Doctor Who: Marco Polo

The Roof of the World/The Singing Sands/Five Hundred Eyes/The Wall of Lies/Rider from Shang-Tu/Mighty Kublai Khan/Assassin at Peking

And now for a little history lesson courtesy of Doctor Who. We meet Marco Polo, at the time employed and/or held captive with a constant promise of release and the possibility of return to his home dangled before him like a carrot before a donkey. We also get acquainted with the mighty Kublai Khan.

My memory of this serial (and, indeed, a few serials to follow) is sketchy, but it involves tricking a Chinese emperor and fighting off would-be assassins as well as assisting Mr. Polo in his quest to finally be freed.

What I do remember about this serial (and, indeed a few serials to follow) is that at this point I don't actually care for the show. Yet. I have seen a couple of the new episodes and know that some of the old stuff must be good or at the least watchable. Season 1 is not quite there yet. The First Doctor does not seem at all impressively smart and says "hm" a lot.

But I'll be damned if I don't find the point when everything starts to make sense and I will understand why this show is such a cult phenomenon.

3/10

Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction

The Edge of Destruction/The Brink of Disaster

This feels like a filler. In the first part of the two-part serial next to nothing happens. The group comes to after the explosion that shook them at the end of The Daleks. They barely remember who they are at first and they turn on each other - or, it is the Doctor and Susan v. Barbara and Ian.

The Doctor is being his usual pompous self, only now with his had bandaged up because he cracked it open. The doors of the Tardis appear to open by them selves, which is of course impossible (!) and everyone accuses everyone else of tampering with the ship. Not sure how the two teachers would even attempt to do such a thing, considering that they are fairly new to this and don't really know how anything works, but whatever.

And...they magically change costumes. Or they do it off-screen within the matter of minutes.

In the second part, the Doctor wants the teacher off the ship. Little sentimental Susan, of course, goes all sappy and implores him to rethink. Then he suddenly realizes that they are in grave danger and he forgets all about throwing them out. Ian does a lot of fainting.

Eventually, the realize what is wrong with the ship. The Tardis has been trying to warn them of a problem all along (apparently, it is not sophisticated enough to communicate properly). The only problem is some switch and they fix it just before time is running out ("We have 10 minutes to survive!" - "10 minutes? As little as that?" - "Maybe less."). Aaaaaaah!!! So close!

In the end, the Doctor suddenly realizes the worth of the school teachers. Well, one, at least.

The set-up for the next serial is a huge footprint in the snow.

3/10

Doctor Who: The Daleks

The Dead Planet/The Survivors/The Escape/The Ambush/The Expedition/The Ordeal/The Rescue

The Daleks are awesome. They are cute and surprisingly cuddly for evil robots. They attack you with plungers (how great is that?!) and you can fool them by simply hiding inside one and pretend to be one of them.

Serial 2 of Doctor Who establishes the big nemesis of the Doctor(s) for years - decades, even! - to come. And a good thing, too.

The unlikely travel companions have to stick together to overcome a dire situation and save themselves from the evil Daleks. I still don't care for any of them but it's good to see them pull together and set their collective minds to work. Not that their togetherness seems to last very long (they forget they ever knew each other in the very next serial).

Not only do they have to fight off the Daleks, but also radiation (gasp!), thankfully they have been given vials of anti-radiation drugs just outside the Tardis by the Thals (not important). Phew!

This has cliffhangers! Firstly, the Dalek arm reaching out for Barbara (the female school teacher), and in the end AN EXPLOSION!

7/10

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

An Unearthly Child/The Cave of Skulls/The Forest of Fear/The Firemaker

I started watching Doctor Who not too long ago (yes, yes, late to the party). Actually, I went all the way back to the very beginning. The reason I finally did succumb to watching it is because I adore Peter Capaldi. Sure, I could've just jumped in with his incarnation of the Doctor, but where is the fun in that.

So, An Unearthly Child it is.

Here's a question: are we supposed to like the First Doctor? Because I really don't. Nor do I care much for his shrieky granddaughter Susan. The school teachers that come along for the ride are sort of bland, too. Not the best start, but this was made in a much more innocent time and the lasted, even though the timing for their first episode couldn't have been worse (aired the day after JFK was killed), so there must have been something out it. I feel that time has not been kind to the early days of the show.

The first adventure jumps all the way back to the days of the cavemen (or a planet with cavemen and their enemies). They really jumped in with both feet and one has to admire that. The story is, you know, strange and not very scary (remember: innocent times).

This all coming from someone that is probably slightly jaded from watching tons of mysteries and horror stories and the like.

Serial 2 then went on to introduce the Daleks! There's something to stick around for!

5/10