Fan wisdom has it that The Sensorites is a plodding six part story. Read on to find out if I share the wisdom of fandom...
The opening episode of The Sensorites, Strangers in Space, opens with the TARDIS crew puzzling over where they have landed, and reminising over past adventures. This scene serves as a useful reminder as to past adventures and how much the characters have evolved and changed since 100 000 BC. Barbara has also recovered from her experience with the Aztecs, suggesting that some time has passed since The Aztecs. Viewers are treated to a well put together continuous shot following the TARDIS crew out of the TARDIS, and into where they have landed. Director Mervyn Pinfield, set designer Raymond P. Cusick and the cameraman worked within the confines of the studio to produce such an excellent looking shot.
The TARDIS has arrived on an Earth spacecraft, and finding the crew apparently dead the Doctor decides to leave. Captain Maitland then starts to recover, so the TARDIS crew stay and help the crew recover; but are told by Captain Maitland to leave before the Sensorites prevents them from leaving - but it is too late, the TARDIS lock has been removed. These early scenes work well to set up the menace of the Sensorites, first from Maitland and Carole's story, and then the scenes showing a Sensorite hand and equipment removing the TARDIS lock.
The Sensorites then affect the spacecraft, directing it to crash; the Doctor works to try and prevent this and eventually succeeds, with the scene backed up by some suitably dramatic incidental music. The Doctor makes some logical deductions about the Sensorites actions, then asking Maitland about John, who has seen a Sensorite. Barbara and Susan get lured into a sealed section of the craft in their search for water (amusingly, the door movement sound effect is the same as those in the Dalek City). While the others fear for Barbara and Susan, after being told what happened to John (Carole has an emotional connection to John; they were to be married). Far from being the monster described by Maitland and Carole, John appears to be a poor pathetic man, who looks like he's been affected terribly by the Sensorites - the acting of Stephen Dartnell and the make up used to give the Dartnell an aged, hagged appearance making this seem very believable.
Attempts to free Barbara and Susan is interrupted by a warning that the Sensorites are about to return to the ship. After a few moments of tension, building up to their arrival, well backed up by the acting and the incidental music, a Sensorite finally appears at the window, the imagery of this working well due to the framing and lighting of the cliffhanger. Strangers in Space is well written episode that sets up the situation of the story quickly and efficiently, building up the menace of the Sensorites gradually until their final full appearance at the end of the episode.
The Unwilling Warriors opens with a reprise of the previous episode's cliffhanger, which is unfortunately not as effective here - the framing and lighting are wrong, making the chilling image of last episode now look quite mundane. The Sensorites start to attack John's mind, so Susan comes up with a plan that successfully stops them. It's good to see that Susan is being developed as a character once more.
As for the appearance of the Sensorites, they look quite good, apart from their circular feet (when they tread on each other's feet), and their faces look the same - the mask design itself is quite effective. With the way through open once more, and John sleeping peacefully, the Doctor goes through his notes to discover what it is that is causing the Sensorites to attack in such a way, and finds it - the rare mineral molybdenum. Once more humanity's greed is the cause of its troubles.
The Sensorites attack mentally once more, so Ian and Barbara track them down in order to distract them and break the attack. The following scenes are quite effective, with Norman Kay's incidental music once again suiting the action, the only problems being a detectable set wobble, and one point in the sequence when it's unclear whether it's Ian Chesterton turning back to make sure he finds the door, or if it's William Russell checking where the camera is to make sure that he doesn't run into it.
At last they reach a point of communicating with the Sensorites through Susan and in person, and are told that they must live on the Sense-Sphere for the rest of their lives. They refuse this, and Susan receives another message: she is to go with the two Sensorites to the Sense-Sphere, and before anyone can react to this, she leaves the bridge area with them. In this episode the Sensorites have gone from being a mysterious menace to people protecting themselves from others' greed through extreme methods. The pace of the first two episodes has been suspenseful, not slow; building up the tension, defusing it to a degree, sending it off in another direction, twisting the audience's expectations.
