The TARDIS Project

Hello everyone, the Historian here. So. Um. Last week’s episode certainly was 25 or so minutes long, wasn’t it? And this week…well, let’s find out, shall we? Let’s get to the episode!

This episode first aired 15 March 1969.

H = Historian
K = Ketina
R = Ronelyn
EG = ElfGrrl
P = Photobug
A = Altair
E = Ezio
Pe = Penuche

—–

EG: What? That’s how it ends?

H: That’s how this episode ends.

E: What? Not Jamie! No!

EG: What was the guy, really? The guy with the mustache and the beard.

H: We don’t know yet.

H: Milo Clancy

P: That’s an old Western name.

A: He’s like a space cowboy.

H: Some call him the gangster of love.

<laughter>

Pe: That was pretty bad.

P: You mean the episode or the joke.

Pe & H: The joke.

P: It’s better than all of mine.

<no one denies that>

K: Did Ian have an American accent.

H: Yes. He was supposed to be an Amercian. He clearly wasn’t, but he was supposed to be.

R: He was doing a lot better than the guys in the OK Corral.

H: Well, that was more of a fun story.

EG: How can you see what someone’s doing when they’re inside a space ship and they’re in space and you’re in space and you’re inside a space ship? In space!

H: They have visual communcation.

R: Windows.

P: Semaphore.

K: Skype! Lifesize TV Skype things. That TV pillar thing looked like he was standing in it.

R: Maybe he was? Budget cuts.

H: Was anyone else disappointed…

K: Yes.

H: That the general didn’t reply to Ian saying “No! Not the mind probe!”

<laughter>

EG: The 80’s called.

Pe: When Milo asked them about the station being blown up so they would come, do you think he blew it up?

H: No, we saw the pirates blow it up last episode. Unless you thing he’s controlling the pirates.

Pe: I think the woman with the head is doing it.

H: Yeah, I think so too.

R: HOLYCRAPTHEHAIRMETS!

<general agreement>

K: It was the part in the hairmet.

<general agreement>

R: “It’s very tightly fitted to my bwwwrain.”

P: I just figured she was hiding 50 tons of unprocessed ore up there.

R: So, speaking of unprocessed ore… It’s the MOST VALUABLE substance in the universe!

EG: Is it?

R: Yeah. And this guy had 50 thousand tons of it?

H: Yep.

R: And he dresses like Snuffy Smith?

H: The whole thing is meant to be the Western Old Prospector trope. That’s clearly what Bob Holmes was going for – reading about this story. But it is a little ridiculous.

EG: I really wish I was with the Doctor. Because I would have had fun when they were blowing past. I like it when the world goes <slow motion gesture> heeeeeeeeeeeeey.

K: But the Doctor and company were suffocating.

R: Actually he was asphyxiating.

H: So, Elfgrrl, did you enjoy learning about magentism? I like when they put science in there.

E: I didn’t join this project to get educated!

EG: I like it when they add science with science fiction!

R: I liked the Doctor reaching into his pocket and going “look, you ignorant savages, science rocks!” <clinks imaginary magnets together> On a cool note, the space battleship has, what are quite clearly, vector thrust baffle plates around it’s engine outlets.

K: Yeah. I noticed one of them had a crease in it, like they were made out of paper.

H: Like I said, last week, one of the big things about this story that gets kudos, maybe the only thing about this story that gets kudos, is the model works. I liked Clancy’s ship too. And I actually liked the interior of Clancy’s ship taking off.

Pe: It looked like a paper airplane. A nicely formed paper airplane, but still.

EG: “Pew pew!” “Buzz!” “You! You murderer!” Weird ending.

H: That pretty much says it all.

P: Burnt toast and fresh eggs.

R: Laid by computer, no less.

H: Well, it was cooked by computer. We don’t know it was laid by computer.

EG: Are we talking about food or Doctor Who? Because I’m on the food side, just to be honest.

R: I have to say, I really liked Clancy. I thought the crazy space Brexan was really entertaining.

E: He was only on screen for like a minute, and I already knew it would be entertaining.

K: I don’t trust the general.

EG: Me either.

R: I trust the general. I think he’s one of those Doctor Who characters who is too short sighted to be up to anything.

EG: I don’t trust him because he’s way, way too smart!

