"She's looking around, there's a lot to see in the colony. She's interested. I like that."
TECHNICAL SPECS: The episode is entirely missing from the archives. It's off to a reconstruction again (Part 1, Part 2). First aired Nov.19 1966.
IN THIS ONE... One Dalek becomes three, and Bregan is revealed as the murderer and manipulator behind everything non-Dalek.
REVIEW: The Daleks are a lot like the Doctor in this episode. Like him, they reveal themselves move to the audience than they do the people around them, except that instead of reference some trip to China (which we know about, but the companions don't), they almost blurt out that they're better than humans. So we know, it's only a matter of time before they try to kill everyone, even of the colony is quite happy to believe they make fine servitor robots. And like the Doctor, they've adopted a disarming strategy, in their case quite literally, going so far as taking off their own gun arms. It's probably a safety precaution, because their plans wouldn't work if they mistakenly shot too many people (one person has died already, but it was covered up). Seeing the Dalek ineffectually click his empty gun socket reminds us that these guys are always quick on the trigger, fueled by rage as much as static electricity.
The humans also show their hand, and we start to understand the relationships at work. Janley is only pretending to work with the rebels in order to foster instability. She's actually working for security chief Bregen who has killed the Examiner and thrown suspicion on deputy governor Quinn for it. Quinn is revealed as the one who called for the Examiner in the first place, which doesn't put him in the governor's good graces to begin with and ends up in a cell while Bregen takes his place. A proper Richard III, that one. And then there's Lesterson, who's so obsessed with his experiments he doesn't notice Janley steal a Dalek gun. If by now you don't know what happens to people who try to use the Daleks for their own ends, just give Mavic Chen a call. Oh wait. You can't.
And our heroes? Well, it's interesting that instead of taking credit for his companions' good ideas or calling them stupid like the first Doctor was prone to, this Doctor lets them take the lead. Ben's been doing all the theorizing since they arrived on Vulcan, and even gets a compliment out of it. I love the quotation about Polly I used at the top, as it shows a real paradigm shift for the Doctor/companion relationships. They are no longer little girls to be protected or idiots that need everything to be explained to them. The Doctor actually likes them for their curiosity, bravery and resourcefulness. It's a paradigm that holds true today. Of course, Polly gets herself kidnapped (as Anneke Wils goes on vacation), but that's neither here nor there. The Doctor gets to play the boffin and say "What I say run, run" for the first time, in case you're wondering when the second Doctor clicked into place. He's there after less than three episodes.
VERSIONS: In the animated reconstruction, the now-mobile Daleks are really beautiful, smooth 3D computer models instead of the stiff Flash animation of the human figures.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - As we start to play the Daleks' waiting game, we may get frustrated, but the plot thickens and there's great joy at discovering what makes the new Doctor tick.
TECHNICAL SPECS: The episode is entirely missing from the archives. It's off to a reconstruction again (Part 1, Part 2). First aired Nov.19 1966.IN THIS ONE... One Dalek becomes three, and Bregan is revealed as the murderer and manipulator behind everything non-Dalek.
REVIEW: The Daleks are a lot like the Doctor in this episode. Like him, they reveal themselves move to the audience than they do the people around them, except that instead of reference some trip to China (which we know about, but the companions don't), they almost blurt out that they're better than humans. So we know, it's only a matter of time before they try to kill everyone, even of the colony is quite happy to believe they make fine servitor robots. And like the Doctor, they've adopted a disarming strategy, in their case quite literally, going so far as taking off their own gun arms. It's probably a safety precaution, because their plans wouldn't work if they mistakenly shot too many people (one person has died already, but it was covered up). Seeing the Dalek ineffectually click his empty gun socket reminds us that these guys are always quick on the trigger, fueled by rage as much as static electricity.
The humans also show their hand, and we start to understand the relationships at work. Janley is only pretending to work with the rebels in order to foster instability. She's actually working for security chief Bregen who has killed the Examiner and thrown suspicion on deputy governor Quinn for it. Quinn is revealed as the one who called for the Examiner in the first place, which doesn't put him in the governor's good graces to begin with and ends up in a cell while Bregen takes his place. A proper Richard III, that one. And then there's Lesterson, who's so obsessed with his experiments he doesn't notice Janley steal a Dalek gun. If by now you don't know what happens to people who try to use the Daleks for their own ends, just give Mavic Chen a call. Oh wait. You can't.
And our heroes? Well, it's interesting that instead of taking credit for his companions' good ideas or calling them stupid like the first Doctor was prone to, this Doctor lets them take the lead. Ben's been doing all the theorizing since they arrived on Vulcan, and even gets a compliment out of it. I love the quotation about Polly I used at the top, as it shows a real paradigm shift for the Doctor/companion relationships. They are no longer little girls to be protected or idiots that need everything to be explained to them. The Doctor actually likes them for their curiosity, bravery and resourcefulness. It's a paradigm that holds true today. Of course, Polly gets herself kidnapped (as Anneke Wils goes on vacation), but that's neither here nor there. The Doctor gets to play the boffin and say "What I say run, run" for the first time, in case you're wondering when the second Doctor clicked into place. He's there after less than three episodes.
VERSIONS: In the animated reconstruction, the now-mobile Daleks are really beautiful, smooth 3D computer models instead of the stiff Flash animation of the human figures.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - As we start to play the Daleks' waiting game, we may get frustrated, but the plot thickens and there's great joy at discovering what makes the new Doctor tick.
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