A review by shaykelliher
Doctor Who, the Rescue by Ian Marter

1.5

The best thing about the original TV story is that it’s so tightly placed and closed off. There are mentions of the inhabitants of Dido (and we see them briefly in part 2) and we only hear of the rescue ship from Vicki and over the radio. The story is exceedingly simple, it’s a whodunnit with only one real suspect and yet it still works. Unfortunately Ian Marter feels the need to drag the whole thing out to an absolute slog, adding in so many unnecessary diversions which just grind everything to a halt. 

Everything new with Ian, Barbara and Vicki is awfully dull. Also Marter’s characterisation of the Doctor in his final confrontation with Koquillion skews more towards Patrick Troughton than William Hartnell. The whole thing grates.