#the keys of marinus

[demigodofhoolemere]

It is conceivable that I may watch too much Doctor Who. I fully thought this was Marinus for a sec.

Pedestrian walkway in Munich, Germany.

Source: Nathan Rupert

[notyoujamie]

[demigodofhoolemere]

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

[doctorwhogirlie]

[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):

[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

[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 :)

[nkp1981]

Promo pic for "The Keys of Marinus", 1964

[partiallithopseffect]

this is such a creepy shot from the keys of marinus... the way he leans in...

[demigodofhoolemere]

Ian Chesterton

November 23, 1963 — June 26, 1965

William Russell

November 19, 1924 — June 3, 2024

[doctorwhogirlie]

Doctor Who - The Keys of Marinus

[exhausted-review]

Doctor Who- Project Parameters and getting up to speed.

I'm gonna review all of Doctor Who, one story at a time.

It's gonna take a while.

What follows are the guidelines I'm using for this project, brief reviews for the stories I've watched thus far, and a ranking of the stories as I like them so far.

Hello again. My plan is to watch every story of doctor who that is complete. This does mean I'm going to be missing quite a bit of Doctor Who's first six seasons. The service I'm using does contain some of the animated reconstructions of currently missing episodes, for which I shall watch them, however I do not intend to listen to the audio for all such episodes. Also I'll be keeping primarily to mainline Doctor Who. I'll make detours for things like special episodes and the film from the 1990's, but primarily I'm just watching through it with the question of "What makes a Doctor Who story effective?". Finding out which ones I prefer goes a long way to doing this. If you notice that I skip a number in between stories, it's because there was an incomplete serial in there 1. An Unearthly Child

This particular Story I find interesting. The primitive power struggle storyline does very little to interest me, and the character dynamics between our four protagonists are still early on at this stage. This story is likely going to avoid the absolute dregs of unwatchability on my ranking off the grounds of its first episode, which promises much more than it delivers. Susan's weirdness and technical competency is more or less immediately undermined by her actual role in these storylines, but in its' first episode she remains an enigma, and I really like that for her. I like Barbara and Ian a lot as companions, but it's the Doctor acting in a much more sinister role that really drives this first part of the story forward. He's not just remarkably cold and at times openly hostile to Ian and Barbara, this incarnation is also prone to physical violence in a mode altogether alien for fans of the newer series. I love this. Knowing that you get to see the doctor change from a malevolent figure to a warm and at times heroic presence is really nice, but for this episode he's just a cantankerous old wizard and I love that for him. Rest of the serial is not special. 2. The Daleks

Knocked it right out of the park in 1963 with the second ever episode. The characters of our main cast are still forming, and their dynamic is not yet clear- The Doctor is much more foolish and cruel than he will be, and the companions are captive and mistrusting. But the Daleks haven't changed all that much. Genocidal, violent, and conniving, Doctor Who kicks it off with the introduction of its most infamous villains, and the resulting war story is terrifying and effective. For my liking, it's a bit too long. The section between them convincing the Thals to fight back and the episode's dramatic climax where they fight the daleks as they count down to launching atomic weapons takes a little too long to get where it's going, but the climax itself is quite good. I'm a big fan of this episode.

3. The Edge of Destruction

This is the episode that I think makes Doctor Who into a recognizable shape. The confusion and open hostility of this episode makes for tense and dramatic television, and the Doctor's active malice is countered with suspicion and fine arguments. This is the episode where the doctor stops being actively hostile and starts the long road towards being a warm and friendly figure. And it takes a lot of darkness to get there. The famous scene in which Susan threatens to stab Ian with scissors is a great bit of dramatic tension from a pretty good bottle episode.

5. The Keys of Marinus

This episode is almost good. It reminds me of early star trek in a very good way- the set up of the computer that arbitrates all legal and moral disputes is a great set-up, and at first I had hoped that all the locations they teleport to in search of the five keys of marinus would deliver questions about such a device at each turn. But unfortunately only half of them are really concerned with those themes, and the entire episode ends up leaving a lot to be desired. The Doctor being actively concerned for his human companions and defending Ian in an alien court is a great story beat, but I wish this was fleshed out more. Measure of a Man this is not.

6. The Aztecs

This episode has some of the best dramatic writing in the series to this point and the conflict between Barbara wanting to save the Aztecs from destruction at the hands of the Spanish and the Doctor understanding the necessity of maintaining the timeline is legitimately well written and acted out. Unfortunately, the entire episode kind of falls apart if you don't agree with the historical argument at the center of this episode- that the Aztecs were killed by the Spanish primarily because of the barbarity of the practice of human sacrifice. I happen to think this is an insane historical argument, and that damages it a lot for me. This episode does some right but, ultimately, sometimes shit just sucks and this sucks.

7. The Sensorites

This storyline is regularly more inoffensive than it is bad or good. The story of the more xenophobic sensorites trying to sabotage the good intentions of the Doctor and company is a strong set-up, and I like it all the more because their reasons for mistrusting humans are sound. The actual story is fairly straight-forward and at times a bit dull. I also don't really care for all the psychic power stuff- the worst of which is one of the human crewmen being able to tell whether a person is good or evil by looking at them and constantly saying so. Ultimately, it's a pretty fun space adventure with only a little working against it.

9. Planet of Giants

This serial is short and sweet, and that does a lot for it. A storyline that doesn't have much behind it but only lasts an hour can be much more fun and enjoyable than a story like Keys of Marinus, which stretches out its story to two and a half. Ultimately, I feel like more could happen in this time and in this scenario, but I like this story and find it more inoffensive than anything else. I do really enjoy how much more friendly the dynamic between the Doctor and the teachers is at this point, and I've come to really appreciate Ian and Barbara's presence.

So there's where we stand now. I'm about halfway through the tenth serial: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and I intend to post my thoughts sometime tomorrow, as well as for the serial following. Currently though: I'm really enjoying this foray into really classic Doctor Who. Lot to love at this stage, and yet I would still say that the only truly good story to this point is The Daleks. Excited to see more to come.