Masterpiece Theatre
Number 3: The Keys of Marinus
The Keys of Marinus
ranked a lowly 160th in Doctor Who Magazine’s 2009 Mighty 200 survey. Statistically,
it is the eighth-worst William Hartnell tale, only just ahead of The Savages and Planet of Giants.
But why is The Keys of
Marinus judged so harshly? After all, the ambition of the story is
faultless. One of the real truisms emerging from compiling these defences for
those lesser-regarded jewels in the Doctor
Who firmament is that each one aims high but is scuppered by some small
aspect. In short, one of the crucial factors – the script, the direction, the
money available – wasn’t quite right.
In the case of The
Keys of Marinus, I believe that the story’s problems lay fundamentally with
the script. The concept itself is very strong. The quest theme is a timeless
one, and to my knowledge wouldn’t be done properly until The Key to Time
stories. Terry Nation, the story’s author, was very much an ideas man, but his
scripts tended to fall back on the same tropes each time. Basing the six
episodes on a quest across a whole planet was a superb idea. The hunt for the
microkeys provides a strong, easy-to-follow and easy-to-pick-up narrative
structure. The characters find a microkey and move on to a new level, in a
precursor to pretty much any computer game. However, Terry Nation must have
realised that creating a new environment for near-enough every episode was well
beyond the powers of Doctor Who in
its infancy. This is why there are only five environments in six episodes. Unfortunately,
we then spend the better part of two episodes in the least interesting
environment: Millenius, a city seemingly obsessed with sentencing criminals.
The biggest problem with The
Keys of Marinus is the lack of a cohesive world. The script never allows us
to get a true sense of the planet, and each area seems mutually exclusive, like
another planet. Maybe if each new episode took place on a different planet,
like Traken had lots of planets within its Union, the lack of cohesion wouldn’t
have mattered. Sadly, the script makes several explicit references to the quest
taking place on the same planet.
When we start off on the island where Arbitan’s pyramid
stands, the encircling sea is acid and the sand is glass, a defence barrier
against the invading Voord. All very well and all very imaginative, until we
then visit a snowbound area and a jungle area. If the sea is acid, then surely
the snow must at least have traces of acid within it? Certainly the trees would
be much affected by the regular acid rain. It is this kind of woolly thinking
that undoes much of Marinus.
Also, characters in each area, Darrius aside and later on
the judges of Millenius, know nothing of the other regions. You would think
that a planet, having been subjugated under the Conscience of Marinus, a
machine that controls their minds, would at least have some collective
knowledge about the keys and the power they possess. Kala and Eyesen plot to
steal the microkey from Millenius’ museum to sell it. If the script had
revealed that they were working for the Voord, or were mercenaries plotting to
sell the key to Yartek (leader of the alien Voord), then that would have made
narrative sense. However, they seem oblivious as to its importance. The Brains
of Morphoton do not know about Sabetha’s microkey, despite it being in plain
sight around her neck. They have developed mind control abilities. All this
needed to be was some residual side-effect from the Conscience and this would
have linked nicely. (Incidentally, if the orange juice offered to the TARDIS
crew when they are happily tripping on Morphoton’s drugs is actually dirty
water, what is the Doctor eating when he samples a truffle? The mind boggles).
Similarly, if Tarron knows the purpose of the microkey in
the museum, why doesn’t Ian tell him that Arbitan sent him and show him the
travel dial? It would have saved most of an episode that could then have been
devoted to resolving the Yartek plan, which is practically non-existent. That’s
the other big problem with The Keys of
Marinus. Would it have been too difficult to have included Voord in other
regions, also searching for the keys? That way, we would be reminded on a
weekly basis that there is a threat beyond deadly plants, brains in jars,
rapists and murderers with the tendency to blurt out key plot points at regular
intervals.
One last thought: Is Arbitan actually good? After all, he
has designed a machine that controls the wills of a whole planet. He forces the
TARDIS crew to fetch the keys for him. More damningly, the bracelets are
preprogrammed with a series of destinations. Arbitan must have known where the
keys were hidden. Why didn’t he warn the travellers about the Brains of
Morphoton? Was he in league with them, and that is why they still had mind
control powers?
And yet...
Despite the flaws with the script, there are a great many
things to enjoy about The Keys of Marinus.
Personally, it is one of my favourite Hartnell stories. In a way it is a pity
that the option for the film version wasn’t taken up. The concept is certainly
film-sized, rather than Lime Grove sized.
Ten Ways The Keys of Marinus
opens the door to success:
1.
The familiarity of the TARDIS crew and the ease
in which they work together. By this point, the Doctor has moved from being a
kidnapper to being a friend. Barbara’s maternal protection of Susan the wet
blanket is sweet, and Ian is a man made of tinkles and sparkles. He is gently
humorous, loyal and caring, and when he gets too ever-protective Barbara tells
him. These are real people, much in the way that Rory, Donna, Martha and Rose
are (Amy less so...)and we care about them.
2.
Barbara’s Point of View shots in Morphoton,
where we see the truth through her eyes is such an unusual device for Doctor
Who, and it sells the concept beautifully that only she can see what is really
happening.
3.
The laboratory scene in Morphoton is superb,
allowing William Hartnell to really play up the humour of the situation. Future
writers could see he had some talent for comedy, and I believe this is where
that starts.
4.
Hiding in plain sight. The sets at Lime Grove
were tiny and relied on creative use of space and suspension of disbelief at
times, but this is really pushing it.
5.
The traps in the Screaming/ Whispering Jungle,
like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom done twenty years too early and on a
budget of sixpence. There’s a wobbly magic to them that CG just can’t match.
6.
The Ice Knights are a creepy concept, not quite
done justice I feel, but a certain Peter Davison often quotes this as being his
most scary memory of Doctor Who as a child, and I’m not about to argue with my
favourite Doctor.
7.
The silence and stunned faces after Aydan’s
brutal gunning-down, like the silence after Lee Harvey Oswald’s similar death. There
are too many echoes for this to be a coincidence. Audiences in 1964 are meant
to make this connection, so this is possibly Doctor Who’s first foray into
making relevant comments on modern events. The scene is made more delicious by
Kala’s sobs and moans over her dead husband’s body, when we later find out that
she shot him.
8.
Yartek, leader of the alien Voord, or the
occasionally alien and sometimes just men Voord. Never has there been a more
rubbish villain. We have no idea of his reasons or his objectives, and he
thinks he can fool Ian into giving him a microkey just by putting up Arbitan’s
hood. Why bother? Just stab Ian and take the key. Then, to add insult to
injury, he blows himself up. I don’t think he even meets the Doctor at any
point. Useless, utterly useless...
9.
The fact that the guy in the Screaming/ Whispering Jungle is called Darrius, allowing me the gift of this joke.
10.
Legendary Billyfluffs. Poor old William
Hartnell, forced to learn so many speeches in such a short space of time. It
was inevitable there would be mistakes, but it adds to the charm of the First
Doctor. A) ‘If you had had your shoes, you could have leant her hers!’ B)
Could the sea be frozen? ‘Not in this temperature. Impossible. Besides, it’s
too warm.’ C) ‘I can’t improve at this very moment... I can’t prove at this
very moment that Chesterton didn’t hide it in its present location.’ Brilliant.
To fully appreciate The Keys of Marinus, we have to remember
Doctor Who’s serial roots. No DVD, no iPlayer, no opportunity to revisit and
catch up. Therefore you could get away with plot-holes big enough to drive
Colin Baker through. Terry Nation didn’t care about the finer details and
neither, I suspect did 99% of the audience. Unfortunately we fans do, and that
is why it rates so low, despite being filled with gold.
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