July 22: Terror of the Zygons Parts Three & Four

A reasonable cliffhanger resolution for once: the signalling device for the Loch Ness Monster is destroyed, and the Doctor was the last one holding it, ergo the Doctor has been destroyed too.  Thus the Zygons can proceed with their plans without further interference, they believe.  And seriously, the Zygons are still so creepy-looking.

One of the primary plot points for part three, however, involves the pub's landlord, Angus, being killed by the Zygon masquerading as Sister Lamont (and the transformation from Zygon to human and back is really well done -- that red-and-black effect does a good job of selling the change, rather than just, say, a simple dissolving mix), which leads to a cross-country chase for Warrant Officer Benton and his men -- and look, an alien that's not immune to bullets.  Someone probably should have told that trooper about the shapeshifting, though.  The big point gets the Duke of Forgill involved -- turns out he's a Zygon in disguise as well, and Sarah quickly (and serendipitously) learns that there's a tunnel leading right to the Zygon spaceship in Loch Ness.  She's able to rescue Harry, too -- although the Doctor still ends up being captured by the Zygons and taken back to their spaceship.  And when the Brigadier tries to get them to come out of the loch, they end up (in a really nice effect, both underwater and above it) simply flying away...

Part three does a good job of keeping the momentum going and setting up the big finale, and part four doesn't disappoint.  There are some marvelous moments in front of the camera -- that forced perspective shot of the spaceship model in the quarry, with people apparently jumping out of it, is so good that it's actually all too easy to believe it's a real full-blown set built on location (and compare this to the tank scene in Robot) -- and the script has some witty moments too.  "You can't rule a world in hiding," the Doctor tells Broton, the Zygon leader.  "You've got to come out onto the balcony sometimes and wave a tentacle, if you'll pardon the expression."  Robert Banks Stewart (a writer new to the show) also slyly pokes fun at its limitations: "When does this great operation begin, this conquest of the world?  ...  And what are you going to do with it when you've got it? Isn't it a bit large for just about six of you?" the Doctor wonders.  There's also the forward-thinking moment where the Brigadier handles a phone call from the Prime Minister who is clearly female ("Oh, absolutely understood, madam.  No public announcement").  But contrasting with this is the somewhat bloodthirsty moment where the Doctor traps the remaining Zygons inside the spaceship which he then sets to self-destruct -- as if the fact that these are would-be conquerors means that their lives somehow don't have value.

A Zygon is given orders by its leader Broton. (Terror of the
Zygons Part Four) ©BBC

The resolution of everything is admittedly a bit daft (Broton's plan appears to be to hold the International Energy Conference to ransom with the Loch Ness Monster coming out of the Thames) -- although, again, the fact that Zygons can be killed by bullets is rather nice -- but there is a nice bit of symmetry.  The story started with the Skarasen (the Zygons' name for Nessie) attacking oil rigs, and now it ends with the Skarasen terrorizing London.  This is probably the worst the special effects get for the Skarasen, and it's not that bad at all (though it should be noted that the DVD has done a good job of stabilizing the most offending shot, which had wildly shaky film with rock-solid video superimposed on it, so that it only looks a bit bad, instead of really bad).  But the Zygons have been defeated, and all that's left is for everyone to head back from London to Scotland to the TARDIS -- even though two of those people (Harry and the Brig) are going to go straight back to London again (and the Brigadier has changed back into that kilt again).  Sarah prefers to head back to London via TARDIS, and so off she and the Doctor go.

And so we say goodbye to Harry Sullivan as a regular companion (though he'll be back for one more story later this season), and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a semi-regular character (he'll be back a few more times, but not until 1983).  It's a bit sad to see Harry go -- Ian Marter is an incredibly talented actor, and it's a shame they got rid of him, even if he's rather superfluous in plot terms.  The Doctor may not have liked having him around, but I sure did.  It's a little less sad to see the Brigadier go, but only because a) we know he'll be back, eventually, and b) his appearances have been more and more sporadic anyway.  Combine that with the fact that the fourth Doctor doesn't seem to really fit in with UNIT anymore, and it's probably best for the Brigadier to bow out at this point.  Oh, and UNIT too!  They'll be back a couple more times, but this in many ways feels like the last gasp of greatness for UNIT.  But at least they get a good story to go out on.

