The Daleks Review

From now on I think I'm going to watch a story episode by episode and write notes as I watch it, then post a new post once I've finished the whole story. Seems the best way at the moment. Though that doesn't mean I can't be writing the post days before I publish it.

The Daleks
Episode 1: The Dead Planet

When I went onto the episode index of my DVD I was reminded that this story is actually seven episodes long! I'd forgotten this and actually thought it was six. An extra episode can make a big difference, a lot of fans say that the six part episodes of classic Who tend to run on a bit too long, so you can imagine what I was thinking when I saw that extra episode.

Now onto the episode. The opening shots aren't done very well I must say, they're supposed to show the forest all dark and gloomy but something went wrong and it is very hard to work out what you're supposed to be looking at. It looks like a wall with carvings on or something. We finally get a better shot and can see the forest. The rest of these introductory are done much better and there is a real sense of atmosphere created.

The Doctor here is on true inquisitive scientist mode here, eager to step out and look around. So much so that later in the episode is actually goes as far as removing a component from the TARDIS just so they have to look around. You little mischievous bastard! I do love his little chuckle to himself afterwards though.

I was surprised by Barbara's "don't you ever think he deserves something to happen to him?" Ok yes he has been quite horrible so far, especially to Ian and her, but actually wanting something to happen to him? That's a bit far.
Ian is challenging the Doctor's leadership in this episode once again (and it's going to continue throughout this story) which is good to see. As I mentioned before the Doctor hasn't really given Barbara and Ian much reason to trust him, so it makes sense that he would want to keep an eye on the Doctor and try to have as much control here as possible. In this episode he rightly states that the Doctor is their ticket home, and that he seems to have a knack of getting in trouble (of if only he knew just how right he is).

Now I'm going to resort to my bullet point technique again to summarise my notes:

•  Barbra and Ian realise their not even on Earth, they actually never really took much question to the Doctor saying that he and Susan are really aliens, but they seemed too busy being confounded by the TARDIS.
• I love the Doctor's little binocular glasses things. We also get Hartnell grasping the sides of his jacket for the first time I think here. I do rather like that character quirk of his.
• The Doctor seems to get on with Barbra much more, asking her to talk to Susan and concerned when she has a headache. He has begun to mellow already, even smiling.
• I love the food machine. I know it comes up again in the next story but after that I have no idea if it crops up again. It would be nice if it did, but it isn't necessary now that it has been established.
• We get a nice canted (or dutch) angle when Barbara is exploring the city. Also the music is quite creepy here. And then bam! A Dalek plunger. The point of view shot is very interesting, it actually kind of sides the audience with the Dalek for a moment, though I think it is mainly done for mystery.

Episode score: 8/10

Episode 2: The Survivors

I'm resorting to notes again for this:

• The Doctor owns up to tricking them back on the TARDIS, he's not quite apologetic, but seems concerned. Ian says that he has to face up to his responsibilities
• The Dalek reveal is very good, four of them shown as the camera pans back
• The Dalek voice has pretty much stayed the same which is good. Compared to the Cybermen voice and style changing a lot
• The Daleks paralyze Ian here, and even say please in the next ep. They only want the drugs to replicate them though. And next episode we get to see their more evil side

Episode score: 7/10

Episode 3: The Escape

• "Do you trust them [the Daleks]?" "No...I'm not sure" What did you change your mind Susan? You might trust them?
• The Daleks show their true cunning in this episode. Want to lure the crew into a false sense of security and the Thals to them. We get "extermination then?" Ooh so close!
• I like the idea that the Dalek use static electricity to power them. I've seen the Dalek Invasion of Earth but I can't remember if they mention that the Daleks seemed to have moved on from that so early. I like and don't like that it's written out. The crew manage to exploit it and if the Daleks kept returning with only being able to be powered by static electricity then it would soon have become a joke like the stairs one. Every time one wanted to escape them you would just throw your coat on the floor in front of them or get outside. But I would have liked such a good idea to have made at least one more return.
• The Thals have good characterisation, we really get to them as a society, and I love how English they are
• At first I didn't like that Ian just climbed into the Dalek, it doesn't make sense how the Dalek mutant would fit in there without some sort of platform underneath it supporting it, meaning Ian wouldn't be able to get his legs in. But then I thought about how you see a human inside one in Revelation of the Daleks, and in Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks we see the man Dalek Sec merges with fits into the casing 
• The plan is capture the Dalek is rather quite clever:

Episode score: 7/10

Episode 4: The Ambush

Again I'm going to resort to notes for this, and most probably the rest of this stories episodes:

