The Web Planet

6 episodes
Aired between 13th February 1965 and 20th March 1965

Written by Bill Strutton
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Richard Martin

Synopsis

The Doctor is puzzled by the strange force that's pulled the TARDIS out of flight and down to a strange planet.  The TARDIS has enough power, but isn't able to dematerialise.

Barbara and Vicki return from changing out of their Roman clothes, (and Vicki seems to have found time for a haircut too), As they are filled in on the dilemma, and the Doctor tries to take off again, Vicki begins to clutch her head and says that there are strange noises in her mind.    The TARDIS is drained of power, leaving only the life support and scanner operational.

Outside the TARDIS, two huge ant creatures appear and start making noises like a car alarm (it's the sound that Vicki can hear in her head, and I must say, I sympathise with her).  The ants are joined by a stunted grub like creature with a long metal gun for a nose.

The creatures begin to attack the TARDIS, forcing it to rock from side to side, but doing little else.

The shaking eventually stops, and Barbara takes Vicki to lie down.  Ian and the Doctor decide to go out and explore the planet they're on.  The Doctor brings out some atmospheric density jackets and the pair use the Doctor's ring as a remote control to open the doors and leave the TARDIS.

Barbara helps Vicki with some asprin, but Vicki turns her nose up at it, calling the tablets medieval.  She explains that she was taught physics, medicine, and other subjects for an hour a week, thanks to the help of computer terminals.   The young companion spots the bracelet Nero gave to Barbara and is dubious when Barbara tells her that she traveled to Rome.

On the outside, Ian and the Doctor find a dead, deserted planet.  The Doctor forgets about the attacks on the TARDIS and the alien force and begins looking at rocks.  He asks for Ian's gold pen (presumably to poke around a bit), but when he takes it out of his pocket, it disappears.  Ian is angry about this and shouts, causing echoes that seem to go on forever and slightly differ in tone.  He tells the Doctor that he feels like he's being watched.  The Doctor doesn't have that feeling, but is happy to explore further to make sure that the force that's taken the pen is the same as what's affecting the TARDIS.

Back in the TARDIS, Barbara's also forgotten about the attacks too, and decides to spring clean.  As she does, her arm mysteriously begins to drag her away to the door.

She regains control of it, and goes to sit with Vicki.  Barbara is obviously disturbed and ends up telling Vicki what's happened.  Vicki in turn laughs in her face, thinking it's a joke.  Barbara leaves more disturbed than when she went in.

Exploring further, the Doctor and Ian come across an ancient pyramid.  Nearby to this, they find a pool that Ian is about to wash his hands in.  The Doctor stops him and demonstrates that the pool is made of acid by dipping Ian's old school tie in it.

Ian is furious at all his stuff disappearing.  They start back to the TARDIS, but Ian is shocked to see light in the water.  He calls the Doctor back, but the old man doesn't believe him.  All around them, the car alarm noise begins again.

Barbara can hear the noise too, and it causes her arm to get away from her again, but this time other strange stuff happens like the console spinning around and the doors opening by themselves.  Barbara enters into a trance and goes outside to the sound of the ants.  Vicki hears the noise and goes into the console room to find Barbara gone.

Vicki yells for Barbara.  Ian and the Doctor hear her voice echo and run back towards the TARDIS.  Ian is inextricably gets caught in a net of webs and tells the Doctor to leave him and go back to the ship.  The Doctor agrees but promises to come back with something to help.

The TARDIS begins to rock and sway once more,

The Doctor arrives back at the site, but finds the TARDIS gone.  He's forced to return to Ian, who he finds on the floor unconscious.  He asks him what happened, but Ian doesn't know.  They both set off to find the TARDIS together.  As they travel, they spot a mummified chrysalis on the ground.  The Doctor deduces that it is from a creature called a Menoptra and therefore they must be on the planet Vortis.  It's a planet he's heard of in the Isop galaxy, but he's never visited.

Barbara continues to walk across the strange planet in a trance until a humanoid moth creature drags her into a nearby cave and takes off the bracelet.  Barbara returns to normal and is startled to see the creatures.  These creatures are revealed to be the Menoptra, and are obviously suspicious of Barbara, choosing to hold her prisoner.

Some of them want to kill her, stating that the Zarbi will suck out her brain and discover the location of their base.  Hearing this, Barbara manages to get one of the Maenoptra weapons and escapes from the cave, straight into the arms of the ant creatures known as the Zarbi.

As Ian and the Doctor continue their pursuit of the TARDIS, they are also accosted by the Zarbi, whom the Doctor says he's never encountered before.  The Zarbi take them to a giant organic construct known as the Carcinome.  It is at least a hundred years old by the Doctor's reckoning.  There they are reunited with the TARDIS and Vicki.  As Vicki emerges from the TARDIS, one of the Zarbi attempts to go inside, but is sent haywire.  The Doctor proudly states that the TARDIS is off limits to them.

The Menoptra begin to panic after Barbara's escape and decide to risk being detected by sending a signal to their obiting fleet, informing them that the Zarbi and an entity known as the Animus are still on the planet.  As they communicate this, the Zarbi attack, pulling Barbara in with them to witness the ant creatures pulling the wings of the helpless moths.

Back at the Carcinome, a strange clear tube descends from the roof until it's suspended over the Doctor's head and a soft female voice speaks in his mind.

Despite its soft tone, the female voice is aggressive, accusing the group of being sent by the Menoptra.  It decides to show a glimpse of its power by destroying the TARDIS.  Luckily, Vicki had been wildly pressing buttons when the ship began to move on its own, and had accidentally realigned the fluid link, thereby restoring power and bringing up the shields to cope with the attack.  Again, the Doctor proudly announces that they cannot touch the TARDIS.

Using his wits, the Doctor manages to convince the voice that they are not Menoptra, and they could assist in gathering information on them.  The voice agrees.  He also asks it where Barbara is, and the voice tells him that she has been sent to the crater of needles.

The Zarbi allow Ian and the Doctor to enter the ship to bring out some important equipment.  Whilst inside, they come up with a plan to free Ian so he can go and find Barbara.  They take the equipment outside and the Doctor bluffs that they need the voice to stop draining power from the area so his equipment will work.  The voice is suspicious, but agrees, stopping the power drain in the area, which also conveniently makes the Zarbi docile.

Ian seizes his chance and tries to escape, tackling a Zarbi in the process which triggers an alarm.  The voice sends more Zarbi's after him and a larvae gun.  Ian gets stuck in the organic web of the Carcinome, but as the larvae gun fires at him, it hits the web, allowing him to break free and escape.  As he runs, he is captured again, this time by one of the surviving Menoptra who helps him hide.

The Doctor manages to find out that the Menoptra fleet is in orbit around the crater of needles, but decides to keep this information to himself.  The voice is angry at his betrayal but allows him to continue his work.  He sends Vicki into the TARDIS for some equipment, but she returns with the wrong box that instead contains an alien spider specimen that the Zarbi are terrified of.

Ian learns all about the Menoptra from his saviour: Vrestin.  She explains that the Menoptra used to live on Vortis alongside the cattle like Zarbi, but a dark force called the Animus grew out of the wilderness.  It built a palace for itself called the Carcinome and turned the Zarbi into its slaves.  The Menoptra's ancestors were forced to flee the planet, and now they've returned to take it back.

Vrestin agrees to take Ian to the crater of needles, but whist they go there, they are found by the Zarbi and in trying to escape are buried by a cave in.  Luckily for them, the floor gives way and they fall into a deep underground chamber.  As they dust themselves off, they are surrounded once more, this time by humanoid looking woodlice.

At the crater of needles, Barbara struggles under the workload, along with her now wingless Menoptra friends.  She is told by the Menoptra that they are forced to feed plant life into the acid pools which lead to the Carcinome.  In turn, that feeds the animus and the Carcinome grows.

Back at TARDIS, the voice (surely enough, the voice of the Animus) grows impatient.  It orders the Zarbi to place a mind control harness on Vicki and demands that the Doctor tell it all the information he's gathered.  He gives them a scrap of information and says that he can get more if they release Vicki.  The Animus agrees to release her, but makes it clear that if they don't give up some information soon, they will kill the girl.

