Short Trips - "The Last Days" by Evan Pritchard, edited by Stephen Cole

Short Trips
"The Last Days"
Written by Evan Pritchard
Edited by Stephen Cole
Published: 2nd March 1998

What's It All About

When I began this journey I knew that I was going to include as much "expanded universe" material as possible. The reason for this was two-fold: firstly, I wanted some new material rather than just plowing through the standard TV marathon which I'd done before and would doubtless do again; secondly, I wanted to experience material that the TV series would or could never do either because it would be far too expensive to realize or the material was too sensitive to go out on a Saturday evening when the whole family is sitting down to watch. With "The Last Days" by Evan Pritchard we certainly have a story that fits the latter criteria.

The story certainly hits the ground running with the Doctor making a rousing speech to a legion of Roman soldiers, denouncing the Jewish Zealots and their crimes against Rome and promising that their fortress at Masada will fall, ending the long siege. An intriguing opening, certainly, and this is added to in the next scene when we learn that Ian and Barbara are currently residing in Masada. Through Barbara, we learn that shortly after their arrival in Judaea some weeks earlier, the TARDIS crew got caught up in a skirmish between Roman soldiers and the Zealots. In the melee, the party was soon split up with the Doctor and Susan ending up on the Roman side and Ian and the injured Barbara carried off back by the Zealots.

Over the intervening weeks during Barbara's recovery, the travellers have been trying to ingratiate themselves into their various camps and their respective leaders, Eleazar ben Ya'ir for the Zealots and Lucius Flavius Silva for the Romans. As is now becoming traditional, Ian sets to prove his trustfulness to Eleazar by making tactical suggestions in their battle against the Romans, much as he did with the Thals. Meanwhile, the Doctor has taken on the air of a well-to-do Roman citizen and exerts influence over Silva and the Roman legions.

Ironically, it is Ian's influence with the Zealots that has them leading a more successful campaign than history records, so much so that the Romans are demotivated enough to give up their long siege of Masada. Ever mindful of making sure history runs its natural course especially after the incident with the Aztecs, the Doctor and Barbara work to ensure that history is set right. The Doctor exerting his built up influence to stop the retreating Roman legions in their tracks and Barbara in planting the seeds which lead to the fall of the Zealots.

I'm not averse to spoilers in my marathon entries, and indeed the idea of discussing spoilers in reference to a historical event which occurred 2,000 years ago is a bit ridiculous. However, I encourage anyone reading this to seek out the story and give it a good read. Those familiar with the Siege of Masada will obviously know the outcome, but even as a student of history I wasn't aware and was so utterly shocked.

The remains of Masada Fortress in the 21st Century.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

As I'm sure readers are aware by now, I'm an absolute sucker for a historical story, even in an era I'm not particularly familiar with. Familiarity isn't necessary and considering the ending, a bonus in reading the story. The author, Evan Pritchard, takes an event in ancient history and personalizes it for the readers by placing one of our heroes at the centre in the most horrific way. Away from the harrowing scenes, though, we have a further exploration of the themes of meddling with Earth's history that we go so recently with The Aztecs and the Doctor and Barbara so keen to keep events on course, in opposition to Ian.

This story is a gem, that ticked so, so many boxes and really made me think for ours afterward. Kudos to Mr Pritchard.

10/10

Continuity Corner

• Ian references Barbara's experience with the Aztecs (The Aztecs) when they arguing about attempting to alter the course of history. Given that Ian is still blase about attempting to alter history, could suggest that it takes place before The Flames of Cadiz.

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance by Moris Farhi, adapted by Nigel Robinson, directed by John Ainsworth

Doctor Who: The Lost Stories - 2.1B
The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance
Written by Moris Farhi

Adapted by Nigel Robinson

Directed by John Ainsworth
Published: November 2010

What's It All About

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance is an interesting addition to Doctor Who history. Produced during the series' infancy in 1964 by Moris Farhi, it was never intended to be broadcast, but to serve as a pitch to show to script editor David Whitaker.

Whitaker obviously saw enough potential in Farhi to commission him to write a six-part historical story, which he later developed as Farewell, Great Macedon. Unfortunately, that story never made it to our television screens either and joined such other famous lost stories as The Masters of Luxor, The Giants and The Hidden Planet.

Nearly fifty years later, Big Finish Productions decided to bring many of these lost stories back from the dead and finally bring them back in some form. Working with Farhi, Nigel Robinson set about adapting both Farewell, Great Macedon and The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance. After forty-six years and, despite never being intended for release, we finally get to visit the planet Fragrance.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

For this era of Doctor Who it is very unusual for an adventure to open when the Doctor and his companions have already been in one location for a few weeks, had a nice relaxing holiday while the locals have fashioned a replacement part for the TARDIS, and are now preparing to leave. It is certainly a welcome change of pace, seeing how the TARDIS crew are when they're relaxing, rather than running down endless corridors, shoving Daleks or tackling Voord.

Indeed, the Doctor is so relaxed he even agrees to let a couple of the locals have a good ole mooch around the TARDIS, much to Ian's amazement. This proved to be the most entertaining and informative part of the story as we learn more detail about how the TARDIS operates than we have in the 50+ years of televised stories.

Of course, the main focus of the story is on Barbara and her relationship with a local young man named Rhythm. Throughout their stay on the planet Fragrance, Barbara and Rhythm have spent a lot of time together and now he has fallen in love with her. This isn't a typical holiday romance that he'll get over in time, it is a biological imperative that she reciprocates. The people of Fragrance have two phases of life, the thin purple arc and the fragile yellow arc. The fragile yellow arc is only attained when a young person falls in love with another and it is reciprocated. If not, the person is biologically tuned to sail out into the ocean and sacrifice their life.

Naturally, Barbara, although not in love with Rhythm, is compelled to remain behind so that he can live, and almost decides to do so. However, the decision to do so is taken out of her hands as the Doctor sets the TARDIS off and they watch on the scanner as Rhythm sails out to sea.

The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance is a very interesting and heartbreaking piece by Moris Farhi, and it is obvious to see how this story appealed to David Whitaker so much that he commissioned him to write the upcoming Farewell, Great Macedon. On its own, though, the story just wouldn't have fit into the era of Doctor Who that was being broadcast in 1964.

