The Space Museum

Crap. Rubbish. Caca de toro. A lot in “The Space Museum” is—yep, I’m gonna give into the clichй—cringeworthy. I don’t mean the another-base-under-seige-please, a-good-companion-is-one-with-big-breasts, CSO-backgrounds-are-cool, Cartmel-is-a-genius crap. I mean the real, even-for-an-episode-of-Doctor-Who, deal. 

The guest stars almost uniformly make poor acting choices. Nerve gas described as dangerous is survived for the better part of a whole episode with the use of a flimsy, not to mention shared, handkerchief. The music from about the first half of episode two forward is questionably appropriate, at best. Vicki reprograms a security computer despite never having displayed the slightest inclination for such work before. Worse, how is she’s clever enough to reprogram a computer she’s never seen before, but too damn stupid to realize that the easiest, best hope for overcoming the time paradox was just to send one person back to the TARDIS to wait inside while the other three made their ways back separately? As if that weren’t enough, there’s the unbelievable gall of the final moments of episode four: the Dalek teaser at the end makes “The Chase” look like we’re gonna be in for a freakin’ epic. And don’t get me started on the explanation of the time loop that causes the central plot issue in the first place. 

So, yeah, I get why many don’t like this thing. Still.

I love this story.

Its subtle good far outweighs the obvious flaws. Taken as a whole, the very best thing about “Museum” is that it’s a direct answer to “The Aztecs”, a story I feel is massively overrated. Both stories are directly centered on the notion of “changing history”, but only this one gives an answer that would make Christopher Eccleston proud. Here the TARDIS crew is, in the Tenth Doctor’s words, “part of events". There’s no hypocrisy here: there’s a Doctor and his companion proud of influencing others to seize control of their lives. Vicki might as well be Rose. The Doctor and his TARDIS crew are here in full, unapologetic rebellion of the Time Lords. History damn well can and should be altered if helps some kids be better people and it saves our heroes’ hides.

And what better hides they are. “Museum” gives us strong performances by all the regulars. JNT should have been watching this episode before he blamed some of the problem of season 19 on a “crowded TARDIS”. Sorry, no, but a four-person crew works, in the right hands. The companion interaction, along with the solo journeys, are fair, equitable and what’s more, meaningful. I may not have liked the details of the time loop plot, but I certainly enjoyed its effects. A seemingly insoluble problem tends to take people to places they’ve not traveled, and for all its technobabble, the time loop certainly gives us an interesting Barbara, Ian and Vicki.

As for those guest stars, yeah, the script was there for them and the actors—not to mention the costume and make-up departments—blew it. But what we get is nevertheless intriguing to me. See, I guess I read the two groups—the Xerons and the Moroks as equally impotent, both needin’ a good, Doctorly kick up the backside. I like the idea that the status quo is being maintained on inertia more than reasoned action. This is a disused part of the stale, old Morok empire, and the contingent here are very little more than the dregs of the Morok military. They really are about as competent as modern-day museum guards. For me, it’s extremely satisfying that there’s no explanation as to why the Morok Governor is so mean-spirited; it’s been like this for so long he’s actually got no explanation to be as he is.

In a story that is about predestination paradoxes for our heroes, it’s altogether appropriate that the featured characters should be trapped themselves. To get out of their time trap, the TARDIS crew must make the two groups on the planet break out of this feeble (or what some reviewers have called “boring”) stalemate. 

The nature of that status quo appeals to me as an American. I read the whole situation as a loose metaphor for the American Revolution, with the Moroks being the kind of not-so-prime British officers serving in North America, the Xerons being Americans in the 1760s, Vicki being Sam Adams, and the rest of the TARDIS crew being the indecisive-but-ultimately-effective French. Maybe it’s a stretch, and I’m sure it’s not intentional, but that’s just what I saw in the story. Even if the writer didn’t intend that close a level of metaphor, I think the story deserves great credit for two key themes: a revolution ain’t a revolution until action has been taken, and an empire that forgets its history is doomed to fall. 

Most importantly, though, the episode gives an early glimmer of the “modern” Doctor. Gone is the crusty old, “You can’t change history,” Time Lord of season one. In his place is the man who inspires change. “My dear Barbara,” he serenely says as he’s facing death, “You must try and remember that in the short time we’ve been on this planet, we’ve met people, spoken to them, and—who knows?—we might have even influenced them.” 

This is the Doctor I adore, and I don’t mind having to wade through the crap to find him. Good thing Russell T. Davies apparently has a shovel, too.