“The Celestial Toymaker” is one of the first Doctor’s most recognised stories, a curious feat considering that William Hartnell is hardly in it and that only one out of the four episodes exists today. Perhaps this story is so well remembered because it is well and truly “out there”; a highly experimental “sideways” story which seems to have paid off. Michael Gough has to be given a tremendous amount of credit for his fantastic performance as the Toymaker. He spends half the story playing a game against a silent, disembodied hand and yet he still manages to impress!

However, despite the imagination of the story and the brilliance of the Toymaker himself, I don’t think that this serial quite deserves its lofty reputation. The ‘Trilogic Game’ (which so much of the story revolves around) completely lacks suspense; as the audience is ignorant of the rules the only suspense comes from how few moves are left, meaning that Steven and Dodo’s race against time to win the Toymaker’s games (and thus get the TARDIS back) has to really hold the audience’s attention, and in my case at least, it doesn’t. On the whole, with the notable exceptions of “The Myth Makers” and “The Daleks’ Master Plan” I am not a fan of Season Four, and this has a lot to do with the Doctor’s rather dull and predictable companions. Steven may have his moments, but at heart he’s just a rather generic male character merely thrown into the mix to handle the physical side of things; not a patch on the far more interesting Ian Chesterton. As for Dodo, she’s just plain stupid. Time after time in this story she falls for the Toymaker’s tricks, befriending his minions and almost getting herself killed in the process. Nevertheless, some of the games are entertaining to watch – particularly the game against Peter Stephens’ grotesquely superb ‘schoolboy’ Cyril in “The Final Test”, the serial’s orphaned episode.

“…then your battle will never end?”

All things considered, “The Celestial Toymaker” was ahead of its time and even as it exists today (as three audio-only episodes and one complete episode) is still an enjoyable piece of entertainment. With more involvement from William Hartnell (who goes missing part way through episode one and doesn’t show up until six minutes into “The Final Test”) it could have been so much better; if his sparring with the Toymaker in the final episode could have been spread across the whole story it would have really given the early episodes that little bit of steel that they are lacking. At least the resolution of the serial is brilliantly executed, in a way mirroring Rassilon’s riddle in “The Five Doctors” – “To win is to lose, and he who wins shall lose” – perhaps explaining why only the first Doctor knew what to do in that story! The sequel that never materialised (at least on TV) is also wonderfully set up; it is a real tragedy that we never got to see Michael Gough vs Colin Baker…

It is difficult to imagine, from my perspective, how odd 'Mission to the Unknown' must have seemed to viewers at the time. It doesn't feature the Doctor or his companions, showcasing instead the Daleks, and whilst I am perfectly aware that it serves as a prelude to 'The Daleks' Master Plan', viewers at the time found a historical waiting for them the following week with no announcement to explain where the Daleks had gone. With hindsight, it is thus robbed of some of its impact, but nevertheless remains a gripping little story.

The Daleks are superb here. Whereas their last story made them objects of ridicule, 'Mission to the Unknown' restores them to their former glory. We learn that they are planning to invade the entire galaxy, which neatly continues the progression of the threat that they pose since 'The Mutants', but whilst this announcement from the Dalek Supreme is suitably chilling, it is Mark Cory's terse conclusion that if there the Daleks on Kembel the entire galaxy is threatened that really emphasizes how dangerous and powerful they actually are. Hearing them boast is one thing, but learning of their reputation from others is much more impressive. In addition, we immediately get an impression of their cunning; connoisseurs of Dalek stories past must surely realize that they are unlikely to make allies without planning to double-cross them, but here we see them leading a gathering of alien plotters, which instantly hints at bigger things to come. The Varga plants also serve to emphasize the nasty technology of the Daleks; genetically engineered plants that transform humans into mindless fellow Vargas are an unpleasant concept, not merely killing, but dehumanizing. They also show once more the Daleks' adaptability – having chosen a jungle planet as their base of operations, they employ a defense perfectly suited to this environment, making the jungles of Kembel almost as dangerous as their nearby city. The Planetarians, besides serving to hint at just how big the Daleks' new scheme is, do very little here due to time constraints with only Malpha getting lines. Nevertheless, they leave an impression thanks to some imaginative costume designs, which make them seem immediately just as alien as the Zarbi or the Rills. 

