Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan

The Nightmare Begins

"Well now! It's brain or brawn, or rather versus brain..."


It's great to see and hear the familiar Kembel sights and soundtrack, but even more great to see Nick Courtney. He's great, they should certainly think of using him again.

The scenes on Earth with the couple discussing the television news, sort of like a Greek chorus, are extraordinarily self-referential for Doctor Who at this time.

The short piece of footage we see, of Kert Gantry being exterminated by a Dalek, is quite magnificently directed. The camera angle, the "sting" in the soundtrack- have the Daleks ever seemed so scary?

It's a fascinating and new situation for Bret Vyon to get himself aboard the TARDIS with the Doctor apparently locked outside- it gives the sense of an unspoken rule of the narrative having been broken. If some recent stories may have seemed safe and cosy, it's clear this one won't.

Mavic Chen's speech comes across as very Blairesque to my modern eyes. He's slippery from the start, so although his treachery would no doubt have surprised the unspoiled viewer, it should not be shocking. Bret, on the other hand, may be a bit terse and ruthless but basically a decent chap, as he shows by giving Katarina tablets for Steven. Katarina's reactions to what she sees are fascinating.

Day of Armageddon

"Traitor? An archaic word for so advanced a... man as yourself."


Footage! Hooray! Doesn't this look great? Lots of nice touches abound, such as Mavic Chen's very odd way of holding his pen. Kevin Stoney is great, although the make-up used to alter his ethnic appearance certainly raises an eyebrow.

Naturally, the Daleks are eventually planning to kill all the delegates. Who, incidentally, look nothing like they did in Mission to the Unknown. And there are more than six of them to boot.

I love the scene where Bret Vyon and the Doctor tell each other to shut up, well played by both Hartnell and Courtney. You can see the growing respect between the two of them though; Vyon says to Hartnell as he goes in disguise to the conference that he's "a very brave man". And he is. The ambiguity stops here: the Doctor is behaving heroically and altruistically for entirely selfless reasons, showing little concern even for staying within reach of the TARDIS while the Daleks' plans are afoot. Long may this sort of thing continue!

So, the Dalek invasion of Earth started in 2157, seven years before the TARDISeers arrived?

This story is really quite superbly directed. In fact the entire production is slick and glossy looking with apparently high production values. Never before has a sci-fi story, if not any story, looked so great. The Daleks are beautifully shot here; they're so much more effective than ever before.

The plot thickens with the Doctor, in the action hero role for perhaps the first time, exploits the chaos caused by Bret and Steven to steal the Taranium Core before it can be placed into the Time Destructor. And once more Katarina shows a seemingly religious understanding of the Doctor. Nice cliffhanger, too. So far, this is great. Could we at last have a sci-fi story that can stand toe to toe with the historicals?

Devil Planet

"We have the Taranium so for the moment we do nothing. And by doing nothing we do everything. Do I make myself clear?"


It's a predicable resolution to the cliffhanger, but there's no let up in the pace as our heroes take off from Kembel. I'm really getting intrigued by Katarina (can't you just smell that dramatic irony?) and how much she understands of her surroundings. Of course, her reactions are far from realistic; you can't realistically portray the reactions of an ancient Trojan woman to all this space opera without constantly and tediously interrupting the narrative. But within the conventions of the genre her reactions are well thought through. Naturally, she assumes Kembel was Earth. Conveniently, she doesn't ask questions.

It's most amusing to see magnetic tape in use in the year 4000.

We're introduced to a planet called Desperus (!), a penal policy which is... interesting, some actual footage, and most notably the Doctor continuing to be heroic in a way he's never quite been before. This is another watershed story for the Hartnell Doctor's characterisation.

The Traitors

"I hope she's reached her Place of Perfection."

"Yes, but... not that way."


Katarina's death is utterly shocking, and fittingly followed by a long silence. Both the Doctor and Steven are shocked and upset; the scene is extremely effective, and with hindsight long foreshadowed.

