008 - The Reign Of Terror

Broadcast:

8^th August - 12^th September 1964

Doctor:

William Hartnell

Companions:

Ian, Barbara, Susan

Adversary:

French Revolutionaries

Written by:

Dennis Spooner

Director:

Henric Hirsch

Music:

Stanley Myers

Script Editor:

David Whitaker

Producer:

Verity Lambert

Average Viewers:

6.73m (6.9, 6.9, 6.9, 6.4, 6.9, 6.4)

Summary: The travellers get caught up in the French Revolution, are imprisoned and face the guillotine!

If The Sensorites was the most removed from Earthly normality (so far) then it was followed by the most solidly grounded. The Reign Of Terror is regarded as one of the best historical stories. It brings a greater sense of reality and a more naturalistic drama than The Aztecs but the setting of subterfuge and revolution leave it vulnerable to being a little unclear in the latter half and researching the French Revolution ahead of writing this review left me just as confused but it's worth noting that this isn't so much a story of good against evil as it is pure circumstances. The Reign Of Terror is the first story, chronologically, to have missing episodes recreated with animation and they work really well.

Meanwhile, back in the summer of 1964 when The Reign Of Terror was first broadcast, a Rolling Stones gig in Scheveningen (Netherlands) got out of control and was ended after 15 minutes by riot police (resulting in spectators starting to fight the riot police!), Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Anthony Allen were hanged for the murder of John Alan West, making them the last people to be executed in the United Kingdom (though the death penalty for murder would not be abolished until November 1965 and was still available for treason until 1998), and the IOC banned South Africa from the forth coming Tokyo Olympics due to the racial segregation of their athletes (similarly, John Lennon announced that the Beatles would not perform to a segregated audience in Florida). On a happier note, Derek Foster became the youngest player in the Football League at the age of 15, Mary Poppins had its world premier (though UK audiences would have to wait until Christmas to see it), and the Forth Road Bridge opened over the Firth of Forth. "Match Of The Day" had its first broadcast and could have been watched on portable televisions which also became available around this time. In cinemas, future film companion and series friend of the Doctor Bernard Cribbins could be seen in Crooks In Cloisters, along with Wilfred Bramble who's "Steptoe And Son" co-star Harry H. Corbett was in Rattle Of A Simple Man. Of particular note to us though, Jacqueline Hill could have been seen by older viewers in The Comedy Man. Topping the music charts were Manfred Mann with "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", Honeycomb with "Have I The Right" and the Kinks with "You Really Got Me"

On to the review then, and despite the dramatic finale of The Sensorites where the Doctor declared that he we drop the teachers off at the next stop and leave them, there is no recap. Instead we are treated to the first view of the full sized TARDIS prop materializing, though it is noticeably accompanied by silence then just the TARDIS hum - so far, the wheezing, groaning sound is still only heard from inside. Inside the TARDIS, we are reminded of the Doctor's threat/promise but the mood is calmer and almost jovial. The Doctor is certain he has got the teachers home and the scanner screen seems to confirm it with pictures of countryside that reminds Barbara of Somerset... but Ian isn't so sure and remembers the last time the Doctor "took them home" and they met Marco Polo. Barbara, unusually, tries to a apply a bit of charm and bats her eyelashes to placate the situation. Despite appearances on screen we are told by the characters that it is quite late in the day - looking at the screen "Shame it's so dark" and once outside "Why aren't there any lights?"

When a peasant boy appears from the bushes, they learn that they have landed in France, just 12 km from Paris. The Doctor is quite pleased with this accuracy but is happy to hang around and investigate the time accuracy... They arrive at a house and the camera wobbles as it pans around then bumps as it closes in on Ian peering through a window. He suggests that they should maybe get back to the ship while they till can but the Doctor finds a way in and it's not not long before they discover that they are in the late 18^th century. Susan warns Barbara not to tell her grandfather because it is his favourite period of Earth's history... their fate and the story's trajectory are set when soldiers arrive, though eagle eyes viewers will notice that two men seen in the background are in fact stage hands passing through the shot by accident!

