The Planet of Decision (The Chase Episode 6)

The one where we say farewell to Ian and Barbara...

Aren't the Mechanoids magnificent? I mean, yes, they're incredibly cumbersome creations, and it's hard to see how the Doctor Who production team thought they might become "the new Daleks", but they look amazing. They look solid and formidable, and despite their springy little heads, the design is inspired, like a turtle crossed with a golf ball. The fact they created three Mechanoid casings is even more impressive, seeing as they have so little screen time. They could have been in more episodes of The Chase, and could certainly have returned for a second outing in Season 3 (most appropriately in The Daleks' Master Plan). Sadly, it wasn't to be...

Also impressive is the model of the Mechanoid city. That too looks huge, and you can even see the tiny little Mechanoid models moving along the walkways at one point. It's an intricate, beautiful design, and if I were a child in 1965 I'd have loved a play set of this city for Christmas (this coming from a kid whose most memorable Christmas was the year he got an Ewok Village play set!). Imagine the fun children would have playing with this city and a few Dalek and Mechanoid action models?

The Death of Doctor Who (The Chase Episode 5)

The one where the Doctor battles his own robotic doppelganger...

Terry Nation loved jungles. There was the petrified forest of Skaro, then the screaming jungle of Marinus, and in stories yet to come we'll visit the jungles of Kembel, Mira and Spiridon. But for the time being we're on Mechanus, which is populated with giant living fungoids which look like shuffling toadstools. Let's be fair, the fungoids are pretty impressive props, and our unfolding introduction to Mechanus is directed well by Richard Martin, complete with throbbing vegetation and a burbling soundscape which sounds like my stomach after a curry!

I've not been Richard Martin's greatest fan in the past, but I've got to hand it to him: he handles this episode really well, making the most of Ray Cusick and John Wood's design for the strange planet of Mechanus by using painted gauze drapes (as he did in The Web Planet) to add depth and texture to the picture.

Journey Into Terror (The Chase Episode 4)

The one where Vicki gets left behind and hitches a ride with the Daleks...

Have you ever noticed that Barbara is first out of the TARDIS doors every time they land in this story? She's first out on Aridius, first out in New York and on the Mary Celeste, and she's first out here, when they arrive in a nightmarish haunted house. She's leading the way throughout, unafraid of what might lurk outside. That's our Babs!

Well, I say unafraid, but within minutes of the TARDIS crew arriving in this strange house they're all gibbering like children, scared of the cheapest of props - "vampire" bats on string, thunder and lightning, creaky floors and even a fireplace with glowing eyes (OK, I admit that last one's a bit weird). But after everything these people have been through you'd think they'd be mature enough to take these tropes in their stride, but instead we get more of the comedy which is a hallmark of Season 2.

Flight Through Eternity (The Chase Episode 3)

The one where the Daleks visit the Empire State Building and the Mary Celeste...

Oh look, it's yet another overly-melodramatic episode title from Terry Nation, never one to undersell his work. Last week we didn't experience the death of time, and the week before that the executioners didn't execute anyone. This week we're promised a flight through eternity, but in actual fact it's more of a flight through a century because we only visit the years 1872 and 1966.

The depiction of the time vortex in The Chase leaves a lot to be desired. I can accept the spangly refraction technique, but the police box photo is rather poor (why not use the scale model?) and the Dalek time machine looks like a car battery. On the inside, it's rather more impressive, complete with lifts, ramps, some swirling pop art on the walls and even a glowing central console. And of course, it's bigger on the inside, just like the Doctor's TARDIS. Have the Daleks used the technology of the Doctor's people to construct their machine? Or are we to suppose that all time machines are bigger on the inside like this?

The Death of Time (The Chase Episode 2)

The one where Barbara's cardigan saves the day...

Director Richard Martin's atmospheric location filming at Camber Sands continues with lovely shots of Daleks making their way across the dunes - or tiptoeing across, as can be seen clearly in one early shot! Later, back in studio (at 12m 9s) a Dalek is caught on camera lifting and placing itself into position. It seems the Daleks were hovering above ground decades before Remembrance of the Daleks, although perhaps not intentionally in this case!

Again, writer Terry Nation treats his creations with slightly less respect than previously, as he gives them dialogue which is much more emotional and human, such as when one Dalek asks of the TARDIS crew: "Are they to be taken alive?", and the other replies: "No! They are to be exterminated!" The first Dalek seems excited by this, and hails: "Good! Exterminated!" like a petulant child. Later, we see two Daleks discuss using slaves to dig the TARDIS out of the sand. "Well, see to it!" snaps the boss Dalek in a vernacular more suited to humans than Daleks. Compare the dialogue they are given here to the more staccato, emotionless, monotone lines in The Daleks - it's changed considerably.

The Executioners (The Chase Episode 1)

The one where the TARDIS travellers watch time telly...

What exactly is going on with that model shot at the start of this episode? As the episode title and writer captions fade in and out, underneath we can see a model police box which appears to be placed on a plain black surface or table. The baffling thing is that you can vaguely see the edge of the table at the top of the screen, and as the camera zooms slowly out you can see faint writing to the left of the picture. It seems the TARDIS has materialised on a giant blackboard! I have to say, that's a pretty ropy effect to open the episode with, plus there's some wildly out-of-place jazz music too!

We first see our heroes relaxing in the TARDIS: the Doctor is fiddling with a new chunk of technology (and what a big chunk it is!), Ian is reading a science-fiction book ("it's a bit far-fetched") and Barbara is making a dress for Vicki, who flits between the three bored out of her head, like any right-minded teenager would be.