The Faceless Ones

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The Faceless Ones

Next year, The Faceless Ones will be the latest story to be animated in its entirety next year, which combined with the release of The Macra Terror this year will make a run of 10 episodes previously lost that have been resurrected in recent years.  While animation may have its flaws, the fact that we can now enjoy these stories is really lovely.  Currently, only two of the six parts of this story are in the BBC Archives.

This story sees the departure of Ben and Polly, who are the first companions to accompany two Doctors in the show’s history.  Both seem to be a bit short-changed here, only appearing in the first two and final part of a six-part story, and with their contracts running until the next serial.  With Michael Craze’s death on 7th December 1998, this is his last appearance in a Doctor Who story, whilst Anneke Wills would reprise her role on numerous occasions for Big Finish.  Deborah Watling would appear in the next story The Evil of the Daleks, a story which is also coincidentally also mostly missing.

This story also featured Pauline Collins as Samantha Briggs.  The production team were keen for Collins to become a new companion to accompany Troughton and Hines, however, she turned down the opportunity, however, she would play Queen Victoria in Tooth and Claw.  Other actors who had been in Doctor Who or would go on to appear in the future include Bernard Kay (The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Crusade), Donald Pickering (The Keys of Marinus, Time and the Rani), Wanda Ventham (Image of the Fendahl, Time and the Rani) and Christopher Tranchell (The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve, The Invasion of Time).

Synopsis

Arriving at Gatwick Airport, the Doctor finds that a great number of young people are disappearing, including Ben and Polly.  Together with Jamie and Samantha Briggs, the sister of one of the missing people, he investigates what the Chameleons are up to.

Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Doctor), Michael Craze (Ben Jackson), Anneke Wills (Polly), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Pauline Collins (Samantha Briggs), James Appleby (Policeman), Colin Gordon (Commandant), George Selway (Meadows), Wanda Ventham (Jean Rock), Victor Winding (Spencer), Peter Whitaker (Inspector Gascoigne), Donald Pickering (Blade), Christopher Tranchell (Jenkins), Madalena Nicol (Nurse Pinto), Bernard Kay (Crossland), Gilly Fraser (Ann Davidson), Brigit Paul (Announcer), Barry Wilsher (Heslington), Michael Ladkin (RAF Pilot) & Leonard Trolley (Supt. Reynolds.

Writer: David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke

Director: Gerry Mill

Parts: 6

Dalek

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Dalek - Dalek.jpg

The stuff of nightmares, reduced to an exhibit.  I’m getting old.

The Ninth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor and Rose arrive in an underground bunker in the United States in 2012 in response to a distress signal, where alien collector Henry Van Statten is keeping his latest find – the last Dalek in existence.

Review

The Daleks are almost as essential to Doctor Who as the TARDIS and the titular hero.  Even in the TV Movie, they are heard but not seen, even if the Dalek voice is a bit questionable.  So looking back on Dalek in hindsight, it seems bizarre that there was a possibility that the Daleks would not appear when Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner brought Christopher Eccleston to our screens in 2005.  Even when you think about the Daleks coming back, it would be far too easy to overcomplicate this story by shrouding the return of the Daleks in large swathes of continuity from the previous stories that have gone before.  So it is still refreshing that Dalek is such an effective reintroduction to the evil pepper pots, whether this is your first time viewing, or simply the latest in many revisits.

In a way, this story cements some things that were introduced in the Daleks’ final appearance in the original TV run, Remembrance of the Daleks.  They are again seen to be masterful tacticians, and obviously, there’s the fact that they can get up the stairs, perhaps putting that over-used joke finally to bed.  The Dalek here is also shown to be manipulative as well, manipulating Rose into seeing something completely different to what the Doctor sees when he first sees the captive Dalek – a cruelly treated prisoner.  The director, Joe Ahearne deserves a huge amount of credit for making the Dalek seem as threatening as it does here, as the Dalek feels just as threatening and menacing when it refuses to reply to Van Statten as when it is moving through the bunker exterminating everyone in its path or talking to the Doctor.  One of my favourite scenes is in the weapons development area of the base, where Van Statten has instructed everyone in the base to grab a weapon to try and stop the Dalek.  Instead of simply exterminating everyone by shooting them individually, the Dalek instead elects to elevate itself above the floor, shoots the fire alarm, which in turn activates the sprinklers, and with a simple blast of its weapon, shoots the wet floor, killing the majority of the people standing in its way.  There is a quiet majesty about the way the Dalek surveys the situation from its elevated position which is truly menacing.