Hidden Danger opens with the others preventing Susan from leaving with the Sensorites. There's some good character moments between the Doctor and Susan, and Carole Ann Ford works well to portray a Susan now willing to defy her grandfather's wishes - we've come a long way from the inquisitive teenager of 100 000 BC. Eventually the Sensorite leader says that the crew of the spacecraft and the TARDIS crew can visit the planet, but Barbara, Maitland and one Sensorite must stay behind as a safeguard, giving Jacqueline Hill her well earnt fortnight's break.
On the trip to the Sense-Sphere the Doctor learns why the Sensorites have been acting the way that they have - humans have visited their planet previously, and they are still affected by it now. On the Sense-Sphere, there are problems, as the Second Elder sees humans as being little more than animals, whereas the First Elder senses the wisdom and knowledge of the Doctor. This scene quite effectively sets up the leadership of the Sensorites, and the potential for conflict, as the City Administrator prepares a weapon to kill off the spacecraft and TARDIS crews. There is also a bit learnt about the caste structure of the Sense-Sphere - Elders, Warriors and ordinary Sensorites; a system that the Doctor is skeptical of. These scenes are important as they build a picture of the Sensorite's culture, giving them an edge over the 'monsterous' aliens that we've seen so far in the series; the set design of the Sensorite's world look impressive - with no right angles, made mostly up of curving surfaces.
As John leaves for treatment, he senses an evil presence, and the Second Elder stops the City Administrator's plans. The First Elder explains that John's 'open' mind was the reason why the Sensorite's actions to put the humans to sleep affected him so badly. The First Elder explains the illness that the Sensorite people are suffering, and that none of the Elders are; and insists that TARDIS crew drink from the 'crystal' water of the Elders. Ian samples some of the water the ordinary people drinks and collapses... Hidden Danger continues to build up the pace; revealing why the Sensorites have acted in the manner that they did and giving the audience and human characters an insight into Sensorite culture. Certainly, the first three episodes of The Sensorites move along at a reasonable pace, with a twist changing the Sensorites from being an unknown menace to a race who may have overstepped the mark in protecting themselves from possible future threats, based on past actions. The menace switching to the cause of the disease affecting ordinary Sensorites and Ian.
The Doctor theorises the cause of Ian's collapse at the start of A Race Against Death, putting the blame on something in the common water and ordering the Sensorites around in order to start work on a cure. William Hartnell is in his element here, as the Doctor takes charge of bad situation, but a cure could come down to access to the TARDIS, an option that worries the Second Elder. The City Administrator once more oversteps his mark, attempting to prevent John from being cured and then accusing the Doctor of causing the disease outbreak. John senses the City Administrator's evil nature, but is powerless to stop him. Carole appears to check on John's progress, commenting on how the Sensorites can't be told apart, except for their sashes, leading to the brilliant line from the City Adiministrator "I have never thought of that."; highlighting one flaw in the Sensorite system of rule.
The Doctor continues to work on, having discovered that it is a poison affecting Ian and past victims; having samples taken from each district in order to track down the source of the poison. With the success of finding one source of the poison, the poison used and the cure; the City Administrator makes one last attempt to sway the Second Elder, before taking his sash of office and planning to stop the distribution of the cure. The political intrigue angle of the story finally kicks into action, having been building up for the past episode-and-a-half.
The Doctor takes notice of John's claims, and gets Carole to to take note of everything that John says. The City Administrator puts into action his new power, taking the cure off a scientist - if Ian dies, then his paranoid claims will be proved wrong. The Doctor is off examining the poisoned aquaduct, with whatever responsible for the poisoning exploiting the Sensorite fears of noise and darkness to keep them away. A now cured Ian and Susan go after the Doctor, as the City Administrator learns of this and is pleased; all his troubles will be over now. As the Doctor discovers the poison - Deadly Nightshade, something loud approaches... Four episodes in, and The Sensorites story has seen a few shifts in emphasis, going from mysterious alien menace, to political intrigue and mysterious saboteurs.
