In the old, old days when seasons were long and stories could be made in thirty seconds flat, when there was a certain requirement in the narrative such as the introduction of a new companion it was possible to throw away a couple of episodes and dedicate them to that cause. Whether this is good or bad is debateable as while it means the episodes don’t get bogged down trying to do too much in too short a time (such as Rose and The Long Game of the new series have), it means that they’re completely inconsequential in their own right apart from that one function to the overall programme that they perform. The Rescue is such a story, being far more important to Doctor Who in general than it is to its place in the canon of individual serials. “Inconsequential”, however, doesn’t necessarily mean “bad”.

It gets going pretty sharpish though, as it presents immediately the situation of the crashed spacecraft as opposed to a TARDIS scene linking back to the previous story, as was the norm at the time. The model work of the crashed spacecraft is wonderful (courtesy of that old miracle worker Raymond P. Cusick) and might have been one of the season’s most iconic images if this story was more memorable. The interior set of the spaceship is also good, being decorated enough to be interesting without being cluttered. It is harder to tell about the caves though as they are very darkly lit and it has to be said that the picture quality isn’t great (for future reference, at the time of writing this story has yet to be remastered for a DVD release).

Maureen O’Brien makes an excellent first impression as Vicki, elevating some lines which seem to be written for a clone of Susan, and as I said in my recent review of The Keeper Of Traken it’s high time her status was upgraded to “good” rather than “underrated”. Ray Barrett playing the laconic Bennett is also good. I know it’s no fault of the episode’s, but the planet Dido does get a laugh these days due to the singer of the same name, although it’s not as funny as the misprint in the episode guide in Adrian Rigelsford’s book The Doctors: Thirty Years Of Time Travel that reads “On the planet Dildo, the TARDIS crew split up…”

The TARDIS scene, when it comes, is very good due to some excellent lines (what do you expect from a David Whitaker script) being delivered by three immensely talented actors who all have an obvious respect and regard for each other. There are some funny moments, such as the sitcom-style cross-purposes when Barbara tells the Doctor that “the shaking’s stopped” which shows how much lighter the characterisation of the first Doctor became in the second season, possibly because Dennis Spooner took over as script editor from this story on. What is good is the moment where the Doctor forgets that Susan has left him; the ensuing uncomfortable silence tactfully broken by Barbara is a deeply poignant scene.

Koquillion is a good looking monster in the long shots; up close however, it does look very much like a costume. While this can be forgiven in other monsters like the Voord the fact that it eventually turns out to be a costume means that its obvious falseness undermines the twist ending somewhat. His voice is funny, as the sound of people yelling from behind masks often is, but the scene where he first meets Ian and Barbara comes in a scene showcasing some excellent special effects, with flawless split-screen showing the companions looking down upon the ship.

The Doctor’s comment that he didn’t get a medical degree turns out to be another contradiction, which is funny; over time, the Doctor claims to have gained a degree, failed a degree and had every variation between which suggests a shifty and mysterious character far more effectively than any self-conscious “Cartmel Masterplan” ever did. His musing of what could have happened to apparently change the Didonians into an aggressive race is a very dramatic moment.

Barbara’s meeting with Vicki is another pleasant enough scene (although it is never explained how Barbara survived what from the sound effect appeared to be a very long fall without any injury and keeping her hairdo in place); the emphasis on Vicki’s name not being a contraction of Victoria shows a series trying a bit too hard to be hip and modern, but Vicki’s monologue explaining the killing of the crew is absolutely fantastic and why it isn’t reproduced in all the various quotation compilations that are about I’ll never know.

Considering that this is such a short story the Doctor and Ian do spend a long time trapped behind a rock wall, although this does allow the Doctor to fill in details about the planet Dido that some much longer and more complex stories fail to include; The Rescue, it has to be said, is more narratively rounded than it’s given credit for even if that can’t be said in terms of the plot. The ledge-traversing scene shows the B-movie roots that the first few seasons had, even if nobody who was involved in the creation of the Daleks would admit it and even if it does show off some more excellent split-screen effects. The sand monster is utterly lame though: although to an extent I can forgive how fake it looks the inclusion of glowing pen-torch eyes shows that, unusually, Cusick is falling back on stock monster clichйs of old. True to the spirit of the scene the cliffhanger is silly and its resolution the following episode is accordingly simplistic.

The death of “Sandy” is a curious mixture of the surprisingly sad and the completely ridiculous, and if it wasn’t interrupted by the arrival of the Doctor and Ian I’m not sure how it would have panned out. As it is it just about gets away with it, although Ian’s intentional mispronunciation of Koquillion as “cocky-lickin’” had my eyebrows raised so high I had to stand on a chair to get them back. This is the kind of thing that threatens to throw the whole thing into the realm of absurdity and is just about saved by the very sweet scene where the Doctor comforts the untrusting Vicki.

The resolution is on the horizon now and this is where the story comes apart at the seams a little bit. The Doctor knocks on Bennett’s door and is told that “you can’t come in”; his reaction? He grabs the heaviest metal object he can find and proceeds to batter the door in. Am I the only one who thinks that’s a trifle impolite? It’s such an unrealistic moment from a character point of view that it makes all subsequent plot developments that derive from it (which are all the important ones) hard to swallow, and in fact on the subject of illogical plot devices the story has some corkers left to come. The magnetic tape recorder is another moment that is retrospectively funny, and is a problem common to the era.

However, the confrontation scene between the Doctor and Bennett is very cool, as most scenes featuring William Hartnell are. The hall of judgement set is excellent and is heightened further by the use of Tristram Cary’s score from The Daleks; the story was too minor to have its own score presumably, so they made the right decision to use the programme’s best piece of music until The Invasion. Bennett is a great villain, of the old dastardly boo-hiss type, and is much underrated. That said, he doesn’t exactly require much persuasion to explain the whole plot and if it wasn’t for the fact that the plot was so simple I’d be criticising the exposition now. However, the appearance of the Didonians makes for a famously naff final resolution (featuring the story’s only death; the consequently surprisingly high mortality rate of 25% comes from the fact that the guest cast is so small) which in a larger story would be deeply disappointing. Also, why do the natives smash up the radio equipment? What is the rescue ship supposed to think now? This is a lazy attempt at tying up a loose end that only makes the problem worse.

The reason I love Verity Lambert’s time as producer is that it was a time where immense effort was being put into the show; there was no cynicism at all, simply an effort by all concerned to make a good, original programme. This means that even stories that don’t work so well command respect to a greater or lesser extent, and even stories as minor and essentially unambitious as this are entertaining and well-written. While because of that aforementioned inconsequentiality I can’t give this story more than an average rating, I feel that if the attitudes behind it had been carried over into all subsequent eras of the show then the final product would have been even better.

You know you’re in trouble when you have to take thirty minute breaks between Episodes in order to watch a story without gnawing your ankles off. At least, I’d say that this is a reasonable argument, and it’s certainly one that sums up ‘The Web Planet’ for me. I apologise to fans of the story, but in my opinion it really is not very good at all.

