The Keys of Marinus

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The alien world of Marinus. Perfect peace has reigned here for decades due to the mind-controlling influence of a machine known as the Conscience. But now a race known as the Voord have developed an immunity and Arbitan, keeper of the machine, has been forced to scatter the vital control keys around the planet. Now he needs the help of the time travellers to get them back - it will be an extraordinary journey, with perils every step of the way...

The Velvet Web

First aired

Saturday, April 18, 1964

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.4 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends arrive in the apparently idyllic city of Morphoton but Barbara soon begins to realise there is more to their hosts than meets the eye.

The Screaming Jungle

First aired

Saturday, April 25, 1964

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

9.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The search for the second key takes the travellers to a jungle where Ian and Barbara come under threat from rapidly growing plants.

The Snows of Terror

First aired

Saturday, May 2, 1964

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

10.4 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

Searching for the third key, Ian and Barbara meet with the sinister trapper Vasor before following Susan and the others into a cave system guarded by the mysterious Ice Soldiers.

Sentence of Death

First aired

Saturday, May 9, 1964

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

7.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The group are reunited with the Doctor in the city of Millennius where Ian faces trial for murder after the fourth key is stolen.

First aired

Saturday, May 16, 1964

Runtime

25 minutes

Written by

Directed by

UK Viewers

6.9 million

Appreciation Index

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends must locate the real murderers and the fourth key before heading off for a final confrontation with the Voord

Characters

First Doctor

William Hartnell

Susan

Carole Ann Ford

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The Keys of Marinus

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The Keys of Marinus (VHS)

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14 reviews

The Keys of Marinus is, quite frankly, a very good arc. The episodes follow one another, and I like this idea of a quest. Finally, the scenario is not long, and we can feel that the writers had fun. Report at trial, I don't know about you, I found it quite convincing. I was not bored watching this arc and I therefore award it the prize for the best rated classic arc of the moment with 4.5/5.

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Review last edited on 10-01-25

This review contains spoilers!

one of my favourite ever doctor who stories. it is very exciting, each episode has a different setting and plot so its very fast paced. similar to what key to time was doing but condensed into 1 serial instead of being spread over a season which makes it way better and more engaging. it shows how diverse one planet can be, which is something planets in scifi often lack, they are often all the same biome or culture everywhere. but in this you get the sense you're going to different countries. the episodes also have different genres. like snows of terror is drama, sentence of death is murder detective, screaming jungle is puzzles, velvet web is scifi. velvet web was probably my fvaourite for how barbara focused it was. i dont think season1 has too many character, because they all get enough time, but still it is nice to focus on just one of them and flesh them out more. its the first doctor lite stories as well. season 1 is pretty experimental in some cool ways

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Review last edited on 16-12-24

Ah, the fun variety show! While not as good as some tighter scripts, Keys of Marinus is a prime example of Terry Nation and his creativity at its best for me at least!

All the different worlds we visit are so much fun and while not every episode is a hitter, I appreciate the experiment quite a lot, definitely an underrated highlight of Season 1!

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Review last edited on 15-12-24

This review contains spoilers!

This one had its ups and downs; sort of inevitable when the premise involves hopping from one dangerous environ to another every episode of course, so let's take them one by one.

The Island: An intriguing premise, a mysterious landscape, interestingly deadly. Unfortunately Arbitan left me pretty cold. This machine mind-controls the whole planet into behaving according to its morals, and I'm meant to feel good about it? And based on what's happening around the planet, I really don't think it's done a very good job! The Voord have a fun design, but I have no idea what their deal is other than wanting the mind-control machine.

Morphoton: A really interesting concept for a dystopia, portrayed remarkably well for the '60s. The mind control stuff and the brain jars were really creepy, and I do love a bit of badass Barbara.

Screaming Jungle: Atmospheric, but doesn't cohere very well. The traps are kind of fun, I suppose, but the whole thing feels like a poorly-considered escape room. The ending with the attacking vines was great, though.

Icy Wastes: #VasorIsCancelled. All my homies hate Vasor, 0/10, worst villain of all time. A creep and a coward. What was I saying. Oh right the icy wastes. This was pretty good, some genuine moments of tension. Susan actually got to be badass for a bit, crawling over that icicle bridge.

Millennius: Courtroom dramas aren't really my thing, but the legal system of Millennius made me SO MAD I wanted to gnaw off my own leg (/pos). Really tense stuff, Ian was absolutely going through it on this one.

Island pt. 2: Still don't get what Yartek's deal is. What's he trying to do once he has the world mind control machine. Idk, this was fine, good villain defeat at the end.

Overall, I enjoyed this, but I kept feeling like they were trying to set up a point about justice and free will that never quite got made, and the Voord were WAY underused given that they were an attempt to recreate Dalekmania.

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Review last edited on 15-11-24

This review contains spoilers!

“Machines can make laws, but they cannot preserve justice”

C’est carrément du remplissage, et deux heures trente de “in ze boîte” ou “Mario bros” ne font manifestement pas une histoire. Mais allez savoir, j’ai quand même un petit faible pour The Keys of Marinus.

En fait sa plus grande force c’est aussi sa plus grande faiblesse. Il y a une variété dingue d’environnements aliens, d’histoires, ou de concepts, et chaque épisode redouble d’inventivité pour être différent.

Mais là où c’est à double-tranchant, c’est que l'histoire à côté n'a pas vraiment de sens, et ne se contente surtout que de sa quête un peu vague.

Bref, c’est fondamentalement pas terrible. Mais d’une certaine manière, ce Doctor Who n’a jamais été autant lui-même que quand Barbara a éclaté des escargots entre deux parties de Mario Bros ou Ace Attorney.

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Review last edited on 10-11-24