Episode: 4 ("The Firemaker")
Doctor: William Hartnell
Companions: Barbara, Ian, and Susan
Writer: Anthony Coburn
Director: Waris Hussein
Original Air Date: 14/12/1963
WOMEN DON'T GET MARXISM (and other stories)
Well it's been too long and I can no longer tell the difference between Kal and Za, but fortunately they use their names a lot so it all works out eventually.
We begin with a close-up of Ian's sweaty face, which is fitting, as this episode is all about Ian trying to sell socialism to the cave-people.
Meanwhile, some elderly caveman is deriding the recently-mauled Za, saying 'Za is so weak a woman speaks for him'. Hur sticks to her guns and indeed to her story: that it was the Old Woman who let them out of the cave and not Za.
And to answer a question from the last episode, yes, it would appear that the Old Woman is indeed dead. And that dastardly Kal is pinning the murder on Za.
The Doctor fools Kal into revealing that it was in fact he who killed the Old Woman. Kal says the reason Za's knife has no blood on it is because it's a bad knife and does not show what it has done, then falls for the old 'I bet your knife is, like the bee's knees' trick. The Doctor follows this up by telling the tribe that a leader who kills old women is a bad leader and causes Kal to be driven from the tribe.
It is at this point that Ian tells Za that 'Kal is not stronger than the whole tribe'. YES SOCIALISM. Though isn't Ian meant to be the science teacher? Surely this is more Babs's bag: she is meant to be the historian, after all.
Oh but look, now the gang is being herded back into the cave, and Ian has his hand on Babs's shoulder again.
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| The Ian Chesterton Guide to Comforting a Woman in Distress |
Hur thinks Ian's name is 'Friend'. That's cute.
Za has apparently had some sort of Marxist awakening, and explains to a confused Hur that the whole tribe can collect more fruit than one man. Hur is all 'does not compute'. Because even though she has a firmer grasp on cavedweller politics than he does, socialism is too much for her woman's brain.In fact, being mauled by a beast has apparently made Za much cannier: he is now determined to learn how to make fire.
Back in the cave, Susan, the space child from a technologically-advanced civilisation, is finding appropriate fire-making materials for Ian. The Doctor is hanging back, and Babs is doing...not much.
When Za comes in and assumes Ian is the leader, Ian corrects him and says the Doctor is the leader. I'm certainly not a fan of Ian at the moment, but so far, with the exception of the Doctor'a knife trick, he's the only one who's done anything useful this entire episode. So I'd argue he's probably the closest thing they have to a leader, even if it rankles. Having said that, the fact that he's not insisting on being the leader is to his credit.
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| It's all getting a bit Lord of the Flies. |
Babs has a super-useful contribution to make when Za says the tribe believes that when the gang is sacrificed on a big stone, the tribe will have fire: 'THAT'S NOT TRUE!'
Ian is redeeming himself somewhat here. He says everyone should know how to make fire; that the fire-maker is the least important man in the tribe, because they can all make fire. I still wish it weren't Ian with all these lines, though.
Hurrah! Fire! Susan and Babs are told to blow on it because they have no initiative and Ian is above such matters.
And now Kal is back and there's a big caveman fight. It all gets a bit D.H. Lawrence, but with more clothing.
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| NOW SWEAR BLOOD BROTHERHOOD. |
Someone actually shouts 'HAI-YA!'. It is impossible to tell who's winning because they're both beardy and in furs and it's in black-and-white. When Za cuts Kal's throat, Susan screams. When Za smashes Kal's head in with a rock, Babs looks away. The Doctor is inscrutable and apparently more than willing to let this all play out.
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| Susan hopes the fight will go the way of Women In Love. |
Ian gives Za fire. A happy old dude remembers that cooking is a thing.
Za hasn't set them free. Ian is beating himself up about having given up the secret of fire. Babs is pragmatic: 'At least we're still alive.'
Susan is clearly morbid and bored: she sticks a skull on a burning torch and calls gleefully to the Doctor to look.
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| One can only imagine the dark shit Gallifreyan children call entertainment. Or else she's really into Lord of the Flies, too. |
Ian immediately turns this into His Plan, and when Hur comes in with food, she is horrified by the sight of four flaming skulls. It's all working like a charm until one of them falls over, but by then the gang has escaped.
MORE TRIPPAGE. Babs falls over for no apparent reason and lies there passively until helped up by Ian. The Doctor is bringing up the rear, because the elderly must fend for themselves.
PHEW! Back in the T.A.R.D.I.S.! And Susan is helping to fly it, which is cool. Babs looks like she has had quite enough, thank you very much. The Doctor continues to be shifty as balls when it transpires that the only place he managed to take them was Away.
The Doctor suggests they all change their clothes before they go exploring. Which is sensible.
Susan reports that the radiation levels on the planet are normal, but OH NO, the minute she looks away, the dial goes up to DANGER levels!
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| Device also doubles as a 'how much of this week's episode was dominated by Ian?' levels detector. |
Summary (as applicable to this episode)
Does it pass the Bechdel test? Yes. Barely.
Is/are the female companion(s) dressed “for the Dads”? No.
Does a woman fall over/twist her ankle (while running from peril)? Yes.
Is/are the female companion(s) captured? No. Well, yes, but they're all captured.
Does the Doctor/a male companion/any other man have to rescue the female companion(s) from peril? No.
Is/are the female companion's/s' first/only reaction(s) to peril gratuitous screaming? Yes.
Does a female companion go into hysterics over something reasonably minor? No.
Does the female companion have to be calmed down by the Doctor/a male companion/a man? No.
Is a man shamed into doing/not doing something because the alternative is a woman doing/not doing something? No.
Does a man come a cropper because of his "manipulative" girlfriend/mother/significant female other? No.
Does the female companion come up with a plan? No.
Does the female companion do something stupid/banal/weird which inspires a man to be a Man with a Plan? Yes.
Is the young, strong, straight, white male lead the person most often in control of the situation? Yes.
Is there past/future/alien sexism? Yes.
Does a "present"-day character call anybody out on past/future/alien sexism? No.
Did a woman write/direct/produce this episode? No/No/Yes.
Verdict
Babs and Susan did virtually nothing this episode. It was mostly all about Ian. Whose protectiveness towards Babs is starting to get on my nerves.
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