The Space Museum

"We must have changed the future... we must have done!"

The Space Museum is one of those adventures that has a nice set up, but what follows is rather less than expected. The opening episode sets things up nicely rather like an episode of 'The Twilight Zone'. The TARDIS materializes on the planet Xeros, but seem to have jumped a time track and have temporarily become out of synch with normal space-time. As they explore the museum itself, they make a shocking & startling discovery... future versions of themselves encased in glass, and set up as exhibits in the museum itself. Now it is a race against time to prevent the vision they witnessed from coming to pass.

Unfortunately, the episodes that follow don't exactly live up adequately to what the first episode sets up. The remainder of the adventure in itself is alright, but nothing too exciting or anything to give praise about. Not to say that it's bad, just average, and definitely could've been done better. How exactly, I really don't know. I will say that there are some good ideas. 

The idea of a museum in space is definitely an idea worth exploring in science ficition, as a means of seeing what strange and unusual alien items would be put on display. It is something that fuels the imagination beyond the boundaries of what we know and are familiar with on Earth. Setting the story on a planet with a museum on it is still very much in keeping with why the Doctor travels in the first place... not to fight aliens, but to gain knowledge about the universe.

Anyway, I must say that the Moroks aren't all that convincing as villains and the army of young Xerons just didn't seem too convincing as an oppressed people hoping to start a revolution. Although I do theorize that the reason most of Xerons are shown as young men is some sort of allegory on teenage rebellion against the oppression of adult authority. 

Each of the regular cast members do well with the material, but the person that really gets to shine the most is Maureen O'Brien as Vicki. She shows herself to be enthusiastic and a real go-getter. You can clearly see at certain points that she'd rather be doing something constructive and meaningful rather than stand around arguing and asking a whole stream of pointless questions (much like what Ian and Barbara were doing). Vicki simpathizes with the Xerons and it is she that helps to instigate the means by which future events are altered; by helping the Xerons with their revolution by reprogramming the computer system which allows access to the armory. 

The overall running theme is the idea of whether or not fate or destiny can be changed. It is something they all grapple with in the course of events, always with a certain about of doubt hanging over them as to whether the actions they take are the ones that will change their future or lead them down the very path that takes them to the very vision they witnessed at the start of the 4-part serial. 

All in all, there are some nice ideas, but they don't sustain themselves all that well. However, the adventure that would follow would be something that would start a chain reaction of changes that would ultimately ensure the show's longevity and ensure that nothing would ever be the same again.