Galaxy 4 by William Emms
11 September - 2 October 1965
After the north of England, we find ourselves far away on an apparently dying world. Curiously enough, this world isn't even in Galaxy 4 (Galaxy Four? I see this is a point of contention) as that is just the point of origin for our Drahvin antagonists. Why didn't the catalogers/anoraks/whoever just call this serial The Drahvins or something? Most odd. What's also odd is that this is the only story so far which I've gone into without retaining any knowledge of fan opinion whatsoever. I have to say, I sort of understand why. Galaxy 4 is not a bad story by any measure, but it is strangely lacking in incident of any kind. Aside from a few fun set pieces it chiefly just plods along at a leisurely pace for the course of its four episodes.
I'm pretty sure at least that the core "twist" that the Drahvins are the baddies is not actually meant to be a twist as such, but without that central narrative tension all that really drives the story forward is the imminent disintegration of the planet they're stood on. This isn't so bad, but does leave us with only the occasional moment of action or dialog while that eventuality draws closer. This is yet another case of a story which I think would be significantly improved by having it all still in the archives. The surviving clip from the first episode, and of course the recently recovered Air Lock, show that there's a lot going on with Stephanie Bidmead's performance as the villainous Maaga in particular. The moment when she describes watching the deaths of the Rill and the TARDIS team with such delicious relish in our single surviving episode is easily the serial's best, and suggests that it would be at least a bit more visually arresting if we could see the rest of her performance in motion.
The Rills are a bit monotone, but look interesting, and the Chumblies are of course adorable. Steven gets a pair of really great moments, once while trying to change the mind of a Drahvin drone, and the other while grilling the Rill in the last episode, showing his cynical side. Otherwise he's on the sidelines here, forced to as a result of last-minute writing changes, which is a pity. Vicki is great as well ("I observed, collated, concluded, and then I threw a rock!") and the Doctor at least seems to be having fun.
Overall, I'd say it wasn't a waste of time, but I certainly hope Mission to the Unknown is a little more of a rousing watch.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 26 March 2020.)
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