Settings: Vulcan (Power of the Daleks)

The Second Doctor’s run kicks off with a Dalek story, providing continuity with the previous seasons despite the change of lead actor. The fourth season of the show is notable for having no serials that fully survive in their original form, and The Power of the Daleks is one of four that are entirely missing. Like most of the missing stories from the Troughton era, however, it has been reconstructed in animated form from the sound recordings and, as of this writing, has been widely available for some time. It has a good reputation, generally considered well above average for its era, and is often highly praised. 

It’s the first of many Second Doctor base-under-siege stories, which tend to lack the detailed background we had in the more exploratory Hartnell tales. Nonetheless, the setting did break ground for the series at the time, and there’s arguably much that’s implied by it that we don’t get to see directly. So, with Hartnell’s run completed, let’s see what we can do with the stories of his successor…

Settings: Snowcap Base (The Tenth Planet)

The Tenth Planet is undeniably one of the most significant serials of the black-and-white period of Doctor Who. Most obviously, it is the last Hartnell story, and first regeneration story, thus marking the end of at least the current phase of these posts. But, in addition to that, it is also the first Cyberman story, introducing the series’ second most common enemy race, and is generally regarded as one of the best of the Hartnell serials. 

For our purposes here, however, the real point of significance is different again: this is the show’s first true base-under-siege story. That will become a standard trope of the series going forward, and it’s notable here because it’s a different style of story than the exploratory adventures that Hartnell is better known for and less of a fit for what I’ve been doing. That leaves the question of whether I will move on to Troughton open (there will certainly be a lengthy pause), but until that’s decided, let’s take a look at the setting of the final First Doctor story.

Where & When

The story is set in the “near future” of December 1986. It takes place at Snowcap Base, Antarctica, which is described as being at the South Pole. While this is generally interpreted as meaning the literal geographic pole, since ‘Antarctica’ is never mentioned by name, it may be only a euphemism for the continent in general.

Settings: 17th-Century Cornwall (The Smugglers)

The last of the Hartnell historicals, The Smugglers is a pirate adventure, something that has a long tradition in TTRPGs. The general consensus is that it’s a failure in this regard and one of the weaker Hartnell stories. It doesn’t help that it’s another completely missing story and, worse still, has no incidental music, which hits even harder when you don’t have the visuals. But in a game, we can ignore that and have… well, a story about pirates and hidden treasure. Which is generally a plus.

Where & When

The date is never specified, except that it falls in the 17th century. The costumes suggest the latter half of that century, and the mention of a king narrows it down further. Fan consensus tends to opt for the 1690s, but not universally, and we can pick any date from 1660 to 1700 without contradicting anything. The story is set in an unnamed village on the Cornish coast that is likely not intended to represent any specific real-world location.

Settings: The War Machines

The last serial of the third season is another one available to watch in its original form. Fan opinion tends to divide between ‘middling’ and ‘good’, which is a positive for the Hartnell era. It’s significant in being the first full-length story with a contemporary setting where the protagonists can interact with the people around them. Naturally, this makes for a different type of story than space opera sci-fi or most time-travel games. Moreover, it’s one where the focus is not on the setting, since that’s merely today’s world (or what was today’s world at the time of broadcast). Although this will become more common later, this is the only instance in the Hartnell era, so let’s see how that affects things.

Where & When

The date is specifically stated: the main story takes place between the 12th and 14th July 1966, with the brief final scene six days later, on the 20th. The action is almost entirely confined to the West End of central London, from Bloomsbury to Fitzrovia. 

Settings: The Savages

After a brief respite, we’re back to stories that are entirely missing again, with another piece of relatively high-concept science fiction. The opinion of those who have watched the fan restorations or listened to the soundtrack is generally not positive. This may be because of the time spent building up the setting, and how long it takes to get to the action, and, as always, it’s worth noting that there are dissenting voices that find it a worthy story. This may improve now that the soundtrack has been animated and, in any event, something that’s strong on setting is a perfect fit for what I’m doing here…

Where & When

The story is set on an unnamed human colony world in the “far future”. With no other reference points, it’s impossible to say just how far into the future this is, or, for that matter, whether the planet is in our own galaxy or another. A common interpretation among fans is that it is set after the destruction of Earth, perhaps thousands or millions of years after The End of the World, but that’s merely a guess.