The basic story is nothing too terrible- rival alien factions fight for control of a planet- but the execution of said plot is slow, tedious, plodding and padded out, something that would not be too bad in most stories, but when this one lasts for six whole Episodes, then you quite clearly have a problem. It saddens me to write this as deep down I know there is an okay-ish story waiting to be seen, but here no such story is available for public consumption. Bill Strutton has some good ideas, but his script does not do them justice in any way, shape or form.

Of the six Episodes, it’s arguably the first one- simply entitled ‘The Web Planet’- that impresses the most. The title of the Episode sets up the next twenty-five minutes well: mystery, alien worlds, excitement. Well, maybe not the latter but the first two are fulfilled nicely. The cleverest thing about this Episode is the way that it centres pretty much solely around the four regular cast members (i.e. the current TARDIS crew) and every so often throws in an alien to create a bit of horror. However, such moments sometimes fall flat on their faces. The appearance of a Zarbi in the TARDIS scanner works well, largely due to Vicki’s understated reaction, but they are handled less well earlier on- namely when one of them pops its head up over a rock briefly to take a look at Ian before ducking down again like a naughty schoolboy; whilst the sequence should prompt mystery and maybe a small fright, instead it just looks really, really silly and never fails to make me laugh a little.

The use of Vaseline to make Vortis’ surface look more alien works really well, and is one of the best things about the entire story as it really does give the alien atmosphere that the story is desperate to create.

The best thing about Episode One for me is the ending- and I mean that in a way that is not offensive towards said Episode. By making Vortis seem very alien and not including any other human characters, the cliffhangers that are witnessed as the Episode ends work well: Vicki is alone in the TARDIS as it rolls around, Barbara is about to walk into an Acid Bath (what is it about Acid Baths and stories with Martin Jarvis in them?), Ian is, err, trapped in a net, and the Doctor discovers that the TARDIS has vanished. As viewers, you genuinely care about the protagonists, so the fact that they are all in danger is a rather thrilling end to the Episode, and is easily the highest point that Strutton reaches in his script.

Alas, despite its good points, even this Episode suffers from having parts that simply feel like padding out- a rather look piece about Aspirins here, the Doctor and Ian wandering around in near-silence there. The whole sequence with Barbara’s arm is interesting but again goes on for a little too long, whilst earlier on we have a most painful moment as William Hartnell forgets his lines whilst trying to explain how the TARDIS doors can be opened despite there being no power- full credit to him for slogging through it rather than demanding a re-take, but there is no denying that it is still an awkward moment and a rather painful one to watch.

After the first Episode, things really hit rock bottom; we have moments that are just embarrassingly funny (“I have a shock for you. The ship’s gone- vanished!” says the Doctor. Cue shot of Ina looking shocked), moments that ruin the illusions being created (namely the many times cast members cast shadows upon Vortis’ backdrop, thus making it obvious that it is a set), moments that just make you cringe (the first time you see an Optera in full view), and moments that are just plain dull (yes, I’m looking at the Optera again). Maybe it’s wrong of me to give the Optera such a hard time, but when they first appeared I actually let out a cry of “Oh… oh boy…” such was the shock at seeing them for the first time. For a story that was so expensive to make, they don’t half look incredibly cheap. Now, poor effects in ‘Doctor Who’ are normally in my eyes forgivable, but here they really look the pits and the way they speak… well, put it like this: it didn’t exactly sell the effect to me. Maybe I’m just being too harsh on them, or perhaps I just see them for what they are- more than a little crap.

As well as the excess padding, the story also feels extremely lazy. In every single Episode there are numerous moments when you scream “I can see a boom shadow!” or “That’s a Stage Light creating that shine!”, and there are often moments where silence passes for a few moments so that the Episode can be just that little bit closer to filling up its running time.

As well as this, there are moments that really stand out as being quite horrific, and such moments are more than a little at odds with the relatively fluffy atmosphere elsewhere. Parts such as a Menoptra having its wings ripped off by a couple of Zarbi, or when an Optera shoves her head in a rock to stop a flow of Acid, stick out as being very, very vicious and are truly shocking compared to everything that is going. Perhaps that is the point- that among everything, something nasty is happening. However, I think it would have been better to stick to just one ambience; despite parts like the lingering close-up of Hrostar’s dead body being some of the most powerful images in the story, as it stands such moments seem jarring and work against the story rather than for it.

The padding problems really become evident in the later Episodes. How many times can Vicki be put under control of the golden collar before it becomes tedious? Several times apparently, or so this story would have you believe as it doesn’t stop shoving it on her when something needs to happen to plug the gaps. It is the ending that really stands out as being overlong though. The actual death of the Animus is decidedly naff, and following this we have some very overlong and drawn out moments with the TARDIS crew milling around on the planet surface. Look over there as Barbara plays with a scrubbing brush… sorry, I meant a Venom Grub (or are they Larvae Guns? Or Zarbi Larvae? Somebody tell me for certain because as it stands I don’t have a clue!), and now we see Ian and the Doctor talk about Ian’s Coal Hill tie, a sequence where I can never tell if it’s meant to be serious, funny, or, well, anything really- it just confuses me and seems to be as pointless as it is confusing. The actual ending once the TARDIS crew have left is not too bad, but its power is somewhat marred again by moments where it could quite easily have been shortened with no loss to coherence.

It’s not all bad in ‘The Web Planet’. The film sequences in ‘Crater Of Needles’ when the Menoptra land and fight the Zarbi are entertaining and nicely shot, whilst Ian’s fight with a Zarbi in the previous Episode is entertaining too but in an entirely different way. Elsewhere, Zombo the Zarbi deserves his own spin-off series and there are some nice touches in the script: the fact that the Menoptra cannot correctly pronounce the TARDIS crew’s names for instance (calling Ian ‘Heron’ for example) is rather nice, as are all the scenes set inside the Crater of Needles, which show a real visual flair on director Richard Martin’s behalf. What a pity then the rest of the story swamps such moments as these.

Acting wise, ‘The Web Planet’ is again hit and miss. The regular cast are on top form, despite line flubs here and there, and the rather patronising treatment of Vicki throughout (the Doctor giving her chocolate to clam her down is one moment that springs to mind). Of the guest cast, Catherine Fleming as the Animus voice is rather impressive and the Optera… well, the Optera are perhaps better best forgotten. The Menoptra are universally good, with Martin Jarvis as Hilio really impressing. Only the odd hissing noise they make to one another when they are arguing lets things down, as does the famous sequence where they taunt the Zarbi by, err, shouting out “Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrbiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” in a very high pitched voice. No, I don’t know why they do this either. Later on, there’s a brief reprise of such behaviour- a Menoptra shouting “Barbara Barbara Barbara!” as if she is about to break into a Cheerleading sequence. It’s a pity she doesn’t, as that would have lightened things up a bit I suppose.

In all then, ‘The Web Planet’, in my opinion, deserves its reputation for being ambitious, creative, and more than little rubbish. Full points to the Production Team for attempting something so other-worldly, minus several points for how dire the actual story is.

