The Keys of Marinus

I really like the keys of marinus, I think the reason I enjoy it so much is because when I was a child I grew up watching a lot of "Quest" based shows and cartoons where the main characters would be searching for an item or a small piece of a large item before the bad guys could find it.

The acting is...solid all round, nothing spectacular but sometimes you can only do so much with the material you're given and while I do like this story I am not blind to the fact it is quite weak in terms of plot.

William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill both deserve special praise however, with Jacqueline being excellent in episode two where she plays a Barbara that is on her own and on the run and William Hartnell having the strongest material in episode 5 where the doctor must try and acquit Ian.

All in all, a vastly underrated story.

This is one of the most artistic creations in Who, new or classic. The episodic structure of the individual parts is engaging as are the sets, some of which are highly stylised in the manner of the expressionist movement.

The contemporary viewer will find much to fault, such as the Doctor fluffing his lines, a couple of ordinary acting performances among the supporting cast, some unconvincing sets and costuming and there are a few plot inanities.

However, the overall experience of viewing the The Keys of Marinus is highly rewarding and one can easily revel in how completely unjaded television was back in those early days.

Keys of Marinus is a bold and imaginative idea. It's a six part-serial that is five interlinked stories centered around the TARDIS crew's quest for the Keys of Marinus. Thus, we have two different science fiction stories, a jungle adventure, an ice adventure, and courtroom drama/detective story. It's a brilliant experiment but doesn't hold up well due to many of the sets production values, and guest acting that was spotty to say the least.

Still, I enjoyed the production for its sheer boldness and most of the episodes were enjoyable enough (except for the Jungle episode.) The acting of Jacqueline Hill stands out as holding together several episodes. Her performance throughout the story (particularly in Episodes 2, and 4-6) really highlight how great a character Barbara was. The Doctor is great though he disappears in Episode 3 and 4 so that William Hartnell can go on Holiday.

Keys of Marinus also would have later influence in Doctor. Terry Nation, who wrote this, also would write, "Genesis of the Daleks" which would feature the Fourth Doctor using a Time Ring to travel through his companions which resembled the Travel Dials in this story, and the story also may have been an inspiration and pre-cursor for the Key to Time which used similarly inter-connected stories. Overall, this showcases the ambition and imagination of Doctor Who's early creative team but also the limitation of their budgets.

A vastly underrated story