The Edge of Destruction by David Whitaker
8 February - 15 February 1964
Episode One - The Edge of Destruction
I've heard some people allege that the first thirteen episodes of Doctor Who form something of a self-contained arc. The shoe fits; the next episode marks the end of the original production block, and possibly would have marked the end of Who altogether if the Daleks weren't presently taking Britain by storm. Thanks, Terry. If it weren't for these circumstances, it's easy to imagine Barbara and Ian walking off the ship not into a tantalizing glimpse of a story that doesn't exist anymore, but back into contemporary London, having just endured the climax of the otherworldly torment the TARDIS has to offer.
It's odd to see the TARDIS turn into a place of menace, given that in the previous two stories it has been shown as a place of refuge or means of escape. Recall, though, just how terrifying Barbara and Ian find it in the very first episode. The TARDIS isn't just a ship - it's a nigh-eldritch entity, refusing to take directions properly, ignoring everything 20th century people know about physics and geometry, and now, we see, potentially treacherous when in technical fault. The TARDIS is the gateway to infinite worlds and infinite possibilities, but there can never be discovery without danger, and never wonder without a price.
Oh, and David Whitaker wrote this one! I loved The Evil of the Daleks when I came to it in my attempt at a randomized marathon. This is visibly an earlier example of his work, but I'll make no secret of the fact that I enjoyed it pretty well. In later years something like this would be panned as a "budget episode", employing as it does only an existing set and the four main cast members. It's a claustrophobic little affair, but it does give us a chance to finally focus on our cast members. Conveniently, that's something I've been (more or less) purposefully neglecting. Let's have a look.
The Doctor has been irascible and untrusting since we first met him, and under the circumstances we see here, he turns worse, openly accusing his passengers of sabotage and threatening to jettison them. Ian turns on the Doctor in turn, desperate to look out for himself and Barbara, even if it means having a scrap. His straightforward "action hero" persona which we've seen thus far turns into something quite self-destructive here, considering the Doctor's threats. Susan turns into some sort of delirious nightmare child, as seen in the famous scissors bit, but aside from falling apart amidst the chaos, doesn't really get many specific character moments. Barbara, lastly, manages to hold onto her cool, looking for answers even as the others turn on one another. When the Doctor tries to turn his invective on her, she gives him a pointed tongue-lashing that manages leave even him looking chastened - I'm pretty sure this was the moment when I decided that I really like her.
It is interesting how the random memory loss and mood swings seem to befall our quartet of heroes. It seems to imply that the ship itself is messing with their brains, even if it's never actually explained in these episodes. I'm not sure whether to take this as an early sign of the TARDIS's telepathic capabilities or just as a storytelling device.
This was quite an interesting character piece for sure. We're led to sympathize with Ian and Barbara's plight more, and the Doctor is definitely not framed as being trustworthy here.
Episode Two - The Brink of Disaster
Things in the TARDIS continue to get dodgier. The Cloister Bell hasn't been invented yet, so a grating klaxon is what reminds us that, as the Doctor tells us, we're hurtling towards the brink of destruction! The precipice of disintegration! The event horizon of sad-time-ification! Heavens, they really didn't name these two episodes too creatively, did they? It seems as if the ship will destroy itself soon if its occupants can't put aside their own self-destruction long enough to find an answer. Mercifully Barbara turns up with an answer that, uhm... approximates something that actually makes sense. Whatever it is, it puts them on the right tack. Soon, the Doctor manages to discover the mechanical fault which caused the ship to go into lockdown to start with, a broken spring that would someday be the forerunner of dozens of other Who stories in which a mechanical error leads into the action. A sigh of relief. The trouble has passed.
It's charming to see that the TARDIS crew is stronger for going through all this. The Doctor finally seems to have found an appreciation for the talents of his stowaways, and appears to have especially taken a shine to Barbara. (Relatable.) For the first time, they appear to really be a team, one which can focus on external conflicts as they make their way through time and space instead of locking horns with each other.
This was quite a strong little two-episode piece, I thought, not as compelling as some other stories further down the line, but providing a pleasing capstone to the program's first run of episodes.
Onwards to Marco Polo!
Unforgettable Dialogue
"One man's law is another man's crime. Sleep on it, Chesterton. Sleep on it."
"As we learn about each other, so we learn about ourselves"
"I acquired that from Gilbert and Sullivan." "Really? I thought it was made for two!"
Dialogue I wish I could forget
"We had time taken away from us, and now it's been given back to us because it's running out" (???)
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 16 September 2017.)
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