“I’ve never experience anything like this in my life before!” cries the Doctor at one point, which is rather like how I felt whilst watching it- thank goodness that I won’t have to do so again.

'The Web Planet' is of course notorious. When, as a kid during the largely pre-video eighties, I started to learn about past Doctor Who stories from Target novelisations and Peter Haining's Doctor Who – A Celebration, the latter of which led me to believe that 'The Web Planet' was a classic, with pioneering special effects and superb monsters that was utterly convincing in its portrayal of a truly alien world and was years ahead of its time. Then it was released on video. 

That basically seems to sum up fandom's opinion of 'The Web Planet', which The Discontinuity Guide notes is "slow and silly looking by modern standards". However, if anyone is expecting me to savage it, they are in for a disappointment. The main reason for is that I don't judge Doctor Who by its special effects, and never have; I judge it by plot, script, and acting. My stock pretentious argument for non-Who fans who ask me how I can take Doctor Who's effects seriously is that it is all to do with suspension of disbelief, and that Shakespeare's plays are traditionally performed on an empty stage with minimal props, but that doesn't detract from the plays themselves. My more honest answer is simply that I watch Doctor Who through metaphorical rose-tinted glasses. That said, I'm not blind to crap effects, and so since I mentioned the Slyther when I was rambling on about 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth', I'll get the discussion of the effects out of the way. Vortis itself doesn't look bad – it's at least as credible attempt to create an alien landscape as Skaro was in 'The Mutants'. True, there are often shadows cast over painted backdrops by the actors, but on the whole the sets are pretty good, and convey a sense of space quite convincingly. This is probably helped by the oft-criticized use of lenses to blur images set outside on Vortis' surface, which prevent the viewer from focusing too closely on backgrounds, but these aren't used in all the "outdoor" scenes. The rocks and craters really look rather good, as do the occasional pools of acid, and for a series that will later resort to the use of quarries to portray alien planets, it's a laudable attempt. The other sets are also well done, although parts of the Carsenome (mainly the corridors) do look painfully like flimsy plastic. The room in which the Doctor and Vicki spend most of the story however looks reasonable enough, as does the Animus' centre. The Menoptra Temple of Light also looks good, as do the caves of the Optera. Ultimately, I realized that I'd got to the end of episode six without feeling that the action was taking place within a studio. The other big demand on the effects is of course the various aliens present on Vortis. 

The Menoptra look like men in costumes, but then so do most Doctor Who monsters and overall they look quite good, probably faring the best of all the creatures present. The bands of hair around their bodies allow them to be flexible without the need for over-ambitious insect like joints, which adds considerably to their success. That said, my mate caught the end of episode four, fell about laughing and exclaimed, "It's just a load of blokes in crappy moth costumes". As I said, rose tinted glasses… The Zarbi look much better in black and white photographs than they do on screen, due largely to the fact that their back legs are painfully obviously those of the actor, whereas both sets of forelegs are much more spindly and are clearly just stuck on the costume. The rest of the costume is obviously sat on the actor's back, but in spite of this, they still look quite effective running about. Honest. The Optera are a different matter, since they basically look like cheap polystyrene and the extra arms are utterly absurd, being unconnected to the actor and just dangling unconvincingly. The Larvae guns are even worse, and look like ironing boards with fronds on either wheels or the backs of actors at differing parts of the story. Finally there is the Animus, which vaguely resembles a Dutch Cap with fronds, but on the whole doesn't look too bad. So that's the effects out of the way…

On the whole, I think that 'The Web Planet' is to be applauded as an attempt to portray an alien world. Vortis is at least as intriguing as Skaro, with its ancient ruins, acid pools, starry sky and weird lighting. Whilst the Zarbi are basically ants and the Menoptra moths, the actors and director try hard to make them work as aliens, and on the whole they succeed; the chirruping of the Zarbi as they run mindlessly about is striking, as is the weird body language of the Menoptra, which is clearly the result of careful attention to detail – notice Hrostar and Hilio squaring off in episode five, by bobbing and hissing at one another. The dance-inspired movement of the Menoptra, including their distinctive arm hand waving, might look like amateur dramatics in retrospect, but shows a real attempt to make them stand out as alien. The real triumph in the alien stakes however is with the Optera, who get some great scripting, referring to blank walls as "silent" ("we must make mouths in it with our weapons, then it will speak more light"), to stalactites as teeth of stone, and to acid vapour "sleeping" at their feet. These are all attempts to show that Optera do not think in human terms, and it's an excellent idea. The Menoptra too are made to feel more alien simply by altering their pronunciation of Ian and Barbara to Heron and Arbara, showing that to them, human names are just as strange as theirs are to us. It has often been noted that 'The Web Planet' is the only Doctor Who television story in which none of the supporting characters are humanoid and however daft people might think the costumes are, it is still highly effective as an idea. 

As a villain, the Animus is a first for Doctor Who, since it is unseen for most of the story, but its presence is felt throughout. It's rather more effective as a disembodied voice than it is in the flesh, thanks largely to its dispassionate tones as its sits converses with the Doctor. From the first time that the Doctor talks to it, it gives an impression of being utterly evil, due largely to its obvious disregard for any life other than itself. The Animus is central to the plot of 'The Web Planet', more so than any other single villain seen so far in Doctor Who; it is responsible for the arrival of the TARDIS, the desperate plight of the Menoptra, and the barren state of Vortis, which we are told was once cocooned in flower forests. It is an utterly malignant thing, and this feeling is emphasized by its method of take-over – it has slowly extended its web over Vortis, absorbing everything in its path, and the fact that the Menoptra refer to this web as the Carsenome (an obvious corruption of carcinoma) only serves to reinforce this malignant feeling. At no point in this story do the Doctor or his companions get a reprieve until the Animus is destroyed – from the moment the TARDIS is forced down, they are forced to split up after which they are all, in one way or another, either enslaved and/or forced to fight for their survival. The feeling of desperation is due largely to reminders that they have landed on Vortis just in time for the Menoptra's last ditch attempt to regain their world – they are dying on Pictos, and, unused to conflict, they have been forced into battle with guns that turn out to be useless, and pinning all their hopes on a weapon that they cannot be sure will work. Their plight seems all the more grim due to their physical mutilation – the Menoptra captured by the Zarbi have their wings torn off. For a species that is used to flight, this is presumably akin to having ones legs broken or amputated to prevent escape, which is a disturbing thought and one which occurred to me when Hrostar was rendered permanently flightless. 

