A Bargain of Necessity (The Reign of Terror Episode 5)

The one where Ian and Barbara have a falling out over Leon's death...

Barbara and the Doctor are happily reunited, but when the Doctor asks after the welfare of his granddaughter, Barbara replies: "She had a slight fever but she's recovered now." Slight fever?! And how can it have gone so quickly? Susan and Barbara went to the physician to seek a remedy for her worsening condition, and it was from there they were brought to the prison, so there's been little time for the illness to pass naturally. Perhaps it's just writer Dennis Spooner being lazy again...

The scheming Lemaitre is listening in to their conversation and learns about the existence of Jules Renan and his network. The Doctor has his own scheme to set Barbara free, but instills about as much faith in the viewer as he does Barbara when he says: "You know my plans always work perfectly!" Hmmm, we'll see about that.

The Doctor very cleverly gets the jailer to think it's his idea to let Barbara free so she can be followed, but this only serves to reinforce to me that The Reign of Terror is largely constructed of endless captures and escapes. It's been happening since the very first episode when Ian, Barbara and Susan were arrested by the revolutionaries, and every episode since has featured somebody imprisoned, escaping or being captured. It's a lazy writer's way of making it appear things are happening in the story, when in actual fact nobody is getting anywhere very fast. The capture/ escape mechanism will become much more prevalent in Doctor Who's later years of course, so we're just going to have to get used to it.

A confrontation in the church ruins sees Leon exposed as a revolutionary all along, and he intends to make Ian tell him everything he knows about the counter-revolutionaries' network. Ian doesn't know very much though, and I fail to see how telling Leon the truth - that he and his friends are time travellers from another century - will help his cause at all. Luckily, Jules Renan - the real hero of this story - arrives to save the day, and shoots Leon down dead. Somebody won't be pleased...

Indeed, Barbara is not pleased! Jacqueline Hill aces it in the scene where she challenges Ian and Jules on Leon's death, giving Barbara all the anger and intelligence needed to put them in their place. Her point of view also makes the viewer stop and reconsider their position - just because our heroes are consorting with one particular side doesn't mean they are the good guys. "The revolution isn't all bad," insists Barbara. "Neither are the people who support it. It's changed things for the whole world. Good, honest people gave their lives for that change... You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."

Later, after Ian and Barbara have made up, Barbara comes over all Tegan Jovanka when she says: "I'm so sick and tired of death, Ian. I never seem able to get away from it." If this was 21st century Doctor Who, we'd be expecting her to die at the end of the season now she's said that!

Back at the jail, the Doctor helps Susan escape her cell by battering the jailer over the head (another example of his willingness to use violence to further his own ends), but Lemaitre has rumbled him, and the Doctor is forced into, you guessed it... a bargain of necessity! If he wishes to see his granddaughter released, he must take Lemaitre to Jules Renan's hideout, which is what he does. As the credits roll, it would seem the Doctor has betrayed his friends to the other side...

Oh, and good riddance to that awful, eye-shredding cartoon!

First broadcast: September 5th, 1964

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Jacqueline Hill is brilliant in her scenes with Ian, showing indignation and anger on a subject she is well versed in. If A Bargain of Necessity was ever to be recovered, this is the scene I'd be keenest to see.
The Bad: This is a pretty solid episode, although if I had to find a fault, it's the reliance on imprisonment as a plot driver.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Prisoners of Conciergerie...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: A Land of Fear (episode 1); Guests of Madame Guillotine (episode 2); A Change of Identity (episode 3); The Tyrant of France (episode 4); Prisoners of Conciergerie (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/2013/06/the-reign-of-terror.html

The Reign of Terror is available on DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Reign-Terror-DVD/dp/B00AHHVQWW