Category: Classic Season 02

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Classic Season 02

Planet Of Giants

Doctor WhoJust prior to materialization, the TARDIS main doors open prematurely. Ian, Susan and Barbara struggle to close them, and the ship seems to make a smooth landing. Outside, the time travelers find the remains of an enormous earthworm and ants at least a foot in length. When Ian and Susan find a huge sign which is clearly from present-day Earth, and a gigantic matchstick almost hits the Doctor and Barbara, the conclusion is obvious – the in-flight accident has reduced the crew of the TARDIS in size. The planet on which they have landed is Earth, and everything from a normal human being’s footsteps to an ordinary housecat is a potentially lethal danger to the time travelers. Something caused the accident that shrunk them…but can they reverse the damage?

Season 2 Regular Cast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), William Russell (Ian Chesterson), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Maureen O’Brien (Vicki), Peter Purves (Steven)

written by Louis Marks
directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Douglas Camfield
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Alan Tilvern (Forester), Frank Crawshaw (Farrow), Reginald Barratt (Smithers), Rosemary Johnson (Hilda), Fred Ferris (Bert)

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS arrives on the edge of the Thames, but when the Doctor and his friends step outside and look around, it’s obvious that London has seen better days. Susan hurts herself while climbing onto a crumbling bridge to look around, and Barbara stays to tend to her as Ian and the Doctor investigate a nearby warehouse, where they find a murdered man with a strange device attached to his head. A pair of desperate-looking men take Susan and Barbara to their hiding place, telling them it’s not safe to wander around London. The Doctor and Ian encounter a group of men wearing the same unusual headgear, commanded by Daleks. The Daleks have dominated Earth for over ten years, enslaving humanity in an effort to mine something of vital importance under the Earth’s crust. A resistance movement is fighting against the Daleks, but they need outside help from someone who has experience in beating the Daleks.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Richard Martin
music by Francis Chagrin

Guest Cast: Bernard Kay (Carl Tyler), Peter Fraser (David Campbell), Alan Judd (Dortmun), Martyn Huntley, Peter Badger, Reg Tyler, Bill Moss (Robomen), Robert Aldous (Rebel), Robert Jewell, Gerald Taylor, Nick Evans, Kevin Manser, Peter Murphy (Daleks), Peter Hawkins, David Graham (Dalek voices), Ann Davies (Jenny), Michael Goldie (Craddock), Michael Davis (Thomson), Richard McNeff (Baker), Graham Rigby (Larry Madison), Nicholas Smith (Wells), Nick Evans (Slyther), Patrick O’ Connell (Ashton)

Broadcast from November 21 through December 26, 1964

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Rescue

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS comes to rest on the planet Dido, where its arrival is detected by the sensors of a crashed ship from Earth. The shipwreck’s only two survivors, a girl named Vicki and a man named Bennett, disagree on whether or not rescue is coming or is even possible. Vicki insists that the sensor reading should be investigated, but Bennett insists that any exploration won’t be looked kindly upon by a spiny creature called Koquillion, who has already killed the rest of the surviving crew. After attacking Ian and Barbara the moment they emerge from the TARDIS, Koquillion does indeed put in an appearance at the crashed ship, unaware that Vicki has rescued Barbara and nursed her back to health. As soon as Koquillion leaves, Vicki reveals Barbara to Bennett and seems puzzled by his reaction – he seems displeased that they will have another set of hands and eyes to use in their struggle against Koquillion. The Doctor, who has taken to an uncharacteristic bout of sulking in the wake of Susan’s departure, is energized by the mystery and goes with Ian to search for Barbara, braving Dido’s treacherous landscape and local life forms until they reach the crashed ship. The Doctor demands to speak to Bennett, but finds him curiously absent – od, since Bennett has been described as nearly bedridden. The Doctor discovers and explores a trap door, concealing evidence of the horrible truth: Bennett and Koquillion share a link that nobody expected, and Vicki will be in terrible danger if she doesn’t leave Dido with the TARDIS.

written by David Whitaker
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Tristram Cary

Guest Cast: Ray Barrett (Bennett/Koquillion), Tom Sheridan (Space Captain)

Broadcast from January 2 through 9, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Romans

Doctor WhoVicki, thus far unimpressed with the promise of adventure aboard the TARDIS, gets more than she bargained for when the time machine touches down on a steep ledge and takes a tumble with its time travelers inside. When they come to, they find themselves in Roman Empire at its height, and take advantage of the hospitality and indolence offered to them – for weeks. The Doctor and Vicki go to explore Rome itself, but in their absence, Ian and Barbara are captured and sold as slaves. Ian manages to escape, but he is recaptured and dragged back to the dungeon, where he learns that Barbara has been sold while he was gone. The Doctor and Vicki happen upon the body of a murdered man, but before they can do more than pick up the victim’s lyre, a centurion appears and assumes that the Doctor is a musician en route to Rome. When the Doctor and Vicki arrive, they find that the Doctor has assumed the identity of a court musician whose personal patron is the Emperor Nero – who, unbeknownst to them, has bought Barbara as his newest slave. And unknown to any of the others, Ian awaits his fate as a gladiator…

written by Dennis Spooner
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Raymond Jones

