1.21: The Daleks’ Master Plan (episodes 1-7)
In which Doctor Who attempts both its first epic, and its first Christmas special.
Broadcast: November-December 1965
Watched: July 2019
1. The Nightmare Begins
Surprised Kurt got exterminated, I assumed he’d go Varga on us.
The cut to the comms technicians on Earth is a nice way of providing backstory and texture – feels like a trick we haven’t seen before, it’s
Is the line about the mineral deal with the fourth galaxy being a bit complicated a callback to Galaxy Four?
Halfway through this I switched to a recon for reasons I can’t be bothered to explain. Is Mavic Chen in black face? How did I not know this? [A “recon” is a fan-made attempt to recreate the experience of watching a missing episode using photos, surviving clips, etc. Mavic Chen, the guardian of the solar system, is not in blackface, he’s a weird sort of Donald Trump orange.]
2. Day Of Armageddon
Makes me wish we could see the rest of it as it actually looks really good. [This episode exists.] The alien costumes are all great fun, and the spaceships are decent enough in a 1960s sort of way. Though it is funny you never see the outside of them.
Again, this is the active version of the Doctor, who sees a problem and who wants to take the Daleks on head on, not run away.
Katerina is not a real companion though is she let’s be real about this. [She joined the TARDIS in the last episode of the last story. Let’s see how she gets on!]
3. Devil’s Planet
Blimey, it’s Cygnus Alpha. [The prison planet from writer Terry Nation’s other series, Blake’s 7.]
The Doctor telling Katerina that she shouldn’t ask questions because then she’d be “just like the other two” is a bit gross.
Continuing my occasional “Moffat is influenced by the Hartnell era” theme – something else these two eras do but the show doesn’t often do otherwise is totally abandon the unity of place: both have these sprawling stories that take you through multiple locations or times. I guess it was abandoned for budget reasons, but it’s fun, and a proper use of the format.
Nick Courtney gets better billing than Purves. Huh.
4. The Traitors
I like the double-edged title: is it about Chen or Vyon?
The fact the Daleks are so bastard hard they kill other Daleks for failure is a nice touch.
Katarina’s death is very well done – the shocking speed of it, the dull horror afterwards – but it is sort of odd that she’s such a minor character who gets listed as a companion because she’s, just about, in more than one story. Both Bret and Sara are bigger roles, really.
Referring to it as “the Solar System” jarred for ages, but it fits with all the “colony 15” stuff doesn’t it? It’s a world from which the colour has been bleached out.
Also the speed with which they dispose of Bret is pretty shocking too. Real sense of the stakes.
5. Counter Plot
“Oh dear. Perhaps we should send some more mice.”
The way Chen needs his number two to jazz him up is a bit pathetic.
Love the Daleks being frightened of mice and things that move without explanation, and Hartnell fighting eight foot high invisible monsters.
Sara changes her mind about who the traitors are and switches sides for no very good reason.
The way Hartnell clearly refused to do any of the jumping up and down and screaming for the effects shot is quite funny.
6. Coronas Of The Sun
Why exactly is it called that?
Odd episode. It’s basically just there to get the regulars back to the TARDIS, and it uses a macguffin and a bunch of technobabble to get us there. It’s fun but it doesn’t really tell us anything new or have anything particularly interesting about it.
I do sort of like the way everyone’s incompetent and winging it, up to and including the Daleks. Chen is back to booming like he’s in total control, which is more interesting now we’ve seen him crap himself in the previous episode.
Sara’s shift in loyalties still feels under-explained but the bit where she spits “Traitor!” at Chen is a nice moment. I also like her and the Doctor mocking Steven, a man from the future, as a primitive.
Seriously though why’s it called that. [Apparently, nobody knows. It may be a hangover from an earlier plan for the story.]
7. The Feast Of Steven
[Doctor Who’s first Christmas special! Involves a trip to a Liverpool police station, another to silent movie era Hollywood and no Daleks.]
The first bit’s moderately amusing. The second bit doesn’t work at all without visuals so it’s difficult to tell. Who does the old bloke complaining about his greenhouse play in The Crusade? [He is apparently the stall holder they steal some clothes from.]