Story Two: The Daleks

The Daleks are nearly as integral to the history of Doctor Who as The Doctor himself.  This is their first appearance.  The first time the Doctor and his companions leave earth, they come to Skaro, home of Daleks and the now more obscure Thalls many years after their apocalyptic civil war, where a neutron bomb has destroyed much of the planet's life.



Keep reading after the jump.


Themes: There were three main themes in this story. Longing for home occurred more than once.  This was the first estory where a great deal was made of the earthly companions wanting to return home.  We also see a longing for home in the Thalls, once warriors, recently farmers, now nomads looking for food.  They too had a desire for home.  More key to the main story however is xenophobia.  The Daleks are xenophobia personified.  Oddly enough we see a xenophobic disgust for those not like us early on in the episodes, before we know for sure the Daleks are truly evil.  Of course we also have themes of war here as well.

Other Notes: The soundtrack with its unexpected, discordant, and generally peculiar sounds on this one was really impressive.  Also, this was seven episodes long, and some parts (noted below) felt needlessly lengthy.

Episode Notes:

The Dead Planet: As we left off last story, they arrive on a new planet and the radiation meter seems to reflect no radiation, but when they leave it rises to dangerous levels.  The Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara emerge in a petrified forest.  The first alien ever shown in Doctor Who (aside from Susan and The Doctor) is an unnamed beast in a forest, a metal lizard, apparently dead.  Without giving much away, the Doctor again shows he is not a typical good guy.  He deceives his crew and intentionally puts them in danger for the sake of his own curiosity.  The episode ends with the first sighting of a Dalek, or, at least, its plunger, menacing at Barbara.

The Survivors: The Daleks live well below the surface radiation in an underground city.  Our heroes are once again captured, 2/2 stories thus far, capture is involved.  The Daleks are shown fully for the first time in this episode.  We learn about the Neutronic War between the Daleks and Thalls here.  We come to learn that the Thalls have radiation medicine, which can help our protagonists, but the Daleks do not - they need this medicine to protect them against the radiation outside, and hope to get it from the Thalls.  This is a key point later on.  The episode comes near to a close with a Susan in a frantic, surreal forest run.

The Escape: We meet the Thalls in this episode.  Ian becomes a Dalek, and we get to see a tiny hint of the life that exists within the metal exterior of the Dalek, horribly mutated.  Their escape plan works largely thanks to the fact that the Daleks can only walk on metal floors.


The Ambush: Actually, much of their escape is detailed here as well.  There are some fairly suspenseful moments throughout this one, and it's one of the stronger episodes.  The trusting Thalls, once warriors but now pacifist nomads, have their first cause for disillusionment with their ethics as they have their first encounter with the Daleks in generations.  The Doctor & co. could've left now, but they left the fluid link, a component of the TARDIS, back in the city.  Doh!  Now they have to spend three more episodes to get it back.

The Expedition: The Daleks have a bad reaction to a drug in this episode, so look for that one.  Ian spends a great deal of time trying to convince the Thalls to fight the Daleks.  There is debate here between the Doctor and companions whether this is a selfish issue - using Thall lives to get what they want, or if it is a good pursuit - helping the Thalls crush what will inevitably lead to their doom.  This turns out to be true because the Daleks have decided they're going to nuke the outside world.  Here's where the radiation stuff from before just gets turned right on its ear.  The Daleks who before needed radiation medicine to survive outside now say that they can only survive in radiation.  I doubted my recollection of prior episodes at this point, but it appeared to me as I viewed this that they completely changed realities mid-stream.  We also get to see a swamp/lake area teaming with mutants and hungry for Thalls as the debate runs to a close and the Thalls decide to fight, by sneaking in via one of the most insane methods possible - in their own words.

The Ordeal: It was an ordeal to watch, truly.  Ian, Barbara, and some Thalls find a cavern and subsequently are unable to escape due to rockslide.  They spend the bulk of theli episode trying to figure out what to do, and then hopping an area using ropes.  Each second of deliberation, search, and execution was painstakingly recorded for our viewing pleasure, and it went on for what seemed an eternity. The cliffhanger is literal in this one.



The Rescue: The Doctor and Susan get captured by the Daleks after they knock out some apparatus pertaining to the Dalek cameras.  They start a countdown from 100 to launch the neutron bomb.  Ian, Barbara, and the Thalls enter via the caverns as do more Thalls from the front gates.  Battle ensues.  During the battle, a Dalek is thrown into some sort of machinery which apparently kills the launch and all the Daleks at the same time.  There is very little I understood about this.  Are all the Daleks dead or just disabled?  What kind of machinery was that, just laying around, that controlled the Dalek's ability to function and the launch of a neutron bomb?  I am going to guess it just prevented them from moving, but the dying(?) dalek at the end pleaded for radiation...which I swore they were originally highly susceptible to.  Meh, I enjoyed the confusing and entertaining ride nonetheless.  As far as I am aware, this episode ends with a sudden and unexpected romantic gesture as one of the Thalls does not wish to see Barbara leave.  We shall see this again and again!  Although it appeared the Daleks were altogether defeated, we will see them again soon.

Character Notes:

The Doctor: Hartnell played a fairly minor role in this story, as little more than instigator and consultant.  Nonetheless, it was a pleasure to watch him over Ian's shoulder.  We do see again here that he is easily wearied.

Companions: All original, from the first story
Ian Chesterton: Ian received most of the focus here, especially in later episodes.  His character is further developed here a bit.  He's likeable, altruistic, capable, and charismatic.

Barbara Wright: Second only to Ian, Barbara received a great deal of focus.  She goes with Ian and the Thalls to ambush the Daleks, keeps the Doctor in check.  At the end, she has the honor of being the first companion to be hit on by an alien/historical/future male.

Susan: Susan sees beauty even in death, in awe of a petrified flower in the first episode.  What appears at first to be a possibility for bravery from her - going after life-saving drugs alone - turns out to be another opportunity for a screaming teenager to run away from an unseen menace through the woods.  Other than that, she's not overtly present in this story.

Daleks: The Dalek speech and look, unlike cybermen or others, really doesn't change much from here. I find that refreshing.  They are, especially early on, not the cold and inhuman hyperxenophobes that we all know and love, but they do evolve into that in fairly short order.  Nonetheless they appear to have more humanity than we will ever see again in this story.  You'd think it'd take them a few stories to really get to know the Doctor and the TARDIS, but nope - he spills the beans to them in a moment of desparation after being captured a second time.

Thalls: A heptagon-loving people, from their cloaks to their history.  They were once warriors, then farmers, then pacifistic nomads, and then, at the end of our story, warriors once again.  They truly come full circle in this story.

Quotes

"I don't say that grandfather doesn't know how to work the ship, but he's so forgetful." - Susan

"We're in the midst of a very very advanced, civilized society."  - The Doctor

"Do you really think they are just machines?  Do you think there's someone inside them?" - Barbara, regarding Daleks

"They'll see that I'm unarmed.  There's no greater argument against war than that." - Leader of Thalls,  Timosis

"Are they really pacifists?  I mean genuinely so?  Or is a is it a belief that's become a reality because they've never had to prove it?" - Barbara

"Only one race can survive." - A Dalek

"I'm afraid I'm much too old to be a pioneer, although I was once among my own people." - The Doctor