to swap his clothes for a suitable uniform, plus pen and parchment.

In the prison, the Jailer is distributing food. When he puts his keys into the door of Ian's cell Lemaitre summons him away. Ian reaches down and removes his cell key from the bunch then replaces the rest in the lock. When the flustered Jailer returns, he moves on to the next cell.

Later, when Ian lets himself out of the cell he finds the Jailer fast asleep at his desk, and makes his way outside - observed by Lemaitre.

At the home of Jules Renan, Barbara and Susan meet Jean's sister Danielle. Susan is still ill. Jules is intrigued to learn of their capture, and is unhappy to hear that they were caught at what should have been one of his safe houses. He oversees an escape route which is run by his friend Leon Colbert, who is due to visit later.

The Doctor presents himself at the prison with forged documents, claiming to have come to collect some prisoners from his region - Ian, Barbara and Susan. He is surprised to hear that Ian has escaped, and the woman were sent to the guillotine but rescued on the way. Lemaitre arrives, suspicious of the Doctor due to his claim to know Ian.

He insists that the Doctor remain at the prison that night, for tomorrow they will go and meet Robespierre to discuss the arrest figures for his region amongst other things.

The Doctor attempts to extricate himself from this agreement with the Jailer after Lemaitre departs, but finds he has no choice but to stay.

Leon Colbert arrives at Renan's home. He informs Jules that a stranger has been asking about him. Jules and Jean leave to discover who this is, whilst Leon stays behind to talk with Barbara, who is flattered by his attentions.

The tailor comes to the prison and informs the Jailer that he has brought information about a traitor - offering him the Doctor's ring as evidence...

Next episode: The Tyrant of France

Data:

Written by: Dennis Spooner

Recorded: Friday 24th July 1964 - Lime Grove Studio G 

First broadcast: 5:30pm, Saturday 22nd August 1964

Ratings: 6.9 million / AI 55

Designer: Roderick Laing

Additional Cast: Donald Morley (Jules Renan), Roy Herrick (Jean), Edward Brayshaw (Leon Colbert), John Barrard (Tailor), Danielle (Caroline Hunt).

Critique:

This episode has no director credit. Henric Hirsch had been struggling with the production due to lack of experience and language problems. We've already noted how he was poor at giving actors direction, and Carole Ann Ford has expressed her dissatisfaction with him, whilst William Hartnell openly bullied him. 

He was used to having more resources - especially time - and could not cope with the pressures of Doctor Who's production schedule, and the technical complexity of staging its episodes in Lime Grove-scale studios. Production assistant Tim Combe had been helping out as much as he could - contributing to casting, locations and camera scripting.

On the day that this episode was to be recorded, Combe returned from the afternoon tea break to be informed that Hirsch had collapsed outside the production gallery. The stress of this particular episode - involving the use of live horses in the tiny studio amongst other things - had been too much for him. Verity Lambert was hurriedly contacted. 

Combe took over the studio rehearsals, the cast oblivious to the real drama going on nearby. 

For years fandom thought that Combe himself had taken over the directing of the episode, or Lambert. Associate producer Mervyn Pinfield - an experienced director himself - was another candidate. It is now believed that Lambert called upon John Gorrie, director of The Keys of Marinus, to step in at the last minute. The issue is further confused by the fact that he could not recall doing this and even publicly claimed he didn't do it. Carole Ann Ford can't recall who took over, and William Russell was still away on holiday this week. Pinfield died in the Spring of 1966, long before there was a fandom to interview him about his time on the series.

Later, once the cast had been made aware of what had happened - and why - Combe had a meal with Hartnell, and the star agreed to give the director an easier time.

The main site of the guillotine in Paris at this time was the Place de la Revolution (formerly the Place Louis XV and now the Place de la Concorde). It was here that King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Robespierre met their fate, but in between times it was moved to other locations - including the Place de la Nation and the Place de la Bastille.

The contraption as used during the Reign of Terror was invented by a physician - M. Joseph Ignace Guillotin - who was actually opposed to the death penalty. As it couldn't be abolished, he proposed a more humane form of despatch, and got the blessing of Louis XVI - who would ultimately get to experience it first hand. The prototype was built by a man named Antoine Louis, and it was initially named after him rather than Guillotin.

The guillotine as a form of execution was embraced by the Revolution as it was seen as a symbol of equality. Previously, different sections of society had been executed in different ways - the poorer having the most brutal methods applied whilst the nobility experienced quicker and cleaner forms. The guillotine executed everyone alike - from King to Commoner. A leveller in more ways than one.

It was nicknamed the "National Razor".

The concept of the guillotine was not a new one. You can see a 16th Century version at the National Museum of Scotland. This earlier Scottish version was known as the Maiden. There was also a contraption known as the Halifax Gibbet, which dropped a weighted axe head onto the neck of its victims.

A noticeable gaffe originating in this episode is Jules Renan's assertion that his escape network only ever use first names in order to protect their true identities in case of capture. The two men in Episode 37: A Land of Fear - Rouvray and D'Argenson - were only ever known by their surnames, and Renan himself gives his name to Barbara and Susan. He also gives everyone Leon's surname.

