3.22: Death to the Daleks

In which we’re terribly frightened, and bored.

Broadcast: February-March 1974

Watched: May 2020

Death to the Daleks, Part One

“DALEKTH!” There’s a shock. Honestly, was there a decision taken that nobody would remember the story title anyway, or what? Contrast this with the way they fiddle with the title for the first part of Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

The Doctor persuades his new bird to go on holiday with him, then dims the lights. Suspicious.

Anyway. One of the things I’m enjoying about the hajj is when you get to see the handbreak turns in style of genre. Jumping from conspiracies in modern London to this weird alien horror thing, with shadowy figures running around the mist, weirdly sort of elevates this. The last story is oddly comforting because even though London is deserted and Mike’s a traitor now, the baddies aren’t that bad and it’s comforting to know the Doctor’s mates are around the corner. Suddenly absolutely anything could be happening.

That said, I paused it when I got a phone call and then didn’t put it back on for ages, so it can’t actually be in any way interesting or suspenseful. And Exxilon is just Skaro or Spiridon again.

Oh Sarah, just beat the shit out of the veil from Heaven Sent, bet he turns out to be nice now. Oh wait, he wants to sacrifice her while chanting, called that one wrong.

Bloody hell those costumes are dreadful.

Death to the Daleks, Part Two

The fact the Daleks have lost all their power – the fact this is planet is hostile enough to mess them up, too – is quite a nice twist.

The Captain deciding to use his last breaths to tell Galloway that he’s rubbish at his job is an interesting choice. So is having the Daleks swooping in and saving the day. And the humans selling the regulars out in exchange for the Daleks’ help in getting their rare metal.

Anyway, on paper this all sounds quite good – it’s a twist on the formula rather than a repeat. So why’s it so unbelievably dull?

Death to the Daleks, Part Three

“Root one, Daleks nil.” I also enjoyed, “That way leads to death!”

Look I’m trying to stay positive on the hajj... But I’m sorry, this is just crap isn’t it? It’s clearly meant to be scary – which admittedly makes it a hard sell for me, a person who can’t be bothered with horror – but the music leans towards “slapstick” and everything in it looks stupid. The exxilon costumes are dreadful. The killer roots are ridiculous. It’s a huge production failure.

What’s more, the brain teasers are stupid, even by Doctor Who standards. Those three skeletons couldn’t work out how to beat a maze, the likes of which you can find on magazines for six year olds up and down the land? The cliffhanger is an oddly tiled floor? (Wonder if this inspired Terrance [Dicks, the script editor] for The Five Doctors.) I know it has to be something children can get, but *come on*.

Also, when the Doctor says, “Logically there must be one”, that isn’t what “logically” means.

The nice exxilon is the worst actor we’ve seen in some time. Tarrant definitely smirks when the root kills an exxilon.

The Doctor touching Sarah’s face does not read to me like it was intended to read.

Death to the Daleks, Part Four

I’ve said a few times now that one of the things I’ve realised is good about Robert Holmes is that his scripts are always so thick, chucking idea after idea at you. Nation on autopilot feels kind of... thin? The ideas are here, but they’re not really explored. The sentient city feels like it should be more interesting than “might try to kill you” – what does the city *want*? In the same way, Galloway being told that he’s rubbish is clearly meant to connect to Galloway’s self sacrifice, but there isn’t enough on screen to sell it.

I quite like that this is an inversion of Nation’s other scripts – this time it’s the city that kills you, the planet outside is relatively safe. Does feel oddly like a rip off of Colony in Space, though (oh! same director) – a story, incidentally, which remembered to have sub plots – which surprises me as I didn’t imagine Nation had bothered watching Doctor Who he didn’t write.

Also, the production feels weirdly half finished – we don’t see Peter and Galloway get split up, Peter just appears from nowhere. When Sarah greets Billal without saying anything it’s like something being put in to make up for the fact there’s nothing in the script.

The fact that what appears to be someone watching the Doctor and Billal on a screen turns out to be a corpse is nicely creepy. So is the way the two threats to them – the Daleks and the antibodies – end up wiping each other out.

I like the bit where the Dalek f*cks up and then shits itself about it.

On the whole though, disappointing.

I – like Planet of the Daleks more? Is that weird?