7/10

The Dr Who Annual 1966: "The Monsters from Earth", illustrated by Walter Howarth

The Dr Who Annual 1966
"The Monsters from Earth"
Written by [unknown]
Illustrated by Walter Howarth
Published: September 1965

What's It All About

"The Monsters from Earth" represents the sort of story I expect to find in these annuals that are produced mainly for a child audience. The basic set-up is there in that two children, Tony and Amy, as well as their dog Butch stumble into the Tardis while playing a game of hide-and-seek on Earth in 1966. That seems fair enough, although I really can't see the Doctor leaving the door open to allow the children to enter while he wandered about trying to get his bearings. Still, it's a means to an end.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Out of the three stories from this annual I've read so far, this story probably has the most exciting visuals and the addition of some companions also seem to liven things up as the previous stories, especially "The Lost Ones", had the Doctor talking to himself about how he invented the atmospheric density jackets while he was slowly asphyxiating from lack of air.  Indeed, the visual of having the TARDIS caught in a giant spider's web and being menaced by said giant spider is probably more terrifying that Pertwee's encounter with "The Great One" in Planet of the Spiders.

Like the previous story, this one features an alien race from the show's first season. No, it's not the Daleks. Nor the Voord. It's the Sensorites! The illustrations are terrible, but the Sensorites weakness for loud noise and darkness is mentioned and exploited in this story, yet their telepathic abilities go unmentioned. This story is presented as being the Doctor's first contact with the Sensorites, however, I'm sure that he had never encountered the Sensorites before The Sensorites. Maybe it's my faltering memory. This story also adds a dash extra to the Sensorites by suggesting that they worship the giant spiders in the caves and to hurt them is blasphemous.

My favourite part of the story has to be the Doctor trying to convince the Sensorites to throw him back in the cave where the TARDIS is located by suggesting numerous ways of exterminating the spiders, only for the Sensorites to turn around and say that they could not expose the spiders to such blasphemy and a being that could cause so much harm to them.

Overall, an improvement over the first two stories, and we get to see the very first companions. As for his promise to get Tony, Amy and Butch back to 1966 at the exact moment they left...

7/10

Continuity Corner

• This story represents The Doctor's first contact with the Sensorites.

Time and Relative by Kim Newman, illustrated by Bryan Talbot

Telos Novella #1
Time and Relative
Written by Kim Newman
Illustrated by Bryan Talbot
Published: 23rd November 2001
Read: 19th-20th September 2016

What's It All About

It's March 1963 and the United Kingdom is in the grip of a months-long winter that has brought the country to its very knees. As ordinary people struggle daily to live out their lives, the British government blame the Soviet Union for the terrible conditions gripping the country.

Through a series of diary entries written by Susan Foreman herself, we see how the community of the Coal Hill area of London deals with "The Cold". Told from the first person perspective, Susan observes how her teachers and friends from Coal Hill School, as well as a few characters from the local community, react when the mundane but inconvenient, turns horrifically deadly. Within a single scene, we can go from a good-natured snowball fight to a deadly attack by a snowman which sees a child impaled through the leg by a massive icicle.

The struggle becomes worse for the people of Coal Hill as "the Cold" continues to grow stronger and take on a life of its own. The cute but deadly snowmen, soon take the form of terrifying Cold Knights that stalk the land and kill people in a horrific manner.

Susan believes that her grandfather can save them all from "the Cold", but he has been indoctrinated not to meddle in the affairs of other species. Besides which, when "the Cold" has a prior claim to the planet Earth, he needs convincing whether humanity deserves the right to exist.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Although we've had a few visits to 1963 over the course of our journey, only two stories have been really steeped in the history and feel of that time, this and Hunters of Earth. However, while Hunters focused on the kitsch and nostalgia of the era with very few negative aspects, this story presents a more truthful warts-and-all perspective which the Doctor and Susan have been living in for the "last five months".

The whole backstory behind the story focuses on the Cold War between the East and West with both sides blaming each over for the terrible winter which has wreaked havoc over the Northern Hemisphere. The fact that the USSR was proved to be responsible from unearthing "the Cold" through their Novobirisk Project in Siberia, a plan to engineer climate change, just goes to show how bad things were in the early 1960's. After all, we are only a few months removed from the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The hardcover for Time and Relative.

One other key aspect of the 1960s that is examined is the casual racism that was rife across the United Kingdom at the time. Through Susan's babysitting of Malcolm and her interactions with his mother, both from Trinidad, we see the everyday insults and disdain people of colour were greeted with. Naturally, this aspect is pushed to extremes at the height of the story when Malcolm is attacked by the vicar's wife who believes that people like him and brought this terrible situation on them.

If the background of 1960s political events and racism wasn't enough, we also have issues of parental abuse and post-traumatic stress syndrome to deal with. These two weighty subjects are examined though Susan's two school friends, John and Gillian (no relation from Dr Who's grandchildren from the TV Comic strips). Gillian's story seems the most harrowing of all, with many mentions to what she has to endure at home from her father, although it is never outright stated, it is fairly obvious she is suffering some form of abuse from her alcoholic father. In a similar way, John also comes in from abuse from his father, Colonel Brent, who is determined that the fourteen-year-old should follow him into the military and put his own thoughts and desires aside.

Give everything that I've written so far, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was quite a bleak story, yet it isn't. Through the perspective of Susan's diary entries we not only witness the terrible deaths and tragedy that is caused by "the Cold", and indeed it can be quite graphic at times, but the good in humanity is also recorded. Deadly Cold Knight attacks are juxtaposed with stories of Susan and Gillian "aging up" and trying to get into the local pubs and clubs or the horrors of having double Geography on a Friday.

Susan and her grandfather.

Despite his absence for much of the story, the Doctor's presence is felt throughout this story in the faith and love that Susan has him in, and the belief that he'll be able to fix everything. Again, it is that hope and faith that lifts the story up, and indeed goes a long way to resolving the story. It is not only Susan's faith in him that causes the Time Lord to help save humanity, going against years of indoctrination, the hope that humanity can become better as seen in young Malcolm. Together, the young boy from Trinidad and the Time Lord from Gallifrey are able to weaken "the Cold"'s grip on the Earth, long enough for the Doctor to reduce it to the size of a snowflake and take it to Pluto so that it can live and grow unencumbered.

