The Chase
daveyboy7472
Posts: 16,392 Forum Member
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This is a story I've discussed many times on this forum, mainly because of it's dodgy production values, especially in the Haunted House Episode.
It's a strange story to watch is this. Looking at the production values, they are in my opinion worse than even The Web Planet. You have a Dalek seen before they arrive, a dodgy Robot 'duplicate' that is 'indistinguishable' from the original when it doesn't look anything like him when Edmund Warwick takes on the role. There are screamy ladies, people bumping into camera's and the whole thing comes across as really amateurish and unpolished, unlike the majority of other Hartnell stories.
Here's the important thing, though. Despite the production values being even worse than The Web Planet, the story is overall a good one. I think if you can get past the dodgy effects, you can enjoy it for what it is.
It's also great that by this stage The Daleks have gone up another level from invaders to Time Travellers and I like the whole concept of them chasing The Doctor through space and time. I also love the various settings, especially part 3 where they hop from place to place. The final battle with the Mechanoids was an interesting one, not sure if they really worked as a proper adversary for The Daleks though.
Lots of coming and goings in this story. Peter Purves was superb as Morton Dill, at times I wish he could have been a companion instead of Steven. Steven himself is a tad annoying in this but he did get better. It was also in my opinion the absolute peak of annoying behaviour with Vicki, especially her story to Ian in the desert in part 2.
And off course it was goodbye to Ian and Barbara. It still is sad to see them both leave everytime you watch the story. I thought it was a good exit and a great example of how different the First Doctor is to the Tenth, by hiding his feelings at their departure and covering how he felt with bluster.
It's a strange story to watch is this. Looking at the production values, they are in my opinion worse than even The Web Planet. You have a Dalek seen before they arrive, a dodgy Robot 'duplicate' that is 'indistinguishable' from the original when it doesn't look anything like him when Edmund Warwick takes on the role. There are screamy ladies, people bumping into camera's and the whole thing comes across as really amateurish and unpolished, unlike the majority of other Hartnell stories.
Here's the important thing, though. Despite the production values being even worse than The Web Planet, the story is overall a good one. I think if you can get past the dodgy effects, you can enjoy it for what it is.
It's also great that by this stage The Daleks have gone up another level from invaders to Time Travellers and I like the whole concept of them chasing The Doctor through space and time. I also love the various settings, especially part 3 where they hop from place to place. The final battle with the Mechanoids was an interesting one, not sure if they really worked as a proper adversary for The Daleks though.
Lots of coming and goings in this story. Peter Purves was superb as Morton Dill, at times I wish he could have been a companion instead of Steven. Steven himself is a tad annoying in this but he did get better. It was also in my opinion the absolute peak of annoying behaviour with Vicki, especially her story to Ian in the desert in part 2.
And off course it was goodbye to Ian and Barbara. It still is sad to see them both leave everytime you watch the story. I thought it was a good exit and a great example of how different the First Doctor is to the Tenth, by hiding his feelings at their departure and covering how he felt with bluster.
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I watched the fight with the robot double a couple of times trying to follow the continuity editing and keep my eye on which one was the real Doctor, and both times it seemed that the wrong one ended up being the right one.
I'll have to check out Vicki's story during the rewatch and see if it was as annoying as you say...
Love the departure of Barbara and Ian. Hartnell manages to wring a lot of emotion out of an underplayed 'I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them.' Burnt cinders flying around in Spain.
It is just my opinion, you may see it differently as you like Vicki so much. I think the opening scenes with her annoying everyone else was just as bad as the story she told Ian in the desert.
And I'm surprised you haven't seen those burnt cinders, have you never been to Spain? They keep the gloves, erm, drugs there too!
Also forgot to mention The Space Time Visualiser earlier. Nice touch of Beatles music and some groovy Dad dancing from Ian!
I don't hate Vicki, I just think she was annoying. There is a difference.
Read the opening post of the thread on her I started and you'll see what I'm saying. The next three stories after The Chase were her best, she wasn't annoying all the time.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1635170&highlight=vicki
The Chase itself is a wild mish-mash and too often riffs aimlessly, without any real verve. Sometimes I want to give it marks for novelty value (the haunted house episode for example) and other times I just want to turn it off.