Episode one of 'The Web Planet' is one of my favourite opening episodes of any Doctor Who story up to this point, along with 'The Mutants' and 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'. As on Skaro, the TARDIS crew find a mysterious and unearthly landscape, rife with strange phenomenon, from the high-pitched chittering of the Zarbi early on which only Vicki can hear inside the TARDIS, to the pools of acid, the Menoptra edifice, and the strange web that ensnares Ian. The success of this episode is due partly to the direction; unusual camera angles make the sudden assault on the TARDIS intriguingly macabre, especially when combined with the bizarre effect of the rotating TARDIS console. Plus, we have the mysterious effect on gold items (which also allows Vicki to find out about Ian and Barbara's visit to Rome in 'The Romans' – a nice touch) and the half-glimpsed Zarbi scuttling amongst the crags; I'm not entirely blind to the short-comings of their costumes and the decision to keep them only briefly seen in the first episode is a wise one. The ADJs are also a nice touch, reminding us that not all planets are like Earth, even if they have to be reasonably similar to the constraints of dramatic requirement and budgetary restrictions. Overall, the episode is effective and memorably creepy, and the look of utter loss on Hartnell's face at the end when the Doctor realises that the TARDIS is missing is amazingly convincing. Which brings me to the characterisation.

Rather famously (or infamously), Hartnell has a fluff nightmare in episode one, which at its worst moment results in an obvious prompt from Russell ("What galaxy is that in, Doctor?"). After this however, he is on top form during 'The Web Planet'. When dealing with the Animus and playing for time, the Doctor is at his imperious best, urgently asserting himself to protect him and Vicki. This alternates with his familiar air of bright-eyed fascination as he strives to answer the question of what is happening on Vortis, what the Animus wants, and how it controls the Zarbi. Later, his bickering with Prapillus is a delight, as is the way he effortlessly takes charge during the meeting in the Temple of Light. But he is also vulnerable, as witnessed by his sudden reversion to frightened old man when he loses the advantage of having knowledge that the Animus wants about the Menoptra and is thus placed under its control, and later on when he and Vicki are sprayed with webbing and taken before the Animus. Vicki also comes across well, as in 'The Romans' demonstrating that she is more useful than Susan – although obviously frightened at some points, she keeps her wits about her throughout, and is able to defy the Animus even after the Doctor has collapsed before it. Ian and Barbara are the usual excellent selves, Barbara single-handedly rallying her dispirited Menoptra allies to fight their Zarbi oppressors, and ultimately destroying the Animus with the Isop-tope when its light overwhelms them. Ian does similar things with the Optera, helped considerably by Vrestin, and the look on Russell's face when Nemini dies in the acid stream speaks volumes about the hardship faced by the oppressed inhabitants of Vortis, again testament to his acting skills. Of the guest cast, Hrostar and Hlynia are fairly forgettable, but the other Menoptra fare better. The imperious Vrestin maintains her dignity even when she and Ian the Optera imprison them, which stands out because on the whole the spirit of the peace-loving Menoptra is easily broken. Prapillus is another well-defined character, an old man who despite the loss of his wings and a lengthy period of enslavement has kept both hope and curiosity alive. His fascination with the Doctor's mysterious ring is quite endearing, as is his determination to fight the Zarbi and Animus even though he knows that the attack on the Carsenome could prove fatal. His knowledge of the Zarbi and the Larvae guns is crucial to the success of this mission. Finally there is the aggressive (for a Menoptra) and distrusting Hilio, who despite his paranoia about trusting the aliens and losing the only weapon that even gives them a chance, ultimately is forced to turn to Barbara for aid in the Centre when the presence of the Animus proves too powerful for him. Nemini and Hetra represent the Optera, both of who are initially afraid of Ian and Vrestin and want to kill them to protect their people, but who are eventually persuaded to face their fear of Pwadaruk and the surface to aid them in their struggle. Nemini dies in the tunnels, but Hetra accompanies Ian and Vrestin into the Carsenome and eventually leads his people in their first faltering steps onto the surface of Vortis and into the light. Part of the reason that I think 'The Web Planet' has so much to offer is that the actors give it their all, even those inside the Zarbi.

Despite all this praise I'm heaping on 'The Web Planet', it is still flawed even if we look beyond the costumes – nobody seems to realize how heavy those gold collars would actually be, there are some strange accents from some of the guest-cast, and the story suffers from padding. And of course there is the infamous moment in episode three when a Zarbi runs straight into the camera – one of those cursed moments in Doctor Who when a non-fan mate always walks into the room. Nevertheless, if you can look beyond the budgetary and technical limitations of the time, 'The Web Planet' has much to offer and is at the very least an admirable attempt at creating a truly alien world, even if it isn't quite a success. I'm glad that the attempt was made and that this story survived in the archives. 

Now why do I think nobody is going to agree with me…

After the post-nuclear holocaust horror of 'The Mutants' and the Nazi imagery of 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth', viewers at the time might have been expecting further apocalyptic horror from the third Dalek story after the dramatic cliffhanger appearance of a Dalek at the end of 'The Space Museum'. That brief appearance reveals that the Daleks, who had perfectly adapted their environment to suit their needs in 'The Mutants' and then demonstrated their ability to reach beyond their city and conquer other worlds in 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth', have made a further technological leap in conquering the fourth dimension. We are told that the Daleks are preparing to follow "the enemy time machine" and track down and exterminate their old foes. This promises the viewer a thrilling and terrifying ride in which there is no escape from the Dalek for the TARDIS crew. What the viewer gets however is nothing of the sort. 

Since I discussed the positive aspects of 'The Space Museum' first, here I'll discuss the drawbacks of 'The Chase' first instead. Firstly, the direction is sloppy. There is a BBC camera in the jungle on Mechanus, there is a Dalek in the House of Horror before the Daleks arrive there, an Aridian sneaks around I the background during episode two, and the Frankenstein monster changes its clothes between scenes. In addition, Richard Martin makes some strange directorial choices; during the final battle between the Daleks and the Mechanoids, there are three horrible Batman-style cartoon flashes super-imposed over the action, which look incredibly cheap and nasty. In addition, since Edmund Warwick looks nothing like William Hartnell from the front, the decision to use him in scenes when the Doctor is absent is an interesting one, especially since these scenes often then involve a close-up of Hartnell completing the robot's lines. This jars considerably, and is unnecessary, since during the actual duel between the Doctor and his doppelganger, Warwick is filmed from behind and is reasonably convincing, leading to the obvious conclusion that the entire duplicate plot could have been carried off much better than it is. The shots of the TARDIS and the Dalek time machine traveling through space also look terrible, due to the obvious use of cardboard cutouts of the two craft, and are entirely unnecessary. The ground on Mechanus is shrouded in dry ice in the model shots, but bare and obviously a Dalek-friendly set floor in the studio. And 'The Chase' has Doctor Who's stupidest incidental score to date, which totally destroys any tension that might otherwise have been created. 

