Planet of the Daleks: Episode One

This reminded me very much of the Peter Cushing film "Dr. Who and the Daleks" (1965) as the TARDIS deposits the eponymous, but presently comatose, Time Lord (Jon Pertwee) and his assistant "Jo" (Katy Manning) onto the jungle planet of "Spirodon". Fortunately, he manages to recover and together they explore the foliage - complete with some menacing plants that spit a toxic gunge at anyone passing by - and meet up with the crew of a wrecked spaceship who are aware that the natives of this world have the ability to stay invisible. That's the least of their troubles though when they discover that their metallic arch enemy have also become aware of this skill, no longer need metal on which to move and have arrived in great numbers to equip themselves with the ultimate weapon for conquering the galaxy and exterminating everything in sight. It's going to be dangerous, but with the help of their new friend "Taron" (Bernard Horsfall) might they be able to thwart this most cunning of plans before the "Dalek Supreme" arrives? This might have worked better as a four parter, six parts does stretch it just a bit too thin, but once it gets going and there's a good old fashioned battle of wits then it's enjoyable enough for a drama that's largely studio-bound. Not really one of the more memorable adventures this one, but still worth a watch.

During his first two seasons, Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor was confined to Planet Earth (for reasons too complicated to set out here), but by the tenth season he was free to go gallivanting around the galaxy in his TARDIS once again and to reacquaint himself with some old friends and old enemies. And no enemies of the Doctor could be older than the Daleks, whom he meets here on the jungle planet Spiridon. Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks and the author of this serial, once said that he intended his creations as a Nazi analogue, and the analogy is continued here. The Daleks have invaded Spiridon, which they intend to use as a base for further conquests. The natives of the planet, who are invisible, have mostly been enslaved, although a few are waging a war of resistance against their conquerors. The old friends are a party of Thals, the race from Skaro featured in "The Daleks", who still preserve treasured memories of the Doctor's visit to their planet.

"Planet of the Daleks" was the first of the Third Doctor's two extraterrestrial encounters with the Daleks, the other being "Death to the Daleks" from the following season. *He had already met them on Earth in "Day of the Daleks"). Neither, in fact, ranks among Pertwee's best serials. Planet of the Daleks" suffers from being too long and drawn- out, trying to extend to six episodes a story which could have been told in four or five. The series' notoriously low budget was another drawback here; we never really believe that the Doctor's adventures are taking place on a jungle world; at most Spiridon resembles an outsize greenhouse. In this case, however, as well as with "Death to the Daleks", the main problem is lack of originality, because both stories are really little more than a rehash of "The Daleks". Nation was later to breathe fresh life into the Dalek concept in the excellent Fourth Doctor story "Genesis of the Daleks", so it is a pity he could not have done something similar here. Some of Pertwee's earlier earth-bound adventures such as "The Silurians", "Inferno" and "The Dæmons" were much more original.

The first part is a little bit of a mixed bag, it has an epic feel about it, continuing directly from Frontier in Space, it features some nice scenery, moves quickly, but it has a few flaws, such as the MFI TARDIS interior, and the unnecessary suspense created once again surrounding The Daleks, that cover was of course blown in the previous episode.

Pertwee's TARDIS interior seems at odds with all that went before, and came after, no oxygen in the TARDIS? that was never an.issue before, and since when did he have cheap furniture in the console room.

I really like the introduction of The Thaals, I like the threat of the natural environment, and I love The Doctor's recollection of events on Skaro back in the first Dalek aerial.

Not my favourite Dalek story, but it starts off well here. 7/10

Terry Nation goes for the epic. However the Doctor Who budget was always going to struggle to recreate a jungle in the BBC studio environment.

The Doctor feels ill and needs a lie down. Who knew that the console room had a MFI furniture get up including a bed.

Jo goes to seek assistance but this is a planet with hostile lifeforms.

Jo finds a spaceship and a group of people that go looking for the Doctor. The ship is boarded by some kind of an invisible enemy.

The Doctor figures that his rescuers are Thals who he previously met in Skaro. Now they are in a planet called Spiridon.

Nation acquired a reputation of rewriting the same basic story. The first episode does have an air of familiarity about it.

Missteps was the sudden appearance of cheap furniture in the Tardis and it running out of oxygen in the console room.

The jungle set can be overlooked. The deadly plant life was nicely done giving an intimidating atmosphere. The final shot was no surprise.

This is an excellent six part Dalek story from the pen, of the creator of the Daleks being the legendary Terry Nation.

It is an excellent action adventure story, and one that dominants season ten of Doctor Who.

The Daleks are frightening as ever, especially when they have got the Dalek supreme at helm.

This serial reminds of a 1969 war film called Too Late The Hero. They are both similar in many aspects. Both stories are set in a jungle, and it has the theme of a suicide mission.

Although this 1973 BBC drama is now very dated, it still stands up as a good meaty action adventure story.