Settings: The OK Corral (The Gunfighters)

There’s practically a rule in TV series that involve time travel that, sooner or later, at least one episode must be a Western. Based on the same historical event as Star Trek’s “Spectre of the Gun”, this is classic Doctor Who’s offering. While it has the benefit of surviving in its original form, it is regarded as middling to weak by most fans. 

That may partly be due to the English actors not making convincing Americans, and partly due to the comedic tone of the early episodes, but perhaps mainly because it is narrated using a repetitive song. Fortunately, few RPGs insist that the GM sing out descriptions of events, so we can at least escape that element.

Where & When

Because the gunfight is a famous historical event, this is another serial that we can date precisely: it takes place on the 25th and 26th of October 1881. Most of the story is set in the town of Tombstone in what was then the Arizona Territory of the United States.

Settings: The Celestial Toyroom

This next story is, arguably, the most divisive in the show’s history. According to review aggregator websites, fans are pretty much evenly split as to whether it’s a masterpiece, complete rubbish, or somewhere in between. Given the simple nature of the plot, it’s unlikely that the fact that it’s largely missing makes much difference here, especially now that an animated version exists. Whether or not it would succeed as an RPG scenario is, perhaps, something that equally relies on the tastes of the players.

What’s more significant for these posts, however, is that, like The Edge of Destruction, it doesn’t fit with the usual format. So, as with that story, this is going to be a placeholder post rather than something more detailed. Largely because there isn’t much detail to go into.

Settings: The Ark and Refusis

It’s not until we reach this, the sixth story, that we find a third-season serial that fully survives in its original form. While the story is relatively high-concept and uses an unusual plot device for the show, it’s widely regarded as a middling example of its kind, rather than anything particularly memorable (for good or ill). The biggest problem is that the underlying message of the story can be interpreted negatively if one takes the Human/Monoid relationship as a metaphor for apartheid-era South Africa or for the southern US at the time of broadcast. But so long as we don’t play it that way, this doesn’t have to be insurmountable.

Where & When

The first part of the story is set ten million years in the future, on a vast spaceship travelling between the stars. The second half takes place on the planet Refusis II, seven centuries after the first. This is apparently a very long way from Earth, perhaps not even in our galaxy, although we don’t have any specifics.

Settings: The St Bartholomew's Day Massacre

Following The Daleks' Master Plan, we’re back with another historical, and this time it’s perhaps the most obscure period of history the show has picked for such a story – at least for those of us who aren’t French. It’s another one that tends to divide opinion, with older fans regarding it as above-average for the era, and newer ones generally disdaining it. A lot of that may have to do with the fact that it’s entirely missing, with just a few publicity photos surviving and not even the on-set shots and stills that we normally have. Leaving that aside, let’s see what we can do with a story that not only leaves out the sci-fi elements but is set during a period most players probably have very little knowledge of.

Where & When

For the first time, we return to a previous setting for a full-length story: Paris. As with The Reign of Terror, it’s built around a real-world historical event, so we can state the date precisely: it takes place between the 20th and 24th of August 1572.

Settings: Giza (The Daleks' Master Plan, Pt 2)

The second half of The Dalek’s Master Plan covers even more settings than the first, including, as it does, a whistle-stop journey through time and space in the style of the mid-section of The Chase. However, most of these settings are visited only briefly, so we don’t have scope to say much that’s definitive about them. While the focus of this post will therefore be the section of the story set in Ancient Egypt, I will also take a quick look at the other places we see.

Where & When

Before returning to Kembel for the conclusion of the story, the protagonists make short stops at various locations on 20th-century Earth before arriving on the planet Tigus. This is uninhabited, leaving the date both irrelevant and impossible to determine. The main setting of this half of the story, however, is Ancient Egypt. This section is set in the Giza pyramid complex at an unspecified date in the early 26th century BC. 

Settings: Desperus (The Daleks' Master Plan, Pt 1)

The Daleks’ Master Plan is the longest Doctor Who serial that everyone can agree is a Doctor Who serial. Unfortunately, nine of its twelve episodes are missing, and the whole thing is too large to have been animated yet, so it remains less familiar than many of its counterparts. It’s epic in scope, and those who have experienced it in some unofficial reconstructed form generally rate it as one of the best Hartnell stories. On the other hand, because that epic nature leads to it visiting so many different worlds and time periods, it, like The Chase, is going to have to be split into two for the purposes of this blog. This post covers episodes one to six.