Out across the planet, the Animus summons the Zarbi to help protect Vortis against the Menoptra.  The prisoners are herded to cells where they discuss with Barbara the fact that her friends must have found out and told the Animus about the Menoptra attack.  Barbara doesn't think they would, but decides to help the Menoptra in escaping and warning the fleet.

Inside the underground cavern, Ian and Vrestin have their hands bound in glue and are told that only evil things come from above ground.  The woodlice creatures, called Optera, agree to consult the chasm of lights to see if the intruders should live or die.

Back at the Carcinome, the Doctor ponders the thought that gold is used to control the Zarbi and others.  The mind control harnesses are made of gold, and Ian's gold pen shot out of his hand when they were exploring.  The Doctor jury rigs his equipment to try and overpower the mind control signal, but in doing so he blows up his equipment.

The Zarbi come over and put a harness on Vicki whilst the Doctor is forced to talk to the Animus.  It suspects the Doctor of stalling, and sure enough manages to extract a signal from the Doctor's circuits that inform it of the immanent Menoptra attack at the crater of needles.  The Animus is angry and puts a harness on the Doctor too, stating that they will be killed when the Menoptra invasion is quelled.

It turns out that the cavern of lights hates Ian as the Optera proclaim they are to be killed.  Ian tries to convince the Optera that they are an offshoot of the moth like Menoptra.  Vrestin agrees and says that if they help her to defeat the Animus, they too will grow big and strong.  The Optera marvel at Vrestin, realising she is one of the Menoptra whom the grub like creatures worship as Gods, but know only through their primitive cave paintings.

Barbara and her Menoptra friends manage to reach the top of the crater, just in time for the spearhead of the Menoptra invasion force to land.  They try to warn their friends and tell them to call the attack off because the Animus is ready for them, but it's too late.  The Menoptra land and find their weapons are useless against the Zarbi, who begin to slaughter them.

Barbara and her fellow Menoptra prisoners retreat but are cornered by the Zarbi.  As they are forced with their backs to the wall, the wall opens up into a crevice that they escape in, along with one of the surviving spearhead members.  The wall closes behind shutting the Zarbi out.

Barbara and the Menoptra explore their surroundings, discovering that they've stumbled upon an ancient temple of light.  The Menoptra are worried that their attack has failed and they have no knowledge of warfare to continue the fight.  Barbara asks them what the plan would have been, and they tell her they planned to use a special device known as the Isop-tope to kill the Animus.  In lieu of a better idea, she starts to come up with a plan to use the Isop-tope.

Back in the Carcinome, it turns out that Vicki was given the harness that the Doctor used in his experiment, and thus it has been rendered harmless.

She frees the Doctor, and they use the harness to capture one of the Zarbi, which the Doctor can then use his ring to control.  They use the Zarbi to fool the guards into thinking they are being led somewhere, and they escape onto the surface of Vortis.

Acknowledging Vrestin as one of their gods, the Optera agree to lead her and Ian to the centre of the Animus.

As they go along, the Optera break through many tunnel walls, and on one occasion, release a bout of acid into the room.  one of the Optera females saves everyone by sticking her head into the hole to plug it.  The Optera consider this quite a normal procedure and carry on, leaving the corpse with its head stuck in a hole.

Barbara finally comes up with a plan that involves a diversionary attack, so that a second group can enter the Carcinome with their Isop-tope device.  The survivor from the vanguard: Prince Helios is skeptical of this plan, and whilst they are debating it, the Doctor turns up with the docile Zarbi and Vicki in tow.

The Doctor wastes no time in getting in on the discussions and finds out off the Menoptra that the Animus is drawing power from the magnetic pole.

He theorises that this, magnetic force pulled the moons to Vortis, and the TARDIS as well.  He volunteers to take the Isop-tope back with him to the Carcinome and try to destroy the Animus from inside.  The Menoptra agree and trade him the device in return for his ring and subsequent use of the docile Zarbi.

The Doctor convinces Vicki to go back to the Carcinome with him, where they are immediately captured again by the Zarbi and an immobilizing cobweb is fired over them by a tentacle from the wall.  Once they have been subdued, the Animus speaks to the Doctor, telling him that they will be taken to it, and their brains absorbed.  The Zarbi begin to lead the Doctor and Vicki onwards to the centre of the Carcinome.  The Doctor asks Vicki for the Isop-tope, but she says that she stowed it in the TARDIS equipment just before they were shot with webs.

Outside the organic structure, Barbara and the Menoptra use the docile Zarbi to create confusion in their enemies, adding to the chaos with weird shouts of "Zaaaaarrbi-i-i-i"    The ant like creatures get fed up of chasing their enemies around and go off to get reinforcements, allowing the group to enter the Carcinome.

Meanwhile, underground,  the Optera finally discover a passage to the surface, along with pockets of water siphoned underground.  The woodlice are fearful to carry on, but their leader agrees to go with Ian and Vrestin.

The Doctor and Vicki are taken to the centre of the Carcinome, which houses the true form of the Animus: a hideous alien giant spider.

The spider is suspended above a blinding hypnotic light that incapacitates the Doctor and Vicki.  The spiders tentacled legs wrap around them and begin to drain their knowledge.  The Animus explains that it will use the knowledge to go to earth and take over that planet too.

Barbara and the Menoptra find the TARDIS, and try to signal the invasion force, thus discovering the Isop-tope inside the TARDIS equipment.  Prince Helios takes the device and leads them on towards the centre of the Carcinome.  They arrive there, but the hypnotic light is too much for them and they begin to succumb to it too.

Ian, Vrestin and the Optera turn up at that moment, and prove to be the vital distraction needed to weaken the Animus' power just enough for Barbara to activate the Isop-tope.  The light dies and the Animus along with it.

Things quickly return to normal on the planet.  The acid rivers are now fresh water, and the Zarbi and larvae guns have returned to their previous cattle like state.

The Menoptra explain to the Optera that they are allowed to live above ground once more, and that even though they will not fly, their children might.  The Menoptra who took control of the Doctor's ring returns it with thanks and the group fly off in the TARDIS.

The Menoptra gather together and vow to sing songs of the earth creatures who came to save them.

Trivia

• The first episode of the Web Planet earned 13.5 million viewers.  This was the highest viewing figure of all the Doctor Who stories shown in the 1960's.  The skeptical have noted that this was probably because the BBC made a big show of the upcoming story in the adverts that gave away most of the story

• The sharp eyed of you will have noticed that the Menoptra heads somehow change between the shots of them flying down to the planet, and their talking parts.  This is because the aerial antics were filmed beforehand, and the costumes were modified to be a bit more comfortable and practical.  

• Believe it or not, the ant-like Zarbi were purposefully designed to be the next big sensation, just like the Voord (see the Keys of Marinus).  They were meant to be just as appealing as the Daleks to young children.  Somehow, that plan didn't work out and the Daleks remained as the number one bad guys for many stories to come.

What worked

• A lot of people hate the Vaseline on the lens bit, but I think it does add a bit of other wordliness to the story

• The Menoptra outfits are beautiful and quite novel when you find out that their colour really WAS black and white, and not black and yellow.  They were butterflies, not wasps.

• Some of the sounds were good.  Although it's a dead giveaway, I like the noise of the venom grubs gun.

• Although the Menoptra invasion sequences were a bit too "Peter Pan", they do have a certain grace about them which looks nice on film,

• Although it didn't serve much purpose, the bit where the Doctor and Vicki were zapped by the web gun looked pretty scary actually.  

What didn't work

• Christ, the Doctor's off with his "ha ha, he he, ho ho" again.  At least it's only for one episode

• Those blummin' Zarbi sirens

• Some of the shots, although taken from interesting camera angles, just help show the inadequacy of the props.  Look at the bit just after Ian and the Doctor encounter the acid lake and you'll see wooden brackets just behind the two dimensional rocks.

• The webs of the Carcinome were like screen walls.  It was done so that the sets could be put back in the same way, but still, it just makes it look beyond crap.

• It could be me, but I'm sure the doors of the TARDIS have shifted around.  The Doctor must have done some redecorating

• Vicki asks Ian what the Doctor is saying when he's talking to the Animus, but you can clearly see and her the Doctor talking.  Why didn't they just do a voice over if they wanted to make it telepathy?

Overall Feelings

From the very outset of this story, it's hard to argue that the production team didn't remove all the stops to push the limit of what they could do.  The concept of this story is great and you'll struggle to find another Doctor Who story that's got as much of an alien feel to it.  It's a shame then that this very need to experiment is the downfall of the story.

