Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Sensorites

The Sensorites is a story with a couple of firsts. It was the first story in Doctor Who's history to clearly state it was set in the future. It was also the first story to have a delay in transmission of an episode due to an extension to Summer Grandstand. Even in the 1960's sports overran the schedules.

Susan, Barbara, Ian and The Doctor discover a ship with a seemingly dead crew. Ian manages to 'resuscitate' them, and they explain to The Doctor and his companions that they were on a exploratory mission, and whilst in the 'Sense-Sphere' orbit were intercepted by the Sensorites who were basically keeping them prisoner on their ship by controlling their minds. They learn that the crew were put into a deep sleep by the Sensorities, but they never did them any harm and made sure they were fed.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Keys of Marinus

Doctor Who:
The Keys of Marinus
By Terry Nation


“I don't believe that man was made to be controlled by machines. Machines can make laws but they cannot preserve justice. Only human beings can do that.”

Terry Nation the creator of the Daleks is, well, best known to Doctor Who fans for his Dalek stories.  But he has also written a couple of non Dalek stories for Doctor Who and The Keys of Marinus were one of those stories.   It’s not a bad story at all but his later the 4th Doctor story “The Android Invasion” is far and away much better than The Keys of Marinus.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Edge of Destruction

Doctor Who:
The Edge of Destruction 
By David Whitaker


“Accuse us? You ought to go down on your hands and knees and thank us. But gratitude's the last thing you'll ever have, or any sort of common sense either.”

The Edge of Destruction is one of those Doctor Who stories that does not get much recognition.   It is a really great story and one that is actually in a way pretty spooky.  I say that because this story is the only one, so far, that takes place entirely in the TARDIS and there is something wrong with the ship as Doctor Number One would call it at the time.  Plus the story and the situation you see everyone pitted against one another and you get a great sense of paranoia from the 4 members of the TARDIS crew.  Maybe that why I like it so much as it is very different and not like the stories we have had so far or will ever.

For those that have not seen The Edge of Destruction it is such an easy story to follow along.  It is basically about that there is something wrong with the TARDIS and it is trying to tell the four travelers that something is wrong by dropping hints and clues for them to try and decipher.  There are some good clues like the melting clocks and the scanner showing The Doctor’s and Susan’s trips in reverse order.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Daleks

Doctor Who:
The Daleks
By Terry Nation


“Your legs are paralyzed. You will recover shortly, unless you force us to use our weapons again. In that case, the condition will be permanent. You two, help him.”

If An Unearthly Child started the legend of Doctor Who then the next story The Daleks was the springboard it needed to be the success it truly became.  With the cliffhanger to episode one “The Dead Planet” when you see the Daleks arm with that suction cup at the end for the first time something special had been hatched.   Yes it wasn’t until the next episode “The Survivors” do we get our first look at the famous pepper pots that we all know and love.  Thus begins a 50 year relationship between The Doctor and The Daleks one that fans have enjoyed and loved.