‘The Mutants’ is the penultimate story of season nine, coming directly after ‘The Sea Devils’ - a story which is engraved on many fan hearts as being a classic. In my humble opinion, ‘The Mutants’, sadly, is not.

I shall begin by discussing the plot which, although superficially fairly sound (with an obvious anti-colonial message), has two major problems working against it:

1) The story tells of the Doctor and Jo being sent by the Time Lords to deliver a sealed message pod to an unknown person aboard a Skybase orbiting the planet Solos. At the beginning of the first episode, the message pod materialises in front of the Doctor. This begs a hugely important question that pretty much renders the story so convoluted as to be immediately dismissed: why did the Time Lords not simply materialise this pod in front of the unknown person in the first place’ Hmm’

2) It is stretched out over six episodes. This is far too long. By episode four it is really beginning to drag and, by episode 6, I was in serious doubt of how much I cared. Indeed, episodes three and four are almost entirely padding consisting of the Doctor and co. flitting fractiously between Skybase and fannying around in the caves on Solos.

There elements of the plot that are enjoyable, however. The life-cycle of the Solonians is interesting - and the idea that they mutate every 500 years is particularly quirky. The quest for the crystal is also well handled, and leads to some very bizarre sequences in the caves. The transformation of Ky into an ethereal super-being is also quite fascinating - and it’s realisation on screen suitably weird. Having said this, the story’s solution is completely unsatisfactory: the Marshal is killed and everyone just packs up and goes home. What a damp squib of an ending!

Episode one begins promisingly enough. The delightfully abstract opening titles that so define the Pertwee era fade into a wonderfully atmospheric sequence involving a Mutt being hunted across the swirling mists of the planet Solos. This is followed the group of Skybase guards in pursuit standing victoriously over it’s limp body as it lies broken on the ground. Very good, I thought.

And then Rick James (Cotton) opened his mouth to speak.

Now, let’s not beat around the bush. Rick James is quite the worst actor ever to have graced Doctor Who. He’s so atrociously dreadful that I’m surprised our beloved John Nathan-Turner didn’t later cast him as a certain Alzariun boy genius. Yes, Rick James is SO horrendous that he makes Matthew Waterhouse seem like Lawrence Olivier. Destroying every scene that he’s in, Rick has the expressional repertoire of Pinnochio and delivers his lines like a Dalek. He really is that bad. I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry when he uttered his first line, a description of Solos: ‘It-is-a-rot-ten-stin-king-hole-of-a-planet.’

I could decide, however, when it came to Paul Whitsun-Jones as the Marshal. Needless to say, I laughed. Like a strange cross between Arthur Lowe and Windsor Davies, Whitsun-Jones spends most of ‘The Mutants’ delivering his lines with such an air of malicious flippancy and untamed pomposity that almost everything he says or does is unintentionally amusing. At times - even when talking of such weighty matters as genocide - I half expected him to shout out ‘Don’t tell him, Pike!’ Whitsun-Jones is, quite frankly, highly entertaining as the Marshal. But, in a story charting the barbarity of oppression and colonialism, he’s highly entertaining for all the wrong reasons. 

James Mellor is okay as Varan - his performance is rather OTT but actually quite entertaining, if not a tad cringing, and rather suitable for the character. Christopher Cole is reasonably convincing as Stubbs. Unfortunately, his performance is detracted from by his character being, for the most part, paired with Rick James’ Cotton. Even a competent actor like Cole is not going to give his best when spending five episodes interacting with a cardboard cut-out. That said, he’s bound to be marginally better than when spending five episodes interacting with Rick James!

Of the rest of the supporting cast, I thought that most of them were rather good. John Hollis as Professor Sondergaard is excellent - very entertaining during the sequences in the caves, he steals every scene he’s in. Quirky and weird, it’s a shame Sondergaard only appears in the second half of the story - he’s certainly an interesting diversion, serving well to lighten up the flagging action. Garrick Hagon is also excellent. Reminding me slightly of Richard Beckinsale, he gives a really convincing performance as Ky - the most interesting character in the story.

Before I continue, I’d better mention Geoffrey Palmer. He’s an extremely talented actor and, as one would expect, is totally convincing as the short-lived Administrator, even managing to die (something which can easily look very false) quite well.