I never minded the robot Doctor scenes; in fact, I find them very creepy. In some strange way, having the duplicate Doctor look nothing like William Hartnell gives the scenes a surreal, nightmare quality that I find authentically frightening. It's like a pantomime where everyone can see the villain in plain sight as he ingratiates himself with the characters. It actually makes it more sinister somehow. The part where it urges them to finish off the real Doctor with a rock sends shivers down my spine (and isn't that just a great echo of the first story where the Doctor tries to do that very thing to the fallen caveman? I've always wondered if that was deliberate). And what an awesome duel between the two; a great action scene for Hartnell (one of three he had, by my reckoning: this, the would-be assassin in the Romans, and Koquillion in The Rescue); in my opinion a match for the Pertwee / Delgado sword fight!
I liked the robot city idea too, and the way the character of Steven was introduced. The downside being that it was really 10 minutes worth of material stretched to 25, because their escape is ludicrously easy, once they actually decide to. I also thought the epic battle scene between the robots (sorry, their name escapes me right now) and the Daleks was actually very well executed, considering the limits of what they could do. I remember being quite impressed with it when I first watched.
Ian and Barbara's departure was quite magnificent; the only downside to it being the stills gallery of them at the end in place of actual location footage. But I know that location shooting was very rare for Doctor Who at this point in time and it probably wasn't practical to go out on location just to film that one scene. It was also a little hard to believe that a TARDIS-like time machine could just blow up in a warehouse with less impact than a bunch of fireworks. Look at the damage an exploding TARDIS does in the recent series! But dramatically at least, it was played very movingly, especially by William Hartnell (and, although I usually strongly distinguish between actors and characters, it's hard not to imagine William Hartnell having genuine sadness at their departure; it's well documented that he never liked all the constant changing of the cast that went on) and the scene was given the time it merited; often, important departure scenes lke this were rushed in classic Who (or passed over all together in Dodo's case), in order to get more action and monsters in, but not here. I give big credit to the production team for this.
On the matter of the much criticized production values: this was actually one of the most expensive stories of the season (The Web Planet was also an expensive show), so they certainly didn't scrimp and do the story on the cheap. It was just over-ambitious (again, like the Web Planet) and I can never judge that too harshly. In a way they repeated the same mistakes they made with the Keys of Marinus in having an odyssey story that they couldn't really support. I mean, they made pirate ship sets and models for a piece that lasted about a third of an episode, in a six part serial! They just stretched themselves far, far too thinly.
The Chase's worst crime, for me, is simply that it gets boring too often, which is particularly bad considering how often they are changing setting. I remember the opening location (the desert planet) being particularly dull, with the TARDIS crew having to help a typically hapless and witless alien race defend agaisnt invasion.
Really the last time the classic series gave us Daleks who were individuals. They were actually scarier that way, closer to real.
Now this I agree with. Whatever my thoughts on Vicki, MOB is a superb actress, had no problems with the way she acted the role, it was more the case of how the character was written that was the issue. (As was the case with Bonnie Langford as Mel)
I know I always give the Haunted House episode a hard time for it's production values but it does have it's funnier moments. The banter between The Doctor and Ian was possibly the best it's ever been and the Daleks meeting Frankenstein was quite amusing.
I can see the point you're trying to make here and it has some merit but in my opinion the fact the robot Doctor was played by two different actors just means it loses it's credibility. Either Warwick should have played it the whole way through or Hartnell should done. It certainly would have made the plotline more believable and more tense.
They were called Mechanoids and I don't think they would have been able to carry any further stories as main villains by themselves due tot heir size.
Agree with a lot of this but think this stills did work and i liked the ones were they spot a telephone box and think it's the TARDIS!
Yeah, it did take until the third episode until this story livened up. I think the opening two episodes were a bit slow too, but that's mainly because in hindsight they were compared to the rest of the story.
The Chase sounded quite exciting and having seen it last night I don’t quite know that it lives up to the billing. I admire the concept. but it’s a story which leaves you not fully satisfied because it works in some locations and not others. If I had to choose I prefer Dalek Invasion of Earth over this story.
Great stuff – Terry Nation can write nice dialogue for the regulars actually: The Tardis scenes at the beginning with Ian, Barbara and the Doctor all busy, the fun with the Visualiser , Vicki’s story to Ian in the desert. The Doctor and Barbara sunbathing and then getting caught in the sand-storm all good stuff. I actually liked all the action on Aridius ( bar those awful monsters in the tunnels) and the Marie Celeste and Peter Purvis as the ‘hick’ on the top of the Empire State building, The Mechanoids design and voice is good and the model shots of the City are very decent . I don’t mind the robot doctor too much either unlike some although why it isn’t William Hartnell at a distance is a mystery.
Not so great – The jaunty incidental music is a bit un-nerving at the beginning of each episode. Am I meant to not take this seriously? These are the daleks aren’t they- fearsome killing machines?
