This week we’re listening to “The Black Door” from Suspense, yet another installment in our ongoing Lockdown Listener Series. Thanks to our mysterious listener Roberta for recommending this episode to us! An ambitious archaeologist partners with a treasure hunter to uncover a lost city in the mountains. But the legend of this city contains a dire warning about a “Black Door!” What horrors await them in this ancient ruin? What secret will they learn that connects the place to famous landmarks of history? Does this bar serve late-in-the-day Suspense episodes? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
I know this is one of those things I should just let go, but I couldn’t understand why he would automatically assume that the carving depicted the dark side of the moon.
The two lunar hemispheres have very different terrains. The first photographs of the dark side of the moon were first published in 1960, so this is likely something a professor would know about or at least have heard of at the time.
I completely agree.
Dammit, he’s an archaeologist, not an astronomer Jim.
Loved the painting for this episode; if you were wondering:Jules Tavernier – The heart of a volcano under a full moon, 1888.jpg
Really enjoyed this at first, particularly the proto-Indiana Jones stuff. Indiana Jones and the Black Door would have been so much better than Crystal Skull.
However, this came out almost a decade after Chariot of the Gods, which Eric correctly derides. The explicit racism in that book and the implicit racism in the show, that aliens brought along their technology (those two lines could have been cut without issue) is just awful.
Loved it. Fun episode.
With only minor tweaks this could be a pretty good episode of 70s Doctor Who.