Guest Cast: Derek Sydney (Sevcheria), Nicholas Evans (Didius), Dennis Edwards (Centurion), Margot Thomas (Stall-holder), Edward Kelsey (Slavebuyer), Bart Allison (Maximus Petullian), Barry Jackson (Ascaris), Peter Diamond (Delos), Michael Peake (Tavius), Dorothy-Rose Gribble (Woman slave), Gertan Klauber (Galley Master), Ernest Jennings, John Caesar (Men in market), Tony Lambden (Messenger), Derek Francis (Nero), Brian Proudfoot (Tigilinus), Ann Tirard (Locusta), Kay Patrick (Poppaea)

Notes: This early adventure is alluded to very vaguely by the tenth Doctor, who asserts – in The Fires Of Pompeii (2008) – that he had nothing to do with Rome burning, and then backpedals a little bit from that statement.

Broadcast from January 16 through February 6, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Web Planet

Doctor WhoAfter the TARDIS leaves Rome behind, it’s dragged off course to the planet Vortis, where some force keeps the time machine trapped. The Doctor’s attempts to take off again are futile, and he and Ian leave the TARDIS as Vicki recovers from hearing a strange noise that had an unusual effect on her. Aboard the TARDIS, Babara also experiences something odd, as though she’s being drawn out of the time machine and onto the planet’s surface. There, she encounters the butterfly-like Menoptera, who are desperately planning the last battle of a war against the ant-like Zarbi, who have the advantage in their sheer numbers. Controlled by a malevolent consciousness called the Animus, the Zarbi move the TARDIS from its landing site, capture the Doctor, Ian and Vicki, and make a deal with the Doctor: his friends’ lives will only be spared if he helps to defeat the Menoptera.

written by Bill Strutton
directed by Richard Martin / insect movement by Roslyn de Winter
music from stock music library

Guest Cast: Robert Jewell, Jack Pitt, Gerald Taylor, Hugh Lund, John Scott Martin, Kevin Manser (Zarbi), Roslyn de Winter (Vrestin), Arne Gordon (Hrostar), Arthur Blake (Hrhoonda), Jolyon Booth (Prapilius), Jocelyn Birdsall (Hlynia), Martin Jarvis (Captain Hilio), Ian Thompson (Hetra), Barbara Joss (Nemini), Catherine Fleming (voice of the Animus)

Broadcast from February 13 through March 20, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Crusade

Doctor WhoThe TARDIS brings the Doctor and his friends to 12th century Palestine – the time of King Richard’s Crusade into the Muslim holy lands. Barbara is abducted by the Saracens and is held prisoner. The Doctor, Vicki and Ian fend off a Saracen attack are found by King Richard the Lionhearted and his men. Ian is infuriated when his request for help in rescuing Barbara is met with King Richard’s refusal, but the Doctor smoothes things over with the King and wind up becoming a member of the royal court, while Ian is knighted and sent on his way to save Barbara and the King’s brother – and to offer the hand of the King’s sister, Joanna, to Saladin in the hopes that their marriage would end the ongoing conflict. The Doctor and Vicki – the latter masquerading as a boy – try to keep their necks out of the court intrigue as they discover that King Richard has told his sister nothing of his plan for peace. In Saladin’s court, Barbara finds an ally who has his pledged vengeance upon the Emir…but this new ally leaves it to Barbara to carry out his murderous revenge for him.

written by David Whitaker
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: John Flint (William des Preaux), Walter Randall (El Akir), Julian Glover (Richard the Lionheart), David Anderson (Reynier de Marun), Bruce Wightman (William de Tornebu), Reg Pritchard (Ben Daheer), Tony Caunter (Thatcher), Roger Avon (Saphadin), Bernard Kay (Saladin), Derek Ware, Valentino Musetti, Anthony Colby (Saracen Warriors), Jean Marsh (Joanna), Robert Lankesheer (Chamberlain), Zohra Segal (Sheyrah), Gabor Baraker (Luigi Ferrigo), Chris Konyils, Raymond Novak (Saracen Guards), George Little (Haroun), Pera Markham (Safiya), John Bay (Earl of Leicester), Sandra Hampton (Maimuna), Viviane Sorrel (Fatima), Diane McKenzie (Hafsa), Tutte Lemkow (Ibrahim), Billy Cornelius (Soldier)

Notes: Guest star Jean Marsh would return in the following season, in the role of one-time TARDIS traveler Sara Kingdom in The Daleks’ Masterplan, and again as Morgaine in 1989’s Battlefield. Julian Glover would also appear in Doctor Who again, in the classic 1979 Tom Baker story City Of Death.

