Geek Syndicate
The Daleks opens in a way that is more reminiscent of what we have come to expect from
Doctor Who. The Doctor and his companions
arrive on a planet they know little about, the
planet Skaro. The rest of his companions including the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan,
want to leave the planet but the Doctor is more
intrigued and is desperate to see what is going
on in the metallic city that they had seen in the
distance.
As the TARDIS team clamber through the radioactive jungle of Skaro, we too want to see
what is in that city. I obviously can’t tell you
what it felt like watching this in 1963 but with
hindsight and the giveaway story title on the
DVD cover, modern audiences will also have a
level of anticipation. The Doctor deliberately
sabotages the TARDIS so that our heroes cannot leave Skaro without mercury. The only
place that they are likely to find what they are
looking for is in the metallic city.
What Terry Nation (the script writer) and directors Christopher Barry and Richard Martin did
so well was build this sense of dread. Skaro’s
city is claustrophobic, the short, arched doorways and narrow corridors seem to be closing
in on you. Furthermore, the brilliant score adds
to this sense of dread and panic. The TARDIS
team get separated leaving Barbara on her
own. She comes to a dead end at the end of the
first episode which is in my opinion one of the
best cliff-hangers ever: the music hits a chilling twang similar to the score for The Joker in
The Dark Knight. We never see what Barbara
is scared of but we can tell that it is horrific:
her facial expressions tell the audience everything that we need to know. She clambers onto
the wall, desperately, almost scratching to get
through it. Before long we see the dreaded
sink-plunger (nothing more) as it moves closer and closer towards Barbara in a Dalek point
of view shot…and then the title music hits.
It is no wonder that people in 1963 desperately wanted to know what happened next and
that everyone was talking about it. The next
episode started wonderfully, taking a while to
show the audience what was attacking Bar42
bara. It is only when the Doctor, Ian and Susan
are surrounded that we suddenly see The Daleks
in all their glory. Once again, the direction is
perfect. The camera is positioned low to make
the squat, robotic looking Daleks seem imposing figures that would send a shiver down anyone’s spine. As the story unfolds we discover
that The Daleks are hell bent at destroying their
planet’s neighbours, the Thals, for no reason
other than the fact that they fear what is not
like themselves. From the very beginning The
Daleks were the ultimate racist: Nazis in metal
tanks and this is such a frightening thought.
Once again, the main protagonist is not the
Doctor: it is Ian who convinces the Thals to
fight for their planet and their very lives. The
TARDIS team join them, returning to the metallic city to retrieve the needed mercury.
This serial continues to delight all the way
through with some excellent cliff-hangers
and the creation of the Doctor’s greatest enemy. Like every great opponent, whether in
comic, film or television serial, it seemed like
the Doctor had seen the last of The Daleks in
this story. Obviously this was not the case. As
stated in Asylum of The Daleks, The Daleks become stronger every time they face the Doctor. A good hero is only as strong as his best
villain, and from this point on, Doctor Who had
an intriguing, mysterious lead with a menace
that has been passed down through generation after generation. A menace that echoed
the Second World War and continues to echo
everything civilised people should oppose.
Menaced in a POV shot - a great cliffhanger!