Although their sass is to be applauded, the production team knew going into this that they didn't have a Hollywood budget that this sort of thing would need.  Nor did they have the studio space.  The result is just a boatload of ineffectual props and cumbersome ants (that you can clearly see the operator inside on episode 2-3).  The acting is also substandard, with lots of missed cue's and hard words for Harnell to memorize, resulting in more than one line fluff.  The whole thing adds up to show the worst bits of Doctor Who that people come to associate with the 1960's episodes.

If you've been following these posts, you'll remember that I waxed lyrical about the Dalek homeworld of Skaro having a rich history, and nation delivering just what we didn't expect.  And from that point of view, the planet of Vortis delivers in spades.  It really does.  However, Nation restrained the history of the planet to a brief scene of the petrified jungle before throwing us headlong into the alien city where all the action is.  The Web Planet has all the history there (and more) but lingers for 50 minutes on ants that can't talk, and actors that have been given nothing better to do than wobble around the sets like they're on Star Trek.

Rating

5 out of 10

Amazing concept but poorly executed and realised.  What little music there is, is quite an ok touch, but its all ruined with that infernal sound of the Zarbi

Rewatchability Factor

4 out of 10

I've watched this story twice now, and I feel that's probably enough for my lifetime.  I recommend you watch it at least once, if only to appreciate how experimental the show was trying to be.  Once you've done that, turn away and don't look back, there are many more stories delivered better than this.

Watch this if you liked...

• The Daleks

• The Abominable Snowmen

• The Web of Fear

• The Twin Dilemma

Consulting the Matrix

What would you have done to make the Zarbi as popular as the Daleks?

The Romans

4 episodes
Aired between 16th January 1965 and 6th February 1965

Written by Dennis Spooner
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Christopher Barry

Synopsis

The TARDIS falls off a cliff and everyone is knocked out...

Don't worry though, they all recover and spend the next month relaxing in a villa in ancient Rome....No, seriously, they do!

Vicki and Barbara even act like good housemaids and go to the market for wares, taking in the sights and sounds of the Roman empire.  Vicki doesn't seem to have got the hang of haggling yet though (she must have missed the Life of Brian).  In fact, Vicki is downright bored and wants adventure.

Lucky for her then that two slave traders are in town and have their eye on the girls.  They visit the stalls and gather information on them, finding out that the TARDIS crew have set themselves up in as house sitters for Flavius Giscard, a Roman currently on campaign in Gaul.  The Slavers leave the market, and shortly after, so does a travelling Lyre player by the name of Maximus Pettulian.

Maximus is on the road out of the village when he is set upon by a bandit, dragged in the bushes and killed.

Back at the Villa, the group enjoy a fantastic banquet cooked by Barbara that includes local delicacies such as peacocks breast and ants eggs.

Ian suggests that they should retrieve the TARDIS from the bottom of the cliff, but the Doctor gets grumpy about it, saying they worry too much.  In fact, he intends to leave for a couple of days to Rome, if only to get away from Ian and Barbara.  Vicki pleads with the Doctor to take her with him, in the hope that they will find some adventure on the way.  The Doctor isn't happy about it, but agrees.

Ian and Barbara are left on their own, and share some close moments horsing around together (and probably more, but this is a kids show).

As they relax, the villa is suddenly stormed by the Slave Traders who capture Ian and Barbara at sword point.

On their way to Rome, the Doctor and Vicki stumble across the dead body of Maxmus Pettulian, who it has to be said, looks remarkably like the Doctor.  Before they can leave the scene of the crime, the pair spot a Centurion searching bushes nearby.  The Doctor takes the Lyre and asks the Centurian what he's looking for,  It turns out that the Centurian is looking for him - Maximus Pettulian, the greatest Lyre player in all the Roman Empire.  Pettulian was due to head to the Imperial Court to play for the Emperor Nero, but decided to walk there instead, playing for the villages that he passed through.

The Doctor eagerly plays up to the role of Pettulian and convinces Vicki to travel with him as his assistant.

Ian and Barbara have been led away from the village, and are tied to a wagon whilst the traders sell some of their newly acquired slaves.  Their customer wants to buy Barbara, but the traders refuse, saying she is bound for Rome. The traders settle a price and sell on two men and Ian.  As he is carried away, Ian vows to Barbara to look for her in Rome.

That night, the Centurion meets with the bandit who killed Pettulian and shouts at him for messing the job up, as clearly Pettulian still lives.  The Centurion gives the dumb bandit (dumb because he's had his tongue cut out) one final chance to earn the coins the Centurion promised him.

Under the cover of darkness, the bandit steals his way into Pettulian's quarters, with his steel sword at the ready.

As the assassin goes to strike, the Doctor blocks his blow with the Lyre and proceeds to beat him up, until Vicki turns up and chases the assassin out of the window.   The Doctor is offended by her help and certainly seemed to be having the time of his life engaging in "the delicate art of fisticuffs". Despite Vicki's protests, the Doctor says that he's going to continue pretending to be Maximus.

Barbara and the slaves reach Rome, and are thrown in some cages.  Barbara looks after an aging woman who the slaver says is going to the Circus as she'll be no good at auction.

Ian has been taken on board a Roman ship and is held as a galley slave, being forced to row across the sea next to his new slave friend: Delos.  The pair come up with a lame plan to escape which fails, and they are forced to get back to rowing the ship, this time, twice as hard.

Barbara is approached by a noble Roman called Tavius who offers to buy her.  The slaver refuses the private sale and tells him that he will have to bid like everyone else.

That night, a terrible storm rages across the sea, and as the ship rocks, the galley master is thrown to the slaves, who manage to overpower him and escape their chains as the ship takes on water and sinks.  Ian awakes later on shore safe and sound thanks to Delos.  They break their chains and make their way to Rome to find Barbara.

The Doctor and Vicki finally arrive at Rome.  Vicki asks what the gathering in the market square is about, but the Doctor recognises it as a slave market and hurries Vicki along to avoid explanations.  As they leave, Barbara is pushed onto the podium and is sold for 10,000 sesterces to none other than Tavius.  When she is delivered to Tavius, he tells her that he bought her because he saw she was kind and would make a good servant for the Emperor's wife (he's in charge of buying the slaves for the imperial house).  He says that he can't give her freedom, but here she will be treated fairer than anywhere else.

Barbara is grateful to Tavius but makes it clear that she intends to escape.  Tavius understands, but warns her that if she's caught, it will mean her death.

A servant comes into the room and tells Tavius that Maximus Pettulian has arrived.  Tavius leaves to see the musician and cryptically beckons the Doctor over when he sees him.  The Doctor and Vicki curiously approach, and Tavius whispers that the problem they had has been dealt with, and they have put him in the Apodyterium.  The Doctor nods his head, but doesn't understand what the flippin' heck Tavius is on about.

At that moment, Emperor Nero walks in, chewing a chicken drumstick.  He is introduced to Maximus Pettulian, and demands that the Lyre player performs there and then.  The Doctor says that he wants Nero to play first, so he can take inspiration from it.  Nero plays a little, and the Doctor says that he can't possibly play to that standard.  Nero is flattered and says that they will play together when they have eaten and practiced.

Ian and Delos arrive in Rome and begin to search for Barbara, only to be captured for looking like escaped slaves.

The Doctor and Vicki search the Apodyterium and find the dead body of the Centurion who they met on the road to Rome.  They ponder what this could mean.

Ian and Delos are thrown in a cage and told to be happy about it, most recaptured slaves are killed outright.  They are bound to go to the arena as gladiators where they will at least get a chance to live. Ian asks what they will be fighting, only to be answered by the nearby roar of a lion.

In the corridors of power, the Doctor is called over by Tavius and told that the body of the Centurion has been dealt with.  It's obvious that Maximus and Tavius were in a conspiracy together.  Vicki is uninterested and decides to explore the palace.

Whilst ordering a banquet for Maximum Pettulian to play to, Tavius brings in Barbara to introduce her to the Empress Poppaea.  The Empress see's Nero's eyes bulging out of his head and sends him off to finish his plans for the banquet.  When he's gone, Poppaea quietly warns Barbara not to get any ideas about becoming Empress herself.