Initially, the Daleks themselves are impressive, with a new streamlined look that is a massive improvement on the large-bumpered satellite-dish supporting model from 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'. That they have become the first beings in Doctor Who other than the Doctor himself to travel in time is also undoubtedly impressive and suggests that their technology can overcome any obstacle in their path. Unfortunately, this is all undermined by Nation's apparent decision to pen 'The Chase' as a comedy. Instead of the intimidating and unstoppable monsters of the first two Dalek stories, here we have a Dalek that clears its throat as it emerges form a sand-dune (thus destroying the tension of the first episode cliffhanger), a Dalek that goes "erm" repeatedly when asked to perform mathematics, and Daleks panicked by indestructible fairground exhibits. The segment located atop the Empire State Building is an outright attempt at comedy, but falls flat, like most of the bits in 'The Chase' that seem to want to be funny but aren't (why on Earth, for example, doesn't the Dalek exterminate Dill? I certainly wanted to…). It is almost as though Nation (a former script-writer for Tony Hancock) suddenly realized that homicidal psychotic monsters are not the best comedy fodder and ended up writing a half-hearted semi-comedy. Since these prevent 'The Chase' from becoming as dramatic as it could be, it falls between two stools. What results is more of a parody than anything else – the Daleks chanting "retreat" in high-panicky voices in episode four are hugely reminiscent of King Arthur's cry of "run away!" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Similarly, their frantic chanting of "Attack! Attack! Attack!" brings to mind the Knights who say "Ni". They are easily dispatched too – a fairground android breaks one into pieces (they would have been useful during the Dalek invasion), another roles sedately into the sea, and one is easily lured into a cardigan-based pitfall trap. 

Like Nation's earlier 'The Keys of Marinus', 'The Chase' has a multi-location narrative, as the action moves from place to place throughout time and space. Whereas I criticized 'The Keys of Marinus' for failing to live up to its potential, 'The Chase' overcomes this flaw by three separate tactics. One of these is to have a planet with no intelligent indigenous species, inhabited only by robots, about which we are told everything we need to know, and who have a Spartan, mechanized civilization with consequently no hints of a larger culture to entice and frustrate the viewer – this works quite well. Another is to have sequences set on Earth, and thus familiar. The third unfortunately, is to have two episodes set on a planet inhabited by a race so tedious that the viewer (or at least, this viewer) has no interest in learning more about it. Aridius is deadly dull. The sets are OK, but the Aridians themselves are pathetic to the point of contempt, without any accompanying feelings of sympathy (I suspect that this rather harsh view on my part is due largely to their silly appearance and some dreadful overacting). Even the name is ridiculous – the planet is called Aridius and it used to be wet, but became Arid. Serves them right. Perhaps they changed the name after the seas dried up? In a series that will later demonstrate the difficulties of creating convincing tentacles, the mire beasts are quite effective, until at least we see one in full, and learn that it resembles an enormous scrotum. And why do the Daleks tell the Aridians to hand the time travelers over at high suns, instead of immediately, thus giving them time to escape? The entire planet is presented as a soul-destroying combination of tedium and ludicrousness. Admittedly, the Daleks are quite nasty here – their extermination of the two Aridians who dig the TARDIS out of the sand is a reminder of their ruthlessness. Sadly, it is the next episode, which destroys their credibility. In addition, the gimmicky scene with the Time-Space Visualiser is too long and just feels like padding. The Shakespeare bit is particularly unmemorable. 

The Morton C. Dill sequence is also crap, although it is to Peter Purves' credit that when he reappears as Steven in episode six, the characters are completely different. With a cod American dialogue, unfunny idiot Southern American tourist routine, and silly hat, Dill is just irritating. As is the tourist guide with the over-the-top Brooklyn accent. Aside from that, the sequences set on Earth are OK – the Mary Celeste sequence is pure filler, and has a couple of moments of half-hearted humour, but the Haunted House sequence is quite good fun. Although the Doctor's sudden conclusion as to where they actually are is absurd and rather out of character for a man who thus far has always favoured scientific explanations. 

Despite these considerable flaws however, 'The Chase' is rather enjoyable. This is largely due to the last two episodes. Peter Purves immediately grabs the attention as the slightly manic Steven, who is immediately distinct from the ever-sensible Ian from the moment he enthusiastically greets the travelers. Although he has been a prisoner for two years, he clearly hasn't been sitting idle, as the wooden construction in his cell attests. He has also clearly given some thought to his escape, knowledgably nodding when Ian mentions the cable, but has pragmatically realized that he was better off where he was until he actually stood a chance of getting off Mechanus as well as outside of the Mechanoid city. Admittedly, his decision to rush back into a burning room for his stuffed toy and thus almost cause Vicki and Barbara to plummet fifteen-thousand feet to their death is not his finest moment, but it tells us that he is headstrong and also brave, if foolish. Since he doesn't appear until the last episode, he doesn't get the same sort of character development that Vicki got in her debut story, but his basic personality is immediately established. 

The Mechanoids themselves, despite being an obvious attempt to cash in the success of the Daleks, are visually effective, although their strange speech patterns doom them from true Dalek rivalry. 

Nevertheless, their battle with the Daleks at the end, cartoon flashes aside, is impressively shot and is the highlight of the story for me. The final destruction of the city is also impressive. The sub-plot with the robot double of the Doctor is obvious padding, but quite effective and leads to much more dramatic scenes than we saw earlier in the story. Barbara at its mercy in the jungle is particularly creepy. 

The regulars continue to impress, with Hartnell, unlike the script, effortlessly switching between comedy and drama (witness his TARDIS scenes in episode one and the "Yoohoo! Auntie!" bit in episode two). Most of the time, the Doctor is at his most intense, as he commits himself to battling and defeating the Daleks. Whether he's working on his bomb or vowing to defeat his foes, he wears a permanent frown of concentration and is at full force when he lets rip with one of his typical First Doctor impassioned rants. Admittedly, there is a classic Hartnell fluff ("you'll end up as a couple of cinders floating around in Spain!"), but this is a solitary slip in an otherwise well-acted story. Vicki too continues to impress – she follows up her newfound independence from the Doctor during 'The Space Museum' by sneaking on board the Dalek time machine (which, lets face it, would be a terrifying experience) after being accidentally abandoned by the Doctor, Ian and Barbara, which allows her to learn about the robot, which might otherwise have killed Barbara. This contrasts nicely with her fear of heights, revealed in the final episode as the travelers climb down from the Mechanoid city. And then there are Ian and Barbara…

