The Wheel in Space

"Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority."

Writer: David Whittaker 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 27th April - 1st June 1968

Season: 5.07

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis 

After the TARDIS malfunctions thanks to an issue with the fluid link, the Doctor and Jamie are seemingly stranded on a wheel in space... and the Cybermen are plotting their takeover. 

Verdict 

The Wheel in Space was a fantastic serial to finish the season. I love the fact that the Cybermen return to go up against the Doctor in the season finale after starting the season in the very same way. It seems quite a while since I blogged The Tomb of the Cybermen in which Victoria started her travels in the TARDIS. As her stories went on during the season I really came to love her as companion so her departure in Fury from the Deep was a sad one for me. Seeing her waving on the beach once more was nice though and I liked how Jamie was asking the Doctor what he thought she'd be up to with the Harris family. She wouldn't be forgotten and I like that. The TARDIS having trouble with the fluid link was excellent and a great throwback to The Daleks. Only this time the link had broken and the Doctor desperately needed to find some mercury. But that was about as exciting episode one got sadly as I thought as a single episode, it was pretty awful to be honest. I was shocked by how uneventful and lacklustre it was! The first part is supposed to set the scene, which I guess it did with the establishment of the rocket, but it just wasn't exciting at all. The robot that helped knock the Doctor unconscious wasn't later explained once the Cybermen arrived which I thought was pretty poor. But thankfully the following five episodes were very good and that's why this serial gets the high rating that it does. Zoe was introduced to us in humorous fashion with Jamie and I like how intelligent she is. I'm quite into my numbers (I study A Level Accounting and I just love the workings) but not on the scale that Zoe did! She could solve any mathematic problem almost instantly it seemed. That's a frightening ability! As companion it seems like she'll be able to give the Doctor a run for his money because she's also a physicist so she knows her science incredibly well. The contrasts she had with Jamie, who isn't the brightest bulb in the house, were tremendous. I'm not sure whether it's because I knew from foreknowledge, but to me it seemed obvious anyway that Zoe was going to become companion in Victoria's place as the story unfolded. Her relationship with the Doctor increased significantly during the latter episodes so the signs were all there. The reveal of the Cybermen at the end of episode two was a fantastic way to surprise the audience and I imagine that if viewers were unaware of the familiar foe's return that it would be quite a memorable cliffhanger! It obviously won't have the same effect second time around but you'll think of how you felt the first time watching and that's exciting. I didn't get such a thrill because I obviously knew that the Cybermen were appearing in the story but as this was my first watch in full, and I've never read the novel of this story, a huge smile was on my face when the Cybermen punched his way out into the open. The directing of this story was pretty impressive I thought and that's something I rarely, if ever, mention so for me to pick up on it gives great credit to the serial from my book! The use of the Cybermats was great and I just love their 1960s appearance. I didn't find them as effective when they were modernised for Closing Time but here I just loved how it acted like it looked - a menace. Essentially that's what it's used for. Once the Doctor and Jamie found the Cybermat through the X-ray, I like how they reacted to knowing that the Cybermen were behind the strange events of the wheel. The guest cast were mostly very good which is a big positive. Tanya and Gemma were probably my standout highlights but I did also like Leo and Jarvis. Laleham and Vallance were also favourites of mine once they'd been placed under Cyber control. The use of mind control by the Cybermen in this episode was superb. The slightly changed appearance of the familiar nemesis was outstanding I thought and this design may just be my favourite variation of Cybermen appearance. The helmet just had something about it that made it special to me. I'm not awfully sure why but I loved it! The death caused by the Cybermen in the closing episodes was fantastic in my opinion because it brought a ruthless and destructive edge back to them which they had failed to show during the serial up until that point. But just in case we forgot what these metal beings were capable of, they quickly and efficiently reminded us. Their plans to use the Wheel as a means of invading Earth was a typically complex plan. I loved how the Cyber-Planner debuted here and that was something I did not envisage! So when it was first seen I was smiling with shock. The Cybermen had a directive. But ultimately their plan failed in exciting circumstances. Just as the invasion was hoping to commence and a Cyber space walk was almost at an end, the laser was back in action and the force field was holding, the Cybermen were sent packing. With her job over, Zoe didn't want to return home with her specially set logistic knowledge. She wanted to travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Jamie. And why wouldn't she? I love how she tried to sneak aboard. She didn't quite manage it the way Steven must have in The Chase but the end results would be the same. The fact that the Doctor was going to show her the entire story of The Evil of the Daleks as a means of how dangerous things can be was sublime. A repeat of a story was incorporated into continuity - fantastic! 

Rating: 8/10