Season 2 - William Hartnell - The Space Museum

 

‘The Space Museum was aired in 1965 as part of the second season of Doctor Who featuring William Hartnell as the cranky by lovable Time Lord. This episode, which aired as 4 25 minute long parts, centred on the story of a planet named Xeros which had been taken under the tyrannous rule of a race known as the Moroks who used the planet as a venue to house a museum which paid tribute to the battles they had fought and won as the reached out to conquer the stars. 

There is a really sinister back story to the Moroks and their rule, you learn that they attacked the peaceful Xerons using weapons that were far superior to those of the planets occupants then, once they had Xeros secured, they then organised a mass genocide of all Xerons except for the children. The Children were then drafted into slavery, forced to work to maintain the museum until such time as they came of age. Once the children were considered grown up they would be shipped off to other planets in the Morok empire to undergo other kinds of work, ensuring that there could not be an uprising on Xeros. 

The Doctor and his companions (Vicki, Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton) arrive on Xeros and find that nothing seems quite right, their clothes have changed, their feet leave no footprints in the dust on the earth, they cannot touch any of the exhibits in the museum nor can they be seen by the staff and then to top it all off they come across display cabinets which appear to house exact clones of themselves in some kind of state of preservation. The Doctor surmises that the Tardis had a bit of trouble on landing and has accidentally jumped a time track resulting in a few minutes where their timelines became misaligned. It is upon the Doctor making this discovery that the time track slips back into place and our heroes find themselves exposed and vulnerable to capture. 

They Doctor and his friends are left wondering if there is a way they can stop themselves becoming exhibits in this awful museum or if everything they do and every decision they make will just bring them closer to that terrifying peak into the future. Meanwhile Lobos, the head of the Morok museum, has been made aware of the arrival of aliens in a spaceship, he has his men begin work on tracking down the Tardis and its occupants thinking that they would make a fine addition to his museum. 

There is something very modern about this storyline not only in the underlying rebellion of a youth in revolt but in the crossing of the timelines and the idea that everything happens for a reason and one little thing can change the course of a lifetime. Our heroes are faced with some very important but seemingly impossible decisions throughout the four separate adventures that follow.

The Doctor and his companions become separated and are forced to hide from the Moroks who they now know are looking for them, meanwhile a young group of Xerons have spotted these new arrivals and see an opportunity to get some aid in order to free themselves from their oppressors. The Doctor is the first to be caught and after Lobos has a very unsuccessful time questioning him he begins the process of preserving him for display, it begins to look pretty grim for our protagonist.  

Whilst trying to escape the Moroks Vicki is caught by the Xerons, the leader of the rebellion Tor, played by Jeremy Bulloch, convinces her that they have no intention of harming her and even sends out one of his fellow Xerons named Dako to look for Barbara. He then looks after Vicki, taking her to the Xeron base and giving her food and drink, it is here that Vicki begins to stir up a real rebellion. She convinces the Xerons that she can help them break into the armoury by tricking the security system and they raise an army of the downtrodden to take their planet back. Vicki then tells Tor that she must go back into the museum to see if she can find her companions, Tor tells her to wait until he rebellion has struck and he will free them all but she fears that it might be too late by then.

In the meantime Barbara is found by Dako who locates her trapped in an exhibition room, she is just about to knock him out when he says her name and she realises he is a friend. Dako explains that he is going to take her back to the Xeron base where she will be safe however their escaped is barred when a cloud of smoke begins to filter into the room, it is a poisonous gas which the Moroks have filled the museum with in order to smoke our or paralyse the remaining members of the Doctor’s band. Dako and Barbara make their way to the exits as best they despite the crippling effects of the gas. Once out they bump into Vicki and Sita (who Tor sent with Vicki so as he could help ensure her safety) however they are soon apprehended by the Moroks who now know that a rebellion is afoot. 

Ian is taken prisoner by a Morok who he quickly overpowers and, having taken his gun, forces to lead him to where the Doctor is being kept.  Ian forces the Moroks to reverse the preservation process on the Doctor but they are caught again before they can leave the commanders office. Now that all of our heroes have been captured again they reflect that despite their best efforts to avoid it, they may end up in the display cases after all. 

This is when William Hartnell’s Doctor shows just how clever he can be: 

VICKI: It hasn’t happened yet, you know. 
DOCTOR: Yes, Vicki’s quite right. Quite right. 
IAN: It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it, Doctor? 
DOCTOR: Well, it’s not necessarily, my boy. 
BARBARA: But Doctor, what can we do now to 
DOCTOR: My dear Barbara, you must try and remember, the short time we’ve been on this planet, we’ve met people, spoken to them and who knows, we might have even influenced them. 
VICKI: That’s what I was trying to say, Doctor. 
DOCTOR: Yes, I knew you were, child, yes. Yes, I knew you were. 
IAN: You mean we don’t necessarily have to change our own future. It could be changed for us. 
DOCTOR: Quite so, yes, quite so, my boy. 
VICKI: Like the revolution.

Needless to say the Xerons arrive to save the day, Lobos is killed at Tor’s hand and the Doctor and his companions escape leaving Xeros to the Xerons who plan to destroy all of the relics of the museum and the Morok people. 

William Hartnell as the first Doctor took a very different approach to the character in comparison with his successors; he was less of an action man preferring to use his intelligence and wit to solve problems. He was also much less silly than some of his later incarnations, he came across as a wise old man with a slightly grumpy streak however there was still an element of charm and fun in him as witnessed in this episode. In order to avoid the prying eyes of the Moroks the Doctor conceals himself within the empty shell of a Dalek from the museum, you get a peek at the Doctor’s cheeky side when he emerges from the Dalek chuckling away to himself. Even when captured by the Moroks who attempt to question him using a lie detector test he imagines Walruses and sea lions instead of giving away his true identity. 

Vicki seems to spend quite a large part of her time with the Doctor screaming, complaining and being patronised by the Doctor’s other companions however this episode really sees her come into her own as she organises a rebellion rallies a troupe of young people together helping to save her friends from an unhappy fate. Vicki is very pretty and engaging in this episode. 

This episode would have been a lovely introduction to William Hartnell’s doctor had you never seen another episode with him as it is very characteristic of his Doctor. The storyline is detailed and multi-faceted as early Doctor Who episodes so often were but it is not so complex that you have to be ready to focus your full attention on it. A great way to spend  a couple of hours and a definite 4/5. 

Thank you for reading! :)