Day 51 — February 20th 2021
Golden Death and Escape Switch
Golden Death (The Daleks’ Master Plan — Episode Nine)
When I went into The Daleks’ Master Plan I was expecting this to be to point where I went off things a bit. For whatever reason I had it in my head that the first half of the story was brilliant, and the second half — specifically the Egypt stuff — was where it went a bit off the rails, before pulling it back together for the final episodes.
But actually, this is the most I’ve enjoyed this story since very early on, and the Egypt stuff is actually quite fun. It makes me long for a proper Egyptian historical story, and it put the elements in place here to do just that. The TARDIS being claimed for the Pharaoh because if it’s all the way out here in the desert then it must have been brought with his things is brilliant, and having to try and get back to it while it’s trapped in a tomb is reminiscent of The Aztecs, but in just the right way.
I’m sure the Daleks massacring the workers looked brilliant — it’s Camfield after all — but I could do without it in this one, I feel like there’s already enough of interest going on without their inclusion. That said, I do like that their arrival is a surprise to our heroes as they’d assumed they were tracking their other foe through the Vortex. I sort of wish the Daleks’ reveal was a little more impressive, though; as it is Steven just happens to catch sight of them leaving their time machine. We’re in Egypt! Have them open a big stone door on the pyramid and find a Dalek waiting behind it! This stuff writes itself!
Something which really does work today is Sara getting to be the ‘tough one’ when it comes to Doctor Who’s companions. Steven has already proven himself pretty handy in a fight, but there’s something undeniably cool about Sara being the one who gains the upper hand first when they’re fighting for their freedom. She’s unlike any of the assistants we’ve had in the show before, and I welcome her getting to show that off like this. Sara and Steven actually make a pretty good pair, although I’ll confess that I’m still missing Vicki. I’d have loved to see her making sarcastic jibes all the way through, and I’d especially like to see how she would react to Sara!
I’ll tell you what I’d most like to see from this episode, though; Doctor Who altering the appearance of his rival’s TARDIS to make it look like a police box. The script gives us a run down of the things it should turn into (which Peter Purves paraphrases in the narration for this episode);
‘The following objects depend on availability to scale, but any suitable models can be used. After a few seconds, the stone block changes before our eyes, and at a bewildering speed, we; CUT A large stone column of some Greek building. CUT A wild west stage coach, doors shut blinds drawn, “Wells Fargo” on the side. CUT A strange — eerie, un-earthlike tree. CUT An igloo. CUT A space rocket. CUT A sarcophagus. CUT A martian-like small building, or xeros space museum. CUT A small-six seater areoplane. CUT A Police Telephone Box. Which we HOLD.’
I don’t think we know for certain which of these items — if any — ended up being used. There’s plenty of photos of the pyramid model and the work being done for this episode, but I don’t think there’s any shots of these models at all.
We end the episode with the hint of another classic horror monster coming out to play, but I can’t even blame Terry Nation for this one, because we’re now at the ‘story by’ stage, and word has is that the ‘story’ Nation supplied was about as brief as they come. I’m fairly sure I remember who’s hand is creeping out of the sarcophagus, which worries me that the next episode won’t be quite as enjoyable for me as this one was… 7/10.
(The Daleks’ Master Plan — Episode Ten)
I was hoping that actually being able to see this episode would be a good thing — Douglas Camfield is the best director the show has at the moment, and he always adds an extra something to a story. But I’ll confess it just hasn’t grabbed me. I think it’s telling that my notes for this episode consist of four words;
‘I like Hartnell’s hat’
I think the main problem I’m having with these shorter interludes in the story is that they’re not really working as stories in their own right. It’s all being treated too much as ‘the next thing that happens in the story’, and forgetting to be something more than that.
All this Egyptian stuff, for example, seems to be totally independent of Doctor Who and his friends. Once Steven and Sara had fought their way to freedom in the last episode they were able to get on with their own story — worrying about the Daleks, mostly — while the Egyptians went to war with the pepperpots as though they were a totally different thing. When the Egyptians come and attack the Daleks today, giving Doctor Who a chance to escape, it’s pure coincidence. There’s no indication that he’s put them up to it.
And I feel there should be! There should be an element of Doctor Who talking the Egyptians into the fight, because he needs them to distract the Daleks so he can make his escape. Think of the Thals in The Daleks — we need that here! As it is, you sort of have our regulars only interacting with each other, and the Egyptions off on some other set over there somewhere. I will concede that the sets in this story are gorgeous, but they just make me long some more for a proper decent Egypt story.
I wonder if instead of doing one big 12-part story, they’d have been better off splitting The Daleks’ Master Plan in two, and having the Daleks show up as a teaser threat at the end of the other stories in between. So, for example, you could have Season Three play out like this;
- Mission to the Unknown sets up the threat and introduces the Space Security Service.
- The Myth Makers writes out Vicki, introduces Katarina, and injures Steven.
- The first six episodes of The Daleks Master Plan play out pretty much as they do in reality — with Doctor Who and his friends duping the Daleks at the end of Episode Six, then flying away in the TARDIS. They think they’ve escaped, but back on Kembel, the Dalek Supreme orders a Dalek TIme Machine to follow them.
- We get a one-off Christmas episode, but for the love of God not The Feast of Steven.
- A four-part historical story set in Ancient Egypt brings back the ‘Monk’ for a rematch with Doctor Who, and at the end the Daleks show up and massacre the Egyptians. The TARDIS leaves before this can happen, maybe?
- Another four-parter. This can be anything you like, really, but it should end with the Daleks showing up again, and Doctor Who spotting them.
- And then you do a final wrap-up for The Daleks Master Plan, with our heroes confronting the Daleks head on.
As it is, the story just feels so dragged out. It’s not really involving or exciting, it’s just moving like a conveyor belt from one bit of padding to another. That disappoints me, and I’m sorry to say we’re back down to 4/10 for this episode.