I shall now turn my attention to the regulars. The Third Doctor seems to be going down a bit of a blind ally by the time of ‘The Mutants.’ For me, he becomes remarkably less likable for a short period around this point in the series history. The character just seems to know ABSOLUTELY everything and seems utterly infallible. If he’s attacked, he performs a bit of venusian karate; if he’s trapped, he whips out his sonic screwdriver and escapes; if Jo asks him a question, he snaps back irritably; in short, he’s arrogant and un-likable. And his is not the arrogance that I find so amusing in the Sixth Doctor, where it is constantly and persistently pricked (and garnished with a liberal dose of fallibility), but an arrogance unchecked to an extent that the impression is given of the Doctor’s head being forced too far up his own proverbial chute. In short, the Third Doctor of late season nine is not particularly attractive, desperately in need of character development and a rethink - a shot across the bows that begins him back to reality (if there is any such thing as reality in ‘Doctor Who’!). This shot, thankfully, comes at the beginning of Season Ten, when he is forced through the humiliation of teaming up with his other selves in ‘The Three Doctors’.

Pertwee’s performance in ‘The Mutants’ is lazy. Most of it is spent fluffing his lines and delivering self-righteous speeches with absolutely no conviction at all. In short, he seems bored by the script and, perhaps, by the role.

Katy Manning is much better as Jo. Apart from coming across as a little stupid - at one point, the Doctor gives her a perfectly reasonable explanation of events and she still claims that she doesn’t understand - she remains likable and constantly bubbles with enthusiasm. Who cares if she’s not the best actress in the world’ I don’t - she’s got a nice bottom.

The Mutts are well realised on screen - looking like weird (and handily man-sized, when it comes to the costumes) ants. Their various stages of metamorphosis are also well done - all credit to visual effects for some superb looking creatures.

When it comes to incidental music, ‘The Mutants’ possesses the most dreadful I have ever heard in ‘Doctor Who’. Bizarre, yes, and, some would say, perfectly suited to the story but, in truth, it’s just darn right irritating. As with tropical skin diseases, one wishes a simple lotion could be bought to get rid of it forever.

All in all, ‘The Mutants’ is one of the most disappointing stories that ‘Doctor Who’ has ever turned out. Despite some good special effects and acceptable direction, the plot is hole-ridden, the incidental music is horrendous and the acting (in most cases) is well below par. Despite that, it is, in places, vaguely entertaining and, quite frankly, you can’t despise it. You can’t want it banished forever into the darkest caves of Solos. You can’t want to put a sword to its neck and scream, in true Varan style, ‘Die, Overlord!’ And do you know why? Because ‘The Mutants’ is six of the shoddiest episodes from the finest science fiction series ever made. And, as such, it’s far, far better than any of the trash that you’ll find on TV today.

The last time I watched 'The Curse of Peladon', I thought that it was incredibly dull. On this occasion therefore I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. Well directed and designed, the story looks great, but its real strength lies in its thoughtfulness.

The basic premise of 'The Curse of Peladon', that of a technologically undeveloped society poised to join the Galactic Federation, a decision that is dividing its citizens, is a strong one, and it is well handled. On the one hand we have King Peladon, the angst ridden young Monarch of Peladon (an almost tortured performance from David Troughton) keen to see his people reap the benefits offered by the Federation, and on the other we have Hepesh, terrified of change and desperate to preserve the traditional beliefs of his people. This provides the basis of the conflict in the story, with Hepesh secretly conspiring against his King, with an alien conspirator thrown into the mix and the Doctor and the other delegates caught up in Hepesh web of intrigue. Part of the reason this works so well is that Hepesh is a well-rounded character. The scene in which he admits to the Doctor in episode three that he is frightened of the consequences of joining the Federation is impressive, because it emphasizes that he is not just another moustache-twirling megalomaniac, but a misguided man who genuinely thinks that he is acting in a good cause, even if that cause makes him so desperate that he will resort to murder. This is also demonstrated by his willingness to let the delegates go home in episode four, since he just wants them to leave his world in peace and not interfere, and is not prepared to risk the consequences of harming them. This then forms the bones of 'The Curse of Peladon'.

Several notable aspects flesh out 'The Curse of Peladon'. The most obvious is the delegates. The return of the Ice Warriors is most welcome, and given an interesting twist by having them prove not to be the villains. This confounds the long-term viewer's expectations, but more interestingly confounds the Doctor's. It is quite understandable that having only met hostile Martians in the past, the Doctor should be wary of them, but it's still rather satisfying to see this most moralistic of Doctors succumb to prejudice. This also provides the story with its big twist, since the Doctor's distrust of the Ice Warriors is conveyed to the viewer; as it transpires, Arcturus is the villain, whilst Izlyr proves to be a staunch ally. Since I personally prefer the Ice Warriors as noble allies, this scores particular points with me. 

