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Revision as of 20:42, 7 May 2008


Mission to the Unknown was the second story of Season 3 of Doctor Who. It was the only story of the show's original run to consist of a single episode and the only one not to feature the Doctor. It served as a set-up to the 12-part The Daleks' Master Plan later in the season. It was also the last story produced by Doctor Who's original producer, Verity Lambert.

Synopsis

On the planet Kembel, Space Security Service agent Marc Cory is investigating a recent sighting of a Dalek spaceship. His suspicion that the creatures may have established a base here proves well-founded.

His two companions, Jeff Garvey and Gordon Lowery, both fall victim to the poisonous thorns of Varga plants - ambulatory flora indigenous to the Daleks' home world, Skaro - and he has no choice but to shoot them before they are themselves transformed into Vargas.

Having overheard the Daleks plotting with representatives of the six outer galaxies to overthrow the solar system, Cory records a warning message and prepares to send it into orbit with a rocket launcher. Before he can do so, however, he is discovered and exterminated.

Plot

Jeff Garvey is lying on the ground. He wakes and sits up. He twists his face in agony and when the pain passes he stands. He starts repeating "Kill, kill." Meanwhile Marc Cory and Gordon Lowery are attempting to repair their ship, it isn't going very well. Lowery is wondering why Cory landed on the planet Kembel in the first place. They are also wondering where Garvey is.

Garvey is watching the two men working on the ship, still repeating "kill, kill." He keeps behind the ship to make sure that neither of the men sees him. Garvey raises his gun to fire at Lowery, but Cory shoots Garvey first. Garvey is in a lot of pain and then lies still. Cory pulls a long Varga thorn out from behind Garvey's ear. He tells Lowery to be careful because if he stung himself on it, he would have to kill him, too.

Cory and Lowery go into the spaceship leaving Garvey's body. Garvey's hand begins to twitch, and hair starts to grow all over his body, as well as Varga thorns; he is becoming a Varga plant. Cory has a license to kill from the Space Security Service and he enlists Lowery to help him. Cory explains that the Daleks have been gaining control of many planets and that a Dalek spaceship was spotted in the Solar System.

Garvey is twitching with life as spines are growing all over his body.

Cory tries to contact the rendezvous ship, but they can't get through. It has dawned upon Corey and Lowery that they can't repair the ship. Cory believes the Daleks have a base on Kembel and that is why they he and Lowery are there. He also explains that the Varga plant is native to the Daleks' home planet Skaro and that you become a Varga plant if you prick yourself on it. This is another reason why the Daleks could be there. There are Daleks on Kembel!

In the Dalek city on Kembel, the Dalek Supreme waits to be updated on the latest developments. He is updated and told that the representatives from the Seven Planets will be arriving soon and their meeting can start. He also tells a normal Dalek to destroy Cory and Lowery.

Cory and Lowery are being observed by three Varga plants. Lowery is making a rescue beacon. Elsewhere in the Kembel jungle, the Daleks are discussing tactics on how to exterminate the humans. Cory and Lowery however are more concerned with the Varga plants than the Daleks. Lowery continues to make the rescue beacon. A spaceship flies above them and the Daleks are planning something big.

Lowery finishes the rescue beacon and just needs to record a message. Cory and Lowery notice something moving in the jungle and duck behind some bushes as four Daleks glide into the landing area. They destroy Lowery's spaceship. Cory and Lowery head deeper into the jungle and Lowery discovers a Varga thorn deeply embedded in his hand; he pulls it out and franticly attempts to suck out the poison. They continue to walk deeper into the jungle.

In the Dalek city, the representatives from the seven galaxies have gathered in a conference room. They are worried about the humans; they believe they are hostile, but the Daleks assure them that the humans will be dealt with. The representatives all agree with a treaty the Daleks have written and that they will conquer Earth first.

Lowery is in pain and is still trying to suck the Varga poison out of his hand. He realises that Varga spines are growing all over his body and quickly covers them when he hears Cory returning. Cory heard what the Daleks said on the loudspeaker and he realises that Lowery is becoming a Varga plant. He kills Lowery. Cory then picks up the rescue beacon and starts recording his message.

Elsewhere in the jungle, a Dalek says that they must kill the humans. Cory is surrounded by Daleks and is exterminated; the beacon and the message, however, survive. All the representatives pledge an alliance to the Dalek cause and start to repeat "Victory."