Where & When

The story starts on the planet Kembel, shortly after the events of Mission to the Unknown. The protagonists escape, not in the TARDIS, but a spaceship, and spend a short time on the nearby world of Desperus before heading off towards Earth, and then arriving on Mira, a more distant planet. The date is revealed to be the year 4000, which, as I noted in an earlier post, is probably during, or slightly before, the early years of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire (the one that enslaved the Ood).

Settings: The Fall of Troy (The Myth Makers)

To the surprise and apparent confusion of some audiences at the time, Mission to the Unknown is followed, not by a continuation of its Dalek plotline, but by an unrelated historical. It’s primarily a comedy and lacks the evident educational remit of the earliest historicals. Like much of season three, it’s entirely missing in its original form, and, unlike the previous two stories, there is no animated or live-action reconstruction. This probably leaves it as one of the more unfamiliar stories to most viewers, and it's generally regarded as an average story by those who know enough about it to have an opinion. The comedic nature and the fact that it isn’t even trying to be historically accurate may present problems in typical time-travelling RPG settings, but let’s see what we can do.

Where & When

The story is based around the end of the Trojan War, as depicted in Homer’s Iliad, rather than as it would have been in real history. Troy, also known as Ilium, did exist, lying just south of the western entrance to the Dardanelles Strait in what is now Turkey. Based on archaeological evidence, the most likely date for the War is around 1180 BC, although, judging from the few surviving stills, the look of the story borrowed more from the Ancient Greece of at least four centuries after that.

Settings: Kembel (Mission to the Unknown)

Mission to the Unknown is an unusual episode. It’s a single 25-minute tale, and thus the shortest regularly broadcast Doctor Who story. Moreover, it does not feature any of the regular cast, functioning instead as a prolonged ‘cold open’ for the next-but-one serial. For this reason, it’s often either skipped or dealt with briefly in written accounts of the Hartnell stories. For the purposes of this blog, however, The Daleks' Master Plan has plenty to cover as it is, leaving this post free to look at Kembel. 

Where & When

The story is explicitly set in the year 4000, on the planet Kembel. This is an unclaimed world not directly controlled or claimed by any external power. The date is notably later than that of any of the earlier Hartnell serials, and The Daleks' Master Plan refers to the fact that technology has advanced since the time of the latter half of The Chase. Later stories will place it as (probably) happening during the early years of the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, which reaches its height a little over a century later.

Settings: Galaxy 4

The opening serial of season three marks the beginning of a run of serials that are wholly or partly missing in their original form. In its case, however, it has been animated from the original soundtrack, so it is at least possible to watch it legally. It’s regularly rated as one of the weakest of the Hartnell stories, and this may be partly down to a relatively bland setting. On the other hand, the exotic aliens and cultures at least imply that it's striving for something beyond that, so there may be more to work with than initially appears.

Where & When

The story is set on an unnamed and uninhabited planet in the eponymous galaxy. Since there is no connection with humanity’s history, there is no way to date the story in any known calendar. If, as seems to be the case, it’s set before humans have reached the galaxy in question, it’s probably (judging from later stories) earlier than the mid-fourth millennium, but that’s all we can say, and all that we need to.

Settings: 1066 and All That (The Time Meddler)

The Chase was originally intended as the second season finale, and that’s apparent from watching it. This, however, means that The Time Meddler feels a little like a season opener, even though it takes the finale slot. It’s another episode where opinions tend to differ between older and younger fans, with the former holding it up as a particularly strong episode and the latter often finding it more middling. 

What can’t be denied, though, is that it’s a significant story in the ongoing development of the series. Most notably, perhaps, it’s the first of what fans refer to as ‘pseudo-historicals’ – stories set in the past that nonetheless have science fiction elements other than the presence of the time travellers themselves. Later, that will usually be the presence of monsters, but here, it’s arguably more low-key. It’s also much closer to the sort of story that time travel RPGs tend to focus on… and not just because it’s set at a particularly memorable moment in history.

Settings: Mechanus (The Chase)

The Chase is structured in three two-episode segments. First, there is the section on Aridius, then a couple of largely comedic episodes based on the chase itself, and then a final show-down with the Daleks. Thus, while this post will largely focus on that finale, it will also cover the “spooky” comedy of episode four.

