Planet of the Daleks (TV story)

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Synopsis

The Doctor and Jo team up with a guerilla group of Thals, seeking to knock out an army of 10,000 Daleks in hibernation on planet Spiridon.

Plot

The TARDIS materialises in a hostile jungle on the planet Spiridon. Jo sets out alone to find help for the Doctor, who has fallen into a coma. She meets a party of Thals and is left in hiding aboard their crashed spaceship while they go to the Doctor's aid. The Time Lord, now recovered, learns of their mission to destroy a party of Daleks sent here to discover the native Spiridons' secret of invisibility.

File:Planetofthedaleks title.jpg
A thal with the Doctor

Another Thal spaceship crash-lands in the jungle, and the survivors bring news that somewhere on Spiridon there is an army of ten thousand Daleks. Jo meanwhile meets a friendly Spiridon named Wester, who cures a deadly fungus disease that she has contracted.

It transpires that the Daleks' army is frozen in suspended animation in a cavern below their base. The Doctor, with the help of the Thals, explodes a bomb in the cavern wall and thereby causes one of the planet's natural ice volcanoes to erupt, entombing the army in a torrent of liquid ice.

The newly-arrived Dalek Supreme and his aides are left stranded on Spiridon as the Thals steal their ship and the Doctor and Jo depart in the TARDIS.

Cast

Crew

References

  • The Dalek Supreme makes an appearance.
  • The Doctor mentions Ian, Barbara and Susan in confirming he was the Doctor to visit Skaro and to be known to the Thals.
  • The Thals know of Earth but believe it to be a myth.
  • The Daleks have stored their greatest ever invasion force, about 10,000 strong, on Spiridon.

Story Notes

  • This story had a working title of: Destination Daleks.
  • Louis Marx Daleks are used to simulate an army (This same technique was used in The Evil of the Daleks).

Ratings

  • Episode 1 - 11.0 million viewers
  • Episode 2 - 10.7 million viewers
  • Episode 3 - 10.1 million viewers
  • Episode 4 - 8.3 million viewers
  • Episode 5 - 9.7 million viewers
  • Episode 6 - 8.5 million viewers

Myths

  • The Dalek Supreme was operated in this story by Tony Starr. (Starr could not have operated the Dalek Supreme in the scenes set in the Spiridon jungle, as he was not present when they were recorded. He did operate a Dalek in other scenes in Episode Six, and was credited for this in Radio Times, but there is no evidence that it was the Dalek Supreme and, particularly given that he was uncredited on screen, this seems unlikely. It is probable that John Scott Martin, who was credited as Chief Dalek in Radio Times, played the Dalek Supreme in all instances.)

Filming Locations

Discontinuity, Plot Holes, Errors

  • The Doctor seems to have forgotten that he was following the Daleks to their base of operations in episode one.
  • The Daleks seem to have forgotten their plot to try and start a war between the empires of Earth and Draconia. (DW: Frontier in Space).
  • If the lake that the Daleks are pushed into is so cold, then why does it not affect the Thals standing in it?
  • Trapped in the TARDIS with a dwindling air supply, the Doctor takes time to change clothes.
  • When the Thals take cover on the plain of stones in episode four a huge, dark shape (probably a technician) appears behind the painted sky.
  • The second Dalek, pursuing Jo and Latep in episode five, knocks into a polystyrene 'rock' and moves it out of position.
  • The strings that operate the doors of the Dalek ship are visible, and the Dalek Supreme's lights are especially out of synch with his dialogue.
  • The Daleks seal themselves in to prevent the virus escaping. So what happens when the base blows up?
  • In part one Jo rattles a, then revealed dead person. If She did not know he was dead would she not just say hello?

Continuity

DVD, Video and Other Releases

VHS release Released in November 1999 as part of the second Dalek Tin set, alongside Revelation of the Daleks.

DVD release Episode 3 of this story is currently unavailable in colour but in March 2008 the BBC announced it was investigating technology to return this episode to colour.

Target Novelisations

See also

External Links

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