The other main protagonists of 'Mission to the Unknown' are the three humans. With Garvey turning into a Varga plant as the episode begins, it is Cory and Lowery who are left to carry the compact plot, and their tense relationship allows the plot to unfold without seeming like forced exposition – Lowery is clearly first angered by Cory's killing of Garvey and then later terrified by tales of the Daleks, and these emotional responses are a catalyst for Cory's explanations of why he wanted to land on Kembel. Cory himself is every inch the noble but determined hero, who accepts that the lives of himself and Lowery are expendable, so long as Earth can be warned of the Dalek plan. Impressively, de Souza carries off the part whilst managing to make Cory seem resolute, but not inherently callous. 

'Mission to the Unknown' is slightly let down by a rather silly plot device, which is pointed out by The Discontinuity Guide – Cory learns of the Daleks secret plans, because they broadcast them over a loudspeaker system. In addition, there are a couple of hints that Nation doesn't know the difference between the Universe, galaxies, and solar systems. Despite these niggles however, 'Mission to the Unknown' is an effective episode.

Watching Donald Cotton’s “The Gunfighters” is simply put, a test of endurance. How many times can you stand listening to the same refrain, over and over again? Across the four episodes of this story, Tristram Cary’s "Ballad of the Last Chance Saloon" bookends almost every scene in the whole damn story! If you do as I foolishly did, and sit down to watch all four episodes in one sitting, I swear by the end of it you will feel your grip on sanity sliding. At least back in 1966 when it first aired, the assault on the eardrums was spread out over a month!

It is hard to believe that the same season that spawned the intergalactic blockbuster, “The Daleks’ Master Plan,” futuristic stories like “Galaxy 4” and “The Ark” and even mind-bending serials like “The Celestial Toymaker” could farm out something like this – a tongue in cheek pastiche Western, telling of events culminating in the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona back in 1881. If nothing else, it proves the flexibility of the series’ format! To be fair, it’s not all bad. Well… in terms of the story it is absolute pants, but it is good for a laugh and at the end of the day, that’s exactly what Cotton was aiming for when he wrote it.

“The Gunfighters” sees Steven and Dodo dress up as cowboys, put on Yankee accents and even take to singing in saloons! Even the Doctor dons a Stetson! Remarkably, even Dodo isn’t as annoying as usual – in fact, with retrospect, this is probably her least offensive outing; for once her inherent stupidity and feeble-mindedness fits in well with the comic theme. She even looks a bit better than usual with her hair extensions! 

The plot itself revolves around the Doctor being mistaken for Doc Holliday, and that’s about it really! The shoot out in episode four (which is the last episode to have an individual episode title until “Rose” 39 years later!) looks quite good on screen, there’s a busty singer thrown into the mix to help things along, and William Hartnell gives one hell of a performance considering what he had to work with. In all honesty though, unless you’re a hardcore completist you should probably write this one off. There are worse Doctor Who serials out there, but you’ll struggle to find one with a weaker plot and you certainly won’t find one with as annoying a jingle!

