The Edge of Destruction [TV/1964.2.8 ~ 2.15]

★★★☆☆

  Practically essential for those who want to figure out what makes this initial TARDIS team click, The Edge of Destruction is filled with wonderful performances and claustrophobic (read: super-effective) direction. For the bottle-episode nuts out there, there's nothing else quite like it in all of Doctor Who's classic series. Tempers are frayed and camaraderie is tested as the TARDIS seems to be controlled by an unknown force which extends its influence to the travellers in the strangest ways...

  I've watched The Edge of Destruction countless times by now (it's oddly comforting to watch a two-part serial set entirely in the First Doctor's TARDIS, one of my personal favourite interiors, and it's also short enough to watch on a whim without being daunted by the runtime), and this most recent revisit solidified my opinion that it's a darn fine serial. The closed nature of it all allows the four leads to show what they're worth, and while everyone is wonderful, the real spotlight has to go to Carole Ann Ford. It's no secret that I think Susan Foreman as a character has been done a bit dirty by the television show, but here is where she is given something meaty to do: she's unpredictable, mysterious, and at times straight up antagonistic. Check out the shot when we see Ian's perspective as he's threatened by Susan holding a pair of scissors -- you can actually see Ford relish the chance she's so rarely given in her role. She's the standout character, and scenes I remember from this serial all have her.

  Of course, that doesn't mean William Hartnell, Jacqueline Hill and William Russell are lacking in any way; quite the contrary, as Hill and Russell would state as much later on, the script affords them the opportunity to explore their characters in depth and they rise to the challenge effortlessly. The Doctor is a genuine unknown quantity, a rogue element and sometimes even an effective villain. There would be frayed tempers in the television show going forward, arguments and disagreements and betrayals within the safety of the TARDIS... but this is the only time when absolutely nobody is safe and nobody can be trusted. It takes staring at impending doom in the eyes for this ragtag group of travellers to become friends -- and for showing that with such skill, I can't help but like The Edge of Destruction. Oddly enough, I'd label this as comfy watching too.