When I started this series, I stated that updates would be very irregular. It hasn’t turned out that way, but the time has now come when my schedule requires me to take a break and concluding with a serial that feels like a season finale (even if it isn’t one) is as good a place as any. I have every intention of returning in the new year and moving on to season three, but the dates are uncertain. 

Where & When

The closing segment of the story is set on the planet Mechanus, close to, or just beyond, the edge of human-inhabited space. There is no indication of the date in the story, and the tie-in media have come up with various interpretations ranging from the 22nd to the 36th century. The more popular assumption, however, seems to be that it’s in the mid-third millennium, somewhere between the settings of The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue. This is the sort of question that would have to be answered in a game (since we do interact with people from Earth) but here, I’ll just note that various options exist.

Settings: Aridius (The Chase)

Although, at six parts, The Chase is not exceptionally long for its era, it does visit more than the usual number of settings. The third of the Dalek stories, it’s generally not as well regarded as the other two, scoring middling to low with many older fans. But, as so often, there is disagreement here, with many finding it one of the more entertaining Hartnell stories, not least because of its scope – plus, it has to be said, a particularly good final sequence after the Dalek defeat. Either way, the fact that it visits two distinct alien worlds and multiple points in Earth’s history gives plenty to build on. 

As with An Unearthly Child, the differing settings means that my coverage of this story will be split into two posts. This one covers the first three episodes, focussing on the alien world where it all starts off.

Settings: The Space Museum on Xeros

With the next story, we are off to an alien planet again, albeit one inhabited by a race virtually indistinguishable from humans – if, indeed, they’re supposed to be distinct at all. The opening episode, which plays with the concept of time, is reasonably popular, but what follows drags the whole down for most fans. But, as usual, that isn’t a universal opinion. Unlike, say, The Sensorites, very few people seem to really like this, but a significant minority regard it as middling rather than weak. The problem, as so often in this era, is usually cited as being the slow pacing, with some claiming that Vicki only starts the revolution because she’s bored by the plot up to that point. The setting is also, perhaps, less memorable than the likes of Marinus or Vortis… but let’s see what we can do with it.

Where & When

The story is set on the planet Xeros, within the interstellar Morok Empire. No date is given for the story, but it clearly takes place later than The Dalek Invasion of Earth because of the design of the Dalek seen in the museum. Although it’s not obvious that the Moroks are also specifically aware of humans, we can at least say that the story is not set so far ahead that the exhibit has obviously degraded. This probably places it a few centuries into our future and, fitting with this, the tie-in media have tended to select dates towards the end of the third millennium. 

Settings: The Third Crusade

Next, we reach another pure historical episode, and it’s one in the style of the first-season historicals rather than the more light-hearted tone of The Romans. It’s the only story of its season not to wholly survive in its original form, with only the first and third episodes available. Nonetheless, and despite lacking science fiction elements, it’s comparatively well-known for a ‘missing’ story, probably because it’s quite early in the run and it’s at least possible to watch half of it. It’s generally regarded as unremarkable, neither particularly good nor particularly bad. To modern eyes, the use of brownface for most of the Middle Eastern characters is a drawback, but it’s not one that applies if we use it as a game setting.

Where & When

The story is set in 1191 in and around the port city of Jaffa. It is based, albeit loosely, around a real historical event that occurred in autumn of that year. Since the details are changed, and the timeline greatly compressed, it’s difficult to narrow down an exact date, but we’re likely in either October or November. Shorter than the previous historicals, the story takes place over the course of just two days.

Settings: Vortis, the Web Planet

The second-season serial The Web Planet is famous – or perhaps, infamous – for featuring no humanoid characters at all beyond the regular cast. The result, especially given the budget and the special effects technology of the day is, to put it mildly, really quite strange. An overly long, slow, plot doesn’t help matters and while some fans praise it for its sheer audacity, most are negative, and it’s not unusual to see it listed as the weakest of all the Hartnell stories. Yet it is at least memorable and, if we can fix the pacing, a low special effects budget isn’t a problem in a tabletop game.

Where & When

The story is set on the planet Vortis, which is specifically stated to be in a galaxy beyond our own. In the final episode, the Animus talks about humans as if it knows what they are, and where they come from, which implies a far future setting when humanity has at least reached beyond our own galaxy. However, there is no way to be more precise than this, and it’s also possible from the context that it has only recently gained this information from its prisoners (it’s trying to read their minds at the time) so we can’t even be confident of that much. Not that it’s likely to matter in most games.