Summing Up

Considering the story was written by Kim Newman, a writer not unfamiliar with the horror genre, it was no surprise that this story veered towards gory on a couple of occasions, but perhaps no more so that the series was during the Hinchcliffe-Holmes era. In summary, I must agree with Justin Richards in the afterword of this novella, when he goes on to state that Time and Relative is the quintessential Doctor Who story. The fantastical and the mundane are brought together in perfect harmony and top it all off with a few monsters and a couple of laughs.

9/10

Continuity Corner

• Susan claims they arrived in 1963 London "five months earlier", despite it only being late March. She simply goes on to criticise how "hidebound" humanity is by chronological systems.
• At this point in time, Susan is said to be fourteen-years-old (she is said to be fifteen in An Unearthly Child).
• Both Susan and the Doctor have developed a specific form of amnesia which blocks out many of the details of their homeworld and their people. The Doctor seems worse affected, but whenever Susan dwells on it, she develops a terrible headache.
• Despite the amnesia, Susan does recollect some details when she puts it into the context of her everyday life at Coal Hill School. Constantly reiterated is the fear of the "Truant Officer", a sinisterly bearded individual, that they fear is tracking them across time and space.
• Susan has been keenly absorbing many aspects of human culture, including cinema and sampling the night-life. She likes Peter O'Toole, John Lennon and Patrick McGoohan. She loves Lawrence of Arabia, The Beatles, and Danger Man, but doesn't like Albert Finney.
• Sneaking into the cinema to see X-certificate film, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Susan and her friend Gillian saw Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright in the audience.
• Susan has a Saturday job, looking after a six-year-old boy named Malcolm, while his mother works at the local newsagents.
• In order to get "the Cold" to Pluto in the Far Future in the TARDIS, the Doctor had to make five landings before landing on Pluto, and an additional twelve landings to make it back to Totter's Lane at the exact point he left.

The Dr Who Annual 1966: The Lost Ones

The Dr Who Annual 1966
"The Lost Ones"
Written by [unknown]
Published: September 1965
Read: 22nd September 2016

What's It All About

When I read where the Tardis had landed today, I must admit that I groaned. Yes, it's Dr Who's first visit to the planet Vortis and he is seen set upon by the Menoptera. However, we don't get a rehash of The Web Planet, nor do we get a rip-roaring page-turner of an adventure. Instead, this story really looks into scientific curiosity as the Doctor is intrigued at these enormous insects, and the Menoptera in turn, are fascinated by the Doctor. Of course, when the Doctor is imprisoned and threatened with being dissected (as he was in "The Sons of the Crab") I started to think we were going to get a rehash of the previous story albeit with the Menoptera instead of the Yend of Wengrol.

Enter the eight-foot giant soldiers who rescue the Doctor and carry him off to their crashed spaceship. Here, we are once again given over to scientific and historical curiosity as the soldiers are identified as being from the city-state of Atlantis! The Doctor correctly surmises that he has travelled thousands of years back in time, and he theorises on the history of these Atlanteans, that they were able to travel the stars and colonised other universes before they turned on themselves leading to the destruction of Atlantis. The soldiers repeated references to the Greek gods, also lead the Doctor to suspect that survivors moved out to Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, spreading their myths and shaping humanity.

Summing Up

To sum up, then, this was a story that was short on action, yet provided some intriguing insights into the make-up of the inhabitants of Vortis, as well as providing us (yet another!!!) theory for what fate befell Atlantis and the Atlanteans. There was only one stand-out scene for me in this story, where Dr Who was forced to remove all of his clothes in order to prove that he wasn't an insect! That certainly wouldn't have happened had this story had appeared on television, and with good reason, but I could certainly see Hartnell injecting all his defiance and will into it and not losing his dignity. To top it all off, we have another downbeat ending with Dr Who leaving the Atlanteans battling it out with thousands of Zarbi and larvae guns. Dry but interesting.

6/10

Continuity Corner

• Dr Who invented the Atmospheric Density Jackets (The Web Planet) for use in the eventuality that an accident deprived him of oxygen.
• This is Dr Who's first visit to the planet Vortis, as he has never met Menoptera or Zarbi before.
• Dr Who once again confirms that he is from the planet Earth ("The Sons of the Crab").
• The Zarbi served as companions and workers for the Menoptera for millions of years. The Menoptera were forced into exile when a Zarbi queen evolved that was different to any other: she was ambitious and set about equipping the Zarbi with weapons. The Menoptera were forced to evacuate to one of the orbiting moons aboard a sole spacecraft.
• Dr Who hypothesises that the giant Atlanteans colonists on Earth must have settled in Ancient Greece, Egypt, and Crete where they forgot their noble origins, devolving into savagery, yet still worshipping their gods.

A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer

12 Doctors, 12 Stories
"A Big Hand for the Doctor"
Written by Eoin Colfer
Published: 23rd January 2013
Read: 20th September 2016

12 Doctors, 12 Stories - "A Big Hand for the Doctor"

What's It All About
Our second entry in "Book Week" is 2013's "A Big Hand for the Doctor" by Eoin Colfer.

The adventure begins in London at the turn of the 20th century with the Doctor meeting an old acquaintance from Gallifrey, a Xing surgeon named Aldridge. We quickly learn that the Doctor lost his left hand after engaging in a sword fight with the captain of a Soul Pirate vessel. As is usual when you take something in for repair, the Time Lord has to settle with a dodgy replacement while his new arm is repaired and has to remain in London for the next few days.

On his way back to Hyde Park, where the TARDIS is parked, he gets a message from Susan informing him that they've detected the Soul Pirate ship at large in this time zone and were looking to harvest a particular group of children. Naturally, she has chosen to disobey her grandfather and gone off to try and rescue the children, leaving the Doctor no choice to pursue.

On arrival, the Doctor finds the Soul Pirate vessel hovering over a townhouse near Hyde Park and is collecting the children, including Susan, from the house using an anti-gravity beam. As the beam is the only way to get within the Soul Pirate vessel, the Doctor manages to get within the beam, after engaging one of the Soul Pirates' less blessed pirates in a rooftop fight. Once aboard the vessel, the Time Lord plays dead until he is able to size up the vessel, at which point he finds the children and reprograms the anti-gravity beam to safely carry them back to the surface, as well as setting an additional blast that destroys the Soul Pirate vessel.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

At the time of release, to say that I was looking forward to having a brand new First Doctor story to read is a bit of an understatement, but I was disappointed that both of the two First Doctor anniversary stories (Hunters of Earth) are set before An Unearthly Child, therefore depriving a whole new audience of the opportunities of getting to know Ian and Barbara and how they bring out the best in our crotchety Time Lord.

