| THE DALEKS by Terry Nation |
| Story 2 AKA: The Dead Planet, The Mutants Synopsis: The TARDIS has landed on a mysterious, apparently abandoned planet. Investigating, the travellers find a futuristic-looking city, which the Doctor wishes to visit, despite the reservations of the others. After wasting the mercury in the fluid links, the Doctor persuades the others that they can visit the city. When they arrive, they split up. Barbara promptly disappears, so the others look for her. They find that machine creatures called Daleks live in the city, the survivors of a nuclear war. Suffering from radiation sickness, the Doctor realises that chemicals they found near the Ship were drugs. Susan is allowed to fetch them. She meets Alydon, a Thal, the race that fought the Daleks. She returns with the drugs, and the travellers plot to escape, having realised that the Thals are the good guys. They succeed, but not before trying to save the Thals from a Dalek ambush. The Thal leader, Temmosus, is killed. The travellers and the Thals discuss their predicament, but the Thals refuse to fight anymore. Unluckily, the Doctor realises they left the mercury replacement in the city, and will have to go back. Splitting into two groups, the Doctor, Susan and Alydon organise disruption to the front of the city, whilst Ian and Barbara lead a group to the back of the city, negotiating lakes of monsters, and a perilous cave system. The Doctor and Susan are captured, and learn that the Daleks are preparing to explode another nuclear bomb, as they cannot live without radiation. Ian and Barbara and the other Thals make it into the city, arriving in the Headquarters, to prevent the culmination of the countdown. The Daleks seem to die. This time, with mercury safely stored, the travellers return to the TARDIS, leaving the Thals to make use of the Daleks' city. |
| Review:- That over the course of 7 weeks, the future of Doctor Who was changed is undeniable. Suddenly, the public consciousness had a new word in its lexicon : "Exterminate!". A new force for evil... The Doctor is again attempting to restore the status quo, but at greater odds. That this is really a story in two parts is obvious. The climax to part 4, where Ian points at the city, the camera panning over the faces of his friends, is stagey, but still powerful. The end of Episode 5 is a belter. The creature that comes from the lake is indescribable. How this effect was achieved, I don't want to know. Elyon gets a better death than Antodus, whose motivation is curious. It is harsh to condemn cowards. But surely he would have preferred to be in Alydon's party? The opening foray into the city is ridiculous. Hey, there's 3 ways into this mysterious city, we're only assuming the planet's safe...let's split up! It's a wonder they don't all get lost, considering that they make no attempt to remember the way they came. This also poses the question, what did they find before returning? How did they know when to meet up again? The shenanigans with the fluid link is another bit of daftness, but perhaps more forgivable (though the Doctor's overt interference deserves to go un-punished when the others are too dim to realise what happened). The fact that Susan is the only one capable of getting the drugs in part 2 is a well thought-out element. Ian is the only person who can fit in the hijacked Dalek, so he does. Sometimes, things can happen for the reason that it's obvious. Although the story starts slowly, it does speed up, with the last 3 episodes jam-packed with incident. It is amusing for the viewer to watch Episode 7, and wonder how Ian and Barbara are ever going to reach the city, they seem so far removed from the action. The Daleks are motivated all the way through. They are changed by their experiences, for the worse. They receive punishment. The Thals are changed slightly, but who is to say what would happen to them in a theoretical Episode 8? Will they become pacifists again, or will they beat the crap out of each other? The travellers don't seem to change at all. Ian is still the dogged do-gooder, Barbara the thoughtful, Susan the overlooked, and the Doctor reacts like a person watching the lottery results when they haven't got a ticket (indifferent, I mean. As if he doesn't feel his time was well spent). I like this story. Luckily, so did millions more. |
| Disclaimer: I have read the novelisation, and the script book, but most importantly, I have seen the video. |