Verity Lambert (1935–2007)

A well-meaning mad scientist forces the Doctor's companions to retrieve four "keys" which he's hidden around his world.

Possibly the worst story I've seen yet from Doctor Who outside of the 1980s. There's a bonus feature on the DVD which basically consists of the set designer apologizing for ten minutes about how bad this story is. (He also happens to mention some evidence of how appallingly clueless both the writer and director were.) It doesn't help any that the Doctor's only in three of show more the six episodes (with no explanation as to why, naturally - Terry Nation doesn't go in for that whole "making sense" thing).

Concept: C
Story: F
Characters: D
Dialog: C
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: F
Acting: D
Music: D

Enjoyment: D

GPA: 1.1/4 show less

A human spaceship is trapped in orbit around a planet of telepaths.

Usually when 1960s Doctor Who is bad, it's due to the time constraints they had to work in - no time to work out the kinks or take a second take when things didn't go right. (And they do have all those problems here, in greater abundance than usual.) In this case, though, there's nothing anyone could have done to save it, short of having the writer shot. It would have been better if they'd just had the actors make it up as show more they went along. Sometimes I think they did.

Concept: C
Story: D
Characters: D
Dialog: D
Pacing: F
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: D
Acting: F
Music: C

Enjoyment: F

GPA: 1.0/4 show less

The Doctor and friends vacation in ancient Rome.

Someone interviewed for the DVD featurette claimed that "The Romans" was the best episode of classic Doctor Who (or maybe it was just of 1960's Doctor Who). While it's not a personal favorite of mine (I'll take science fiction over historical drama any day), I'd say that's a completely reasonable claim.

This audio edition of 'Doctor Who: the Sensorites,' is the original BBC soundtrack with bridging narration provided by William Russell, the actor who played Ian Chesterton, one of the First Doctor's first companions. Each CD has a bonus interview with Mr. Russell. (At one point Mr. Russell talks about what it was like to hear again the voices of two of the actors who had died.)

The Doctor, his granddaughter, Susan, Ian, and Barbara Wright land on Captain Maitland's spaceship. There they find show more the crew somewhat the worse for wear. The Sensorites are an alien race who demonstrate an interesting long-distance communication method. They also manage to render the TARDIS useless in a way that wouldn't work with normal doors.

The Sensorites have good reason to distrust Terrans. Unfortunately, their City Administrator carries this to extremes. Had he succeeded in his plan for the Doctor and the others, he might well have doomed his race. (Note: I happen to prefer 'Terran' to 'Earthman', 'Earther', or 'Earthling'.)

In the ten years since they were first visited by Terrans, the Sensorites have been struck down with a deadly disease that kills within three days. The Doctor offers to help in exchange for his, his companions, and the space crews' freedom. The Doctor gets his first clue as to the cause when one of his own comes down with the disease.

This alien race has a caste system based upon abilities. There's no hint that caste is a matter of heredity. Apparently, there's no disgrace or shame involved in being in an ordinary caste. That they have family groups is known because one man's family group is held hostage. However, we do not learn if it's what we would consider immediate family or extended family.

The Sensorites' facial features do not vary as much as humans' do. In fact, from a distance even they have trouble telling each other apart except for items of clothing that indicate their jobs. For example, the First Elder wears two sashes. The Second Elder wears one. The fact that the Doctor, Susan, and the Terrans don't wear anything to indicate their jobs makes some of the Sensorites suspicious.

There's plenty of danger and suspense. Susan gets to demonstrate an unsuspected ability. She also describes a little of her home planet. Considering that we who have been brought up with blue skies, brown ground, and mostly green plant life tend to think of those three colors as generally going together, I wonder about the color tastes of someone brought up with a burnt orange sky and trees with bright silver leaves.

At one point the Doctor shares something that Beau Brummel told him. If you're a fellow American who isn't a fan of Georgette Heyer or other authors of Regency Romances (a period roughly from 1811 to 1820), Beau Brummel was the arbiter of men's fashions. Apparently he's the reason you guys got stuck with those plain dark suits for so long.

We're not told when or how the Sensorites' aqueduct was created, but I salute its makers. From what we learn about the Sensorites' weaknesses, those who created the aqueduct must have been extremely brave with loads of endurance.

This was the seventh storyline of the first season, originally broadcast in the summer of 1964. Good for writer Peter R. Newman for including a female space crew member only a year after Valentina Tereshkova had become the first woman in space. For the period, Barbara, Carol, and Susan don't do that bad. show less