“The Ark” is something of a watershed story in Doctor Who terms. It is the first story ever to be recorded on a set-by-set basis, with the scenes being assembled into the correct order only at the editing stage. Moreover, it is unique in that the four parts are essentially comprised of two separate two-parters, each with their own different cast and (almost) self-contained story. Finally, “The Ark” will forever be remembered in infamy as Dodo Chaplet’s first trip aboard the TARDIS…

As you may have gathered, I am not a big fan of Jackie Lane’s Dodo. Not at all. She is absolutely horrendous, to put it mildly. I thought Steven’s pig-headed disbelief in “The Time Meddler” was annoying enough, but in the first episode of this story Dodo puts him to shame. Interestingly, Dodo’s introduction here sees Steven come full circle – this time he’s the one in the position of trying to convince the disbeliever that the TARDIS can really travel through time and space! Initial gripes over Dodo’s reaction to the TARDIS aside, her character is downright awful. She’s thick, opinionated and not even that pretty to look at; I really haven’t got a clue what the producers were thinking about when they conceived of this character. And what is it with that daft crusader’s outfit? In this, her very first story, she nearly destroys humanity – her common cold infecting the humans on the Ark who, ten million years of evolution down the line, have no immunity to it.

Mercifully, apart from Dodo’s contributions, Paul Erickson’s story is quite a clever one, and it is also one that translates very well onto the small screen, even considering the tight Doctor Who budget of the time. The Monoids (a slave race) are very impressive for a 1960s alien, and the Ark sets themselves actually manage to look sleek and futuristic without descending into the cheesy futurism that certain stories do. Basically, ten million years into the future the Earth is about to plunge into the sun. All Earth life is on a huge Ark on a 700-year journey to a new planet, Refusis II. In the first two episodes, Dodo’s cold wreaks havoc (very War of the Worlds!) on both the humans and the Monoids, but the Doctor comes up with a cure, saves the day and the TARDIS leaves at the end of the second episode with everything wrapped up. Or is it? The TARDIS rematerialises on the Ark 700 years later, when the Ark has reached Refusis II, and the statue that the humans had spent centuries building is revealed to have a Monoid head! It’s a superb cliffhanger.

Sadly, I didn’t find the second half of the story anywhere near as good as the first half. It’s interesting that for once the Doctor has to deal with the consequences of his actions – he lands in the same place, hundreds of years on to learn that his interference (well, Dodo’s cold) has caused the Monoids to advance into a dominant, militant species, and caused the humans to regress into passive slaves. Rather predictably though, the Doctor makes peace between both races and they both live happily ever after on Refusis II.

As with the next story, “The Celestial Toymaker,” there are a tumult of wonderful ideas here that just aren’t explored satisfactorily enough for my liking. At the end of the day, “The Ark” isn’t particularly good, but the first two episodes are a lot more palatable than a lot of the other rubbish farmed out during this very inconsistent third season.

So here we have another Doctor Who story that I had never seen, and in this case, unlike ‘The Time Meddler’, I was not particularly optimistic about this story. In the end, I feel that the fact that it took so long for ‘The Gunfighters’ to be released on video is the main reason that it has such a poor reputation.

I actually rather enjoyed it. There, I said it. All things considered, it wasn’t a bad little comedy-historical. The characters were, in general, not too badly done, although some of the acting was rather wooden, and I will be a happy man if I never see Jackie Lane attempting to mime the piano again. Hartnell’s portrayal of the Doctor was interesting – at first he seems to be blundering along, unaware of the real danger, and especially of the danger his companions are in. However, somewhere in the middle he becomes rather more like his normal, serious self, as events unfold around him. This was interesting, and perhaps reflected Hartnell’s approach to the decreasing comedic element as the story progressed. 

In general, the story itself was simple, if incredibly historically inaccurate, and the sets were quite impressive, given the limited size of the studio, and the interiors are sparse but give a feel of the Wild West. It is in the sets, and some of the better-acted supporting characters that this story really becomes tolerable. It is with that horrendously all-permeating song that it becomes a bit tiresome. Not that it is a bad song, well it’s not brilliant, but it just tends to get in the way of the drama and tends to soften the impact of things such as the bartender’s senseless death. 

