Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks

Part One


"Follow that car!"


Alas, I haven't been able to get my hands on the Loose Canon recon in time, and I'm not prepared to wait and get even further behind! So for the first time in the marathon I'm experiencing this story by means of a Joint Venture recon- and it's not bad at all. Clearly it's not a patch on most of the Loose Cannon stuff but it's a fine effort nonetheless, and I was relieved to find it better than the Loose Cannon version of The Faceless Ones. All this, of course, is on the evidence of but a single episode, but early signs are encouraging. And the continuity announcement at the start is a nice touch.

We start with an intriguing mystery which feels like a different programme entirely, as the Doctor and Jamie piece together clues and lounge about in a 60s coffee bar to the sounds of Paperback Writer and some decor straight out of Austin Powers. Groovy! it's a nice touch that Jamie knows little of trains, although he seems to speak of the Victorian era with a little too much familiarity. It's an intriguing set-up though- a Victorian gent who's somehow in 1966. And the cliffhanger is chilling. A superb episode.



Part Two


"You will not feed the flying pests outside!"


An episode away from the recons, and the luxury of actual footage, on DVD no less. Something most definitely to savour. It's immediately apparent that the scenes are well shot. And also that the pictures of the Doctor and Jamie are publicity shots from The Highlanders! Perhaps a Dalek photographer travelled back to 1746?

The plot continues to grip; this episode is every bit as excellent as the previous one. We get to properly examine two well-characterised individuals; the arrogant and hubristic Maxtible and the guilt-plagued Waterfield- both of whom possess personality traits which mean, as this is Doctor Who, neither will survive the story. And we get to meet Victoria. Yay!

I love Maxtible's Bride of Frankenstein-esque lab, with all those phials filled with bubbling liquids! And also, as this is great, I shall overlook the, er, interesting science spouted by Maxtible!

Part Three


"Do not be afraid. You are not to be exterminated."


This is still gripping drama but, well, where exactly is the plot going? I know it serves to introduce Terrall and his plot strand but the brief kidnapping of Jamie seems oddly purposeless. It's also very notable that the Daleks don't seem very active at all, and only ever seem to appear in ones and twos. still, this is gripping stuff which shows us (however justified he may be) a dark and manipulative side to the Doctor, overheard by Jamie. For the first time in ages, both the Doctor and his companion are getting some serious character development- that'll be a David Whittaker script then.

This is the first appearance of sci-fi elements in an historical setting for ages, since the Egyptian segments of The Daleks' Master Plan, in fact. but this feels a very different kind of epic, on a more human scale. A couple of things are odd, though- is the Daleks' desire for the "human factor" really consistent with their racial supremacism? And it's notable that they say of the Doctor: "You have travelled too much through time. You are more than human." Once again, it's made clear that the series does not yet consider the Doctor anything other than physiologically human. Well, the small matter of his "renewal" aside, obviously. And for all we know, that was just "part of the TARDIS".

It has to be said, some basic elements of the plot make no sense at all. Is the explanation for the Daleks' desire for the "human factor" really convincing? Why do they need to go to all the trouble of kidnapping the Doctor and Jamie rather than any old human? How does the test work? And yet this is gripping drama, and on course for a 4/5 at this point in spite of everything. The confrontation scene between the Doctor and Jamie is electrifying- great writing and acting.


Part Four


"The Daleks know many secrets. You will learn the most important."


We start with a long fight scene with no dialogue for a very long time. An unfortunate episode to be missing, then! The gradual widening of the rift between Waterfield and Maxtible in their scene is well developed, and although not that much actually happens in this episode the time is more than adequately filled by good character stuff. On the evidence of this episode Maxtible seems to be becoming more like Mavic Chen with each passing minute...

Part Five

"No, Mr Terrall. I am not a student of human nature. I am a professor of a far wider academy, of which human nature is merely a part."


So this new generation of Daleks will have "positronic brains", will they?

There's a real sense of high stakes and foreboding being stoked throughout this episode; Molly, Ruth and Terrall all leave before the real bad stuff starts, which gives the impression that none of the other guest characters are going to survive. And when Waterfield speaks of the destruction of an entire race, the Doctor's reply ("Yes. I don't think you quite realise what you're saying, but yes. It may come to that. It may very well come to that.") is interestingly ambiguous as to the race concerned!

