The Twilight Zone
The Edge of Destruction* (2 X 25mins B&W)
Written by David Whitaker
Doctor Who Series one Serial three
The Edge of Destruction transmitted BBC 8 February 1964
The Brink of Disaster transmitted BBC 15 February 1964
* Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.
Synopsis
The TARDIS crew are knocked unconscious. On awakening they find they have partial amnesia, and the TARDIS is acting strangely. Things don't work, the fault locator shows faults everywhere, the doors open and close, the clock face has melted, and the scanner doesn't show the outside, but a series of still photographs of their previous journeys. The Doctor works out they have only fifteen minutes before total destruction. Can the crew put aside their mistrust and hostilities to find a solution before it's too late?
Review
The background to this bizarre story is simply this: the production company had a two week gap to fill, and due to budget overspend on the Dalek and Marco Polo serials (Verity was given a threadbare £2500 per episode), there was no money for props or guest artistes. Story editor David Whitaker came up with a two-parter using only the TARDIS interior and the core four actors. To his credit, this could have been a lot worse.
This is neither history, nor Science Fiction, but what the team called a 'sideways' story, and is more reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone. It's no point complaining that it's padding, because it is that by design. The weakest points are a rather thin plot stretched over two episodes (really would have been stronger as a single part), the switch of directors (this really needed to be a coherent whole), and the inexplicably bizarre and overly complicated way the TARDIS communicates with the crew about the danger (this is the first story to suggest the TARDIS may be more than machine).
The strengths are the sheer bizarreness of story and plot, some striking imagery (the melted clock face) and the great interplay between the four actors, only Hartnell's occasionally muddled lines giving away the hasty nature of the production. Martin directs his episode better, there's some lovely subdued lighting and shadow effects, and a sparse use of some spookily atmospheric (and uncredited) incidental music. Cox's lighting is flatter, the acting a bit more stagey, with the odd arch blocking. The Doctor's monologue about the beginning of time though is wonderfully done by all concerned.
All in all, not a bad experiment, that future Who creators would occasionally hark back to in other 'sideways' stories such as The Mind Robber.
TARDIS rating: 3/5
Credits
This is neither history, nor Science Fiction, but what the team called a 'sideways' story, and is more reminiscent of an episode of The Twilight Zone. It's no point complaining that it's padding, because it is that by design. The weakest points are a rather thin plot stretched over two episodes (really would have been stronger as a single part), the switch of directors (this really needed to be a coherent whole), and the inexplicably bizarre and overly complicated way the TARDIS communicates with the crew about the danger (this is the first story to suggest the TARDIS may be more than machine).
The strengths are the sheer bizarreness of story and plot, some striking imagery (the melted clock face) and the great interplay between the four actors, only Hartnell's occasionally muddled lines giving away the hasty nature of the production. Martin directs his episode better, there's some lovely subdued lighting and shadow effects, and a sparse use of some spookily atmospheric (and uncredited) incidental music. Cox's lighting is flatter, the acting a bit more stagey, with the odd arch blocking. The Doctor's monologue about the beginning of time though is wonderfully done by all concerned.
All in all, not a bad experiment, that future Who creators would occasionally hark back to in other 'sideways' stories such as The Mind Robber.
TARDIS rating: 3/5
Dr. Who ..................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL
Ian Chesterton .......................................................................... WILLIAM RUSSELL
Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL
Susan Foreman ....................................................................... CAROLE ANN FORD
Title Music ....................................... by RON GRAINER BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Story Editor (uncredited) ......................................................... DAVID WHITAKER
Designer ................................................................................. RAYMOND CUSICK
Associate Producer ............................................................... MERVYN PINFIELD
Producer ................................................................................. VERITY LAMBERT
Directed (episode 1) ............................................................... by RICHARD MARTIN
Directed (episode 2) ............................................................... by FRANK COX
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