Doctor Who Rewind - The Rescue

Doctor Who Rewind
The Rescue

With Susan busy starting civilisation all over again with her newly found resistance fighter David. The whole balance and dynamic of the show needed re-addressing.

The next story, a two parter entitled The Rescue was mainly written in order to introduce a new member of the TARDIS crew.

By this point Doctor Who had been in production pretty much none stop since its start twelve months earlier in November 1963. Despite having a short broadcasting break between series one and two, the production never seized.

The TARDIS lands on a planet called DIDO. It's a grim, foreboding, cavernous place that the Doctor hints he has visited before.

In a forgetful moment after landing, the Doctor begins to ask Susan to open the TARDIS doors, soon remembering she is no longer there. It's a nice touch to see Susan has not completely been forgotten. In fact all the members of the crew, including Barbara and Ian seem to be missing their co-traveller.

The Doctor is so disinterested in going outside to explore the planet (something he normally relishes), he goes back inside the TARDIS, telling Barbara and Ian he's going for a nap.

Later the crew come across a crashed space ship. The two inhabitants of the craft are a young woman, Vicki, and a man , Bennett (who seems to be injured). These two survivors are being stalked by an inhabitant of Dido, a cloaked creature called Koquillion, who has huge clawed hands and feet. The creature carries around a weapon, which looks decidedly like a huge spanner , which renders its foe into a ball of flames.

Barbara befriends young Vicki who tells her that the rest of the crew (including her father) of her craft were lured to their deaths by the inhabitants of the planet. Both her and Bennett are waiting for a rescue ship to pick them up in just three days time.

Suffering from loneliness, young Vicki has befriended a sand beast, a giant monitor type lizard which lollups around the crash site waiting to be fed. The pathetic looking creature looks like a school paper mâché project thats gone hideously wrong.

The arrival of the Doctor, Barbara and Ian, threatens the relationship between the two survivors and the Koquillion. The result is the uncovering of a deep dark secret that someone or something doesn't want out in the open.

No prizes for guessing who the next companion is then. Vicki, with little choice, joins the rest of the crew on board the TARDIS, the Doctor obviously missing his grand daughter, takes a bit of a protective shine to her as well.

The Rescue has a pretty simple premise. Although the little twist in the tail does help to interestingly bring the story to its conclusion, serving its purpose as a vehicle to get a new member of the TARDIS crew on board.

Of note is the fact that these two episodes secured one of the highest viewing figures thus far for the show, which is pretty remarkable given that the story is isn't one of the best.

Compared to its preceding story, this one couldn't be more different, it feels positively claustrophobic. Gone are the outside locations, menacing monsters and large cast. What we have here is an at times, dark, eerie and short tale. Some of the final scenes in the People's Hall Of Judgement are extremely well achieved, with a really foreboding, threatening atmosphere as the Doctor meets Koquillion. I was a bit disappointed however when old "Cockylion" as Ian refers to him in the story, just gives up the ghost so easily and is dealt with by some surviving Didonians who happen to be passing.

To be honest I think just wanted more spanner gun action!!

Next time on Doctor Who Rewind the Doctors meddling gets him into deep trouble while holidaying in Ancient Rome.