Broadcast from March 27 through April 17, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Space Museum

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Vicki, Ian and Barbara experience a number of completely inexplicable phenomena. Their clothes are suddenly different, and broken glasses instantly leap back into one piece. The TARDIS has arrived on a bleak planet whose only sign of civilization is a museum of space vehicles and hardware – and, as they discover to their horror, travelers. At first, no one else in the museum can see, hear or touch the Doctor or his friends, and they soon find out why – they’re already exhibits in the museum, a fate they must now try to avoid.

written by Glyn Jones
directed by Mervyn Pinfield
music not credited

Guest Star: Peter Sanders (Sita), Peter Craze (Dako), Richard Shaw (Lobos), Jeremy Bulloch (Tor), Salvin Stewart (Messenger), Peter Diamond (Technician), Ivor Salter (Commander), Billy Cornelius (Guard), Murphy Grumbar (Dalek), Peter Hawkins (Dalek voice)

Broadcast from April 24 through May 15, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Chase

Doctor WhoIn this mostly comedic six-parter, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are vacationing on the desert world of Aridius when they find themselves on the run from the Daleks, who have invented their own time vehicle. After a number of brief stops, ranging from the Empire State Building to the Marie Celeste to a haunted house full of robots, the Doctor is forced to make his last stand against the Daleks – at least for this season of the series – on the planet Mechanus, where he loses two companions and gains a new one.

written by Terry Nation
directed by Richard Martin
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Robert Marsden (Abraham Lincoln), Hugh Walters (William Shakespeare), Roger Hammond (Roger Bacon), Vivienne Bennett (Queen Elizabeth I), Richard Coe (TV announcer), The Beatles (themselves), Jack Pitt (Mire Beast), Gerald Taylor, Kevin Manser, Robert Jewell, John Scott Martin (Daleks), Peter Hawkins, David Graham (Dalek voices), Ian Thompson (Malsan), Hywel Bennett (Rynian), Al Raymond (Prondyn), Arne Gordon (Guide), Peter Purves (Morton Dill), Dennis Chinnery (Albert Richardson), David Blake Kelly (Captain Briggs), Patrick Carter (Bosun), Douglas Ditta (Willoughby), Jack Pitt (Stewart), John Maxim (Frankenstein’s Monster), Malcolm Rogers (Dracula), Roslyn de Winter (Grey Lady), Edmund Warwick (Robot Doctor), Murphy Grumbar, Jack Pitt, John Scott Martin, Ken Tyllson (Mechanoids), David Graham (Mechanoid voices), Derek Ware (Bus Conductor)

Note: Peter Purves plays the part of Morton Dill in an early episode of this serial, but then later joins the regular cast in the role of stranded astronaut Steven Taylor.

Broadcast from May 22 through June 26, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

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Classic Season 02 Doctor Who

The Time Meddler

Doctor WhoThe Doctor seems to calmly accept that Earth space pilot Steven Taylor, stranded on the planet Mechanus, has stowed away aboard the TARDIS following their harrowing adventure with the Daleks. The TARDIS arrives on 11th century Earth, and despite all evidence to the contrary, Steven refuses to believe that he is now traveling in a time machine. The Doctor receives a warm welcome from the locals and quickly determines that he has arrived in 1066 A.D., just prior to a Viking invasion of Northumbria. But something is amiss – the chanting of the monks in a nearby monastery seems to slow down, as if it has been recorded. Steven and Vicki have a run-in with another local, finding a 20th century watch on his wrist. It soon becomes apparent that someone else capable of time travel is here, someone who has no ethical qualms with a little bit of historical tampering. The Doctor sneaks into the monastery and finds that a tape player is indeed responsible for the music…but he is then trapped, a prisoner of a lone Monk who seems to have a wide array of anachronistic technology, including his own TARDIS. Now, in the shadow of a great historic battle, the Doctor and his friends must try to wrest the timeline back from the Monk’s machinations.

written by Dennis Spooner
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Dudley Simpson

Guest Cast: Peter Butterworth (Monk), Alethea Charlton (Edith), Peter Russell (Eldred), Michael Miller (Wulnoth), Michael Guest (Hunter), Norman Hartley (Ulf), Geoffrey Cheshire (Viking Leader), David Anderson (Sven), Ronald Rich (Gunnar)

Broadcast from July 3 through 24, 1965

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green