Ian persuades the Doctor to leave the TARDIS
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Ian persuades the Doctor to join them in exploring the surrounding area, appealing to their friendship and highlighting the potential for them not to meet again.
After the Doctor and Susan leave the TARDIS, Barbara voices her doubts about being home, and Ian expresses they will soon find out as they leave the TARDIS to investigate.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Pragmatic and calculated, masking his concern for the group’s safety behind a facade of deference to the Doctor’s ego. He is determined to ensure their survival, even if it means manipulating the Doctor’s pride.
Ian strategically challenges the Doctor’s overconfidence by subtly reminding him of past navigational errors. He manipulates the Doctor’s ego, suggesting a friendly farewell outside the TARDIS to ensure they part on good terms. His pragmatic approach and tactical flattery successfully persuade the Doctor to leave, foreshadowing Ian’s growing role as the group’s de facto leader in the face of the Doctor’s fallibility.
- • Persuade the Doctor to leave the TARDIS and verify their location to ensure the group’s safety.
- • Maintain the group’s unity and morale by appealing to the Doctor’s ego and avoiding direct confrontation.
- • The Doctor’s navigational errors, though rare, can have serious consequences and must be addressed tactfully.
- • His role is to protect the group, even if it means using strategic manipulation to achieve his goals.
Defensive and prideful, masking underlying insecurity about his navigational skills and the potential consequences of his errors.
The Doctor, initially overconfident and dismissive of Ian and Barbara’s concerns, insists they’ve landed in Somerset. When challenged, he becomes defensive, citing past navigational errors as minor and under his control. His ego is strategically flattered by Ian, who suggests a friendly farewell outside the TARDIS. Relenting, the Doctor agrees to leave, signaling his vulnerability and reliance on Ian’s manipulation to preserve his pride.
- • Maintain authority and control over the TARDIS and the group’s perception of his competence.
- • Avoid admitting past mistakes or current uncertainties about their location.
- • His navigational skills are infallible, and any doubts are unwarranted.
- • Leaving the TARDIS is unnecessary and risks exposing his potential errors.
Reluctant and worried, but compliant with the Doctor’s wishes, reflecting her deep concern for the group’s safety and her role as a supportive companion.
Susan, though initially reluctant to say goodbye, plays a minor but pivotal role by fetching the Doctor’s stick at his request. Her actions underscore the group’s transition from the TARDIS’s safety to the uncertain exterior, and her emotional state reflects her worry for the group’s well-being.
- • Support the Doctor and the group, even in moments of uncertainty.
- • Ensure a smooth transition as the group prepares to leave the TARDIS.
- • The Doctor’s decisions, though sometimes flawed, should be respected and supported.
- • Her role is to assist and comply, even when she feels anxious about the outcome.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The TARDIS scanner serves as a critical piece of evidence in the Doctor’s insistence that they’ve landed in Somerset. When activated, it reveals dark, unfamiliar fields, which Barbara compares to her Somerset holiday. This visual evidence fuels the tension between the Doctor’s overconfidence and Ian and Barbara’s skepticism, ultimately contributing to the group’s decision to leave the TARDIS and explore the exterior.
The Doctor’s stick is a symbolic prop that underscores his age and vulnerability. Susan fetches it at the Doctor’s request just before he agrees to leave the TARDIS, signaling his physical reliance on it and the group’s transition from the safety of the TARDIS to the uncertain exterior. The stick also serves as a reminder of the Doctor’s fallibility and the need for the group to support him, even in moments of pride or error.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The exterior fields, though only glimpsed through the TARDIS scanner, represent the unknown and potentially dangerous landscape the group is about to enter. Barbara’s comparison to her Somerset holiday adds a layer of nostalgia and familiarity, but Ian’s skepticism underscores the uncertainty and threat lurking beyond the TARDIS. The fields symbolize the group’s transition from safety to peril, as well as the Doctor’s fallibility and the need for Ian’s pragmatism to guide them.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
Across episodes
"Susan’s informed critique of blind trust (Episode 36) sets up the Doctor’s defensiveness and Ian’s eventual persuasion of him to leave the TARDIS (Episode 37), as the group’s dynamics adapt to the consequences of trust issues."
Susan challenges Sensorite trust and reveals alien roots"Susan's demonstration of strategic thinking using the Sensorite mind transmitter (Episode 36) foreshadows her calm leadership under pressure when Ian persuades the Doctor to leave the TARDIS (Episode 37)."
Barbara secures rescue plan with Sensorite tech"Barbara's challenge to the First Elder (Episode 36), demanding decisive action to rescue the Doctor, parallels her role in Episode 37 where she voices skepticism of the Doctor's navigational competence and insists on exploring the farmhouse."
Barbara forces the Elder’s decisive turn"The First Elder's respect for the Doctor's past aid (Episode 36 Act 2) is directly contrasted with the Doctor's current navigational failure that strands the crew in revolutionary France (Episode 37 opening). This contrast highlights the Doctor's diminishing reliability while escalating the danger faced by companions."
Susan and Barbara challenge the Elder"Barbara's strategic use of the Sensorite mind transmitter (Episode 36) parallels Ian's persuasive strategy to get the Doctor to leave the TARDIS (Episode 37), both representing increasing tension and the need for decisive action despite authority figures' overconfidence."
Barbara secures rescue plan with Sensorite tech"Barbara's forced confrontation with authority over the Doctor and Ian's peril in Episode 36 parallels Ian's later challenge to the Doctor's navigational authority in Episode 37, both scenes showing companions refusing to accept authority uncritically."
Barbara forces the Elder’s decisive turn"The Doctor and Ian being ambushed by paranoid survivors in Episode 36 (driven by fear and isolation) mirrors the Doctor's navigational error and its dangerous consequences in Episode 37 (driven by overconfidence and isolation), both reflecting flawed navigation and engendering peril."
Doctor and Ian Ambushed by Survivors"Ian's rhetorical suggestion to "part under more friendly circumstances" with the Doctor in Episode 37 is ironically echoed in the Doctor's selfless departure to rescue them in Episode 38."
Doctor’s Solemn Departure for Paris"Ian's persuasive challenge to the Doctor to leave the TARDIS (acknowledging navigational fallibility) creates the condition for the Doctor's later desperate quest to rescue Barbara and Susan after his navigational error strands them in revolutionary France."
Doctor learns of companions' capture"Ian's strategic challenge to the Doctor’s overconfidence ('Maybe you succeeded this time...') foreshadows the Doctor’s later relentless pursuit to rescue Barbara and Susan in Episode 38."
Doctor’s Solemn Departure for Paris"The Doctor's navigational arrogance (Episode 37) persists in his approach to saving Barbara/Susan in Episode 38, leading to him being captured again during his rescue attempt."
Doctor Forced Into LaborKey Dialogue
"IAN: "Look Doctor, I think it'd be better if you came with us. At least to explore.""
"DOCTOR: "It's out of the question. I refuse to leave the ship.""
"IAN: "Maybe you have succeeded. Maybe we are where you say we are. But I remember an occasion when you took us home once before.""
"IAN: "There's a chance that we won't meet again. Don't you think it would be better if we parted under more friendly circumstances, say over a drink?""
"DOCTOR: "Yes. Yes, well perhaps, since you put it that way, an hour or two won't come amiss.""