R: Are we talking about the same guy?

EG: He can figure stuff out. Like quick.

H: I’d say he’s not that bright, personally.

EG: Yeah. He’s smart, but not bright. Which is weird to say, as it’s basically the same thing…crossed over? <crosses her hands over each other>

P: I liked the part where the Scoobies…

H: Please don’t call them that.

P: Where Jamie was saying “He’s got his mysterious face on.”

R: That was really cute.

H: I think this episode was just much more entertaining than last week’s. Hands down. And thank god for that.

P: I think there were at least 4 or 5 models in this episode, and I liked them all.

R: I’m not sure how I felt about the space mosquito. The minnow ship that also looks like a space mosquito.

A: I thought it was cute.

P: Along the same line, another good line from the Doctor “well, I’ve got a screw driver” and he held up a normal screw driver, and my mind went “ert!”

H: Remember, we’ve barely seen the sonic screw driver up until this point.

P: But we have.

E: Sadly this was just a normal, ordinary screwdriver.

<brief discussion of sonic screw driver, or the lack thereof.>

R: I was amused by the opening shot of “cast pile!”

H: I like how Zoe’s hand was artfully placed to potentially cover her shame.

K: Wasn’t she wearing shorts?

H: She was wearing a short skirt.

EG: Not a very comfortable looking skirt.

K: Lots of legs and lots of boots.

R: It looked to me, by the way in the setup to that shot, that they actually dropped the stage. It actually looked like a real stage drop instead of a Star Trek 1-2-3 lean. Which cannot be said later in the episode.

P: When the Doctor is holding onto the switch?

R: Yes.

H: And that was a pretty great cliff hanger, bringing both sides of the story together like that, with a bang.

EG: Yeah, I was wondering when the good part would come.

R: I could argue as a writer, but it worked.

H: I think it worked basically. It’s not elegant, but it finally gets the Doctor and company back involved with the plot, and that’s good for us and our stamina.

R: Oh, I totally agree as far as linking together Clancy and the Doctor’s part. It was more that I would have cut it at the panel blowing in.

H: I guess they didn’t think that was enough peril for cliff hanger.

R: No open door in space. Bad. Air go woosh.

K: We already knew Clancy was going towards the piece.

H: We knew Clancy was going towards the pieces. The Doctor had flung their piece away from the others.

K: They specifically said that Clancy was going towards a piece. The others were in a cluster. I think it was clear that Clancy was going towards the piece that the Doctor was in.

P: You know, for a space gun that was pretty cool for its time.

EG: <miner voice> “I’m an old miner, and I have a space gun!”

P: One of the things the Doctor said caught me off guard. “What on Earth is that” and I thought “You’re not on Earth, Doctor!” He was referring to the sound inside the segment of space station.

K: So I think I know why they shot Jamie.

H: Because Frazer Hines wanted to leave the series?

P: Does Frazer Hines leave the series?

H: I know nothing!

K: Okay, fine, I’ll leave my theory to myself, since it’s potentially a spoiler.

P: Okay, that was some groovy music they had today. It was out there.

R: And speaking of groovy music – oh my god the hair on that radar operator!

K: The hair? The mustache!

R: Pornstash.

EG: The 80’s called. They want their junk back.

H: The 60’s called.

R: We should point out that Elfgrrl is only 9, and doesn’t know the difference between 80’s and 60’s.

K: Are we ready for final thoughts?

H: We gotta be close.

P: The only thing we didn’t bring up was the Cat’s Cradle bit.

K: It did look like a Cat’s Cradle.

H: Yeah.

<discussion of the old string game Cat’s Cradle.>

K: So, as I was saying, final thoughts? Wanna kick us off, Elfgrrl?

EG: Some of the parts was good. The other parts was the 60’s I guess. And the other parts I just don’t understand.

H: Okay.

EG: And that’s basically the whole thing.

H: Penuche.

Pe: I liked reminiscing about the 60’s. I liked the costumes.

P: Music?

Pe: Nah. It wasn’t really 60’s music. They tried to do future music, but it wasn’t really future music. I thought the scenes on the other ship were a little bit boring. And the Doctor just wasn’t in it enough.

<general agreement>

EG: I agree. I reeeeealy agree.

E: <thinks> JAMIE! No!

