The Keys of Marinus

  The Fellowship of the Keys

The Keys of Marinus* (6 X 25mins B&W)

Written by Terry Nation

Doctor Who Series one Serial five

The Sea of Death transmitted BBC 11 April 1964

The Velvet Web transmitted BBC 18 April 1964

The Screaming Jungle transmitted BBC1 25 April 1964

The Snows of Terror transmitted BBC1 2 May 1964

Sentence of Death transmitted BBC1 9 May 1964

The Keys of Marinus transmitted BBC1 16 May 1964

* Note: until 1966 Doctor Who serials had no overall title, instead each episode had its own title.

Synopsis

The TARDIS lands on an island made of glass, surrounded by a sea of acid, and in the middle a strange pyramid. Entering it they are attacked by the evil rubber-suited Voord, but save themselves and Arbitan (the great George Coulouris). He is the Keeper of the Conscience Machine, a machine that can radiate thought waves across the whole planet, removing evil. Worried that it might fall into the wrong hands, the Keeper had removed the four micro-keys and hidden them across the planet. Now the Voord threaten, only the Conscience Machine can prevent them. Thus he has sent his daughter and allies to find the keys, but that was years ago and none have returned. With instantaneous transport dials, he tasks our four travellers to find and return the keys before it's too late. Will the four find them? Will they survive the hazards of the journey? Will they be in time? Tune in next week.

Review

It would seem obvious, given the multi-episode serial nature of the show, and having four regulars, to do quests, but this was the first, and oddly, an exception rather than a rule.

This serial stretched the new production team as they had to create unique sets and designs for at least for of the six shows, ranging from the Conscience Machine, a jungle, a snowy waste, an ice cave, and a trial room. It's to the credit of design, costumes & make-up that they do this. The Cave with its Guardian Knights especially so, and this would raise a smile on many a Lucas & Spielberg fan.

The serial starts strongly, with the strange island and the Conscience Machine, and the next three episodes see the strength of the quest format with different settings and problems to solve. They also allow Terry Nation to fit in Hartnell's two week holiday as he sends the Doctor ahead. These episodes showcase the companions, and they do remarkably well, Russell & Wright coming to the fore. The Velvet Web plays on illusion and reality, The Screaming Jungle sees nature gone wild, and and they have to evade traps an dsolve a riddle, whilst The Snows of Terror has freezing temperatures and Knight Templars, plus Vasor (the magnificently evil Francis De Wolff) who seems to have evil designs on Barbara! It's no surprise these kept up the audience rating, reaching a peak of 10.4 million for episode four.

Sadly, the serial slows down in episode five, where we have that ubiquitous device of hero action adventure stories, the hero on trial, here Ian for murder and theft of the key. Of course, the Doctor defends him. If the plot here is a bit contrived, and changes tack from quest to courtroom drama and Agatha Christie style locked room mystery, this was mainly due to the hurried writing of the script (it was a late replacement for a story that eventually had to be abandoned, either for script or budgetary reasons, a perennial problem for Doctor Who). 

It's no surprise therefore to find the ratings fall off by now, finishing with 6.9 million. But the trial does introduce the excellent Donald Pickering in his first of three Who stories, as the prosecutor Eyesen. With his dark velvety voice and sardonic face, he is a credit to everything he appears in, and lifts the last two episodes, as does the interesting solution to the locked room mystery (well, I didn't guess it). Then its back to The Conscience Machine.

Sadly, Arbitan doesn't reappear, and the ending with the Voord and the Conscience Machine is rushed, and rather obvious. Other highlights of the series, including the above, is Norman Kay's excellent incidental music, all spooky woodwinds, especially in the early episodes. Similar to the Cathy Gale era The Avengers (I checked, he didn't write for that show). All in all, an interesting quest, a format I would have liked to see more of, especially in the six-part serials that too often turned out to be four-parters with a tacked on two-part twist. Only the sense of the serial running out of steam as it nears its conclusion disappoints. Reaching it's twenty sixth episode milestone, the show was firmly up and running.

TARDIS rating: 3.5/5

Credits

Dr. Who ..................................................................................... WILLIAM HARTNELL

Ian Chesterton .......................................................................... WILLIAM RUSSELL

Barbara Wright ......................................................................... JACQUELINE HILL

Susan Foreman .......................................................................  CAROLE ANN FORD

Arbitan ...................................................................................... GEORGE COULOURIS

Altos .......................................................................................... ROBIN PHILLIPS

Sabetha ....................................................................................  KATHARINE SCHOFIELD

Voice of Morpho ........................................................................ HERON CARVIC 

Darrius ...................................................................................... EDMUND WARWICK

Vasor ......................................................................................... FRANCIS DE WOLFF

Tarron ........................................................................................ HENLEY THOMAS

Larn ........................................................................................... MICHAEL ALLABY

Senior Judge ............................................................................. RAF DE LA TORRE

Kala ........................................................................................... FIONA WALKER

Aydan ........................................................................................ MARTIN CORT

Eyesen ...................................................................................... DONALD PICKERING

Yartek ........................................................................................ STEPHEN DARTNELL 

Title Music ........................... by RON GRAINER with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Incidental Music Composed  ................................................... by NORMAN KAY

Story Editor ............................................................................. DAVID WHITAKER

Designer ................................................................................. RAYMOND P. CUSICK

Costumes Supervised ............................................................ by DAPHNE DARE

Make-up Supervised .............................................................. by JILL SUMMERS

Associate Producer ...............................................................  MERVYN PINFIELD

Producer ................................................................................  VERITY LAMBERT

Directed .................................................................................  by JOHN GORRIE

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