There's a fantastic scene between the Doctor and Jamie as the consequences of the Doctor's betrayal of his friend are made clear; "You and me- we're finished! You're just too callous for me." The episode ends with Jamie still not fully trusting the Doctor. I can't help noticing, though- whenever it's just the Doctor and one male companion travelling in the TARDIS there always seems to be a huge row!

Part Six


"I've beaten you, and I don't care what you do to me now."


Daleks playing trains? Er... ok. Fine in the context of the story, but it certainly diminishes the Daleks. It's interesting to hear the differences in the tones of their voices, mind.

The Daleks betray Maxtible? Well, blow me down! And then it's suddenly a double whammy of Dalek tropes as we get a countdown. And then everyone's off to Skaro and things start happening thick and fast. Before they do, though, we get a sweet little scene in which Victoria tells Kemel she'll look after him. Whitaker's very good at these little character moments.

At last we get to see the surface of Skaro again. Or rather we don't, as the episode is missing. In fact, the scenes in which the Doctor, Jamie and Waterfield travel towards the Dalek city are extremely reminiscent of the first Dalek story. Even better, once again we hear the music from the Dalek city and best of all, in Maxtible's cell, that throbbing sound!

The Emperor is awesome to behold, or at least his photograph is. I love the Doctor's line: "We meet at last. I wondered if we ever would." In fact, Troughton is particularly brilliant in this scene, but this is a story in which the Doctor has been better played and written than ever before. The moment when the Doctor realised he's been manipulated all along is awesomely effective.



Part Seven


"Dizzy! Dizzy! Dizzy Daleks!"


The Doctor's recorder is back! Yay! I do believe we haven't seen it since The Moonbase. It's nice that there's room in this final episode for the Doctor to finally get a chance to bond with Victoria. I don't think they'd even spoken before.

The Daleks' plan seems to make sense now, certainly more than it did, but I'm not convinced that Daleks imbuing other races with the "Dalek factor" is consistent with their obsessive belief in their own racial superiority. Maxtible gets what he deserves, though.

I notice even at this stage, and admittedly after he's supposedly been given the "Dalek factor", Jamie still isn't sure of whether to trust the Doctor, and after what has happened this has resonance.

So, the Doctor is not impregnated with the Dalek factor because he's not from Earth! He is physically different from humans, then, contradicting everything I said a couple of episodes ago!



Overall, this is breathtakingly, Earth-shatteringly awesome telly, and it's a shame so little of it exists. Yes, there are plot problems in the way the early episodes hang together and yes, the Daleks are not exactly treated with dignity here. But this is just quality stuff, an easy 5/5, second only to The Massacre.



And overall Season Four gets 3.889/5, close behind Three.

Doctor Who: The Sensorites

Strangers in Space

"There's not an ounce of curiosity in me, my dear boy. Tell me, why are you in danger?"


A very eerie and atmospheric episode in which the TARDISeers explore their surroundings. Already this is looking like a "typical" first episode, naturally including a scene in which our heroes are separated from the Ship. Great line from the Doctor: "I learned not to meddle in other people's affairs years ago." Ian's reaction is great.

Other observations; the women are doing the cooking, obviously; the guest actors are a bit cardboard; that door sounds exactly like the ones in the Dalek story- will we be hearing this sound effect often?

The Unwilling Warriors

"Isn't it better to travel hopefully than... arrive?"


We get mentions of two untransmitted adventures here, involving Henry VIII and the telepathic plants on Esto.

Oddly enough, this is the first real "space opera" story, but I very much get the impression that the production scene are not too familiar with the tropes, which are not being used in anything like the shorthand way we'll be seeing by the Pertwee era. The colonialism theme that seems to be developing is treated very oddly; in this episode the TARDISeers almost seem to be siding with big business against the native people.

The Doctor's speech about the melting points of iron and molybdenum... er, what? Mind you, the Doctor's confrontation with the Sensorites leads to some top lapel clutching action.

Once again, it's noticeably that once a script gives Susan some characterisation (not that I want to praise the scripting too highly, mind!) Carole Ann Ford puts in a good performance.

Hidden Danger

"I don't agree with all this splitting up. It always leads to trouble."


