Review of The Daleks (#2)

DVD Release Date: 28 Mar 06
Original Air Date: 21 Dec 1963 – 01 Feb 1964
Doctors/Companions: One, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright
Stars: William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill
Preceding Story: An Unearthly Child (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)
Succeeding Story: The Edge of Destruction (One, Susan, Ian, Barbara)

As fashions within fandom ebb and flow, and “received fan wisdom” dictates ever-changing opinions about various eras, it’s been my experience that many fans generally dismiss the First Doctor, particularly if they came to the show via the modern era. Yet very few of his adventures regularly rank in the bottom quartile of “best-of lists” like the io9 one I used as reference for my Bad Reputation series. So why don’t more fans appreciate what Hartnell’s Doctor has to offer?

I’m sure a lot of it is plain and simple disdain for the production values associated with television that’s nearly sixty years out of date. Since the first TV I remember in my childhood home was a black-and-white set, the style of the Hartnell era bothers me less than I suppose it does younger fans. But some of the storytelling, slow though it was by modern standards, was really interesting. More even than that, though, this month’s Hidden Gem is immensely important to the show as a whole, as it introduces one of the most iconic science fiction creatures of all time, the Daleks.

Fair warning, in case you want to watch this adventure for the first time: it is seven episodes long. That works out to a nearly three-hour run time, all told, so be sure to account for that in your viewing schedule. You may find you enjoy the experience more if you spread the episodes out over several days, unless you’re mostly looking for a way to fill endless hours stuck at home during your self-quarantine.

Fresh off their first trip in the TARDIS (back to caveman times) Ian and Barbara find themselves on an alien planet for the first time, and wonder if the Doctor will ever take them home. Just as the adventurers have decided there’s no life remaining on this planet and its now-petrified forest, they happen across a city. Although Ian, Barbara, and Susan are ready to leave, the Doctor wants to explore more, so pretends that a key part on the TARDIS, the fluid link, isn’t working; it needs mercury, of which he has no backup supply. Whoops! They’ll just have to go look for some in the city!

Of course, the Doctor’s deception comes back to bite him in the ass later, but for the time being, he gets his way. They split up to explore, Barbara gets lost in the corridors, and the first episode ends on a truly classic cliffhanger as she is left screaming, cornered by an unknown something extending a threatening plunger in her direction.

The story establishes an alien enemy that distinctly avoids the “bug-eyed monster” look the BBC had proscribed and uses a design that allows for some embedded science lessons to boot. (These first Daleks need electric contact with a floor to move, for example.) But it explores deeper themes, too.

Aside from the well-established metaphor of Daleks-as-Nazis, the story delves into such ideas as the merits and limits of pacifism. At one point the Thals—the other people native to the planet Skaro and the Daleks’ historical opponents—are struggling with whether or not to discard their pacifist ideals now that they know the Daleks are still alive and actively want the Thals dead. “Which is the most important?” their new leader asks a confidant. “To fight and live? Or do die without fighting?”

Eventually, of course, they decide to fight (there wouldn’t be much of a story otherwise). The decision isn’t without cost; many Thals lose their lives, and the Doctor ends up starting down a path that will follow him across centuries. In the end, Barbara kisses one of the Thals farewell and the TARDIS dematerializes on its way to its next adventure.

Despite the long runtime and Sixties production style, the pacing isn’t terrible. I find it particularly fun to imagine what it must have been like to watch this story unfold when the Daleks were a complete unknown, with zero history behind them. Are these adversaries the least bit trustworthy, or are they going to stab the Thals and our heroes in the back? And the differences in the way they operate here at their beginning compared to the way they’ve evolved over the years—in particular their mobility and the way their weapons function—are fascinating in retrospect.

Although I’d like to recommend The Daleks to any fan of the show, I recognize that it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Obviously one has to be willing to watch a seven-episode First Doctor story in the first place. If that description alone doesn’t deter you, then I encourage you to give this adventure a whirl. It brings up some interesting philosophical points and includes some good character-based drama, but most importantly it’s where the Doctor’s relationship with the Daleks began. That alone is worth repeated viewings for me.