4 Episodes
Aired between 1st January 1972 and 22nd January 1972
Written by Louis Marks
Produced by Barry Letts
Directed by Paul Bernard
Synopsis
The world is in crisis! China and the allied super powers are on the brink of nuclear war. The unified peace effort put forward by the UN is spearheaded by Sir Reginald Styles. Styles has organised a world peace conference to take place at a quaint, government owned country manor called Auderly House.
Two days before the conference is to take place, under the cover of darkness, Sir Reginald Styles is attacked in his study by a combat uniformed guerrilla soldier. Before the soldier can complete his assassination attempt, he inexplicably vanishes in front of the terrified Styles.
Concerned for his welfare, Style's secretary calls on UNIT to come and watch over Styles and ensure that the world peace conference goes ahead without problem.
The Doctor is tampering with the dematerilisation circuit to stop it being hijacked by the Time Lords. In doing so, he runs into a bit of a problem summoning himself and Jo from the future to the workshop.
Luckily, the pair of them vanish a moment later, just as the Brigadier calls and asks them to look into how the guerrilla could have just vanished.
The guerrilla reappears near an old tunnel under a bridge. He looks around desperately for a way of escape but is caught by an ape like creature that breaks his neck with a powerful blow.
Once at Auderly House, the Doctor, the Brigadier and Jo begin to question Sir Reginald, who begins to deny everything that happened and said he was having a nightmare. clearly as a way of explaining the inexplicable. The Doctor begins to gather evidence, with muddy footprints leading from the patio window into the study.
When the UNIT troops search the area, they find the guerrilla's body, and in his possession, a strange black box and a futuristic gun. After running some tests, the Doctor deduces that the gun is man made and the box is a time machine, leading him to believe that the man is likely to be from 200 years in the future.
The Doctor is very curious to see if Styles will be targeted again, and so decides to stay the night in Auderly House with Jo and the UNIT troops whilst Styles is away entertaining world leaders. Jo asks why they wouldn't just go back to the same point in time and try again, but the Doctor says they can't because of the Blinovitch limitation effect. He's confident they'll try once again that night.
Sure enough, three more guerrilla's time travel back to the tunnel under the bridge. They take care of the two UNIT soldiers standing guard in the area and head over to the house where the Doctor is more interested in tasting excellent vintage wine and cheese whilst he fiddles around with the time machine box.
Over in the 22nd century, we see that the world is under the grip of an oppressive regime. The Overseer of this sector gets a message that the time machine signature is on.
The three guerrilla's: Anat, Boaz and Shura burst into the room to deal with Sir Reginald Styles but soon get a taste of the Doctor's Venusian Karate. They see the time machine is on and warn the Doctor to switch it off immediately, which he does.
Back in the 22nd century, the Overseer looses the signal. He orders that it must be traced and then goes to tell his superiors who happen to be......Daleks!
The Daleks rant and rave about how they're going to destroy who's on the other end of that time vortex signal.
Meanwhile, the three guerrilla's take Jo and the Doctor down to the basement when they realise he isn't Styles. They tie the pair of them up and leave them there whilst they think of a new plan. As they're away, the doctor gets his mouth gag off and explains to Jo his theory that they are time travellers from the future, come to change the past.
As the guerrilla's are coming up with a new plan, they get a call from the Brigadier on Sir Styles' phone. They bring the Doctor back up to convince him that nothing's wrong.
The Doctor obeys them and tells the Brigadier that everything's fine, but tells the Brigadier to also tell the Marine's that everything's fine too, meaning the opposite. With this information, the Brigadier sets off straight for Aurderley House and tells Captain Yates to send the soldiers in behind him.
Back at the manor, Jo rushes into the study and grabs the portable time machine, threatening the guerrilla's to release the Doctor.
The guerrilla's look really scared that she's activated the machine and plead with her to turn it off but she refuses.