It's a shame, but the argument scene between the Doctor and Susan doesn't really work; the script treats Susan as being basically a child, not only perceived as such. The bargaining with the Sensorites seems odd, and the Sensorites oddly reasonable to the point of gullibility, which never quite rings true; they hold all the cards at this point. It's a shame, but although the story still entertains from this point, as soon as the Doctor, Susan and Ian reach the Sense-Sphere it becomes increasingly obvious that this is aimed at a very young audience. Funniest line so far: "Are the hearts of the human creatures on the right or left side of their bodies or in the centre, as in ours?"

As soon as Ian starts coughing, having drunk water from the plebs' supply, it's perfectly obvious that this is where the "plague" comes from and that Ian has just contracted it. We can already predict the cliffhanger and half the next episode.

A Race Against Death

"Who is to know that I am not the Second Elder now?"


Carol's line to the City Administrator about not knowing what she's do if the Sensorites swap their sashes all but reveals to us the half of the coming episode's events we didn't already know! The City Administrator's comment "I hadn't though of that" amused me no end- these Sensorites are not very bright, are they? Their certain eventual fate under earth imperialist rule already looks inevitable.

Incidentally, if the Sensorites don't like sound or darkness, who built the aqueduct? And surely it's obvious that the poison is being made there?

Still, this is all good fun, even though it's clearly aimed at very young kids!

Kidnap

"We have the perfect society. All are contented."


Interesting comment from the Doctor: "Something hit me under the heart and it was most unpleasant". Once again, that's heart, singular. Another interesting line from the City Administrator's underling: "I heard them over... over... talking!" The City Administrator seems to dispatch the Second Elder rather suddenly and easily.

Oh, more namedropping from the Doctor- Beau Brummell this time! This seems to be becoming quite a feature. And the cloak is rather fetching, it must be said.

Hmmm. So the TARDISeers recommend the City Administrator for the vacant Second Elder position, and the First Elder duly states: "And once this order is made, only a betrayal of trust can set it aside." That's the biggest problem with this story; dialogue can give away what's going to happen, sometimes a long way in the future. The story is hardly brimming with suspense. Fortunately though, the sheer predictability of it all is quite hilarious. A brief conversation between Carol and the scientist immediately gives away the identities of the baddies in the aqueduct!

It's quite a surprise that the cliffhanger happens to Carol, a supporting character. And the kidnap which gives rise to the title only happens in the last few seconds.

A Desperate Venture

"All they had left was the game they played- the game of war."


The City Administrator is hilarious whenever he refers to "The Man John".

Susan gets a wonderful speech describing her home planet to the First Elder- the first of a fair few good character scenes for the regulars in this episode: "It's quite like Earth, but at night the sky is a burned orange. The leaves on the trees are bright silver". Carole Ann Ford is really quite excellent in this episode, as she always is with good material.

Incidentally, Stephen Dartnell is also excellent as The Man John (as he must always be called!) especially as he really brings out the contrast after he's cured.

The way the humans in the aqueduct are depicted is interesting; they remind me of those Japanese soldiers who remained deep in the jungle after the end of the Second World War. And for once the script seems to indicate an anti-colonialist viewpoint on the author's part, something we can take for granted in later eras. It's still interesting how the tropes of space opera are being handled with kid gloves here; little things like the constant use of "space ship" rather than "ship" stand out.

The conversation between Susan and the Doctor in the TARDIS at the end is fascinating, and capable of multiple interpretations- do they both want to get home if only the Doctor could steer the TARDIS, or is the Doctor just saying these things for Susan's benefit? It's very difficult not to relate this to the revelations of later eras but I shall try to resist! It seems Susan's eventual departure is being prepared for: "Sometimes I feel I want to belong somewhere, not just be a wanderer".

The Doctor gets a bit stroppy at the end, threatening to put Ian and Barbara off the Ship! The thing is, though, we've moved on a lot since The Edge of Destruction; we know he doesn't mean it.



Overall... well, that was all very silly, but rather enjoyable just the same. I know I've been ripping the proverbial out of it, and some of the exposition was laugh-out-loud hilarious, but at least it was never dull. Plus the TARDISeers were all well treated by the script. I'm in a good mood- 3/5.