This story, first broadcast in late 1963, is perhaps the most famous of all of the Doctor Who extant from the black and white era. It introduces the Doctor’s most famous enemy and begins itself a legacy that will last all ten incarnations of the Doctor with the usual ups and downs. While An Unearthly Child was a solid start to the Doctor Who franchise, then The Daleks is what cemented it’s name in the minds of the television viewing public. It features all of the good aspects of early Doctor Who, the first Doctor’s capriciousness and arrogance, strong work from all of the companions, and a compelling story held tightly together with excellent characterization.
As the story begins, we find the TARDIS has crash landed on a mysterious planet in the middle of an even more mysterious jungle. True to form for early Hartnell era Who, the Doctor has no idea where the group has landed and is insatiably curious to find out more. Ian and Barbara are also curious about the nature of this forest, which in a curious and alien twist turns out to be petrified and contain an animal that was at one point held together by strong magnetic fields, but as a particularly good exchange between the two characters points out; they just want to go home. If the Doctor is insatiably curious about the petrified jungle, then he is positively obsessed about the magnificent city that he sees in the distance and the Doctor and Ian nearly come to blows over vacating the cliff. There is the expected battling over who is in charge, and I like it that Barbara doesn’t just let the men decide who should be making all of the decisions and not only does she have to remind the Doctor of it, but also the increasingly paternalistic Ian. She wants her voice heard and props to Terry Nation for not forgetting the strong female character that they established in Child.
I should take a moment to mention the sets in use during The Daleks. Even the fact that all of this was clearly filmed on a soundstage doesn’t detract from the usage of excellent properties work and inspired set design. Partially due to the convincing way that the props and sets are used by the actors to convince us of the reality of the sets and partially due to the excellent design work, the sets in The Daleks work extremely well. The jungle feels forested, yet stone; clearly evidenced when Susan collects a flower (which Ian then carelessly destroys). The Lake of Mutations is convincing enough, though it is the first time that we hear the various stock sounds that will be used in every forest from here until the end of the classic series, but the sound mix works when taken in context of the first time it was heard. The cave sets are convincing as well, and are blessedly mostly devoid of stage lighting. The Dalek city is particularly impressive, barring a few minor discrepancies like convenient boulders and open elevator shafts. It clearly feels distinctly alien as the corridors are designed for the shorter stature Daleks. Add to this the towering spires, well realized in the model work, the eerie whistling noise in the city and the distinctive throbbing in the Dalek command center, and the design of the story is well played out.
As a race the Thals are pretty much typecast, or so it would seem, from the outset, by Nation’s willingness to use them as an allegory for the pitfalls of pacifism. Despite this ardent non-agression the individualism of the Thal tribe shines through solid acting. Temmosus is well realized as a leader who had the stories of Dalek aggression and the horrors of war passed down through the generations; he realizes what is happening and even the very lands of his home stand as a testament to the evils of violence and warfare. He is noble and tragic all at the same time. When the Thals find the Daleks uncooperative and threatening, it seems that Alydon understands what needs to be done, but it still takes some convincing. Even characters which by all rights should have been written off still have their moments, whether it’s Ganatus’ impetuous flirting with Barbara or Antodus’ nervousness and then self-sacrifice makes the Thals seem human and relatable.
On the counterpoint are the episodes eponymous Daleks themselves. They are mysterious, alien, calculating, and vicious. The design of the Dalek is unique and startling and along with the grating voices used by the sound workshop are satisfyingly used to create something totally alien. I have in my notebook the word “callous” written down about four times in the margin in regards to the Daleks’ actions. I don’t think there is a better word for the Daleks in this story. They are cold, manipulative, ordered, and above all callous with their actions. Using Susan to lure the Thals to the city and then brutally murdering several of them under the offer of truce, testing the anti-radiation drugs on several Dalek work groups and then finding it to be defective and then not worrying one lick about the fate of those afflicted, and finally willing to damage Skaro even more to ensure their survival; the Daleks are callous to the extreme in this story.
