The Romans [TV/1965.1.16 ~ 2.6]
★★★★★
Forever one of my ultimate comfort watches, The Romans is Dr. Who's first proper stab at comedy and it's a stunning piece of work. It was an ingenious idea to split the crew up with the Doctor and Vicki taking a trip to Rome and Ian and Barbara being kidnapped to be sold as slaves, enabling the serial to delve in that special kind of comedy wherein each of the members of the two splinter groups inhabit practically the same spot but get out of each other's ear/eyeshot at just the split second. It's genuinely tight scriptwork from Dennis Spooner and equally observant direction from Christopher Barry, kudos to both.
Kudos to William Hartnell and co. as well, with head honcho Hartnell having an absolute blast being a menace. Words cannot begin to describe how much I love the First Doctor, and I'm coming out of the woodworks to say that no small part of my love can be attributed to his characterisation in The Romans. Here, he's a wily and quick-witted old man who enjoys a bit of the ol' fisticuffs on the side (seriously, Hartnell was quite spry for someone who looked as old as he), and who is so immensely sweet as the warm and caring grandfather figure who does a funny every five minutes, intentionally or not. Really, every major character is memorable one way or another, and Nero himself is the most ridiculously unhinged emperor who's a delight to watch. He can be a silly little arse on one moment, then a totally ruthless and depraved despot the other. If this is what comedy in Dr. Who can be, I'm just mad we haven't had even more than the amount of outright comedies we've had over the years.
Balancing light-hearted fun and heavy-hitting and disturbing drama is a hard task, but The Romans is a prime example of how it can be done successfully. Every momenet is golden, every spoken line instantly quotable and every performance utterly delightful. If I dare be so bold, I might even say that this serial is William Hartnell at his very best as the Doctor! I love The Romans so much, and for once, so should all of you.
Forever one of my ultimate comfort watches, The Romans is Dr. Who's first proper stab at comedy and it's a stunning piece of work. It was an ingenious idea to split the crew up with the Doctor and Vicki taking a trip to Rome and Ian and Barbara being kidnapped to be sold as slaves, enabling the serial to delve in that special kind of comedy wherein each of the members of the two splinter groups inhabit practically the same spot but get out of each other's ear/eyeshot at just the split second. It's genuinely tight scriptwork from Dennis Spooner and equally observant direction from Christopher Barry, kudos to both.
Kudos to William Hartnell and co. as well, with head honcho Hartnell having an absolute blast being a menace. Words cannot begin to describe how much I love the First Doctor, and I'm coming out of the woodworks to say that no small part of my love can be attributed to his characterisation in The Romans. Here, he's a wily and quick-witted old man who enjoys a bit of the ol' fisticuffs on the side (seriously, Hartnell was quite spry for someone who looked as old as he), and who is so immensely sweet as the warm and caring grandfather figure who does a funny every five minutes, intentionally or not. Really, every major character is memorable one way or another, and Nero himself is the most ridiculously unhinged emperor who's a delight to watch. He can be a silly little arse on one moment, then a totally ruthless and depraved despot the other. If this is what comedy in Dr. Who can be, I'm just mad we haven't had even more than the amount of outright comedies we've had over the years.
Balancing light-hearted fun and heavy-hitting and disturbing drama is a hard task, but The Romans is a prime example of how it can be done successfully. Every momenet is golden, every spoken line instantly quotable and every performance utterly delightful. If I dare be so bold, I might even say that this serial is William Hartnell at his very best as the Doctor! I love The Romans so much, and for once, so should all of you.
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