Having never watched this era of Doctor Who in order from the start before, I've never fully appreciated the impact of Ian and Barbara's departure, but this time it came as a bit of a shock. They've been the backbone of the TARDIS crew since '100,000 BC' and suddenly, at the end of episode six, without any build-up, they seize the chance to return home. The impact of this is powerful – we've seen them both develop during their travels with the Doctor from reluctant abductees to hugely resourceful and vital members of the TARDIS crew, and they've been in the series from the start, providing the viewers with someone to identify with in the various alien surroundings that the Doctor introduces them to, and suddenly they've gone. This is made doubly effective by Hartnell's acting, as the Doctor is obviously deeply hurt at their decision to leave him after all their adventures together, and covers this up with angry bluster. Only as the Doctor and Vicki watch Ian and Barbara returned to London on the Time-Space Visualiser at the end does the Doctor show his more vulnerable side, reminding us how close he and the two teachers had become. Ian and Barbara's final scene in London, complete with photo-captions of the pair of them revisiting London's landmarks, is a bit twee, but provides a nice sense of closure and also hints at a doubly happy ending – we've seen how close the two have become since they first entered the TARDIS and we're reminded of this during 'The Chase' both on Aridius and Mechanus as Barbara fears that Ian is dead and as Ian then realises that Barbara has left the cave with the robot. The final scene on the bus shows them acting very much like a couple, and it is easy to believe that they will end up together (as indeed they do, in 'The Face of the Enemy'). For the first time in the series, not just the TARDIS crew has changed, but its actual dynamic; whereas Vicki essentially filled Susan's role and Steven takes over from Ian as man of action, Barbara's role – sensible, older female companion – is lost, and doesn't return. We also now for the first time have no companions from the viewer's own era, with both Steven and Vicki hailing from the future – admittedly, they still provide identification for the viewer if no other reason than that they provide somebody for the Doctor to explain things to, but the feel of the show is nevertheless in someway different after 'The Chase'. Then again, Ian and Barbara have become two of my favourite companions from the show, so perhaps I'm just missing them J. 

Overall, though I appear to have found more bad points than good, the good points of 'The Chase' nevertheless just about manage to outweigh the bad, resulting in a story that manages to be enjoyable overall, and marks an important change in the series. This is quickly followed up with another significant development for the series, during the final story of season two.

The basic point of 'Galaxy 4' is essentially that one should never judge on appearances. This is not an uncommon message in fiction, but 'Galaxy 4' manages to take this basic premise and from it make an effective scenario, for a splendid four-parter that never outstays its welcome. 

Having never seen 'Galaxy 4' intact or the Loose Cannon recon, my assessment of the story is based on the audio soundtrack and the single surviving clip from episode two. And it's really rather good, with two distinct alien races, a simple but effective plot, and an engaging script. The Drahvins at first glance suffer from Xeron syndrome – they are depicted as alien by their eyebrows alone, and are initially fairly boring. Maaga raises them out of such low opinions however. Since all of the other Drahvins are (intentionally) fairly unintelligent cloned soldiers, they get few lines and are depicted as being stupid. Maaga however, is not; she is calculating, intelligent, ruthless, and sadistic, and shines as Doctor Who's first female villain (not counting the scheming Poppaea). Her unpleasant personality makes her interesting from the start, coming to the fore even when she is initially trying to convince the Doctor and his companions that the Rills are the villains – her description of them as crawling monsters is delivered with utter revulsion, suggesting that their appearance alone is enough to earn them her contempt and loathing, and she is eager to see them dead, as witnessed during the exchange in which the Doctor suggests that the Drahvins try and form an alliance with the Rills so that they might all escape from the doomed planet. 

These little hints as to her personality are immediately enough to make her seem unsympathetic, even when at this stage we have no other reason to doubt that the Rills are the villains. In addition to her barely-restrained bloodlust, the Doctor, Steven and Vicki are led to distrust by the obvious fear that she instills in her crew, and her paranoia – she is very insistent when she demands that Vicki remain on the Drahvin ship as a hostage whilst the Doctor and Steven return to the TARDIS to consult the Doctor's instruments and her entire attitude implies a threat. As the story progresses, her civilized faзade slips further and further – in episode two, on learning that the planet will explode even sooner than she believed, she is belligerent even whilst still attempting to enlist the Doctor's aid of his own volition – until by the end she gets one of the most chilling speeches of any Doctor Who villain as she gleefully tells her near-mindless lackeys that she can delight in imagining the deaths of those left on the planet when it explodes, even if she cannot actually watch them die. Furthermore, on learning that in fact the Drahvins attacked the Rill ship first, the viewer realises the full significance of her early revulsion towards them; when their ships met in space, she had not yet seen what the Rills looked like, but attacked them anyway – like the Daleks, it is implied that anything different to herself is automatically the enemy. It is fitting then that this especially foul villain does not suffer a last minute defeat, but sees her chances of revenge and escape disintegrating from the end of episode three; after Steven is rescued from the Drahvin airlock in which Maaga sadistically tries to subject him to a lingering death, her attempts to take the Rill ship and then the TARDIS are increasingly desperate. Ultimately, against the alliance of Rills and TARDIS crew, she stands no chance, and whether she seethes from behind the rocks or frantically races the Doctor and friends to the TARDIS, she seems impotent and dies frustrated as the her enemies escape and the planet explodes. In addition to all this, we have other interesting tidbits of information about the Drahvins, as Maaga gives us a glimpse of life on Drahva – a few males are kept for breeding and the rest are killed, whilst an underclass of clones perform functional tasks. The clones are clearly little more than slaves; they receive none of the privilege of "real" Drahvins, and are fed basic rations whilst their betters dine in luxury. Even the soldiers on board Maaga's ship have inferior weapons, despite being bred to kill, with only Maaga's gun allegedly able to damage the Chumblies.

On the other hand, we have the Rills, who are also well portrayed. Despite their monstrous appearance (preserved for posterity only in a couple of photographs, sadly), they are thinkers and learners, seeking only to explore. They are portrayed as a noble race, keenly accepting the Doctor's aid, but adamant that if he cannot save them, he must still save himself and his companions. Their reluctance to reveal their true appearance to the Doctor, Steven and Vicki even when they have befriended them might be construed as a reluctance to incite revulsion (who would like being told they are ugly?) but somehow comes across as genuine concern that their appearance will cause distress. But in spite of their gentle nature, they are prepared to use force to protect themselves and their friends when all other options fail – even after being shot down by the Drahvins, they offer their aid to them, but having realized that they cannot negotiate with the Drahvins, they are willing to deal harshly with them. This makes them far less pathetic than the Thals seemed in 'The Mutants', but their restrained use of such force also contrasts with the vicious Drahvins, making them seem honourable, but assertive. Their appearance and the fact that they breathe ammonia gas and communicate by telepathy goes a long way to making them convincingly alien and on the whole they are one of the better alien races to appear during the Hartnell era. The Chumblies are equally memorable; from the surviving clip, they look unusual enough to be effective, with their beehive shaped bodies and short stature, but manage to avoid seeming overly cute thanks to their impressive arsenal of tools and weapons, established during their attempts to enter the TARDIS. The weird noises they make add to the effect, and whilst they are hardly up there with the Daleks, they are on a par with the Mechanoids. 

