Crammed in between a sci-fi epic and a historical comedy comes this little two-parter, written by series script editor David Whitaker and created to introduce new companion Vicki; a task it certainly takes seriously, as it feels more about introducing this fresh face than it does about the Tardis crew saving another alien planet form a mysterious foe.
The regulars are great as always. William Hartnell's Doctor still reels from the emotional impact of Susan leaving in the previous story, a fact he is (unsuccessfully) trying to hide. Despite this, he hits it off with Vicki from their very first meeting, already feeling something of a grandfather to her. Ian and Barbara still work fine without Susan (and get along well with Vicki), but take more traditional companion roles in this adventure.
New main cast member Maureen O'Brien is perfectly fine but feels a bit too much like a new Susan, to begin with, and before the writers figure out where to go with her. She manages to display emotions without coming across as childish and annoying, though so that is already a victory for her character.
The set design is simple, but gets the job done; it is understandably trying to save a few pennies after the overblown production on The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964).
THE BAD:
Despite being a two-parter and equalling the length of a modern Doctor Who episode, The Rescue certainly isn't in any hurry to go anywhere. The opening episode takes forever to get introduce the problem, get the Tardis crew involved, and get the narrative to a suitable point for a cliffhanger (and a lousy one at that) - and after that, there are only 25 minutes left to solve the plot. Given that this serial overstretches a few sequences, there isn't much time to develop a compelling mystery, so everything feels secondary to the companion introduction.
Koquillion is one of the most half-baked villains in series history, and Whitaker tries to make it a huge mystery as to whom he/it is, despite it being perfectly obvious very early on. He's never a particularly sinister presence and his motives feel realistic but generic.
The lower production values and shoddy productions tick out like a sore thumb after the previous story and before the next one, which is why The Rescue feels like two episodes of filler that could easily be skipped (a bit like the final three episodes of An Unearthly Child (1963) or The Edge of Destruction (1964)).
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2022-04-05T16:53:23Z
:pray_tone2:53% :thumbsup:8 :thumbsdown:7
THE GOOD:
Crammed in between a sci-fi epic and a historical comedy comes this little two-parter, written by series script editor David Whitaker and created to introduce new companion Vicki; a task it certainly takes seriously, as it feels more about introducing this fresh face than it does about the Tardis crew saving another alien planet form a mysterious foe.
The regulars are great as always. William Hartnell's Doctor still reels from the emotional impact of Susan leaving in the previous story, a fact he is (unsuccessfully) trying to hide. Despite this, he hits it off with Vicki from their very first meeting, already feeling something of a grandfather to her. Ian and Barbara still work fine without Susan (and get along well with Vicki), but take more traditional companion roles in this adventure.
New main cast member Maureen O'Brien is perfectly fine but feels a bit too much like a new Susan, to begin with, and before the writers figure out where to go with her. She manages to display emotions without coming across as childish and annoying, though so that is already a victory for her character.
The set design is simple, but gets the job done; it is understandably trying to save a few pennies after the overblown production on The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964).
THE BAD:
Despite being a two-parter and equalling the length of a modern Doctor Who episode, The Rescue certainly isn't in any hurry to go anywhere. The opening episode takes forever to get introduce the problem, get the Tardis crew involved, and get the narrative to a suitable point for a cliffhanger (and a lousy one at that) - and after that, there are only 25 minutes left to solve the plot. Given that this serial overstretches a few sequences, there isn't much time to develop a compelling mystery, so everything feels secondary to the companion introduction.
Koquillion is one of the most half-baked villains in series history, and Whitaker tries to make it a huge mystery as to whom he/it is, despite it being perfectly obvious very early on. He's never a particularly sinister presence and his motives feel realistic but generic.
The lower production values and shoddy productions tick out like a sore thumb after the previous story and before the next one, which is why The Rescue feels like two episodes of filler that could easily be skipped (a bit like the final three episodes of An Unearthly Child (1963) or The Edge of Destruction (1964)).