Season Two@60 - The Rescue

 

Though ostensibly made to introduce a new companion, `The Rescue` is an interesting story whose brevity means that the usual meandering that fills many a Sixties episode is absent. Instead, David Whitaker’s script is tight (even if it contains some unlikely contrivances) and on a handful of sets plays quite theatrically in a good way with some excellent direction courtesy of Christopher Barry. Visually and narratively it is reminiscent of one of those pulp sci-fi stories from the 1930s especially with its twist of the alien monster not being an alien at all. It does have a few flaws but I would rate it as one of the top first Doctor tales. 

Sixty years ago, Doctor Who fans had to say goodbye to a companion and welcome a replacement, a process that we’re very familiar with now but which must have been strange for both viewers. In casting Maureen O’Brien as Vicki, the show’s producer Verity Lambert had made a good choice. Though superficially a similar character to Susan, Vicki had enough individuality to make a good impression in her own right in her opening story and this boded well for the season. However, as Carole Anne Ford would have told her things don’t work out like that. As it would turn out, her debut story was also Vicki’s high-water mark as a character. Despite showing clearly the range that Maureen O’Brien possessed, Vicki was never written for as well in subsequent stories again and faded into becoming a generic companion. She only appeared in nine stories during which we never even found out her surname, though some sources claim it is Pallister because it turned up in a novel decades later.

The story’s theme is that things are not what they seem whether it’s the roaring sand beast whom Vicki is later revealed to have befriended (something that makes the Doctor and Ian’s peril on the cliff edge seem rather silly in retrospect), the reasons for the crashed spaceship scenario and of course Bennet’s ruse. This is a twist which viewers at the time may not have spotted, the cast at the end of part one cheekily telling us Koquillion is played by Sydney Wilson, an amalgam of two of the show’s founders Sydney Newman and Donald Wilson. This is probably the first use of disguised casting in the series which would reach a peak in the Eighties with those anagrams of Anthony Ainley’s name.

The director is Christopher Barry who brings a flourish as he always did to the series, there is even a filmic quality to some scenes courtesy of low lighting and smoke and I would say this is one monochrome story that should never be colourised. The murky sets suit the black and white tone perfectly. The confrontation between the Doctor and Bennett in part two is very atmospherically presented with lots of smoke and strange sounds. The shot of characters looking at the crashed spaceship is a successful early attempt at combining model work with actors. It helps that the Koquillion costume is a striking image and it turns out to subvert viewers’ expectations as they will be used to monsters. Let’s face it there have been less convincing actual aliens in the show so the reveal that this is just a ceremonial costume is a strong surprise for such a series. 

Not everything works- the sand beast even when partially lit seems to struggle to even move and an attempt at a perspective shot from up on the ledge where the Doctor and Ian are to the bottom of the abyss doesn’t help make the scene any more perilous. Bennet’s elaborate deception seems a bit over intensive not to say impractical enough for even Vicki to have not suspected something was afoot.  Had he succeeded in being rescued would he have kept up the deception?

Christopher Barry likes to keep the Doctor’s face close to camera with other characters in the background which shows how much work William Hartnell puts into every scene. The actor is in great form throughout; playful despite missing Susan, the Doctor seems to engage with this scenario as a way of distracting his attention. Watching it in 2025 it struck me how our perception of the companions has changed. The original series spent just as much time on them as the modern one does yet drip feeds tiny morsels which slowly build up their persona. Compared to the extensive backstory of the likes of Rose or Clara, we actually never learn that much about Ian and Barbara yet we do feel like we know them.

The Doctor has altered a lot in fourteen months, the role now played a lot more whimsically by William Hartnell. The enigmatic, grumpy old man has been replaced by a more genial, playful character though he can still harness moral steel when needed. The Doctor is clearly missing Susan which shows not just when he mistakenly mentions her name but also in his instantly feeling protective of Vicki who clearly reminds him of his granddaughter. When he’s with Ian and Barbara you’re never sure whether the Doctor’s apparent absent mindedness and repeating something one of them has previously suggested is deliberate or not.  Ray Barret does good work too with the difference in the arrogant Koquillion and the self-pitying Bennet.

David Whitaker’s script has some work to do both to pull off Bennet’s deception and lay the backdrop so he includes a ton of expositional material also explaining that the Doctor has been to Dido before. This seems to make little difference and indeed the Didoans we see are a taciturn duo with no dialogue at all. Yet the way he writes Vicki’s desperate optimism that they will be rescued and the dialogue between the regulars as well as the stand-off between the Doctor and Bennet is quality. The brevity of the story allows us to skip over inconsistencies and enjoy the performances in what is a gem of early Doctor Who.