Day 69 — March 10th 2021
The Power of the Daleks Episodes One and Two
The Power of the Daleks — Episode One
Every time I worry that I’m going to reach The Power of the Daleks and discover that it’s not as brilliant as I remember, and every time I’m proven wrong, because it’s brilliant. Okay, I’d better say up front that I’ve done lots of the Troughton serials fairly recently. When the first UK lockdown struck in 2020 I decided that a Doctor Who marathon was the way to pass the time, and I ended up doing a Troughton audio marathon. There’s loads of Troughton episodes available as narrated soundtracks — in fact the only ones which aren’t are The Mind Robber, The Seeds of Death and The War Games. I even looked into the possibility of making some narrations for them so I could complete the set. In the end, I only made it as far as the end of The Enemy of the World before other things took up my time and the marathon ground to a halt.
Listening to a load of Troughton, though, reminded me just how brilliant he is, and how strong so many of his episodes are. I didn’t write about them at all, aside from the odd comment on Twitter, I just sat back and enjoyed. So there’s a chance that some of these might end up being a bit… familiar. I generally go ages before rewatching any Doctor Who (eight years in most of the cases so far!), so I’m not sure how such relatively recent exposure will affect my reaction this time around.
It’s not spoiled my enjoyment of this first episode, though, which continues to be absolute brilliant. I love that it takes the scary approach to the regeneration and keeps that going. There’s still no attempt to ease the audience into the new Doctor Who, instead having him actively go out of his way to be difficult and obstructive to everyone, including his companions. It feels right that Ben should be the one who struggles the most with the change, having been so loyal to Hartnell’s incarnation. But it’s also perhaps interesting that Troughton doesn’t seem all that bothered by his male companion, but takes quicker to the presence of Polly. It’s almost like Doctor Who being made young again has made him rediscover his interest in females.
I also particularly like how little they actually say about the whole process at this stage. The term ‘regeneration’ won’t be applied to the character for almost another decade, and here he only calls it a renewal because Ben offers the word as a suggestion. It’s nice that they don’t feel the need to explain what’s happened beyond a vague reference to it being something that the TARDIS has done for him.
Troughton himself takes to the character like a duck to water, although this is distinctly not quite the man he’ll be playing for the next few years. I love his confusion and playfulness giving way to genuine concern whenever the Daleks arrive on the edge of his memory. I almost feel the threat of the monsters more from his few brief moments in this episode than I ever did with Hartnell. When he puts the two pieces of metal together and deduces that it’s really them it’s incredibly powerful.
And how brilliant are the Daleks in this episode? They don’t even really do anything, but it’s fantastic! The idea of finding a pair of Daleks cobwebbed up and forgotten about is great, and it really does feel like ages since we last saw them. This is the longest gap we’ve had between Dalek stories since the one between the first two, and while I was a bit bored of them by the end of The Daleks’ Master Plan, I’m really enthused to have them back again now. The Dalekmania bubble has truly burst by this point. The last 1960s Dalek annual was published a few months before this story aired, and even the weekly comic in TV Century 21 will be coming to an end only a couple of weeks after this story ends. It’s fitting, then, that we’re being treated to a different kind of Dalek story on TV, as we move distinctly into a new era.
They’ve even done something exciting and scary with the Dalek mutant! That feels special. We saw a glimpse of one in the very first Dalek story, but they’ve sort of been forgotten about since then. It’s especially exciting to see one used here for the cliffhanger, the first of many great episode endings in this story…
A brilliant start for the Second Doctor Who, and one of the best episodes we’ve had so far. 9/10.
The Power of the Daleks — Episode Two
I think this is the first time we’ve ever seen the Daleks presented as being so incredibly powerful even in small numbers. The Daleks only has four of them on screen at a time but the suggestion that there are many more out there. The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Chase, and The Daleks’ Master Plan all rely on the idea of full on Dalek battle fleets to greater or lesser extents. Here, though, Doctor Who tells his companions that a single Dalek is ‘all that is needed to wipe out this entire colony’. It’s an aspect that I think often gets overlooked with the creatures. Dalek does it brilliantly, but then we revert back to loads of the things whizzing about. I know that they’re going to multiply before this story is through, but by that stage it’s scary because we’ve established what a single Dalek can manage on its own.
We’ve got an even better Dalek-based cliffhanger today than we had last time around, as Doctor Who desperately tries to warn the humans what they’ve awoken and the Dalek’s cries get louder and louder in an attempt to drown his warnings out;
Doctor Who: ‘It can do many things, Lesterson. But the thing it does most efficiently is exterminate human beings.’
Dalek: ‘I am your servant.’
Doctor Who: ‘It destroys them, without mercy, without conscience.’
Dalek: ‘I am your servant.’
Doctor Who: ‘It destroys them. Utterly!’
Dalek: ‘I am your servant.’
Doctor Who: ‘Completely!’
Dalek: ‘I am your servant.’
Doctor Who: ‘It destroys them!’
Dalek: ‘I am your servant.’
I think this is probably the first time in this marathon that I’ve actually been a little bit scared of the Daleks, and that’s all down to how effectively David Whittaker writes for them. He’s the first person to write an entire Dalek serial without Terry Nation on board (and the first to do any Dalek episodes without Nation providing the story idea), and I think it’s perhaps telling that it’s the most effective use of the creatures so far. I’ve made little secret of my dislike of Nation’s writing up to now, so it’s likely no surprise that I’m so keen to be away from it here!
And it’s not just the Daleks who are well catered for in this one; the new Doctor Who continues to get plenty to do, and his companions are on fine form. I love that Ben keeps up his distrust throughout the episode, but allows himself to get swept up in the moment as they discover their room is wiretapped and begin to piece together the mystery.
It feels like a new format for the programme, we’re not often trying to solve things like this as our heroes do. In most stories we either know who the bad guys are or it’s heavily signposted to us. This time around everyone is written with a great deal more shades of grey to their personalities. Even Lesterson, who we’re told has been sneaking around and lying about what he knows with regards to the Daleks is painted as being duped by them rather than an all-out baddie in league.
Another strong one, and an 8/10 from me.
