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Doctor Who

The Sensorites (1964)

About this serial

This is a six-part serial, first broadcast between 20th June - 1st August 1964. The serial was written by Peter R. Newman, produced by Verity Lambert and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Frank Cox. The script editor was David Whitaker.

Plot summary

The Tardis lands inside a spaceship, and once more the Tardis crew find themselves caught in the middle of conflict.

Review

It's interesting to compare this story to the slightly earlier 'Keys of Marinus'. In 'Keys', we have a couple of fairly traditional science-fiction stories that are competently told. In 'Sensorites', we have a story that is full of interesting and innovative ideas, but that is being let down by the execution.

The main problem is that the first episode is great, the second is still pretty good, but things go downhill from there. To be more specific:

There are also some puzzling plot points:

Still, this serial does give us some things to enjoy:

The bottom line

Interesting.

Tough call. If you value ambitious stories you should see it, but if you're primarily looking for entertainment you might as well give it a miss.

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