The first episode ends with the house on fire in what feels like a slow and drawn out cliff hanger sequence, with the flames continuing half way through the credits. Not a bad opening episode but my modern eyes felt like it set a slow and dull pace for the remaining five parts. Thankfully, Dennis Spooner put in plenty of plot and action to keep things rolling, even if it did lead to a sprawling story. The travellers are again split up, with the Doctor remaining at the house why the others are first arrested then jailed separately - it was William Russell's turn for a two week brake so his jail scenes were filmed in advance, resulting in the initial 'sentencing' scene feeling a bit disjointed with Barbara and Susan stood together in a decently framed shot while Ian stood alone in a poor mid-shot (with the grainy film look) Beyond that though, his scenes fitted quite nicely. Unlike the previous absences, Ian seemed to play quite major parts so William Russell's holiday (he really went to France!) was far from obvious and especially well deserved. Paris itself was represented by illustrations rather than models or stock photos/film which felt a bit wrong, though their style and appearance fitted the period setting. On the other hand, The Reign Of Terror is historically notable for its first use of location filming as the Doctor walks to Paris along country lanes, though it stops short of taking William Hartnell onto location, instead using Brian Proudfoot as a very good double. The join with studio scenes is very good, especially as the Doctor reaches a corner on a film long-shot and cuts to a close-up as he rounds it. There is also a nice visual cut between the Doctor digging the road and Barbara digging in her cell. Director Henric Hirsch certainly had a creative eye but unfortunately it didn't extend to Ian's pre-filming (probably directed by someone else) as his cell is essentially shot from the same direction as Barbara and Susan's despite being on the other side of the corridor. It's a small point but it creates a visual confusion which isn't helped when the corridor itself is shot from the opposite end. Mean while, the Doctor gets a smart line with the road building foreman after chastising him for sitting back and bawling at his men rather than getting involved himself. "I suppose you think you're very clever" says the foreman, to which the Doctor replies smugly "Well, without any undue modesty, yes!" (though Hartnell should probably have said "with all due modesty") he later turns rather brutal and clobbers the foreman (out of shot) with a spade. It seems that attitudes changed between script and recording though as the Doctor makes a tradition gesture to the deceased by placing a coin over the foreman's eye (suggesting that the blow killed him) yet he is clearly (deliberately) seen breathing and the Doctor makes a quip about sleeping well, as if it was decided to emphasise the fact that the Doctor had not killed.

Episode three progresses reasonably again with Barbara and Susan on their way to the guillotine, but the only thing really worth noting other than the horse in the studio pulling the tumbrel is the case of missing frames. During the rescue scene as the first gunshot is fired there is a curious jump cut, literally skipping a few frames. This in not due to damage being repaired in the archive, it is exactly as the episode aired and there is no recorded reason and apparently nobody remembers.

Episodes four and five of The Reign Of Terror are missing from the archives and have been recreated for the DVD using animation. They look great and for the most part the audio is good as well (although it starts a bit muddy and drifts a little a few times it really is impressing for a recovered home recording) My only criticism of the animation is the modern directors favouring of short shots and close ups. It is not only jarring against the existing episode style but becomes uncomfortable watching in its own right at times. Thankfully it is mostly early on that suffers. On one particularly bad occasion there is a cut between each word of the phrase "Probably just a chill" with unnaturally close shots of eyes and mouths, a few shots after it also continue at that pace. But as I say, the animation and appearance is great, combining a two dimensional drawn look with a hint of three dimensional modelling to give a nice sense of depth and realism. As for the original material it is based on, each episode contains a slight line fluff and there is a curious sub-plot where Susan falls quite ill (hence the quoted remark) and has to see a doctor, yet she recovers rather rapidly. There is also a second incident of Doctor violence as he clobbers the jailer with a jug.

The story is rounded off with a curiously fast paced tangent to what has gone before as Ian and Barbara go 'under cover' at an inn and observe a secret meeting for no real reason other than to crowbar an upcoming Napoleon into the story. It is worth noting my sense of familiarity in the set up though. Almost certainly a coincidence, but it felt very much like a scene from 'Allo 'Allo with secret meetings in the back room, holes in the wall to spy through and the arrangement and framing of the set is practically identical! Beyond that and everything coming a confusing end with Robespierre being shot (who's side are we supposed to be on?) we are reminded that the travellers can not change the course of history. Barbara giggles at their involvement in a flurry of activity to stop something they knew would ultimately happen anyway. As they leave Paris there is a throw away line "Funny, I get the impression they don' know where they're headed for" and a comment that none of us do (which points to the pivotal point in French history where they really didn't know what was coming) And suddenly, with just a brief piece of stock footage of a carriage racing through the countryside overlayed by a hand drawn map and repeated in a mirrored direction, we are back at the TARDIS with further comments about being unable to pre-warn Napoleon or even trying to kill him and the first series of Doctor Who comes to a philosophical end with the Doctor and Ian talking over a star field fading away from us:

"Our Lives are important, at least to us. But as we see, so we learn"
"And what are we going to see and learn next Doctor?"
"Well unlike the old adage, my boy, our destiny is in the stars. So let's go and search for it..."

As a whole, The Reign Of Terror is an interesting ride that works best if you don't try and understand it to much. The essence of adventure and peril easy enough to ascertain but the deeper meaning and motivation is a little lost in the twists of subterfuge. However, we do get to see the regular cast in period dress and the Doctor takes on the roll of a high ranking policeman (or whatever the French Revolutionary term was) and I must admit that I enjoy it more than I like to admit because it doesn't feel like I should! The DVD extras give details of the serial's troubled production, and with a director new to television (and Hungarian at that), a new production assistant, production secretary and a floor manager from light entertainment it is quite remarkable that the end result is as good as it is. I gave it 70% due to strong production ratings and it was only the historical setting that gave it a poor content score. This is just 2% below Marco Polo (which perhaps has a questionable score because I haven't been able to view the real thing) and 1% above An Unearthly Child. And since this is the last story of the first season, I will add that as a whole it scored 72% which can't be bad for a show's first 10 month run.