H: How many times have we ended this with Ezio saying “Jamie, no!”

E: Look, he’s one of my favorite companions by now, okay.

EG: I agree. When you hurt, I hurt.

A: I liked the style of the episode. The uniforms with the shinies were pretty, even if they didn’t fit very well.

K: I thought the helmets were excessive.

A: Yeah.

H: But hilarious.

R: That’s the point. Only a truly evolved society as the capacity to… oh, I don’t know where that’s going.

EG: And one of the helmets was like “Kingdoms! Knights!” We’re talking about space people, not the middle ages.

P: So I liked this episode. It definitely was lively and bright. And this was a story about people, and not just technology.

Pe: <looks at him in disbelief> I didn’t think it was about people at all.

P: I think there was a lot of interaction between the Doctor and the companions.

Pe: He was hardly in it.

P: There were four great lines from the Doctor. And we had a character that we all loved in it, in the form of the old miner. And clearly we have a woman who is obviously doing something devious, but only because we have an omnipotent camera do we know this.

K: Do we actually know she was evil? I thought it was just the helmet which made us assume she was evil.

H: It was just the smile and the “subtle” way she was acting.

Pe: I loved the helmet. With the part in it!

R: As I said earlier, it was a hairmet.

Pe: She played right to the camera.

P: She literally played right to the camera, and that we the viewer know what no one else knows. I think that those interactions is what makes this story memorial.

Pe: No, it made it campy.

P: Well, I’m campy then.

<digression into even more campy classic Doctor Who.>

P: Well, I liked it.

K: Ronelyn?

R: A-mi-go! See you Space Cowboy! <Reference to Cowboy Beebop>

H: Is that it?

R: Yup.

H: Do you have any more?

R: I could go over to Star Wars if you want. <aging miner voice> “C-Class will make point 5 past light speed”

H: Is that it?

EG: Where’s the real Ronelyn? Or else you will have to deal with my wierdness.

R: Well, we could go to Battlestar Galactica.

H: No, that’s fine.

R: “The women from space have hats! And they have a plan!”

<discussion of women and expensive hats>

R: I told you, they’re called hairmets!

K: Are you done, dear? My turn? I don’t care if you’re done, it’s my turn. Okay… yes, the characters were entertaining. And the costumes were also entertaining. The space ships were… okay. But… plot? I’m still lacking in seeing plot. I would like some plot, please.

P: It’s called a mystery. Like the Doctor, who’s got his mysterious face on.

H: And it is only episode two.

R: God help us all.

K: Anyway. I’m undecided about this one. So far, while entertaining, I do not find the story compelling, and once again I say that these longer stories are just too darn long.

EG: L-A-C-K of discussion.

E: Are you talking about what we’re saying, or what’s going on in the episode?

EG: In the episode.

E: Lack of exposition? I think I know what you’re getting at. Pacing, or lack of substance.

K: No plot.

E: Yeah. It’s…

P: What do you mean, no plot. We’ve introduced three different elements trying to get the ore.

H: I agree. There is plot, it’s just not tremendously compelling to us right now.

P: Just because we’re not being spoon fed a plot doesn’t mean it’s not there. We went from one near death to another, true. Or possibly actual death.

H: This is very much the kind of pulp science fiction, if not execution of said plot…

P: Or Scotsman.

H: Plot, that I generally enjoy reading. But it’s not working as well for me here.

<Spoo and SpookyGrrl walk in>

K: Final thoughts?

Sp: It stinks!

Pe: You didn’t miss anything.

K; Okay, Historian, take us home.

H: So, I did like this episode a lot more than last week, it was a lot more fun. Mainly because of <old man voice> “Milo Clancy!”

Sp: <old prospector voice> “Arrgonite, arrgonite! Heeheehehe!”

H: But we’ll see how we do when we get back to reconstructions next week. Hopefully it will keep up this interest, even though we clearly know who the “secret” villain is now.

—–

As usual, I am writing this before we see the episode, so I will hope that we liked it more than last week. Do you have any feelings one way or the other about this story? Or our discussion? Why not let us know by clicking on the “comment” link below! We’ll be back to reconstructions next week. Until then, I remain

THE HISTORIAN

NEXT WEEK: THE SPACE PIRATES EPISODE 3