This is a weird story in the sense that the first two episodes are completely different from the remaining four. Part One is a tense and exciting thriller mystery inside a cramped spaceship, and one of the best single episodes within the First Doctor's era - it's a near-perfect mix of acting, music, sound design, direction, and camera work. The opening episode is something of a base-under-siege prototype and would work just as well with, say, the Second or Tenth Doctors.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:
The Part One cliffhanger is another classic one. I'm sure it scared the living daylights out of thousands of kids back in the day!
The guest cast in the first two episodes is great, particularly Stephen Dartnell's John. It's a pity that they aren't allowed to shine anymore after Part Two.
William Hartnell is on fire in the first two episodes; he is eager, funny, valiant stubborn, and defiant and puts in one of his best performances on the show.
Part Three begins the process of making Susan slowly grow independent of the Doctor and the Doctor finds it difficult to accept that. This is a cause of great strain between the two central characters.
:thumbsup:
I love how the characters take some time to reminisce about their previous adventures, including one that we haven't heard about or seen before or since.
The Doctor once again takes the lead (despite claiming he doesn't want to), and he truly feels like the Doctor we know and love. This story also allows him to do some investigating on his own for once.
Peter R. Newman decided to give Susan some character development and make her more useful than annoying, and this is sadly not a continuing trend before her departure just a few stories later. Carole Ann Ford seems to relish this recent development and offers a fine performance.
The Sensorites are a fairly good concept and a nice idea for a more intelligent and less aggressive alien race - they also make for a perfectly creepy threat during the first half of the serial - but they gradually lose their charm and creepy factor as the serial progress.
Yay for a "the Doctor doing science" montage!
The Sensorite masks look creepy enough and the spaceship set is mice, so it's slightly disappointing to see the Sense Sphere looking so boring.
:thumbsdown:
Part Three is where the decline begins, as we enter the Sense Sphere and begin following the talkative and identical Sensorites in their everyday duties.
Peter Glaze as the City Administrator is a very pantomime villain with that weird raspy voice and overly theatric sentiments.
It's somewhat troublesome that the Sensorites are presented as highly telepathic aliens, yet they seem to speak normally to everyone, including each other.
So the City Administrator's plan is pretty faulty since there are bigger variations between the different Sensorites than what the story tries to make us believe (such as their voices and body shapes differing).
The Sensorite actors flub their lines so frequently that they give Hartnell a run for his money!
The latter half of the adventure is very repetitive and struggles to find a satisfying path towards a climax, so much so that the eventual twist in Part Six just kind of comes and goes with little impact.
Newman butchered that climax by building up to nothing and then hurriedly wrapping everything up.
:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
Parts Four to Six are filled with padding, an uninteresting medical mystery, and the Sensorites plotting and scheming for the sake of it but never actually doing anything even remotely threatening.
It's a pity that the latter half of The Sensorites is so preoccupied with the titular race that it turns them utterly uninspired and loses almost all narrative momentum in the process.
The writing in Parts Four and Five seems to make a few too convenient and contrived solutions to create artificial tension, and the way the City Administrator's idiotic plan seems to work by itself is simply stupid.
Review by Theo KallströmVIP 6BlockedParentSpoilers2022-03-29T21:14:13Z
:pray_tone2:57%
:thumbsup:17 :thumbsdown:13
:wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
This is a weird story in the sense that the first two episodes are completely different from the remaining four. Part One is a tense and exciting thriller mystery inside a cramped spaceship, and one of the best single episodes within the First Doctor's era - it's a near-perfect mix of acting, music, sound design, direction, and camera work. The opening episode is something of a base-under-siege prototype and would work just as well with, say, the Second or Tenth Doctors.
:thumbsup::thumbsup:
The Part One cliffhanger is another classic one. I'm sure it scared the living daylights out of thousands of kids back in the day!
The guest cast in the first two episodes is great, particularly Stephen Dartnell's John. It's a pity that they aren't allowed to shine anymore after Part Two.
William Hartnell is on fire in the first two episodes; he is eager, funny, valiant stubborn, and defiant and puts in one of his best performances on the show.
Part Three begins the process of making Susan slowly grow independent of the Doctor and the Doctor finds it difficult to accept that. This is a cause of great strain between the two central characters.
:thumbsup:
I love how the characters take some time to reminisce about their previous adventures, including one that we haven't heard about or seen before or since.
The Doctor once again takes the lead (despite claiming he doesn't want to), and he truly feels like the Doctor we know and love. This story also allows him to do some investigating on his own for once.
Peter R. Newman decided to give Susan some character development and make her more useful than annoying, and this is sadly not a continuing trend before her departure just a few stories later. Carole Ann Ford seems to relish this recent development and offers a fine performance.
The Sensorites are a fairly good concept and a nice idea for a more intelligent and less aggressive alien race - they also make for a perfectly creepy threat during the first half of the serial - but they gradually lose their charm and creepy factor as the serial progress.
Yay for a "the Doctor doing science" montage!
The Sensorite masks look creepy enough and the spaceship set is mice, so it's slightly disappointing to see the Sense Sphere looking so boring.
:thumbsdown:
Part Three is where the decline begins, as we enter the Sense Sphere and begin following the talkative and identical Sensorites in their everyday duties.
Peter Glaze as the City Administrator is a very pantomime villain with that weird raspy voice and overly theatric sentiments.
It's somewhat troublesome that the Sensorites are presented as highly telepathic aliens, yet they seem to speak normally to everyone, including each other.
So the City Administrator's plan is pretty faulty since there are bigger variations between the different Sensorites than what the story tries to make us believe (such as their voices and body shapes differing).
The Sensorite actors flub their lines so frequently that they give Hartnell a run for his money!
The latter half of the adventure is very repetitive and struggles to find a satisfying path towards a climax, so much so that the eventual twist in Part Six just kind of comes and goes with little impact.
Newman butchered that climax by building up to nothing and then hurriedly wrapping everything up.
:thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
Parts Four to Six are filled with padding, an uninteresting medical mystery, and the Sensorites plotting and scheming for the sake of it but never actually doing anything even remotely threatening.
It's a pity that the latter half of The Sensorites is so preoccupied with the titular race that it turns them utterly uninspired and loses almost all narrative momentum in the process.
The writing in Parts Four and Five seems to make a few too convenient and contrived solutions to create artificial tension, and the way the City Administrator's idiotic plan seems to work by itself is simply stupid.
:wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash::wavy_dash: