1x3. Inside the Spaceship
Writer: David Whitaker
Directors: Richard Martin & Frank Cox
Script Editor: David Whitaker
Producers: Verity Lambert & Mervyn Pinfield
Synopsis: Bizarre malfunctions on the TARDIS
contribute
to suspicion and distrust among the Doctor and his companions, with the
Doctor
accusing Ian and Barbara of sabotaging the ship while the others
speculate
about the possibility of an alien invader. Eventually they realize that
the
TARDIS itself is responsible for the various strange incidents, as the
ship
is trying to warn them of imminent disaster: the Fast Return switch is
stuck,
and the TARDIS is about to find itself in the middle of a violent
genesis
of a new solar system.
Review: "Inside the Spaceship" is a story with a first-rate
concept
but only average execution. As the only serial that takes place
entirely
inside the TARDIS and features no guest cast, it works both as a
suspenseful
"bottle show" and as a character piece. Unfortunately, there's a fair
amount
of unnecessary random weirdness that's only partly explained and
doesn't
add anything to the plot or the characterizations.
When I say that the serial has a first-rate concept, I'm not talking
about
the fact that the entire plot is set in motion by a switch getting
stuck:
this is actually rather silly, and the scene in which the Doctor
explains
the intricacies of a malfunctioning spring to Susan borders on the
MST3K-able.
What I like is the idea of exploring the lingering inherent conflict in
the
TARDIS crew's current situation. Ian and Barbara didn't want to come
along
on the Doctor's travels, and he didn't really want them there either,
but
felt he couldn't let them leave once they'd discovered the TARDIS. He
has
at times seemed rather indifferent towards their situation, and Barbara
gives
him a well-deserved dressing-down when he first accuses her and Ian of
sabotaging
the TARDIS.
"Inside the Spaceship" shows the Doctor at his harshest toward Ian and
Barbara.
When Barbara finally loses her temper with him, he mostly shrugs off
her
legitimate observations about the numerous recent occasions in which
they've
gotten him out of trouble, and when Ian suggests he apologize, he
simply
replies that he doesn't have time to worry about manners under the
circumstances.
Later, affecting a false gesture of reconciliation, he offers them
drinks
which turn out to have been drugged so that he can work at the TARDIS
console
alone while they're asleep, and then, after misinterpreting Ian's
attempt
to keep him away from the electrified console as an attack, he prepares
to
throw Ian and Barbara off the ship, showing little concern over whether
or
not the outside environment is habitable.
It is suitably ironic, then, that the Doctor soon finds himself at his
most
dependent upon his unwilling traveling companions. Even after he
realizes
he was wrong to suspect them of sabotage, he still can't determine the
source
of the malfunctions. Instead, it is Barbara who supplies the answer by
showing
an intuitive insight into the meaning of the anomalies that had eluded
the
Doctor, which is really quite extraordinary, considering that one
would,
in fact, expect the Doctor to have superior knowledge when it comes to
the
workings of the TARDIS. While I don't much care for the possible sexist
undertones
in this logic/intuition contrast, I like that the Doctor is finally
forced
to confront the fallibility of his own judgment here, and the
apologetic
tone of his conversation with Barbara suggests that he's gained a new
level
of respect and appreciation for her and Ian. It will be interesting to
see,
in future episodes, whether this marks a definitive turning point in
the
Doctor's attitude towards others (as Paul Clarke at Outpost Gallifrey seems to
think).
The Doctor also has an interesting moment when he realizes the exact
nature
of the danger they're facing (the TARDIS is caught in the middle of a
new
solar system's creation) and contemplates the physical processes at
work,
a look of genuine wonder on his face as he is momentarily distracted
from
the situation. On one hand, I like the idea of the Doctor as someone
full
of curiosity about the universe and capable of genuine awe at all its
variations
and changes, and I think this may be the strongest indication yet of
that
aspect of his personality. On the other hand, I couldn't help but
wonder
if this was really just an "educational moment of the week" that had
been
shoe-horned into the script to fit the series' original raison
d'etre. Still,
whatever the intentions of the scene, it works as another nice little
insight
into the Doctor's character (despite the bad editing, which makes it
seem
weirdly disconnected from what immediately precedes and follows it).
The fact that some of the character work in "Inside the Spaceship" is
so strong, however, makes the weaker parts all the more frustrating and
annoying. The motivation behind Susan's strangely cold demeanor and
waving of sharp scissors at Ian and Barbara, for example, is hopelessly
muddled. Is she behaving like this because, like Ian and Barbara at the
beginning, she's temporarily lost her memory? Does she believe that
they're possessed by aliens, as she hints at one point? Is she so
disoriented that she perceives them as a threat and/or is simply losing
it herself? Unfortunately, the script by David Whitaker does not supply
any obvious answers to these questions, and this potentially undercuts
some of the development of the other characters. Ian and Barbara seem
more or less themselves after the bout of temporary memory loss due
to electric shock, and the Doctor's behavior, as best I can tell, is
meant
to be taken at face value, but Susan's experience suggests that any of
them
might have been suffering mental disturbances at any given moment.
Given
that these mental disturbances really aren't essential to the plot,
Whitaker
probably ought to have dispensed with them altogether.
Similarly, the episode revolves around the characters' attempts to
understand
the TARDIS' strange behavior, but at times the script itself displays
dubious
logic on that question. I don't think it really makes sense for the
ship
to signal that they're running out of time by "taking time away" with
the
melting clocks and then "giving it back" by setting off an alarm at
regular
intervals, and it seems a little contrived and oblique when Barbara
suggests
this interpretation. I also fail to see the purpose in the repeated
opening
and closing of the doors in conjunction with the display of previously
visited
planets on the scanner. Since the reverse-order pictures of a solar
system's
formation conveyed the essential information, why wouldn't the ship
just
stick to that? Does it really need to mess with the doors to get the
crew's
attention? Of course, part of the point is that Barbara's intuition,
rather
than the Doctor's logic, is what unravels the mystery, but there's a
difference
between intuitive thinking and just pulling things out of the blue, and
some
of this seems more like the latter.
Still, despite some obvious flaws, there is enough good work here to
recommend "Inside the Spaceship." Doctor Who may
not have started off firing all cylinders, but these first few serials
constitute
a respectable start, enough so that I'd have kept watching had I never
seen
the show before. My advice regarding this one is not to think too hard
about
whether or not it all makes sense, and instead just enjoy the
characterizations
and the tense atmosphere.
Other notes:
- I believe we have our first entry in the Doctor Who
multiverse physics
canon: the Doctor refers to a planet they had previously visited as
being
in "the fourth universe." I actually don't think the later episodes
gave
us the impression that the TARDIS regularly hopped between different
universes;
this was probably just a throwaway line that would later be forgotten
as
the writers' concept of time/space travel became more refined.
- Perhaps the most egregious example of pulling something out of the
blue
is the Doctor's sudden announcement that they have ten minutes left to
live.
Where the heck did that come from?
- I must admit I get a kick out of the TARDIS food dispenser,
especially
the fact that it has a button for "water" -- in English. Even better is
the
fact that the Fast Return Switch label is not only in English but has
clearly
been handwritten in ink. (Cue conspiracy theories about how Gallifrey
was
founded by humans in the future, and how this explains the Doctor's
half-human
nature as posited by the Fox TV movie, etc. etc.)
Rating: *** (out of four)
"As we learn about others, so we learn about ourselves."
-The Doctor
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