For many people the Skarasen is held up as a woeful effects shot that lets everything down.  As I mentioned in Outside In, this is nonsense.  It's not the world's most convincing effect, but it's a lot better than other effects from around this time.  I think the Skarasen receives the brunt of these criticisms just because all the other visuals in this story are so good.  The Zygons are incredible, the ship is convincing, and Camfield does a superb job of keeping everything moving.  Closer examination reveals that the script isn't quite as good as the direction initially makes it seem (e.g., Broton's plan is a little confused, there are some shocking lapses of good thinking on behalf of UNIT at various points), but it's Camfield's triumph that this only becomes apparent when you really sit down and think about it.  Terror of the Zygons is a solid tale, and when something like the Skarasen is the worst thing about it you know things are going right.  And if the Loch Ness Monster bothers you that much, you're probably watching the wrong show anyway.

July 21: Terror of the Zygons Parts One & Two

Full disclosure: this is the story I wrote a piece on for Outside In (which you can purchase here if you're interested (shameless plug over)).  This will try to not be a repeat of that piece, though I may touch on a couple of those points again.

It is rather nice to see UNIT back in action again, even if we're outside the usual stomping grounds and hanging around Loch Ness instead.  (Not exactly convinced about the Brigadier in a kilt though.)  But what's more striking is how irritated the Doctor seems to be about being summoned back by the Brigadier, even though he's the one who gave him the space-time telegraph in the first place.  "When I left the psionic beam with you, Brigadier, I said it was only to be used in an emergency," the Doctor grumbles.  "Oil an emergency?  Huh!  It's about time the people who run this planet of yours realised that to be dependent upon a mineral slime just doesn't make sense."  He does allow himself to be persuaded to help after the Brigadier mentions the loss of life, though.

Given that this is a UNIT story during Philip Hinchcliffe's producership, we get an interesting blend of that cozy UNIT feel and the more intense air of season 12.  It clearly suits director Douglas Camfield fine (back in the Who fold after 1970's Inferno), and he does a fabulous job with the material, but that blend is still present -- perhaps no more obviously than the sequence in part one where Harry is shot with a sniper rifle out on the beach while trying to help an oil rig worker who's stumbling in from the sea.  So while the Brigadier is setting up a base of operations in the local pub, Harry is lying on the ground with blood on his forehead (and Ian Marter does a good job of selling being struck by a bullet as well).  It's to Camfield's credit that this juxtaposition of styles works so well.  And he also does a good job with the titular aliens, showing us a hand here, a pair of eyes there, so that the first cliffhanger, showing one in its full glory menacing Sarah, has a strong impact.

Zygon Harry hides in a barn. (Terror of the Zygons Part Two)
©BBC

Of course, once we've seen a Zygon, part two gives us lots of shots of them inside their organic spaceship.  They really are a masterpiece of design and still maintain their creepy impact even today.  Their ship is also just as unpleasant, looking like a pizza gone amok.  It's very impressive.  But the other thing we learn is that Zygons have the ability, given a suitable bodyprint, to take on the appearance of human beings -- which therefore allows Ian Marter to play a baddie, as a Zygon assuming Harry's form.  Marter is very sinister in this role, and he's aided by some striking direction -- one shot in particular (as shown to the right), with him half-hidden in shadow, is superbly framed and lit to make Harry seem very sinister.  The sequence doesn't last long, but its impact is long-lasting.

But shapeshifting isn't the only weapon the Zygons have: they also have control of a giant monster living in Loch Ness, which has been chewing up the oil rigs and caused the problem that brought the Doctor to Scotland in the first place.  Yep, it's the Loch Ness Monster, and it honestly doesn't look that bad -- it's a hell of a lot better than the dinosaurs from season 11, and there's something wonderful about the stop-motion animation used to make it chase the Doctor across the moorland -- a welcome touch of Harryhausen added to the proceedings.  It is a bit silly that the Zygons have to resort to gassing an entire town in order to let it pass unseen, but the monster does make for another effective cliffhanger, as it bears down on the Doctor and the tracking device that he can't get unstuck from his hand...

