Planet of the Daleks (TV story)
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.
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
- The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
- Jo Grant - Katy Manning
- Taron - Bernard Horsfall
- Vaber - Prentis Hancock
- Codal - Tim Preece
- Rebec - Jane How
- Wester - Roy Skelton
- Dalek Voices - Michael Wisher, Roy Skelton
- Dalek Operators - John Scott Martin, Murphy Grumbar, Cy Town
- Marat - Hilary Minster
- Latep - Alan Tucker
Crew
- Assistant Floor Managers - Sue Hedden, Graeme Harper, John Cook
- Costumes - Hazel Pethig
- Designer - John Hurst
- Film Cameraman - Elmer Cossey
- Film Editor - Dave Thomas
- Incidental Music - Dudley Simpson
- Make-Up - Jean McMillan
- Producer - Barry Letts
- Production Assistant - George Gallaccio
- Script Editor - Terrance Dicks
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Studio Lighting - Derek Slee
- Studio Sound - Tony Millier
- Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Visual Effects - Clifford Culley
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 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.
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
to be added
Filming Locations
- Beachfields Quarry, Redhill, Surrey
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?
- If Daleks can elevate (fly), when they become stranded on the planet, why can't they just fly into the vacuum of space (as seen in DW: The Parting of the Ways)? (It's probable that these Daleks couldn't fly; in the Classic Series, only Imperial Daleks could be seen to truly fly)
Continuity
- Spiridon is revisited in BFA: Return of the Daleks.
DVD, Video and Other Releases
to be added
Target Novelisations
- Novelised as Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks in 1976.
See also
to be added
External Links
- BBC Planet of the Daleks page
- Outpost Gallifrey Planet of the Daleks page
- Planet of the Daleks detailed sypnosis at Doctor Who Reference Guide
- A Brief History of Time (Travel) Guide to Planet of the Daleks
