Doctor Who: ‘The Chase: The Executioners’ REVISITED

Happy Birthday, William Russell!

Having just seen ‘Sleep No More,’ let us now take a look back at Series 2 of the classic era to examine another sand-related Doctor Who story featuring pop music, ‘The Chase.’ It begins with the episode ‘The Executioners,’ which starts with Vicki being a general annoyance to everyone else. The Doctor is putting the final touches on a machine which lets the viewer watch any event from any time in the past.

Barbara dubs the machine a “time television.” Upon Ian’s request, the first event that they view is Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address on Thursday, November 19, 1863 (exactly 152 years ago from the posting of this article). Barbara’s selection brought us the show’s first appearances of both Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare.

Vicki excitedly chooses to see The Beatles performing ‘Ticket to Ride’ in 1965. Ian does an adorable dad dance as he lip-syncs to the song. He and Barbara look at each other in amazement when Vicki reveals that she has been to The Beatles’ memorial theatre in Liverpool. Barbara is indignant when Vicki refers to their music as “classical.”

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They then materialize on the Planet Aridius, in the Segaro desert. Two suns and strange hardened seaweed figures are seen. After quickly becoming bored with the time television (as one does when they are a time traveler), they decide to find other ways to occupy their time. Before Ian goes off exploring with Vicki, the Doctor hands him a TARDIS magnet, used to find one’s way back to Sexy. On the ground, they find some unidentifiable objects that smell awful. After they walk away, we see a writhing tentacle in the sand.

As the Doctor and Barbara stay behind to relax, they hear a strange noise. She sees on the time television that the Daleks have somehow located the TARDIS. The Doctor and Barbara go in search of Ian and Vicki to warn them, but the former pair get lost in a sandstorm. The latter two go down an airlock that they discover in the ground. Here they see an octopus type creature (which we learn later is a Mire Beast). The episode ends with Barbara and the Doctor witnessing a Dalek emerging from the sand.

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Next: REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'Sleep No More'

So far, this is quite an interesting adventure. Check back tomorrow for our review of the next episode in the serial, ‘The Death of Time.’

[Edit: Part 2]