The Evil of the Daleks Episode 2

The one where the Doctor travels back in time without his TARDIS...

It's lovely to be able to actually watch Doctor Who for once! Season 4 is the only one that doesn't have a single complete story, which is a real shame when you think about how many important changes happen across its nine-story run. Of the 41 episodes that make up the season, only 10 exist in the BBC Archives as I write (Feb 2018). That's only one-quarter. We don't have any episodes from four of the nine stories. I wouldn't say Season 4 is the strongest of the show's run so far, but we're missing out on so much - pirates, regeneration, Daleks, Jacobites, giant crabs and a trip to Skaro!

So to actually see this episode is a rare treat. To see that Dalek manifest behind Kennedy and just watch him, observe what he's up to, before taking action. The Dalek gathers information before reacting to it, just as a logically-minded creature would do, in order to maximise its own advantage. It demands to know who Kennedy is, and when he bolts for it, the Dalek exterminates him, then calmly fades away again. I love how David Whitaker writes the Daleks.

Whitaker gives the Daleks a cold, calculating, implacable no-nonsense attitude to everything and everyone they meet. The Dalek insists to the clearly terrified Waterfield (Bailey looking just as haunted as he sounded in episode 1) that Dalek life is the only form of life that really matters, and the way Victoria Waterfield is bullied by her Dalek captor is chilling. I'm not sure why the Daleks are so concerned about the body weight of a Victorian teenage girl (she's lost almost half a pound - golly!), but I'm sure the answers will come. I love their weighing machine, with a display that looks like the computer screen from Family Fortunes, and the way the Dalek refers to birds as "flying pests" is classic.

There's plenty more delightful repartee between Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines, who have really developed a visibly organic and joyful rapport in the last couple of stories. The Faceless Ones paved the way, but the scene in the Tricolour in the last episode, and in the antiques shop here, really cement the bond. There's some lovely, well-rehearsed business with the Doctor telling Jamie not to knock into any of the antiques, before absently knocking one over himself.

And there's an interesting moment when Jamie says he's thought of an answer as to why the antiques look so new. The Doctor awaits Jamie's explanation expectantly, perhaps hoping he has come up with the right solution, but as soon as the Scotsman mentions Waterfield having his own time machine, he pooh-poohs the idea and swiftly moves on. It's as if the Doctor is waiting for Jamie to confirm a suspicion he might have himself, or hoping the simple-minded Highlander can think outside the box. The fact is that Jamie is closer to the truth than the Doctor acknowledges. I mean, why couldn't Waterfield have a time machine? If the Doctor gave the theory the slightest consideration, he'd remember that previous encounters with time travellers have included the meddling Monk... and the Daleks!

As a viewer in 1967, I might very well suspect the involvement of the Monk, who has a history of working with the Daleks as well as meddling in time. There's also a lovely little moment that has gained importance with hindsight where someone mentions "the master" to the Doctor, who instantly snaps back: "The Master?" He may be four years away yet, but there's no reason why the Second Doctor wouldn't know who the Master is (a similar gem of a moment happens in The Mind Robber too). In fact, Daleks, Master and Monk aside, the Doctor could even be considering the Time Lords are behind all this!

The sudden switch 10 minutes in from 1966 London to 1866 Kent is inspired. The Doctor and Jamie are whisked a century back in time to a rural manor house near Canterbury, the home of Professor Maxtible and his astonishing beard. The set design at Maxtible's house (in fact, throughout the serial) is excellent, with designer Chris Thompson adding plenty of layers and depth to the sitting room and laboratory sets. This makes the sets seem more realistic, and lived in, and contributes to the verisimilitude the director is trying to achieve. And it's wonderfully askew seeing a smooth, futuristic Dalek moving about in a wood-panelled Victorian laboratory, complete with bubbling liquids and spewing experiments.

It's fantastic how writer David Whitaker sprinkles the dialogue with mentions of electromagnetic theory, James Clerk Maxwell and Michael Faraday (who, incidentally, died the year after this is set, aged 75). When you look up these references, they all make sense, and work to flesh out a background to Maxtible and Waterfield's experiments. I have so much respect for writers who put doors into their work for the consumer to unlock if they wish. We don't need to know any more about Faraday and Maxwell's work to enjoy The Evil of the Daleks, but you get so much more meat from the story if you do! It's also an example of Whitaker - Doctor Who's script editor in its infancy - hearkens back to the founding idea that the series should be both entertaining and educational.

One of my favourite Doctor Who scenes of all is the one where the Dalek emerges from the time cabinet, and the Doctor slowly turns round to look at it. It's captured beautifully by director Derek Martinus, with the Dalek barging into the scene over the Doctor's shoulder, and Troughton slowly turning to see his nemesis with a priceless look of resignation on his face. In fact, Troughton plays the entire scene masterfully, allowing the Doctor to gradually piece together his worst suspicions as Maxtible witters on. The trigger is when Maxtible mentions static electricity, and Troughton's entire demeanour alters. "Static?" he ventures. You can almost see the Doctor's thought processes slotting into place, which is a sign of a true artist. When you can see what a character is thinking just by looking at their face and body language, you know you're watching a damn fine actor.

As fabulous as all this is, the episode leaves me with a few questions. Like, why does the Doctor think the antiques are brand new, and not restored (or just having aged well)? Or, how did the Daleks know the Doctor was in 1966 when Maxtible summoned them to 1866? In fact, the entire plan by the Daleks to get the Doctor where they want him is ridiculously convoluted. So there they are, in Canterbury in 1866, and they empower Waterfield to travel forwards in time to London in 1966, just at the right moment to catch the Doctor finishing off one of his adventures at Gatwick. Waterfield has the TARDIS stolen to act as bait, and pays various henchmen to lure the Doctor, first to a hangar at Gatwick, then to a coffee bar, then to an antiques shop, then to a hidden room, and finally to a transmat where he can be whisked back to 1866.

The Daleks want to experiment on Jamie in order to identify the "human factor", and then use the power that gives humans over Daleks to make the creatures even more powerful, intelligent and indomitable (some fans criticise modern Doctor Who for messing around so much with "what it means to be a Dalek", but David Whitaker was doing it decades before). So, why do the Daleks need to experiment on Jamie in particular? Indeed, how do the Daleks even know who Jamie is? They've never met him before, although it seems they've managed to get a cracking good publicity photo of him all the same.

Questions, questions, questions... I'm not sure I care about them at the moment, because the story is shaping up to be wonderfully quirky and intriguing. And if nothing else, I can't criticise an episode too much which ends with a Dalek smothering the camera with its sucker arm!

First broadcast: May 27th, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The scene where the Doctor first sees the Dalek. A combination of Martinus's great direction, Troughton's faultless acting and Dudley Simpson's spine-tingling score.
The Bad: Geoffrey Colville is terribly plummy and melodramatic as Perry, even craning into the camera at one point to speak aloud to himself ("There were a couple of other gentlemen here. They seem to have... disappeared!"). Oh, and Marius Goring says "Whitefield" instead of Waterfield at one point!
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★★★★★

NEXT TIME: Episode 3...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: Episode 1; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 6; Episode 7

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/2014/01/the-evil-of-daleks.html

The Evil of the Daleks is available on BBC soundtrack CD. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Original-Television-Soundtrack/dp/0563525975. Episode 2 is the only surviving episode, and can be found on the Lost in Time DVD box set here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Lost-Time-DVD/dp/B0002XOZW4