While the Daleks are intelligent and devious, it is nice to see the Doctor and his companions all formulating sensible and straightforward plans to escape from their imprisonment. It works nicely with the plot itself and allows the viewer to follow along easily. The first escape from the Dalek cell proves to be well thought out and very simple. The Thal plan to attack the city and the Doctor’s plans to confuse the Dalek sensors are all simple and very believable. Best of all they are explained to the audience in such a way that we are not taken as sods watching and are expected to fill in where there are constraints and it works.
Barbara stands out as not being in the shadows and while she is relegated to the many woman’s tasks in this story, she has important say to the success of the mission. Her relationship with Ian begins to grow and bear fruit They both begin to act as confidants to each other; each a touchstone to the twentieth century that they both can relate to. Jacqueline Hill’s characterization and acting with Philip Bond’s seemingly minor, yet tremendously important Ganatus is just superb. Clearly these two are reacting to the situation by moving closer to each other and the attraction there is undeniable between the two. The underlying subtleness of the acting makes it extraordinarily believable that Barbara is hesitant to leave Ganatus at the end of the story, but she knows that she must. Brilliantly acted and played.
More pedestrian, but serviceable still is William Russell as Ian Chesterton. He gets his chance to go head to head with the Doctor and becomes the voice of reason to the Doctor’s mischief. Clearly there is some dick measuring going on as Ian and the Doctor fight for control of the group, but most of Russell’s sequences involve Ian explaining to someone (Barbara, Susan, the Doctor, any number of Thals) about the error of their ways. I understand that the fight in the Thal camp was meant to be provoked, but it couldn’t have looked any more scripted if Nation and the actors had tried. Despite being handed such schlock, Russell does well. And by schlock I mean what is one of the few dark spots in an otherwise stellar serial.
Susan continues her descent into annoyance. I can’t tell if it’s a good idea to get this infuriated with a character this early in the shows’ run, but I know that I am. Thankfully the hysteria, which one can only through the story attribute to the condition of the female sex, is a a minimum during most of this story, but there are a few moments where Susan’s presence is felt in the exactly the wrong way. Two that stand out are the run through the jungle and the very strange laugh outburst as she writes the letter to the Thals. The constant shrieking couldn’t have done much for the burgeoning women’s rights movement in England at the time. Unfortunately there is very little to counterbalance these episodes, with the exception of a nice moment of Susan and the Doctor just being grandfather and grandchild as they sabotage the Dalek equipment. The two of them work out a clever way to harm the Daleks and seem to bond a bit on screen. Of course when the Daleks inevitably show up she screams her freaking lungs out. I have heard it told that one of the unoffical pre-requisites for being a companion on Doctor Who is to have good screaming voice, well therein is Carol Anne Ford.
Finally we come to the Doctor. Still reeling from having two strangers in his spaceship, he is still at odds with at least Ian. Ian shows no regard for the Doctor’s fancies and the Doctor will not forgive him for it. Hartnell plays the Doctor as a misanthrope and a curmudgeon eager to leave the world and its’ inhabitants to their own business so that he can get one with his. The sabotage of the TARDIS just to sneak a peak at the alien city ranks up there as one of the most iconic sequences in all of Who. The Doctor creates the situation and when he feels he has rectified it some, is perfectly content to abandon the Thals to their plight with the Daleks. Clearly he does not know his enemies because he attempts to reason with them. Out of context that seems ridiculous, but when viewed within the context of the Doctor having just met them, it works.
One of the more shocking revelations is the Doctor’s offer to construct a TARDIS for the Daleks if they would let him go. Only then does the Doctor realize that there is no reasoning with them and he resolves to escape. Hartnell plays the Doctor tight, close to the vest in such a way not to reveal the cards that he wants to play. The Doctor still doesn’t trust his hitchhiking companions and it feels like an almost real situation in the way that the Doctor is suspicious of Barbara and Ian. Shocking to Doctor Who fans now perhaps, but totally real and believable.This also allows the Doctor room for growth along a character arc. Clearly he doesn’t fully trust his companions yet, but there is definitely improvement in that respect.
All in all The Daleks is a wonderful addition to the mythology of Doctor Who and it sets the stage for some of the most imaginative and excellent storytelling on this show as a showpiece for the Daleks who will become the supreme enemy of the Doctor. Taken by itself there are few flaws in an excellently acted, written, and directed story about the dangers of extreme pacifism.