Dalek - Dalek sucker.jpg

This story has to contain some of Christopher Eccleston’s best moments as the Doctor as he faces the last surviving Dalek of the Time War.  He is fantastic as the battle-scarred version of the Doctor and his reaction when he realises that he has been locked in a room with a Dalek, to his sudden switch when he realises that the Dalek is completely powerless, then to actually go against that famous maxim that the late great Terrance Dicks once wrote that the Doctor should never be cruel or cowardly by trying to kill the Dalek himself.  Eccleston really does sell this all so well, with this exchange and his discussion with the Dalek about the outcome of the Time War really standing out.  I feel that I also need to praise two other actors as making this such a great story: Nicholas Briggs and Corey Johnson.  Johnson is utterly believable as this all-powerful individual who doesn’t think twice about replacing Presidents and torturing aliens for not speaking to him, and shows this character as utterly contemptible, with the scene where the Doctor shows him the alien instrument telling the audience everything that we need to know.  And Nicholas Briggs gives a fantastic performance as the voice of the Dalek, whether it being simple screaming or talking normally (for a Dalek), with his voice bristling with menace.

Let me tell you something, Van Statten.  Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater.

Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars.

You just want to drag the stars down, stick them underground, under tons of sand and dirt, and label them.  You’re about as far from the stars as you can get.

The Ninth Doctor and Henry Van Statten

Rob Shearman’s story is, as is well known, a loose adaptation of his Big Finish story for the Sixth Doctor, Jubilee, but the two are largely very different beasts and can stand alone on their own merits.  There are shared elements, such as the lone Dalek being tortured and appealing to the companion, in this case, Rose, resulting in a bond being formed between the Dalek’s greatest enemy and his companion.  Shearman’s greatest achievement here is strongly establishing for a new audience who may not, as strange as this may sound, be aware of the Daleks and their nature.  With this coming in the first series of the revived series, Shearman keeps the continuity light, however, does enough to ensure that the uninitiated are in no doubt that the Doctor and the Daleks have shared history.  There is even a sly aside about the Daleks’ creator, Davros, which is handled superbly, saying more about the character of Van Statten than delving deep into the show’s continuity – there is absolutely no need for the story to name drop Davros and the story wisely doesn’t.

I hope that my love of this story has come through in the preceding paragraphs, as I briefly turn to address an element of this story and the following story that I really dislike – Adam.  Established as a boy genius – parallels, of course, to Adric – Langley never really convinces me of this, and the scenes with him and Rose seem to really dull the pace of an overall frenetic adventure.  Ultimately, the fact that Adam even ends up travelling with the Doctor into the next story just feels so lazy that it does bug me sufficiently to write it up here.  The character feels like a complete non-entity and I don’t see why the Doctor doesn’t put his foot down and say no.  After all, it will only lead to trouble…

Adam was saying that all his life, he’s wanted to see the stars.

Tell him to go and stand outside then.

Rose Tyler and the Ninth Doctor

Verdict:  Ahearne, Eccleston and Briggs make the return of the Doctor’s oldest enemy rank among the strongest of the revived series, as well as one of the best stories to feature the Daleks.  10/10

Cast: Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler), Steven Beckingham (Polkowski), Corey Johnson (Henry van Statten), Anna-Louise Plowman (Goddard), Bruno Langley (Adam), Nigel Whitmey (Simmons), John Schwab (Bywater), Jana Carpenter (De Maggio), Joe Montana (Commander), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek Operator) & Nicholas Briggs (Dalek Voice).

Writer: Robert Shearman

Director: Joe Ahearne

Behind the Scenes

  • The story was adapted from the Big Finish story Jubilee, also written by Robert Shearman.  Whilst the two stories diverge, some plot elements appear in both.  The in-universe pizza company, Jubilee Pizzas, is named as a reference to this story, and pizza boxes from this chain appear in this story and in the background of Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures stories.
  • First appearance of the Daleks in the revived series and the only time in the Russell T Davies era that they would appear in a single-part story.
  • Shearman had to write an alternative version of the story in case the estate of Terry Nation would not allow the Daleks to be used.  The alternate story may have featured a robotic creature called “Future Human”, an idea which would become the Toclafane.
  • The first appearance of Bruno Langley as Adam.
  • The first story of the revived series not to feature any TARDIS interior scenes.

Best Moment

You may have been able to guess from the way I described it above, but the scene in the weapons testing zone – I love how in command of that scene the sole Dalek is.