• I found it weird that the lift didn't have doors, though I realise this is because of the way it was made in the studio, but then it does help because Ian has to quickly clamber out when the Daleks stop it. So it's a good job they don't have doors! And I suppose Daleks aren't very likely to fall out of the lifts. The lifts shots from the lift shaft are good but it gets a bit confusing, one moment it's moving down, the next up, and then back down again. But this is all during the Doctor, Barbara and Susan's journey upwards.
• I love the way the Daleks all move back in unison after they set the trap for the Thals, though there is a moment a bit later where they seem to do it again. Did they move forward again to see if they were coming or what?
• The Doctor is still very reluctant to help here, just like in the Forest of Fear.
• Ian takes charge again, actually bossing Susan around a bit. And so he should though
• I was a bit confused when Ian waits before warning the Thals, he just stands there listening to the Thal leader's speech. Is he unsure whether it is a trap after all?
• There's a good effect when the Daleks shoot the wall beside Ian and it kind of blisters.
• Back outside the TARDIS the Doctor seems very happy and interested in learning the Thals history
• Ian and Barbara actually want the Thals to fight. It felt a bit off to me that they would be doing this.
• Oh the story nearly ended here, they were all ready to go but for the fluid link!

Episode score: 7/10

Episode 5: The Expedition

• The Doctor gets Ian's name wrong, was that in the script or was that actually Hartnell forgetting I wonder? I think it must have been planned, but can never really be sure. He does admit that his plan backfired though.
• We get an interesting moral debate here about whether the Thals should fight for the crew. I know Ian is basically forced into it but he does seem to change his mind rather fast when trying to provoke the Thals to violence
• The Dalek screaming and basically dying is actually quite chilling and disturbing, very well done
• The Dalek picture cut out things in the background in these scenes are actually quite good, though I don't think they really needed them. I suppose it stops the complaint that there are only ever four Daleks on scene, but with already seen that there are other Daleks
• We get more of the Dalek philosophy here: they state that they don't have to adapt but they will make the world change to their needs
• The swamp setting is done very well here, even the whirlpool at the end. I'm not quite sure how they even managed that
• The relationship between Ganatus and Barbara though nice seems to have come out of nowhere. It just about works but still he uses her leg as a pillow at the end, they seem to have got very friendly off screen

Episode score: 7/10

Episode 6: The Ordeal

These names are really inventive aren't they!

At this point in the story I was lagging a bit, I got a little less interested.

I didn't really understand the whole thing with the reflectors directed at the antenna, was it supposed to throw it off, but surely the Daleks would realise it was them?

I was also getting a bit confused by this radiation business. It was mentioned last episode and I liked it but now I'm not sure. They seem to need radiation but it's only in the last episode that they mentioned this as though it were a new thing. Surely if they needed it they would have realised this long before?

• At the beginning of this episode we're introduced to Ganatus' brother, or the Wus, as I call him. As soon as I saw him I remembered what a massive wimp he was. I understand he's scared but he just got annoying. He even goes so far as to say that they should leave Ian and the others behind!
• There's a cave scene in this episode that is filmed quite interestingly and I'm not sure how it's done

I don't know how they manage the effect at the top and bottom of the frame that makes it look like the tunnel, have they actually cut out the physical film to achieve this? I really like it however they did it

We get some Nazi imagery here with the Daleks all raising their plungers in a salute-style as they shout about their plans

Episode score: 5.5/10

Episode Seven: The Rescue

And so I've finally finished the story. This episode was better than the last but the big fight at the end kind of lets it down. Let's face it; it's not great. It's a bit all over the place and undermines the Daleks a bit.

• G's brother does he sacrifice himself or just give up? I read it as just giving up when I watched it but then some people seem to think of it as him sacrificing himself. I think it might be a little in between, he's very scared and doesn't know what else to do. Still I'm glad to the see the back of him
• The Doctor seems willing to let the Daleks see the TARDIS and show them how to make their own. Sue over on the Wife in Space blog echoes my thoughts here; if it were any other Doctor you would think he's got a plan or something, he's not serious, but with Hartnell's Doctor it a lot easier to think that he is being genuine. 
• I love how Ian's cardigan gets a rip where the sleeve is stitched on. I don't know if this was accidental or not but it works really well, shows that he hasn't escaped unscathed. It's helped by the fact that we see it in the next story/episode as well.
• At the end the Doctor is much more like the one we know and love, seeming very happy and excited and even giving the Thals some advice and encouragement
• I knew Barbara and G kiss but in my mind it was a snog, which I didn't think would really fit. I was relived to find G kisses her on the hand and then she pecks him in the cheek. It's very nice and understated
• I like the last shot, just before the explosion and the cliffhanger, where everyone seems happy on the TARDIS. They're glad to be off Skaro and moving on, Ian hasn't even mentioned going back to England.

Episode score: 6/10

The average score is rounded up is 7/10 again. Apart from the last two episodes it was consistently a 7/10. It was interesting, had some tension and scares and it didn't overstay it's length. Was it too long? Possibly, but not so much so.

Next time The Edge of Destruction 

If you missed yesterdays review of the An Unearthly Child find it here.