N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

One of the simple joys to be had watching these early episodes of Doctor Who comes from hearing characters speak without their resorting to glib one-liners.

Now, a mundane chat seems an odd thing to get excited about, but that’s how I felt near the beginning of first episode A Land of Fear, when Ian and Barbara have a very normal conversation about how and whether the Doctor will ever get them home.

OK, so it’s not your Benedick and Beatrice-level badinage, but neither is it desperately attempting to sound cool (and therefore sounding desperately uncool). It’s not the best dialogue ever to grace Doctor Who, not the best in The Reign of Terror, probably not even the best in this episode, but go and watch it: it’s played perfectly. As I say, simple joys.

Later, on film, ever-resourceful Ian escapes the Conciergerie (thanks admittedly in part to the ineptitude of the gaoler and, as ultimately revealed, the aid of James Stirling). William Russell comments in the Don’t Lose Your Head DVD extra that when he watched the story back he was surprised how much he was in episodes 2 and 3, given he was on holiday at the time, and it struck me that we’ve seen a couple of techniques used in the first season to cover a regular’s absence.

In this serial and in The Aztecs (where Susan is sent off to the seminary for the middle episodes), filmed inserts were used; in The Keys of Marinus and The Sensorites, plausible narrative reasons were given. I look forward to noting the other excuses given in seasons to come! It adds an interesting dynamic when one of the regulars is missing, which after the 60’s is something I don’t think we don’t really get again until the Doctor-lite episodes of the Tenth Doctor.

“Our lives are important, at least to us, and as we see, we learn …”

The Doctor, Prisoners of Conciergerie

The Reign of Terror is also the second Doctor Who story from which episodes are currently missing from the BBC archives. The episodes in question – The Tyrant of France and A Bargain of Necessity – mark the first time in this marathon where I’ve encountered animated reconstructions of the missing material.

Whilst in this instance I did find the editing of the animated episodes occasionally jarring, nevertheless I do still like animation as a means of filling in the visual gap. I’m not sure whether I’d like whole stories recreated this way, but for filling in those one or two episode holes it seems a very good solution. Well, at least until the episodes themselves turn up!

On the whole, given the violent and horrific backdrop of the events, The Reign of Terror is relatively light of touch, certainly compared to the earlier historicals. The story doesn’t shy away from the violence, but it tempers it somewhat with humour.

The Doctor in particular appears to enjoy himself immensely masquerading as a regional officer and running rings around the hapless gaoler. I suppose though we do have to remember what Susan said – at this point in his life at least, the French Revolution is the Doctor’s favourite period of human history. Why? Well, we know he does love a good hat!

By the way, why is the gaoler Northern when all of the others are so resolutely RP? Is the gaoler from the French equivalent of Lancashire? Or is the TARDIS translation circuit having a laugh?

But of course we don’t know about that yet …