The Space Museum [Doctor Who, Story 15]

The Space Museum by Glyn Jones

24 April - 15 May 1965

Yes, well… It’s all a bit… That is to say… It’s kind of... not very good.

But what if it was? There’s at least the kernel of something here. Everyone agrees that the first episode is pretty darned good, so there was potential here at some point. I’d go out on a limb so far as to say that this story is borderline worthwhile. So let’s keep a positive viewpoint here and focus on what’s actually good about The Space Museum. God help me.

Let’s not get it twisted; the eponymous first episode is pretty phenomenal. The torch of weirdness lit by The Web Planet is well and truly picked up here, distilled into twenty-five minutes of frightening sci-fi paranoia as the main cast wanders through the wrong time zone and gradually discovers that something isn’t quite right. The four characters of the main cast are at their best, alert and clever and funny as they absorb this information. The shot of the shattered glass of water rewinding its way into a startled Vicki’s hand is one of the most memorable moments of this season. And the crux of the serial itself, the revelation that the TARDIS crew will have to avert the timeline from their own certain deaths upon seeing the gruesome sight of themselves stuffed or frozen as museum displays, is such a clever bit of time-travel based storytelling. This is the first time the show has really allowed a mechanic of time travel to play a central role in a story that’s not a historical, so herein lies the prototype for every baroque Moffat plot to come in future days.

Even past the first episode, it’s possible to find a some things to enjoy. I was particularly interested by the roles the different members of the main cast take up once they scatter out into the museum. In a modern story, the Doctor would chinwag with the villain, have some daring action scenes where he fools some of the guards, and then he’d start a revolution to kick the Moroks out. All of these roles are here, but they aren’t all in the Doctor’s hands. He does get the first, and his interrogation is properly funny, with his quick mastering of the screen broadcasting his thoughts being great fun. (And a little horrifying, I don’t think Bill Hartnell in an Edwardian swimsuit is a sight I’ll forget anytime soon.) Ian receives a moment in the foreground which I’d think would belong to the Doctor in a modern episode, unblinkingly talking a Morok guard out of shooting him and the others by accusing him of being unable to do it. Vicki also gets dealt a good hand. When left to her own devices as the group scatters, she takes on the role of the plucky anarchist and incites the Xerons to revolution. The magician’s apprentice has learned well.

It’s also worth noting that this is the first story so far that has taken sides with the 1960s counterculture in a big way. The Moroks, doddering middle-aged ex-imperialists ho-humming their way through a museum full of their old conquests, seem like a pretty straightforward comment on Britain’s imperial past to me, which in 1965 wasn’t exactly an old memory. There’s really no screwing about in showing what this old style of thinking requires: a good kick in the pants, courtesy of the trendy youngsters in the turtleneck sweaters. I have to applaud The Space Museum for that much.

If only it hadn’t put us at the mercy of some of the most boring exposition delivery ever and then filled the last 75 minutes of the serial with drippy characters played by bored actors, and excruciating plotting. Oh well. That’s the name of the game. Back to you, Sera.

Sera’s Say:

She was really indignant about how badly this one went off the rails, actually. The experience of her relentlessly mocking the Moroks and Xerons for the last 3/4s of the story can’t really be replicated in text. She was a force of nature. The disappointment was mostly borne out of a genuine respect for the atmosphere of the first episode, so I think the letdown was particularly keen. Comparing the TARDIS crew teaming up with the Thals to their similar team-up with the Xerons: “Terry Nation did it better.”

Just her luck. The Chase is up next.

Memorable Dialogue:

“Doctor, we’ve got our clothes on.” “Well I should hope so, dear boy!”

“They’ve gone!” “Yes, my dear - and we’ve arrived!”

“For what purpose are the arms needed?” “Revolution!”

Miserable Dialogue:

“Well, I’ve got two more mimmians before I can go home. Yes, I say it often enough, but it’s still two thousand Xeron days and it sounds more in days.”

“Well, this will indeed be a red letter day for the Xeros calendar.”

“Have any arms fallen into Xeron hands?”

And many more...