Settings: Det-Sen (The Abominable Snowmen)

With The Abominable Snowmen, we have the first self-contained historical to feature a science fiction ‘monster’, rather than a rival time traveller. The historical elements are, however, relatively minor, due in part to the remote location, which means that the story could almost be contemporary. Traditionally regarded as a middling serial, younger fans have been more critical, although this may be less true now that an animation is available for the missing episodes. Either way, it is, perhaps, better remembered for introducing a threat that recurs in a more popular story later in the season than it is in its own right. Nonetheless, the setting is exotic and, for a historical, surprisingly adaptable to some SF settings, so let’s take a look.

Where & When

The story is set in the Himalayan Mountains of southern Tibet. No specific date is given in the serial, but The Web of Fear later states that it took place in 1935. The animation has plenty of snow on the ground, which may suggest either winter or spring, depending on the altitude.

Settings: Telos (Tomb of the Cybermen)

Season five kicks off with a Cyberman story, cementing the intention of using them as the main villains from here on, instead of the Daleks. It’s widely regarded as one of the better Second Doctor stories and perhaps the single best Cyberman story of the classic era, and it has the obvious advantage of being the earliest Troughton story fully available in its original form. For our purposes here, however, it’s worth noting that little of the appeal has to do with the setting. Having said which, the story does involve exploring and negotiating the traps and monsters in an underground tomb, something that’s not entirely foreign to certain RPGs…

Where & When

Although no specific date is given in the story, it’s stated to be set approximately five hundred years after the events of The Moonbase. Depending on whether Parry is rounding up or down, and how far we want to adjust for the known dates of future Cyberman stories, this places the story somewhere between the late 25th and mid-26th centuries, with most fan theories leaning towards the later date. This is probably shortly before the founding of the original Earth Empire.

It takes place on the planet Telos, a few weeks' travel from Earth. Given the date, this most likely places it in our own galaxy (although one of the audios will later contradict this), but in the relatively unexplored fringes beyond the edge of human colonisation, perhaps even on the opposite side of the galactic nucleus from Earth.

Settings: The Evil of the Daleks

The season finale of season four is arguably the first such serial to actually feel like a season finale. It’s one of the more popular Second Doctor stories, despite all but one episode being missing – albeit they are now animated. From the perspective of these posts, however, it’s very much not an exploratory story, and there’s relatively little to say about the setting. But still, we can work with the basics that we have.

Where & When

The story has three distinct settings. It starts off in southern England on the 20th July 1966, immediately after the events of The Faceless Ones. The main section, however, takes place on the 2nd and 3rd June 1866, at an English country house, with all of the action being confined to the building and its grounds.

Settings: Gatwick Airport (The Faceless Ones)

With The Faceless Ones, we return to present-day Earth, and the setting of a modern airport. Like everything else in season 4, most of the story is missing, although both the surviving and missing episodes have been animated for some time, making it readily available. It’s generally regarded as a middling episode, with some praising the mystery elements, and others finding it too long for its plot at six parts, as well as cutting out two of the three companions. But few people seem to actively dislike it, and an airport is, if nothing else, at least different from what we’ve seen so far.

(This series of posts will take a break after this, taking the companion departure, rather than the season finale, as a good place to do so. I’ll be back in a few months with Evil of the Daleks.) 

Where & When

The story is set on the 20th July 1966, with a minor plot point revolving around the fact that this was also the final day of the earlier serial The War Machines. The Earth-based sections are set entirely on the grounds of Gatwick Airport in London, although there is also a brief journey to near-Earth orbit.

Settings: The Macra Terror

The fourth season moves back outside the solar system for its fourth base-under-siege story. This is another serial that’s entirely missing in its original form, although it has been animated and so is more available than some of the others. Its reception ranges from middling to good, and the existence of the animation has likely increased that in recent years. For our purposes, an issue is the similarity of the setting to that of Power of the Daleks, but there are at least some significant differences to explore.

Where & When

The story is set on an unnamed human colony world at an unspecified point in the future. The colony is stated to be “centuries” old, which places the earliest possible date at around 2300, while we also know that it must be significantly earlier than Gridlock – but that’s a vast range. Fan theories tend to place it early on, before the foundation of the original Earth Empire, and thus somewhere in the 24th to 26th centuries.

Settings: The Moonbase

The first of four Cyberman stories in the Second Doctor’s three-season run, this is not the most highly regarded, but it’s no means unpopular either, a solid example of its type. For our purposes, however, what’s interesting is that it attempts to take a hard sci-fi tone, something we don’t often see on the show. It’s also the first time we’ve visited a world other than Earth that actually exists, so that it’s possible to make some concrete statements about it.

Where & When

The story takes place in and around the eponymous base, an unnamed international station located on the Moon. The year is given as 2070, which later stories will confirm is at a time when mankind has expanded through at least the inner solar system (Waters of Mars is set in 2059), but has yet to develop faster-than-light travel. 

Settings: Atlantis (The Underwater Menace)

 

With the last of the Hartnell-style historicals out of the way, the next story is more of a science fiction adventure, albeit one set on near-contemporary Earth. The specific setting, however, is an unusual one, used in other science fiction stories, certainly, but less often than one might think. Its reception has traditionally been poor, but in recent years, many younger reviewers have embraced its over-the-top pulpy feel. And that’s a good match for some TTRPGs, so let’s see what we can do with it…

Where & When

The story is set in the Lost City of Atlantis at some time in the very near future. While no date for the setting is explicitly given, Polly estimates it to be 1970, and nobody contradicts her. We can be more confident about the day, since the narrative starts on the vernal equinox, which occurs on 20th March, almost (but not quite) regardless of the year; at the most, the story finishes the day after, and it may not even be that long.

Settings: Inverness and Culloden (The Highlanders)

The Highlanders is partly notable for introducing one of the longest-running companions in the show’s history, but perhaps more so for being the last of the Hartnell-style historicals. This doesn’t mean it will be the last of these posts to address a historical setting, but even the one story after this that lacks SF elements is very different from anything in the black-and-white era. The story is entirely missing and has a relatively weak reputation, typically regarded as being below average but not actively bad. 

Where & When

The story takes place in and around the city of Inverness in northern Scotland. As with some of the other pure historicals, it includes a real-world event, allowing us to date it precisely: the TARDIS arrives around 2 pm on 16th April 1746, and leaves late at night on the following day. 

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.