However, in spite of all that I have complained about, in the end ‘The Gunfighters’ does exactly what it sets out to – give the viewers a fun look at the Wild West and in particular the Earps and the Clantons. It’s only when it takes itself too seriously, like in recreating the infamous gunfight that it falls down. All in all, well worth a look, if only to remove some of the stigma associated with this supposedly awful story.

The Ark is an rather unheralded gem from season three, forgotten amongst so many other black and white classics, and is notable as the full story for Dodo Chaplet, who boarded the TARDIS in mysterious circumstances at the end of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Eve. It is an interesting debut for Dodo (especially with that cockney accent of hers) and she starts off in annoying manner, baiting Steven and giving the impression of being an know it all, but she settles down from The Plague (Episode 2 of the Ark) onwards, and becomes rather more likeable actually. 

I think it is an nice and original touch that the main crisis of this story is inadvertently caused by Dodo’s cold, and the severe repercussions it would have on the life forms onboard the Ark, however it is not fully explained properly why the Guardians of the Ark (whom seem to vastly outnumber the Monoids) have their ‘spirits’ broken by the more severe outbreak of Dodo’s cold, but it does serve an excellent example of how the oppressed can become the oppressors. 

The direction from Michael Imison is most impressive, and it is a shame he didn’t work on more stories for Who. The Ark looks believable and well designed, and benefits from such live animals such as an snake and a baby elephant !

The first two episodes set on the Ark, and the crises aboard it, are probably better then the last two set of Refusis II, although I find the predictable courtroom trial scene tiresome and predictable. However the script of the first two episodes sadly glosses over the oppressive treatment of the humans towards their Monaid counterparts, something which would have served the story far better when the TARDIS rematerialized on the Arc 700 years later.

However the grief and guilt that Dodo displays during The Plague is nicely handled, as is the softer Hartnell Doctor, showing genuine pity and compassion towards her, something that probably would not have happened in Season One, when he probably would have ranted about the sanctity of space/time travel

It is also interesting to notice tat the Doctor is the only know who suspects the intelligence of the Monoids when one of them helps him out with his experiments for an cure. The Plague also features one of the more chilling moments from the Hartnell Era, when on the big monitor inside the Ark a vision of Earth is shown burning up as it approaches the Sun, and the cliff hangar is also very cleverly handled, with the head of the giant statue supposedly meant to represent humanity, is shown to have been completed with an monoid head atop it. 

Episode Three, The Return, has shown quite clearly that the Monoids have now enslaved the humans aboard the ship, which is no surprise as clearly the guardians of humanity’s last hope appear to be toothless wimps. The story picks up a pace when The Doctor, Dodo and the Monoids touch down on Refusis II, and its hilarious to see the arrogance of the Monoids brings them unstuck on the planet, due to the invisibility of the inhabitants. 

I suppose this serial does become rather formulaic at this point, with the Monoids planning to desert the humans aboard the Ark and destroying them with a bomb planted inside the statue, but at least it’s handled with aplomb with plenty of desperation among the humans and Steven does get a lot more to do in this portion of the story, having been separated from the Doctor and Dodo, he displays his leadership skills amongst the rather insipid humans aboard the Ark.

The final episode, The Bomb, contains some nice scenes as well, such as the Doctor fairly pointing out some of humanity’s flaws, including intolerance and how they treated the Monoid’s as slaves in the first place. I also enjoy the civil war that rages amongst factions of the Monoids, which probably elevates above other alien races during this period, it is rather regrettable that they never got another appearance in the show as they look superbly designed and convincing. 

I do think it’s sad that so many fans rate this story so poorly as it’s really quite an competent (if admittedly unspectacular) outing for the First Doctor, the plot is fairly thin and doesn’t cover humanity’s poor treatment of the Monoids in the first place, but it has a great performance from all the regulars, beautiful sets and fast direction, and a great new race of aliens in the Monoids. 

Sadly it remains only one of two complete stories remaining from season three (along with the Gunfighters), long regarded as one of the finest seasons in the first decade of Who.