2 episodes: The Dark Pilgrim, The Scorpion Men. Approx. 64 minutes. Written by: Richard Dinnick. Directed by: Lisa Bowerman. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: William Russell, Tim Chipping.
THE PLOT
When the TARDIS materializes in Siberia at the turn of the twentieth century, the time travelers observe lights in the sky. The Doctor instantly sees that these are not shooting stars. Something alien has come to Earth, crashing in the nearby wilderness. All who have come in contact with it have been struck by a bizarre illness. The villagers have turned to Grigory (Tim Chipping), a wandering holy man, for help. The illness is outside Grigory's experience, however... but not outside the Doctor's.
The cause is chronon energy, radiating from a surveillance probe sent by the alien Dahensa. The probe has malfunctioned, the chronon energy causing it to absorb information not about Earth's present but about its future. The result is devastating to anyone who touches the probe, who receives a mind-destroying vision of everything that is to come.
This is poison to the Doctor and Susan. But to Grigory it is a tantalizing prize - a chance to realize his destiny!
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Portrayed as a guardian of history, a role which fits the First Doctor very well. The man who proclaimed, "You cannot rewrite history, not one line" is easily recast as insisting that you must not rewrite it, much as he indeed was by Season Two's The Time Meddler. As soon as he recognizes the alien probe's threat to not only human lives but to human history, it becomes a matter of urgency for him to see it neutralized. When Grigory attempts to use the probe for his own ends, the Doctor reacts with moral outrage, making it clear that he views the Russian's actions as an obscenity.
Ian: The last part of Episode One sees Ian revealing the full truth about himself and his companions to Grigory... a moment I simply cannot buy into. The only occasion I can think of on television in which Ian told someone about being a time traveler was in The Reign of Terror - and then it's as a slap in the face, telling the full truth to an interrogator he knows full well will not believe it. Here, he tells Grigory the truth expecting to be believed, and then seems surprised when there are consequences. I don't know who this idiot is, but he isn't Ian Chesterton.
Thankfully, this scene is the only one to break my suspension of disbelief. William Russell does his usual splendid job of recreating his old television role, and the rest of Richard Dinnick's script portrays Ian more suitably. He's selfless but not stupidly so. Even when he rushes into a dangerous situation, he does so after having realized that he has no other alternative if he wishes to save lives. He is protective of all his traveling companions, but is especially so of Barbara, and he clings to the bond he and Barbara share to keep him grounded during his wanderings with the Doctor.
Barbara/Susan: Are very much the "extra characters" here, though the story does use them much as the television series tended to. Susan manages to put herself in danger multiple times, and the major part of Episode Two's action is devoted to Ian finding and rescuing her from the Dahensa. Barbara also requires rescue, but the story takes care to note her rationality and emphasize the role she plays as a support to Ian. Both characters have been used better elsewhere but, in fairness, they have also been used far worse.
THOUGHTS
Having already crafted a solid First Doctor/Ian adventure in the audio "Short Trip" A Star Is Born, writer Richard Dinnick returns to the Hartnell era with The Wanderer. Dinnick is a good fit for the First Doctor. He has a sense of the feel of that era of the show, with its measured pace and more reflective tone, and he has a particularly strong grasp of the First Doctor's persona.
This is a clever story. It manages to reference Doctor Who as a franchise while setting itself at a point in the show's run before there was a franchise, and it does so in a way that fits perfectly within the narrative. It has a neat twist at the midpoint, one which is possible to see coming - though I freely confess that I did not. It's also a rare two-part story in which the second half is actually better than the first. Part One does its job of establishing the setting, characters, and overall plot, but Part Two raises the stakes and quickens the pace.
Nor does the ending let it down. The main conflict is resolved in a way that works within the story, but the strongest beats are in the well-developed epilogue. Here, the parallels and contrasts are msot clearly drawn among the story's wanderers - not only Ian and Grigory, but the aligned pairs of Ian/Barbara and the Doctor/Susan. These final passages show that there's more here than just a clever little tale, well-told. There's also that extra little something that elevates one story above another.
A quality best described simply as, "Heart."
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Previous Television Story: The Reign of Terror
Next Television Story: Planet of Giants
Preceded by: Rise and Fall
Followed by: The Flames of Cadiz
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