Doctor Who Twitch Watch: recommendations of the day 06/04

Vicki, the First Doctor and Steven.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

Today, we get the remaining complete stories from the First Doctor’s era on Twitch. Which ones are really worth watching?

So we’re five days into the Doctor Who marathon on Twitch, and we’ve already reached the final complete stories of the First Doctor.

As great as it would be to say that there really aren’t that many other stories for his Doctor, that’s far from the case. The last three stories today are all from his third season. They’re also the only complete serials from it.

All the other stories are missing at least one episode. Some in fact are completely missing, in quite a few cases. Even The Tenth Planet is missing an episode.

So those hoping to catch the first regeneration story, or even compare it to Twice Upon a Time, will be sadly disappointed that it’s not included in the marathon.

Still, we’ve got a handful of stories left, so let’s see what’s really worth watching.

The Meddling Monk, played by Peter Butterworth.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

The Time Meddler

More from Winter is Coming

The Time Meddler is a real classic. We’ve had pure historicals before – i.e. stories set in historical periods with no science fiction elements other than time travel.

But The Time Meddler is the first pseudo-historical – a story set in the past with some extra science-fiction thrown in. This kind of story is pretty common in Doctor Who, especially now. In fact, virtually every New Series story set in the past usually has some alien added to it.

But it’s even bigger than that. This is the story that introduced the Meddling Monk. He hasn’t been seen in the television series since 1966 in The Daleks’ Master Plan. But he’s an incredibly important character, as he’s the first member of the Doctor’s race, other than the Doctor and Susan, of course, that we’ve seen on the show.

Peter Butterworth is fantastic as the Monk. He clearly has a lot of fun in the role, and really brings a childlike appeal to the character. He’s not menacing or psychotic like the Master. He’s just irresponsible and reckless. The Monk is an interesting opponent for the Doctor, and one that would be great to see again on television at some point.

A Monoid in The Ark.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

The Ark

The Ark is a rather interesting one. It is a four-part story, but at the same time, it’s two very closely linked two-part stories, too.

The first half has the TARDIS landing on a ship in the far future, fleeing from the destruction of Earth. The traveller’s arrival on the Ark causes a plague to spread out among not just the humans, but also the alien race they’re travelling with, the Monoids. The form this “plague” takes is an interesting one, to say the least.

The TARDIS crew eventually leave at the end of the first half. However, they’re immediately brought back to the Ark 700 years later, and have to face the consequences of their actions.

It’s great to see the serial format used in a rather different way with this one. The two stories overall are very different, and it’s great to see the TARDIS crew face the consequences of their actions. Both the ones that are immediate, and even the consequences that are more long-term.

This isn’t the kind of story that’s regularly told. Even now in the New Series, with the exception of the episode Bad Wolf, you don’t often see the Doctor facing the long-term consequences of his adventures. So it’s interesting that we get such a story here.

The First Doctor arrives in the Wild West in The Gunfighters.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

The Gunfighters

Oh, The Gunfighters. What an infamous story. If there’s one story I’m least likely to recommend from the Hartnell era, it’ll be this one.

While the set design is great, and does capture the Western atmosphere nicely, there are a couple of elements in this story that make it stand out for the wrong reasons.

First, there’s the singing. Throughout the story, you regularly hear a song called Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon. It’s a song that honestly gets more and more intrusive as the story goes on.

Then of course, you’ve got the accents. Perhaps not the most terrible you’ll hear on the show, they’re still not that great.

I’m never keen on when the series hires British actors to do American accents, something that the New Series still does. It’s something that usually fails to work more often than when it does.

The Gunfighters is no exception. It’s hardly a surprise – it was the Sixties, after all. But even so, even taking that into account, it can still ruin the experience. US viewers, you’ll hear a lot of weak accents with this one, so be warned.

The story itself isn’t quite so bad. It includes a lot of humor, and there are some interesting moments of pure farce. But overall, it’s one of the weaker stories of the Hartnell era.

The War Machines invade London!

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC Press.)

The War Machines

Now this is an interesting one. In some ways, The War Machines is a key story, for a couple of reasons.

First, it’s one of the earliest contemporary invasion stories that the series ever made. A somewhat regular story these days, this was actually pretty rare back in the Sixties. It doesn’t feature UNIT, but with the army fighting off the War Machines, you can definitely see the earliest roots of it.

The other reason? Ben and Polly. I’m a huge fan of this pairing, and they’re handled at their best in their introduction story. They feel like real people of the Sixties, and there’s instant chemistry between the two.

It might not be the best story of it kind. The War Machines themselves never really come across as an interesting enemy, and their controller WOTAN never really feels fleshed out enough.

But it’s fascinating to see an early example of a genre that Doctor Who will tell regularly throughout the rest of the series. And it’s great to see the beginnings of such a great pairing as Ben and Polly.

Overall recommendation: The Time Meddler

This one is definitely the best out of today’s stories. It’s fun, it has a great sense of humor, and it finally answers the question of whether or not the Doctor is the only time traveler out there. Peter Butterworth’s Monk is especially fantastic to watch.

Next: Do some Doctors work better in expanded media than others?

Which stories are you looking forward to watching today? Do you have any favorites? If so, which ones? Let us know in the comments below.

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