The Monoids abandon the Ark, leaving Steven and the Guardians to die, but a mutiny in their ranks may give the Doctor a chance to bring about peace.The Monoids abandon the Ark, leaving Steven and the Guardians to die, but a mutiny in their ranks may give the Doctor a chance to bring about peace.The Monoids abandon the Ark, leaving Steven and the Guardians to die, but a mutiny in their ranks may give the Doctor a chance to bring about peace.
Photos
- Refusian
- (voice)
- Monoids
- (voice)
- Monoids
- (voice)
- Monoid
- (uncredited)
- Guardian
- (uncredited)
- Monoid
- (uncredited)
- Guardian
- (uncredited)
- Guardian
- (uncredited)
- Guardian
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode takes place in circa 10,000,700.
- GoofsWhen the statue is released into space from the launching bay, it falls forwards and downwards just as if it had been pushed off a ledge in the presence of gravity.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Monoid One: Two, are you there? Two, answer me!
Dodo: Doctor, what do we do now?
Dr. Who: Nothing, my dear. We shall just have to wait until the next party lands.
Dodo: But what if they don't come? What if they decide to find another planet?
Dr. Who: Well, in that case, we shall just have to stay here.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The End of the Line? (2011)
This event made me assume that all four episodes would be the fight against the common cold with some drama in and around this to pad it out – or in other words, a re-run of The Sensorites but with different details. Happily this was not the case and the serial contains some nice twists and turns – including a really good reveal cliff-hanger on one of the episodes. This gave the four episodes good pace but ironically maybe rushed the situation and characters a bit much as I would have liked the humans and in particular the Monoids to have had more time to be fleshed out a little rather than just existing. This is most obvious when the "who is good and who is bad" aspect is raised – it is a footnote here as part of a conclusion but really should have been a bigger part, and for sure should have been mentioned in the first part as it was in the second since this makes the Doctor look a bit humanist (which of course he is). As it is though, the serial is pretty good and flows well enough.
Performances are mixed. Hartnell is good of course and Purves does the action stuff well enough, even if he lacks the character of Ian, whom he replaced. Lane's Dodo was a surprise to me as I was already struggling to keep up with how many young women this show was getting through since Susan left (maybe that phrase is a bad one to use in reference to the BBC – they had a lot of temporary companions, that is what I meant, maybe that is worse actually?). Anyway, Lane is so-so, makes no impression and does what the others on the recent conveyor belt did from what little of them I was able to see. The supporting cast are given generic characters so it is hard to judge them, but there is not too much for them here.
The Ark is not perfect but it is enjoyable and probably helped by it at least being a nice change to see a full serial in this third season. It has a good pace and some nice ideas even if it would have been better if it had expanded some of them and done more with the characters and moral situation.
- bob the moo
- Nov 15, 2013
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1