Cast

Crew

References

  • The term "the Solar System" here seems to refer to the entire Milky Way Galaxy. This may be because Humanity control the whole Galaxy and the Solar System is at the heart of this Empire.
  • The Space Security Service know of Skaro, and recognise Dalek ships and those from the 'outer galaxies'.
  • Varga plants grow naturally on Skaro, having been created in Dalek labs.

Story Notes

  • The Doctor, Steven Taylor and Vicki never appear and never get a mention in this adventure. We experience the story through Marc Cory.
  • Mission to the Unknown is the only Doctor Who story that does not feature the character of the Doctor or the TARDIS at all. Despite this, William Hartnell is still credited as "Dr. Who" — this was because his contract specified he would be credited for all episodes
  • The Doctor's companions Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) do not appear either. Unlike Hartnell, their contracts did not guarantee they would be credited, though they were in the BBC listings magazine Radio Times (and episode guides taking their information from here).
  • Terry Nation wrote this partially as an attempt to create a story about the Daleks that did not involve the Doctor or his companions so that he could eventually develop and sell the idea of a Dalek series, divorced from the Doctor Who universe. In the proposed series, the Space Security Service was tasked with hunting Daleks, and it would follow their adventures — an approach that can be seen in short stories and comic strips written for the 1965 Dalek Outer Space Book (cover dated 1966). An unmade pilot titled The Destroyers was written, but the series concept was never sold.
  • The episode was made by the same team as Galaxy 4, with both stories sharing pre-filming and, possibly, the same production code
  • It is also one of the relatively few stories from the Hartnell era that does not lead directly into the next serial. It was followed by The Myth Makers, an unrelated serial. A direct link to this story is made in the first episode of Daleks' Master Plan when the Doctor recovers the tape recorder used by Corey to record his final message.

Story Title and Production Code

Perhaps more than any other Doctor Who story, Mission to the Unknown generates confusing and debate over both the title used and the serial/production code allocated.

All Doctor Who stories from this period have no overall onscreen title, with the story referred to either by a production code or an internal title by the production team. (For example the early 1965 story featuring Nero was Serial M or The Romans.) The two were confusingly used interchangeably in many production and overseas sales documents.

Mission to the Unknown generates further confusion because some documents do not refer to it as a serial but rather as a "cutaway episode". As the story was produced alongside Galaxy 4 the two appear to have been referred to together. Several of the production codes offered are either Serial T or Serial T +, an appendage.

Early in 1965 the term Dalek Cutaway started to be used to describe the episode in the production office. The onscreen title Mission to the Unknown came later but both continued in circulation, with Dalek Cutaway seemingly being used in places as both a story title and and a production term. The abbreviation DC also appears on a few early production documents.

Design documents successively refer to the episode as Serial T/A and later Serial T Episode 5. The episode's camera script gives Dalek Cutaway as a description and a handwritten addition states Serial T Episode 4 (which is the wrong number). Later when the videotape of the episode was wiped the relevant paperwork referred to Serial Ta Episode 1/1.

When it came to offering the story for sale overseas, the synopsis sent by BBC Enterprises gave the title as Mission to the Unknown (Dalek Cutaway). The 1974 Enterprises document A Quick Guide to Doctor Who, which listed the stories produced so far for potential overseas buyers, gave the title as Dalek Cutaway (Mission to the Unknown) and did not offer any production code at all.

When fans started compiling reference books in the mid 1970s it was this latter document which formed the basis of many lists. The story was referred to alternatively as Dalek Cutaway and Mission to the Unknown on many occasions, whilst the production code went vacant until the discovery of the design documents stating T/A. In more recent years the exploration of the BBC's written archives has exposed the problems of the title and production code

Ratings

  • Mission to the Unknown - 8.3 million viewers

Myths

  • The members of the alliance were named Malpha, Desmir, Stifka, Hjbuj, Pteron, Dbremen and Leemon. (These names, apart from Malpha, were made up for an Australian fan-published novelisation). In the transmitted story only Malpha and the planet Gearon are named.)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • Why would the Daleks announce their secret plans on the loudspeaker?
  • Dialogue appears to name the Daleks as natives of Mutter's Spiral. This seems to contradict other information which places Skaro outside Earth's galaxy.

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

  • No footage of this story survives in the archives, although the full audio does still exist.
  • This was released on CD as "The Daleks' Master Plan" by the BBC Radio Collection first released in October 2001.

Target Novelisations

See also

External Links

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