The story starts rather well, with the setting in the late Victorian era quickly evoking a nostalgic feel for proceedings. The addition of the Xing surgeon Aldridge was a welcome addition as he provides that very rare link to the Doctor's past on Gallifrey and shares a couple of anecdotes that gives us a fresh perspective on him. Aldridge also provides an amusing reaction to the Time Lords themselves: apparently shutting up business on their planet as they got to up themselves.

Moving on to the protagonists, the Soul Pirates and the premise that these space pirates created powerful illusions in order to draw human children aboard their ship so that they can either eat them or use them to power their engines is suitably gruesome. Being rather a short eBook, the solution to the problem isn't exactly ground-breaking, but I like how the whole climax of the story is witnessed by J.M. Barrie and he soon sets to writing a story featuring a pirate fighting a man with a hook and children floating through the air on fairy dust. 

Summing Up

While the story was quite good, if nothing new, it just doesn't sit right with me. The basic characterization of the First Doctor is there with the grumpiness and the fact that he has no time for frivolity and rarely laughs. I just had a heard time seeing him does what his Tenth incarnation does and losing his hand in a swordfight, then going back for more! Susan is characterised well for the very few lines that she gets and even that's restricted to "oh, grandfather" moments. Hmm.

5/10

Continuity Corner

• On Gallifrey, a particular Time Lord known as the Interior Designer had once suggested that his people changed their names to the Temperors. Unfortunately, his contemporaries disapproved and he became known as the "Bad Temperor" for the rest of his quantum days.
• One of the Doctor's previous visits to Aldridge came after the "Inscrutable Doppelganger fiasco" which saw him part with two litres of very rare TL-positive blood so that the surgeon could work up plasma. Another encounter involved dealing with homicidal earthworms that secreted laughing gas.
• The Doctor claims that his outfit was chosen by computer so that he could blend in with the local inhabitants on Earth. Considering that the Doctor has been shown wearing the outfit since leaving Gallifrey (per "The Name of the Doctor"), presumably, this occurred before he left.
• Things that don't make the Doctor smile are chit-chat; answering questions, either in an emergency or in times of complete calm; the paintings of Gallifreyan Subjunctivists; Marmite; and Blake's 7. He does seem to like the Harry Potter series, though, as he mentions Hogwarts (c.f. "The Shakespeare Code").
• The Doctor occasionally has visions of some of his future selves. At one point he wishes he was the fit and sprightly Doctor with a dickie bow (probably referring to the Eleventh Doctor).

The Dr Who Annual 1966: "The Sons of the Crab"

The Dr Who Annual 1966
"The Sons of the Crab"
Written by [unknown]
Published: September 1965

What's It All About

"The Sons of the Crab" sees the Dr Who, who describes himself as a human scientist from the planet Earth, taking his TARDIS beyond the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time and landing on the planet Wengrol in the Crab Nebula. 

After being captured and being poked a prodded like a lab specimen, Dr Who is sent before the planet's leader and learns that the inhabitants of the planet are continually mutating thanks to the deadly radiation of a new star that entered their system. While the leader foresees no cure to their mutations, the leader looks to Dr Who to take hundreds of test tubes containing their "children" and seed them on another world.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Having read several of the 1970s Tom Baker era annuals in the past, I was very uncertain about visiting these annuals but was actually quite surprised at the rather in-depth story that we were getting here. It's rather unusual for an annual that would be aimed at children to tackle the themes of eugenics and to have such a terrible ending that saw the test tubes become unviable once the TARDIS dematerialized.

Unfortunately, while this was a rather in-depth story, the prose didn't exactly set me alight, it was very, very dry. That's not to say there was some good characterization for Dr Who, especially when his dander was up when he was being poked and prodded. 

Could it work as a Doctor Who story?

Despite the fact that Dr Who refers to himself as a human from the planet Earth, I could easily see this story slotting into the regular Doctor Who continuity. Unlike many of the upcoming stories, especially from the TV Comic era, Dr Who doesn't act rashly or commit any violent actions and indeed seeks out to preserve life at the very end of the story.

If we were to look at this story as a Doctor Who story, then it would have to be placed very early within "Season 0" as the TARDIS hasn't been further than the Crab Nebula prior to this story. As for Susan's absence, some timelines suggest that the Doctor had dropped Susan off somewhere while he found a suitable place for them to settle. However, I don't consider this very likely, suggesting that Susan was inside the TARDIS all the time. It wouldn't be out of character for the Doctor to perhaps lock the internal door and keep Susan safe while he explored. Either that or she was asleep. 

6/10

Next Story

"The Lost Ones"

Frayed by Tara Samms (Stephen Cole)

Telos Novella #11
Frayed
Written by Tara Samms (Stephen Cole)
Published: 20th November 2003

Frayed

I didn't quite know what to expect when I went into Frayed, my first experience of the Telos novellas and only the second novel I've read (and finished) as part of these marathon attempts. A story set before An Unearthly Child has a lot resting on its shoulders as it can't show the Doctor as being too heroic and certainly not being interested in meddling and interfering just for the sake of doing so, he has to do it because he has no other choice, either to safeguard his own life or Susan's. So, it's with interest that I started on an adventure which featured the Doctor and Susan's first encounter with humanity. What I wasn't expecting was a "base-under-siege" type story which would have felt at home in the Troughton era or would even do well in the New Series. I'd certainly take this over the crap-tacular "The Rebel Flesh" any day. 

Having not long ago completed a "watch" of Season 5, I was a little wary of having to deal with yet another base-under-siege story. Fortunately, Frayed falls into the realms of the excellent The Ice Warriors and The Web of Fear rather than the dull The Abominable Snowmen. What helps is that the base personnel are really well characterized, yes we have a few tropes of the base commander who can't cope, the overzealous security chief who is out to get the bosses job, the quite overlooked type (in this case a librarian) who goes on to play a key role in the story, but you feel that they are real people fighting for survival and dying at the hands of the "foxes". It is rather interesting then to see the very early First Doctor having to interact with this group of primitives and be coerced to assisting them in return for their assistance in locating Susan.

