DOCTOR WHO, SEASON 2 SERIAL 7:

THE SPACE MUSEUM

Doctor: First (William Hartnell)

Companions: Ian, Barbara, Vicki

April 2023

OH MAN THAT DOCTOR WHO CAN BE PRETTY GOOD SOMETIMES HUH

I like this episode a lot. It deals with some truly fun timey-wimey stuff, all four of our heroes get stuff to do, the plot is compelling, and it doesn’t drag on! This is (I think) peak First Doctor stuff.

The first episode is perhaps the best first episode we’ve had since The Dalek Invasion of Earth— this show tends to excel in its opening sci-fi episodes, because it allows for suspense and mystery. And here that’s in full form, with an odd museum, people who don’t make any sound, and a general air of mystery that feels on par with...like, The Edge of Destruction? Like this is some solid stuff. And the cliffhanger is pretty great too— it’s finally touching on some time-travel shenanigans relating to the travelers themselves, something that oddly almost never happens throughout the show, as they try desperately to avoid events that will lead to a terrible fate that they witness themselves experiencing in episode 1. It’s cool stuff.

Not only that, all four of our companions split up throughout the serial, and — miracle of miracles! — they all get to do things! No one is quite relegated to being a damsel in distress! Barbara’s plotline comes the closest, but even she gets to escape a building that’s filling with paralytic gas in a rather compellingly-shot sequence. Lots of fog.

The plotline about the Moroks and the Xenons..? No, that’s an element. The Xerons. Anyway, this is the first time that Doctor Who really tackles colonialism in any major way, and I’m not gonna lie, while simplistic, it feels like a much better tackling of the topic than many later episodes (I’m looking at you, Colony in Space). The Xerons, young men in black clothing that they are, give a compelling (if brief) account of their history, and the concept of a planet being conquered solely to serve as a monument to the power of the conquerors and an exhibition of their war prowess is frankly quite good. As is the concept of the space museum itself being beyond its heyday, a dying calcification of an empire gorged on its own excesses. They took over a planet to build a museum to their own greatness, and now that museum is empty of anyone. It’s a strong angle.

The Moroks are fine as antagonists: they’re nothing special, but they fit with this concept of a tired empire resting on its laurels: for one thing, they’re not portrayed as very good fighters. This fits! Xeros is a backwater boring place and not exactly the height of the empire. So it feels reasonable when the Xerons are able to take out their barracks offscreen.

Let’s talk about the individual plotlines a bit here. Vicki really shines this episode: she starts a revolution, for goodness’ sake!! It’s like she’s allowed to do everything that Susan could have been as a companion: she’s smart, capable, she hacks a computer lock (well. an “electronic brain”) to acquire guns for the revolution, she’s got a go-getter attitude that really makes me quite fond of her. She’s also held prisoner a lot less than the Doctor and Ian, for example, which is a nice change of pace. This is a standout Vicki episode, which gives it a lot of points already in my book.

Barbara has a lot of escaping to do here again, but she dodges the “constantly captured” trope that’s been plaguing her in the past few episodes: she’s only actually captured once or twice near the end, because she keeps on managing to escape. There’s one moment in particular where she nearly brains a guy with a big pole. You go, girl.

In fact, everyone in this episode is written to be quite intelligent! The Doctor’s interrogation scene, where he beats the mind-reading device by simply thinking about other things (“How did you get here?” and he imagines a velocipede) is a very fun use of the First Doctor’s quirks and charms. He loves to fuck around!! He hates finding out!! It’s lovely.

And Ian continues to be startlingly competent at combat— I wonder if he moonlighted as a gym teacher at Coal Hill School? Several times he defeats guards who have drawn guns on him, and there’s an extended sequence in episode 3 and 4 where he holds a couple of men at gunpoint and forces them to free the Doctor. Everyone comes off very well in this episode: not only do they feel intelligent and competent, but also their relationships are quite strong. And that’s not even touching on several of the fun moments here— Ian takes Barbara’s cardigan to unthread it to keep track of where they’ve been throughout the maze-like museum, Vicki gets a love interest (?) but it’s very lowkey (plus she starts a revolution!! I’m still not over that!!), and of course, the Doctor hides inside a Dalek casing, which is a gif I’ve seen so many times. It’s so good.

Overall Thoughts:

This serial fucking rules. Peak 60’s Doctor Who, I’d say. I’d put it right up at the top of the season—yes, above The Rescue and even The Dalek Invasion of Earth—simply because there’s no fat to trim here. It’s all good stuff, and I’d say watch it if you want a solid encapsulation of this era and the best that it can be. Just go for it. It’s a great time. Watch it!

Next up, the Daleks are back again, and Ian and Barbara will have their last hurrah, in The Chase!