Out in the 22nd Century, the resurfacing of the signal allows the Overseer to latch on and drag Jo through the vortex to his base. He quickly realises that she doesn't have a clue about what's going on, so he adopts a friendly approach and convinces her that the guerrilla's are the bad guys.
Using this approach, he gets her to tell him exactly where and when the guerrilla's are, so he can send his men to go and rescue the Doctor. He sends Jo away to get cleaned up and await the Doctor's arrival. Once she's gone, he contacts the Daleks and agrees to send some of the ape creatures (known as Ogrons) down there after them.
The Ogrons go back in time and close in on Auderly House. The guerrilla's are caught off guard in a firefight. They flee the mansion and the Doctor tries to follow them, but is forced to fight the Ogrons too, even killing some.
The Brigadier arrives just in time for the Doctor to steal his jeep and run off after the guerrilla's.
In the 22nd Century, the Overseer reluctantly reports to the Daleks that the Ogrons have failed to apprehend the guerrilla's. The Daleks yell at him for being incompetent and decide to send some Daleks down to do the job right.
The Doctor gets to the tunnel under the bridge but as he searches the place, he's confronted by a Dalek yelling "Exterminate!" The Doctor legs it into the tunnels, forcing a cat and mouse chase. He runs into Anat and Boaz in the process and he tries to convince them he can help them. They are discovered by the Daleks and are forced to teleport back to the 22nd Century, leaving behind an injured Shura and taking the Doctor with them.
Once they are in the future, the Doctor gets chance to explain that he is an enemy of the Daleks and he wants to help them become free of the Dalek's rule, but first he has to find Jo. Before he can get any more useful information out of the guerrilla's, the Dalek's and Ogrons turn up again, forcing them to scatter. The Doctor evades the patrols and follows them back to their base.
Once back at the base, the Dalek Supreme again criticises the Overseer for his failures.
The Overseer protests that the Ogrons are too stupid to be a match for the guerrilla's and asks to use humans to hunt them. The Dalek's refuse, saying that humans are too treacherous to trust beyond the few that are overseers and slaves. The Overseer tells them about Jo's mention of the Doctor. That stirs them up. They say he's an enemy of the Dalek's and must be found and exterminated.
On his recce, the Doctor discovers that this world is full of factories and the majority of humans are enslaved, worked to death. the security camera's spot him and the Dalek's change their minds when they realise he's changed his face once again. They make plans to capture him and as a punishment, identify an under-performing mining sector to the Overseer. They raise production quota's for that area despite the Overseer's discomfort at the loss of life that will ensue.
Elsewhere, the guerrilla's meet with their leader, Monia. They tell him that, Shura was left behind when they jumped, and in turn, he tells them about Jo being captured in the city. They begin debating about what to do next.
The Doctor is knocked out and captured, then taken to a cell for interrogation by a human guard. The Doctor refuses to cooperate and a work manager is called. The manager orders everyone away so he can deal with the Doctor himself. Once they're gone, he reveals that he's a rebel himself and tries to get the Doctor to trust him. Before they can get too far into it, the Overseer turns up and tells the work manager that this is all a great mistake. He orders the Ogrons to take the Doctor to Jo.
Once the Doctor has left, the Overseer tells the Work Manager that his area has had its quota increased.
The manager protests, but the Overseer subtly highlights what will happen to him and his family if it's not met, forcing the manager to comply. Once the Overseer leaves the cell, the Work Manager tries to contact the guerrilla's to tell them what's happening, but he's caught by the sadistic human guard and killed.
As promised, the Overseer takes the Doctor to meet Jo. He tries to sell the Doctor the same story he gave Jo, but this time, the Doctor is having none of it.
He questions why things are so good if they're work camps and Ogrons to keep people in line. The Overseer becomes angry and leaves. Jo is angry too, but the Doctor explains to her that she doesn't know the half of what's going on in this time.
They come up with a plan, fool the Ogron guard outside their room and try to make their escape on a tricycle.
The machine is so crap that they don't get far and are recaptured.