In contrast to the claustrophobic hospital base, Susan's adventures turn out to be all the more bizarre as her mind becomes drawn into the dreamscape of a child who is in cryogenic sleep inside the base. While we are assaulted by a series of bizarre visions of various animal creatures such as cats, half-human creatures and what not, a rather harrowing tale is revealed of the bases zoologist who was charged with looking after the animals that were at the base to entertain children. As an animal lover I was mortified as the tale was related of how when the base came under attack, the animals were sent out into the wilderness as they were a drain on resources and how these defenceless animals were torn apart by the foxes. The zoologist being seriously injured in a vain attempt to defend his beloved cats. Even writing this, I get a lump in my throat.  It turns out that this child patient was in love with the zoologist and her latent telepathic abilities created this whole dreamscape.

The cover for Frayed.

In summing up then, Frayed is a bit of an oddity. The period details with the Doctor and Susan is correct (indeed they are actually given their names in this story and the TARDIS has a functioning chameleon circuit), yet this type of story just doesn't feel at home in the Hartnell era. This story does so well in both the dreamscape and base scenes and certainly kept me reading, but I found that the solutions to both problems were not brilliant. In fact, in writing this review, I can not recall the solution to the fox crisis besides them taking over the base and getting the humans to work for them. An uneven tale, that feels as if it's from another era, but a good read.

5/10

Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas - "Tell Me You Love Me" by Scott Matthewson

Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas
"Tell Me You Love Me"
Written by Scott Matthewson
Published: December 2007
Read: 8th August 2016

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BUY: Amazon UK

What's It All About

Arriving in Britain at the height of the Blitz, our travellers are quickly rounded up by an air raid warden and bundled into a communal shelter as the sirens sound and the bombs begin to drop. As a counterpoint to the grim reality of life on the homefront during the Second World War, are the glimpses to the fact that it is Christmas Eve and the stalwart resolution of people to cling to the happy traditions and memories of the season, whether it's making paper decorations to festoon the shelter or banging out Christmas carols to drown out the sounds of the bombs.

The bonhomie may be enough to raise the Doctor's spirit (he even quietly joins in with the carols, when he thinks nobody is listening) and peak Susan's curiosity, for one member of the party it is all too much to take. From the perspective of the Doctor and Susan, as well as us as the audience, we view this as a quaint little Christmas story about triumphing over adversity and keeping the home fires burning. What we forget is that for Barbara (and presumably Ian) the memories of the war and all of the terrible things that occurred are part of their childhood and helped to make them the people they are. It's no wonder that thrown back into this terrible world with bombs going off all around that Barbara freaks out and flees the shelter.

A typical communal shelter in 1940's Britain.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere of war-torn London isn't the only ghost that Barbara has to contend with as she roams the streets in despair. She is found and comforted by her "father", who manages to recognise her even though she would be twenty years older. While many may fall for the illusion, Barbara calls on her previous experiences while travelling with the Doctor to stay rational, knowing that her father had died prior to this point and come to the realisation that he must be some kind of alien.

Naturally, she is correct and we learn that her "father" and two other aliens had become trapped on Earth and separated. The love that the three aliens feel for each other is what they need to sustain them and, while separated, they were forced to feed on the love of humans by posing as loved ones. While one of the aliens had posed as Barbara's father, the other two were nearby and posing as the father of Sarah Miller, a local girl, who wished for her father to come home for Christmas.

With the three aliens reunited, they depart but leave everyone with a real Christmas gift: a vision of their real loved ones. In Barbara's case it was seeing her mother and father, happy together before he died; Ian gets a glimpse of his wedding day and to a woman he knows (wonder who that could be!) and the Doctor and Susan get to glimpse something to which we unfortunately aren't privy to.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

In summary, then, this was a quality tale written by Scott Matthewson. Long time readers of this blog will realise that Barbara Wright is out-and-out my favourite character in this era of Doctor Who and anyone who can shed new light on what makes her the character she is, earns big points from me. Bonus points must also go out to evoking the starkness and reality of life in 1940s Britain as it faced down the might of the Luftwaffe. Whether it be men not making it home for Christmas, parents forced to evacuate their children to the country or just not knowing whether their house will still be standing in the morning.

The only negative I have with this story is that the aliens weren't particularly well developed. The idea of aliens thriving on the power of love is nothing new, and it would have been nice to have some kind of twist to this well-worn trope.  Besides that, good stuff.

6/10

Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas - "Tell Me You Love Me" by Scott Matthewson

Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas
"Tell Me You Love Me"
Written by Scott Matthewson
Published: December 2007
Read: 8th August 2016

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BUY: Amazon UK

Arriving in Britain at the height of the Blitz, our travellers are quickly rounded up by an air raid warden and bundled into a communal shelter as the sirens sound and the bombs begin to drop. As a counterpoint to the grim reality of life on the homefront during the Second World War, are the glimpses to the fact that it is Christmas Eve and the stalwart resolution of people to cling to the happy traditions and memories of the season, whether it's making paper decorations to festoon the shelter or banging out Christmas carols to drown out the sounds of the bombs.
The bonhomie may be enough to raise the Doctor's spirit (he even quietly joins in with the carols, when he thinks nobody is listening) and peak Susan's curiosity, for one member of the party it is all too much to take. From the perspective of the Doctor and Susan, as well as us as the audience, we view this as a quaint little Christmas story about triumphing over adversity and keeping the home fires burning. What we forget is that for Barbara (and presumably Ian) the memories of the war and all of the terrible things that occurred are part of their childhood and helped to make them the people they are. It's no wonder that thrown back into this terrible world with bombs going off all around that Barbara freaks out and flees the shelter.

A typical communal shelter in 1940's Britain.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere of war-torn London isn't the only ghost that Barbara has to contend with as she roams the streets in despair. She is found and comforted by her "father", who manages to recognise her even though she would be twenty years older. While many may fall for the illusion, Barbara calls on her previous experiences while travelling with the Doctor to stay rational, knowing that her father had died prior to this point and come to the realisation that he must be some kind of alien.

