The one where an aeroplane full of passengers disappears in an instant...
We pick this slow-moving but suitably intriguing tale up with the Doctor being frozen to death by icy gas jets in the Chameleon Tours hangar. Almost immediately, the Doctor hunkers into his coat, collar up around his ears, but it would be much simpler to move as far away from the icy jets as possible, rather than just flop down beside them. Still, at least the Doctor manages to outwit thicko Spencer with his own gas pen, and escape. It's funny, but during the brief moment where Troughton is in his shirt sleeves, he looks remarkably like he would in The Two Doctors, 18 years hence!
I said thicko Spencer because he just is. He's very straight and humourless (as all the Chameleons are) but he's also appallingly rubbish at any job he's given. Captain Blade really has got a liability on his hands (or "a fool" as Doctor Who villains prefer). Later on Spencer tries yet again to kill the Doctor, this time by getting bumbling Meadows to attach a destructive device to him. He's so desperate to have the Doctor dead, why doesn't he use a ray gun, or a gas pen? Why all these extravagantly silly methods of dispatch?
This time, the Doctor has a remarkably acquiescent Detective Inspector Crossland to back him up with the cynical Commandant, and Bernard Kay makes the best of an otherwise blandly written character by giving him a Scottish accent and a pipe to play with. Kay was a solid and dependable character actor whose numerous turns in Doctor Who were always sensitively played. Arguably, his role here is the least of the bunch (the others being in The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Crusade and Colony in Space), but he makes Crossland a reliable ally for the good guys here.
Meanwhile, Jamie and Samantha are forging a lovely little dynamic all their own, with hints of romance. Sam likes the idea of having a man with her when she investigates the Chameleon Tours hangar, and teasingly remonstrates with him when he dilly-dallies over disobeying the Doctor and going with her. "After all, they can only murder me! Ta-ra!" she taunts. Later, when she discovers a pile of postcards from missing passengers, the loss of her brother Brian overwhelms her, and she breaks down. She insists she only has something in her eye, but Jamie gives her a hug and reassures: "You're a brave wee lassie!" Later, she returns the favour and hugs him back. It's a lovely little dynamic which it'll be a pity to lose when Samantha doesn't join the TARDIS crew, as originally hoped.
All this, but no Ben and Polly. Presumably they've both been abducted and taken to wherever all the other missing youths are going, but the Doctor and Jamie don't seem too concerned about their safety. Still, we have the intrepid adventures of the Doctor, Jamie and Sam now, don't we?
First broadcast: April 22nd, 1967
Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: That cliffhanger really puts you on the back foot. The Chameleons don't wait until they're in flight to abduct the youths!
The Bad: The almost total lack of plot development is getting tiring now, especially the Doctor's inaction. We need our hero to do something, not flirt with the authorities!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
NEXT TIME: Episode 4...
My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 6
Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-faceless-ones.html
The Faceless Ones is available on BBC soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Faceless-Frazer-Hines/dp/0563535016. Episode 1 and 3 are the only surviving episodes, and can be found on the Lost in Time DVD box set here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Lost-Time-DVD/dp/B0002XOZW4
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