As Barbara gets to work, Nero creeps back to have a bit of fun with Barbara and proceeds to chase her around the corridors like Benny Hill.  He eventually corners her, and the pair are discovered by Poppaea.

Meanwhile, Vicki comes across Locusta: the palace poisoner.  She explains that her job is to make poisons for people who want to assassinate someone.  Vicki quickly hides as someone enters the poisoners chamber.  It's Poppaea who has decided to take care of her new servant girl by having her poisoned.  As Poppaea takes Locusta to point the slave out, Vicki decides to poison Nero himself by switching the intended cups.

Later in the day, Nero catches up to Barbara in the banqueting hall and gives her a gold bracelet, expecting a kiss in return.

Barbara avoids the deed by proposing a toast instead.  Nero agrees and watches Barbara drink hers. She catches Poppaea suspiciously watching them and quickly takes her leave of the Emperor.

Just arriving at the banquet, Vicki tells the Doctor about her day and how she matter-of-fact decided to poison Nero instead.  The Doctor is angry and reiterates that they cannot interfere with the course of history.  He rushes to find Nero and stops him drinking just in time.

As the banquet gets underway, Tavius whispers in the Doctor's ear that he should delay his plan until tomorrow.  That's fine by the Doctor, seeing as he has no idea what Tavius is on about.

Nero orders Maximus Pettulian to play, and the Doctor stands.  He announces that he's composed such a performance, that only those with the most sensitive and cultured ears will be able to hear it.  He begins to pretend to pluck the instrument (because he can't play the Lyre to save his life - literally). and everyone in the room goes along with the joke, not wanting to look like they can't hear the music.

The performance ends with roaring applause and Nero leaves the banquet upset.  He soon cheers up though when he comes up with a plan to have Maximus Pettulian perform in the arena, and then get attacked by Lions.  As he enters his room, Nero see's Barbara again and whisks her away with him to the arena to watch some gladiator fights to calm him down.

Back in the cage, Ian and Delos are told to suit up, as they'll be fighting each other for the pleasure of Nero.  Delos kindly promises that if he wins, he'll kill Ian quickly.

Nero explains his plan for Maximus to the slave master, and begins to watch Ian and Delos fight.  Much to Batbara's horror, Ian is disarmed and Delos raises his sword.  Luckily for Ian, Delos chooses not to kill him quickly, but to attack Nero instead.  Guards turn up and stop Delos, but Ian helps him and together they escape.  His parting words to Barbara are that he;ll come back for her.  Nero hears this and decides to use her as bait to recapture them.

In their absence, Poppaea orders Tavius to kick Barbara out of the Palace.  Barbara returns distraught and tells Tavius of Ian's plan to rescue her.  He reassures her that it will be alright because she's to go anyway.  Barbara cheers up and tell Tavius of Nero's plan for Maximus Pettulian.

Tavius goes off to find the Doctor and Vicki, coming across them looking at Nero's plans for the city.   The Doctor doesn't seem the slightest bit concerned, even when Tavius points out that the plan was for Maximus Pettulian to assassinate Nero, and that the attempt should be moved up to tonight.  As they talk, Nero turns up and explains that he wants Maximus to play at the arena.  The Doctor responds jovially with puns about Lions.

Whilst they are talking, the Doctor holds his glasses behind his back, and through the sun, accidentally sets fire to the city plans.  Nero is furious and orders Maximus to be taken away, but then suddenly calls him a genius, explaining that he'll burn Rome to the ground to make way for his new vision of the city.

That night, Nero summons a load of vagrants to the Palace.  Ian and Delos sneak in with them.  Nero throws them money and gives them orders to burn Rome to the ground.  As he's talking, Tavius arrives and ushers Ian and Delos into the Palace.  He explains how he wants to help Ian and Barbara get out of here and successfully reunites Ian with Barbara.  Using the vagrants as cover again, Ian and Barbara escape back to the villa, and Delos joins the men in the burning.

The Doctor and Vicki, knowing what's coming up also decide to make a quick exit and watch the fires from a distance.  Vicki jokes about the fact that the Doctor was never mentioned in the history books as the man who gave Nero the idea to burn Rome.  The Doctor is angry at the insinuation, but then realises that perhaps time can be affected after all.

Ian and Barbara get back to the villa before The Doctor and Vicki and enjoy some more "relaxing".
When the Doctor and Vicki return, they accuse the other two of being bone idle and don't let them get a word in edgeways.

Having had enough rest (according to the Doctor), the group get back in the TARDIS and leave.  Once in flight, Vicki asks where they're going next, and is dubious when Ian and Barbara joke about the Doctor not being able to fly the ship.

As Vicki and Barbara go to get changed, the Doctor explains to Ian that he's concerned.  A strange force has rematerialised the TARDIS and is pulling it down.  "Yes, but down to where?" Ian asks.  He should have just read the title of the next story.

Trivia

• Derek Francis was the first professional actor to proactively ask to be on Doctor Who.  He was given the part of Nero. 

• It's supposedly Verity Lambert who gave David Whitaker the idea to put this historical story out as a comedy.

What worked

• Again, we get a pleasant version of the Doctor (on the whole), and the fact that this story is meant as a comedy means that we get to see Willaim Hartnell playing a role he was never allowed to play in anything before.  

• The BBC had a vast collection of props from their historical programmes, so these were always set up very well.  The Romans is no exception, apart from the size of the gladiators arena, but you know, a TV studio is only so big.  

• The little one liners and mannerisms that the Doctor is given are really good.  Like the bit where he calls Ian Chesterfield and when Barbara corrects him with the words Chesterton, the Doctor idly says that Barbara is calling him.  

• Finally, when we get to see Ian and Barbara lounging about at the villa, there's just no doubt whatsoever that they are now a couple.

What didn't work

• The lines William Hartnell has to learn aren't all that hard in this one compared to later episodes, but they are obviously a struggle for him to deliver effectively.

• Come to think of it, the delivery of everyone's lines in this story are a bit off.  They are too staged, with numerous people hesitating as they wait for the person they are speaking to, to deliver their lines.

• Although I like the jovial Doctor, the constant "ha ha, ho ho, hmmm?  te he, ha ah" doesn't half get irritating. 

• That fire at the end is the biggest advertisement of running out of budget

Overall feelings

If you go into this story with the idea that it was going to be like the Aztecs, or the Reign of Terror (as most viewers did in 1965), then you're going to think of this story with less favour than perhaps you should.  For much of the first two episodes, the banter between the cast was no different to the joking around with the chain gang in the Reign of Terror.  It's episode 3 that takes a plunge into the deep end and goes all out for a farce.

As mentioned in the Trivia, this farcical interpretation was intentional.  The production team were experimenting with how far they could take the show into that farcical territory and get away with it.  unfortunately for them, nobody let the Audience in on the joke.  After the show, the team got less than complimentary feedback from the viewers and decided that it was a step too far.  I have no idea what Sidney Newman thought of it, but it's about as far from his original educational history brief as you can get!

The thing is, in 2015, we are in on the joke, and the whole thing looks different.  There's some genuinely funny moments in the story, and apart from a couple of occasions where Dennis Spooner over egged the pudding (like the joke about Barbara smashing Ian over the head with a vase), the whole thing works rather well.

Another nice thing to note is that this story is a whirlwind tour of all the things you expect to see in a Roman story, Lions, courtly intrigue, banquets, slaves, gladiators, and Nero fiddling whilst Rome burns.  It's a shame then that the bits of the story that should have been suitably epic are just highlighted as being god awful because the budget wasn't there.  We get a banquet where people are all sat neatly at a table, and we get an arena the size of a shoebox.

Rating

7 out of 10

A fun story, good props and costumes and almost no incidental music or sound effects required.  The downside comes from its ambition showing in all the wrong places.

Rewatchability Factor

8 out of 10

If you can put up with the Doctor's forced laughter, then this is quite a fun one to come back to.

Watch this if you liked...

• Just about all of Patrick Troughton's run of Doctor Who

• The Reign of Terror

• The Gunfighters

• The City of Death

• The Fires of Pompeii (Doctor Who Series 4)

Consulting the Matrix

Did the farce work for you, or do you think that this should have always been a serious episode?

The Rescue

2 episodes
Aired between 2nd January 1965 and 9th January 1965

Written by David Whittaker
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Christopher Barry


Synopsis

The rocketship UK 201 has crash landed on the planet Dido,  The only survivors are a young girl named Vicki (not short for anything), and an injured man called Bennett.