Naturally, she is correct and we learn that her "father" and two other aliens had become trapped on Earth and separated. The love that the three aliens feel for each other is what they need to sustain them and, while separated, they were forced to feed on the love of humans by posing as loved ones. While one of the aliens had posed as Barbara's father, the other two were nearby and posing as the father of Sarah Miller, a local girl, who wished for her father to come home for Christmas.

With the three aliens reunited, they depart but leave everyone with a real Christmas gift: a vision of their real loved ones. In Barbara's case it was seeing her mother and father, happy together before he died; Ian gets a glimpse of his wedding day and to a woman he knows (wonder who that could be!) and the Doctor and Susan get to glimpse something to which we unfortunately aren't privy to.

In summary, then, this was a quality tale written by Scott Matthewson. Long time readers of this blog will realise that Barbara Wright is out-and-out my favourite character in this era of Doctor Who and anyone who can shed new light on what makes her the character she is, earns big points from me. Bonus points must also go out to evoking the starkness and reality of life in 1940s Britain as it faced down the might of the Luftwaffe. Whether it be men not making it home for Christmas, parents forced to evacuate their children to the country or just not knowing whether their house will still be standing in the morning.

The only negative I have with this story is that the aliens weren't particularly well developed. The idea of aliens thriving on the power of love is nothing new, and it would have been nice to have some kind of twist to this well-worn trope.  Besides that, good stuff.

6/10

The Keys of Marinus by Terry Nation, directed by John Gorrie

Serial 'E'
The Keys of Marinus
Written by Terry Nation
Directed by John Gorrie
First Aired: 11th April to 16th May 1964

Episode 1: "The Sea of Death"

Terry Nation returns for his second story in our marathon and, surprisingly, it doesn't feature the Daleks in any capacity. It's not really that surprising given that both The Daleks and The Keys of Marinus were written before the first episode had even aired, but it is odd from a modern perspective.

After all, if Doctor Who had been launched today then you know that the Daleks would be the recurring villains throughout the first season. With The Keys of Marinus, we're given a rare chance to see what else Nation has up his sleeve before Dalekmania begins and his destiny is forever forged.

Following up on the creation of the Daleks with another villain to terrify the kids and fascinate the adults was never going to be an easy challenge. What we end up with was the Voord. When originally thinking about the direction of this episodes review, I was going to defend Nation, placing the blame for the appearance and actions of the Voord on the costume department and the director. However, thinking about it, the faults with this week's villains must be at the script level.

Susan is menaced by a Voord.

Not that the Voord are given much to work with in this particular episode anyway, as they are consigned to skulking about in corners and attacking people at random. It isn't until we finally meet Arbitan, a lonely and tragic figure whose sole purpose is to guard the Great Consciousness of Marinus that we finally learn that the Voord, led by Yartek, intend to find the Keys of Marinus, take over the great machine and rule the entire planet.

Scary stuff indeed, yet Arbitan forces the Doctor and his companions to begin a quest to find the four Keys of Marinus so that he can reset the machine and use the Consciousness to control the minds of the people of Marinus and bring an era of peace. Laudable goals perhaps, but how does that make him any different to Yartek and the Voord. It's good to think that the only reason the Doctor condescends to assist is because Arbitan erects a force field around the TARDIS and prevents them leaving. This presents a bit of a plot-hole, because if Arbitan can project a force-field to stop the travellers escaping, why can't he erect a force-field around his pyramid and keep the Voord out?

Arbitan explains the Consciousness of Marinus.

It'll be interesting to have a story where we have a completely new location each week. Our first step on Marinus is strange and mysterious on paper with it's acid seas, pools, and bizarre pyramids, but unfortunately the budget must have all been blown on Marco Polo, as the realization falls somewhat short throughout. Either with cardboard cutout Voord falling to their deaths, shaky wooden walls, badly choreographed fight scenes, and unforgivably visible stage hands and boom mikes on several occasions. Those of you that have read my reviews from the beginning will know that I often tend to be forgiving of these things, but for me to bring it up with this episode is an indicator of how bad it was.

There are some positives to be taken away from this episode however. Despite the lacking effects throughout the episode, the opening shot of Arbitan's island and the materialization of the TARDIS (the first time we've seen this) were superbly done. The arrival of the Voord submarines are borderline, but despite some claims, I couldn't see the strings pulling them. The regulars have firmly settled into their roles know and have established a good rapport, suggesting that a real family is starting to form. The Doctor admonishing Ian for not having any boots on when he'd just lent them to Susan was a particular highlight.

4/10

Episode 2: "The Velvet Web"

The previous episode ending on the startling cliffhanger of the Doctor, Ian and Susan discovering Barbara's travel dial abandoned outside a building with a hint of blood on it! Quite how Barbara could have got herself in trouble when she had only activated her travel dial about 30 seconds after the others left me sceptical.

Barbara's later explanation that she simply scratched herself while trying to remove the dial during transit is plausible enough. However, the further stretch in credibility comes from the fact that in those 30 seconds she was able to ingratiate herself with Altos and the inhabitants of Morphotron, get changed and sprawl out on a chaise-lounge.

Altos.

The case could be argued that the travel dials could allow the wearers to traverse time, as well as space, but no mention was made of this fact when Arbitan provided the travellers with the dials. Perhaps Barbara has gained some time controlling abilities during her travels with the Doctor. Hell, perhaps this could explain the revelation in the Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor that neither Ian nor Barbara had aged since the Sixties.

The idea of aliens using hypnosis or an advanced form of brainwashing via technology to convert others into mindless slaves isn't a new one in the realms of science fiction, and certainly becomes a staple in Doctor Who. However, John Gorrie has succeeded in creating quite a haunting atmosphere to the piece and the juxtaposition of the beautiful and elegant backgrounds, furnishings and clothing witnessed by the Doctor, Susan and Ian is nicely contrasted with Barbara's vision of decayed backgrounds, furnishings and people in rags. Indeed, the best example of this is when Altos shows the Doctor and Ian their ultra-modern and well-equipped laboratory that was "wish", and we're treated to a view of a broom cupboard and the Doctor examining a cracked mug and proclaiming it as a scientific instrument.

The guest characters, Altos and Sabetha, certainly bring up the creepiness stakes in this episode. Altos's soft-spoken RP voice makes for the perfect host for the opening segment of the episode, but there was an edge there. An edge which was perfectly exposed when he realises that the brainwashing machine has failed on Barbara. The shot of him leaning close to her, his unblinking eyes staring straight at her and saying "what's the matter?". Creepy as heck.