The Daleks continue to impress; the Dalek Supreme's voice is among the finest I've ever heard and perhaps the ultimate Dalek voice, full of character, actually interesting to listen to, but unmistakably a Dalek. This Dalek Supreme is no fool, understanding Mavic Chen's motives perfectly. Never before have the Daleks seemed so manipulative and in control.

There are lots of nice little bits of world building in the scenes on Earth, dull though the actual sets undoubtedly would have been. Earth, it seems, abounds with traitors, even Bret's mate Daxtar. It's a nice juxtaposition of events where Bret, to the Doctor's outrage, shoots Daxtar, only to be himself shot soon afterwards by Sara Kingdom. The Doctor and Steven are in real trouble; stuck on a hostile Earth light years from the TARDIS.

Counter Plot

"An alien device. There are small white creatures inside. They may be hostile."


Some footage, and although unfortunately given that footage is so rationed this episode is not all that visual we get some groovy special effects at the start. So good in fact that they went some way to distracting me from the sheer convenience of our heroes being somehow teleported halfway across the galaxy by means unknown last episode. The ultimate cliffhanger cop-out, but as it's all rather fun so far I'll overlook that.

Kevin Stoney is great, and so much is added by actually seeing his performance. It's eye-opening seeing how Karlton behaves towards Chen though- he's clearly a powerful chap, and very well played by Maurice Browning. There's a great sequence where Chen begins to rant like a madman, Karlton subtly shows signs of noticing, and Chen suddenly becomes self-conscious and changes tack. How many other such visual moments are we missing?

Coolness abounds: invisible creatures (These beings appear to be invisible!"),Chen playing with his pen again, that Dalek with the compass thingy again (yay!) and, best of all, the epic battle between the Daleks and the mice. And lots of nice directorial touches- the studio floor is cunningly hidden in the jungle scenes.

The scenes where Sara Kingdom is finally convinced to trust the Doctor and Steven is well done, and well played by Jean Marsh.

Coronas of the Sun

"You make your incompetence sound like an achievement!"


Our first episode written by Dennis Spooner!

The scene between Chen and the Daleks in which they debate who is to blame for the failure to capture the TARDISeers is nicely handled; Chen starts out on the back foot, in seeming danger of being exterminated for his incompetence, only for the scene to end with an embarrassed Dalek Supreme blustering that "It is not an emergency". The voice artist for the Dalek Supreme is doing a superlative job.

So Steven's from "hundreds of years" before 4000, which would place him in the 4th millennium?

There's a rather interesting row between the Doctor and Steven at the end about Steven's antigrav experiment. They've never seemed that close compared to the Doctor's other companions- I suspect we'll be seeing more of this sort of thing.


All good stuff so far.

The Feast of Steven

"Well, I suppose you might say I'm a citizen of the universe. And a gentleman to boot."


Well, that was... different.

The scenes in the Liverpool police stations are good fun, although the Scouse accents are variable, to say the least. Some interesting dialogue: Aye, I think you know all of the queer people!"

The Hollywood section is... bewildering, especially without footage! Within two minutes I'd given up all pretence of understanding what was happening in favour of just going with the flow. Even the excellent Loose Cannon recon doesn't clarify things too much here. Great line from Sara: "I don't know, but a strange man kept telling me to take my clothes off".

Oh, and there's also that line!

This is all very silly, but it's harmless fun, and I won't be so churlish as to pay this any attention when reviewing the story as a whole.

Volcano

"Their greed for power is so great that they can be trusted."


Back to the story, and the tone's still a bit light-hearted, a bit The Chase even. It's good to see Daleks again, finally realising the Taranium Core they have is a fake. Things are so serious a time machine has to be summoned from Skaro- time machines are clearly rare.

Surely Trantis' shocking death would cause the other delegates to have second thoughts, but apparently not...

It's the Monk! Yay! And he's still in his robes for some reason. It's great to see him again, not least because Steven gets the chance to say "I'll explain later" to Sara.