As Vicki is performing routine checks, a flashing light comes on her scanner, indicating that a craft is here.  She excitedly tells Bennett that the rescue ship they know has been sent for them, has landed already.  Bennett disbelieves it, saying that the ship is still three days away.  Vicki is insistent that they've arrived, and Bennett tells her to check it out, reminding her to be careful of Koquillion, an alien creature that's keeping them prisoner.

Vicki contacts the rescue ship to guide them to the crash site, but the rescue ship confirms Bennetts belief, they are still 69 hours away from the planet.

On the TARDIS, the Doctor has decided to take a nap, sleeping through the ships dematerilisation. Iian and Barbara wake him up and they find out they're inside a cave.  The Doctor forgets himself and asks Susan to open the doors, looking a little sad as soon as he remembers.  Barbara kindly offers to open the doors instead and they go out.

Indeed they are in a cave with a strange smell to it that the Doctor is familiar with but can't place why.  He decides to go back in and take a nap whilst Ian and Barbara investigate.  Ian thinks this is most unusual, indicating that the Doctor is getting a little bit old (even though he makes a schoolyard sign for disabled).  Barbara says he's just coming to terms with leaving Susan behind and they should be considerate.

The pair explore outside the cave, finding that they are on a mountainside.  A hideous looking creature turns up with a gem encrusted monkey wrench.  It starts to question them about where they've come from and how many of them there are.  It orders Ian to fetch the Doctor so that they can all be brought to the city.  Ian reluctantly obliges.  Barbara is at unease and tries to follow Ian but the creature steps in her way.  They tussle and the creature ends up throwing Barbara off the cliff, and destroying the cave entrance with its mystical monkey wrench, knocking Ian out in the process.

in the TARDIS, the Doctor has decided not to take a nap after all, but instead run some tests to find out where they are.  He realises that they're on the planet Dido, a place he's visited before.  He's quite pleased about it because the Dido people are pacifists and he looks forward to meeting them again.  He leaves the TARDIS to tell Ian and Barbara the good news, and finds Ian unconscious.

At the bottom of the mountainside, a shadowy figure falls over the unconscious Barbara.

The Doctor brings Ian around and they discuss the creature that Ian saw.  The Doctor is puzzled when he hears that it was responsible for the cave in.  They decide to search the cave for another way out and to find Barbara as quick as they can.

Back at UK 201, Vicki is visited by the horrendous creature which is revealed to be the dreaded Koquillion.  It says that it saw Vicki returning to the ship with a sack, which she explains were rocks.  Koquillion is angry and tells her that she isn't allowed more than fifty feet from the ship.  He also explains that he saw the other craft that had landed, but his people got to it first and killed all the crew.  Koquillion reminds Vicki that it is the only thing that stopped the others killing them, and leaves Vicki to threaten Bennett,

Once Koquillion is gone, Vicki uncovers the hidden Barbara who has regained consciousness.  She begins to explain the predicament she's in.  Bennett comes in and reiterates that Koquillions people have killed the ship crew.  Vicki smiles and uncovers Barbara again, announcing that he didn't kill all of them.  Bennett faints from the shock.

Back in the caves, Ian and the Doctor are shuffling on a narrow ledge with a terrifying 6 ft chasm below them.  Near the end of the chasm, there is some kind of "nightmarish" bulldog that doesn't look too dissimilar to the Magnodon (see the Daleks).

Ian is conscious that there are no handholds on this ledge, and is relieved to find some ornate brass rings not too further along. As he uses them however, one slips away from the wall, activating a trap that begins to push him off the ledge towards the terrifying beast.

Ian escapes the death trap by putting his coat across the razor sharp blades so he can grip them and ease his way around them to safety.  From there, it's a simple matter to replace the ring and thus retract the spikes so they can carry on to the exit.

Vicki and Barbara revive Bennett and propose a plan to lure Koquillion to the ship and then shoot him with the flare gun.  Bennett refuses to let them do this, saying that if they do, the Dido people will come along and kill them all.  He retires back to his room and locks the door.

Vicki and Barbara decide to have a dinner party, and Vicki goes to fetch some water for it whilst Barbara lays the table.  When Vicki returns, Barbara sees one of the hideous sand beasts moving towards her, so takes it into her own hands to use the flare gun to kill the beast.

Vicki is distraught, telling Barbara that she has killed her pet herbivore (his name was Sandy the sand beast).

Vicki breaks down in floods of tears, just as Ian and the Doctor turn up at the ship, relieved to see Barbara has survived.  The Doctor too suggests finding a way to deal with Koquillion but Vicki becomes angry, arguing Bennetts point that they should wait for the rescue ship.

The Doctor calms Vicki down and agrees to speak to Bennett to discuss the plan, and if he doesn't agree, then they will think of something else.

Vicki agrees and leaves the Doctor to it, but not before he encourages her to give Barbara a chance, after all, she thought Vicki was being attacked.

Vicki returns to Ian and Barbara and apologises whilst the Doctor finds Bennetts door locked.  Bennett tells the Doctor to go away, but he doesn't accept that for an answer and decides to use a steel support beam to smash his way in. Once inside, he finds Bennett gone, but it does contain a recording of Bennetts voice telling people to go away.

Ian, Barbara and Vicki sit at the table talking about how trustworthy the Doctor is.  Ian and Barbara reveal to Vicki that they are actually time travellers, but Vicki doesn't believe them.

Back in Bennetts room, the Doctor finds a trapdoor, explaining where he went.

The trapdoor comes out into a large Dido temple.  As the Doctor is examining religious items, he hears Koquillion enter, but he calls him out as Bennett, stating that the outfit he wears is the same sort of ceremonial clothing.

Bennett unmasks himself and reveals that he killed all the Dido people and the inhabitants of their ship to make sure he stayed a free man.  Bennett had been arrested on board the ship after killing a man.  When the ship crashlanded, he knew that his crime wouldn't have been called in, so he decided that if he could kill everyone, then nobody would know of his crime.  So, he used the rockets armaments to blow everyone up.

The Doctor and him fight with the magic wrench, until two strange men appear behind them.

They are the last remaining Dido people.  Bennett is so shocked that he ends up falling off a cliff as they advance towards him.  The Doctor falls unconscious.

When he wakes up again, he is back in the TARDIS with Ian and Barbara.  Vicki is outside.  The Doctor explains the situation to everyone and invites Vicki to travel with them.  Vicki accepts and comes to realise that Ian and Barbara were serious about it being a time machine.

They all laugh as the TARDIS dematerialises from Dido.  In the wreckage of the rocket ship, the remaining people of Dido smash the beacon so that the no one else from Earth will find the planet.

The Doctor quips that he hopes the next place is somewhere they can have a rest, and indeed the scenery looks like a nice mountainside filled with plants and flowers.  The problem is, the TARDIS landed on the very edge of the cliff and eventually topples off it.

Trivia

• Vicki was eventually chosen as the new companion over the originally intended Jenny from the previous story.  Verity Lambert had searched for someone who could fill Carol Ann Ford's shoes with all the same qualities.  Vicki was portrayed as a young, space faring girl who was intelligent, and fun, and could get scared too.

• Maureen O'Brien (who played Vicki) was told by Sidney Newman at the start of her run, that she should dye her hair dark and get it cut, to which she replied "why don't you just get Carol Ann Ford back!"  Despite this, Maureen fitted in well to the dynamic, and found herself capable of bringing William Hartnell out of the most terrible rages and have him jolly again by the end of the day.

• During the filming of the showdown between Barbara and the sand beast, the flare pistol went of prematurely in Jacqueline Hill's face.  She escaped with minor burns and came back to film the scene again.  What a trooper.

What worked

• I liked the costume for Koquillion.  It was like a 60's version of the Predator.  

• The music is pretty good too, and the incidental music following Koquillion sounds like something out of Space Invaders

• It's lovely to see the Doctor being as mild mannered in this episode, as he was at the start of Marco Polo.  He really does seem like a nice old man, not some cantankerous kidnapper of teachers.

• The remaining native's of Dido are a nice touch and seeing as this story was produced before the Doctor who explanation for every historical event was alien intervention, we can happily assume that they may well have been intended as some kind of spirits of the old people.  Then again, the Doctor feels confident that they were alive, and they do physically smash the beacon.