Barbara tries to wake up Sabetha.

Sabetha, who turns out to be Arbitan's daughter, is a slave that is on the run from her masters for failing to ensure that Barbara's brainwashing worked. While not having much bearing on the run of the episode, her haunting performance of downtrodden slave with a hint of an internal struggle is enough to make her memorable. Which is fortunate when you can consider that both she and Altos later join the travellers on their quest.

The conclusion of the episode is just as creepy and well-realized as the rest of the episode. Barbara, having been caught by a completely brainwashed Ian, finally confronts the architects of this whole drama: some brains with eyes living in jars. Considering this was made in the mid-1960's, they aren't actually that bad realized, with the soundscape and the effects on the actors voices helping to sell it. The only let down with them being that once Barbara has gone full-on action hero and smashed the place to pieces, the eye-stalk of one of the brains just flops down and it does rob from their effectiveness.

Ian and Barbara face the brains behind the operation.

And so with the city of Morphotron saved from its masters, the former slaves are running amok and tearing the place up. Our travellers, along with Altos and Sabetha, decide to depart for the next location. Unfortunately, the Doctor won't be joining us as he has chosen to look for the fourth key. So, tomorrow we'll have Hartnell in Spain and Susan have the screaming ab-dabs. Could be interesting.

6/10

Episode 3: "The Screaming Jungle"

"The Screaming Jungle" has a lot of preconceptions to overcome following that cliffhanger. The blow that we wouldn't have the Doctor in this episode was quickly followed by Susan have yet another screaming and whining fit in the middle of a jungle.

"The Screaming Susan"

However, by the end of this episode, I feel a little bad for judging Susan. I sometimes forget that Time Lords have telepathic abilities and that she was simply picking up on something that our regulars, Ian and Barbara, as well as our new friends, Sabetha and Altos, can't register.

Her agitated state could even be a good explanation for her overreaction to become snared on a vine. Although, Barbara going at the vine with her shoe gives a strong hint of a parent trying to ward off an imaginary monster from under the bed so that a frightened child could go to sleep. Once again, it feels as if Susan is being written as an eight-year-old, rather than the fifteen-year-old she is meant to be.

Surprisingly, Susan, Altos and Sabetha are quickly dispensed with and the episode moves to focus on Ian and Barbara. With Barbara discovering a false Key of Marinus and having been kidnapped by a molesting statue, Ian sets off to rescue his colleague and nearly gets his head taken off for his trouble. Thankfully, Barbara has been able to maintain her faculties and warn her friend in time, but they are in an entire room full of booby traps.

The molesting statue.

A room full of booby traps wouldn't normally be a trouble for our resourceful school teachers, but they both quickly fall foul of them: Ian stupidly pulling at a pick axe that was attached to something by a chain and Barbara being intrigued by the sudden opening of a creeky door, mooching inside, getting caught in a net and setting off a spike trap!

Their salvation is brought about by a strange old man called Darrius, holder of one of the Keys of Marinus, who set the booby traps to prevent anyone from stealing it. Bizarrely, he informs the travellers that Arbitan would have told anyone he sent about how to avoid the traps, but I don't recall that in the mission briefing during "The Sea of Death". Before we can get any answers from Darrius, he is strangled by a vine and only lives long enough to give a cryptic clue to the teachers about the location of the key.

After some trial and error searching, Barbara manages to locate the key so that they can depart, but not before Ian solves the mystery of why the jungle appears to be quickly overcoming Darrius house and why Susan was affected. It appears that Darrius was a scientist who, presumably bored one day, decided to examine and accelerate the tempo of destruction for the jungle. As you do.

Darrius faces certain death...

In summary then, this was a poor episode in almost all key areas: the story itself is a good example of padding what with false keys and a pointless final riddle; the idea of killer plant-life is definitely unoriginal and will be repeated ad nausea in many, many stories throughout this marathon. The acting fell down in several places too, especially with Edmund Warrick as Darrius. He definitely needed another go at being menaced by the vine, as that was one of the most unconvincing performances I've seen so far.

One area I do have to praise the story on is the set design. The jungle was really well realised, the idol was well done (although the arms let it down slightly) and Darrius' home and laboratory were absolutely gorgeous and atmospheric. It's just a shame we didn't get to see it again.

3/10

Episode 4: "The Snows of Terror"

We've encountered fair few monsters and villains during our journey through Doctor Who so far. They've ranged from the usual grunts working to fulfil someone else's plan, those acting out of fear of the unknown or the usual lunatics. From Quadrigger Stoyn (The Beginning) to the brains of Morphotron ("The Velvet Web"), they've all had a purpose and to some extent, we can identify to why they're acting the way they are.

That is until we meet Vasor, a trapper living in the mountains. Despite the initially unchallenged belief that he single-handedly carried Ian and Barbara down from off of the mountain before they could die from exposure, that air of ruthlessness and cruelty is readily apparent. Even when he is rubbing Barbara's hands to warm them up and stave off frostbite, you get the feeling that he is sizing her up in the same way that a wolf sizes up its prey.

Vasor's cottage.

The discovery that Vasor had previously encountered Susan, Altos and Sabetha as well as taken their possessions in "trade" for food and furs are enough to rouse the suspicious of the two school teachers, yet Ian seems oblivious to the threat that the trapper poses to Barbara. He willingly leaves her alone with Vasor after trading his travel dial for furs and "supplies" as he goes off in search of the others.

Of course once Ian finds Altos tied up on the mountain and discovers that Vasor put raw meat into his bag in order to attract wolves, the science teacher realizes just how foolish he's been and races back, with Altos, to rescue Barbara just as he's about to perform some horrible and despicable act on her. Unfortunately, all of this isn't the first time that Ian is foolish in this episode.

Using Vasor to guide them deep into the mountains where he abandoned Susan and Sabetha, the travellers are all reunited among great hugs, even though they've had to cross a rickety rope bridge to do so. Feeling left out, Ian decides to join the others rather than keeping an eye on the trapper. In typical fashion, Vasor seizes the opportunity and cuts the rope bridge so it falls into the crevasse, stranding the travellers.

Vasor sizes up Barbara over a meal.