I’ve read opinions that this story was just trying to cash in on the popularity of the daleks ( and we’ve seen it in the modern series too to varying effect) and I understand that. However except for the Dalek who can’t count which I found amusing the Daleks are just monochrome monsters.
The guide on the top of the Empire State building was dreadful ( what accent was that ? ), The Frankenstein amusement park house ‘ I am Dracula’ is just cheesy and there is a Dalek clearly visible in the back of Frankenstein lab,
The mushroom monsters in the studio Mechanus jungle should have been hidden by darkness much as the monsters on Aridius.. These elements just stand out as poor when you see other parts that do work especially when they use a good episode and a half of story.
Of course there are comings and goings in this story : The first introduction to Steven and not what I expected at all. The man’s half mad with being alone for so long !
I’m not sure I like this chap yet although he did go back for a stuffed toy. In my guide it says ‘ Steven stumbles into the Tardis and stays with the Doctor and Vicki' ’??? but I don’t remember seeing that at all. Did I Fall asleep, maybe I need to rewatch again.
Oh course the departure of Ian and Barbara and I’ve been dreading this . I really love both characters. Both so dependable, loyal and decent , they really complement each other. The actors have been pretty solid all the way through and magnificent really. It was a joyful return for them which made me happy and sad. I loved all the location bits in London on the bus and the stills.
The ending does lift the whole story above the the normal but not for long enough to make it a true classic which is frustrating. Some of the dialogue of the Doctor not wanting to help them return home was very heartfelt and I can imagine the emotion of it all was real for the actors and for William Hartnell especially. It’s sad because they were the last of the original companions.
Goodbye Ian and Barbara. Happy travels on earth.
Mentioned on DS before that I've only just got around to recons of missing stories, and my already pretty positive thoughts on Peter Purves from what I'd watched have only got more positive. So, as one door closes...
Oh you made me laugh Michael calling it cobblers ! I'm trying to keep my fan hat on and not be too harsh lol
I've seen and heard Peter Purvis in later stories and he seems calmer but he dialled up the performance for this story more than I ever expected. I'd love to have been in the tone meeting for this introduction 😀
I think this the start of the Daleks beginning to feel more silly than threatening, something which would plague them on and off to this day. Here is where they began to feel like Nazi caricatures who couldn't stop spouting catchphrases. The attempt at making the Daleks humorous didn't exactly do any favours.
Still, it wasn't without its positives. Barbara and Ian realising they can finally go home was a very difficult scene and was a fine example of how the Doctor has a very compassionate heart under that cold and grouchy exterior. Steven's introduction was great itself.
I have that too, it lives on my desk permanently - always to hand when I'm at my pc.
ps. Did you all know they were going to make a 3rd Doctor Who film with Peter Cushing based on The Chase? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=josI9YR45dI
I think the best way is to click on my username and then look under threads started by me.....but I warn you, I've started a few! Didn't realise until recently how many that was.....:o:o:o:o:o
Anyway, to save you some time, here's the link to the Frontier In Space thread I started: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1692019&highlight=
Pleased to see after all this time that some of the story threads are popping up here and there and I'm enjoying reading new opinions of them, even if I don't necessarily agree with them! They were a joy to do on a daily basis at the time and it was nice to have something Classic Who to discuss than certain tiresome and repetitive threads that were going round at the time.
Hi DiscoP I know what you mean. The search function is.a bit random.
The way I've done it is click on Daveyboy s name from an active post or as the thread creator from the main page.
Then click on the option to view all threads created by Daveyboy. There are about 20 pages but view at about page 11 and work back or forwards as the threads were started in 2012.
Daveyboy was chronological thank heavens 😉
search for - " daveyboy7472 frontier site:forums.digitalspy.co.uk "
Hello Fizzbin
I love my guide too
What a triumph that film could have been in Panorama-vision ! Doctor Who versus the Mechans Groovy man
Ah of course, trusty old Google. Thank you. The DS forums search may as well just link people straight to Google for all the use it is these days
Thank heavens for Daveyboy doing it chronological order, I remember from a couple of years ago digging these threads out to comment on, it helped
I always felt this was an inferior version of The Keys of Marinus when I watched it last, moving from scenario to scenario. Individually episode by episode in each new scenario and collectively as a story Marinus has better situations and drama that I enjoyed.
Yes, chronological was the erm, logical way of doing it! Wouldn't have it any other way!
Disco P, did you see the link for the Frontier In Space thread in previous post, not sure if you had as others had posted after me?
Ah, thanks for posting that Daveboy. Sorry, I missed your link before but found it via Google anyway. I did read through the thread but then couldn't think of anything worthwhile to add. I'll take another look now