The Power of the Daleks (TV story): Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 16:43, 1 July 2008


The Power of the Daleks was the third story of Season 4 of Doctor Who. It was the first full story to feature the Second Doctor, played by Patrick Troughton. All six episodes are currently lost.

Synopsis

Following the Doctor's regeneration in to a new, younger body, the TARDIS lands at an Earth colony on the planet Vulcan in the far future. Mistaken as an official Earth Examiner, the Doctor discovers that a scientist called Lesterson is attempting to reactivate two inanimate Daleks found in a crashed space rocket. The colonists refuse to take heed of the Doctor's dire warnings that the Daleks are dangerous until it is too late. Once reactivated, the Daleks secretly begin to reproduce themselves in a bid to take control of the colony.

Plot

Ben and Polly regard the newly regenerated Doctor with suspicion.

Ben and Polly are bewildered after watching the Doctor transform into a completely different, younger man. The TARDIS lands on planet Vulcan, and as they cross the mercury swamps, the Doctor meets an Examiner from Earth who is then murdered by an unseen assassin. The Doctor indulges his curiosity; posing as the Examiner and with Ben and Polly as his assistants, they encounter a colony of humans, led by Governor Hensell. The colonists are unsure why an Examiner has been summoned; some believe it is due to the activities of an underground rebel movement, others believe it is because of a mysterious space capsule that had crashed in the swamps 200 years earlier. The Doctor admits nothing, even playing the fool (much to Ben's annoyance), hoping to expose the murderer of the real Examiner, and uses the badge he took from the Examiner's body to freely explore and observe.

He enters the laboratory where scientists Lesterson and Janley are studying the capsule. With the Doctor's subtle help, they are able to open a hatch where they find nothing but an empty entryway. Suspecting Lesterson has already been inside, the Doctor, Ben and Polly return later that night and re-enter the capsule. Finding his way into an inner chamber, the Doctor discovers two dormant Daleks, and a space where a missing third one must have been.

A power struggle becomes evident as Security Chief Bragen frames the Deputy Governor Quinn for rebel activity and sabotage of the colony's communication system (cutting them off from contact with Earth). The Doctor is reasonably certain that Quinn is innocent, but cannot confront Bragen without revealing his cover.

Lesterson admits that he has previously entered the capsule, but denies the Doctor's charge that he has hidden the missing Dalek. However, this turns out to be a lie, as he and Janley have secretly been experimenting on ways to revive it, unaware of its lethal nature. To the Doctor's horror, Lesterson interrupts an enquiry into the charges against Quinn, revealing that they have succeeded in reviving the Dalek (having removed its gunstick, after it blasted a lab assistant named Resno). The Doctor's dire warnings go unheeded as the Dalek drones repeatedly, "I AM YOUR SERVANT!"

Janley and Bragen are leaders of the rebel group, and kidnap Polly to ensure the Doctor's silence. Janley believes that the Dalek's destructive capabilities could be the clinching factor in their plans to take control of the colony, but has kept the knowledge of Resno's death from Lesterson (she told him he was injured) to avoid distracting him from his work. Meanwhile, the Dalek delights Lesterson with the breadth of its knowledge. In exchange for increased power and equipment, it promises to manufacture beneficial equipment for the colony.

Bragen and the Doctor close in on each other. Bragen knows the Doctor is an impostor, and the Doctor knows Bragen is the murderer, but neither can reveal the other without revealing themselves as well.

The Doctor discovers that the Dalek has revived its two companions. Lesterson feigns indifference, claiming he was about to do so anyway, but his trust in the Daleks starts to crack when he sees the trio chant conspiratorially, "WE WILL GET OUR POWER!"

While Governor Hensell is away on a tour of the outer colony, Bragen seizes the opportunity to solidify his power, and imprisons the Doctor with Quinn.

Lesterson's doubts are confirmed when he discovers that the Daleks are reproducing themselves en masse. When he notifies Janley, she cooly informs him about Resno's death, and how he's at fault for providing the Daleks with the necessary power and equipment to reproduce. Lesterson, already on edge, has a nervous breakdown. The Daleks, meanwhile are laying a network of static electricity conduits along the corridors that, once active, will give them free range of motion throughout the colony, and once they switch over to their own energy supply from the colony's, they'll be unstoppable.

Hensell returns to find Bragen seated at his desk. When he protests, Bragen kills him with a blast from a Dalek gunstick. The revolution has begun. Bragen is confident that with the Daleks on his side, success will be swift. Janley, however, is horror-stricken when Bragen gives her a list of rebel leaders to be killed, deeming them untrustworthy.