The Doctor's ring gets curiouser and curiouser. Apparently "it has, er, certain properties", my precious.


Golden Death

"Dalek extermination will not be questioned!"


Egypt! More pseudo-historical goodness from Dennis Spooner! Things are getting good again, in spite of the frog in the Doctor's throat at the start. There are lots of cool things her; the Doctor's hat, the Monk's shades, and best of all an epic battle between Daleks and Ancient Egyptians. The tone's a bit odd, what with the Doctor and the Monk playing their practical jokes on each other amongst the real menace of the Daleks, but somehow it works.

It's nice to "see" Walter Randall again too.

Escape Switch

"I also include that Monk fellow, although I don't know why I should bother with him."


At last, some more footage! The Monk as a mummy is very cool indeed. As is Chen's shoving the Dalek's eyestalk aside. Once again I'm led to wonder how much of this sort of clever visual storytelling we're missing out on most of the time.

At last the plot is moving full throttle though, with the Daleks finally seizing the Taranium Core.


The Abandoned Planet

"Do we deal with Mavic Chen now?"

"No. His arrogance and greed have a further use for us."


There's a delicious irony to Chen's coup on his fellow delegates, given his own inevitable betrayal by the Daleks. Chen seems to cross a line in his desperation; he's no longer acting rationally. Of course, the other delegates are all surprised by their own blatantly obvious betrayal by the Daleks.

I love the way this episode gives us a "greatest hits" of the Dalek sound effects and music, some of which I don't remember hearing since the first Dalek story.

The Destruction of Time

"Such a waste. A terrible cost."


At last Chen is showing himself to be openly insane. This may not give him a motivation or make him any more than a cipher, but given his role in the story this doesn't really matter. Kevin Stoney has been brilliant since the start, and he's particularly good here as an increasingly desperate and deluded Chen gradually unravels. The scene of his extermination, with the long, ominous silences from the Daleks, is very effective.

This is an appropriately tense and gripping conclusion to the epic- the constant ticking of the Time Destructor is very effective in showing the relentlessness of the horror. Sara's fate is horrifying, and the ending is very bleak indeed.


Overall, utterly superb. Of course, it never pretended to be anything more than an epic adventure story and there was never any subtext to speak of, but there's certainly nothing wrong with that. This is the first science fiction story that I'd rank up with the best historicals. Aside from a slight dip in the middle it was constantly gripping. 5/5.

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

The Watcher

"That is the dematerialising control and that over yonder is the horizontal hold. Up there is the scanner, those are the doors, that is a chair with a panda on it- sheer poetry, dear boy."

It's nice that we start with a chat between the Doctor and Vicki about Ian and Barbara. Suddenly the Doctor as well as Vicki is afraid of being alone.

Great to see Peter Butterworth, no less, as the Monk- our only major guest star so far to be heralded by stock footage of some waves.

We now have two companions from the future- and, incidentally, two northerners. Will their both hailing from future times do any harm to viewer identification in the long term, I wonder?

For the first time, the acronym TARDIS is explained by Vicki as "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space".

This is the greatest episode since The Keys of Marinus for lines from Hartnell: "What do you think it is, a space helmet for a cow?"; "I'm not a mountain goat and I prefer walking to any day. And I hate climbing."

Alethea Charlton appears again! Playing a very nice lady, addressed by the doctor as "Woman".

Nice bit of intrigue with the Monk obviously feeling for a wristwatch, followed up by Steven finding a wristwatch later. The Doctor's finding the gramophone ratchets this up even further. A genuine bit of mystery, and at last the sci-fi and historical elements are being mixed.

The Meddling Monk

"I don't think we've been as clever as we think we have."


We start the next morning, and the scene of the Monk making a rather modern-looking breakfast for the Doctor has made me come over all peckish. Bill Hartnell's off on his holidays again, I see!

I do wish everyone wouldn't keep calling it the 10th century! And as this is Northumbria they'd technically be Angles, not Saxons.

