Doctor Who (TV Series) Planet of the Daleks: Episode Six (1973) User Reviews

The Invisible Dalek

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 8/10 · 19 October 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

Following on from the Daleks appearance in the final part of the previous story this story follows their latest plot to conquer the galaxy. The Doctor has been injured and calls for help from the Time Lords. They cause the TARDIS to travel to the planet where the Daleks are massing their army and perfecting their new weapons (including a power of invisibility). While The Doctor goes into a coma Jo ventures out onto the jungle like planet. They end up teaming up with a small group of Thals to try to stop the Daleks.

The story is decent with excellent moments and a good helping of fun action along the way. There are some good ideas, nice dialogue and decent acting and whilst far from perfect this is an enjoyable and solid quality adventure.

Part 1 has a tense beginning with the Doctor's life seeming at risk and after some jungle peril with dangerous plants there is a great cliffhanger with the discovery of an invisible Dalek. Part 2 is the strongest episode with the excitement of the Daleks, the Doctor getting more involved in the action and some really good dialogue such as the Doctor's great chat to Codal about bravery. After that there continue to be interesting elements such as the ice volcano and the exciting prospect of a huge army of Daleks waiting to be put into action. There is plenty of action and confrontation with Daleks too but these confrontations are less effective when they involve people grappling Daleks, throwing cloaks over themor pushing them into waterholes. The threat of the Dalek army and speeches of menace from them are great but it is made less thrilling when they are also shown to be so vulnerable to attack from unarmed humanoids. There are also some less than convincing aspects to other scenes along the way.

Overall though this is solid entertainment and a decent adventure on an interesting alien world.

My ratings: Part 1 - 8/10, Part 2 - 9/10, Part 3 - 8/10, Parts 4 & 5 - 7.5/10, Part 6 - 8/10. Overall - 8/10.

The Daleks (The dead planet) but in colour, with Jon Pertwee.

[mbellfield · 7/10 · 8 August 2021]

This story means quite alot to me, it's the story that started to really get me into the Daleks and it was the story I watched many many times. It was also the story that I watched in a childrens hospital to help me get through treatments. Jon Pertwee is my favourite Dr and I adore Katie Manning, together the pair gave me great hope and my favourite quote comes from this story "Courage isn't the matter of not being frightened you know, Its about being afraid but doing what you have to anyway". A quote that gave younger me good hope.

Looking at this all years on its still got a charm and place in my heart but it does fall into some famous Terry nation Daleks repeat problems. But one thing it is very good at, is just being a fun adventure. But considering many fans hadn't seen the first Dalek story by the time this aired this in a way was the closest you could get to seeing it. It was for me as I could never find the original Dalek story on VHS. So planet is more like a reboot/remake and Pertwee is an excellent Dr for it. With a beautiful costume.

Jo gets some amazing stuff to do here and really starts taking charge, looking for help/clues, stoping the Daleks when she can and risking her life many times. It shows how beautiful her character arc has developed and it's great to watch her as she explores the planet with her log recorder. The Dr even gets some great moments about her too, such as Jons incredibly tragic acting when he thinks Jo has been killed, brilliant performance and hes sad look as he watches her join in with the thals who are about cause a diversion for the Daleks. It's great subtext that she starting to not need the Dr anymore. She's grown up now.

I really wish the idea of the Dr thinking shed died had become an arc in the story. Especially regarding the tape she left him. Instead of him using it as a way to escape the cell it should of been a personal treasured item for him. For him it's the last thing he has from her. I think having him hold on to this and listen to it when the Dr feels worried or unsure what to do next, then eventually he has the hard decision to use it as away to escape would be great drama. This being so hard for him. But thankfully him and Jo reunite.

The side characters of the thals while not being anything too stand out are very enjoyable and here it shows more about them as individuals then pervious storys with them. We see some who are made to be tough and trying there hardest to safe there love and the crew like with the leader Taron, others who are too cocky and naive and want to just attack, others who wish they were that brave and courageous and then eventually realise just being self accepting and honest is the bravery they also need. Some also get great little arcs. Such as Vaber who steals the bombs and when he gets caught refuses to give his peers up even though he's blown there ideas.

There's also the thal Latep who Jo slowly becomes attached to. Now I don't see these two as lovers, more foundness and alittle cheekyness between the two. Although I much prefer the love story in "The Green death" and I'm so glad Jo got the ending she did as it's still the most heartbreaking in the shows history, I do really enjoy her mid sorta love story here.

There is of course alot of repeated moments here from the first Dalek story and some others, such as being locked up, Daleks cutting through the door, thals in the caves, Jo hidding in the city, dr dressing up as an alien to sneak in and the big first episode reveal of the dalek. Part 1s cliffhanger gets alot of rat but I don't get why. The dr is disorientated and didn't know the invisible creature would be Daleks especially when the episode clearly shows the invisible creatures to have legs. I've always loved the idea of invisible Daleks and so I do love the cliffhanger.

But there's a ton of fun action/moments here to still enjoy. The spridon Wester is an excellent side character who helps Jo and then traps the Daleks testing out infected bacteria. I was always sad to see him go. The Dr and the thals escaping the Daleks in an air balloon is another great scene. The supreme Dalek looks awesome too still my favourite design.