In the midst of the battle between the rebels and the loyal guards, the Daleks begin indiscriminately massacring both sides (including Janley). The Doctor, Ben & Polly seek shelter in the lab, where they find a deranged Lesterson. Lesterson distracts the Daleks at the cost of his life, while the Doctor manages to overload the Daleks' power supply, causing them all to spin wildly and explode. Bragen is killed by one of his own men (Janley's lover Valmar). Quinn, now in charge, is appalled at the aftermath: not only are casualties enormous, but the Doctor's fiddling has destroyed the colony's power supply and will take months to repair. The Doctor suggests to Ben and Polly that they'd better leave "before they send us the bill," and they sneak away in the TARDIS.

Cast

Crew

References

Story Notes

  • This story had a working title of; The Destiny of Doctor Who.
  • Dennis Spooner wrote the final version of the scripts, but received no on screen credit
  • A photo of William Hartnell is used to achieve the Doctor's 'mirror trick'.
  • Polly is absent from Episode Four and Ben from Episode Five as Anneke Wills and Michael Craze were on holiday during the respective weeks in which they were recorded.
  • This is the first story to show the Dalek mutants from inside the Dalek machine.
  • Less than five minutes of footage survives of this story, but there are full telesnaps and audio recordings of the story.
  • One of the more notable clips shows the Daleks going round in a circle crying in a mad-like chorus:
  • Dalek#1: Exterminate all humans!
  • Dalek#2: Exterminate all humans!
  • Dalek#1: Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy!
  • Daleks: Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy!

Archive Status

All six episodes are missing. The original broadcast video was wiped, and no film telerecordings exists in the BBC Archives. The audio for all six episodes, however, does exist, thanks to a fan's home recording. Telesnaps for all six episodes exist. Short segments of 8mm film footage from off-air recordings exist. Some footage copied for use in promotional material exists.

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 7.9 million viewers
  • Episode 2 - 7.8 million viewers
  • Episode 3 - 7.5 million viewers
  • Episode 4 - 7.8 million viewers
  • Episode 5 - 8.0 million viewers
  • Episode 6 - 7.8 million viewers

Myths

  • Doctor Who's planet Vulcan predated Star Trek's. (Star Trek made its on-air debut in the US on 8 September 1966, pre-dating transmission of The Power of the Daleks by almost two months; and although Spock's home planet was referred to initially as 'Vulcanis' it became 'Vulcan' just a few episodes later.)
  • Tristram Cary's incidental music used in this story was taken entirely from the first Dalek story, The Daleks. (Some of it was taken from season three's The Daleks' Master Plan.)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • Not only does the Doctor regenerate, but his clothes do as well.
  • There are quite obviously only 4 actual daleks - the others are clearly carboard.

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

  • The surviving footage was released as part of the Lost in Time DVD in 2004.
  • The audio soundtrack survives and has been released three times commercially by the BBC: first, on cassette release with narration by Tom Baker; second, on CD with narration by Anneke Wills; third, on MP3-CD, again narrated by Anneke Wills for the 'Doctor Who: Reconstructed' range. This release also included a bonus slideshow for PC users, merging the soundtrack with John Cura's Telesnaps.

Target Novelisations

See also

to be added

External Links

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v • e
Dalek television stories
For the purposes of this list, a "Dalek story" is one in which one living, authentic Dalek plays a part within the confines of the story, outside of flashbacks to previous stories and cliffhangers that lead into the following story. For this reason, stories such as The Space Museum are not counted due to the Daleks' appearance being defined by their importance to following stories, while stories such as The Wheel in Space and The Waters of Mars are absent due to the Daleks' only contribution being references to past Dalek stories. Stories like The Wedding of River Song, Hell Bent, Once, Upon Time and The Vanquishers are also not included due to the Daleks' appearance being restricted to a single scene of no consequence to the plot of the story, while the TV movie is also absent due to the Daleks only being heard from off-screen.
First Doctor era
Dr. Who films
Second Doctor era
Third Doctor era
Fourth Doctor era
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Sixth Doctor era
Seventh Doctor era
The "Wilderness Years"
Ninth Doctor era
Tenth Doctor era
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Thirteenth Doctor era
Fourteenth Doctor era
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Because of the ubiquity of this race, no attempt will be made here to list every appearance in every medium. Instead, we focus on televised appearances here, and invite you to explore a complete list of appearances elsewhere.
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