The Reign of Terror [TV/1964.8.8 ~ 9.12]

★★★☆☆

  Season 1's pure historicals (this, Marco Polo and The Aztecs... An Unearthly Child too, if you label it as so) vary in terms of narrative and quality, and yet they all boil down to one important fact that would become one of the backbones of the show: history is a wily, dangerous thing and it has a tendency to observe & absorb everything you do, regardless of your intentions. The Reign of Terror feels most like a historical geared towards this notion, with the Doctor and co. fumbling around history's web until they realise they can't do much about what is destined to happen. It's clearly shown when Barbara, who was once a major part of a historical serial exerting her own moral views upon people of the past, is but a pawn in the events this time. She still gets to show her disapproval towards violence and murder, though, which is at least consistent to her character. Ian gets to deliver an important message and infiltrate an important meeting with Napoleon as a barkeep alongside Barbara, and the Doctor gets to parade around in an incredible costume and take the mickey out of everyone, but this time Susan gets sorely left out of the spotlight. You know, would it be a novel take to suggest that Susan was underwritten and underutilised during her tenure in the show? Of course not, that's the one consistent opinion of the Who fandom! 

  For the record, I have fun with The Reign of Terror every time I revisit it. It's a much more laid-back affair than its historical predecessors, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a ton of fun with the setting and characters. The Doctor and his companions have less agency, that's for sure, but Robespierre's part in the French Revolution is already a fascinating slice of history -- so much so that it almost carries the serial, allowing us to grin and bear even the most repetitive escape-and-capture sequences. The two missing episodes just so happen to be the most boring of the serial, and I had quite a bit of trouble staying focused during these parts (which is simply unlucky coincidence because I usually never have this problem with Loose Cannon recons), but overall the adventurous energy that the first few episodes had whetted my appetite enough. The entire serial managed to sate my appetite, so it can't be bad by any means. Think of this less as hard-hitting drama and more 'time travellers dicking around Revolution-era France' and you're in for quite the fun ride.