What didn't work

• The sand beast just looks awful

• If the Dido people are pacifists, why did they set up a trap on the ledge?

• If the Dido people set up a trap, why have it push the intended victim into a pit with a herbivore?

• When the group first leave the TARDIS, you can see the box has an open back, showing the cave behind it.

• When Vicki enters the TARDIS, the roundels on the outside are clearly stapled onto the door.

• Vicki said that all the crew of her colony ship were killed.  That means everyone - women, children etc.  Why did they all go to the meeting and leave one VERY ill girl unconscious and alone?

Overall Feelings

Apparently, this story doesn't get much love from the fandom.  It's often referred to as a whodunnit with only one suspect.  But this conclusion can only be drawn once you've actually watched it all.  Looking with the eyes of the innocent 1965 viewer, the question is never "who is Koquillion".  It leads the viewer to assume that Koquillion IS a native of Dido.  The question it poses is "why have they decided to be violent?"

By the time that we do get around to the mystery of Bennett's disappearance, and the reason for the tape recorder of his voice, we are already at the showdown with the Doctor and Koquillion, so it's all revealed in a matter of minutes and becomes redundant.

Despite this, Bennetts reason for blowing everyone up is just as unbelievable as the Dalek Invasion of Earth, and it even brings a monster as terribly realised as the Slyther with it.

Rating

5 out of 10

The concept of the bad guy was good, but it's delivery was poor,  The still effects are ok and the monster mask is actually pretty good, but that beast in the mountain just spoils a lot of it and goes a long way to proving how bad Doctor Who effects can be.

Rewatchability Factor

4 out of 10

It's short enough to not be a chore to get through, but the entire thing is just there as a screen test for Maureen O'Brien to try her skills out.

Watch this if you liked...

• Psycho

• Terror of the Vervoids 

• The Unicorn and the Wasp (Doctor Who Series 4)

Consulting the Matrix

Did this story do what it was intended, or would you have made it more substantial?  If so, how?

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

6 episodes
Aired between 21st November 1964 and 26th December 1964

Written by Terry Nation
Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Richard Martin

Synopsis

On a derelict patch of ground under a bridge, a man with a steel contraption on his head goes crazy and walks into a nearby river, drowning himself.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor complains that he still can't see out of the scanner, but he's certain that wherever it is, the air is breathable.  The group emerge to the sight of the derelict waste ground under the bridge, and quickly determine that they've landed in London.

Despite the fact that Ian and Barbara are overjoyed to be back home, all of the group remark how odd the place "feels", given that the nearby Thames is deserted and there are no sounds of traffic or birds anywhere.  The Doctor remarks with some worry that this might not be the 1960's at all.

Susan tries to look over a nearby wall, but falls, twisting her ankle and bringing loose girders and rubble crashing down over the entrance to the TARDIS.  The Doctor is angry threatening to give Susan a "jolly good smacked bottom", but soon calms down as Ian suggests that he and the Doctor take a look in a nearby warehouse for a cutting torch or something else useful.

As they explore the warehouse, Ian and the Doctor fail to notice that they are being watched.  Ian does however spot Battersea Power Station with two smashed chimneys and a strange ball like structure by its side, and the Doctor finds a desk diary with the date placed as 2164.

Barbara goes to the Thames to wet her handkerchief to bathe Susan's leg, and sees the drowned man floating in the river.  She returns to the TARDIS shocked, and is confronted by a grubby looking man who tells her that his friends have taken Susan and she should follow him if she want's to survive.  At that very same time, automatic gunfire is heard from somewhere across the river.  Barbara reluctantly agrees to follow the man.

Ian and the Doctor continue to explore the warehouse, finding another corpse with strange headgear that the Doctor determines is a third ear for receiving high frequency messages.  The corpse was holding a whip and sporting a very sharp knife in his back.  As they examine the body, a giant flying saucer passes overhead.

Meanwhile, Barbara follows the man through decimated buildings until she is led down into a disused underground station.  There she is reunited with Susan and meets other men, hiding in a secret compound.  They are led by a man in a wheelchair known as Dortmun, who is informed that the saucer landed near the heliport.  He confidently says that this time, they will be ready for them.
Susan urges the men to go and find her Grandfather and Ian, and a guy called David agrees.

The Doctor and Ian arrive back at the TARDIS and find that Barbara and Susan have wandered off again.  Their concern grows as they find a large poster that reads "It is forbidden to dump bodies in the river".  Ian speculates that a great plague could be the reason why there's no one around.

David spots the Doctor and Ian from a window, but see's that a bunch of these electronically controlled men (curiously enough known as Robomen) are converging on their location.

The Doctor and Ian realise too late, and try to talk their way out of the situation.  The Robomen are more like zombies and it is clear that they will attack the Doctor and Ian if they don't surrender.

Surrounded and with their backs to the Thames, Ian suggests to the Doctor that they dive into the river, only to discover that they are cover from that angle too as a Dalek menacingly emerges from the depths of the river!

The Doctor and Ian are forced to surrender, but at least it allows the Doctor to turn on his charm and personality, calling the Dalek a "poor pathetic creature" and lording over it like it was stupid for threatening to destroy everyone on Earth.  Despite this, they do learn that the Daleks have already taken over the Earth and could if they wanted, kill the humans.

Back at resistance HQ, Susan gets her twisted ankle tended to by a bossy woman called Jenny, whilst everyone listens to Dalek propaganda broadcasts calling for humans to surrender.  In the back room, Dortmun talks with the man who helped the ladies to shelter.  His name is Tyler.

Dortmun is all for attacking the Dalek saucer whilst it's landed, but Tyler says it's sheer suicide.  But now that Dortmun has perfected a new bomb, he is confident that they can crack the Dalek casings open and defeat them.

In the midst of the conversation, David returns and explains that the Doctor and Ian were captured and taken to the Dalek Saucer on Chelsea heliport.

At the heliport, Ian and the Doctor discuss why the Daleks are here when they defeated them on Skaro.  The Doctor explains that they went to Skaro millions of years from now, and that this invasion has come at the height of the Dalek civilisation.

As they wait to board, another pair of prisoners are brought to the heliport.  One of them panics and is killed by the Daleks.  The rest are ushered aboard the ship and placed in a small prison really close to the main control room (good planning that).  They are shut in with the other prisoner, Brian Craddock.

At the lab, David and Jenny explain that the Robomen are normal humans but implanted with cybernetics and adapted to obey Dalek commands.  They only last so long before the conditioning wears off, which then drives the Robomen insane.  Most of them resort to suicide.  David cheerfully mentions that the Robomen control is inside the Dalek ship, and that no one who has entered it, has ever returned.

In their cell, Craddock explains to Ian and the Doctor that the Daleks didn't invade straight away.  They sent metorites contaminated with a plague to wipe out most of the humans, and then came to mop up afterwards.  Now the (local) humans that are caught are either turned into Robomen or sent to slave labour mining camps out in Bedfordshire.  He doesn't know why the mines are there or what the Daleks overall plan is.

As they talk, the Daleks discuss the potential to use the Doctor, and set up an intelligence test.

The resistance meanwhile, spurred on by Dortmun make plans to attack the Dalek saucer and rescue the human prisoners there.  Barbara comes up with the good idea of using captured robo-helmets as a disguise to lead a group of "prisoners" on board.

The undercover group make their way to the saucer and try to bluff their way inside. The Dalek patrol outside the saucer are suspicious of the Robomen, but are distracted by an attack that Susan and David launch.  The Daleks forget about their concerns and order the Robomen to take their detachment of prisoners inside and secure them.  The plan worked.

Meanwhile, Ian, and the Doctor find a way to use electromagnets to open their cell door, whilst Craddock looks on and offers pessimistic advice.  Once the door is open however, Craddock is only too willing to escape with them.  They congratulate each other so much that they are dumbfounded when they are set upon by Daleks and Robomen waiting just outside the cell!

The Daleks throw Ian and Craddock back into the cell and take the Doctor to the Robotising machine.

Thankfully, as the chaos ensues, the rebels manage to get into the control centre with their roboman disguises and rescue the Doctor, along with the other prisoners on the ship.  They all try to leg it, but run into difficulty as Dortmun's bombs don't seem to be having any effect.  The Daleks begin to fight back and in the confusion, the TARDIS crew get split up, forcing Ian to hide on the ship.