In fact, we know the surname of every conspirator in this story, other than Jean and Danielle. The production team did spot this at the time and Spooner attempted to correct it, but didn't make a very thorough job of it.

In the opening street scene, look out for the man who is clearly waiting for his cue to start walking forward - the camera cuts to him just a fraction too soon. The man in question looks very much like Brian Proudfoot - Hartnell's location double, who we know featured as soldiers and a Parisian citizen in other episodes of this story.

This episode is the first to feature the linked sets comprising the streets of Paris, the tailor shop and surrounding buildings. It was a complex set, needing to have a street wide enough to accommodate the horse and tumbril, raised areas for the citizens to watch from their windows, and the Doctor had to be able to see into the tailor shop from the street.

As mentioned last week, I suspect that it was a model of this set which Carole Ann Ford was talking about, when she spoke about having been given a model of Paris after filming. It was kept on the top of her wardrobe for several years, until destroyed by an over-zealous cleaning lady.

Trivia:

• From this episode onwards the series was moved to the slightly later start time of 5:30pm.
• The audience remains stable, and even has a small increase in the appreciation index over the previous instalment.
• Edward Brayshaw would return to the series as a member of the Doctor's own race. He was the War Chief in The War Games.
• In draft scripts Leon's surname was given as Corneille.
• Roy Herrick also returned to the series, playing the medic Parsons in The Invisible Enemy. He was also one of the voices of computer Xoanon in The Face of Evil.
• Caroline Hunt played the rather glamorous Mind Analysis Machine operator in Frontier in Space.
• Another factor which may have led to Hirsch's stress was the loss of his principal cast from the final day of rehearsals for this episode. They were at Ealing with Mervyn Pinfield doing the pre-filming for Planet of Giants.

Episode 38: Guests of Madame Guillotine

Synopsis:

The Doctor has been left lying unconscious in an upstairs room of the burning farmhouse, whilst Ian, Barbara and Susan have been captured by Revolutionary soldiers...

He is dragged to safety by Jean-Pierre, the boy who they had earlier encountered in the forest. He explains that his father was arrested some time ago, and the Doctor's friends will have been taken to prison in Paris - some 16km away.

In the city, his companions have been brought to the Conciergerie Prison, on the Ile de la Cite. Ian is locked in one cell, and the two women together in another. Ian finds he has a cellmate - an Englishman named Webster who is seriously ill.

The Jailer is visited by an Official named Lemaitre, who tasks him with keeping an eye on Ian and his fellow inmate. Barbara and Susan decide to try and dig a hole at the foot of their external wall, but find a void with rats beyond.

Webster tells Ian that he must seek out a man named Jules Renan, who may be found by the sign of Le Chien Gris. The Englishman then dies.

Lemaitre enters the cell and questions Ian about the dead man, wanting to know if he said anything, but Ian claims he said nothing. Outside, the Jailer confirms that he did hear the two men talking. Lemaitre has Ian's name struck off the execution list.

The Doctor comes across a work party repairing the road. They are tax-dodgers, forced to work under a brutish Overseer. Unable to furnish identity papers, the Doctor is compelled to join them.

On seeing how greedy the man is, he devises a ruse to escape. He steals some gold coins from him then plants them in the dirt they are digging through, having distracted the Overseer by claiming a solar eclipse is about to take place. When he then claims to have struck treasure, the Overseer insists that only he should dig the hole - and the Doctor promptly hits him over the head with a shovel. The work party scatter, and the Doctor continues on his way.

In the prison, Ian hears sounds coming from the courtyard and looks out of the window.

He is horrified to see Barbara and Susan being taken away for execution in a tumbril...

Next episode: A Change of Identity

Data:

Written by: Dennis Spooner

Recorded: Friday 17th July 1964 - Lime Grove Studio G

First broadcast: 5:15pm, Saturday 15th August 1964

Ratings: 6.9 million / AI 54

Designer: Roderick Laing

Director: Henric Hirsch

Additional cast: James Cairncross (Lemaitre), Jack Cunningham (Jailer), Jeffry Wickham (Webster), Dallas Cavell (Road Works Overseer)

Critique:

This episode is notable for the first ever location filming in the series. Up until this point the only filming which had taken place was conducted at the BBC's studios at Ealing, of scenes which required substantial editing or which would not have been practical in a cramped TV studio - fight sequences or those involving fire effects for instance. Carole Ann Ford had been filmed during the making of The Keys of Marinus, to allow her to have a two week holiday and yet still feature in The Aztecs, and William Russell was doing the same for this episode and the next.

To give this story a sense of scale it was decided to film a couple of short sequences of the Doctor's walk towards Paris. Hartnell was only featuring in two main scenes in this episode - his encounter with Jean-Pierre, and the road-digging business with the Overseer, and showing his journey to Paris in the confines of the tiny Lime Grove G would have looked less than impressive. Production Assistant Tim Combe was tasked with location scouting for rural venues which would look suitably French - especially a poplar-lined lane. He eventually found what he was after in the vicinity of Denham Green in Buckinghamshire.

