‘The Daleks’ (TV)

‘THE DALEKS’

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The Beginning of the Daleks

This is the first Dalek story ever in ‘Doctor Who’ and is a seven-part story by Terry Nation. This is the story I was looking forward to most as it features the Doctor’s first ever meeting with the Daleks.

After enjoying the Daleks in the new series, I wondered how I would react to the Doctor’s first encounter with them. Luckily, I found this first Dalek story very gripping and atmospheric to watch.

My Dad has fond memories watching this story as a kid in 1963. He thought I might find this boring, but I found this story exciting! It was interesting to see how the Doctor meets the Daleks for the first time.

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Skaro and the Doctor and his friends find themselves in a petrified forest. They soon visit a huge city before they get captured and become prisoners of the evil Daleks.

Terry Nation delivers a really good action-packed adventure with the Doctor and friends meeting the Daleks. It must have been pretty terrifying for audiences in 1963 to see Daleks for the first time.

The Daleks are brilliant creations based on the Nazis. They are intimidating alien creatures inside machines with horrible voices and barking out orders and wanting to exterminate and kill people.

These Daleks in this story aren’t different to the new series ones in ‘Dalek’ and ‘Bad Wolf’/’The Parting of the Ways’. In this story, the Daleks wish to exterminate the peace-loving Thals on Skaro.

The Thals are beautiful, blonde-haired people who want peace with the Daleks after the war with them. When the Daleks kill their kind, the male Thal, Alydon, has to lead his people to fight them.

I enjoyed the four regulars in this first Dalek story. I liked it when they’re Dalek prisoners; when they trick a Dalek and when Ian gets inside a Dalek to bluff their way out so he and the others can escape.

I enjoyed William Hartnell’s Doctor. He’s still the grumpy, arrogant, amoral old man from the previous story. It was naughty of the Doctor to sabotage his TARDIS so he can get to the Dalek city.

William Russell as Ian stands out pretty well. He’s angry when the Doctor’s sabotaged his TARDIS. It is interesting Ian takes the moral stance in these early stories instead of the Doctor with the Thals.

Jacqueline Hill as Barbara gets to shine. She’s terrified when she sees a Dalek, but is brave when joining Ian and the Thals to go through the swamp and mountains and a romance with Ganatus.

Carole Ann Ford as Susan is very good. She’s brave when fetching the anti-radiation drugs from the TARDIS and meets Alydon the Thal. She’s with her grandfather when they’re prisoners of the Daleks.

The DVD special features are as follows. There’s the ‘Creation of the Daleks’ documentary including behind-the-scenes crew interviews on the making of this story. There is also a photo gallery.

There are audio commentaries on three selected episodes in the story. They are all moderated by Gary Russell and are with William Russell; Carole Ann Ford; producer Verity Lambert and directors Christopher Barry and Richard Martin. There is also an information text commentary option to enjoy.

I love the first Dalek story! My Dad remembers this Dalek story vividly and as he enjoyed watching this story, his son enjoyed watching it too. The rest is history with the Daleks, as they became the success that made what ‘Doctor Who’ is about and why the show has been long-lasting up to today.

‘The Daleks’ rating – 10/10

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The previous story For the First Doctor was ‘An Unearthly Child’ (TV) For Ian was ‘An Unearthly Child’ (TV) For Barbara was ‘An Unearthly Child’ (TV) For Susan was ‘An Unearthly Child’ (TV) For the Daleks was ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ (TV)	The next story For the First Doctor is ‘The Edge of Destruction’ (TV) For Ian is ‘The Edge of Destruction’ (TV) For Barbara is ‘The Edge of Destruction’ (TV) For Susan is ‘The Edge of Destruction’ (TV) For the Daleks is ‘The Dalek Book’ (Annual)
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