July 20: Revenge of the Cybermen Parts Three & Four

400!  Revenge of the Cybermen Part Three is Doctor Who's 400th episode -- quite a milestone (and the halfway point for the entire series, as of time of writing).  And it helps that this is probably the most interesting episode of the story, as we see Tom Baker being dangerously flippant with the Cyberleader and forced to travel to the center of Voga with a Cyberbomb strapped to his back, in order to blow the place up.  (Voga, remember, is the source of all the gold that was so deadly to the Cybermen in the last Cyber-war -- and yes, this is the story that introduces the gold weakness.)  Tom Baker is very entertaining in this scene -- it looks like the Doctor is playing with fire and knows it, trying to get a rise out of the Cybermen: "You've no home planet, no influence, nothing.  You're just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship...."  The Cyberleader tries to defend his race by blaming their defeat on Voga, but the Doctor will have none of it.  "It was a glorious triumph, for human ingenuity," he says.  "They discovered your weakness and invented the glitter gun, and that was the end of Cybermen except as gold-plated souvenirs that people use as hat stands."

Two Cybermen on Voga. (Revenge of the Cybermen Part Three)
©BBC

But in any event, bombs strapped to the back and sent to blow the planet up.  We also learn that Kellman has actually been working for the Vogans, trying to lure them to Voga so that Vorus can blow them up.  For some reason he hasn't discussed this at all with their leader, Tyrum (as played by Kevin Stoney, who was last seen as Tobias Vaughn in the last Cyberman story), and so this is what the civil war is about?  Or something?  It looks like Gerry Davis hasn't bothered to really give much motivation to this, and the cause has to be largely inferred.  Either way, Kellman's actually working for the Vogans, and all he had to do was kill an entire station of people to enact Vorus's plan -- so it's still hard to be on his side.

Doesn't matter, though -- he's killed in a rockfall at the cliffhanger that also knocks the Doctor out.  This means that we get a somewhat unusual cliffhanger, as Harry finds him and tries to remove the bomb, not knowing (like the audience does) that the release mechanism is bobby-trapped...

Fortunately he's warned off by Lester, one of the Doctor's fellow bomb carriers from Nerva, so tragedy doesn't strike.  And when the Doctor learns that Harry caused the rockfall and tried to remove the bomb, he bellows "Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!" and passes out again.  The camera cuts away, but not before we get a marvelous look of "gee, thanks" from Ian Marter.

The rest of the episode isn't that exciting, unfortunately.  There's some farting around with the Vogans' rocket, while the Cybermen decide to load Nerva Beacon full of outlawed bombs and send it toward Voga (though not before the Cyberleader attempts to kill the Doctor with a violent shoulder rub).  The Doctor is able to just barely prevent Nerva from crashing into the planet -- a sequence which gives us the silliest "hurtling towards the ground" effect ever: first they show Nerva crashing toward Voga by just zooming the camera in (which doesn't work since the stars therefore appear to be closing in as well), and then someone's gotten the idea to take a tube, decorate it with a rocky landscape, and then spin it really fast -- as if the Beacon is going to crash into a giant spinning chocolate log.

But the Beacon is saved and the Cybermen are destroyed and everything is fine again.  Unusually for a season-ender, Revenge of the Cybermen ends with a cliffhanger, as it seems the Brigadier has an emergency and needs the Doctor's help (which will tie in with Terror of the Zygons, the first story of season 13 but made at the end of this season).

On the surface there's not really anything wrong with Revenge of the Cybermen -- it's competently made, and there are some nice moments here and there.  Even the music isn't as inappropriate as it was in Carey Blyton's last score, for Death to the Daleks (although there are still moments where the music insists on going "plod...(plod)...plod...(plod)").  No, the main problem with this story is that you never get a sense that anyone's really invested in this.  It feels less like an effort to work out some personal demons on the writer's behalf or to make something strikingly visual or memorable (as About Time notes, they missed the chance to do a definitive "body horror" story here by focusing on the Cybermen converting people) and more like someone's realized they haven't done a Cyberman story since 1968 and so maybe they should.  It's not the mess you may have heard -- which may be because it was the first Doctor Who story ever released on home video (in an edited form, no less)⁹⁰, and so people had a greater opportunity to be disappointed by it -- but it's by no means a classic.  It feels more like a leftover from season 11 -- which should say it all, really.

