The Edge of Destruction (TV story): Difference between revisions
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* In the first episode, the studio floor is visible in the "white void" outside the TARDIS. | * In the first episode, the studio floor is visible in the "white void" outside the TARDIS. | ||
*The Doctor tells Ian that they only have 5 minutes to survive in episode 2 - yet it takes over 5 minutes before they release the fast return switch. The Doctor even takes time to deliver a long and rather pointless speech when he knows that their end is only a few seconds away. | *The Doctor tells Ian that they only have 5 minutes to survive in episode 2 - yet it takes over 5 minutes before they release the fast return switch. The Doctor even takes time to deliver a long and rather pointless speech when he knows that their end is only a few seconds away. | ||
* The | * The TARDIS crew do well to spot the patterns to the TARDIS warnings - especially since they only start in episode 2 after happening randomly in episode 1. | ||
* William Hartnell has a bit of a nightmare, completely throwing the other actors during one scene by saying the same line ("It's not very likely") twice, and fumbling "You knocked both Susan and I unconscious". He also omits the scripted explanation for the melted clocks. | * William Hartnell has a bit of a nightmare, completely throwing the other actors during one scene by saying the same line ("It's not very likely") twice, and fumbling "You knocked both Susan and I unconscious". He also omits the scripted explanation for the melted clocks. | ||
*Two floor assistants' shadows can be seen in episode 1, against the door leading into the bedroom and food machine area. | *Two floor assistants' shadows can be seen in episode 1, against the door leading into the bedroom and food machine area. | ||
*Given the | *Given the circumstances, the TARDIS' [[cloister bell]] (see ''[[Logopolis]]'') should have activated. (''In fact, a warning claxon is heard in ''[[Planet of Giants]]'', under similar peril. The safest assumption is that the ship's alarm system, too, was malfunctioning. One can then conclude that the Doctor simply modified the sound of the alarm heard in ''Giants'' into the familiar sound of the cloister bell.'') | ||
*This story is the first in a long line of stories which demonstrates the effects of unexpectedly opening the TARDIS doors while the ship is in flight. Since the effects are benign, aside from Susan being thrown against the [[TARDIS console|console]] on one occasion, it does seem to contradict later monochromatic stories, ''[[Planet of Giants]]'' and ''[[The Enemy of the World]]''. In those later stories, opening the doors miniaturized the TARDIS (''Giants'') or sucked [[Salamander]] out into the [[time vortex]] (''Enemy''). (''The effects of opening the TARDIS doors when the ship is in flight has had varying results throughout the history of ''Doctor Who''. Most recently, the [[Tenth Doctor]] has shown us that he seems to have developed some control over those effects. He regularly opened the TARDIS doors with [[Donna Noble|Donna]], because, he explained, "the TARDIS is protecting us". This suggests some kind of shield. However, in ''[[Family of Blood]]'', he somehow ejected a passenger through the front doors into a [[black hole]], and in ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'', Donna was able to alight the TARDIS by jumping into it as it moved. Both feats suggest that the "shield" is highly flexible, and may envelop persons, rather than being a simple "drape" over the TARDIS | *This story is the first in a long line of stories which demonstrates the effects of unexpectedly opening the TARDIS doors while the ship is in flight. Since the effects are benign, aside from Susan being thrown against the [[TARDIS console|console]] on one occasion, it does seem to contradict later monochromatic stories, ''[[Planet of Giants]]'' and ''[[The Enemy of the World]]''. In those later stories, opening the doors miniaturized the TARDIS (''Giants'') or sucked [[Salamander]] out into the [[time vortex]] (''Enemy''). (''The effects of opening the TARDIS doors when the ship is in flight has had varying results throughout the history of ''Doctor Who''. Most recently, the [[Tenth Doctor]] has shown us that he seems to have developed some control over those effects. He regularly opened the TARDIS doors with [[Donna Noble|Donna]], because, he explained, "the TARDIS is protecting us". This suggests some kind of shield. However, in ''[[Family of Blood]]'', he somehow ejected a passenger through the front doors into a [[black hole]], and in ''[[The Runaway Bride]]'', Donna was able to alight the TARDIS by jumping into it as it moved. Both feats suggest that the "shield" is highly flexible, and may envelop persons, rather than being a simple "drape" over the TARDIS entryway. One possible explanation for "problematical" openings of the TARDIS doors is that they all seem to happen '''while the TARDIS is traveling in the time vortex'''. Due to the malfunctioning TARDIS, we cannot say for certain when it is traveling in ''Destruction'' and when not. The time rotor, like everything else on the ship, simply isn't working. However, we ''can'' say that in the case of ''Enemy'' and ''Giants'', the TARDIS was very definitely in the time vortex when opening the doors produced a negative consequence. And we can also say that the Tenth Doctor has never opened the TARDIS doors while in the vortex.'') | ||
