The Abandoned Planet (The Daleks' Master Plan Episode 11)

The one where the Doctor goes completely AWOL...

Mavic Chen proudly proclaims to the Dalek Supreme that the only reason they have the precious taranium core back is because of his "guile and cunning". He's certainly tooting his own trumpet there, but to be honest, the only reason Chen has the core at all is because of the Monk. He was the one who (at least pretended to) bring Steven and Sara to the Daleks as hostages so that the Doctor would have to exchange the core for his friends. Mavic Chen always did strike me as someone who'd steal someone else's thunder, however.

The Abandoned Planet is another of the missing episodes from this three-month epic, which is a crying shame because it features an awful lot of alien delegate action. The only footage we have of them are those wonderfully strange scenes in Day of Armageddon, but they do feature in other episodes too, most of all this one. Episode 11 has bucketloads of Celation, the floaty bobbly skinheaded alien we see in episode 2, here played by a different actor (Terence Woodfield, who'd later appear in human form in The Ark).

I find Celation the most intriguing of all the alien delegates, principally because of his bizarre appearance, but also because of his alarmingly hissy, serpentine voice (he doesn't speak in episode 2, and he's played by a different actor, Ian East). He sounds thoroughly unpleasant (as if he smokes 50 Benson & Hedges a day), and is no admirer of the supercilious Chen. Celation has a pop at Chen for being responsible for delaying their plan for universal domination, but the Guardian of the Solar System is having none of this rank mutiny, and announces that the Dalek Supreme has put him in control of the alliance

As we already know, these delegates are big fans of letting their feelings all hang out, either by raucously chanting their thoughts in unison, or by banging their fists on the table like a bunch of petulant sixth-formers. This time, however, their thumping protestations are cut short by a Dalek entering the conference chamber and screaming: "SILENCE!", like an annoyed headteacher. This council - or what's left of it - is a rabble, and soon the whole lot of them are bundled away into a prison cell, to be disposed of later. The Daleks no longer need them, now they have a working Time Destructor.

Both actors to play Celation - East and Woodfield - would sadly die in 2016, as if in some secret intergalactic pact. RIP Celation x 2.

Meanwhile, our three heroes have survived the exploding directional unit, which managed to transport them to Kembel before going kaput. Bizarrely, once the team leaves the TARDIS to head for Dalek HQ, the Doctor goes suddenly AWOL for the rest of the episode, completely without explanation. William Hartnell is only in it for five minutes, and only on the TARDIS interior set. The rest of the episode sees Steven and Sara squabbling their way through the jungle of Kembel (now mysteriously devoid of Varga plants) to the Dalek base, which they also find spookily abandoned. I love the sound of a Dalek corridor, that ethereal wind chimey noise which is as instantly recognisable as the familiar Dalek heartbeat sound. The scenes of Steven and Sara exploring the empty Dalek base are wonderfully atmospheric, as the viewer joins them in wondering where the heck everybody's got to.

It's a real mystery... No Doctor, no Vargas, no Daleks. The last episode is next week, so expect a corking finale!

First broadcast: January 22nd 1966

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: All the alien delegate action makes me salivate when I listen to the soundtrack!
The Bad: The sudden, inexplicable disappearance of the Doctor is a little deflating as we head toward the grand finale. I'd normally think it was just one of those weeks that Hartnell took as a holiday, but the fact he appears for the first five minutes is baffling.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Destruction of Time...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Mission to the Unknown (prelude); The Nightmare Begins (episode 1); Day of Armageddon (episode 2); Devil's Planet (episode 3); The Traitors (episode 4); Counter Plot (episode 5); Coronas of the Sun (episode 6); The Feast of Steven (episode 7); Volcano (episode 8); Golden Death (episode 9); Escape Switch (episode 10); Destruction of Time (episode 12)

Find out birth/death dates, career information, and facts and trivia about this story's cast and crew at the Doctor Who Cast & Crew site: http://doctorwhocastandcrew.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/mission-to-unknown-aka-dalek-cutaway.html

The soundtrack to The Daleks' Master Plan is available on CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-original-television-soundtrack/dp/0563494174