Day 26 — January 26th 2021
The Waking Ally and Flashpoint
The Waking Ally (The Dalek Invasion of Earth — Episode Five)
Everything I thought I knew The Dalek Invasion of Earth is wrong. Susan and David are totally falling in love, right here on screen! I’d forgotten their playfight beside the campfire, but it’s lovely. I’m really glad they’re going to the trouble of setting up Susan’s departure, because it’s a luxury not all future companions will be afforded. That said, her scream at the sight of a fish is about the most accurately ‘Susan’ thing the series has ever done…!
This episode continues to shine in the world it builds around our regulars. You really feel as though you know the place, and the addition of nasty characters like the two old women in the woods really helps. The women are in the story less than I’d remembered, but they make a real impact, and it fascinates me that they’re so willing to sell out Barbara and Jenny right away. You can’t trust anyone in this world, and that’s brilliant. I feel as though Barbara should have known better than to be so trusting.
The more I watch of The Dalek Invasion of Earth, the more I’m convinced that you could make a really great series simply set in this world, with the Daleks as a sinister occasional presence. They’re always there in the background, but it’s the human characters who really make the story shine, whichever side they’re on.
There’s beautiful moments, too, like Larry finally managing to track down his brother… only to discover that he’s been converted into a Roboman. That’s brilliant! I mean, it’s horrifying, but that’s what makes it so brilliant! The Robomen in the TV serial are so much better than the ones in the film, too. Much rougher. You get the sense that the Daleks haven’t cared one toss for the humans they’ve converted. There’s no attempt to make them all uniform, they’ve just done what they need to and put them to work. That’s far more chilling than the ones all clad in matching leather outfits. I’m amazed that ‘new’ Who hasn’t ever tried to do anything with the concept of the Robomen, either. I guess they’re a bit close to Cybermen these days. But they’re far more effective than the slightly odd ‘Dalek eye stalk in the forehead’ slaves we get these days.
The Dalek’s plan is finally revealed in this episode and it’s… well, it’s bollocks, isn’t it?
Black Dalek: Our mission to Earth is nearly completed. We were sent here to remove the core of this planet. Once the core is removed, we can replace it with a power system that will enable us to pilot the planet anywhere in the universe.
It lets the story down a little in all honesty, and that’s a shame, because it’s been so good up to now. Still, there’s enough in this episode to overlook a slightly dodgy plan. After all, that’s sort of what the Daleks are all about…!
7/10
Flashpoint (The Dalek Invasion of Earth — Episode Six)
Aside from the rubbish plan to hollow out the Earth and turn it into a giant spaceship, it’s a shame that the Daleks are so easily defeated. It also shows up the limitations with this being an invasion of ‘Earth’, because the bomb goes off in Bedford and Doctor Who says that it’s ‘unbelievable’ that any Daleks have escaped the explosion. What about the ones still in London? Or the ones in Paris? Or Brisbane? Surely the vast majority of Daleks must have escaped it? Heck, Doctor Who and his friends escape it and they’re stood only a few feet away from the centre of the explosion!
Oh, I’m having a moan, but it feels like such an anti-climax after the build up in the previous five episodes. The day is saved just like that, and there’s not even any real struggle. Still, the scenes of the slaves rebelling against the Daleks is brilliant fun, and I love Barbara using historical rebellions as the inspiration for her chat with the Black Dalek.
Besides, they have to get the defeat of the Daleks over with quickly, because the last eight minutes of Flashpoint — a third of the whole episode! — are given over to Susan’s departure. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed that before. The final part, with Doctor Who’s speech, gets quoted and repeated often. But you forget about all the build up, which is a shame because it’s lovely.
Barbara trying to get Ian out of the way so Susan and David can have their moment together (and Ian being totally oblivious to it!), the rebels standing on the shore of the Thames and listening as Big Ben chimes once more. It’s all such great stuff.
And the conversation between Susan and David is proper lovely, too. I’d always thought it a bit presumptuous that Doctor Who leaves Susan here in the hope that she and David will get together, but he actively proposes to her! I love that. And I love Susan struggling to choose. It gives Carole Ann Ford one last chunk of great material to play.
The last time I did my marathon, I proper disliked Susan. Increasingly I found her a block to enjoying the stories, prone to over-reacting and havin a good whine. This time around, though, I’ve really taken to her, and enjoyed the performance. She gets much better material than I’ve ever given her credit for, and I think I’m actually going to miss her. One of the nice things about doing a marathon is that you connect with the companions in a way you fail to do when watching stories in a random order. It feels like Susan’s been here for ages (well, she has been — I’ve been watching almost a month), so her departure holds some proper weight.
Oh, and go on then, I’ll mention Hartnell’s speech. It’s good, isn’t it? And it shows what a great performance he gives. ‘One day, I shall come back’. Ooh, it’s good, and I can forgive the defeat of the Daleks being so rubbish because it gives us the time for this. Who said Old Testament Doctor Who was lacking in emotion? It’s bursting with it!
7/10
For a while, there was a chance that The Dalek Invasion of Earth would be the final Doctor Who story. In the lead up to it’s production, the higher-ups at the BBC were dragging their feet on the decision to renew Doctor Who for a serious chunk of time. At various points in the writing, this serial was to write out Susan and introduce her replacement, to simply write out Susan and wait and see, or to keep her aboard the TARDIS, leaving the series on the final note of ou heroes continuing with tier travels unseen by us.
Now don’t get me wrong — I’m very glad that Doctor Who continued. For one thing it’s provided me with a job and a number of friends I’d not have without it. It’s safe to say that the series changed my life for the better. But part of me loves the thought that we might have only had these ten serials. A nice self-contained set of Doctor Who.
And if the series had to end here, then The Dalek Invasion of Earth would be a fine point to leave it. The return of the series biggest monsters, a scale unseen in any of the previous stories, and some really solid material. I think it would still be remembered as a classic.
One final thought; I mentioned the other day that The Dalek Invasion of Earth was when the original TARDIS prop first sustained some serious damage, and you get a good close up of it in this episode. In some ways, it’s amazing it wasn’t patched up between World’s End and now, but it’s good to see just how much of an impact the collapse of the bridge had!
