The Space Museum

A Hartnell tale that, admittedly, has a few problems (as most of his stories do since the series was, very much, "finding its feet" during this era). But, in several ways, it's also very much ahead of its time. And is, overall, a pretty enjoyable runaround. Considering when it was made. 

Its biggest problem, of course, is that it really does go very "cheesy sci-fi" in places. Even a little too much for 60s Who. We have references to "ray guns" and some really awful dialogue, in general. One aspect of the script that grates on me hardest that no one seems to remark on is the way the Commander must always call the governor "illustruous". It's bad dialogue delivered poorly and it really adds to that overall downright silliness of the way the story is executed. Then, of course, there's the notorious line about "arms falling into Xeron hands" that the Discontinuity Guide so loves to pick on (for ample reason - it is probably one of the cheesiest lines ever in the history of the show). 

Another really "cheesy" problem in this story are the Moroks and Xerons. Doctor Who's attempt to create Star Trek aliens by doing something wierd to their eyebrows or foreheads! Though such attempts are rare in Who (usually they try to be much more imaginative in their creature construction) the incredible cheapness of the make-up work that was done to "alienise" the characters is just plain laughable and it's very difficult to take any of these characters seriously because they just look so ridiculous. 

Our final major problem in this story is some of the very deliberate padding. There seems to be a lot more discussion between characters about what's happening in the plot than is genuinely needed. Not just some of the extended conversations that the TARDIS crew has about their plight, but those Xerons can really go on forever too, sometimes! It becomes blatantly obvious that the author put this sort of stuff in because he just didn't have enough story. Something that I can somehow tolerate in a 6-parter but when four episodes has this much unnecessary dialogue it really makes you wonder if the script was ever worth producing! 

However, for all its flaws, there's a lot about "Space Museum" to like too. 

Many have heaped praise on the effectiveness of the first episode. And it deserves that praise. Some of the creepiest black and white Who you'll find. And, though I love most of what "The Mind Robber" was about, it could learn a lesson or two from this episode about using cheap visuals to create surreal atmosphere. But what a lot folks don't seem to catch about this episode is the extra "layer" it adds to the whole story. 

This could have easily been a "the Doctor arrives on a planet and overthrows a tyranny" plotline and be done with it right there. But the fact that Glyn Jones threw in the whole extra premise of "slipping a time track" adds so much more sophistication to this tale. Many of 60s and even early 70s Who could stand adding extra layers to their plotline like this story did but this trend really didn't start to set in til years after Space Museum was produced. I loved late 70s and 80s Who because of its abundance (or even overabundance) of plot threads. Having so many stories told at once somehow made it "better" than a lot of other sci-fi T.V. Almost as if you got "more bang for your buck" because the plots were so thickly layered. But we didn't see much of this in older Who, thus making Space Museum seem almost ahead of its time, in this sense.

It was also the first story to really explore the nature of time rather than just use time travel as a device for the show's premise. Another nice layer of sophistication for the story. And though some of the conversations regarding destiny and free will do get a bit tedious, it's still neat to see the show become so philosophical during a time when it tried, more oftentimes than not, to just give us bug-eyed monsters and black and white morals. 

The other compliment that should go to Mister Jones for his script is the way he structures the societies he's created. Particularly the Moroks. As someone else remarked in their review, it was nice to get something a little different out of the millitant alien race. Rather than just being nasty intergalactic conquerors, they're intergalactic conquerors on a social decline. Thus giving a very different "flavour" to the whole story that, again, wouldn't normally be seen in the series for many years to come. 

We also get, in amongst all the cheesiness, some very strong moments in the storyline too. I loved how useful Vicki was in this adventure. Her and Susan were usually just meant to scream and trip over things but it's, pretty well her that saves the day this time by getting the Xerons to revolt. And, thankyou Mister Jones, for actually remembering she's from a future Earth society and might, therefore, have some technical skills. Rather than just use her for a few lame jokes about how the future might view life in the 60s like so many other authors did when they wrote Vicki. 

The confrontation between the Doctor and Lobos during the interrogation was also a really memorable moment. Again, something that makes the story a bit ahead of its time. The Doctor usually took these sort of situations quite seriously during this era rather than have fun with his tormentor like he did. And I rather enjoyed the sequence because it was played up a bit for laughs. 

In the final analysis, this story almost seems a bit "bi-polar". Jumping very suddenly from really bad to really good over and over. But, unlike some of the other stories the show has made over the years that went incredibly cheesy in places, there's enough sophistication to this tale to save it from being considered total trash. Even enough sophistication, for me, at least, to make it a story I rather enjoy.