Kidnap opens with Ian and Susan finding the Doctor in the aqueduct. The Doctor now believes that he can solve the mystery of the poisonings, but watching them talk this through is one of the City Administrator's allies. After the Second Elder is klled while trying to escape, the City Administrator tries to use this to discredit the Doctor, but fails when the Engineer's story shows several large flaws, but the City Administrator comes out of it on top; claiming that he uncovered a conspiracy headed by the Second Elder, and then the TARDIS crew endorse him for the position of Second Elder. This shows the Doctor's brilliance in some areas, but also his character flaw in overlooking the obvious. These scenes also show WRITER'S strengths in characterisation, expecially in the City Administrator who manages to adapt his plans on the spot.
Meanwhile, John finishes his final treatment and is now himself once more, but recalls overhearing a Sensorite plotting against the humans and the TARDIS crew. Thanks to Susan, he recalls that it was the City Administrator doing all the plotting, but without concrete proof, they can do nothing about it. Stephen Dartnell's performance shifts quite convincingly, portraying the cured John as a strong-willed, inquisitive man.
The Doctor and Ian have decided to enter the aqueduct and solve the poisoning mystery, but the City Administrator (now Second Elder) sabotages their plans by providing them with an altered map and useless weapons. The episode ends with the promised 'kidnap', as Carole gets abducted by unseen Sensorite... The fifth episode of The Sensorites continues to move the story along, as the City Administrator gets his moment of triumph, and John is finally cured. With Carole's abduction, the Dcotor and Ian's mission sabotaged and the promise of Barbara's arrival on the Sense-Sphere, the final episode is set up to be a thriller.
It's revealed that the Second Elder is behind Carole's abduction in the beginning of A Desperate Venture, with Barbara seeing through the note sent to put the others of the scent. It's good to have Barbara back, and she immediately takes charge of the situation. John goes to investigate the Disintegrator Room, and finds Carole; freeing her, but the Engineer doesn't reveal his accomplice.
The First Elder tells Barbara where the Docto and Ian have gone, leading to a nice sequence where Susan, Carole, Barbara and John work together to track them down - with Carole assisting Susan with a map of the aqueduct complex, Susan communicating telepathically (with a bit of help from the Sensorites communication discs) with Barbara, to show her and John the right way to go. The Doctor and Ian have been captured by some humans from the previous expedition - their spaceship was blown up remotely; and they have been poisoning the wate supply since then. After Barbara and John arrive, they convince the humans that the war is over with the Sensorites, and lead them out of the aqueduct, only to be captured by the Sensorites. These sequences work well to show everyone working together at last, and the costuming and make up job on the other humans works well to show that they have been down in the aqueduct a long time; as is their characterisation - with their minds gone, all that they are hanging onto is war games.
The Second Elder is at last found out, and thrown out of the city. Maitland will take the insane humans back to Earth for treatment, back an unfortunate joke from Ian angers the Doctor, who then tells Ian and Barbara to leave at their next destination... It's interesting to note that the print the ABC broadcast of A Desperate Venture does not use the usual roller credits, rather a static form created in the 1980s.
As it stands, The Sensorites is a slower paced story than previous adventures, with writer Peter R. Newman creating an interesting new alien race, and some well crafted human characters. The regular characters also get good development, with Barbara's absense from two episodes having an impact on the dynamic of how the regular characters work together. Susan too gets a lot of good material here, and there are some good moments A Desperate Venture where Susan discusses her home with the First Elder, and later with the Doctor; framed well by the director. The directing of Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox is strong, with the crossover between styles fairly smooth. The story could have been reworked into a four part story, by pacing up the episodes det only on the spaceship, and by having the City Administrator behind the poisoning - the story about earlier human visitors remaining being a red herring.
Not the snoozefest fandom makes it out to be, nor a forgotten classic, The Sensorites is more a mid range story offering good material for the regular cast, and a story different from the usual "humans and aliens" storylines.
7.2/10
Next time: The height of the French Revolution is probably not the best place to dump Ian and Barbara...
Return to the First Doctor review index
Return to review index