*The First Doctor rejects the notion of the TARDIS as a living entity. This stands in subtle contrast to various statements by some later Doctors — the [[Third Doctor|Third]] and [[Fourth Doctor]]s often anthropomorphized the TARDIS, for instance — but is most strongly opposed by statements of the [[Ninth Doctor|Ninth]] and Tenth. It's implausible that the Tenth Doctor, in particular, would be able to speak about the fact that TARDISes are grown, while the First Doctor would suggest they're mere machines that are built. Surely as the original owner, and longest resident of [[Gallifrey]], the First Doctor would be the source of the Tenth Doctor's knowledge of the organic nature of TARDISes. (''A non-traditional reading of this story involves viewing the entire adventure as a game the First Doctor is playing in order see how Barbara and Ian problem solve. That the Doctor might be the cause of the entire situation is, after all, consistent with his characterization up to this point. The same man who falsely created a need for [[mercury]] on [[Skaro]] in [[The Daleks|the previous adventure]] would seem perfectly capable of creating a false emergency | *The First Doctor rejects the notion of the TARDIS as a living entity. This stands in subtle contrast to various statements by some later Doctors — the [[Third Doctor|Third]] and [[Fourth Doctor]]s often anthropomorphized the TARDIS, for instance — but is most strongly opposed by statements of the [[Ninth Doctor|Ninth]] and Tenth. It's implausible that the Tenth Doctor, in particular, would be able to speak about the fact that TARDISes are grown, while the First Doctor would suggest they're mere machines that are built. Surely as the original owner, and longest resident of [[Gallifrey]], the First Doctor would be the source of the Tenth Doctor's knowledge of the organic nature of TARDISes. (''A non-traditional reading of this story involves viewing the entire adventure as a game the First Doctor is playing in order see how Barbara and Ian problem solve. That the Doctor might be the cause of the entire situation is, after all, consistent with his characterization up to this point. The same man who falsely created a need for [[mercury]] on [[Skaro]] in [[The Daleks|the previous adventure]] would seem perfectly capable of creating a false emergency on board the TARDIS. Indeed, his "apology" to Barbara at the end of the episode is less conciliatory than congratulatory. He essentially diagnoses her emotional problem like a scientist ticking off predicted reactions, then seemingly gives her a pat on the head for coming through the ordeal. When the story is viewed in this unconventional light, the Doctor could be seen as merely "acting" when he rejects Ian's notion of a "living TARDIS", in order push Ian into developing his hypothesis more fully.''') | ||
*The [[Fast Return Switch]] should have sent them back to 100,000 BC as that was the last place it visited prior to Skaro and not 1963 London. (''This ''faux pas'' can be explained in several different ways. The most obvious is that the Doctor's understanding of the TARDIS at this point is apparently rudimentary, compared to what it would become in later incarnations. Since it was not he, but really a combination of Ian and Barbara, who traced the problem to the Fast Return Switch, it's easy to conclude that the First Doctor didn't really understand its functionality fully. Alternately, it might be that the feature allows you to "lock" '''any''' location into the system as the "default Fast Return point". It is also possible that each press of the button "undoes" each previous step. Perhaps one press would've taken the ship to 100,000 BC, but two presses would've taken them back to 1963. Finally, as outlined above, it's possible that the Doctor is playing an elaborate game with his companions in this story. The Doctor seen in ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'' would '''never''' take Ian and Barbara back home at this point; he '''deliberately kidnapped''' them, after all. Yet, even if he '''wants''' to return them, statements in both of the previous adventures suggest it's simply not possible. Thus, his description of a button that could magically take the crew back to 1963 London seems obviously farfetched to the audience, but something which Ian and Barbara just might accept in their then-desperation to return home. In any case, this story dashes any hope of using the Fast Return Switch at all, almost as soon as it raises it.)'' | *The [[Fast Return Switch]] should have sent them back to 100,000 BC as that was the last place it visited prior to Skaro and not 1963 London. (''This ''faux pas'' can be explained in several different ways. The most obvious is that the Doctor's understanding of the TARDIS at this point is apparently rudimentary, compared to what it would become in later incarnations. Since it was not he, but really a combination of Ian and Barbara, who traced the problem to the Fast Return Switch, it's easy to conclude that the First Doctor didn't really understand its functionality fully. Alternately, it might be that the feature allows you to "lock" '''any''' location into the system as the "default Fast Return point". It is also possible that each press of the button "undoes" each previous step. Perhaps one press would've taken the ship to 100,000 BC, but two presses would've taken them back to 1963. Finally, as outlined above, it's possible that the Doctor is playing an elaborate game with his companions in this story. The Doctor seen in ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'' would '''never''' take Ian and Barbara back home at this point; he '''deliberately kidnapped''' them, after all. Yet, even if he '''wants''' to return them, statements in both of the previous adventures suggest it's simply not possible. Thus, his description of a button that could magically take the crew back to 1963 London seems obviously farfetched to the audience, but something which Ian and Barbara just might accept in their then-desperation to return home. In any case, this story dashes any hope of using the Fast Return Switch at all, almost as soon as it raises it.)'' | ||