As luck would have it, the travellers are just a short walk away from a chamber containing the next Key of Marinus. This time, a bit more ingenuity has been used as the key is trapped in a block of ice surrounded by copper piping and four rather scary knights, similarly frozen, guarding it. The solution to the problem is rather simple, though, as Barbara just turns on a tap and hot water from a volcanic spring slowly melts the ice. Unfortunately, it also thaws out the knights.

Whereas in today's Doctor Who we have a kind of monster choreographer who works with the actors and teaches them how to move, it's fairly evident that this wasn't the case in 1964! The actors are meant to be portraying four knights in heavy armour that have just been woken up from years of being chryogenically frozen. Yet they show no example of this, moving as if they were wearing jeans and t-shirts. Even when one of the knights fall into the crevasse stupidly, the others just catch up, stand at the edge of gaze around stupidly, wandering what has befallen their comrade.

"The Knights that Say 'meh'"

The "knights that say meh" do have one redeeming feature though and that is the way they stab Vasor in the back as he is once again menacing one of the female members of the group, in this case, Susan. A fitting end for a truly reprehensible character.

In summary then, "The Snows of Terror" is a bit of an odd mish-mash. On the one hand, we have a really creepy villain in Vasor that would be right at home in a post-watershed crime drama. On the other hand, we have some campy knights running around like some crappy Monty Python sketch. With that in mind, I can only give this episode...

5/10

Episode 5: "Sentence of Death"

An unconscious Ian.

Having fled from the frozen mountainous regions of Marinus, our travellers now find themselves in the city of Millennius on their quest to retrieve the fourth and final Key of Marinus. Even better, the travel dial appears to have led them directly to it, as Ian is quickly able to find the key in a display cabinet.

A dead body is also lying in the room, yet Ian seems to be more interested in recovering the key. Unfortunately, for the school teacher, the murderer is also in the room and sees fit to knock Ian unconscious, put his finger prints all over the presumed murder weapon and steals the key for good measure. Tarran, the Millennial police officer, or guardian, assigned to investigate the murder is adamant that Ian is guilty of the murder and, unfortunately under Millennial law, he is guilty until proven innocent.

The trial begins.

Chesterton needs a miracle and thankfully it arrives in the form of the Doctor. After two episodes sunning himself in Spain, Hartnell returns and he's in the best form we've ever seen him in. The warmth and good humour that we've occasionally glimpsed in the previous episodes is brought to the fore, with the duplicitous characteristics gone. He is quick to take up Ian's case and goes as far to reassure the younger man and ask him to trust him. From that point on, he's a ball of energy, dishing out the job of studying the laws to Altos and Sabetha, getting Barbara and Susan to act as his investigators and bloodhounds, and staging quite an energetic reconstruction of the murder.

However, the Doctor really comes into his element when he's serving as the defense during Ian's trial. With charm and humility he is able to use his ignorance of advanced Millennial law to post-pone the trial for a couple of days so he can gather evidence. During the second session, his suspicions about the murderer, the location of the missing key, and a little subterfuge with Sabetha is enough to get the culprit to reveal himself: Aidan, the relief guard. Unfortunately, there isn't enough evidence to exonerate Ian of being involved and he is still sentenced to death.

A deceased Aidan and his "distraught" wife, Kala.

Things seem pretty dire for Ian Chesterton, but things aren't looking too good for Susan either. Just after all the hysterics surrounding Aidan's reveal and then his "suicide" in the courtroom, Barbara is called away to take a call: Susan has been kidnapped and if Barbara ever wants to see her alive again, she has to reveal the location of the key!

6/10

Episode 6: "The Keys of Marinus"

The end of the last episode ended on one of the most intense cliffhangers that we've seen on Doctor Who to date. After all, with Ian about to be executed for a murder he didn't commit and Susan kidnapped, presumably by the real murderers, to silence the others, you can't get more intense. Unfortunately, the resolution to this excellent cliffhanger is a little rushed. Throughout this rewatch it truly amazes me that the writers had six or seven episodes to play with, yet manage to pad out the middle episodes with nonsense and then rush the ending. Terry Nation was guilty of this with The Daleks and John Lucarotti was equally as guilty with Marco Polo.

Gripes about the rushed ending aside though, there is still plenty to like in the first half of the episode. The revelation that it was Aidan's wife Kala, along with the prosecutor, who had committed Eprin's murder, Aidan's murder and the kidnap and attempted murder of Susan came as a bit of a surprise. This is Doctor Who's first cold-hearted bitch! How quick she was to weep over her murdered husband in yesterday's episode, play the distressed widow for the benefit of Barbara, Altos and Sabetha and then sneer and taunt Susan when they left. Marvellous.

Yartek's "cunning" disguise.

Once the true murderers were revealed and the Doctor was able to prove he knew where the key was, it was back to Arbitan's island for a final "confrontation" with the Voord and their leader, Yartek. Despite Yartek's best attempt to dress as Arbitan (seriously how do you fit a hood over your headpiece) and Ian is able to rumble him. Rather than risk a violent confrontation, he hands over the fake key the acquired from the jungle and the Consciousness of Marinus is blown sky high. Taking the Voord with it.

At least we end on a happy note as Altos and Sabetha have given in to their feelings for each other and fall helplessly in love. As they leave via travel dial to start a new life in Millennius, I cannot help but wish them well. Despite not contributing much to the overall story, they've been pleasant to have around and went some way to filling the Hartnell void that we had in the third and fourth episodes.

Yartek

The Keys of Marinus has truly been a welcome change of format to the series. We've been spoiled with a new location every week, but unlike Marco Polo where we had deserts, jungles and various way stations, we've had truly alien locations each episode: from strange islands surrounded by acid, to overgrown jungles to snow-capped mountains and advanced cities. To cap it all, we've had a new set of characters to deal with in each episode. All this helps to keep things fresh and interesting, which truly helps with a six-part beast like this.

Looking at the downsides of this story, I cannot help but reiterate the problems that I had with the production and the acting during the first and third episodes in particular. We even had a Voord trip over during episode 6, but I'll gloss over that one as it made me laugh. I'm not the sort of person to bemoan the special effects of a series made over fifty years ago, you can't compare it to the CGI extravaganza's we get today, but I know that Doctor Who was made better than this at the time. Hell, you only have to go back seven weeks.

4/10

The Keys of Marinus average score = 4.67