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It's still fairly fresh in my mind because the audio version of that was released a few months ago, too!
Episode Two: “Day of Armageddon”
I listened to episode two on the way home from work yesterday afternoon, then I watched it yesterday evening just to compare… not so much to compare it to the audio only version, but to compare it to the only other time I’ve ever watched it. I bought “Lost In Time” early on in my Doctor Who watching, perhaps too early. Needless to say I enjoyed it much more the second time through, not only in the context of the rest of the story, but in context of all the Doctor Who I’ve seen since, especially First Doctor.
Searching the jungle using flame throwers, the Dalaks find the TARDIS while the Doctor is away. Space Agent Vyon ill-advisedly leaves the safety of the TARDIS taking Katarina and the unconscious Steven with him. After meeting up with the Doctor, they overpower one of the delegates, the Doctor dons his robe and joins the alliance in disguise. Meanwhile, Vyon, Steven and Katarina attempt to steal the space ship of Mavic Chen, Guarian of the Solar System.
Mavic Chen looks like an albino Klingon and is conspiring against the Dalek’s even as he pretends to ally with them. He has supplied a small amount of the rare element “Taranium” to power the Daleks’ “Time Destroctor” weapon. The delegate whom the Doctor is impersonating wakes up and sounds the alarm, but the Doctor escapes with the Taranium in the confusion.
Cliffhanger: Vyon prepares to depart and leave the Doctor behind!
Episode Three: “Devil’s Planet”
The Doctor arrives on board at the last second and they take off to warn Earth of Mavic Chen’s duplicity and the impending Dalek attack. In hot pursuit, the Dalaks use a randomizer to disable the controls of the stolen ship, and it crashes to Desperus, a prison planet. The Dalek ship crash lands as well, and the Doctor and company must fight off a group of prisoners before they are able to repair the damage and take off again.
Cliffhanger: Katarina checks the airlock and is surprised by a convict who has sneaked aboard!
This is a really fast-paced serial, yet also very political (in an allegorical way). Too bad it’s mostly missing.
Episode Eight: “Volcano”
Last week, you will recall that the Doctor passed off a fake tararium core to buy their freedom. In this episode, the Dalak’s test it in their Time Destructor and it fails. When they realize they have been tricked, they request a time machine from the planet Skaro to pursue the Doctor.
Meanwhile, the Doctor and crew have landed on a volcanic planet named Tigus*, but they have been followed. Emerging from a TARDIS disguised as a large boulder is the Meddling Monk, who the Doctor and Steven have encountered once before and left stranded on Earth in the year 1066. (I’ve been looking forward to this development and re-watched “The Time Meddler” recently so the events of that story would be fresh in my mind.) The Monk has managed to repair the TARDIS, and while the Doctor, Steven and Sara are scouting, the Monk uses a laser-like device to seal the lock of the Doctor’s TARDIS.
When the Doctor and the Monk first meet they pretend to be on good terms until the Monk reveals that he plans to strand the Doctor on Tigus the same way the Doctor stranded him in 1066. Fortunately, the sun of the volcanic planet has unique properties which, when focused through the Doctor’s ring, un-fuses the lock. The Doctor and company depart and the Monk follows.
*They also attend a cricket match and land in Trafalgar Square on New Year's Eve, 1966.
Good stuff!
Episode Nine: “Golden Death”
Given that many Doctor Who six-parters tend to drag in the middle, one might expect this, the longest Doctor Who serial ever, to bog down long about now, but nope! It keeps barreling full speed ahead! Now the Doctor is surrounded on three sides by the Daleks, the Monk, and… but wait. I’m getting ahead of myself.
After escaping from the Monk on Tigus, the Doctor lands the TARDIS in ancient Egypt to effect further repairs. A ship materializes after them, which they assume to be the Monk’s TARDIS but is in reality the Daleks. Steven and Sara go to meet it in an attempt to be proactive, but when they discover it’s the Daleks they flee right into the hands of the Egyptians. The Monk has arrived, too, and he is captured by the Daleks. Mavic Chen convinces the Monk to work for them against the Doctor. The Monk is played largely for comic relief, more mischievous than evil, but still dangerous. He continues to be a walking anachronism, this time wearing sunglasses (along with his monk’s robes, presumably) in ancient Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Doctor has discovered the Monk’s TARDIS and begins flipping through settings of the chameleon circuit until he settles on a police box. I think he freezes it in that configuration, but I’m unclear on this point.
There’s one scene in which hundreds (well, probably “dozens”) of Daleks chant, “Conquest! Conquest! Conquest!” I always try to visualize these audio episodes how they would have been produced at the time rather than how they might look with today’s budget. This one was probably shot using many small models, but I will go so far as to visualize several dozen full-sized Daleks.
Cliffhanger: In a tomb, Steven and Sara witness a bandaged hand emerge from beneath the lid of a sarcophagus.
Tonight, I’ll watch episode ten on the “Lost in Time” set.
Oh, that'd be cool. (Nothing more than "wishful thinking," I take it?)
Speaking of the Monk (and Patrick Stewart*), when he first came out of his TARDIS this episode his own little "Peter and the Wolf" theme music was playing in the background.
*Patrick Stewart once narrated Peter and the Wolf. I have in on CD, but I prefer Sting's version.
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