Death to the Daleks

Terry Nation’s last story, Planet of the Daleks is one of the very few Doctor Who stories that I have absolutely no desire to ever see again. Thankfully, for his second Pertwee story, Nation produced a script that didn’t merely consist of the reheated scraps of previous, better stories. In Exxilon, Nation creates an interesting alien planet and the underlying scenario of the galactic plague forms an intriguing backdrop to the planet, which contains the mineral parrinium (stop it!) which can cure it. Nation again starts the story with a threat to the TARDIS, but it is part of the plot as a whole and is far more effective than the threat in his previous story. With all this plot, it might sometimes seem that the Daleks are superfluous to the story. However, for the first time we see the Daleks having to survive without their weapons and we see the Daleks as scheming geniuses, rather than merely killers, although there are two rather silly scenes of them committing suicide for no reason. It is, however, a joy to see them replacing their ray guns with traditional percussion instruments- and then using a model TARDIS for target practice. The busy plot means that there is very little padding, which is always welcome.

The production values are very impressive, with good costumes for the Exxilons and the impressive realisation of the Exxilon city. The Daleks have been repainted, which is very welcome, considering their shabby appearance in Planet of the Daleks. The ‘root probes’ for the city are very well done, with one very impressive scene where one rears out of a lake that almost makes one forget that you can see the string holding it up at some points. Michael E. Briant does some sterling work behind the camera, with some slow dissolves and atmospheric day-for-night photography and moody scenes in the caves. However, the daylight scenes are somewhat overlit, which makes the sterile city sets not as striking as they should be and Carey Blyton’s music saps some of the atmosphere- the jaunty Dalek theme is unintentionally comedic and his decision to use saxophones is almost as unfortunate as his decision to use crumhorns for Doctor Who and the Silurians.

The guest cast ranges for competent to pretty good. Joy Harrison and Julian Fox are unspectacular, but effective enough, with Duncan Lamont making Galloway quite interesting. Characterisation was never Nation’s strong point, but the better actors, with Briant’s help, are able to expand on the characters as written. The regulars work their usual magic with what they are given.

This is a rather underrated story. Nation plays to his strengths as a scriptwriter and the visualisation bolsters these strengths. It’s well worth a look.

NEXT: The Monster of Peladon