The rebels retreat, with only a handful making it back to the hideout.  Barbara is the only TARDIS crew member there.  Tyler has had enough and says he's going out to find what survivors he can and make his way north.  Dortmun is distraught and puzzled at why his bombs didn't work.  He says that he wants to go to the Civic Transport Museum (another rebel base) where he can get more supplies and perfect his bombs.  Barbara and Jenny agree to go with him.

On the Dalek saucer, Ian overhears the aliens receiving orders to firebomb London and go to the mines in bedfordshire.  The Daleks make their preparations and the saucer lifts off.  He decides to leave his hiding place and snoop around, but comes face to face with a freshly robotised Craddock, taking one of the rebels to the robotising machine.  Ian fights with Craddock and wins.  With little chance of escape apparent, Ian and the freshly rescued rebel (Larry) go back into hiding after throwing Craddocks body out of a disposal chute.

Back in London, Susan and David are on the run from Daleks.  They hide and she whines about wanting to get back to the TARDIS and leave, inviting David along with her.  David tells her that this is his home and he can't just leave because running away doesn't solve any problems.  This makes Susan begin to think about how she's never really had a place to call home.  They are suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a rebel known as Baker, who has successfully rescued the Doctor.  He delivers the old man back to Susan and leaves the group, intending to get to the Cornish Coast,  In reality, he only gets as far as the end of the street before he's exterminated.

Jenny, Barbara and Dortmun make a dash across London.  Jenny has made a special effort by wearing a giant black Cond...erm, i mean Balaclava on her head (as if it renders her invisible).

They skillfully dodge goose stepping Daleks hanging around famous London monuments until they reach the Transport Museum.

Once there, Dortmun refines his formula and asks Barbara to take it to the Doctor, wishing for his scientific appraisal.  Barbara says that he can give it to the Doctor himself.  Dortmun agrees, but as her back is turned, he puts the formula on the table and goes on a suicide mission to take out Daleks with his remaining bombs.  Needless to say, the silly man is exterminated.

Ian and Larry arrive at the mines and escape the saucer through the disposal chute.  Larry explains to Ian that he's come to find his brother, and that he had a crazy theory that the Daleks were trying to extract the magnetic core of the Earth.

The Doctor begins to recover, and decides that he and Susan should make for the TARDIS, but Susan disagrees, saying that David thinks they should head for the Dalek mines in Bedfordshire.  The Doctor gets testy, accusing Susan of putting more trust in David than him, but in the next breath, as David is submissive to the Doctor's authority, he changes his plans to go to the mines in Bedfordshire.  The group get ready to set off, but are interrupted by Robomen planting firebombs in the area.

The Doctor stands up, trying to spring into action, but suddenly falls unconscious with a loud groan.  The firebomb ticks away on its own, leaving David to disarm it by means of pouring acid on it and smacking it with an iron bar.  With the Doctor unconscious, David suggests leaving him concealed in some bushes whilst he and Susan go through the sewers to identify a way out of the city.  Susan isn't happy about that one bit, but reluctantly agrees when David assures her that he is safe and that they will come back for him.

Barbara and Jenny (little miss pessimistic) patch up one of the old trucks in the museum and begin to drive their way through the city to Bedfordshire.

In the said region, Ian and Larry are skulking about the mines, commenting on how the Daleks have decimated the landscape and enslaved the local population.  They come upon a man called Wells who thinks they are escaped mine workers.  He tries to cover for them when a nearby Roboman starts asking questions, and gets a smack across the head with a baseball bat for his troubles.  The Roboman demands Ian and Larry be lead to their work sectors as he has orders.  Ian all but sticks two fingers up and tells the Roboman to get new orders.  This surprisingly works as the Roboman does as he says, silently transmitting his request via his odd helmet.

Ian, Larry and Wells go into a cabin, but the Roboman follows with his new orders to teach the humans a lesson.  Ian dispatches him quickly enough though.  Wells explains that he was hanging around the cabin as it was the defined meeting place for a black marketeer called Ashton.  Ian asks to meet Ashton as he wants him to find a way to take Ian back to London, but Wells informs him that London has just been fire bombed.

On the truck, all is going well for Barbara and Jenny, who are having lots of fun smashing through Dalek roadblocks.  Their fun ends however when their position is transmitted to a nearby Dalek saucer which turns up and destroys the truck with its head ray.

Luckily, Barbara and Jenny got out of it beforehand.

In the sewers, David and Susan find a bullet casing, informing them that humans are nearby.  Sure enough they are met by Tyler who explains that the place is crawling with Alligators that escaped from the zoo's when the plague was about.  Tyler agrees to help find a way through the sewers, but David and Susan soon loose him as he moves ahead.  Whilst he is gone David encourages Susan with the fact that one day this will all be over, and that Susan could help with the rebuilding.  Susan curiously enough seems to like that idea.  The pair move on, and whilst looking for Tyler, Susan nearly falls into the sewer water, and ends up hanging from a broken ladder whilst alligators swim around her feet.

Luckily, Tlyer returns and shoots the reptiles.  David rescues Susan and they are both told that Tyler has found a way out and gone back and brought the Doctor.

That night, as Ian and Larry are moving back to the cabin to look for Ashton, they see a hideous mutated creature known as the Slyther (a pet guard dog used by the Black Dalek overseer) hanging around the place.

They slip into the cabin and are threatened by a man at gunpoint to leave again.  Ian refuses and confirms that the man is Ashton.  He asks him to take them back to London, but Ashton refuses unless he's paid in gold and jewels.  Wells turns up and gives him both,  Ashton agrees and settles down with them to eat something before they set off.  As they are having a good time listening to the black marketeer berate them for how stupid they are, the Slyther turns up and murders him!

Ian, Larry and Wells leg it, but soon run up a track to a steep drop in the quarry.  They turn to go back and are confronted by the Slyther once again.  In desperation, the pair jump into a mining bucket positioned over an open mine shaft.  The Slyther jumps after them but Ian beats it with a rock until it falls to its death.  As they are hiding in the bucket, it begins to move down the shaft.

In the sewers, Tyler and David fight off the Robomen that have pursued the Doctor and mange to disable them.  The group leave them on the insistence of the Doctor, that they may find salvation (that is if the Alligators don't find them first).

Under the cover of darkness, Barbara and Jenny reach a house near the woods in Bedfordshire just as a terrible storm begins.  They seek shelter from the storm, asking two strange women in the house  to help them.  Jenny is suspicious of the women, who say that the Daleks have left them alone because they make meals and clothes for the slaves in the mines.  She is even more suspicious when the younger woman goes to deliver a parcel of clothes in the middle of a thunderstorm.  Jenny was right to be suspicious because the woman returns a little later with a Dalek and some tins of food.  Barbara and Jenny are taken prisoner and led to the mines.

Once the bucket stops, Ian jumps down the rest of the way to the mine floor.  When Larry tries it, he injures his knee.  Once in there, Ian is curious of the fact that there is no ore processing equipment, only things to move rocks.  The pair hear a patrol of slaves coming along and decide to try and blend in with them.  They are soon stopped by a Roboman who happens to be none other than Larry's brother: Phil!  Larry tries to talk to Phil, to reason with him, but the Roboman is having none of it.  He says he's going to punish Larry, but then shoots him with a machine gun.  With his last breath, Larry strangles Phil to death and allows Ian to escape.

The Doctor, Tyler, Susan and David have finally made it to the countryside.  As Tyler and the Doctor hunt around, David has a playful fight with Susan, ending with them unexpectedly kissing.

They are interrupted by the other two's return and begin to piece together a plan of action to stop the Daleks delving into the Earth and releasing its molten core.

Back in the mine, Ian spots Barbara and Jenny working as slaves.  Before he can make contact with her, Barbara comes up with a plan to explain to the Daleks that she knows of an immanent rebel attack.  She convinces the Daleks to take her and Jenny to the Dalek Supreme (black Dalek).

Ian continues to search for a place to hide, ducking into a silver piece of machinery and narrowly avoiding detection by the Daleks moving around the mining area.  He overhears the Dalek Supreme revealing their ultimate plan to detonate a bomb near the crust of the Earth, and remove its molten contents.  Once this is done, the Daleks intend to replace it with a huge machine which will enable them to steer the Earth like a spaceship!

