Stories TV First Doctor Classic Who S1 Serial: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The Keys of Marinus 1 image Overview Episodes Characters How to Watch Reviews 13 Statistics Related Stories Quotes 2 Transcript Overview First aired Saturday, April 11, 1964 Production Code E Written by Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie Runtime 150 minutes Time Travel Present, Future Tropes (Potential Spoilers!) Court Trial, Evil Vegetation, Mind Control, Traps, Travelling Serial Inventory (Potential Spoilers!) Travel Dials Location (Potential Spoilers!) Marinus Synopsis The TARDIS arrives on the planet Marinus on an island of glass surrounded by a sea of acid. The travellers are forced by the elderly Arbitan to retrieve four of the five operating keys to a machine called the Conscience of Marinus - a machine capable of influencing all minds on the planet - of which he is the keeper. These have been hidden in different locations around the planet to prevent them falling into the hands of the evil Yartek and his Voord warriors, who plan to seize the machine and use its originally benevolent mind-influencing power for their own sinister purposes. Watch Watched Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved 6 Episodes The Sea of Death First aired Saturday, April 11, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 9.9 million Appreciation Index 62 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 Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 9.4 million Appreciation Index 60 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 Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 9.9 million Appreciation Index 61 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 Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 10.4 million Appreciation Index 60 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 Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 7.9 million Appreciation Index 61 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. The Keys of Marinus First aired Saturday, May 16, 1964 Runtime 25 minutes Written by Terry Nation Directed by John Gorrie UK Viewers 6.9 million Appreciation Index 63 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 Show All Episodes Characters First Doctor William Hartnell Susan Carole Ann Ford Barbara Wright Jacqueline Hill Ian Chesterton William Russell Altos First Appearance Sabetha First Appearance Voord First Appearance Brains of Morphoton First Appearance Vasor Kala Eyesen Yartek Show All Characters (12) How to watch The Keys of Marinus: Watch on iPlayer DVD The Keys of Marinus VHS The Keys of Marinus (VHS) Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Newest First Oldest First Most Likes Highest Rating Lowest Rating Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 13 reviews 16 December 2024 · 175 words Review by lizshaw Spoilers 3 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 Like Liked 3 15 December 2024 · 64 words Review by RandomJoke 1 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! Like Liked 1 15 November 2024 · 339 words Review by 6-and-7 Spoilers 2 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. Like Liked 2 10 November 2024 · 157 words Review by Dogtor Spoilers 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. Like Liked 0 18 September 2024 · 44 words Review by greenLetterT 1 It's like they put the Crystal Maze into Doctor Who. Go to a new themed zone, find the key, escape, and then repeat ad infinitum. Enjoyable enough, although I don't think the death scenes were supposed to be as funny as I found them Like Liked 1 Show All Reviews (13) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating435 members 3.41 / 5 Trakt.tv AVG. Rating937 votes 3.55 / 5 The Time Scales AVG. Rating235 votes 3.40 / 5 Member Statistics Watched 779 Favourited 48 Reviewed 13 Saved 1 Skipped 0 Owned 14 Related Stories Doctor Who Magazine Comics The World Shapers Rating: 3.95 Story Skipped Comic More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Doctor Who Magazine Comics Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved The Early Adventures S1 • Episode 1 Domain of the Voord Rating: 3.52 Story Skipped Audio Book Reviews (5) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: The Early Adventures Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Doctor Who Annuals The Fishmen of Kandalinga Rating: 2.80 Story Skipped Short Story Reviews (2) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Doctor Who Annuals Set of Stories: The Dr Who Annual 1966 Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Doom Coalition 2 • Episode 1 Beachhead Rating: 3.26 Story Skipped Audio Drama More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Doom Coalition Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Titan Comic: Summer Events Four Doctors Rating: 3.72 Story Skipped Comic Reviews (3) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Titan Comic: Summer Events Set of Stories: Titan Comics Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Other adaptations of this story: We define an adaptation as a recreation of a similar story but on a different medium or with different characters. Target Collection Doctor Who and the Keys of Marinus Rating: 3.39 Story Skipped Book Reviews (1) More Actions View Sets Close Related Sets Set of Stories: Target Collection Add Review Edit Review Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Save to my list Saved Quotes Add Quote Link to Quote Favourite DOCTOR: I don’t believe that man was made to be controlled by machines. Machines can make laws, but they can not preserve justice. Only human beings can do that. — First Doctor, The Keys of Marinus Show All Quotes (2) Open in new window Transcript Needs checking Episode One - The Sea Of Death [TARDIS] (The TARDIS lands on an island dominated by a huge pyramid. Ian is still wearing a silk Chinese jacket instead of his cardigan) IAN: Any radiation, Doctor?DOCTOR: No, nothing to speak of. The counter's hardly reading anything. Shall we take a look?BARBARA: Pity you don't have colour television.DOCTOR: Oh, but I have.BARBARA: Where is it, then?DOCTOR: Well, at the moment it's temporarily hors de combat. (They look at the scanner) Show Full Transcript Open in new window