Best Quote

I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders.

Well you’re never gonna get them.  Not ever.

I demand orders!

They’re never going to come! Your race is dead.  You all burned – all of you.  Ten million ships on fire.  The entire Dalek race, wiped out in one second.

You lie!

I watched it happen.  I madeit happen.

You destroyed us?

I had no choice.

And what of the Time Lords?

Dead.  They burned with you.  The end of the last great Time War.  Everyone lost.

And the coward survived.

Dalek and the Ninth Doctor

Henry Van Statten - Dalek

The Aztecs

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Aztecs - Doctor and Cameca.jpg
(c) BBC

You’re monsters! All of you, monsters!

Susan Foreman

Synopsis

The TARDIS arrives in 15th Century Mexico and the crew encounter the doomed Aztecs, who are a mixture of high culture and savagery.  Barbara is mistaken for one of the Aztecs’ Gods, complicating matters considerably.

Review

The Aztecs is the first time the show really addressed the issues regarding interference in historic events, and it does it really well, with Barbara being mistaken for the Aztec God Yetexa, along with her pre-existing interest in the Aztec people giving this story genuine stakes.  Unlike some 60s Who, these stakes, along with the fact that each member of the TARDIS team has a decent subplot for a change, makes this one of the more memorable entries in Hartnell’s era.

The story feels quite epic in some regards and all the more impressive that it manages to deal with each of them so effectively compared to other stories in this era of Doctor Who with longer runtimes.  The story uses the plot device of the two sacrifices to establish and tie-up the various subplots involved, with the main plot revolving around the consequences of Barbara having picked up the bracelet in the tomb and being mistaken for the God, Yetexa.  The subplots revolve around the Doctor trying to find a way of regaining access to the TARDIS, which materialised in the tomb, Ian being roped in to fight Ixta to become the leader of the Aztec army and Susan being taken away to be taught Aztec values.  With the exception of Susan’s subplot, these all interact loosely with each other through the various parts, for instance, when the Doctor gives Ixta advice on how to win his fight, not knowing that this will be against Ian, in return for supposed information on the design of the tomb.  Due to Carol Ann Ford’s holiday, her subplot does feel more detached from the main narrative, although there are some other characters other than the other members of the TARDIS team who appear at times and her subplot does get worked back in nicely towards the end of the story.

The Aztecs
(c) BBC

The story focuses on the idea of non-interference and it is really strange coming to this story as someone whose introduction to Doctor Who was the modern series, in which the Doctor, whilst not advocating interference in historical events, isn’t so rigid as the First Doctor is here.  The script gives Barbara a good enough reason to be so concerned about the plight of the Aztec people – it is one of her interests – to want to interfere, putting her at odds not only with the Doctor, but with Tlotoxl as well.  Ultimately, the story does feel quite Shakespearean, especially when viewed in the light of the performance of John Ringham as Tlotoxl, one of the Aztec High Priests, whose deformities are a homage to Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard III.  The character is also quite similar to the play’s hatchet job it does on the controversial monarch, quietly scheming and spitting poison into the ears of the other characters.  His opposite number, Autloc, represents civilisation and order, whilst Tlotoxl represents the more savage aspects of Aztec society, such as human sacrifice.

The performances are also really good here.  I’m not sure if it’s because she has less to do and is probably in the story the least, but Susan did not irritate me as much as usual in Hartnell stories, which is a distinct positive, however, the real revelation was the performance of William Hartnell.  This story allows us to see a softer side of this incarnation of the Doctor which up till now has been rarely seen in the scenes with Cameca.  The performances of Hartnell and Margo Van der Burgh are really lovely, and the Doctor genuinely looks smitten by Cameca and there does seem to be genuine sadness that he has to leave her behind, evidenced by the fact that he picks up her broach before leaving in the TARDIS.  Hartnell seems much more genial and pleasant that the version of the Doctor we have seen before, and watching this story has really made me warm to First Doctor.  He is also shown to be fallible, like when he is giving Ixta information on how to defeat Ian, not knowing the identity of the former’s opponent.  Again, William Russell gives a great performance as Ian, and I particularly enjoy his reaction when he learns that the Doctor is engaged to Cameca!  The main plaudits do really have to go to Jacqueline Hill who provides a majestic performance as Barbara here, as she really is the focus of the entire story and she carries it so well.

Where did you get hold of this?

My fiancé.

I see…your what?