Hartnell continues to impress as usual, whether he's fiercely defying Maaga or philosophising with the Rills. I've noticed how much he's changed since the series began, in terms of confronting danger; compare his lack of hesitation when rushing towards unknown dangers here, with his obvious fear and desire to avoid conflict in '100,000BC' and 'The Mutants'. True, this change was established during season one, but by this point he almost seems indestructible. By 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth', he was resolutely prepared to stop the Daleks at all costs, but he still seemed very vulnerable on at least two occasions during that story. I'd never noticed this progression before, but watching the series in order really makes it noticeable. In addition, it is interesting that he almost kills the Rills by sabotaging their air converter, and Vicki has to stop him. Whilst he clearly distrusts the Drahvins by this point, he presumably still accepts some of what they have told him, since he tries to destroy the Rills without first hearing their side of the story. This is not his finest moment, but nicely reminds us that for all his good points, he still makes mistakes. Vicki is here relegated to the role of the Doctor's sidekick for the first time since 'The Crusade', and doesn't get much to do, but her befriending of the Rills is an important plot development so she isn't entirely wasted. I also still like the fact that whilst she respects the Doctor, she is more mischievous towards him than Susan was, and is often cheeky, as in the scene when she throws the rock towards the Chumblies. Steven also continues to impress, and is far more confrontational than Ian was. His voice shows almost as much contempt for Maaga in episode three as the Doctor's did earlier, and despite having guns waved at him, he continues to defy her. The bit at the end of episode three when, suffocating, he snarls at her that he'd rather face the Chumblies (which he still believes to be hostile) rather than her any day is one of his greatest moments. In addition, he argues with the Doctor more than Ian did, seemingly less keen to avoid needless squabbles with the old man. Combined with Vicki's cheekiness, this results in a more fiery atmosphere between the Doctor and his companions, which never the less retains a feeling of mutual affection and makes this TARDIS crew distinct from the previous two. 

As far as I can tell from the surviving footage, the sets and costumes of 'Galaxy 4' are effective, but really it is difficult to tell. Based on the soundtrack alone however, 'Galaxy 4' is an excellent opening story to season three and a tragic loss to the BBC archives.

Where on earth do I begin? Every Doctor Who fan in the universe has heard of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” – the Christmas episode; the death of a companion; the one that got away…

Many people will have purchased the Lost in Time DVD collection on the strength of the three existent episodes of this story included on the disc. They do not disappoint! The newest discovery, “Day of Armageddon” is presented remastered with the option of an audio commentary from Peter Purves (Steven), Kevin Stoney (Mavic Chen) and Raymond Cusick, the designer. The visual quality of the episode (as well as that of both “Counter Plot” and “Escape Switch”) is so good that you would think it was only shot yesterday! Although I enjoyed watching these three episodes, it really is so sad to see. Such an epic, landmark story, and all that remains of it are three episodes and a narrated soundtrack (available separately on CD from the BBC Radio Collection.) Nevertheless, what we have is worth enjoying…

“Mission To The Unknown”, a single twenty-five minute episode broadcast four weeks before the first ‘official’ episode of the serial, is an episode unique in the history of the classic series – not one; not two but all the regular cast were on holiday! Moreover, despite being regarded as part of the larger “The Daleks’ Master Plan” narrative, this stand-alone episode is the only single-episode story in twenty-six seasons of Doctor Who (except for the feature-length special, “The Five Doctors,” I suppose.) Effectively a lengthy trailer for the upcoming story, this ‘Dalek Cutaway’ episode focuses exclusively on the exploits of the Space Special Security Service Agent Marc Corey (Edward de Souza) on the planet Kembel. He discovers that the Daleks are planning to unite several aggressive alien species against mankind, and although he is exterminated by the Daleks, a tape containing his findings survives, setting up the twelve-parter wonderfully… Only available today as an audio soundtrack, “Mission To The Unknown” is a curiosity that even die-hard Doctor Who fans will struggle to get excited about. It’s entertaining enough, but personally I had no real interest in the characters. In fairness though, when listened to in conjunction with the rest of the story, this little episode does do a remarkable job at slowly cranking up the tension, and at the time must have had a lot of viewers scratching their heads, looking for a resolution that wasn’t forthcoming. Moreover, if nothing else, this episode gives us a glimpse at what Nation’s spin-off Dalek series, “The Destroyers”, could have been like. Unfortunately for Terry Nation, it also gave the BBC an impression of what such a series may have been like…

As episode one proclaims, “The Nightmare Begins.” Depending on whether or not one has seen “Mission To The Unknown,” this episode is either wonderfully compelling or a bit been-there-seen-that. Much of the material from the teaser episode is rehashed, but even so this episode has a lot going for it. The Doctor, Steven, and new companion Katarina are really thrown in at the deep end – the wheels of the Daleks’ plan are already turning, and following on directly from “The Myth Makers”, Steven is badly injured and the Doctor is forced to venture out into the jungles of Kembel in search of aid. This episode also introduces a familiar face to the series, albeit in an unfamiliar guise. Nicholas Courtney makes his Doctor Who debut as Bret Vyon, another Space Special Security Service Agent. It is Courtney’s superb performance that really engaged my interest in this episode; his character is (initially) portrayed as a very unlikeable and very militant individual, someone who appears to be as much a threat to our heroes as the Daleks are.

The second episode, “Day of Armageddon,” was famously returned to the BBC archives in late 2003, and subsequently released commercially the following year for the first time as part of the Lost in Time DVD collection. After listening to the soundtracks of “Mission To The Unknown” and “The Nightmare Begins,” it was absolutely fantastic to be able to enjoy the wonderful visuals on display in this episode – beautiful shots of Daleks in the forest with pyro weapons; all the aliens in the council… even Mavic Chen himself. It’s a really enthralling episode. To those who have seen it on the DVD but don’t own the soundtrack, I cannot stress enough how much more enjoyable the episode is in context. “Day of Armageddon” may give us some wonderful visuals and some truly classic moments of television, but it isn’t until later episodes that characters like Bret Vyon and Mavic Chen (Guardian of the Solar System) are explored more fully, and moreover, it isn’t until later that things really heat up!

The loss of episode three, “Devil’s Planet,” is truly heartbreaking. Almost a completely self-contained adventure, this episode is set on Desparus (the prison planet of the ‘Solar System’ – how many planets does our Solar System have, hmm?) and contains the most shocking moment in the series to date – Katarina’s death. Like many people, I’d heard about her death long before I saw the surviving clip or heard the soundtrack, yet I was still taken aback at how well it was handled. Completely unexpected; totally understated. My only criticism would be that her death lacked a bit of weight because her character was so new. If, for example, it would have been Maureen O’Brien’s Vicki being sucked out into space I think it would have hit a lot harder, but even as it was the writers and producers have to be praised for taking such bold action. 

From the third episode onwards, “The Daleks’ Master Plan” borrows a lot from “The Chase” in terms of format and pace, but thankfully not in tone. Instead of the Daleks’ chasing the Doctor and his companions through time and space just to exterminate them, in this story they are chasing them to retrieve the Taranium Core of the Time Destructor and the whole universe is at stake. Episode four, “The Traitors,” continues the ‘chase’ format but also takes more time to dwell on characters like Mavic Chen and Bret Vyon. In this episode we witness Vyon kill a man in cold blood, outraging the Doctor, but due to some clever writing on Nation’s part Vyon still gets over with the audience. His methods may be worlds apart from the Doctor’s, but their goals are the same. It’s almost reminiscent of the relationship between the Doctor and certain Brigadier… Moreover, “The Traitors” give us a little bit of exposition, allowing the audience insight into Mavic Chen’s own private master plan. Here we also see his ruthlessness in practice as he stabs one of his ‘allies’ in the back, framing them for a crime against the Daleks.

