Doctor Who: ‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ REVISITED

Promotional image from ‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ – the Doctor with Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula; credit: buffetcritico.wordpress.com

Last week, we shared with you reviews of the first three episodes of the classic Doctor Who serial, ‘The Chase.’ (Start here with the first one.) Now we move on to part four, ‘Journey Into Terror.’ If you thought that last episode was campy, just wait until you get a load of this.

With the Daleks closing in, things are getting quite desperate for the TARDIS and her crew. They make another hasty materialization and find themselves in a spooky old house, one that is chock full of Scooby-Doo-esque cliches, complete with musical score. Just as with virtually any television program of the time, special effects are primitive. An obviously fake bat swoops in on a visible wire (as we learn later, however, there may actually be an explanation for it not being real). The Doctor and Ian go upstairs to explore, leaving Vicki and Barbara to wander around the first floor.

The menagerie of haunted house tropes has just begun. The first major thing that Barbara and Vicki encounter is a face-shaped fireplace with eyes that open and glow. They head to another room in which they take their chances opening what appears to possibly be a sarcophagus. They are relieved to find that it is just an empty chest. But then, suddenly, a skeleton drops from the ceiling!

Next: Page 2 of ‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ REVISITED

‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ – Ian, the Doctor, and Frankenstein’s Monster; credit: bbc.co.uk

Cut to Ian and the Doctor. In a mirror, Ian sees the image of a long-haired figure in a dress… and for some reason does not tell the Doctor. They then find a laboratory, complete with the spitting image of Frankenstein’s Monster.

Ok, stop right there. You would think that, at this point, both parties would have figured out what is going on. For such an intelligent group of people they are remarkably thick in this episode.

Back to Vicki and Barbara who meet a man who introduces himself as Count Dracula. He has some of the worst fake fangs that I’ve ever seen, even for a show of this time period. After he exits, Barbara asks Vicki, “Do you think there’s something strange going on around here?” Wow, you think? No shmeg, Sherlock. Anyhow, Vicki disappears and who appears to be the woman from the mirror wails from the balcony of the stairs. In fright, Barbara backs into an alcove, which rotates her into another room.

Let’s check back in on the Doctor and Ian, the latter from whom we learn our vocabulary word of the day: phagocyte. Even the Doctor is not familiar with it. Speaking of familiar, this is another moment when they come very close to figuring out where they are, but somehow end up out in left field with an explanation that is rather wibbly wobbly…

Next: Page 3 of ‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ REVISITED

‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ – Wailing Woman; credit: hulu.com

Instead of abiding by Occam’s razor, the Doctor gets far too clever for his own good. He deduces that the house is a manifestation, outside of both time and space, of the superstitions and fears of millions of people. Ian concludes that they are safe from the Daleks because they are in “the human mind.” The Doctor concurs. As we soon learn, however, the Daleks easily find our heroes and are able to land in the same location.

Ian and the Doctor come down the stairs and realize that they have no idea where Barbara and Vicki are. The descend to the basement where they find the monster from the second floor laying on a slab and also a Dalek. They flee up the stairs after trapping the Dalek, who gets attacked by the monster because the latter is inexplicably impervious to extermination.

The four friends meet up on the first floor where they encounter Dracula and another Dalek. Barbara, the Doctor, and Ian take refuge in the TARDIS while Vicki remains to warn Dracula that the Dalek will kill him. Like the monster, however, the Count is not able to be harmed. The monster, who for some reason has had a costume change, then emerges from the basement and smashes some Daleks. The woman joins in on the shenanigans and, of course, is unable to be killed.

Next: Page 4 of ‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ REVISITED

‘The Chase: Journey Into Terror’ – Vicki; credit: bbc.co.uk

In all of the chaos, the TARDIS dematerializes and Vicki is left to fend for herself as she scampers off to hide in the Dalek’s ship. The Daleks follow without seeing her. Back on the TARDIS, they still have not figured out that Vicki is not aboard. The Doctor stubbornly brushes off Ian’s logical questioning of the previous theory of where they had just been. Cut to a ticket booth. The signs read “Festival of Ghana 1996,” “Cancelled by Peking,” and “Frankenstein’s House of Horrors Price $10.”

The basic concept of the house of horrors is unsurprising. Even the price is believable considering the year. And, as was common in the 1960s, the 1990s were predicted to have very advanced robotics in common usage (which was the implied make of the characters in the house). What is fascinating is the vague implied global politics that the writers imagined for the time period.

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Back on the Dalek ship, they have made a “robot” (actually an android) copy of the Doctor. An obvious double is used for most shots, while William Hartnell is seen in a closeup. Vicki futilely attempts to contact the TARDIS for help. The TARDIS’s time mechanism is broken and would take far too long to fix under imminent threat, so Ian comes up with the idea of taking over the Daleks’ time machine.

The TARDIS materializes on the planet Mechanus. In an odd exchange while looking out the window, Barbara says, “Just look at that vegetation.” and Ian replies, “Yes, just as though it were alive.” Unless they were looking at a dead planet, of course the vegetation was alive… so what could this observation mean? Anyway, the Daleks land on the planet and order the impostor Doctor to “infiltrate and kill.” End of episode.

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Next: REVIEW: Doctor Who: ‘Face the Raven’

This is an unintendedly timely review considering that in the next new episode of Doctor Who, ‘Heaven Sent,’ the Doctor is transported to his own personal house of horrors. Join us tomorrow for our recap of ‘The Chase: The Death of Doctor Who.’