The Evil of the Daleks Episode 3

The one where the Doctor and Jamie have a right old ding-dong...

Arguments between Doctors and companions are ten a penny these days. You can barely go a week without a companion tearing a strip off the Time Lord for not being human enough, or the Doctor having a dig at his latest best friend for being too human. But in the classic series, by and large, the Doctor got on with his travelling companions pretty well. There was often an atmosphere in the TARDIS during the early to mid 1980s, but as a whole, the regulars very rarely had proper all-out arguments. Barbara vs the Doctor springs to mind in The Brink of Disaster, as well as Ace vs the Doctor in The Curse of Fenric, and Steven vs the Doctor in Bell of Doom.

But there's an argument between the Doctor and Jamie in this episode which gives them all a run for their money, simply because it's so well rehearsed and performed that it seems 100% genuine, and consequently quite upsetting to witness. From the Doctor's point of view, the disagreement is all part of a grand manipulation of his Scottish friend, but as far as Jamie is concerned, this is a serious falling-out. Frazer Hines and Patrick Troughton pull it off so well that the scene is brimming with tension and ire.

Some might say it's out of character for the Second Doctor to use his friends in this way, but we must remember that the Second Doctor is the same man as all of his other incarnations, the same man who would turn manipulation into a fine art in his fourth and seventh bodies, and who started off his travels as deceitful and selfish in Season 1. Besides, I think I know what the Doctor's up to, even if Jamie doesn't. Using the evidence of what's been presented to me in this episode, I think I already know how to defeat the Daleks, and this is my plan...

The Daleks want to experiment on Jamie by pitting him against mute brute Kemel, and analysing the emotions he expresses during his encounter. They want to identify and extract what they call the Human Factor and feed it into the Dalek DNA so that their race can better understand, and overcome, humanity. But the Daleks are being pretty naive by allowing the Doctor - their arch-nemesis - to select which of Jamie's feelings should be used to form the Human Factor. Now, in a combat situation (which I'm sure is where Jamie and Kemel are headed), Jamie is bound to feel anger, a bit of hatred perhaps, frustration and determination. But these are all "emotions" the Daleks already appear to have, even if they wouldn't admit to it. What they're lacking are the more divisive or debilitating emotions, such as love and fear. Well, when Jamie enters into combat with Kemel, he's bound to feel a bit of fear, and if he does actually defeat Kemel and rescue Victoria, a young red-blooded Highlander like him is bound to feel pangs of attraction, perhaps even love?

So all the Doctor needs to do is select love, fear and attraction, deselect hatred, anger and aggression, and feed that into the Dalek DNA. Bob's your uncle, you've humanised the entire Dalek race for the better. Granted, there's the whole question of "does he have that right", but my main point is, the Daleks are being very silly allowing the Doctor to design their future DNA.

It's only episode 3 and I've solved it. There!

This episode introduces us to Ruth Maxtible's boyfriend Arthur Terrall, a man who is the perfect gentleman one moment, and an aggressive ruffian the next, all the while a riot of contradictions. What I don't understand is why he paid Toby to abduct Jamie from the house. Terrall claims he didn't want Jamie, he wanted Victoria, but even if that were the case, why abduct Victoria? In fact, I don't really understand the presence of Toby in the story. All he seems to do is contribute toward the episode 2 cliffhanger, which is soon reversed and forgotten, and then becomes Dalek cannon fodder when he tries to burgle the laboratory. Toby is padding, I reckon.

One character I do like is Mollie the maid (the second Mollie spelt that way this season). She's a breath of fresh air, an effervescent, impish, cheeky, bubbly, upbeat young girl who takes a real shine to Jamie, and proves a willing and able accomplice to him. Jo Rowbottom makes Mollie a loveable character and on the evidence presented so far, I'd much prefer her to join the Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS than drippy Victoria.

Judging by the telesnaps, there's some lovely location filming at Grim's Dyke in the scenes where the Dalek transfers Victoria to the south wing, along wood-panelled Victorian corridors which by that point had also been seen in episodes of The Avengers and The Saint and the war film It Happened Here (it would later turn up in everything from Curse of the Crimson Altar to Sliding Doors, EastEnders to Little Britain). I think there's something beautifully uncanny (unheimliche) about a Dalek gliding along Victorian hallways. There's talk in the script of the house being haunted, and although good old Mollie isn't affected by "ghosties", Mr Kitson the butler has already departed, with a cook and two footmen complaining too. David Whitaker writes such rich tapestries for his characters and plots. It also puts me in mind of Image of the Fendahl and Ghost Light, in which otherworldly forces create what some perceive as a supernatural presence.

A quick nod to Peter Hawkins's sterling performance as the voice of the Daleks too. I think his Dalek voices are my favourite because they sound so uncompromising and dictatorial. The way the Dalek barks at Victoria to pick up her shawl, but also deems it necessary to inform her not to be afraid because she is not to be exterminated! Later, when the Doctor asks why the experiments have to be on Jamie and not him, the Dalek snaps: "Request denied!" (I did smile when the Doctor interrupts the Dalek a little later though!).

First broadcast: June 3rd, 1967

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: The argument between Jamie and the Doctor bristles with tension.
The Bad: I'm really not sure what the whole Jamie/ Toby/ Terrall subplot is for.
Overall score for episode: ★★★★★★☆☆

NEXT TIME: Episode 4...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: episodes: Episode 1; Episode 2; 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