This is the exception rather than the rule for season 12, however.  Tom Baker's (and Philip Hinchcliffe's) first season has been a smash hit, giving the show a new sense of energy and vitality that was lacking last season.  The decision to also go in a more "serious" direction has paid off marvelously -- the way in which these stories treat their themes has been incredibly successful.  It's also paid off for the audience -- the ratings have been extremely healthy for this season.  It's a shame the season is so short, but what we get is largely high-caliber, and a definite triumph for everyone involved.







⁹⁰ Allegedly they took a poll at the 20th Anniversary celebration at Longleat for which story fans wanted released on video first ("allegedly" because this story gets mentioned a lot, but never with a source attached), and the winner was The Tomb of the Cybermen -- which didn't exist at the time.  So the powers-that-be figured any Cyberman story would do (not that they had many options at that point, the state of the archive being what it was) and put out this one instead.

July 19: Revenge of the Cybermen Parts One & Two

After their adventure on Skaro (thus continuing the interconnectedness of these stories⁸⁷) , the Doctor and his companions arrive via Time Ring on Nerva -- only it's a lot earlier than when they left.  The Nerva of this time period ("thousands of years before" the solar flares, the Doctor tells Harry -- but maybe he actually means thousands of years before the events of The Ark in Space) has been severely afflicted by a plague which has killed virtually everyone on board -- there are only four people left alive.  Everyone else has been struck down by this strangely familiar-looking disease (although, to be fair, it has been nine years since The Moonbase, so maybe it wasn't that familiar to the audience), while large silver snake bugs slither around.  Oh, and there's clearly a slimy traitor on board who's contacting the Cybermen.  It's a reasonable set-up, but the problem is that Kellman is such an obvious traitor that the question is about how he'll be stopped, rather than who the traitor is.  The new redesigned Cybermats also seem awkward and ungainly -- no one has seen these huge things moving around on Nerva?  But no, they're leaping on people and biting them in the neck, and Sarah is attacked in part one's cliffhanger.⁸⁸

Nerva is where it is, by the way, because fifty years earlier a large asteroid showed up near Jupiter ("So you mean there are now thirteen [satellites of Jupiter]?" the Doctor infamously asks⁸⁹), so Nerva is there to warn passing ships of the new astronavigational hazard.  The asteroid is all that's left of Voga, the planet of gold that was instrumental in defeating the Cybermen "centuries ago" at the end of the Cyber War.  The Vogans have managed to survive in the interim, though.  The problem with the Vogans is that the audience isn't given much background or reason to care about them before they start engaging in a sort of civil war, and so it just looks more like a bit of incident along the way for Harry and Sarah to get out of than anything else.  (Sarah, by the way, has been cured of the Cyber-infection by passing through a transmat -- pity no one else thought of that.)  And while the Vogan sets and location footage work well together to create the world of Voga (and remember that fancy figure-eight symbol -- it'll come up again in season 14), the Vogans themselves leave something to be desired.  The hero masks are reasonably good, but all the extras/stuntmen are wearing less-developed masks with visible gaps between the mask and the actors' own eyes that significantly ruin the effect.

But the main concern with these first two episodes of Revenge of the Cybermen is that it doesn't feel like anything really happens.  There's some Vogan politics and such to try and keep things moving, but any real drama feels like it's being delayed with the appearance of the Cybermen (the Cybermen!  We haven't seen them for seven years!), who don't really show up (other than a brief scene here and there) until the end of part two, when they shoot down the two remaining crewmen -- and the Doctor!  Everything prior feels like it's building to this point.  Let's hope the pay-off is worth it.







⁸⁷ Even if, oddly, Sarah makes reference to "these past few weeks", which suggests that either they were on Skaro for a hell of a lot longer than we thought, or there are indeed somehow unseen adventures in this arc of stories.
⁸⁸ Not exactly relevant to this story, but it's worth noting that William Hartnell died between parts one and two, on 23 April 1975.
⁸⁹ Stephen Cole tries to explain away this line by basing the penultimate Eighth Doctor Adventure To the Slaughter on it, if you feel so inclined (in which a bunch of Jovian moons are destroyed in the name of cosmic feng shui), but it's worth noting that this number was accurate when Revenge of the Cybermen was written -- though not by the time of filming and subsequent broadcast, as a thirteenth moon, Leda, was discovered in September 1974.

