Doctor Who - The Keys Of Marinus [DVD] [1964]

I am rewatching Dr Who in order, and filling in occasional gaps in my collection. I watched this with no expectations and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm old enough to remember William Hartnell's Dr Who, though not in detail. Patrick Troughton is the first doctor I remember clearly.I like the fact that the serials had different numbers of episodes, and since there was no press release, you didn't know what was going to happen that week until you watched it. The NuWho trend of 45 minute episodes doesn't really allow me to get engaged, despite meta-narratives. Though, of course, I still watch!The key to enjoying 60s Dr Who is to remember that we watched the originals on much smaller screens with 405 lines on them, and they came out once per week, so don't try to binge watch - I tend to watch them one or two at a time.So, if you're someone who enjoys Classic Dr Who, this is an enjoyable quest serial, with a different setting almost every week. Susan doesn't have much to do other than scream, and I can see why the actress got bored with that. Barbara has to see off a hunter with dishonourable intentions, and Ian is still wearing his Marco Polo outfit.All good fun, and worth £5.99 of anyone's money! :)

Very Good

Back in 1963 nobody expected Doctor Who to be a major hit, or last very long. But then along came the daleks, and the show really took off. With it being on screen for over forty weeks of the year the pace of the production meant that it was sometimes hard for the production team to keep up.So for the fifth story of the first season they turned to terry nation, who'd just created the daleks. One of a group of tv writers who were responsible for the vast majority of episodic drama of the time, he could turn out a script quickly and whenever required.This story finds the tardis crew landing on the world of marinus. A machine there has the ability to remove evil from people's mind. But the keys that control it have been hidden all over the planet, lest they fall into the wrong hands. With the nasty creatures called the voord trying to seize the machine for themselves, the only hope the planet has is for the tardis crew to find the keys.An episodic story ensues, with each key being in a very different location allowing for a different kind of adventure each week. and the inveitable confrontation with the voord in part six.The limitations of this are manifold. William Hartnell was entitled to two weeks off so the doctor has to be written out in the middle of the story. the small budget and the technical limitations of the time and the need for new sets every week result in the whole thing being very stagy. And the voord, tipped to be the next big thing after the daleks, never really amount to much. in their first appearance they're men in wetsuits but in their next appearance in the story they're humanoid creatures who look like men in wetsuits.And yet the whole thing proceeds very nicely. Like many old doctor whos you can watch this and admire how they made a purse [not quite a silk one] from a sow's ear. and the production does it's best. It doesn't have the problems of so many 1980's stories of poor production values down to bbc apathy of the time. It fights against those limitations.This is not fast paced spectacular television, it's a nice little relic of days gone by and an entertaining little story with it.the age of the whole thing means there's not much they could provide by way of extras.there's a commentary from william russell [companion Ian] Carole Ann Ford [Companion Susan] the director John Gorrie and the Designer Raymond Cusick.The one feature, the sets of marinus, is a nine minute long interview with raymond cusick about his work on the story. a fascinating look at the things designers had to contend with at the time he's a very good talker and an interesting listen. And very forthright with it. Don't switch off the extra till you've seen what's after the end credits.In addition to the usual radio times listings of the story as a pdf file there's also one showing some sweet cards of the time which tell a short story involving the doctor and friends and the daleks and the voord.there's also the usual items for this range: production information subtitles, coming soon trailer for a forthcoming doctor who dvd, a photo gallery of stills from the story and the production, english language subtitles and language track and audio captioning.This is a single disc release, and I couldnt find any easter eggs. The dvd starts with a general trailer for the range but you can skip that by pressing the next button.So whilst this may not be for every doctor who fan, it's not a bad record of an integral part of the show's very early days

As someone who has watched the series since the very beginning I am happy to say that this is my favourite story of them all. I like the idea that it is set in different locations and instead of one long story it is composed of a number of smaller ones. I remember when I first saw it that I found the Voord an interesting adversary for the Doctor and I was surprised that they only featured in the first and last episodes. Sadly William Hartnell is absent for two episodes but as usual he makes his presence felt whenever he appears. William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Carole Ann Ford are as excellent as ever and all appear throughout the episodes. I missed episodes 2 and 3 when they were first transmitted and I was delighted when years later I got to see the complete story. Back in the 1960s it wasn't always possible to be at a TV set when you got your one and only chance to see the episodes. While I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a full documentay on this DVD what extras there are, are very good. The commentary is interesting and I like the complete set of sweet cigarette cards. I only managed to get a few of these when they were originally released. The text commentary is good too and of course the episodes look better than they have ever looked. It was great to see this story again and I can watch it again and again being fully involved in what is going on ever time. I find it difficult to understand Doctor Who fans who don't enjoy this story or The Web Planet - another of my all time favourites. Perhaps it makes a difference if you were there when it was originally transmitted. Doctor Who for me in its first three seasons was at its most magical and wonderful. I am fortunate in that I can watch these stories today and still enjoy them - just as much as I did back in the 1960s.