Doctor Who (TV Series) The Death of Time (1965) User Reviews

The Chase: Episode 2 - A silly first episode followed by an adventure which is still silly at times but can be quite fun and has a really good last two parts.

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 7/10 · 19 August 2014]

Review for all 6 parts:

The Chase

This 6 part story beginning with The Executioners divides opinions. Some fans, maybe people who love broad farce type comedy and Doctor Who that doesn't take itself seriously, love The Chase. Fans who dislike that kind of stuff tend to not be too keen on this adventure. I am caught somewhere in between the two divided opinions, as I often am in life and fandom 😂

The adventure, from writer Terry Nation, features The Daleks chasing the TARDIS through time and space landing up in all sorts of adventures in different times and places.

It is basically a comedic story without too much concentration on plot or serious realism for the first 4 episodes. Among other things this adventure explains the mystery of the Mary Celeste by landing the TARDIS and Daleks on board the sailing ship causing the disappearance of the crew. This is a nice idea but involves some silliness in how it is executed on screen.

This adventure starts badly, in my opinion, with a very silly first episode featuring ideas like the 'Time Space Visualiser' (or 'Time TV') invention which implausibly allows them to view historic events as they happened. I am really not a fan of the pointless and silly ideas. I don't really find them fun and find the first episode isn't very well done.

Episode 2 is much better, not exceptional but good fun. I enjoy fun and humour when it doesn't go too far or confuse serious storytelling which is going on at the same time. So part 2 is fine in my view.

Episode 3 goes back to being a bit more silly and is not hugely impressive but it has good moments and is not bad overall.

Then there is the rather less satisfying episode 4 where the TARDIS and Daleks are in a 'haunted house' setting interacting with Dracula, Frankenstein's monster etc. (I kid you not). This is camp fun in a way but goes over the line into silliness far too much for my liking. It is more like a Comic Relief parody episode but isn't very well done I have to say.

I think the problems in the first 4 episodes of this story exemplify this period when Dennis Spooner was script editor, it has too much silly humour and not enough quality. This was the last story before the superior Donald Tosh took over that role and the next 6 stories with Tosh as script editor had much better standards.

Thankfully things get much better and more serious in the last two episodes of this story: Part 5 is a very good, thoroughly enjoyable episode and episode 6 is an excellent concluding part of the story.

Part 6 also features the poignant exit of Ian and Barbara (William Russell and Jacqueline Hill). It is very sad to see them go as they were great companions but their farewell is nicely handled and the arrival of another really good companion Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) softens the blow.

The quality of the last 2 episodes rescue this from being a disappointing and overly silly story. It ends up being a reasonably fun adventure overall with a classic finale.

My Ratings: Episode 1 - 4/10, Episode 2 - 8/10, Episode 3 - 7/10, Episode 4 - 4.5/10, Episode 5 - 8.5/10, Episode 6 - 10/10, Average - 7/10.

Beware the Mire beast

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 27 May 2017]

Aridius proves to be a less then hospitable planet, with the Daleks in pursuit, the TARDIS crew seek help from the Aridians, but with the threat of annihilation hanging over them, the Aridians agree to hand over The Doctor and co.

The opener I thought was rather good, atmospheric and solid, the second part sees some of the silliness begin. The Mire beast looks rather ridiculous, and why did they wait for the moment to attack when Barbara was sat by the wall?

The Daleks are rather silly, it feels a little bit like they're being sent up here, the greatest threat in the Universe, jabbering idiots. The whole 'Archie' sequences too, whilst fun, they are a wee bit silly. The title of this episode 'the death of time' is a cracker, I don't really see the relevance to the episode though.

The cliffhanger was a good one though, The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vickie fleeing from the Daleks, who confirm they will follow the TARDIS at the command of the supreme Dalek, with the purpose of total extermination.

Silly, but fun 6/10

The Death of Time

[guswhovian · 6/10 · 4 September 2020]

The Doctor and Barbara are captured by the Aridians, while Ian and Vicki are attacked by the Mire Beast.

"The Death of Time" is one of the most astoundingly average Doctor Who episodes ever. It's dull, badly directed and badly written. The Aridians aren't on screen enough for any of them to be given any character, and the sets are badly lit.

The Daleks, threatening in their previous appearances, are written almost comically. William Hartnell and William Russell turn in typically good performances, and the scene with them calling a Dalek "Fred" and "Archie" are fun, but that's about it.