#keys of marinus

[heimeldat]

I love how alien they've made this place. The glass beach, the tide pool (and ocean) full of acid, there's so much to it conceptually despite the set being just a pile of rocks lol.

[davros42]

Rewatching Classic Doctor Who, some episodes I haven't seen in years, some of the animated reconstructions I haven't seen at all.

The Keys of Marinus AKA Planet Marinus AKA Serial E

A pretty great use of the show's format, five lost keys spread over six episodes. It's basically the beta test for the Key to Time season. Just don't think too hard about that whole "we need to activate this super computer to brainwash the entire planet into being nice" thing.

The Voord are very cool and it is a shame they never showed up again on the show (just in other media). With the rubber suits and weird heads (helmets?) they look like Doom Patrol enemies. Or something from a Grant Morrison comic, anyway. They're one of like 10 concepts jammed into this episode, acid oceans, glass submarines, brains in jars, mind control worlds, out-of-control court procedurals, rapey mountain man, vegetation that grows so quickly it sounds like it is screaming... and some marvelous model work and set design to boot. Ian likes his wardrobe from Marco Polo so much he just keeps wearing it.

It is kind of humorous that at this point in the show, The Doctor and Friends basically have to be forced to interfere rather than instigate from the start. And while the return of a mcguffin from episode 2 in episode 6 is a clever twist (one that probably pays off better if you were watching along as the episodes aired instead of binging them or watching them in movie format), the whole thing resolves shockingly quickly. The Voord self-destruct themselves, that's 2 genocides in 5 serials if you're counting along at home, and the.. Maritanians? Marinites? population of Marinus? have to fend for themselves with a computer to force them to be normal, as is natural. And the TARDIS crew depart.

The crew's new friends Altos and Sabetha decide that life is not for them, and they retire to the city with the universe's worst legal system instead. And so it goes.

Next time: One of the very best serials, if my memory isn't failing me. Certainly the best of the First Doctor's stories. The Aztecs. A complicated treat, well executed.

[doctorwhogirlie]

Classic Who Creature Tournament:

Click here for tournament table!

[not-another-doctor]

There's something really simple but great about Susan's fit this episode

[disappearingbees]

Absolutely flabbergasted that I just got duped by Doctor Who twice in a row. So Key to Time ends with the 6 parts of the key not being put together. Fair enough, I say because no one should have that power. But surely I think, Keys of Marinus will be different, right? NO, WRONG! I am yet again played for the fool and we do not use the key that we have spent a considerable period of time acquiring.

[notyoujamie]

[demigodofhoolemere]

I paused Keys of Marinus and happened to pause on Barbara looking at Ian like this, lol

[siryl]

It's been a while since I posted anything from "The Keys of Marinus." Here's a digital painting by Svetlin Velinov.

[regicidal-defenestration]

I'm being genuine when I say I think this is my favourite Doctor Who death scene ever

[Video description: An alien falls down a long shaft and splashes into the acidic sea at the bottom, screaming as they fall. The alien is very clearly a model or doll. The scream is somewhat cartoonish.]

[legok9]

Magic: The Gathering

Universes Beyond: Doctor Who

Land card art by Svetlin Velinov (@svetlinvelinov)

Plains (Androzani Minor):

Island (Marinus):

Swamp (Tigella):

Mountain (Peladon):

Forest (Zeta Minor):

[heimeldat]

Those slow-paced stories from the First and Second Doctor eras are great for half-watching during tedious tasks like pinning yards and yards of slippery bias tape that doesn't want to fold properly.

Today's choice, The Keys of Marinus. I first watched it...maybe 12 years ago? I don't remember much about it except that someone tried to rape Barbara. That was one of my first big "this is a kids' show?!?!?" moments lol.

[dailyclassicwho]

WINTER IN DOCTOR WHO (1963)

The Keys of Marinus The Tenth Planet The Tomb of the Cybermen The Ice Warriors The Seeds of Doom The Ribos Operation

[doctorwhogirlie]

[mariocki]

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus (1.5, BBC, 1964)

"I want to speak of your father. You know, he was a very wise and brilliant man and I know how you felt when you learned of his death."

"And his life's work destroyed."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, I wouldn't say that. His work will go on, only not quite in the same way. But 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."

[do-you-know-this-dw-story]

The Keys of Marinus (TV: 1964)

[thethirdromana]

Rewatching the Keys of Marinus

After we watched the Daleks together, my husband had a hankering for more Doctor Who. Who knew that after literal years of trying to catch his interest with City of Death and Blink and Heaven Sent, what was actually going to be required was the 1960s, wobbly sets, and - of course - the wonderful Ian and Barbara?

So we're doing the greatest hits, at least for now. And for me that meant the Keys of Marinus.

The main thing that struck me was: this isn't really a 60s sci-fi plot. It's a video game plot. You start off by exploring a bit and fighting a bit, so that you get used to the controls, then you meet an old guy who does some exposition and gives you a quest. You go through a series of distinctive levels, pick up a couple of NPCs, and find your quest items. You'd barely have to change a thing.

Some more thoughts:

Ian is remarkably chill about killing multiple people in this. I mean, it's all in self-defence, but you'd think he would have some kind of feelings about it.

The illusion of Morphoton being luxurious when it's actually squalid and decaying is genuinely creepy.

Altos' outfit is great. LEGS.

Susan has a repeated thing of sobbing and burying her face in the nearest woman's cleavage. She basically motorboats Barbara at least twice.

Love Ian in his cool Marco Polo outfit.

Love Ian generally, despite the remorseless killing thing.

I guess remorseless killing is normal in a video game too.

Also love how the Doctor has stopped being so antagonistic to Ian and Barbara. They're all friends now!

The trial plot doesn't really hang together but I love a courtroom drama so I don't care.

This one is so pacey! The different locations really help.

Aztecs next. Can't wait :)