Some very nice stock footage of some Vikings there. Even once we get to the scenes shot for the programme it must be said their leader is sporting a rather impressive helmet.

The implied rape of Edith is rather jarring for a programme like this- not for the first time Dennis Spooner, while generally an excellent writer, misjudges the tone. Still, this aside it's all good stuff so far.

A Battle of Wits

"If I know the Doctor it's not going to be as simple as that."


It's Vicki who finds the secret passage in the Doctor's cell- she's great, and I'm liking her more and more. Meanwhile, the Doctor is telling a suddenly recovered Edith the next couple of months' worth of current affairs.

For the first time since the rape we see Sven and Ulf. Because of what they've done we instinctively know they won't finish the story alive.

The monk's chart detailing his plan is priceless, as is the Doctor persuading the Monk that his stick is in fact a "Winchester '73". "Well, as it happens, I happen to be a very curious fellow!"

Vicki's horrified to see the TARDIS submerged by the tide, although surely by now the viewer would have no fears on this score. Once again she's terrified of abandonment.

WHAT a cliffhanger- another TARDIS!

Checkmate

"It's a TARDIS! The Monk's got a TARDIS!"


So the Monk's from "50 years earlier" than the Doctor, and he's got a "Mark 4". No doubt this will all be picked up on in years to come.

Dennis Spooner has clearly changed his mind entirely on the mechanics of changing history since he scripted The Reign of Terror...! It's very noticeable, too, that the Doctor has changed over the last season, being very keen on sorting things out before returning to the Ship for entirely selfless reasons, although of course as the Monk is one of his own people he arguably has more reason to feel responsible.

Nice ending- the Monk gets his comeuppance, Steven's been fully initiated, and once again we end the season with a star field over the credits.


Overall, top stuff. A great central idea, well-executed and acted, with lots of good character stuff and a bit of intrigue as to the Doctor's origins. An easy 5/5.

Doctor Who: The Romans

The Slave Traders

"There's a great difference between resting and... being sort of bone idle."


So, falling off a cliff can be felt inside the Ship. No doubt this will be adhered to with absolute consistency from now on.

The early scenes are fun, and do the important job of establishing Vicki very quickly by having a whole month pass. One comment by Barbara to Vicki raises an eyebrow though- "Are you any good at dressmaking?". 1964 suddenly feels a long time ago- I'm reminded of the episode of Torchwood with the time travellers from the 1950s.

Hartnell mispronounces Ian's surname for the first time in ages, but generally spends the whole story being superb. If there's one thing he does really well, it's comedy. It's also noticeable how differently he acts towards Vicki than towards Susan- much more fond and indulgent, with none of the friction we're used to, continuing the process of the Doctor becoming ever more likeable.

Dennis Spooner seems to have officially founded Ian and Barbara shipping here; they're clearly a couple by now. I love the "fridge" line. It's very noticeable that Spooner has produced a much more overtly comedic script than with The Reign of Terror, using tragic elements to counterbalance the comedy rather than vice versa.

All Roads Lead to Rome

"You know, I'm so consistently outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfactions of the art, the gentle art, of fisticuffs!"


The Doctor's fight with Ascaris is hilarious, played with perfect comic timing by Hartnell. With this episode it becomes clear that the story is to be a tightly plotted farce, with the TARDISeers forever just missing each other. The story is not without a sense of threat, but it never loses the sense of being a comedy, and ends up being fun and undemanding to watch.

Conspiracy

"Now, close your eyes and Nero will give you a big surprise!"

"Pardon?!"


Vicki's very innocent, isn't she? She's the only character forever protected from any threat or unpleasantness, able to walk around completely impervious, casually poisoning Nero along the way. Not only Maureen O'Brien but the entire cast plays it brilliantly- Hartnell, the actor playing Tigillinus with such brilliant physical comedy, and Derek Francis as Nero. The scene with Nero forcing Tigillinus to taste his poisoned drink is comedy gold, as is the entire scene with the Doctor's lyre playing.

Another namedrop from the Doctor here, this time Hans Christian Anderson.

