Planet of the Daleks
Wounded in a shoot-out in the Master's base, the Doctor stumbles into the TARDIS and sets it in pursuit of the Daleks, then collapses into a coma to heal. Jo is unaware of the Doctor's powers to recover from such wounds and goes out into the night on the jungle world of Spiridon to look for help, and encounters a group of Thals. The Thals have also come to Spiridon in pursuit of the Daleks, to sabotage their research base which is working to learn the secrets of invisibility from the natives of the planet. The Doctor and the Thals infiltrate the Dalek base and find that there is an army of 10,000 Daleks on ice, cyrogenically suspended using the planet's molten ice core to keep their army fresh until the war with Earth and Draconia has lain waste to the galaxy. As the time draws near to reviving the army, the Doctor and Jo work with the Thals to thwart the Dalek plan and save the galaxy, but as the Dalek Supreme itself says, Daleks can never be defeated.
This was kinda crappy for a Dalek story. The sheer novelty of using the Daleks again is always something to make fans jump up and clap their hands, but after the initial excitement fades and you realize that it's not their best appearance, you just start giggling at it. Yes, Jay was there with me, and giggle we did. First at the jungle of Spiridon; it was so obviously rubber plants, and the lighting really needed to be attended to; Jo mentions that morning is breaking at one point and the whole sky lights up as if a switch is thrown. And in another incident in episode 2, the Doctor and one of the Thals struggle with a carnivorous plant and there is suddenly a spotlight on them. Episode 3 only exists in black and white, with no material available to colourize it as with previous adventures, so the whole atmosphere changes and it actually makes everything look better; the shadows become deeper, and there is an incredible shot of the Doctor and company running from Daleks who are briefly silhouetted against a corridor wall that looks like it was part of some gothic horror movie. The invisible Spiridons are conquered by the Daleks and forced to wear furs so they will be visible, which makes no sense at all; and when they are invisible on screen (it's a concept - work with me) they have to make their presence known by holding something - which is achieved by some sloppy CSO effects. The adventure has a little bit of location work to it, where two Daleks are tipped into pools of molten ice (scientifically impossible by the way but intreguing enough to me to not make it a big sticking point; after all we're talking about a show where a police box is bigger on the inside...), but the contrast between studio sessions and the location work is so jarring it shouldn't have been done at all. And Jo's hairstyle changes dramatically between those scenes.
Speaking of Jo, she attracts the affections of a Thal named Latep who wants her to come back to Skaro with him. Wisely she refuses; either she's not keen on him or she doesn't want to live on a bombed out radioactive world with the Daleks as neighbours. Or maybe the shopping isn't good there. In the end she chooses to stay with the Doctor, but there's a glimpse of a maturing Jo here, like maybe she's not going to stay much longer if the right offer comes along. But still.. wise choice on Skaro. In a few years it's going to get blown to smithereens.
Our Daleks look pretty good even if they're not at their best this time around. When they go on location to the ice pools they have an incredible mettalic black look that just doesn't make it to the studio sessions; the magic of grainy film vs sharp in-house viedo cameras. The Dalek Supreme makes its first appearance The Dalek Master Plan but with a shiny new golden paint job, and it is a bigger Dalek, one of the movie-style Daleks being pulled from storage and used to make it a bit more grand than its minions. Too bad whoever was operating it didn't know his lines; it flashes its lights in time with the lines for every Dalek but itself.
So back to Earth the Doctor and Jo go. And onto another adventure we go, back into the world of print...
NEXT EPISODE : THE WAGES OF SIN
This was kinda crappy for a Dalek story. The sheer novelty of using the Daleks again is always something to make fans jump up and clap their hands, but after the initial excitement fades and you realize that it's not their best appearance, you just start giggling at it. Yes, Jay was there with me, and giggle we did. First at the jungle of Spiridon; it was so obviously rubber plants, and the lighting really needed to be attended to; Jo mentions that morning is breaking at one point and the whole sky lights up as if a switch is thrown. And in another incident in episode 2, the Doctor and one of the Thals struggle with a carnivorous plant and there is suddenly a spotlight on them. Episode 3 only exists in black and white, with no material available to colourize it as with previous adventures, so the whole atmosphere changes and it actually makes everything look better; the shadows become deeper, and there is an incredible shot of the Doctor and company running from Daleks who are briefly silhouetted against a corridor wall that looks like it was part of some gothic horror movie. The invisible Spiridons are conquered by the Daleks and forced to wear furs so they will be visible, which makes no sense at all; and when they are invisible on screen (it's a concept - work with me) they have to make their presence known by holding something - which is achieved by some sloppy CSO effects. The adventure has a little bit of location work to it, where two Daleks are tipped into pools of molten ice (scientifically impossible by the way but intreguing enough to me to not make it a big sticking point; after all we're talking about a show where a police box is bigger on the inside...), but the contrast between studio sessions and the location work is so jarring it shouldn't have been done at all. And Jo's hairstyle changes dramatically between those scenes.
Speaking of Jo, she attracts the affections of a Thal named Latep who wants her to come back to Skaro with him. Wisely she refuses; either she's not keen on him or she doesn't want to live on a bombed out radioactive world with the Daleks as neighbours. Or maybe the shopping isn't good there. In the end she chooses to stay with the Doctor, but there's a glimpse of a maturing Jo here, like maybe she's not going to stay much longer if the right offer comes along. But still.. wise choice on Skaro. In a few years it's going to get blown to smithereens.
Our Daleks look pretty good even if they're not at their best this time around. When they go on location to the ice pools they have an incredible mettalic black look that just doesn't make it to the studio sessions; the magic of grainy film vs sharp in-house viedo cameras. The Dalek Supreme makes its first appearance The Dalek Master Plan but with a shiny new golden paint job, and it is a bigger Dalek, one of the movie-style Daleks being pulled from storage and used to make it a bit more grand than its minions. Too bad whoever was operating it didn't know his lines; it flashes its lights in time with the lines for every Dalek but itself.
So back to Earth the Doctor and Jo go. And onto another adventure we go, back into the world of print...
NEXT EPISODE : THE WAGES OF SIN
Labels: Daleks, Jo Grant, The 3rd Doctor
posted by Sean Hoover @ 8:59 PM
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