Classic Doctor Who 1x09/1x10 "The Expedition"/"The Ordeal" full reaction
Added 2021-07-13 01:36:27 +0000 UTC"You always think of something, Grandfather."
Comments
I enjoy these episodes they give time to let the world building and the characters breath. Also interesting from a how Who does politics viewpoint, and from the very beginning. The debate over if the Thals will fight or not breaks down quite interestingly when taken within the context of when first broadcast. The pacifist position the Thals originally adopt would have been a clear parallel to older family members watching of the love not war hippie movement of the time. The Doctor's and Barbara's position is the old practical British approach- we need these people to act for our own good, so we have to get them to act no matter what. And Ian gets the voice of modern times, the progressive of its day liberal 60's view- we have to get them to fight for our own good, but we can only do that if they themselves choose to do it. They cannot be forced or tricked into it. Interestingly we also get the one Thal representing the cowards choice, to not only run away but to lie and conceal that they had ran away. Driving home that the cowards choice is also one without honour. This is interesting, especially as they have Barbara siding with the Doctors more pragmatic and less consenting position than Ian's progressive liberal position. During World War One the suffragettes movement was split by the war, many felt they should oppose it, but the militant feminist wing felt the opposite and formed the White Feather Girls. They hunted out young men of fighting age and shamed them into enlisting by pinning white feathers of cowardice to them. And in the second world war the movement was again split by the pacifists and militant wings, though not to the same degree nor did they shame men who did not go to war, though the 'spiv' a man of fighting age who had found a means of being excused from war duty and tended to make a living dealing profitably in black market goods to a ration starved nation was a well known WW2 character. In post war media they are often portrayed as being weaselly, shady types whose excuses for getting out of service are similarly convincing as Donald Trumps. For the viewers of the 1960's all these war allusions were still in many peoples minds, its dealing with many of the same things the country still is. The question comes down to is it better to go to war and die at least trying to defend your own? Or is it better to hold to your morals and beliefs and refuse to fight or kill and know you will definitely die and all your people with you? The decision taken by the Thals to fight comes down to the argument there are some things which must be fought, as there is no other choice left to survive. Which would of course resonant with a nation still rebuilding and coming to terms with the aftermath of a war that had to be fought because there was no other choice but to oppose the beliefs and actions of the Nazi's. But nevertheless came at a stunning cost. And of course the Daleks themselves are Who's Nazis. If you noticed we actually get a row of Daleks giving the Nazi salute with their plunger arms extended. So each of the positions taken up by each group would have had some clear echo or direct parallel in recent living memory for many watching, and resonate with children brought up in the society of that wars aftermath. But what is important about how this handles these questions is it firstly makes it about the broader issues- pacifism versus war when the need for war is the only viable alternative to annihilation. This takes it out of the realm of favouring any particular political position and then gives us representatives of the various arguments for and against and the case for each. And in the case of Ian's deliberate provocation even a demonstration of one in action. The Doctors reaction to Ian doing this is also interesting, he is first not sure what Ian is up to, but then he stops the others from interfering to allow Ian do it. It's one of two times in these episodes where a human does something and impresses him out of his so far usual dismissal of humans. The other is of course when he notices he has been underestimating Barbara. Its in these little moments where we begin to see the Doctor noticing the very things that will he come to love so much about humans, and that will influence his own choices and personality for ever more. It's the first building blocks from the Doctor we have met to the one we know today. But this shows how its possible to tell a good story, provide in-depth interesting characters and world building, discuss topical for its time politics and current moral questions in society and not lecture the audience or draw every moment of the episode's narrative and characters towards highlighting it as a moral political question. It arises naturally out of the characters as introduced and shaped by their interactions and the events in the world as portrayed. And here is one of the major ways I feel present day Who has mishandled its messaging of politics and morality badly in comparison. You are also encountering that other great thing about classic Who, almost every episode ends on a cliffhanger. Often literal ones. Granted they can be sometimes rather random or out of nowhere just because the episode has ran out of time and needs to end so cliffhanger, but there are also some absolute crackers along the way.
BobBob
2021-07-14 19:14:55 +0000 UTCAhhhh-aahhaa-Aahhaahhaaaa!🙃🤪🤪
Lloyd B
2021-07-14 03:49:39 +0000 UTCI'm not gonna lie, the drugged-out Dalek is still one of my all-time fave Doctor Who moments! <3
Nicole Mazza
2021-07-14 01:37:36 +0000 UTC
