| THE DALEKS' MASTER PLAN by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner |
| Story 21 Synopsis: The TARDIS arrives on Kembel. The Doctor, Steven and Katarina find Marc Cory's tape warning of the Dalek plan. Meeting secret agent Bret Vyon, the Doctor realises a huge conference is going on of the Daleks and their allies. He manages to infiltrate it, and steal the taranium element, which forms the power of their super-weapon, the Time Destructor. Escpaing on a ship, they accidentally land on a prison colony, Desperus. Katarina dies, and Vyon is killed by his sister, Sara Kingdom. She, Steven and the Doctor are accidentally transmitted across space to Mira. Realising Bret wasn't a traitor after all, she joins the Doctor and Steven as they try to evade the Daleks. After brief trips to Earth, they run across the Meddling Monk, but the Doctor thwarts him again. He has to give the taranium up to rescue Steven and Sara. Finally, they return to Kembel where the Doctor sabotages the machine, which destroys the Daleks, but also kills Sara. Steven manages to get the Doctor to safety. |
| Review:- Following their huge public impact in the first 2 seasons, the need for them to come back with an even bigger plan led to the Daleks having what remains the longest-running story against the Doctor in the entire series (unless you can view Trial of a Time Lord as one whole). So immense a tale, they previewed it with the one-episode Mission To The Unknown, and needed two writers to cover the mammoth task of writing it. In the year 4000, the Solar System seems to be a well organised outfit, but Mavic Chen, erstwhile Guardian, is in fact no protector at all - abusing his position in a deal with the Daleks. This is quite an amusing idea, playing into a silly paranoia - namely that the people at the very top are in league with evil people. Power corrupts is the other aspect of it. Chen is hardly the first megalomaniac to think he's using the Daleks, when they are using him, and he isn't the last, either. Most of the story is padded with chase sequences. Once the Doctor has caught on to what is happening, and swiped the vital taranium, the viewer witnesses a series of daring escapades (whilst the unpredictable TARDIS is left back on Kembel). Some might argue this is derivative of The Chase, but there is a more coherent narrative here, which helps. The distractions of Katarina's death, Bret's murder and Sara's redemption, and the surprise return of the Meddling Monk all help sustain interest. The various delegates also lend a sense of scale to the Daleks' scheme. Not only is the most evil and dangerous race in the Universe collaborating on a super-plan, their collaborators are representatives of other major powers, comprising a really huge elite of evil. And of course, the Daleks come out on top, which makes them look even more fearsome. Given that there is so much going on around them, and events are so serious, the Doctor and Steven provide a solid focus for the audience. Though Steven is initially still recovering from the events in The Myth Makers, he is soon trying to protect Katarina and the Doctor. That he is repeatedly unable to save anyone from death adds a layer of tragedy to proceedings. His eventual rescue of the Doctor at the climax has to be tempered by the fact that Sara becomes the 3rd "hero" character to die during the adventure (another element which rubs off on the Daleks). That both men move from here to another unremitting tragic bloodbath is quite upsetting, although arguably it informs the choices Steven makes there. The Doctor is more of a reactor in this than a driving force. In almost a farcical element, he has to keep one step ahead of the Daleks all the time, no matter where he ends up. It is a wonder he keeps his act together in amidst invisible aliens, Egyptian hi-jinks, and the death toll, and high stakes as the story progresses. On the whole, it's enjoyable as a story, but not too deep to be unmissable. The script interaction between Nation and Spooner makes for an interesting middle, and it's hardly surprising that one set of chases gives way to a different style in the second half. Probably Spooner makes the better job of the story. |
| Disclaimer: I've seen the existing episodes, and read one of the books. |