“Flashpoint”
Season 2, episode 9 - 26th December 1964
[id: Jenny and Barbara watch as the Doctor stands at the controls of a scanner, the screen of which displays static. The Doctor is saying “Can I do anything with this scanner?” /end id]
The way in which the first ever companion exit is handled is really interesting. By the time we get a few Doctors in, the formula for both regenerations and companion exist becomes fairly established, with either a choice to leave the Doctor behind, after which the Doctor is sad, or a dramatic death in the climax of the story, after which the Doctor is sad. Here, though, half an episode is dedicated to the slow build-up towards that speech which has been deemed iconic enough to be representative of Hartnell for The Five Doctors.
The decision is also not strictly Susan’s, although to say that Dr Who forces her out or leaves her behind would be misrepresenting things - Susan and David’s relationship has actually been built up over the implied time which passes over this serial (I don’t know how long it takes to walk from London to the Daleks’ mine, but it can’t be that fast) and it’s clear from the way she acts during this that while she wants to keep travelling with what’s implied to be the only family and connection to her own culture that she has, as a teenager she also needs some sort of stability in her life, and David could provide part of that, along with the rebuilding of the planet. It’s a shame that the show has never returned to the promise that “one day, I will come back” (although I’m sure it’s been done several times in Big Finish and with books etc) and also immediately taking on another teen girl does make it a little less impactful, but really this is a very effective exit.
Also it makes me excited because next episode is Vicki’s debut, and she’s genuinely one of my favourite companions in the whole show. Sorry Susan lovers.
Fun: 4/5
Production: 3/5, there were shades of it in the last episode of their first story, but this episode’s climax takes the hilariously easy defeat of Daleks to a whole new level.
Pacing: 2/5, because Susan’s exit takes so long, the end to the Dalek plot happens incredibly quickly and slightly out of nowhere, they just decide that one of Barbara’s failed plans from last episode will actually work this time.
Character Writing & Use: 4/5, in fact, the ending is so rushed that Susan doesn’t even get any scenes until her exit. This may have been due to production issues or scheduling during shooting (I didn’t check lol) but it does make her exit a bit of a shock when she was barely present earlier, however I think the strength of that scene makes me forget about that, I think it’s really good.
Depth: 3/5, as much as it makes little narrative sense and strips the Daleks of a lot of their menace very quickly, the defeat of the Daleks through mass resistance to their attempts at control could say something about antifascism if you squint. More significantly, though, Susan’s exit is much more character and theme driven than the often plot-based exits of many of her successors.
Not Ageing Horribly: 3/5, Susan does begin a somewhat irritating trend of female companions who get married off to side characters for no particular reason at the end of their contracts. That being said, this is much less shit than the other times that’s been done, since with Peri that was a last-minute retcon when it’s a miracle that episode ever got made, and with Leela they weren’t even sure she’d be leaving then, whereas here it’s clearly threaded through the story, and other reasons are given.
Overall Score - 19/30
