Review of Planet of the Daleks (#68)
DVD Release Date: 02 Mar 10
Original Air Date: 07 Apr – 12 May 1973
Doctors/Companions: Three, Jo Grant
Stars: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning
Preceding Story: Frontier in Space (Three, Jo)
Succeeding Story: The Green Death (Three, Jo, the Brigadier)
A whole lot has changed around the world in the three weeks since my last post went up. Locally, my kids’ school had a teachers’ strike just before COVID-19 really hit our state. By the time classes were ready to resume, the governor had ordered schools closed for two weeks, which leads up to our scheduled spring break. I kind of doubt in-person classes will resume until the fall.
Meanwhile, my family has been self-isolating. Though our introverted tendencies make the change less awkward for us than for some, the added stress of a global pandemic has wreaked havoc on my concentration and my sense of chill. Maybe that’s why a slow-starting story failed to grab me.
I had hoped that I’d enjoy Planet of the Daleks more. After all, it’s meant to be one of the Hidden Treasures, and I know from past experience that I don’t dislike it. But the rewatch primarily felt like a chore.
As I try to separate my general malaise from feelings about the adventure itself, and look at the story as objectively as I possibly can, I believe that the somewhat expository opening episode is the weakest part. It serves primarily as set-up for the following sections, and as such felt like a bit of a slog.
We open on Jo tending to a dazed Doctor, straight off the end of Frontier in Space, which is more of a lead-in to Planet of the Daleks than a separate story (see the “Dalek War” boxed set image above). With the Doctor then incapacitated, Jo ventures off on her own to find help for him. They don’t reunite until the middle of Part Four.
Not that the separation is in itself a bad thing. It gives Jo a chance to observe things the audience needs to know about but the Doctor shouldn’t yet, and the Doctor a chance to be all inspirational with the group of Thals who have landed on this planet—known as Spiridon, with a native people who are invisible—in their attempt to thwart their ancient enemy, the Daleks.
In fact, one of the Doctor’s interactions with the Thals’ resident hothead Vaber serves as a timely message to those not taking the pandemic seriously. When Vaber declares that “Danger’s not going to scare me into doing nothing!” the Doctor tells him, “There’s a considerable difference between courage and reckless stupidity, you know.” (This echoes the opinion I’ve seen that Americans don’t seem to know the difference between bravery and bravado, as evidenced by things like certain church leaders exhorting their parishioners still to come to services and beaches being packed with people.)
The tale twists through a number of odd narrative turns, including the existence of an “ice volcano” with frozen-yet-still-liquid (presumably water) ice, a hidden Dalek army, a bacteriological bio-weapon (which also hits a little close to home right now), explosives, disguises, chain-of-command struggles, and more.
I think if the adventure had been a four-parter rather than a six-parter, it would’ve held my admittedly flighty attention better. As it was, it was engaging enough to keep me from crawling out of my skin with boredom, which is something of a feat at the moment for something I’ve already seen. In a different time and environment, I would probably have enjoyed it quite well.
If your attention span can handle six parts of the Third Doctor and Jo (who, by the way, is quite wonderfully competent here—a delight as usual), I would recommend you give this one a shot. After all, you can do worse than Daleks with Stealth technology, invisible creatures draped with purple furs, and an ooey-gooey ice volcano to see you through while you shelter in place.
Sending my best wishes for continued health and safety to all my readers. Be smart, stay safe, and enjoy some Doctor Who.