The Daleks In Black And White
Watching Doctor Who: Series 1 Serial 2: The Daleks
The TARDIS has landed in a petrified jungle on a strange planet. Keen to explore, the Doctor fools everyone into leaving the safety for a quick jaunt to the shops for some mercury.
In the futuristic city though there are very few shops, and the locals have made use of what supplies they have left. As it turns out, plungers make great weapons. The tin cans on wheels, clearly descended from bakers and plumbers, are desperate to leave their city. And after taking the gang hostage, encourage them to help forge an alliance with the more meaty inhabitants of the planet.
The Dead Planet
Ah yes, so we were left with Susan impatiently reading the radiation dial and telling them they were safe. Well done, Susan.
Difficult to tell what the scenes were supposed to be initially, I've seen 70's textured wallpaper that looked like that, but no, they're trees. I'd be petrified too if I was on a planet with the Daleks.
There's a lot of expressive head moving at the start of this one... and did anyone else spot Ian's rather lustful look at Barbara?
Good to know that the inhabitants like those welded garden ornaments too.
I can't help but chuckle, I look at Barbara sulking about travelling and I'm getting flashes of Mickey Smith doing the same.
HE'S GOT A FOOD MAKING MACHINE?! Why isn't that still a thing?!
The Doctor is a devious bastard. But how was no one querying why he was under the console fiddling with the thing that was then suddenly broken?
Nice to see that Wile E. Coyote has got a job on another planet painting walls in corridors. Not that that's helping Barbara to navigate. I'm not sure I'd have left the elevator... you know you're not on the same floor, I think I'd personally want to try and work out how to go back up.
AAAAAAAHHHHHH! A plunger!!!!
The Survivors
"How do they use their intelligence? What form does it take?" Ian, I don't think that you know enough alien life to be saying things like that.
Fully fledged Daleks. I love the fact that they've barely changed. Although these ones seem to have slightly more mercy that the modern ones. They just paralysed Ian's legs when I'd have expected them to obliterate him. (And do us all a favour.)
I'm not sure how Barbara has come to the idea that there might be someone inside them.
These Daleks are very chatty.
Ah, now we see the Daleks true "feelings" showing. Using someone for their own gain... yes, this feels much more comfortable!
I have to say that I'm not enjoying the forest set for filming. It really doesn't work well in black and white. Susan's head flinging while she runs doesn't work for me either. I have to say... after all that faff about the lock to the TARDIS being so complicated, Susan doesn't really put a lot of thought into opening it.
And these dumb arse doors of the TARDIS from the inside are really starting to grind my gears!
The Escape
Oh god, he's so hideously mutated!!! My eyes!! All right, Susan, he's perfect... keep cool girl.
Looks like everyone in this story likes jumping to conclusions. I can't even imagine how Susan was so useless at hiding those drugs though. Female 101, if you have something to hid then you hide it in your bra. She could easily have got four vials in there, and it's not like a Dalek can pat you down.
So the Daleks have always been well practiced in serving tea. Interesting.
Alien fashion is... erm... lovely.
Why would the Daleks have paper and a marker pen?
I love the deduction that goes into working out how the Daleks work. Little bit chaotic in the plan to capture one, but kudos on achieving the goal. Just as well all the assumptions they made turned out to be right! Handy that.
The Ambush
So, our plucky gang have commandeered a Dalek shell and are pretending they're being taken for interrogation... what could possibly go wrong? With four episodes left I'm going to go with "a lot".
It's good to know that Dalek shells are essentially plug and play.
More technical questions have arisen though. The plunger attachments are obviously shaped like half a sphere... why are all the interface panels squared circles and flat, and not rounded so that the plunger would fit over them? I've also got to query the logic that Dalek lifts only fit one Dalek. "There's an invasion on level four... let us attack one at a time from the exact same spot... they'll never see that coming."
The Thal come for the food, and Ian has gone to warn them of the danger... so why the bloody hell is he standing listening to the Thal leader finishing his speech when he knows that the Daleks are there? Dude, seriously, bit of a dick move. "Sorry I was late." Ian you liar, you were standing there looking awkward.
We're introduced to the idea that the Daleks hate what isn't like them, that they have no reason.
Ian doesn't have the fluid link because the Daleks took it from him when they searched him... how Ian, how did they do that? Personally I just think you're covering up your clumsiness, and you lost it.
The Expedition
Ian seems to swing between blaming The Doctor for things and going "aahh, shit happens." Make up your mind.