The other delegates work quite well. Arcturus is perilously close to looking cheap, but actually manages to look quite revolting as monsters go. Alpha Centauri of course looks like a penis in a cloak, but the twittering, hysterical hexapod is quite endearing and provides a nice contrast to the coldly calculating Arcturus and the unflappable Ice Warriors. The other "monster" on display here is Aggedor, who looks rather good when kept in shadow, which director Lennie Mayne wisely realises. Direction is strong throughout, combining with superb design work and great use of model shots of the Citadel to make 'The Curse of Peladon' very atmospheric. The fight scenes, both the fight between the Doctor and Grun in episode three, and the sword fight in the throne room at the climax, are very well staged and surprisingly convincing. 

The two regulars are both exceptional here. Jon Pertwee puts in one of his most charming and charismatic performances, again in keeping with the Doctor's generally better demeanour whenever he manages to get away from Earth. The Doctor rises to very challenge that he encounters on Peladon, whether that challenge is impersonating the Earth delegate (a role he adopts with relish), fighting Grun in the pit, or hypnotizing Aggedor. This particular Doctor's ease at being accepted by establishment figures stands him in good stead, King Peladon never once doubting that he is a man of rank. Katy Manning puts in one of her finest performances up until this point, especially during her scenes with King Peladon. Jo's emotional pleading with the King to overrule the Doctor's death sentence is of especial note, and is a strong reminder that Katy is a fine actress. She also gets more to do than in previous stories, due to the attraction between her and Peladon. 

In summary, 'The Curse of Peladon' is a modest but effective story that maintains the high quality set by 'Day of the Daleks', a trend that will continue with the next story.

I really can't fault 'The Sea Devils'. Well all right, apart from the incidental music, which is almost supernaturally irritating, I can't fault 'The Sea Devils'. Great monsters, superb characterisation, and perhaps my favourite use of the Doctor's arch-enemy, add up to make something of a classic. 

First off, the Doctor/Master rivalry is marvelous here. I've charted the progress of their relationship over the course of Season Eight in previous reviews, and I've noticed that most of the time the Doctor has very little regard for the Master, whereas the Master seems to respect the Doctor far more and is desperate to impress him. This seemed to change somewhat after the Doctor's refusal of a half-share in the Universe in 'Colony in Space', and this is evident here; the Master is far more ready to actually kill the Doctor here (rather than finding excuses not to do so), first throwing a knife at his back with a genuinely murderous look on his face, and later in episode six urging the Sea Devil leader to kill him. Despite this, his respect for the Doctor's intellect is once again on display, as he forces the Doctor to help him build a device to wake up the Sea Devils. As in 'The Mind of Evil', the Master seems to rather enjoy this brief collaboration. On the other hand, the Doctor's attitude towards the Master seems to have mellowed slightly, since his enemy has been imprisoned by UNIT and possibly because he is thus trapped on Earth just like the Doctor. Although the sunken ships arouse his curiosity, and although he seems to want to get his hands on the Master's TARDIS, he does nevertheless admit to Jo that he feels sorry for the Master, and that they used to be friends, the first time this is actually confirmed. 

The Master is both at his most charismatic and most ruthless here, exhibiting his considerable avuncular charm when in conversation with the Doctor and Jo or even Trenchard, but eager to start a war purely out of malice and a desire to avenge himself on the human race for locking him up. Delgado puts in an especially good performance, effortless switching from charm to fury in an instant; of particular note is the scene in episode six, when the Sea Devils attacking the base are defeated and he is briefly held prisoner in the Naval storeroom whilst the Doctor goes to check on Jo. Earlier, he attacked a petty officer when caught stealing equipment, but whereas there he did so casually and without obvious emotion, here he lashes out in fury, raising his voice as he does so, Delgado giving us a brief glimpse of just how frustrated he really is that his plans have briefly been derailed. The whole story is full of great Master scenes, including his sword-fight with the Doctor, him being saluted by sailors whilst he poses as an officer, and his wave goodbye to the Doctor as he escapes in the hovercraft during the final scene. 

