After the opening credits,
The Rescue starts with a brief shot of an empty cave. The TARDIS slowly fades into view. The police box's overhead light blinks. The episode's title is shown. The writer's credit appears. Normally these events would be followed by a cut to the people inside that police box; the show's main cast. Instead, we cut from the TARDIS to a crashed spaceship and the first of it's two survivors: Vicki. In 1965, when this episode first aired, Vicki was kind of a big deal. She was to be the first new companion to join the Doctor's escapades through time and space.
The Rescue isn't really an important serial because of its story*, it's important because it establishes that the characters on this show are temporary. The cast could and would ebb and flow around our titular Doctor. Though no one at the time, probably not even the show's own producers, had any idea just how temporary that Doctor could also be.
Rating: Yes, I see. An easy way to get out of a locked room%
(Image from
doctorwhomindrobber.com)
*I'll break it down real quick for you: Vicki and Bennett are stranded on the Planet Dido (make your own jokes here). Their rescue ship is still a few days away. Periodically, a scary
bug man named Koquillian comes by and freaks Vicki out. Long story short: Koquillian is really Bennett in disguise. He was just trying cover up for killing a whole bunch of people. The Doctor and his companions show up, bust Bennett Scooby-Doo style and essentially nag Vicki into joining them.
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