An Hour of Who a Day: 07/17/14

July 17: Genesis of the Daleks Parts Three & Four

Funny how Sarah gets out of her life-imperiling situation by landing on a platform that doesn't appear to have been anywhere near her...

The other striking thing about Sarah's failed escape attempt is how brutal and sadistic the Thals are; it's hard to imagine anything this cruel during the Pertwee era. And while the Thals are dealing harshly with their almost-escaped prisoners, Davros is demonstrating the latest developments in his Dalek project. But that project might be ending soon; the Doctor and Harry have made their way through a cave system (which involves Harry literally putting his foot inside a giant, largely motionless clam in order to provide some action to this sequence -- still, at least Ian Marter does an excellent job of conveying Harry's sheer panic and distress) in order to reach the Kaled leaders, who decide to investigate Davros's experiment and bring it to a halt if necessary. This may have sealed the Kaleds' fate, however; although on the surface Davros appears willing to go along with the Kaled leaders' request, in reality he's willing to sacrifice everything, including his own race, in order to see the completion of his Dalek project. And so Davros arranges a secret meeting with the Thals, to give them a formula to help them utterly destroy the Kaleds. The Doctor overhears this, thanks to a secret tunnel which leads directly into the Thal base that one of the Kaleds shows him.

Hold on a minute. Not only can Davros (who's essentially wheelchair-bound) make his way to the Thal base without problems, but there's an unguarded tunnel that leads into the middle of the place that the Kaleds know about? And the Kaleds have never taken advantage of this? No wonder this war has lasted ten centuries.

So the Doctor tries to stop the Thals' rocket from launching, but he fails, causing the Kaled dome to go up in flames at the start of part four. The Kaleds are basically wiped out, and Davros uses this as an excuse to unleash the Daleks on the Thals. This can probably be regarded as the turning point in the story. The Daleks have lurking in the background prior to this, but this is the point at which they become a formidable threat, as they sweep through the Thal city exterminating people.

And yet, despite this, it's Davros that remains the focus of the story. We've seen him be both suavely manipulative and insanely ranting, and Michael Wisher's performance (through a fairly immobile mask, even) is excellent. One can't help but be drawn into the drama as he occupies the screen, turning the Daleks into amoral killers and plotting with Nyder to retain power and crush any opposition. It's also quite chilling how he matter-of-factly decides to give Gharman a lobotomy so that Davros can continue to use him for his "inventive skills." And the cliffhanger to part four is also a good one, with the Doctor strapped down and Davros threatening to torture Harry and Sarah unless the Doctor tells Davros about every future Dalek defeat, so that the Daleks can be warned. Davros remains the focal point as he rants at the Doctor in clipped, Dalek-like tones: "You will tell me! You! Will! Tell! Me!"