One of the things I adore about classic who is that regardless of bugdet they always give it there all, something as a lover of the arts I really appreciate. But here I think there is alot of great effects that you can tell were quite new. Such as the infected arm, the invisible creatures, and the sets are great even if the jungle looks like a studio floor covered in leaves. I also really loved the miniatures/toy Daleks being used for the caves scenes. It's both charming and effective for me.

The Daleks are great fun too, while there not quite as scary or miniupltive as we've seen before we do get to see more of them here with Pertwee and there voices sound alot better, even though as a child I couldn't stop imagineing Zippy inside a Dalek. The supreme Dalek is always a highlight and had quite the journey before being screen. From being in the movies, planed American Dalek show and later the Weetabix adverts. I do love a supreme who doesn't take failure and blows up his own Daleks. With his ending being such a great tease for them to return, we are not defeated! The Daleks are never defeated.

Pertwee gives a beautiful monologue at the end here too about war sounding like a game. Don't go back home and brag how awesome it all was tell people the horrific truth and don't make it sound like it's fun and games. While this goo debate whether doctor who does this too, for me one of the reasons I love doctor who is that it shows you both sides, adventure and horror and has the Dr be effected by it. So remember kids it's all fun and games but remember how scary it was along the way and the characters who didn't make it.

Overall it's not a perfect story, because really why if the Daleks can be killed by cold did they hide thousands in an ice volcano? But it is filled with such good fun.

Rating 3/5 7/10.

Planet of the Daleks: Episode Six

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 6 September 2021]

The Dalek Supreme turns up and he really cuts a dash in gold and black. Like a pack of Bensons & Hedges.

He is intolerant of failure. If a Dalek is incompetent, he will be snuffed out.

It might be a good job he did not turn his stalk towards Terry Nation!

The Dalek army is awakening. Jo and Latep attempt to set off a bomb at the cooling chamber to stop the Daleks while they are still fuddled.

You do sense that there was not enough story for six parts. It finishes earlier than expected. The rest is filler as the Third Doctor tells the peaceful Thals never to change.

As the Daleks have just been set back not destroyed. I guess the Thal philosophy will have to adjust accordingly.

There is one last glimpse of the jungle set as the Doctor and Jo rush to the Tardis.

Classic Doctor Who

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 30 January 2019]

The previous five episodes were a little hit and miss, but this final episode is terrific, it feels very much like classic Doctor Who. As it was Terry Nation penned, it felt like it could have easily featured Hartnell or Troughton, their serials usually featured a big finale, this one certainly does. It's adventurous, dramatic, has some big ideas, it features some rest nice model shots.

Best of all though has to be the funky supreme Dalek, who looks awesome, borrowed from the Peter Cushing film, bigger then the standard Daleks. I love the order of The Daleks, and the way he berates and destroys the failed Dalek leader.

Some really nice character play, The Thals are rather effective, The Doctor and Jo work together incredibly well.

Overall it's a hit and miss story, but this last episode is terrific. 9/10

S10: Planet of the Daleks: Has good aspects, but the bleak weight it has is never more than an appearance with no depth (SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 23 April 2015]

Planet of the Daleks is a serial that seemed to be trying to both be a serious epic of sorts, but at the same time it struggles to shake off the many weaknesses that run throughout it. Following on from Frontier in Space (where the Doctor pulled human and Draconians back from the brink of war by revealing the manipulation of the Daleks, before stumbling into the TARDIS and sending a message to the Time Lords and passing out. The TARDIS ends up on a planet of thick vegetation which seems familiar – particularly when the reason for the Doctor's transportation to this planet becomes apparent.

Although it is clearly linked to the previous story, the delivery of the narrative seems oddly coy about this and, for reasons I cannot figure out, turns the presence of the Daleks into a cliff-hanger of sorts – even though to me I thought that was the point of connecting the two. The return to the original planet of Skaro was welcome, because I did enjoy the original serial in the first season of the show; I remember the creepy emptiness of the metal city and these cold machines – it had a nicely bleak feeling which supported the story. In this outing though, the feeling is more one of being overly earnest – not so much that it is an event to be taken seriously, but just that it plays the bleak card a bit too much. As a tone I did like it generally, because it added weight to the narrative – the feeling of impossible odds, of one-way tickets, and of a powerful enemy; problem is that it doesn't really use this darker tone to do anything darker or more interesting than the norm.

Instead we get familiar heroic (or pointless) deaths and sacrifices, lots of small-step narrative points, and comparatively simple character interactions. Again some of this does have legs, and aspects of it worked, but there was too much else that didn't really match it, and made it all feel a bit less convincing as a result. Speaking of things that did not convince, the production values do not really match the ambition of the serial; outside of the Daleks themselves, the sets, creatures and effects are roundly basic – something one forgives given the episodes are over 40 years old, but still – it is pretty consistent and always apparent. The cast struggle a bit too, as some of them have some weighty material to deliver, but it is not really written in a way that helps it be convincing or consistent. Pertwee and Manning remain good – the latter turning out to be a very good companion, certainly compared to the "run, scream, run, get stuff explained to her" pattern she had at the start. As characters the Daleks are not as imposing as they should have been; I know there is the old joke about getting away from them by running up stairs, but here they continually bested by use of rugs, a balloon on strings, and, ultimately, by a massive foam party.

As a serial it does have a weight and bleakness to it which is welcome, but it doesn't really do much with it, which rather makes it look like it was unsuccessfully dressing up, rather than really being the thing it suggested it was.