Pertwee, for his part, puts in a very good performance as the Doctor. He is just as good as Delgado in his scenes with the Master, and helps to make their sword-fight a highlight of the story. The Doctor is generally at his eccentric, egocentric best here, gallantly diving onto barbed wire so that Jo can cross it without injury, guilelessly stealing her sandwiches later on, assuring an attacking and obviously hostile Sea Devil that he won't harm him in episode two, handling Walker in episode five, and briefly convincing the Sea Devil leader to consider peace despite the interference of the Master. In addition, the Doctor gets to pilot a speedboat and a ski-jet, and take a trip in a diving bell (rather smugly responding to Hart's question as to whether he's an experienced diver or not with the answer "Naturally!"). He also turns a transistor radio into a transmitter (in the process demonstrating that he isn't infallible, since it first doesn't work and then explodes after he's used it, in a nice moment of comic relief) and even gets to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow. In short, he's at his most capable, heroic best. That said, points are deducted for him falling for the Master's fake collapse routine in the hovercraft, although being taken in by such an obvious ruse would explain why he looks so frustrated in the very last scene (incidentally, when did the Master get the chance to obtain that mask? Surely he didn't have it in prison…). Jo also does well here, rescuing the Doctor in episode three and again in episode six (well, almost - he rescues himself, but at least she makes the effort), and standing up to Walker.

The Sea Devils themselves look rather good, despite their static eyes. I rather like them actually; although only one of them speaks (their leader), he comes across as a rather noble sort, certainly more prepared to listen to reason than Walker when it comes to discussing peace. It makes me wonder what the Doctor might have achieved had the Master not got involved. In addition, despite having less to say than their cousins in 'Doctor Who and the Silurians', the actors playing them manage to convey subtle characterisation, especially the Sea Devil guard in the submarine, who watches the captive sailors with curiosity as they play cards. As in 'Doctor Who and the Silurians', the tragedy of the situation is that both reptiles and humans have a right to the planet, but both make a peaceful solution difficult at best, the former sinking ships and killing their crews, the latter retaliating automatically and foiling the Doctor's hopes of a peaceful solution. The actions of both sides are understandable, which only adds to the tragedy.

The characterisation is generally superb, a trademark of Malcolm Hulke's scripts. Captain Hart is a stand-in for the Brigadier, displaying none of the unfortunate buffoonery inflicted on Lethbridge-Stewart by the production team of this era. His exasperation at the Doctor and later growing respect for him are very familiar and work very well, thanks to Edwin Richfield's acting. The pompous and boring but ultimately well-intentioned Colonel Trenchard is played to perfection by Clive Morton. His naivetй and indeed stupidity in dealing with the Master make raise the question of whether he was told anything about his prisoner but at least his heart is in the right place, even if his brain isn't. The scene in which he believes that the Master thinks the Clangers are extra-terrestrials rather than puppets, to the Master's obvious exasperation, nicely highlights Trenchard's lack of imagination and gullibility. And his death has a certain stout nobility to it, as he determinedly guards his prisoner to the last. The other supporting character of note is Martin Boddey's Parliamentary Private Secretary Walker, one of the most genuinely loathsome characters ever to appear in the series. Stupid, arrogant, patronizing, self-opinionated, and willing to exercise the powers unwisely granted to him with any regard whatsoever for the consequences (he seriously considers nuclear strikes off the English shoreline), he is thoroughly dislikable, and this makes the Doctor's verbal dressing down of the man and his later exposure as an abject coward all the more gratifying. 

The direction is excellent. There are some marvellous set pieces, especially on board the sea fort, which boasts some highly suspenseful scenes. Sets and model work throughout look highly effective, but most notable is the extensive filmed location work, plus footage of the navy, which integrates very well and makes the entire story seem impressively lavish. The use of the navy is part of the reason that I like 'The Sea Devils' so much I think; they serve the same purpose as UNIT, but lack the twee coziness that genuinely grates on my nerves by this point in the series and aren't blighted by Mike Yates. Overall, 'The Sea Devils' maintains the high quality of the season thus far, a quality that sadly starts to decline with the next story.

'The Mutants' has a bad reputation. It's often considered a turkey, in fact. The truth, in my opinion only of course, is that it doesn't quite deserve being dismissed so out of hand, but it comes perilously close. It is, ultimately, ham-strung by deficiencies in two crucial areas and these deficiencies seriously undermine the stories.