July 18: Genesis of the Daleks Parts Five & Six

These episodes are probably the best of the story -- certainly they're full of memorable moments.  Part five gives us the Doctor's discussion with Davros about the deadliness of the Daleks in the future, with the Doctor likening them to a virus: "Davros, if you had created a virus in your laboratory, something contagious and infectious that killed on contact, a virus that would destroy all other forms of life, would you allow its use?"  Davros, however, is taken by the idea: "Yes.  Yes.  To hold in my hand a capsule that contains such power, to know that life and death on such a scale was my choice.  To know that the tiny pressure on my thumb, enough to break the glass, would end everything.  Yes, I would do it!  That power would set me up above the gods!  And through the Daleks, I shall have that power!"

Events appear to be moving against Davros, however, with those opposed to him staging a sort of revolution -- a revolution which Davros appears to submit to.  He seems to bow to Gharman and the others' demands (hey, he wasn't lobotomized after all!), asking only that he be allowed to address everyone.  Yet after Gharman agrees to this, Davros begins to crow triumphantly.  "Ours is the victory, Nyder.  We have won!  They talk of democracy, freedom, fairness.  Those are the creeds of cowards.  The ones who will listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all.  Achievement comes through absolute power, and power through strength.  They have lost!" Davros cries.

But while Davros remains fascinatingly watchable, the Doctor is making his own plans to wipe out the Daleks, by setting explosive charges inside their nursery.  But as he comes out, a Dalek mutant is attempting to strangle him...

"Do I have the right?" The Doctor contemplates genocide while
Sarah and Harry look on. (Genesis of the Daleks Part Six) ©BBC

Part six has probably (and understandably) the most well-known scene of this entire story, as the Doctor contemplates going through with his plan and blowing up the nursery:

DOCTOR: Just touch these two strands together and the Daleks are finished.  Have I that right?
SARAH: To destroy the Daleks?  You can't doubt it.
DOCTOR: But I do.  You see, some things could be better with the Daleks.  Many future worlds will become allies just because of their fear of the Daleks.
SARAH: But it isn't like that.
DOCTOR: But the final responsibility is mine, and mine alone.  Listen, if someone who knew the future pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives, could you then kill that child?
SARAH: We're talking about the Daleks, the most evil creatures ever invented.  You must destroy them.  You must complete your mission for the Time Lords.
DOCTOR: Do I have the right?  Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it.  The Daleks cease to exist.  Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear, in peace, and never even know the word "Dalek".
SARAH: Then why wait?  If it was a disease or some sort of bacteria you were destroying, you wouldn't hesitate.
DOCTOR: But if I kill, wipe out a whole intelligent lifeform, then I become like them.  I'd be no better than the Daleks.

(from The Doctor Who Transcripts - Genesis of the Daleks)

Fortunately for the Doctor, he doesn't have to make the choice, as Gharman comes and tells him that Davros has lost.  The future has been changed.  Well, except it turns out Davros has been stalling for time, waiting for the Daleks to arrive and exterminate all the rebels.  So while the Thals are outside the Kaled bunker, preparing to destroy the entrance and entomb those inside, the Doctor decides to go back and finish the job he started.  That's less well-remembered -- probably because there aren't any interesting speeches the second time around.  But even though he's successful, he's not completely satisfied: "I'm afraid I've only delayed them for a short time.  Perhaps a thousand years."

But the best thing about this episode is watching Davros outmaneuver his opponents, being cool and collected with them, trying to persuade them to join his side before seeing them all cut down by Dalek fire -- only to then have them turn on him as well, as they decide they don't need him.  "We obey no one.  We are the superior beings," a Dalek declares before it exterminates Davros.  And meanwhile, the Thals set off the explosives, trapping the Daleks inside the bunker -- at least for a little while.

And the story ends well too, as the Time Ring sends the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry away from Skaro.  "We failed, haven't we?" Sarah asks.  "Failed?" the Doctor replies.  "No, not really.  You see, I know that although the Daleks will create havoc and destruction for millions of years, I know also that out of their evil must come something good."

