A Race Against Death (The Sensorites Episode 4)

The one where the City Administrator steals a sash and gets a promotion...

The problem with these later episodes set on the Sense-Sphere is that they're so boring to look at. Daphne Dare's bland costumes coupled with Raymond Cusick's bland sets (a few drapes and a fountain does not a world build) combine with Peter R Newman's pedestrian plotting and Mervyn Pinfield's workmanlike direction to make watching The Sensorites something of an ordeal. Even the acting is all very regulated due to the supremely sensible dialogue, and only Peter Glaze's City Administrator manages to make any impact.

Not a lot happens in A Race Against Death. Or should I say, things do happen, but not very excitingly. Ian is three days from death, the Doctor manufactures a cure, the Administrator tries and fails to sabotage it, and then the Doctor sets off to try and find the source of the poisoned water. It reads as quite eventful for your average 1960s episode, but it's all executed so blandly.

The most exciting thing that does happen is the troublesome City Administrator kidnapping and tying up the Second Elder and stealing his sash to impersonate him in order to cause more trouble. It's obviously very, very silly that the only way to tell Sensorites apart is by the number and colour of sashes they wear. It's possibly forgivable that the humans cannot differentiate as they certainly look similar, but the fact the Sensorites can't even tell themselves apart doesn't wash well.

Nevertheless, it's amusing when the City Administrator says of the humans: "These absurd names they all have. None of them wear any signs of authority or badges of position. How are we to distinguish them?" Well, for a start, their very different faces, but also has he not seen the distinguishing badges on John and Carol's uniforms?

As I've said before, the Administrator is my favourite character in The Sensorites because he's such a little toad! "These creatures are defeating us with smiles and gentle words," he hisses to his subservient collaborator. "Our leaders listen and agree. Soon we shall all be slaves!" He's like Francis Urquhart and his aide Stamper from the fabulous series House of Cards all rolled into one (the original BBC version of House of Cards, obviously. There is no other).

One moment that did amuse me is near the start of the episode. When William Hartnell stands up from Ian's prone body, you can see Bartlett Mullins as the Second Elder waiting very patiently on the next set for his scene to start (see pic above). Either that, or the Second Elder just loves standing around next to the fountain, taking in the sights and sounds of the palace!

Carol's also found time to nip to the local hairdresser's as she's sporting a lovely new do this week. Perhaps that's what John's having done too, looking at the bizarre headgear the Sensorite Scientist has given him. Quite what he does to the headgear too is anyone's guess... is he painting it with Tippex?

I quite like the montage of "things happening" halfway through the episode, even if characteristically, there is no urgency to it. Susan tends to a restless Ian; the Doctor experiments in his lab (and doesn't Hartnell look great with his specs on, holding test tubes up to the light?); the First Elder marks off his beautifully calligraphed checklist of districts; and the Sensorite Scientist shuffles some test tubes. Things are happening, but not very dynamically.

Despite the City Administrator's best duplicitous efforts, Ian is soon cured by the Doctor's antidote, and is feeling his old self again. In fact, it's not only himself he's feeling, but Susan too - check out his grip on her thigh as she administers the cure! Mr Chesterton, Susan is 15 years old, and you're old enough to be her father. Her school teacher, even! William Russell hasn't had much to do to earn his salary this week, so maybe he was just trying to make the best of a poor job.

The mention of monsters in the aqueduct tunnels livens things up a little, and Newman introduces another new strand to the plot as we head into the final two episodes. The Doctor encounters some kind of roaring monster in the gloomy tunnels, after having found atropa belladonna ("Deadly Nightshade!") in the tunnels. To be honest, the monster sounds more like somebody straining on the loo, but either way, the prospect is potentially terrifying...

First broadcast: July 18th, 1964

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: Peter Glaze as the City Administrator. In a story where nobody seems to be trying very hard, he works wonders from behind his haughty mask.
The Bad: Bland, bland, bland... Nobody seems to be putting much oomph into anything, and it's getting very difficult to engage fully.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Kidnap...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Strangers in Space (episode 1); The Unwilling Warriors (episode 2); Hidden Danger (episode 3); Kidnap (episode 5); A Desperate Venture (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-sensorites.html

The Sensorites is available on DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Sensorites-William-Hartnell-x/dp/B006H4R9HA