The novelization of this story was my very first foray into classic Doctor who after falling in love with the new series as a kid. Rented it from my local library. Loved it so much I rented the DVD copy of a little known story called Genesis of the daleks. Haven't given up my obsession to this day.
I first saw this story in a tent surrounded by UNIT soldiers during the 20th anniversary celebrations at Longleat. This story is absolutely fantastic and so well done firing on all cylinders with breath taking location filming. The Dalek spaceship is the only lowlight very ropey and realised far better in the film version even by todays standards and the improved special effects provided for the DVD. The Robomen are creepy like walking dead and the helmets a bit prototype cybernetic. What’s wrong with the Slyther? We've had far worse. It’s the Dalek version of a kitten. Don’t you like kittens. Heartless 😂 It’s good that some care was put into Susan’s departure and it is very heartfelt and no wonder Hartnell's goodbye speech has become one of the defining moments of the entire series. 10/10.
For Susan further into her timeline, seriously check out her arc in Big Finish with the 8th Doctor. One of Steven Moffat's greatest contributions to Doctor Who is canonizing Big Finish.
Love this story, and this review! So nice to see Susan get some love in the writing department, I’m always glad she goes out on a high note. And agreed on this being the Doctor coming into his own in a big way. Here’s hoping we see Susan come back some day! Maybe in the 60th?? 👀
Thank you Nebula! I feel like the 60th *does* have secrets we're not aware of yet and, yes, maybe Susan is one of them. Susan having returned several times in Big Finish is all well and good (and some of those returns *are* very good) but it does feel like the optimum time to bring her back in the TV show is for an anniversary... I guess we shall see!
I was just about to watch this story this evening lol. Was never a big fan of the First when i was younger but watched quite a few of Season 3 (the War Machines, The Ark, Gunfighters, Galaxy 4) and Season 2 (The space museum, The Chase, The Meddling Monk) and found the first doctor enjoyable and see him in a new light. But still prefer The companions Vicki and Steven lol.
He's always been one of my favourites and while I do love both Vicki and Steven dearly (spoilers for later end-of-seasons recap videos, so I won't say much more) I think you probably know by now Barbara is still my favourite!
@@chris_stokes yeah I think I can tell Babs if your fav 🤣. I watched the story last night and was surprised how quickly it flew by. And Barbara (not my fav) actually did something and was kick ass lol. Although her wandering Hair kicked off early in episode 1 lol. Susan's sprained ankle magically heals it'self (maybe Timelord healing). As for Ian he wasn't his usual smug self. The smacked bottom thing I didn't find a problem, the way he said it and the build up to it reminded me of my Granddad he used to say the same thing and in a similar fashion (but he never did smack our bums lol).
I grew up on classic Who and nothing Nu Who has done has ever matched the emotional beats Susans departure hit. It was done so simply. No incidental music, no floods of tears, just silence, dialogue and acting 😎😎😎🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 Nu Who and Classic Who missed a trick in not bringing back Susan for one last story and have her regenerate after using the line "this old body is wearing a bit thin now". Ah well
I agree that the departure of Susan was the highlight of the series up to that point. But maybe not for the same reason you point out. 😁 Susan started out with such promise, but was woefully underserved by the writing that followed. She gets a few highlights in The Daleks and The Sensorites, but is otherwise often relegated to being a spare character. I think Vicki got better writing (and better acting, if I’m being honest). She was a breath of fresh air for the series.
Yes I do, but only really played by Carole Ann Ford. I don't think it would have as much potency if it were another actor, even though it stands to reason it could be. Her returns in Big Finish work as well as they do because it's Carole Ann Ford playing her in my opinion. Partly because you've now got the Doctor's granddaughter appearing older than the Doctor, which I think is a fun dynamic.
@@chris_stokes Point taken, but would you object to her regenerating into a new form if Carole returned for 1 or more stories and then Susan got killed on screen as Carole is getting on, and may want to pass on the baton, if the character did ever return?
@@josephchambers2000 oh yeah if we see the regeneration then that's a whole different kettle of fish. But I do think Susan works best revisited infrequently - as the first companion to leave it feels a big part of the Doctor's character to me that she's no longer part of his life. But Carole coming back and regenerating into a new form isn't something I'd be automatically opposed to in theory, as long as then the new Susan isn't a regular character on the show. What about you?
@@chris_stokes I’d look at it like Romana and wouldn’t mind seeing Carole return for an episode, regenerate into a new form, travel with the Doctor for a series and then go back to Gallifrey (or something, I’m not even sure if Gallifrey is or is not destroyed anymore). All I am saying, is that if the BBC see this, I am open to the idea of auditioning to play a future male regeneration. If nothing else, it would bolster my attempts to become a professional actor.
If Carole Ann Ford was to meet David Bradley and Claudia Grant, this would make a great story line with a twist on Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov’s self-consistency principle also known as the ‘‘grandfather paradox’’. What’s more, I would really like to see a Doctor Who spin-off with Bradley, Grant plus Jamie Glover as Ian, Jemma Powell as Barbara, Robin Varley as Ben and Ellie Spicer as Polly. Got my fingers crossed that Russell T Davies might have plans for such a reboot of classic Who based on Hartnell’s Doctor.
I would quite like to read the Big Finish stories in book form or if they were produced as animations, but the audio CD’s are rather expensive and the format doesn’t really appeal. I listen to music on its own, but I’ve not listen to stories on the radio since the ‘The Goon Show’, ‘The Clitheroe Kid’ or ‘The Navy Lark’ back in the 1960s. . TV and DVDs can be enjoyed with my family and a book is more personal as we create the characters in our own heads, for me personally the audio format doesn’t work. That’s why I’d really love a reboot of the First Doctor with David Bradley as a TV series.
There are times, when I want to edit the TV “Dalek invasion” with parts of the Cushing movie, and make a perfect tale…I don’t have the skills, yet would watch if that edit was done. 🙄
Oooh that actually sounds like a fun idea. Which bits of the films would you put in? Just Dalek footage? Or would you replace Hartnell and co with Cushing and co? 😂
@@chris_stokes I would not include Tom as Roboman, and the meal of candies. Or much of the music from the film. The attack on the Dalek ship is better, and the final battle -than the TV version. Would have to keep Susan from Tv, not the movie. The trip around London with Barbara, Jenny, and Dortmund is so atmospheric -yet, London should be more destroyed by the Daleks, have always thought that central London should have destruction. Oh, and keep Philip Madoc as the man who does the blackmarket -toss the slyther. /The first Dalek film, besides the color, I don't care for much (idiot Ian, lack of danger and fear in the characters, and Tadis is daft)
The Slither feels like such an unnecessary addition to this story. I feel like almost every brilliant Doctor Who story has some unnecessary monster at some point.