Yes, I made some cocoa and I got engaged…

Ian Chesterton and First Doctor

Verdict: I really enjoyed The Aztecs as it is really rather different to anything I remember the show doing before.  A strong script really does help here as well.  8/10

Cast: William Hartnell (The Doctor), William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright), Carol Ann Ford (Susan Foreman), Keith Pyott (Autloc), John Ringham (Tlotoxl), Ian Cullen (Ixta), Margot Van der Burgh (Cameca), Tom Booth (First Victim), David Anderson (Aztec Captain), Walter Randall (Tonila), Andre Boulay (Perfect Victim)

Writer: John Lucarotti

Director: John Crockett

Parts: 4 (The Temple of Evil, The Warriors of Death, The Bride of Sacrifice & The Day of Darkness)

Behind the Scenes

  • The first story to address altering the course of history and the first to have a romantic subplot involving the Doctor.
  • ‘The Warriors of Death’ was the first episode filmed at BBC Television Centre following persistent requests from Verity Lambert and her allies.  Ultimately, this would only be temporary, as by the end of production on the serial, they were back filming at Lime Grove.
  • The only story written by Lucarotti that exists in the BBC Archives in its entirety.
  • Jacqueline Hill named this as her favourite story.
  • Carol Ann Ford was on holiday for two weeks and only appears in pre-filmed inserts in episodes 2 and 3.

Best Moment

In the story’s final scene, the TARDIS crew hear Tloxtol and the rest of the Aztecs carry out their planned sacrifice, and Barbara and the Doctor’s conversation discusses how they actually didn’t really achieve anything and the emotional impact this has on Barbara.

Best Quote

Oh, don’t you see?  If I could start the destruction of everything that’s evil here, then everything that’s good will survive when Cortes lands.

But you can’t rewrite history! Not one line! Barbara, one last appeal: what you are trying to do is utterly impossible.  I know! Believe me, I know!

Barbara Wright and First Doctor

Aztecs - Autloc
(c) BBC

Minuet in Hell

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minuet in hell

Leave me be! Don’t carry me off to Hell…I’m awfully trepidatious about Hell, you know.

Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

It is early in the 21st Century, and Malebolgia is enjoying its status as the 51st state of the United States.  The Brigadier has been invited over to provide advice after his role in securing the devolution of powers to Scotland.  There’s definitely more going on here than meets the eye, with a man in the mental institution talking about a TARDIS.

Review

Anyone who has read this blog, specifically my reviews of Jon Pertwee’s era, will know how much I love the Brigadier, and I desperately wanted this story to be good.  Therefore it really pains me to say that the only meeting of the Brigadier and the Eighth Doctor is a substandard entry.  None of the plot elements really grab me, and the story feels as though it does go on for so long and the American accents really don’t help either.  There are lots of elements that seem to be thrown at the listener, but hardly any of them really stick and it really does feel like a slog to get to the finish line.

The best part of this story are the performances of Nicholas Briggs, Paul McGann and Nicholas Courtney, who at least keep you vaguely engaged with the story.  Briggs brings a degree of sinisterness to Gideon Crane, a man who has got the memories of the Doctor in his head, a reference to the fact that Nick Briggs played the Doctor in the Audio Visuals.  Nicholas Courtney superbly brings his Brigadier back to life, and the scenes with him expressing his exasperation with his superiors back in Britain.  I particularly enjoy him wishing that the Secretary of State would find a demon in his jacuzzi! The Doctor being incapacitated for most of the story means that the Brigadier is essentially the male lead and Courtney is able to pull this off as well as you would expect.  McGann is also great, dealing with the confusion of the amnesiac Doctor perfectly and his recovery of his memories is nicely played as a gradual transition and not everything falling into place at once.  His interactions with Gideon Crane greatly help this.

The writing really lets this story down.  Minuet in Hell had a very troubled production, with Alan Lear suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome whilst writing this story and Gary Russell rewriting the second half of the story.  However, it is more symptomatic of problems with the early Eighth Doctor audios.  It feels as though Big Finish are uncertain about the direction they want to take this series in, and this story seems to be veering more towards making the story darker and more adult.  This is a story in which Charley essentially gets forced into being a prostitute and very briefly attends an orgy, combined with a Satanist cult.  Maybe it’s my Christian background but the Satanism aspect of this story certainly makes really and deeply uncomfortable.  There are also so many different plot strands here as well, like the PSI-859 and the Doctor’s amnesia, but none really grabbed me as wanting to know how the story will end.  Honestly, I just wanted to get through it relatively unscathed.  Additionally, and I’m aware that this may just be me being a massive Brigadier fan, but I hate the fact that the Doctor and the Brigadier spend so little time together with the Doctor’s memories restored.  It is a bold move in the Eighth Doctor’s fifth story in total and fourth since McGann came back to Big Finish for the Doctor to lose his memory.  Sadly, I think it is too early in his run for a story where the Doctor takes a complete backseat until the final part.