Before I discuss these deficiencies, I'll first explain why I think 'The Mutants' has merit. Firstly, the plot is sound. Both plots in fact. The first plot, one of racism and apartheid, is a sound premise for a Doctor Who story, allowing the series to tackle real-life issues. This plot is simple; the colonial Earth Empire enslaved the Solonians five hundred years earlier, recruiting them into the Empire whether they wanted to be recruited or not, and plundering the resources of Solos. In case any viewer misinterprets the message being conveyed, we have teleportation booths segregated for use by Solonians and "Overlords" (humans). The Solonians are, quite naturally, unhappy about this state of affairs and demand their freedom, which Earth is now prepared to grant them, but interference comes in the corpulent form of the Marshal, a megalomaniac bully who has no intention of being deprived of his powerful position. This is all solid stuff, drawing on many historical scenarios, and is generally well handled. A particularly nice touch is the Administrator's terminally aborted speech in episode one, as he tries to tell Ky and his fellows that Solos is being granted independence. He rather pompously tries to sing the praises of the oppressive Empire by explaining during his speech that Solos has benefited from occupation by gaining technology and education; never having asked for this in the first place, it isn't surprising that the Solonians are unimpressed. 

The second plot contains the life cycle of the Solonians themselves, which is quite interesting, and well presented. Baker and Martin appear to have put some though into this, and the concept of a planet with a two-thousand year orbit, with a transformation of the population every five hundred years in order to cope with this, is rather novel. In addition, the Mutt costumes look rather good, although Ky's eventual transformation into an extra from a nineteen-eighties music video is rather tragic. 

In addition to the plot, 'The Mutants' benefits from excellent direction from Christopher Barry; the cave scenes are particularly impressive, especially the surreal effects used in the cave containing the crystal. The location work meshes nicely with the studio footage, and the model work is rather good too. So given that 'The Mutants' has a good plot and excellent direction, how can it possibly be considered to be a potential turkey? Well there are two reasons really, and they are the acting and the scripting. Which, unfortunately, interact synergistically to have a much more negative impact than either of them alone would. 

There are four guest members of the guest cast of 'The Mutants' who I have seen acting elsewhere, and of those only two put in a half decent performance here. The first is Geoffrey Palmer, playing the ill-fated Administrator, a man seemingly incapable of bad acting but who unfortunately doesn't last beyond episode one. The second is John Hollis, who played the devious Herr Kaufman in A For Andromeda and its sequel The Andromeda Breakthrough. He's a pretty good actor and he struggles bravely here in the role of Sondergaard, who exists purely to help the Doctor explain the plot to the audience. The other two actors that I've seen elsewhere are Paul Whitsun-Jones and George Pravda (Castellan Spandrel in 'The Deadly Assassin'). The former previously played reporter James Fullalove in The Quatermass Experiment, and on the evidence of the surviving two episodes, he can act rather well. Unfortunately, he seems here to have read the cringe-worthy dialogue offered by the script and decided to go as far over the top as is humanly possible without actually reaching the other side. The Marshal is absolutely terrible, spouting ludicrous dialogue such as "I'm surrounded by incompetents!" It doesn't do the story any favours that we have such an unsubtle villain; a colonial type who genuinely believes in the Earth Empire, rather than a ranting xenophobic stereotype that is concerned solely with his own power and sudden desire halfway through the story to become ruler of a terra-formed "New Earth", might better serve the plot. Whitsun-Jones' over-acting grows and grows throughout, presenting us with such unintentionally hilarious moments as when he whips the blast packs behind his back as Stubbs and Cotton approach the cave mouth in episode three, in almost pantomime fashion. 

George Pravda meanwhile, seems thoroughly uninterested in his role as Professor Jaeger, although bearing in mind his dialogue I don't really blame him. His sudden obsession with particle reversal is extremely annoying; he insists that he needs the technique to complete his atmospheric experiments, but prior to the Doctor's arrival he was getting along fine, albeit more slowly; he didn't even believe that particle reversal was possible. More annoying though, is his purpose in the story. Jaeger exists to illustrate the principle often espoused (quite fairly) in Doctor Who that science must be tempered by ethics; Jaeger is the anti-thesis of this principle, not remotely concerned with the consequences of his actions for the natives of Solos. Unfortunately, the script is so unsubtle that he more-or-less states this himself, especially during the "genocide as a side-effect". 

The Solonians don't fair much better. Garrick Hagon isn't bad as Ky, but James Mellor's Varan is another matter entirely. Varan, a man whose appearance is crying out for the addition of an electric guitar, is a character blighted by some truly awful dialogue, most of which involves him talking about himself in the third person. This is presumably to indicate that the Solonians are less advanced than the Overlords. Armed with such unwieldy lines, Mellor hams it up almost as much as Whitsun-Jones. Back with the Overlords we also have Rick James as Cotton. James has occasionally been described as the worst actor ever to appear in Doctor Who, but with lines like "we'll all be done for!", I'd challenge any actor to do better. Even one of the extras is bad enough to be noteworthy; the old man in Varan's village is reminds me of the crone from the Blackadder II episode 'Bells'. 

