A UFO enters the Earth's atmosphere. Mr. Chinn, an investigator from the Ministry of Defense, is present at UNIT and takes an interest in the UFO to the point of calling in a missile strike to blow the UFO out of the sky. The UFO crash lands on Earth near the NUTON Power Complex before it can be intercepted by the missiles.
The Doctor, the Brigadier, Captain Yates, Sergeant Benton, Jo Grant, and a few squads of UNIT soldiers rush to investigate the UFO. A couple people get to the UFO before them. One is a man on a bicycle. The other is Bill Filer, an American from Washington HQ who was there to see the Brigadier. Both of them get pulled into the ship by tentacles.
The Doctor and the others are joined by two others, Sir George Hardiman and Winser, Head of Research. Before they get a chance to approach the grounded UFO they receive a distress signal from the ship requesting assistance.
The body of the man on the bicycle is found by Captain Yates and Sergeant Benton. Bill Filer wakes up in the spaceship restrained by arms growing out of the floor. There is someone nearby who is also restrained, the Master.
A doorway opens in the side of the UFO. Everyone goes in. The Doctor and most of the others meet the survivors, four humanoids with golden skin. Their leader explains that their ship wasn't built but grown. It is a living thing. They offer the Doctor and the others a large piece of Axonite, an element which can make things grow larger or smaller.
Jo enters the space ship after the others and winds up in a different part of the vessel. She hears Bill's voice and goes looking for him.
Thoughts
There is a lot thrown out in this episode. Not all of it made sense to me on the first viewing. I watched it a second time, with the commentary track. It made a little more sense on that viewing.
Barry Letts (producer), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), and Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates) were on the commentary track for this episode.
Chinn seems very excited by the prospect of the Axonite. The Axons seem to know quite a bit about Earth. Where did thet get their information from? When Bill Filer first appeared he seemed to indicate that he was there to deal with the Master. Waking up near the Master, who for once does not try to use an alias, must have been a bit of a shock.
I'm not completely sure about this episode or the story. It's my first time watching it. The whole thing feels very rushed up to this point. I will reserve judgment for now but I have my doubts.
No comments:
Post a Comment