Sadly the majority of the other performances are largely poor, let down by poor accents.  I feel that I do need to let India Fisher off the hook though, as she does the best she can with some incredibly stilted dialogue.  The performances are chewing the scenery, to put it mildly and the stereotypical American accents are really painful to listen to, especially Waldo Pickering and Becky Lee.  Becky Lee, a member of the Order of St Matthew, who is essentially Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is so irritating that I think I might have to re-evaluate listening to nails being scraped down a blackboard, meanwhile Waldo Pickering sounds as though he might be trying to sell me southern fried chicken at any moment.  Marchiosias is also not at all intimidating, partially due to being given really sarcastic dialogue constantly, really undermining the sense of menace I suspect he was supposed to generate.

Verdict: Really, Minuet in Hell is a story that I would recommend skipping unless you’re a completist or love the Brigadier (like me).  Good performances from McGann, Courtney and Briggs can’t save this incredibly poor conclusion to the Eighth Doctor’s first series at Big Finish. 2/10

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Robert Jezek (Brigham Elisha Dashwood III), Morgan Deare (Senator Waldo Pickering), Helen Goldwyn (Becky Lee Kowalczyck/Catatonic Woman), Maureen Oakeley (Dr. Dale Pargeter), Nicholas Briggs (Gideon Crane), Hylton Collins (Orderly), Barnaby Edwards (Scott/Catatonic Man), Alistair Lock (Guard), Jacqueline Rayner (Catatonic Woman) & Nicholas Pegg (Catatonic Man)

Writer: Alan W. Lear & Gary Russell

Director: Nicholas Briggs

Parts: 4

Behind the Scenes

  • The story marks the first meeting of the Brigadier and the Eighth Doctor.
  • It is a remake of an Audio Visuals story of the same name.
  • The last story to use David Arnold’s original arrangement in Storm Warning.

Best Quote

Quite a man your friend, the Brigadier.  One of the best you said?

No, Charley.  THE best.

Charley Pollard and the Eighth Doctor

Remembrance of the Daleks

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Remembrance Dalek

Do you remember the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster? Or the Yeti in the Underground?  Your species has an amazing capacity for self-deception.

The Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor and Ace are back in 1963, where the Daleks are on the hunt for some Time Lord technology that the Doctor left on Earth which would allow them to perfect their ability to time travel.

Review

Remembrance of the Daleks stands out as one of the best examples of late 1980s Doctor Who, and one of the best Dalek stories in the show’s history.  I think this really should have been the show’s 25th-anniversary special, rather than Silver Nemesis and in my head, it really is.  After all, it does go back to where the show started, albeit with an infamous mistake on that blue door to the scrapyard.  Remembrance wraps up a kind of informal 1980s trilogy and is symbolic of a kind of swagger reminiscent of moments in the Tom Baker era and is one of the stories that I would regard as almost being like a comfort blanket.

Dalek eye stalk Remembrance

Those who have read my Time and the Rani review will not be surprised to hear me compliment the work of the director, Andrew Morgan, who returns here with a much stronger story to back him up.  Morgan really makes the Daleks feel threatening again, right from their first action in the story, with the sole Dalek in the scrapyard.  The gleaming Daleks feel at their most powerful in a long time, especially the gleaming white and gold Imperial Daleks.  The direction really helps scenes like the cliffhanger at the end of episode one, with the Dalek flying up the stairs towards the trapped Doctor, which really stand out and make this story memorable.  There are other examples, like the scene in which Ace attacks a Dalek in the classroom and the final scenes of the Daleks battling each other in the streets of Shoreditch which are really nicely directed.  Even elements like the girl being used by the Daleks, which could and have not worked well in the past work well here, with the girl being really quite creepy.

Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake.  The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways.  The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences.

