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?

After a shaky start involving Pate de Dalek a la Mire Beast (oh dear), we're introduced to a thicko Dalek that sounds like Arthur Mullard on Mogadon. "Umm... errr... um..." it falters when asked a simple question. It's hard to describe how much I hate that Dalek, or rather how disappointed I am in Terry Nation for writing it. It's the ultimate betrayal of his creations, portraying them as stupid, fallible, individual and of varying intelligence - all traits that go against what a real Dalek should be. In later years the Nation Estate would become very strict guardians of the Dalek mythos, vetoing attempts to depict them as anything less than ruthless killing machines, but this is where the Daleks as figures of fun began, and at the hands of Nation himself.

The TARDIS heads for New York, 1966, and in particular the top of the Empire State Building, somewhere that both the Doctor and the Daleks would return to in years to come. I have to admit I am fascinated by those tourists. There's three old biddies who look like Mary Whitehouse, Thora Hird, and Ivy from Last of the Summer Wine; an obese gentleman with a formidable belly which bumps a barely-glimpsed dolly bird out of the way; and a rather handsome young man who seems utterly lost. Oh, as well as the rather uninspiring tour guide (that's Hrostar from The Web Planet, don't ya know?), there's a hillbilly tourist from Alabama called Morton Dill (played very broadly but endearingly by Peter Purves - one to watch).

I'd love Big Finish or BBC Books to do an anthology telling the stories of these incidental characters - what brought them to New York, and to the Empire State? Why are the three women not with husbands? Why is the young man alone? Why is the fat man so rude? I'd buy it...

A quick sidestep... Playing one of the old biddies was Barbara Bruce, who would go on to play Mollie in the Troughton adventure The Highlanders; the bald fat man was Jim Tyson, who appeared in many uncredited roles in Benny Hill's shows in the 1950s, 60s and 70s; and the attractive young man was called "crew cut youth" in production paperwork, played by Sean Ryan (but without an actual crew cut!).

In truth, the whole routine at the Empire State Building is pointless and tedious. In fact, the whole episode is rather inconsequential, consisting of the TARDIS landing and leaving, then the Daleks landing then leaving, and although it's nice to have differing locales and times, you could actually take this episode away and not miss it at all. It's essentially just Terry Nation treading water, falling back on his comedy roots (but this isn't very funny comedy) and holding his hand out for the pay cheque.

The attempt at slapstick aboard the Mary Celeste is quite pitiful too. When Vicki hits Richardson over the head to rescue Barbara, that's acceptable, but when she goes on to hit Ian by accident, and William Russell descends into eye-rolling "concussed" acting, it's time to stop and admit this is hardly quality material. It's not even worthy of the Keystone Cops. And the attempt to make it a big reveal that this is actually the Mary Celeste, and it's the Daleks who are responsible for it being found empty and abandoned, is spoiled somewhat by the ship's sign being in full view long before the reveal, and that most viewers have probably guessed already from the circumstances. Still, the scenes of passengers jumping to their doom in the ocean are effective, including a mother and baby, and even a Dalek!

We end with a really weak cliffhanger in which we're told the Daleks are closing in on the TARDIS. It's hardly thrilling, it's not going to give the children nightmares, and the bizarre fading zoom into the Doctor's gadgetry is just baffling. The whole episode amounts to nothing.

First broadcast: June 5th, 1965

Steve's Scoreboard
The Good: I'm going to be shallow and opt for the young tourist (Sean Ryan), for want of anything more impressive in this episode.
The Bad: That thicko Dalek. It could possibly be the worst thing to appear in Doctor Who to date.
Overall score for episode: ★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

NEXT TIME: Journey Into Terror...

My reviews of this story's other episodes: The Executioners (episode 1); The Death of Time (episode 2); Journey into Terror (episode 4); The Death of Doctor Who (episode 5); The Planet of Decision (episode 6)

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/2013/08/the-chase.html

The Chase is available on DVD in a box set with The Space Museum. Find it on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Space-Museum-Chase/dp/B0033PRJWQ