The Daleks have given the anti-radiation drug to section 3 and things aren't going well, as evident by the slightly girly screams of the afflicted. Solution? We need another bomb.
I'm enjoying the Dalek camera perspective. Cut a hole in a bit of cardboard and put it in front of your lens to get the same effect.
There are some serious violations of the prime directive in this story.
I'm getting a bit tired of these waffling Daleks at this point.
If everyone just followed the path the camera man was taking they'd make it a lot quicker than traipsing through all that swamp.
I don't think Ian has noticed that Barbara is proving to be very interesting to the Thal that are trekking with them. And one of them even sleeps on her... they're stealing your woman and you don't even realise it!
The Ordeal
Everyone is busy planning for what I'm assuming doesn't end up being the best plan ever... the episode is called "The Ordeal" after all.
It's lovely to see that "ladies first" is a think on other planets. Ganatus is rather smooth, he falls into a cavern and his only concern is how Barbara is... aliens: stealing your girlfriends since 1964.
You'd think that Daleks would have adjusted their speech so that it was clearer and quicker so it was more efficient... and less annoying.
They're got to the chasm in the tunnels and Ian is about to jump, part of me wants to see a sly grin from Ganatus as he hopes his love rival will fall.
I can't say that anything ground breaking is happening in this one.
The Daleks have started saying variations on the word "exterminate", but still haven't said the actual word... is it too much to ask that I hear it at least once?! Not a clue what they all said when talking to the Doctor and Susan about changing the atmosphere, three of them talking over each other was a bit much.
Cliffhanger episode... literally. I personally wouldn't have left him until last.
The Rescue
"I can't hold on." Technically it's Ian who has to hold on, you tied a rope around yourself.
Oh good, they've turned the lights off to conserve energy... that'll help with being able to see what's happening on the screen. At least it did help them find an escape route I guess... into a photograph of a power station.
The Doctor is bargaining with the TARDIS, she'd be heartbroken if she knew.
It amuses me that the Daleks rolling past sound just like rolling my wheelie suitcase down a travelator at the airport.
At some points while watching this, I am wondering if I've missed something or if it just isn't very clear what's going on. It would be nice if we could get the effects lined up slightly better with the death ray blasts thought.
I'm too amused by the last Dalek sticking his eye stalk up in the air as he dies.
And so everyone says hundreds of different goodbyes, and there's Barbara flirting and badly kissing strange aliens. The End.
---
That was a pleasing introduction to the Daleks. They're not the cold heartless, and slightly insane, Daleks that we're familiar with these days though. I can only imagine that somewhere along the line they decided "less is more"... less speaking, less mercy. Why was there no spin-off series just about Daleks? A sitcom maybe.
The bit of me that already knows the Daleks, would really like to have seen and heard (although maybe not from a Dalek themselves) more backstory.
It's impossible to say how I feel about this episode without being massively biased. I love Daleks, and as much as I've tried, I can't push my existing knowledge out enough for me not to have a stupid grin on my face about finally seeing their screen debut.
Compared to the first serial, I'm already ranking this higher. Back then Doctor Who was a new endeavour, and having never seen things like Quatermass and Pathfinders in Space, I can't really say how far out on a limb Doctor Who was. But it obviously grabbed enough public curiosity to become a roaring success. Looking at the viewing figures alone is staggering. I have to assume though that it's partly because there wasn't a lot of competition on TV at the time, as well it being a good series.
The bit of me that already knows the Daleks, would really like to have seen and heard (although maybe not from a Dalek themselves) more backstory.
It's impossible to say how I feel about this episode without being massively biased. I love Daleks, and as much as I've tried, I can't push my existing knowledge out enough for me not to have a stupid grin on my face about finally seeing their screen debut.
Compared to the first serial, I'm already ranking this higher. Back then Doctor Who was a new endeavour, and having never seen things like Quatermass and Pathfinders in Space, I can't really say how far out on a limb Doctor Who was. But it obviously grabbed enough public curiosity to become a roaring success. Looking at the viewing figures alone is staggering. I have to assume though that it's partly because there wasn't a lot of competition on TV at the time, as well it being a good series.
So far the extras that go along with these DVDs are quite good, I love the trivia of things. Four Daleks were made for £250, which after some Googling, would be about £1600 these days... so for £400ish I could make my own... *gleeful smile* I'm a little torn though, I'm not sure how I feel about the Dalek being a rubber gorilla glove covered in vaseline. But never mind, more pointless trivia there to push something useful out of my brain.
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