As we learn about each other, so we learn about ourselves.
-The Doctor
Hello, dear audience! Now, we have got into the last story in the first 13 episode production block in the first season. The first block is crucial because if the show can’t meet the deadline, it would be stopped. Under the pressure, two bottle episodes were written and produced to fill the gap, ‘The Edge of Destruction’. A bottle episode is an episode that is confined to one location with only the regular cast. Despite various limitations it faced, ‘The Edge of Destruction’ made one of my favourite story in William Hartnell era. What you will see in this blog is the review of both episodes. Before we begin, you can find the link to the video of this story on the resources page of our website as always.
What happened in ‘The Edge of Destruction’?
The first time I watch it, I did not understand fully the story. The planet on the scanner, the open door etc. After rewatching the story, I got the following out.
The first event is that everyone gets knocked out. Then they wake up one by one, experiencing strange things around them. So Barbara and Susan theorised an intelligence went into the Tardis when the door was opened. This theory is a well-made red herring.
The Edge of Destruction, the first episode of the same name was made in such a way, that we feel there is an invisible but spiteful creature inside. I find the scenes in which Susan used the scissor was brilliant. They are perfect tension builders. The first time Susan took the scissor does look like a possession. The mindless stabs on the recliner were quite fearsome. Then she overheard and misinterpreted the conversation between Ian and Barbara, so she picked up the scissors again, presumably for self-defence. After Barbara successfully took the scissor from her, she said in a disturbing tone that the hypothesised creature is “in one of us”. In the cliffhanger that episode, a pair of hands grabs the Doctor by his shoulder is a potential verification of this theory. (It turns out that is Ian)
The Doctor, however, had a different theory in mind based on his logic. He thought his Tardis is sabotaged by the humans on board. I will talk about it slightly later. Both theories contributed significantly to paranoia. Nevertheless, neither of them turn out to be right. In the second episode, we see Barbara putting the abnormal things around them together to solve the puzzle. In the end, the Doctor and Ian found out the string under a bottom is stuck. That is the real cause of the abnormal situation.
The most confusing part must be how Barbara figured out the clues around them. First, she realised that the Tardis was trying to warn them by showing strange signs. The abnormalities are the clues! These are the explanation for every clue in the story.
Clue 1: The melted clock faces and the every-fifteen-second flash of the fault locator.
As Barbara said, ‘We had time taken away from us, and now it’s being given back to us because it’s running out.’ It essentially means the Tardis thinks that they are in great danger and don’t have much time.
Clue 2: Pictures in the scanner
Once again, they mean that outside the Tardis is dangerous and they are heading for destruction. Barbara asserted the good picture signifies safety (Tardis door is open) and the bad picture is danger (Tardis door is closed). A picture of a planet is shown later. The planet is possibly Skaro, to show them the problem happened after the visit. The galaxy-like image is perhaps a cloud of gases, indicating they are in the formation of a star. (The power column was moved by the attraction of the star mass around them.) The flash at the end is destruction as guessed by the Doctor.
Clue 3: Electric Shocks
The fast return switch is in the same sector of the control panel as the scanner. That is the safe part because the Tardis wants them to find the problem there. Those electric shocks in other parts simply mean that the switch they should be looking for isn’t there.
The reason the fault locator did not locate the fast return switch is simple. It was not broken, the fast return switch was stuck and act as if he were pressing it all the time.
A short note on the score
You can find the full soundtrack on the resource page. It is largely composed by Eric Siday. They are atmospheric and futuristic. My favourite was ‘Anaesthesia’ which is reused in ‘Moonbase’, a second doctor story. The track makes people quite uncomfortable. It provokes a sense of creepiness and paranoia.
The Characters
This is probably the last time I am going to discuss the dynamics between the crews before anyone new comes along. The Edge of Destruction is the most important step to the relationship of the Tardis crews. Why this particular serial, you could be thinking now. Refer to the nature of bottle episodes, confinement. Confinement is the best setting to promote characteristic development.
In The Edge of Destruction, the Doctor unleashes his accumulated speculation of the companions. Barbara was extremely riled by his wrong and rude accusation.
Two scenes had explicit conflicts surrounding the second theory. In the first episode, Ian stood alongside Barbara once the Doctor revealed his theory. It was signalling the audience that they have divided into two sides. What was more supportive of the Doctor’s theory was the intentional bizarre acting of Carol Ford Ann and William Russell. In contrast, Barbara and the Doctor are the only normal people around. It looks like there are indeed two sides, which is of course misleading. Barbara retorts the Doctor with outrage afterwards. Thanks to Jacqueline Hill’s amazing acting, Barbara was believably ferocious. Ending her dialogue by letting the character see the melted clock with a scream of overreaction was not a smart decision nonetheless. An equally thrilling conflict is in episode two. Previously neutral Susan suddenly join forces with the Doctor. My blood froze when Susan came from the behind. They then use many bitter words and phrases that skew emotion strongly such as ‘Hypnotise, drug, divide and conquer, poison etc.’. At the end of the story, after the fault was found, the Doctor goes to Barbara to deliver a genuine apology to amend the big wound he had created in their relationship. The Doctor’s theory was based on distrust, through the course, he unveils all his thought and attitude toward the humans aboard.
To end my review, I want to point out, this whole story is an examination of the relationship of the crews. The challenge posed by the Doctor is what propelled the characters to bond finally. They have eventually abandoned doubt and moved on.
Here is my rating:
8.6/10 for the plot (weight 6)
8.2/10 for the regular casts (weight 6)
8.6/10 for the visual and score (weight 2)
8.43/10 overall
Doctor Who Experience 