Hartnell was far too busy to go out and film these scenes himself. He would only be seen from the back, at distance and without dialogue, so a body double was proposed. Chosen for this was actor Brian Proudfoot.

In order to get the walk and other physical mannerisms right, he attended rehearsals for Hidden Danger, the third instalment of The Sensorites. This initially upset Hartnell, who did not like being scrutinised in this way and regarded Proudfoot as a pest and a distraction. However, he soon realised that Proudfoot was representing him and wanted to make him look good, and so threw himself into the process - showing him how he walked and moved his arms. The filming then took place on Monday 15th June.

As mentioned, William Russell was on holiday this week, touring around France with his family. As with Ford during the making of The Aztecs, it was decided that his character should still feature as important plot points had to be set up which involved him.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 16th and 17th June, he left rehearsals for the fourth instalment of The Sensorites (the one where Ian has been poisoned and spends much of his time lying down, so isn't heavily involved) to film his material at Ealing Film Studios. It is really noticeable that he is standing on his own elsewhere in the scene where the companions face the judge at the start of the episode. The rest of his scenes were all filmed on the prison set, comprising his cell, a section of corridor outside his door, and the external wall with barred window which he looks through at the cliff-hanger.

Only James Cairncross and Jeffry Wickham were required for this pre-filming. The scenes with the Jailer are cuts to the studio recording.

According to the DVD commentary, Wickham met up with a friend at a pub near Ealing for lunch, thinking his work done for the day. However, one scene had been left unrecorded - when Lemaitre pulls the blanket back from his dead body. It was necessary that his face be seen, so he had to be called back for this. Lying on the bunk under the hot studio lights, after a few lunchtime drinks, he fell asleep and was only woken up as everyone was packing up to leave.

Most of the action takes place in the Conciergerie Prison. Now a museum, it began life as a Roman fortress protecting the city of Lutetia. It became a palace in medieval times, and only became a prison and courthouse when the monarchy moved across the Seine to the Louvre during the reign of Charles V (1364 - 80). Placed in command was the person who had been the concierge of the old royal palace - hence its name.

Marie Antoinette was held in the prison prior to her trial and execution in 1793. The following year it housed Danton and Desmoulins. Ironically, when Robespierre was taken to the prison it was in Marie Antoinette's old cell he was briefly confined.

At the time of the events depicted in The Reign of Terror, the prison held some 600 men, women and children at any one time. Four fifths of them were under sentence of death.

It remained a prison until 1934.

This was one of Carole Ann Ford's favourite stories, although it appears that this was more to do with the costumes she got to wear. It is a terrible story for Susan, who spends most of it locked up in various cells feeling ill. She has very little to do, and it comes as no surprise that it was during the making of The Reign of Terror that she decided to leave the programme. This led to a huge row with William Hartnell, who had always treated the actress as though she were Susan's age. He couldn't understand why she would wish to give up a successful series, with steady work and income. They made up the very next day.

In particular, Ford didn't get on with Henric Hirsch. He accused her of acting "maudlin" all the time - and she argued that this is exactly how Susan would behave if separated from her grandfather and stuck in a rat-infested 18th Century prison, destined for the guillotine. Hirsch failed to give actors very much direction - but would then criticise them when they didn't give him what he was after.

Her decision to leave had already been anticipated by the production team. They had been considering a change anyway, and both her and Jacqueline Hill were in the firing line. The two stars of the series were Hartnell and Russell, so they were safe. With the second production year looming, contracts were up for renewal. The stars would be looking for a raise, but there was no significant increase in budget per episode. Reducing the main cast would reduce costs.

As mentioned last week, Dennis Spooner had come from a comedy background. His writing would  always have a considerable amount of humour in it. This is obvious from the character of the Jailer - a drunkard who is easily manipulated by everyone - and the Overseer sequence, which is played pretty much just for laughs. Hartnell is clearly in his element in these scenes, having himself been a minor comedy star in his earliest film career - before the villains and gruff sergeant majors took over.

Trivia:

• The episode title is shown over a shot of a guillotine. This was taken from the 1958 BBC adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, which had starred Peter Wyngarde as Sydney Carton.
• This was preceded by a period engraving of Paris - depicting the Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame Cathedral to set the scene - and followed by another period engraving depicting the Conciergerie Prison.
• Brian Proudfoot also played a soldier in the fourth and sixth episodes. He would later be seen in the more substantial role of Tigilinus in The Romans.
• Despite being broadcast in the middle of summer, audience figures were holding up - they have been consistent at 6.9 million for a number of weeks. However, the appreciation index figure dropped from 58 to 54 for this instalment.
• The Doctor rests at a marker stating "PARIS 5km". This is an anachronism as the kilometre wasn't adopted in the Paris region until Napoleon's time.
• The script then had the Doctor peer through some bushes and see the city in the distance - a model shot. Carole Ann Ford claimed that she was given this model - but I suspect that what she is talking about is the set model, created by the director and PA to plan camera moves. A full city model, built to a scale where individual tumbrils were visible, would be ridiculously big - too big to fit on top of her wardrobe as she described.