My friends, I'm sure that most of you have forgotten them, these past months, but there used to be these things called airports. You would go into a big, spacious concourse full of overpriced food and screaming children, and then fly (!) to other places (!!) for a nominal fee. I've just witnessed a glimpse of the airports of yesteryear in this story. Really, not much has changed, though these days there are perhaps fewer aliens...
Anyway, the tragedy here is that I only learned that the re-animation of this episode was already out after I watched it. I have missed my chance, for now, since I wasn't quite wowed enough to want to rewatch it back to back. So fickle are these feats of televisual necromancy.
I've not been in much of a mood for longwinded pieces of writing of late, but fortunately I'm not paid for the word (or at all). There's still a bit to chew on in this story.
Among other things, this is the first showing of future series regular Malcolm Hulke, who I am told will make something of a footprint during the Pertwee years. I am not entirely clear on how much of this story is his and how much is Ellis's, but it isn't a bad start. Episodes One and Two are paced pretty well. Like most six-parters it suffers in the middle, but I enjoyed the ending.
It's always refreshing when an alien species isn't treated like a monolith, and the Doctor exploiting a conflict between what seems to be a sort of upper and lower class among the Chameleons is a refreshing change from some previous resolutions. He's even gracious in victory, bless him.
I'm glad that this did get an animation, even if I hadn't taken the opportunity to watch it yet, because this is one that I think suffers for being lost. The quality of the Loose Canon recons that I watched left a bit to be desired, leading to long stretches of dramatic music over one or two pictures with very little idea of what was going on.
I was also startled about halfway through the serial to realize that Ben and Polly had been completely absent for a couple of episodes. Something to do with their contracts running out, wasn't it? It is, once again, odd to see a companion departure handled in so perfunctory a fashion, but I'm growing used to it.
I liked Anneke and Michael as Polly and Ben, but I can't say that I'll miss them overmuch when I know that the golden pair of the Doctor and Jamie are close on the horizon. The characters performed their role nicely of bridging the First Doctor to the Second and certainly had their share of memorable moments. I will thusly doff my hat.
Almost four years after my first viewing of it, I will return to The Evil of the Daleks next.
(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 1 March 2021.)
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