The Ark

Remember your journey is very important, young man, therefore you must travel with understanding as well as hope.

The First Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor, Steven and new companion Dodo Chaplet land on a spaceship taking the last of humanity away from a dying Earth, but a seemingly innocuous illness carried by Dodo could have devastating effects for the humans and the subservient Monoids.

Review

The Ark is a story with an incredibly unique premise for the show at this point in its history, setting a story over split time periods. Whilst this is something that is not unusual for the show now, it feels like a step to the show playing around with the time travels elements much more.

Yes, you must travel with understanding as well as hope. You know, I once said that to one of your ancestors, a long time ago.

The First Doctor

This story continues to show why the third season of Doctor Who is one of the most experimental in the show’s history. The story of The Ark is split into two parts, on the same ship but set at different points in time, something which the show would do a lot in the future. Similarly, the story in the second two episodes show the consequences of the Doctor and his companions’ actions in the first two parts, which would be a key theme when Russell T Davies brought the show back in 2005. Despite that, a lot of The Ark feels as though it follows the formula of stories of this era; the Doctor having to essentially rush a cure for the illness, Steven having to stand up and defend their actions, and a battle between oppressed and oppressors in the final parts. Whilst the Monoid costumes are not bad for something created on a budget, the decision to make the Refusians be invisible feels as though it is purely for budgetary reasons.

The Ark has an unusual and rather cynical view of the future of the human race. The Guardians, future humans, have unarguably made a lot of progress, however, they have also taken steps backwards. Their distrust of outsiders, such as the Refusians and the Doctor, Steven and Dodo, feels like xenophobia and makes you question why they so readily accepted the Monoids, but then again they are essentially their slaves. Their society is brought to its’ knees by Dodo’s cold, to the extent that they are powerless to resist the Monoids rising up and overthrowing them. It seems that they are perfectly content to go along with outsiders so long as they are subservient and intellectually inferior to them, communicating by way of sign language until they develop the technology to be able to speak in the final two parts. The story does not even make the Monoids substantially more clever or more evil and, as there is little to visually distinguish them from each other, when they break into factions and break into a civil war later in the story, it is hard to tell who is attacking who, and who is winning. It is difficult to think of more confusing fight sequences in the show’s history. Even the fight between the Third Doctor and Omega in The Three Doctors feels coherent compared to this.

This story marks the full debut of new companion Dodo, who is clearly slotted into the surrogate granddaughter template recently vacated by Vicki in The Myth Makers, and which originated with Susan. I found it quite difficult to get a handle on her character, and it seemed apparent that her accent has already started to tone down. Jackie Lane is clearly trying to do her best but it doesn’t not feel as though the show particularly likes Dodo as a character. She starts off this story believing that she is at Whipsnade Zoo, and cavalier about exiting a space capsule which has landed somewhere completely different to where she boarded, much to both the Doctor and Steven’s chagrin. Whilst her illness is massively important to the plot, I feel as though I spent nearly two hours with a character that I don’t know anything more about than I did at the beginning of the story. I know that Dodo does not have the longest run as a companion so I am not filled with hope for her character or her development on television. I have listened to the latest Big Finish First Doctor Adventures with Lauren Cornelius taking over the role of Dodo, and feel as though the character could have promise, but this is my first time of seeing the character on screen so I’m unsure of where she is going.

The Doctor seems to be becoming more crotchety again, following his character softening again, but there are certainly signs of the softer and more nurturing First Doctor. He is harsh towards Dodo, but equally there are signs of warmth between them too, considering that they spend a lot of time together in the last two parts. The infamous “Billy-fluffs” are present here too, perhaps showing that William Hartnell’s health was beginning to deteriorate. It is perhaps unsurprising that the production team were starting to think about what steps to take next in respect of the title role considering this. Peter Purves continues to show what a talented actor he is, especially in the scenes where he has to speak up for himself and his fellow travellers. Steven is the one left on the Ark whilst they attempt to overthrow the Monoids and find the bomb left onboard to destroy the remainder of humanity.

Verdict: A story with an interesting premise, even if the execution lets it down slightly. 6/10

Cast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), Peter Purves (Steven Taylor), Jackie Lane (Dodo Chaplet), Eric Elliot (Commander), Inigo Jackson (Zentos), Roy Spencer (Rhos), Kate Newman (Mellium), Edmund Coulter (1st Monoid and Monoid 1), Frank George (2nd Monoid and Monoid 3), Ian Frost (Baccu), Stephanie Heesom (1st Guardian), Paul Greenhalgh (2nd Guardian), Ralph Carrigan (Monoid 2), Roy Skelton and John Halstead (Monoid Voices), Terence Woodfield (Maharis), Brian Wright (Dassuk), Eileen Helsby (Venussa), Terence Bayler (Yendom), Richard Beale (Refusian Voice) & John Caesar (Monoid 4).

Writer: Paul Erickson and Lesley Scott

Director: Michael Imison

Producer: John Wiles

Composer: Tristram Cary

Parts: 4 (The Steel Sky, The Plague, The Return & The Bomb)

Original Broadcast Dates: 5th – 26th March 1966

Behind the Scenes

• This story had a working title of The Space Ark.
• This story has the show’s first credit for a female writer, albeit Lesley Scott did not actually do anything towards the writing. She was married to Paul Erickson at the time and it was part of an agreement that they had that she would share the credit.
• This was the first Doctor Who story to feature filming out of sequence. Episode 4, The Bomb, was shot depending on studio availability and subsequently put together in post-production.
• It was during production of this story that Peter Purves was told that his contract would not be renewed beyond the extension of twelve episodes.
• The only story produced by John Wiles that exists in its entirety, and the first of three complete surviving stories in Season 3.

Cast Notes

• Roy Spencer would go on to play Frank in Fury from the Deep.
• The story marked the first appearance in Doctor Who of Michael Sheard. Sheard would go on to appear in The Mind of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Invisible Enemy, Castrovalva and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as the Eighth Doctor audio story The Stones of Venice.
• Ian Frost would go on to appear as a Draconian Messenger in Frontier in Space.
• Ralph Carrigan played numerous roles in Doctor Who, in stories such as The Macra Terror, The Mind Robber and The Invasion.
• Terence Woodfield had previously played Celation in The Daleks’ Master Plan.
• Terence Bayler would go on to play Major Barrington in The War Games.
• Richard Beale would go on to appear in The Gunfighters, The Macra Terror and The Green Death.
• John Caesar had appeared in The Romans and would go on to appear in The Macra Terror, The Sea Devils and Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Best Moment

I think that the reveal at the end of The Plague of the complete statue with the Monoid head is really good.

Best Quote

You still fear the unknown like everyone else before you.

Steven Taylor

Previous First Doctor review: The Massacre

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