Doctor Who: Series 1, Episodes 31-36 – “The Sensorites” (1964)

One of the smartest things classic Who did in the early days was establish the inherent variety in the series from the start. Season 1 features multiple historicals, multiple stories set on alien planets, and a wild two-parter that takes place entirely in the TARDIS. It instantly marked out the show as one where all kinds of things were possible and each serial would be different from the last. “The Sensorites” takes us to the far future on another world, where we see beings dramatically different from ourselves who yet have certain important similarities to humans.

When the TARDIS lands aboard a spaceship, the First Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara find that the human crew has been on the receiving end of a psychic assault. They’re in the thrall of the Sensorites, who won’t allow them to leave the system, and the deep distrust between the two species is quickly apparent. However, our heroes attempt to relate to the Sensorites as people, offering to help them with an internal crisis in their society in exchange for their release.

There are a couple of neat things going on here. The design of the Sensorites is so odd, and I kind of love it. I like how we’re introduced to the Sensorites through the humans’ fear of them before we ever see them onscreen, and I appreciate that the show soon muddies the waters of “good” and “evil” when it comes to interacting with an alien race. It’s a rather obvious metaphor for international and/or interracial relations, like so many stories about different alien species are, but it’s a decent one. I like that, on both sides, we see people who fear one another, and on both sides, we have good and bad actors alike. The Sensorites aren’t the monsters the humans initially make them out to me, but they’re also not a uniformly “good race.” Some are welcoming to team TARDIS, some are wary of them, and some scheme against them, along with their own kind.

It’s not a perfect serial. Some of the plot points get kind of hokey, the dialogue can strain credibility, and the six-part serial drags at times. Overall, though, I enjoy it. I remember this was one that wasn’t available on DVD when I first started getting into classic Who, so when it came out, it was like a bonus One story for me and it was really nice to see the original companions again.

It’s a serial where everybody gets to make some meaningful contributions. Susan becomes an intermediary between the humans and the Sensorites early on, as her latent psychic abilities allow the Sensorites to trust her, and she and Barbara later use that ability to a pretty awesome tag-team effect. The Doctor goes into on-top-of-things scientist mode to secure the Sensorites’ favor, and he and Ian brave a dangerous place in order to solve an important mystery. They also get embroiled in a political power play that’s going on, and this leads to some nifty maneuvering from Ian.