“Counter Plot” is one of the two episodes of this serial that were found in a Mormon Church basement! It has had limited exposure in the past, having been released commercially on the BBC Video Daleks – The Early Years, but now is available on the Lost In Time DVD gloriously remastered. It’s damn good thing too, because it’s a cracking episode. Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom is absolutely superb. She’s yet another Space Special Security Service Agent, and on initial appearances she seems like just a female version of Vyon. The trouble is, she won’t believe the Doctor, Steven and Vyon’s story, and it isn’t until she has actually killed Vyon – who we then find out is her brother! – that she realises that it is all true. This gives her character a troubled, unstable edge – something a lot of the Doctor’s early companions lack. Of course, whether Sara is a proper ‘companion’ or not is another issue entirely, and one I don’t give a shit about if the truth be known! She’s here for one story, and she’s fantastic – that’s all I care about!

Some Doctor Who fans may experience a little bit of dйjа vu watching the existing episodes of “The Daleks’ Master Plan”, particularly if they were the sort of Doctor Who fans raised on a staple diet of Jon Pertwee Dalek stories. Already in this twelve-parter, we have seen the familiar concept of a killer jungle in “The Nightmare Begins” and “Day of Armageddon,” and in this episode we are treated to another Terry Nation trademark – invisible monsters, the classic budget-saving baddies! Both the killer jungle and the invisible aliens would later be rehashed in “Planet of the Daleks” six years later, but strangely, because I’m so familiar with “Planet of the Daleks,” it is this story that feels like the rip-off, when of course it was written years beforehand!

With the beautifully titled “Coronas of the Sun,” Dennis Spooner takes over the writing duties and immediately there is a noticeable change in the serial’s style. Nation’s beginning to the story makes the Daleks’ plan crystal clear, but they do not actually do much themselves, nor is there any real interaction between the Daleks and our heroes. Spooner brings the Daleks to the forefront, giving us a battle between them and the Visians (the invisible creatures) and also a showdown outside the TARDIS with the Doctor and his companions – here there is a rare moment of brilliance for Steven, who manages to save the lives of the TARDIS crew but only at great risk to himself. The nefarious Mavic Chen is also handled well by Spooner, who really plays on Chen’s manipulation of the Daleks. In this episode Chen actually wants the Doctor to escape with the Taranium Core, just to annoy the Daleks!

The story’s seventh instalment, “The Feast of Steven,” was the first episode of Doctor Who ever to be broadcast on Christmas Day. Unlike 2005’s action-packed blockbuster, “The Christmas Invasion,” this episode is nothing more than a whimsical diversion – not a Dalek in sight! I confess, I did enjoy listening to the surviving soundtrack, not because it is good by any stretch of the imagination, but just because I found it so amusingly rubbish. I still think it is incredible that the producers decided to cut away from the biggest, most ambitious story that they’ve ever attempted and instead give the massive Christmas audience a slapstick knockdown run-around show! Out of all the episodes churned out in the sixties, without a shadow of a doubt this one has dated the most. The Doctor even famously salutes the audience from home! Yuk.

“Volcano” throws the audience right back into the action, the Daleks’ resuming their pursuit of the TARDIS back through time and Mortimus, the Meddling Monk, rears his ugly head once again. Here, the Monk is just as good as in “The Time Meddler”, if not better. Peter Butterworth works so well with Hartnell; they just have that chemistry between them, a bit like Roger Delgado and Jon Pertwee. “Golden Death” sees the Monk being forced by the Daleks to trick the Doctor, making for some hilarious television as the Monk schemes and plots – sometimes in a very sinister way, but mostly playfully. He’s actually a very likeable character – something Paul Cornell would later play on wonderfully in his superb novel, “No Future.” He’s certainly my favourite black and white Doctor Who villain!

“Escape Switch,” the last of the extant episodes, is the best of the three in my opinion. It wraps up the Monk ‘trilogy’ of episodes superbly – William Hartnell is at his absolute best, both forceful and clever, as is Kevin Stoney’s Mavic Chen, and there are also some wonderful scenes where the native Egyptians react to the Daleks. It’s hard to believe that this segment of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” is the only Doctor Who television story ever set in Egypt – what’s up with that? At the end of the episode, the Doctor actually gets his hands of a directional unit for the TARDIS and manages to steer it back to Kembel, only to be forced into handing over the core of the Time Destructor to the Daleks! 

For me, the worst part of “The Daleks’ Master Plan” is its ending. Admittedly, watching the credits roll at the end of “Escape Switch” (the last surviving episode of the serial) is a very deflating experience which doesn’t help the final two audio-only episodes. As good as the narrated soundtracks are, you cannot beat the much more visceral experience of an actual episode. “The Abandoned Planet” is a slow and drawn-out affair, and features far more exposition and political scheming than any of the other eleven episodes. To make matters worse, the Doctor is nowhere to be seen.

“Destruction of Time” is rather a grim title for an episode, and grim is what you get. Chen meets a rather predictable end, gunned down by the Daleks he strived so hard to outwit. It’s quite a shame really - even though he was so evil, part of me wanted to see him out-manoeuvre the Daleks! The Daleks then detonate the time destructor, but it is so powerful that it kills them – reducing them to microscopic embryos. The death toll mounts as Sara dies horribly, aged to death by the Dalek weapon. In the end, only the Doctor seems pleased that the Dalek menace is destroyed; Steven is far too distraught about the deaths of Katarina, Bret, Sara and so many others that he can’t bring himself be pleased, leaving us with a very downbeat ending indeed.

In all, the epic centrepiece to the 1965/1966 season is quite simply that; epic. The greatest compliment that I can pay this story is that it holds up over thirteen episodes – in forty years no other story can claim that. The sheer ambition of the story is breathtaking - several planets; ancient Egypt; Earth in the far future; spaceships; the meddling Monk; the death of two ‘companions’… it’s absolutely groundbreaking stuff, beautifully and imaginatively written by both Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner. The constant shifts of location and emphasis really help the story maintain its pace over such a long stretch, so much so that at time it feels more like The Lord of the Rings than Doctor Who! What I love so much about this story is how one can easily dip in and out of it – the plot is grounded in a relatively simple premise so that you can miss the odd episode and still follow it, and (although I doubt anyone will approach the story this way these days) if you were to watch/listen to it over thirteen weeks, the gaps in your memory are so easily filled. It’s like intergalactic Coronation Street. That said, “The Daleks’ Master Plan” is a story that works on a lot of different levels. There’s a lot of action, a lot of politics, a lot of a humour, a lot of pathos and a lot of death. Arguably, it’s the most ‘grown-up’ Doctor Who story of the Hartnell era. Sadly, there aren’t any telesnaps out there to allow any decent sort of reconstruction to be made, so it there was ever a contender for another story to be animated… there’s cash to be made, BBC!