Season 1, Episode 1, Part 3: The Forest of Fear

Okay, let's continue. Sorry about the hiatus.
Episode 3 opens on the last bones we saw, and the Doctor finally apologizing for his stupidity. After that wonderful scene, we transition suddenly to a pile of sleeping cavemen. Beth wakes up for no apparent reason, and grabs a rock from the cave floor. This image brings us to the episode's opening credits: the cave is in the Forest of Fear, apparently.

It's the best knife I've ever seen.

We cut to our adventurers, all of them utterly failing their Escape check: they're having no luck cutting their ropes with sharp rocks or bones, and nobody thought to bring a pocketknife or anything. Oh well. After several scenes of failure and subterfuge, which I won't bother recapping for you, Beth finally enters the Cave of Skulls and declares "You...will not make fire." I'd like to point out at this point that Beth simply had to push through some branches to get into the cave, and wonder why our intrepid adventurers wouldn't worry about running away now, and cutting free of their ropes later. Meanwhile, Za is clearly upset about this development; his girlfriend tells him about Beth's treachery, and they both head to the main entrance of the cave, covered with an immovable styrofoam rock.

After much exertion which we'll not go into, Beth unties the travelers and shows them the ultra-secret exit of the cave (a hole in the wall), and they run into the forest. Za enters and throws her onto the ground, but doesn't feel like pursuing; the beasts of the forest will kill them, he says. His girlfriend has to convince him to man up and follow, seeing as the secret of fire left with them.

They forgot the A-Team music, but I think the effect is still there.

Of course, everybody gets lost in the woods right away. Barbara goes hysterical, the Doctor complains (and so does Susan), and Ian decides to rest for a few minutes and change the marching order. The Doctor and Ian spend some time bickering, and we finally cut to Za as he tracks them down. Barbara, deciding to be useful for once, gets frightened by a dead boar, screams, and brings Za right to them; they hide Scooby-Doo style behind a tree.

Really, this should remind you of something. Please?

After a few tense moments, Za is suddenly attacked by something nonspecific (and special-effects-free, and money-saving), and Barbara insists on helping him; Ian and Susan follow, for reasons I can't possibly understand. Za's chest is covered in blood, and Ian sends Barbara and her intellectual equal (Za's girlfriend) for water to wash the wounds. The Doctor, seeming to be the only one making sense anymore, points out that just moments ago they were trying to run away. Defying all common sense, Ian and Barbara decide to build a stretcher and take Za back with them.

We cut to something more interesting: as Beth recovers from her faint, Cal comes upon her; outraged at her treachery (this is sounding familiar), he raises his knife and we cut away again. Oh well. After some pointless caveman social commentary ("She doesn't understand kindness, friendship..."), the Doctor picks up a rock; Chesterton plays the honorable character, and actually has to stop the Doctor from killing a helpless caveman. Trust me, the character will be more likable later.

Dimly-lit town hall meeting of the PAST

We cut to Cal stirring up more discontent among the caveman community; they discover Beth sitting dead in a corner (looks like we've got a mystery on our hands, gang), and Cal clumsily pins the crime on Za. Brian laments her quite hammily, and they all run off to find the travelers. Somehow, when the travelers finally arrive at the TARDIS, a group of cavemen are already lying in wait (wait, what?), and the episode ends on Cal's obviously menacing visage.

Yup, definitely a villain.

Now for a review in earnest: Okay, this episode sucked. The continuity is all screwed up (I won't accuse the writers of being so clever as to not actually have things not happening concurrently), the Cave of Skulls is an obviously inadequate prison, and all the caveman-talk is getting a bit old. Hopefully the last episode of this serial will make things pick up a bit.
...Please?