Inferno

"I've got a friend who specialises in trouble. He dives in and usually finds a way."


I'm not sure the business about Nero setting fire to Rome is good history, but it's certainly good farce. The fun doesn't let up in the final episode- my favourite bit is the Doctor's punning to Nero on his imminent mauling in the arena. Of course, the Doctor, in changing history, seems to contradict what we were told in both The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror. But it's worth it for the moment when the Doctor starts chuckling insanely and the laughter then segues into Nero's.

The end is priceless, with the Doctor believing Ian and Barbara to have been carousing in the villa all this time. Once again Ian and Barbara seem very couply.


Overall, it may not have been big or clever but it was fun, and an admirably constructed farce. 4/5.

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

A Land of Fear

"When you entered our hideout you entered our lives!"



No reprise at all this time. And I notice the TARDIS lands without the “vworp vworp” sound- it'll be interesting to see when exactly that convention becomes established.

In spite of the last episode's ending there's no real animosity towards the two schoolteachers from the Doctor- significantly neither of them seem worried about being abandoned and the scene is played for laughs to an extent- nice bit of comic acting from Jacqueline Hill as she fusses over the Doctor while Ian placates him! The Doctor has long since been incapable of any real malevolence towards them. And Ian and Barbara are noticeably much more sanguine about their fate.

So this is the Doctor's favourite historical period. Interesting.

This episode ends with a real sense of threat for Susan, Ian and Barbara which feels very real. I'd like to comment on whether it's obvious or not that the Doctor will be rescued by the boy, but having seen the story before I'm not qualified to comment!

Guests of Madame Guillotine

"I suppose you think you're very clever?"

"Well, without any due modesty, yes. Would you mind standing aside?"



Very truncated opening titles here- I assume the episode overran? The opening scenes, of woodcuts and stock footage, look cheap yet effective in setting the mood. There's a real sense of peril here; any sense of comedy from Jack Cunningham's inexplicably Lancastrian gaoler is immediately undercut by his obvious propositioning of Barbara and his attitude when he doesn't get his own way. For all his ridiculousness the character has real power.

The rescued Doctor begins an epic journey to footage, and this special occasion is marked by some actual location footage! Although they have to use Edmund Warwick in long shot instead of Hartnell, of course. Whenever we do see Hartnell he's clearly back in Lime Grove. The scenes with the overseer (with his rather excellent sombrero) are most entertaining. This is the first time I can recall in the series where the Doctor is unambiguously made to play the part of the hero, and it suits him.

The scenes with Barbara and Susan in the cell are nice character scenes, and very well acted by Ford and Hill. There's no real sense of hope for them; even the escape attempt feels more of a token effort.

The Doctor's plan is most clever, but the blow on the head the overseer receives with his spade seems to have rather gruesome results going by the reactions of the others.

Hmmm... so the Doctor's 5km from Paris? Wasn't it 4km from the house last episode?

Genuinely effective cliffhanger- I have no idea (and can't remember from before!) how Barbara and Susan will be able to get out of that!

Oops! Got behind again...

A Change of Identity

"It's a pity you're surrounded by fools."

"Exactly, Citizen, exactly."


Still rather enjoyable entertainment, but it's still highly convenient that not only does the Jailer leave the key in Ian's door, but Barbara and Susan get rescued by characters we haven't previously met. Still, there was no other way out of that cliffhanger, I suppose.

The sets look very convincing as the streets of Paris; once again the tininess of Lime Grove is successfully hidden.

The scene with the Doctor conning the shopkeeper is a delight, and a perfect comic performance from Hartnell. The Doctor gives away his ring- as far as I recall this is the first time the ring is treated as significant.

Ooh, Edward Brayshaw! Once Barbara and Susan have been rescued the actual plot (aside from Ian receiving the message in his cell) starts, but it must be said the story until now, while essentially just a series of set pieces, has been thoroughly entertaining.

