Poll: Rate & Review The Daleks

[Peri-Peri]

From last week where we watched the final story of the classic series, this week we go all the way back to the first season with The Daleks.

The TARDIS has brought the travellers to the planet Skaro where they meet two indigenous races - the Daleks, malicious mutant creatures encased in armoured travel machines, and the Thals, beautiful humanoids with pacifist principles. They convince the Thals of the need to fight for their own survival.

Joining forces with them and braving Skaro's many dangers, they launch a two-pronged attack on the Dalek city. The Daleks are all killed when, during the course of the fighting, their power supply is cut off.

The Daleks was the second story of season 1 of Doctor Who. Its most obvious contribution to the Doctor Who mythos was the introduction of the Daleks, the Thals and the planet Skaro. It also continued and deepened the antagonistic relationship between the First Doctor and his new human companions, Ian and Barbara, which would come to a head in the next story.

The Doctor's non-humanoid adversaries caught on immediately with the British public, as was obvious from the serial's ratings. A significant improvement over An Unearthly Child, The Daleks cemented Doctor Who's position on the 1964 BBC1 schedule.

The serial was writer Terry Nation's first for the programme. Its reception led to his recommissioning for The Keys of Marinus later in the season, as well as the return of the Daleks every season until season 5. It also was the proximate cause for Nation's financial success, since his agent had cunningly negotiated Nation's co-ownership of the Daleks.

The ramifications of this deal on the history of Doctor Who are difficult to overstate. Indeed, though agents are usually unknown and uncredited workers, this deal was known to have been negotiated by future British television legend and studio boss, Beryl Vertue — mother of Sue Vertue and mother-in-law of Steven Moffat.

Besides Nation, other production personnel made their debuts with this story, including: directors Christopher Barry and Richard Martin, designer Raymond Cusick, prolific costumer Daphne Dare, and future director Michael Ferguson.

The Daleks was also the source material for both a theatrical film and an American comic book called Dr. Who and the Daleks. Both were the first time Doctor Who had appeared in those media. The Daleks was the the basis for the first attempt to take Doctor Who to the United States market.

The next story will be posted on Sunday May 20th.

[Vampyros Adric]

I don't think it is overstating the point to say that without this story, we may not have had a show that keeps on running in its 49th year! This was the televisual equivalent of the Beatles "I wanna hold your hand". It is actually almost impossible to judge this objectively as it such a part of, not only Doctor Who's DNA, but my cultural DNA. Everything about this story works wonderfully well and with a beautiful simplicity. It is an almost biblical tale (especially the provocation of the Thals and then the march to the Dalek city) and, for me, is more significant in science fiction terms than just about any other story. Terry Nation went from being a jobbing script writer to a Science Fiction legend with this story. The English language got a new word "Dalek". The simplicity and other-ness of the eponymous villains makes them instantly recognisable.

Wonderful - a timeless tale that sits alongside "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Martian Chronicles" and "I, Robot" in the Science Fiction hall of fame. 5/5 doesn't seem to do it justice.

[Nyki]

What he said

[ardalyon]

An iconic story to be sure, but I'm not sure it merits a 5. At times it seems like The Doctor is trying to start a war for no other reason than to get the thingummy for the TARDIS back. In general The Doctor started off as a slightly sinister character and only later became more heroic (contrast his behaviour here with how he behaves in The War Machines, for instance). There are also some funny moments, like when a Dalek comes into the room with a tray of snacks for the prisoners, struggling not to drop the whole lot on the floor (those sink plungers have their limitations). Also, I thought the Dalek Invasion of Earth was better. Still, if not great it is still very good and easily merits a 4.

[Exterminate]

Full marks from me. No doubt about it. This is one of my favourite Daleks stories ever. It had a bit of everything and really helped put the show on the map. I would absolutely love to have been around back in the day to see this as it aired for the very first time and feel the full effect and buzz surrounding the story. I bet watching this as a kid in the 60's was quite the experience.

[Nyki]

I bet watching this as a kid in the 60's was quite the experience.

"Overwhelming" is the word you're looking for

[Saber]

I'm giving this one a 4. I think the story could have been a little tighter but for the most part it's really good. It's not my favourite classic Dalek story but it was a great introduction.

[Blazin Goliath]

Definatly a 5/5 for me. This episode really showed the public what a series like this was capable of- and that's a lot. The Doctor here was a perfect example of how he started out- exploring for exploration's sake. He's still just as curious here as he is in his later incarnations, -even going so far as to remove a part of the TARDIS and say it was malfunctioning, just to get a closer look at a new city- but minus the heroism. The thing that really sealed this story for me was the Daleks. Just.... Watching them then and now, I die laughing every time. Such cheesy old sci-fi things must never be forgotten

[Nyki]

It was never going to be anything but five.  OK, it has faults, but it was the story that set the bar not only for DW, but for all TV Sci-Fi that came after.  The Daleks themselves were a large part of it, but the story had everything - including an opening episode that was a masterclass in creating tension with nothing but a script and actors, leading up to one of the most iconic moments in TV.

[Scott]

I always enjoy this story and I very nearly gave it a five just based on it's significance, but there were a few things in there I wasn't so keen on and for those reasons I have gone with a 4. Still a great story and a brilliant intro for the Daleks though.

[Aneurin]

This is getting 4/5 from me. The writing was strong and we got to know the characters a lot more, but while it was a good introduction for the Daleks I think there are better stories featuring them.

[Tardis-Console]

I really like this story. It was the second classic Dalek story I watched (after Planet of the Daleks) and while I prefer the latter it was great to see an origin story of sorts and how they first came into the story. I like that Ian gets to play the hero and I like that the Doctors actions are somewhat ambiguous. When I first watched it I expected Davros, too. I didn't realise at the time that he came much later. Anyway, yeah! Strong story and great introduction for the Daleks.

[Tardis-Console]

I went with full marks btw

[Twisted-Sister]

I've gone with a 4 for this one. It's a great, eerie story that set up the Daleks brilliantly and is probably the best Dalek story until Genesis came along. My main problem with it though is that it gets a bit pacey along the way and as a result begins to feel a bit too long. I think if they had cut an episode from it and tightened the script a bit it would have been near perfect.

[ardalyon]

I don't know if I am missing an episode or something, but there was a weird continuity thing when I watched it when they were talking about entering the Dalek city and Ian went off to do that, and the next thing we know the Doctor is already in the city having been captured. Did we never get to see him captured?

[Nyki]

I don't know if I am missing an episode or something, but there was a weird continuity thing when I watched it when they were talking about entering the Dalek city and Ian went off to do that, and the next thing we know the Doctor is already in the city having been captured. Did we never get to see him captured?

Yes, we do.  In episode 6 (The Ordeal) the Doctor, Susan and Alydon get into the city under cover of the Thals' mirrors and destroy the Daleks' power antenna.  The Doctor sends Alydon back to get the Thals ready while he and Susan finish off the process, but they're captured by the Daleks before they can get away.  That comes just before switching back to the tunnels where Ian and Barbara's party reach the chasm.