So if the acting's that bad, presumably we can look to the regulars for solace. Or not. Katy Manning is her usual reliable self, but Jo gets so little to actually do, being forced to tag along with Ky, Stubbs and Cotton, or a combination therefore, that she serves only to explain the obvious to particularly dim viewers. Pertwee on the other hand, actually below par here, seems genuinely bored with the script. He even fluffs a line near the start of episode one, in true Hartnell style. His lack of enthusiasm is most obvious when he's confronting Jaeger or the Marshall; the Third Doctor is particularly good at righteous indignation, but his objections here to the treatment of the Solonians just seem half-arsed.

In summary then, 'The Mutants' has potential, but fails to realize it. After a strong trio of stories, this is particularly disappointing, but not as disappointing as the fact that the season is about to get unbelievably and astonishingly worse…

When the Time Lords exiled the Doctor on Earth, and we were introduced to his third generation, the series made a fresh start. The regular UNIT team had been phased in Patrick Troughton’s last two seasons, but other than that Jon Pertwee’s first two seasons had focused on new foes, concentrating more on stealth invasions and the malevolent machinations of the Master.

It was only a matter of time before one of the series’ famous faces from the past made an appearance, and in 1972, the Daleks made their first appearance in colour on TV. Oddly, compared to later colour Dalek stories – where the first episode is a kind of foreplay building up to their orgasmic ‘surprise’ appearance (somewhat undercut by the title of the story, but never mind) – the Daleks are sidelined in “Day Of The Daleks”. Perhaps this was a ploy of the production team, not wanting to cash in too heavily on the past. It seems fashionable to knock the Letts era, but you have to admire their determination to avoid rehashing old villains and more or less start anew. Whatever the reasons, it works quite well. The Daleks as mostly unseen, shadowy conspirators and manipulators gives them a stature that was often lacking in later stories. It is, however, unfortunate that the production could not disguise the fact that they only had three usable Dalek props! The Dalek voices – always a big part of the impression they make – are terrible here, hardly surprising as they are not performed by their usual vocal artists.

At the centre of this story is not another unfeasible Dalek scheme, but a fascinating time travel paradox. The series very rarely addressed the issues of time travel, but “Day Of The Daleks” tackles it head-on with its central enigma of changing history. The discovery that the guerrilla who is trying to prevent the third world war is in fact the instigator of it, is a brilliant revelation, years ahead of a similar paradox in “Twelve Monkeys”. Shades of the brilliant “Inferno”, with its alternate Earth timeline, which is always a winning basis for comparison. The guerrillas are not particularly interesting in themselves, although Anat is another one of those feisty women that Doctor Who throws up every now and then. Guerrillas are a very 1970s element of the story – the Badher Meinhof terrorists were in the news at the time, although I’m not sure if that was before or after “Day Of The Daleks” was written.

Aubrey Woods is excellent as the Controller. The Third Doctor’s era is often criticised for its ‘woolly’ politics, but it is certainly no less idealistic than the dubious moralising of some of the New Adventures – and in the Controller, the series acknowledges that corrupt regimes are not merely comprised of ‘pure evil’ bogeymen like the Daleks but equally quislings such as the Controller. The two sides to the Controller’s Earth that Jo and the Doctor see is a good representation of the Seventh Doctor’s philosophical rumination, “You live in Paradise, you start to wonder who empties the bins”. Jo sees the fine food and wine, and is charmed by the Controller’s smooth talk of productivity and efficiency, and is so dazzled by the surface that she does not question the inner workings, whereas the Doctor – by no means a materialist, although the Doctor and Jo’s ghostbusting slumber party does show that the Doctor appreciates the finer things in life – sees the corruption and oppression. In the real world, there are many people like the Controller, cogs in the machine – reminiscent of the characters in Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” – and it’s good to see the series acknowledging that ‘evil’ can be complex and ambiguous.

“Day Of The Daleks” is a noteworthy story for many reasons, although the Daleks are one of the least significant of them! It has a certain believability lacking in later Pertwee stories, possibly because of the use of a BBC newsreader as himself in one scene, the world powers setting, and UNIT here at their most competent and serious.