That Leon's a bit creepy, isn't he? Still, a very nice directorial touch cutting from Barbara and Leon about to have some wine to the jailer gulping down some cheap plonk from a jug.

The final scenes with Hartnell impersonating the provincial governor are class, and once again brilliantly played by Hartnell. A fantastic cliffhanger: "We must not keep Citizen Robespierre waiting."

The Tyrant of France

"Even now, Convention members are at work plotting my downfall. But I will triumph, even if I have to execute every last one of them!"


So, to the Loose Cannon recon, and it's a bit of a jolt after all the footage we've been spoiled with. Is it me, or is the Doctor's bravery in arguing with Robespierre the first genuinely heroic act we see from him? Not aimed just at the preservation of himself and his friends, but just being, dare I say it, Doctorish? Hartnell is fantastic here, and indeed throughout the whole story.

Leon's dismissive attitude towards the servant girl (asking Barbara why she wants to be everybody's friend) suggests he's something of a bad sort, and that the Royalists are not necessarily going to be portrayed as the goodies as they generally have so far.

Our first bits of off-air footage here, alongside loads of shots of that door opening and closing. This is clearly an earlier recon, but nevertheless invaluable.

A Bargain of Necessity

"You check your history books, Ian, before you decide what people deserve."


It would be great to see Edward Brayshaw's face as he betrays Ian...

The Doctor's plotting here is very clever- has he ever been this proactive before? He seems to have turned a corner in this story; this is the First Doctor, more or less fully-formed.

An uncharacteristically obvious history dump: "If this plot is successful, tomorrow, the 27th July 1794, will be a date for history".

Nice comment by Ian, very characteristic, when he hears about the Doctor from Barbara: "I don't know how he gets away with it half the time!" The following scene is magnificent, as Ian and Barbara debate the issues surrounding Leon's shooting. Barbara shows a much more nuanced understanding of history than she did in The Aztecs, while Ian is more interested in the friendships he's made than the wider historical implications. Of course, given the previous scenes between Barbara and Leon there's also an undercurrent of sexual jealousy. This scene is excellent drama.

For all that this story is often criticised for being a series of set pieces, in spite of the unusual structure the plotting is actually quite clever. And the characterisation is well done, not just for the regulars but for the guest characters; it's nice that we get a sense of Jules Renan's motives before the cliffhanger. And what a cliffhanger! Not least because we suddenly are treated to some actual footage.

Prisoners of Conciergerie

"Events will happen just as they are written".

(Incidentally, this is the only episode of the story I'm watching for the first time due to the homicidal tendencies of a certain VCR- the big plot twist is new to me.)

It's rather amusing how immediately after we reach the dramatic peak of the Doctor's apparent treachery being revealed everyone pauses for the episode title and Dennis Spooner's credit to appear on screen.

Good God- Lemaitre is James Stirling? That I was not expecting! But..."The Sinking Ship"? I thought it was "Le Chien Gris"...

Ooh, Napoleon! Surely the actor's a bit old to be playing a 25 year old though? Is all this stuff about Bony being a member of the triumvirate this early actually historical?

I love the conversation about changing history between Barbara and the Doctor- a nice role reversal and a nice character moment.

Hmmm... the set's a bit wobbly outside Robespierre's office. Are we witnessing the birth of a stereotype?

We haven't seen Susan for a bit. I have a feeling we didn't actually see her at all last episode.

Great line from the Doctor to Susan as they witness Robespierre being led to a cell: "Everybody lived in fear, yesterday, of that man, and today..."

The final moments of this story give us more information on the rules of changing history than we ever got in The Aztecs, contrary to popular belief. I'm not sure this is all consistent with what we will be told in The Fires of Pompeii, mind...


Overall, fantastic. Very cleverly plotted, if oddly structured, with nice character moments for the regulars. The grimness is nicely balanced with the right amount of humour; the overall tone is just right and very cleverly judged. If Marco Polo was all clever dialogue and theatricality this was all Robert Louis Stevenson and action adventure, but very nearly as good. 5/5!