Sometimes when a really odd bit of coincidence hits you upside the head, it simply must be remarked upon. In the recent Series 14 story The Devil’s Chord, a story which ostensibly featured The Beatles, and at the very east strove to recreeate the feeling of the era stylistically within the story–albeit in a world initially without their ‘music’–there was a very notable, although not uncommon, omission within the story. There was no Beatles music in The Devil’s Chord.
The issue, as it is more often than one might think, lies in music licensing rights. As you might expect, licensing The Beatles is a very expensive, even with Disney money, proposition indeed. So The Devil’s Chord did without. But that was not the case in 1965, or even 2010 when The Chase was released on DVD. Not only did The Beatles cameo in episode 1 of The Chase, they even got a credit! The clip of The Beatles used in the episode had been pre-recorded for ‘Top of the Pops’, as the band had been unable to appear live. Interestingly, they recorded this performance of Ticket to Ride in Riverside studios, which was also where The Chase was recorded.
But fast forward to 2022, when The Chase along with the rest of Season 2 came out in ‘HD’ on blu-ray, and fab four have been excised from the story. The reason? You guessed it, music licensing rights, which needed to be renegotiated for the new format. So now The Chase has done without.
The Chase was only the third Dalek story. It made perfect sense once the impact of the Daleks was felt to bring them home, even in the future, for The Dalek Invasion of Earth. But when you come to The Chase, the threads already have begun to run very thin.
The Chase is almost a combo platter of a story, with format elements of another Terry Nation story The Keys of Marinus, a new setting each week, woven through it’s six episodes, as well as The Daleks Master Plan. The Statue of Liberty, a haunted house, the Mary Celeste, Frankenstein, Dracula, Abraham Lincoln, the Beatles (they even get a credit!), and Peter Purves in two distinct roles. It’s simultaneously too much and too little in the end.
What The Chase should ultimately be remembered for though is that this is Ian and Barbara’s last story. Having seen An Adventure in Space and Time, it underlines Hartnell’s own sense of loss when their final goodbyes are said and he is the last original crew member to move on. Doctor Who would be a different show from here on. Not better necessarily, just different.
With the recent passing of William Russell, it only made sense to finally giving The Chase the HD Re-classic-ation treatment. Fortunately, your eversharp Tour Honchos caught the difference between 1965 and 2022 and have restored The Beatles to their rightful place in the history of Doctor Who. New HD caps for The Chase are now online.
