10. The Daleks, Part VI: The Ordeal

Slight digression: I grew up watching Dr. Who on PBS (public TV) near Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. PBS would show reruns of whole stories on Friday nights. They’d splice them together (not very well) at the cliffhangers, leaving out the beginning and end titles. As a result, this story became simply “The Daleks” and it was well over two hours long. I didn’t have a concept of 25-minute episodes and it was kind of, um, an ordeal (as it were) to watch a story like this one. I did record it on VHS, however, and watched it a few times. I have to say, though, it is much more palatable watching it via one 25-minute increment per day. I’m now on part six of seven and haven’t really been bored.

Regarding “The Ordeal,” my biggest question is what kind of knot are they using to tie ropes? They seem to be able to tie it in about five seconds and it hangs loosely around the spelunkers’ midsections. Yet it seems to hold them remarkably well while they’re dangling precariously off of ledges.

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