Trap of Steel (Galaxy 4 Episode 2)

The one where Maaga's got our heroes over a barrel...

What trap of steel? Does the title of this episode refer to the Drahvins' spaceship? I suppose it could, because from first Vicki's point of view, and then Steven's, they are prisoners there, but the Doctor's mild obsession with the material from which the ship is built rather undermines it as a formidable structure. "My ship's not made of tin like this old trash," he barks. "Seems if I coughed too loudly the whole thing'd fall to pieces!" So, not a very good trap of steel then?

Not an awful lot happens in this episode, but that doesn't make it less enjoyable. Galaxy 4 is often maligned for being somewhat unsophisticated in its themes, but the story is really rather engaging. You've got some interesting aliens with a truly merciless leader, some cutesy robots, some apparently ugly monsters, and two opposing factions in a race against time before a big bang. There's more going on in Galaxy 4 than your average episode of Lost in Space (a series which Doctor Who has arguably begun to resemble by this point, despite the US show only having premiered in America the same week as Four Hundred Dawns).

The Chumbleys' explosive assault on the TARDIS is all rather dramatic (it'd be great to see how this is depicted on screen because it sounds pretty awesome), but other than that, all that really happens is that the Doctor is forced into helping the Drahvins capture the Rill ship so they can escape before the planet blows up the day after tomorrow. Most of the episode is taken up with Steven trying to strike up a conversation with the Drahvins, and the Doctor and Vicki journeying to the Rill ship.

Steven's attempts to subvert the Drahvins and convince them into rebellion against Maaga is nifty, but Maaga is too clever by half and overhears what he's up to. She is a truly formidable adversary, as intelligent and sharp as she is ruthless. Although she ultimately uses a show of force to convince the Doctor to help her, she's more about guile and persuasion. She is a fully-rounded villain who is doing what she thinks is best for her species. She's not being evil for evil's sake. She's just a survivalist.

When she suggests they could all escape safely in the TARDIS, Steven says that he couldn't operate the Ship without the Doctor. I find this hard to believe. I know that the series at this point portrayed the Doctor as the sole operator of the TARDIS because he was this magic wizard or crazy inventor who knew things others never could, but if an air stewardess of average intelligence from 1981 can fly the TARDIS, then I'm sure that a space pilot from the far future would be able to have a damn good stab at it!

The delightful chemistry between William Hartnell and Maureen O'Brien continues when the Doctor and Vicki reach the Rill ship. The Doctor instructs his companion to be scientific about the way in which they will get past the Chumbleys, telling her to "observe, note, collate and conclude" before acting. Vicki does all of this and works out that the Chumbleys can only hear what's in front of them after she throws a rock to distract it. "That was no risk," she smiles. "I noted, observed, collated, concluded... and then I threw the rock." These two are a joy together and I find it hard to understand why this pairing isn't better thought of in Doctor Who fandom, because Hartnell has the best dynamic with O'Brien than he has with any of his other co-stars, past or future.

As the Doctor and Vicki enter the Rill ship, they smell ammonia (perhaps the Rills' lavatory needs a good scrub?). Sadly, much of these final scenes are blatant padding as the two of them bumble about doing and saying very little. There's simply not enough incident to carry the full 25 minutes, and you can almost feel director Derek Martinus struggling to fill the time, aching for those final credits to roll. It all comes quite suddenly when Vicki screams at "something" and we rush into the end titles. The narrated soundtrack from BBC Audio fails to describe what she sees, but no doubt we'll get to see it in the reprise in episode 3 - which rather wonderfully, I can watch!

First broadcast: September 18th, 1965

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The Chumbleys' attack on the TARDIS sounds fab.
The Bad: William Emms manages to put about five minutes of incident into a 25 minute programme but still make it passably entertaining.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Air Lock...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Four Hundred Dawns (episode 1); Air Lock (episode 3); The Exploding Planet (episode 4)

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/2013/09/galaxy-4.html

The soundtrack to Galaxy 4 is available on CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Doctor-Who-Galaxy-4-Peter-Purves/0563477008. The extant episode 3 (Air Lock) and almost six minutes of surviving footage from episode 1 (Four Hundred Dawns) can be found on The Aztecs Special Edition DVD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Aztecs-Special-DVD/dp/B00AREPA1I