The Seventh Doctor

Ben Aaronovitch’s story is also top-notch.  His writing seems so effortlessly good that, despite this being his debut story, it feels like he is a veteran of writing for Doctor Who.  Maybe this is why the story seems to have recovered some of the feeling of unassailable swagger that it had in the early years of the John Nathan-Turner years.  It cannot be easy to write a story like this, bringing in the Doctor’s most famous adversaries and their creator, while weaving in nods to the show’s history but it is done so well here.  The story has the confidence to save the reveal of Davros until the very end, which is really the mark of a show that has a strong belief that it has a long and bright future, when in hindsight, we know that the reality was that the sharks were circling in the light of reducing viewing figures and increasingly waining faith in the show by the high ups at the BBC.  That isn’t the impression this story gives especially when, in the closing moments, we see Davros escaping, clearly to fight the Doctor once again.  A show resigned to its fate would likely give us a final end for either one of them, but this is something different.  It could be labelled as the show being in denial, but I can imagine that this story gave fans cause for optimism.  The story also seamlessly drops in contextual elements like racism and fascism and deals with these succinctly too.

Renegade Daleks

The whole cast give a fantastic account of them too, and it is doing her no disservice to say that Ace rules this episode.  From her scenes of beating up a Dalek with a baseball bat to her reaction when it is revealed that Mike is a traitor, Aldred pitches it perfectly and cements Ace as a fantastic companion.  McCoy gives his best performance to date as the Doctor, especially in the scene in the café and when Terry Molloy’s Davros finally unveils himself to the Doctor on the screen.  Meanwhile, the guest cast that we spend the most time with are likeable enough and it is clear to see why Big Finish would see the potential for a spin-off with these characters.

Verdict: I think it’s pretty clear I adore this story.  10/10

Cast: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Simon Williams (Gilmour), Dursley McLinden (Mike), Pamela Salem (Rachel), Karen Gledhill (Allison), George Sewell (Ratcliffe), Michael Sheard (Headmaster), Harry Fowler (Harry), Jasmine Breaks (The Girl), Peter Hamilton Dyer (Embery), Hugh Spight, John Scott Martin, Tony Starr & Cy Town (Dalek Operators), Roy Skelton, John Leeson, Royce Mills & Brian Miller (Voices), Peter Halliday (Vicar), Joseph Marcell (John), William Thomas (Martin), Derek Keller (Kaufman), Terry Molloy (Davros) and Hugh Spight (Black Dalek Operator)

Writer: Ben Aaronovitch

Director: Andrew Morgan

Behind the Scenes

  • This is a story of several firsts.  It is the first time we see the skeleton effect used when someone is shot with Dalek weaponry, and famously the first time we see a Dalek fly up the stairs.  Daleks had previously been seen to fly in Revelation of the Daleks and levitate in The Chase.
  • This is the first story of the 25th anniversary series of Doctor Who, and the first to show the Seventh Doctor as more of a Machiavellian schemer, a trait which would remain until the end of his era.
  • There are hints of the Doctor’s secret past on Gallifrey which would continue to be delved into in the later seasons of the Classic era.
  • The final appearance of the Daleks and Davros in the original television series.  The Daleks would reappear in Dalek and Davros in The Stolen Earth in the revived television series.
  • The end of the serial shows the destruction of the Dalek’s home planet of Skaro.  However, Skaro would be seen in the TV Movie, Asylum of the Daleks, The Magician’s Apprentice, The Witch’s Familiar and the adventure game City of the Daleks.  John Peel proposed a story called War of the Daleks, which saw Skaro saved from destruction, which was adapted into an Eighth Doctor Adventures novel, showing that Antalin was used as a decoy and accordingly, destroyed instead of Skaro.
  • Russell T Davies stated that he considered the destruction of Skaro, along with the events of Genesis of the Daleks to be the origins of the Time War.
  • The story marks the final appearances of Michael Sheard and Peter Halliday.
  • The Counter Measures group would be picked for a spin-off produced by Big Finish Productions.
  • William Thomas would go on to be the first actor to play a role in the original run and the revived run of Doctor Who, appearing in Boom Town.  He would then play Gwen’s father, Geraint, in Torchwood.

Best Moment

This is one of my favourite stories of the classic era, so there are too many to count.  I think it is probably a draw between the scene with Ace destroying the Dalek with her baseball bat and the cliffhanger at the end of part one.

Although I do enjoy the brief moment where the Doctor picks up the Hand of Omega in funeral directors and the ‘coffin’ levitates out after him.

Best Quote

The Daleks shall become Lords of Time.  We shall become all…

Powerful.  Crush the lesser races.  Conquer the galaxy.  Unimaginable power.  Unlimited rice pudding, et cetera, et cetera.

Davros and the Seventh Doctor

Remembrance of the Daleks Davros