The Wheel in Space [3.9]

Ejected from the TARDIS in an emergency landing, the Doctor needs to find a supply of mercury to get them going again. With Jamie in tow, he wanders about a deserted rocket, looking to see what he can find. They are pursued by a security robot and the Doctor is knocked out.

Cut to the Wheel – a larger space station which is taken aback by the sudden arrival of the rocket. Sending a crew across to explore it, they discover the Doctor and Jamie and bring them aboard. Suddenly everything goes wrong – sabotage, meteorite strikes, malfunctioning equipment, nervous breakdowns, mysterious deaths. Miraculously the Doctor doesn't get the blame for long and instead rescues the Wheel from the real villain – the Cybermen.

The Majesty

Zoe is a great new character and a brilliant addition to the TARDIS crew. Some of the other people on the Wheel have clearly defined characteristics too. Even if they are each a bit one-dimensional, you give credit to the writers for trying to make them all unique.

The Misery

The Cybermen are a bit past-it by now, with this largely being a rerun of The Moonbase. With four missing episodes and a very slow start with the Doctor and Jamie just wandering about a rocket, it's not the most gripping. There's also clearly been an attempt for an international vibe but it just comes across like a silly accent competition.

Magical Moments

• The Doctor shows Jamie a machine that makes any kind of food that you might want. Jamie, perhaps typically, orders roast beef with potatoes and veg.
• When Jamie meets Zoe, we feel we have stepped into a Carry-On film. “Mind your lip, my girl, or I'll put you across my knee and give you a good spanking!” - “Oh this is going to be fun!”
• There's a rather nice fade from the Doctor's face to the face of a Cyberman in Episode Three
• When the Cybermat eats up all the beryllium, it's a bit odd that the crew member covers it up as though it's his naughty puppy. It's a mysterious rat shaped rodent – it's not a pet!
• The Doctor gets in a good quote to Zoe: “Logic merely allows one to be wrong with authority.”
• Nice to see that Cybermen can have kitsch fashion design: their whole spaceship is filled with lava lamps!

In Summary

Perhaps at this stage of my voyage through Dr Who, the missing episodes are really beginning to get wearing. The difference in enjoyment between watching the two existing episodes and the four missing ones was like chalk and cheese. It's difficult to treat the story as a whole. But overall, with the slow start and the repetitive nature of the Cyber-threat, it doesn't really keep me going. I can't even remember why the Cybermen wanted the Wheel in the first place.

Overall: 3.9