The TARDIS has landed in the future, ten million years into the future to be precise. Earth is about to be destroyed and the few remaining humans are on a spaceship with aliens called the Monoids. They have brought a little bit of Earth with them so that they can start again on a new planet. Hence the title: The Ark. Seems like a harmless enough plot, right?
Nearly instantaneously, Dodo almost destroys the humans and Monoids by coming on board with a slight cold. The people have no resistance to the flu strain, so they begin dying! Of course that doesn't make the Doctor and his companions at all popular. Thanks for coming and killing all our people, you bird brain!
After being sentenced to death for the crimes they have committed, with Dodo wailing something about how "it's just a cold", the Doctor finds a cure for the illness, and the people are saved. Dodo lives to see another episode, drat it all. I have a couple thoughts, though. One: The cold is a virus and cannot be cured, but that's what makes the Doctor so freaking awesome and Two: Stephen is struck by the illness, too. Why? His immune system is fine. He doesn't need to act like he's dying from a slight cold. And I find it difficult to believe that the cold has mutated that much in a matter of twenty-five minutes. Poor Steven, always having near death experiences these days.
The Monoids aren't slaves exactly, but the humans treat them like they are. They are forced to do all the menial tasks. Why the humans even have slaves in the far off future is beyond me. I thought we have established by now that slavery is bad?
In addition, the humans/Monoids are carving a statue in their spare time into the shape of a human. It's quite large. Who had the job of carving up top?
The episode ends with the Doctor and his companions leaving behind the cure for the common cold and take off in the TARDIS. Just when you wish that the plotline be over, the TARDIS lands in the exact same place, seven hundred years later. Now, I consider myself a somewhat open minded creature, and I'm willing to believe that the Doctor has no control whatsoever on the TARDIS. So it's rather more than coincidental that the TARDIS takes them to the exact same place but several hundred years in the future. Is the TARDIS pulling our leg?
Anyway, the tables have turned, this time. The Monoids have had some sort of revolution [down with the aristocrats and all that] and have taken over. Do you find it strange that it's seven hundred years later, and they're still on that bloody spaceship? Just how far away is this stupid planet?
I think it's safe to assume that these Monoids aren't the brightest bulbs in space. I mean they had gotten themselves enslaved, they didn't know how to talk, and they died from the simplest diseases. But over seven hundred years, they have finally discovered a way to talk, they wear numbered ribbons to distinguish each other, they have made weapons, and they like to eat. Oh yes, they very much love to eat. How they eat is beyond me, since they have no mouths. All their human slaves do nothing but work in the kitchen and prepare their food. And by prepare, I mean they dump food pills into water and watch it grow into potatoes, kind of like instant chia pets.
The Monoids finally reach the planet where they are to settle, but they don't really intend on taking the humans with them, much to everyone's consternation. Some of the Monoids are okay with this, but some are not. It goes to show that you should never judge a Monoid by his cover. Unknown to them the planet Refusis II is already inhabited by aliens. They are invisible. Really? Invisible aliens? Are all the costume creators out sick?
The Monoids really want the planet to themselves, but it's very difficult to fight aliens you can't see. Fortunately for us, the Refusian are a peaceful lot, and they don't want the grumpy Monoids on their planet. Some Monoids die in the following fights, and we briefly wonder if they have to exchange numbered ribbons, when one of them dies. What happens when Number 42 dies? Does everyone move up one? Confused.
Remember the statue on the space ship that they were carving when the Doctor left? Well, now it's completed but it is in the shape of a Monoid. When the Monoids leave the space ship, they place a bomb on the statue with the intent to blow up the remaining humans. That's kind of brutal. They've been getting lessons from the Daleks.
As the bomb cannot be disarmed. the entire statue is shot out the airlock. Goodbye Monoid statue! Don't hit anything on your way out!
The Refusian allow the humans to live on their planet with them as long as they remain peaceful and kind. The nice Monoids are allowed to live there, too and everyone is happy. I hope it stays this way, but you never know what could happen in another seven hundred years. Everyone is obviously incapable of keeping to himself.
Next Up: The Celestial Toymaker [More recons. Oh goody goody gumdrops.]
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