The Ogrons take the Doctor back to the base, where they subject him to a mind probe to confirm that he's the Doctor they've met before. This is shortly confirmed and they prepare to exterminate him.
The Overseer interrupts and stops the Daleks, reminding them that they could extract information about the guerrilla's from him. He convinces them to let him try to get the info from him and Jo.
He takes the Doctor and Jo back to the hospitality area and tries to explain to them, but the Doctor doesn't want anything to do with him. He berates the Overseer for collaborating with the Daleks, calling him a Quisling. The Overseer becomes defensive, telling the Doctor he's no right to judge him because he didn't live through the terrible times. He explains that at the end of the 20th Century, the world had been decimated by a series of wars that wiped out most of the Earth's population. The Daleks simply sauntered in and took over, enslaving everyone. His family managed to get some concessions from the Daleks to help humans, going so far as to say that he's saved lives by working for the Daleks. The Doctor rebuffs him, saying that he could have saved far more by joining the resistance, but the Overseer is adamant that the Daleks cannot be defeated.
At that point, the guerrilla's make an assault on the Overseer's HQ and bust in to rescue the Doctor and Jo. They intend to kill the Overseer, but the Doctor convinces them to spare him as they would have always found someone.
Back in the 20th Century, the Brigadier and his UNIT troops help oversee the arrival of the delegates for the peace conference whilst Shura skulks about int the shadows and plants a bomb in the basement of Auderly House.
Over in the future, the guerrilla's take the Doctor and Jo back to their secret base.
Once there, they explain to them that according to their history, Sir Reginald Styles caused the wars by blowing up Auderly House with the delegates inside. The Doctor realises that this is actually Shura trying to fulfill his mission, therefore the guerrilla's caused their own timeline and trapping themselves in a temporal paradox!
Elsewhere, the Overseer reports to the Daleks who order him to get out there and kill the Doctor. They warn him that his next failure will be his last.
The Overseer accepts this and prepares an ambush in the tunnels. The anticipated move was right and the Overseer confronts the Doctor once more. This time however, in repayment for the Doctor letting him live, the Overseer allows the Doctor to escape and go back to his own time zone. One of the Overseer's guards sees this from the shadows and betrays him to the Daleks. When the Overseer returns to the Dalek HQ, he tries to blame the escape on the Ogrons. The Daleks call him out on it and he defies them saying that he hopes they change time and defeat them. The Daleks exterminate him, replacing him with the loyal human guard. With that sorted, they come to the conclusion that they need to stop the Doctor at all costs and go back in time with a force of Ogrons to kill everyone at Auderly House, especially the Doctor.
The Doctor and Jo rush back to the manor house and hurridly warn the Brigadier and Sir Styles that they need to evacuate.
The Daleks and Ogrons are right behind him and begin a pitched battle with the UNIT troops.
Styles is unsure whether to evacuate until the Brigadier forces the issue.
The Doctor goes into the basement where he finds Shura hiding with a Dalekanium bomb. The Doctor explains things and Shura tells him to leave the house and he will blow it up, killing the Daleks. The Doctor agrees and tells the Brigadier to pull his men back out of the house. With the place clear, Shura waits until the Daleks enter through the patio windows into the study and then blows the place up, sacrificing himself in the process.
The Doctor informs styles that he's just saved the peace conference, now it's up to Styles to make sure it succeeds. Styles nods and says he knows what will happen if he fails. The Doctor and Jo nod also, saying they do too, they've seen it.
Trivia
- If you listen to the DVD, the Production Team decided to bring the Daleks in to the show again to launch season 9 with a bang as popularity was beginning to wane once more. I have read articles however that said one of the high ups in the BBC was besotted with the Daleks and forced the team to bring them back (to be fair, the public wanted them back too).
- One of the better known facts is that Jon Pertwee hated doing Dalek stories. He saw the very worst in them and professed that their worst attribute was not being able to see any emotion in them therefore it was impossibly hard to react and bounce off their performance.