Genesis of the Daleks is considered one of Doctor Who's finest stories, and it's not hard to see why.  There's a confidence on display here that carries the whole production, and David Maloney's direction is chock full of good scenes that are stark in their brutality, making the whole thing feel desperate.  And it seems that someone has inspired Terry Nation to rise to the occasion, as he delivers his best script for the show since The Daleks.  There's also something exciting about seeing the origins of the Daleks that shines through, even now.  But even though this is called Genesis of the Daleks, the Daleks themselves are kept largely in the background, only to be unleashed at key moments in parts four and six.  No, this story is primarily about Davros, one of Doctor Who's best villains ever, and Michael Wisher is more than up to the task of carrying the tale.  It's a tour de force performance, delivered inside a wheelchair and behind a (very well done) latex mask.  The success of Genesis lies as much in his lap as in anyone else's.  You wouldn't want them all to be like this, but Genesis of the Daleks carries out its mission in considerable style.

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.

The Doctor is interrogated by Davros. (Genesis of the Daleks
Part Four) ©BBC

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!"

July 16: Genesis of the Daleks Parts One & Two

Picking up where The Sontaran Experiment left off (so no gaps in these stories), Genesis of the Daleks starts with a Time Lord informing the Doctor that they've plucked him and his companions out of the transmat beam⁸⁵ and brought them to Skaro at the dawn of the Daleks' creation.  The Doctor isn't thrilled by this ("Look, whatever I've done for you in the past... I've more than made up for," the Doctor tells the Seventh Seal Time Lord⁸⁶), but he agrees to help when he learns the Daleks are involved.  The Doctor receives a mission right away: prevent the Daleks' creation, alter it to make them less evil, or discover some inherent weakness.  Everything else in this story is designed with that goal in mind.  Oh, and he gets a Time Ring to take him back to the TARDIS when he's finished.

In keeping with the new style that producer Philip Hinchcliffe seems to be adopting, this is a brutal story.  It looks dirty and dangerous, and there's not a friendly face to be found in the entire first episode (Time Lord messenger excepted).  The decision to primarily use realistic projectile guns and recognizable weapons (such as landmines) also adds to this bleak atmosphere.  (Although you do get the chance to finally see the Drahvins' guns in color, a mere ten years after Galaxy 4.)  And the landmine sequence may be pure padding, but at least it's well-played, tense padding.  The rest of the episode serves as a series of captures, escapes, and recaptures, but it's done well enough that you don't really mind.

But what's really happening here is that Terry Nation has decided to go back to the beginning and tell the story of how the Daleks came to be.  What's perhaps most surprising is how closely this sticks to the history described in The Daleks -- the biggest change is that the name of the Dalek progenitors is now Kaled instead of Dal.  Everything else serves as expanding that story.  But the biggest introduction is the crippled scientist Davros, creator of the Daleks (sorry, Yarvelling).  Time has robbed us a bit of the impact of seeing him for the first time, his lower half encased in a Dalek-looking base.  And the cliffhanger gives us our first look at a Dalek -- a time-honored tradition on Doctor Who, but one that actually makes sense in this context.

There is no recap of any kind in part two (which you could tell if you were watching the omnibus edition, as I first did, because the end of the title music suddenly intruded) because they've got to get right to it.  While there's some more stuff with the Dalek and introducing it to the Kaled scientists (which leads to some of them becoming concerned with the direction of the Dalek project and thus deciding to help the Doctor and Harry), the primary point of part two is to show the Thal side of things.  What's most striking here is that we see the Thals are just as brutal and amoral as the Kaleds, taking prisoners and forcing them to do dangerous work at gunpoint.  So Sarah and her fellow prisoners are forced to load toxic distronic explosives (which the story treats as a form of radiation) into a rocket designed to completely wipe out the Kaleds.  Both sides are apparently willing to do whatever it takes to end this thousand-year war.  As Sarah doesn't want to die from distronic toxaemia, however, she leads an escape attempt to climb the scaffolding next to the rocket and climb out the top of the dome.  Things don't go well, though, and the cliffhanger to part two shows Sarah losing her grip and falling from the scaffolding, ending with a freeze-frame.  How is she going to get out of this one?







⁸⁵ As we'll see next story, the Doctor never does return to Nerva to tell them that the transmat is working again.  So what does Vira think when neither he nor his friends ever return?  Do the surviving Galsec people transmat up at some point?
⁸⁶ There aren't a lot of fluffs from Tom Baker (there are some bad ad libs, but that's not the same thing), so this line is probably the closest we get, and even then it takes a minute for the problem to sink in.