Before he can do anything about it, Ian realise's that he's  chosen the bomb as a hiding place.  The casing is slid shut by the Daleks who intend to drop it down the mine and detonate it.

Thinking on his feet, Ian begins pulling wires from the bomb, alerting the Daleks to his presence.  They open a trapdoor in the bomb to get rid of him (don't even ask why it's there), but he uses it merely to escape on a rope.  The Daleks shoot the rope and send him falling down the shaft, where he gets knocked unconscious as he hits the bottom (it wasn't a very deep shaft after all).

Barbara and Jenny are taken to the Dalek Supreme who demands to know the details of the intended attack.  Barbara spews out a load of old codswallop to buy Jenny enough time to mess the control panels up.  Their plan fails and they are captured.

But, instead of killing them, the Dalek Supreme has a pure moment of Bond Villain-ness and decides to imprison them instead, leaving them to die in the coming explosion.

The Doctor and Tyler go into the mine to see what they can do, whilst they send Susan and David off to melt an aerial that sends power to the Daleks.  They use the last of Dortmun's bombs to do it.

By now, the Daleks have retrieved the bomb and repaired it.  They prepare to drop the bomb down the shaft again and successfully release it, but not before Ian has regained consciousness and managed to block the path of the bomb with some nearby pit props.  Unaware of Ian's cunning plan, the Daleks beat a hasty exit from the mine to get a safe distance away before the molten core swims to the surface.

Once the Daleks have gone, the Doctor and Tyler make their way into the control room, freeing Jenny and Barbara.  Susan and David's mission is a success, and the Daleks begin to feel their power draining.  They begin to rush back to the control room to find out what's happened, but are rendered completely powerless as they approach the Doctor.

Whilst the aliens from Skaro are sitting ducks, Barbara and the Doctor use the command console to order the Robomen to attack the Daleks.  All over the world, Robomen begin to rise up against their masters, and the slaves are finally free to revolt.

All that's left now is to deal with the bomb.

Wait...Ian turns up and tells them of his success in diverting it away from the Earth's crust.  It will however still explode and take the mine with it.  The group hurry to the high ground, and the bomb detonates causing a volcanic eruption in England that takes the Dalek saucer with it.

The group return to London, and with help of the rebels, manage to free the TARDIS from the rubble as Big Ben signals the end of the invasion.  Susan seems sad to leave David, and the Doctor see's this, inferring that she needs someone to take her in hand.  He skulks off to the TARDIS along with Barbara and an oblivious Ian, leaving Susan alone with David.

David pleas with Susan to stay, saying that he loves her and wants to marry her, and that this could be a place she calls home.  Susan admits that she loves him too, but she can't stay because her Grandfather needs her.  As she goes to enter the TARDIS, the doors close and the Doctor's voice is heard outside. Through the scanner, the Doctor explains to Susan that she will always be his Granddaughter, but he wants her to have a home.

He promises to return, and then dematerialises the TARDIS, leaving Susan alone in a destroyed London, with only one shoe and a useless TARDIS key.

David consoles her by saying that the Doctor knew she would never let him go, so he made the decision for her.

Susan embraces David and they walk somberly into the distance, leaving only the discarded TARDIS key behind.

Trivia

• There's so many iconic trappings of typical Doctor Who stories that begin here.  For example,  the Daleks begin to regularly use the phrase EXTERMINATE; this is the first of many, many stories to have filming in a quarry; the first companion change is at the end of this; and the Daleks are of course seen on Earth for the first time here, but they still brought their cardboard cutouts.

• William Hartnell injured himself when they filmed the escape down the ramp of the Dalek saucer.  He was allowed to rest up for a bit afterwards (episode 4) and could carry on with the filming.

• Almost every fan will know the, story about the Daleks in Trafalgar Square, but I'll tell you anyway.  The production crew didn't have any kind of permission to film in the city centre, so they turned up very, very early and shot the scenes as fast as they could before any "bobby's" turned up!  

• The Dalek operators inside the props also found that by standing over a grate, they could conveniently go to the toilet without having to go through the pain of leaving the contraption! 

What worked

• Watching this on DVD, we know that Daleks are in it, it says so in the title, but for kids in 1964, it seems that they had no idea that the Daleks were returning, so it could have been an amazing surprise to see them back on the screen, and an even more chilling one to see them running around London exterminating people.  Having said that, there's a good chance that the adverts for the story made a big show about the return of the Doctor's arch enemy.

• The first episode does well to build up the mystery of just where the hell the TARDIS has landed them.  The sight of the saucer, and the shot of Battersea are spectacular if you watch them with the CGI added.  They are less so when seen as originally intended for obvious reasons

• It's nice to see that the Doctor is actually happy for Ian and Barbara getting home safely, and it makes it all the more poignant when Susan is left behind, because London is exactly the place where Ian and Barbara want to go, but they can't get to.

• It's also kind of cool to see Dortmun as a leader.  His disability was a very interesting character trait that went some way to showing that you don't need to be the biggest and strongest to prove your worth

• The scene's with the Robomen are hilarious to watch if you pretend that they are sarcastically imitating their masters voices!

• The fact that Jenny didn't join the TADIS crew after all.  In the original script, she was intended to stow away on board the ship, but after watching her and Barbara argue for four or five episodes, I'm glad she didn't, even Susan's hysterics weren't as annoying

• Despite the fact that the method used to get rid of Susan was clumsy, the ending does turn out to be quite poignant and sad, especially when you think that William Hartnell really couldn't understand Carol Ann Ford's reason for leaving and was very sad about it.  Having watched the episodes in sequence now, I did feel a sense of loss, like an old friend moving away.  But hey ho, there must be no tears, or anxieties...

What didn't work

• Those robomen helmets

• The Dalek voices aren't as menacing this time around

• The music on this story is all over the place and often missing from key dramatic moments.  

• The sound of the Dalek guns is pathetic!

• The Slyther has become something of a cult hero, but the fact remains that it just doesn't fit in anywhere.  It's a totally random piece of the story that blips in and blips out.  No wonder they cut it out of the movie.

• All the lift shaft antics with Ian are farcical.  

• Last but not least, just... what there is in the way of a plot.  I mean...what? just, what?

Overall Feelings

So the Daleks are back and the fact that the nation is now firmly gripped by Dalekmania made this inevitable.  What works well is that Nation (Terry) had the forethought to use something that works very well in science fiction - he took the ordinary and paired it with something very extraordinary.  So, Daleks evil space aliens turn up in England and wreak havoc.

Another good thing about the script is that it gives the common man a place to shine.  There's no lords of Whitehall organising the resistance.  It's down to the thinking men like Dortmun and the common man like Craddock to put up the resistance.  And that's where this story becomes stark raving obvious that it's a parody of the Blitz that hit London in the 1940's.  If this isn't enough for you, watch the Daleks do German salute's as they march through London; and listen to them use phrases like "exterminate" and "the final solution".

On the face of it, there's tons to like about this story, for all the reasons mentioned above, and the fact that it instigates so many things that we now know and love about Doctor Who.  Some of the most iconic imagery and memorable dialogues belong to this story too.  But it's all just window dressing.

To liken it to modern day is to say it's like a blockbuster film sold solely on the merit of its special effects.  The Dalek Invasion of Earth knows what its audience wants and it damn well gives it to them.  The problem is, like films based on effects, nobody cares about the plot, and this plot is so unbelievable that...well, it beggars belief!

Rating

6 out of 10

The plot is beyond belief, and the execution of certain dramatic scenes (mainly prisoners of the Daleks) are shockingly bad.  The music doesn't amaze, but hey...Daleks in London goosestepping along goes a long way to making it better.

Rewatchability Factor

8 out of 10

The episodes do go on a bit long, but there's a lot of now iconic scenes and quotes in it, so it makes the story enjoyable to watch and pretend you're hearing them for the first time.

Watch this if you liked...

• The Daleks

• Doomsday (Doctor Who Series 2)

• Day of the Daleks

• Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (The Who family are back on the big screen, with another identical plot and this time they've brought Bernard Cribbins)

• The Invasion

• Turn Left (Doctor Who Series 4)

Consulting the Matrix

Were you sad to see Susan leave?  Do you think it was the right time for her character to go?  If so, why?