- Once they talked about the Daleks, Terrence Dicks had to get over the next hurdle. He called Terry Nation, who was at that time far too busy doing other shows. He did however like the idea of seeing "his" creations (see the Daleks for why this is contentious) in colour on the small screen fighting against the new Doctor. He gave the production team permission to do the story so long as he was acknowledged in the credits, paid, and had the right to veto the script if he didn't like it. It's interesting to note that he was adamant that there should be absolutely no Daleks vs Cybermen stories.
- Apparently, the flip side of the Doctor and Jo's time travel bit at the beginning of the story was filmed and intended to be shown at the end of the story, but it was ultimately cut due to time constraints
What worked
- The remastered effects for one!
- The adult approach to this story
- The chance for the Daleks to show just how evil they are
- The premise of a ghost hanging around threatening ambassadors is an intriguing one, and we'll revisit it in the Time Warrior.
- The moral dilemma of the Overseer is an interesting one
- A lot of people hate it, but I enjoy watching the one handed Venusian Karate - Hai!
- I love the idea of the Ogrons too. They are the 70's equivalent of the Uruk-Hai
What didn't work
- I longed to see the bit where the Doctor and Jo meet themselves again - it never came
- The original effects
- The original Dalek voices
- The fact that you can hear the end credits sting after every cliffhanger opening in the next episode (the Director thought that was how it always was).
- The fact that the resolution of the plot was in fact the cause of the plot complication.
- The inability of any single member of the guerrilla team to just explain what they're doing this for
- Come to think of it, why the hell would you arrive at night and wait until broad daylight to storm the mannor house?
- Come of think of it again, why didn't the Brigadier or Sir Styles just move the god damn meeting to another venue after the legitimate failed assassination attempt?!
Overall Feelings
So, this is the first Doctor story to feature the Daleks in full colour (the films excluded). That fact, coupled with the launch of the 9th season on Doctor Who should make this story decidedly epic. Well, epic it's not, but then again, it's by no means bottom of the class.
As with most stories centered around time travel, there are countless faults you can pick with this story, from the hair brained decision to blow up Auderly House to kill Styles when the blast will kill the delegates too and guess what, killing the delegates started this whole thing. Then there's the Dalek's insistence on exterminating the Doctor then in the very next scene capturing him instead; then there's the pursuit of the impossibly slow trike and the assault on the manner with three Daleks and a handful of Ogrons to name but a few. Even if you overlook these points, it's hard to ignore the frustration many first time watchers experience from a lot of misdirection, stalling and running about until episode four where we finally get an explanation as to why the guerrilla's want to kill Styles.
As the 1972 version stands, this story warts and all is a real off putter because here's the thing. The plot is actually innovative. Louis Marks writes an intelligent tale that doesn't play down to the audience. It shows the Daleks for the inhuman masters they ought to be. It gives tension between Jo and the Doctor (even if he does just tell her she's being stupid and explain why). This show is disappointing because we can all see how good it should have been.
Fast forward to 2011, and the Day of the Daleks has gotten an overhaul. Taking the principal that every child of the 70's who watched this the first time round seems to recall the fights and the chases being much, much more frantic and action packed, In light of this, 2 Entertain paid for scenes to be added and effects enhanced to make this more the case, and got Nicholas Briggs in to redub the voice of the Daleks. I have to say, a lot of these effects totally save this story and make it more of a pleasure to watch, allowing a greater suspension of disbelief around all the niggling little things that held up the old version.
Rating
8 out of 10
Innovative, clever, complex but flawed
Rewatchability Factor
8 out of 10
I admit, this is the score for the remastered version. Either way though, it's short and punchy, with the first full colour sight of an iconic monster
Watch this if you liked...
- Father's Day (Doctor Who, Series 1)
- Blink (Doctor Who, Series 3)
- Hide (Doctor Who Season 7)
- The Terminator
Consulting the Matrix
Would you have liked to see more timey wimey based episodes in the classic series and if so, why?
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