Day of the Daleks Episode Four

The one where the Daleks invade the past from the future...

The Daleks are on the cusp of exterminating their arch enemy the Doctor once and for all, gunsticks poised, and at the very last moment, the Controller barges in, shouting: "Stop! You mustn't kill him!" It's one of those age-old devices that writers use to ramp up false peril, but diffuse it with the laziest of get-outs. I hate it when this happens. Also, where's the sting reprise gone?

There's a lot of info-dumping in this fourth episode, but it finally helps to colour in the sketchy grasp we've had so far as to what's going on. We've known that the freedom fighters have been trying to go back in time to kill Styles, but not why. Here, we learn that the Daleks have discovered time travel technology (which contradicts The Chase and The Daleks' Master Plan, but whatevs) and invaded Earth a second time, thus changing the pattern of history (the first time they tried they were defeated by the Doctor in The Dalek Invasion of Earth).

Day of the Daleks Episode Three

The one where the Doctor is roughed up by Ogrons...

That railway tunnel is a strange thing, isn't it? On the inside it's like a maze of tunnels going this way and that, with off-shoot tunnels and archways all over the place. It's more like a sewer system than a railway tunnel, plus it has the smoothest tiled floor ever constructed (so that the Daleks can glide effortlessly along!). It's designed in such a way as to resemble the old Dalek city sets from the 1960s, even down to the curved archways.

The Doctor's arrival on 22nd century Earth should allow us to see what the Daleks have done to the future, what the year c.2172 actually looks like, but the most we really get to see is a rather clean and pleasant looking white tower block. It looks more utopian than dystopian, although director Paul Bernard does portray some form of oppression in the line of jackbooted Ogrons and the CCTV camera. Still, I'd like to have had clearer examples of this future Earth, which was better achieved in the 2011 Special Edition using slightly computer gamey CGI. But whichever version of Earth we look at, someone needs to do some weeding...

Day of the Daleks Episode Two

The one where Jo travels forward to the 22nd century...

It's an odd decision to have the Doctor Who sting at the end of the cliffhanger reprise, like a half-hearted attempt to do a New Who style cold open. It's quite jarring and baffling, and I'm glad they didn't keep it beyond this story. It's a funny one, because it's almost like the production team had temporarily forgotten how to make Doctor Who or do the Daleks. I suppose director Paul Bernard was new to the programme, and writer Louis Marks hadn't worked for the show since the Hartnell era, but Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts were veterans by this stage.

We get a bit more Dalek action in episode 2, although when I say action, I actually mean inaction, because they're very static Daleks, hardly moving at all for most of the time. Coupled with their very stilted delivery, and squat stature, they make for underwhelming returning enemies. They seem very short in comparison to Aubrey Woods' Controller (unless he was very tall!) and spend most of the time gazing at his sternum. The credit of "Dalek operator" is something of a misnomer! Still, it's great to have that familiar Dalek heartbeat sound effect back.

Day of the Daleks Episode One

The one where the Doctor and Jo spend the night in a "haunted house"...

Season 9 began on the first day of a new year, and it meant business from the outset, flashing up the spoilerific story title DAY OF THE DALEKS and promising the return of the Doctor's most famous enemies after an absence of four-and-a-half years (barring cameos and repeats). The first shots make for a spooky scene-setter, accompanied by a doomy, bass-heavy underscore and low lighting. An official looking man is working hard into the night, and you get the feeling something is about to happen. Something bad.

There's a breeze at the French windows, and straightaway you're expecting a Dalek to come crashing through, screaming "EXTERMINATE!" and gunning the man down in its wake. But no, our expectations are thwarted with the appearance of a grey-looking stranger who tries, and fails, to kill the official looking man, and promptly fades away... like a ghost! I do find it amusing that, later in the story, this guerilla is described as being about "35 years old", when he looks anything but (actor Tim Condren was ten years older at the time!).