The Dalek Masterplan [4.3]

The Daleks are gathering on the planet Kembel and they have a plan to conquer the galaxy. The TARDIS lands just in time to team up with Bret Vyan – last survivor of the Space Security Service investigation mission. They realise that the Daleks are being aided by Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System, who is providing them with an Emm of Terranium – the crucial core of the Daleks secret weapon, the Time Destructor.

Stealing the Terranium and hijacking Mavic Chen’s ship, the Doctor et al try to escape and warn Earth. But Mavic Chen is too quick for them, and when they arrive, Bret’s sister Sara Kingdom shoots him as a traitor. In a sudden turnaround, the group are beamed to a third planet. Sara now joins the team and, with the Daleks in hot pursuit, they flit around in time and space, encountering invisible monsters, ancient Egyptians, the Meddling Monk, Charlie Chaplin and Christmas.

Finally, there is an epic showdown back on Kembel. Everybody betrays everybody. The Time Destructor is activated and planetary destruction ensues.

The Majesty

First up, the reconstruction of this story is lovingly done. Only three episodes still exist, but the others have been patched together with snippets of existing footage, telesnaps, newly recorded cutaways, CGI animation, 3D models, and all sorts of other elements to produce something that works incredibly well overall.

Putting that aside, there is so much that makes The Dalek Masterplan stand out as one of the most memorable stories of the Hartnell era.

For the first time in Dr Who, a companion dies. And not just one companion – three companions die! In all the rest of Dr Who history, this death count remains unmatched. No wonder the Doctor laments at the end: “What a waste! What a terrible waste!”

Out of these companions, perhaps we may not miss Katarina much. It doesn’t look as though her character had been properly developed. But both Bret Vyan (played by the wonderful Nicholas Courtney) and Sara Kingdom (played by the equally wonderful Jean Marsh) are brilliant. Even if they weren’t played by these actors, they would be fun characters, but the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney is a milestone in Dr Who history, and Jean Marsh brings the overall acting talent in the show to a new level.

It’s also a delight to see the return of the Monk, played by Peter Butterworth. He is as devious and as likeable as ever, and it’s great to see the first return of a villain in Dr Who history.

Furthermore, the sets and costumes are magnificent and the plot is pleasantly twisted. Mavic Chen is a great villain – his continual phrase “I, Mavic Chen!” adding to his air of unashamed melodrama and providing a perfect counterpoint to the flatly malevolent Daleks.

The Misery

The terms galaxy, universe and solar system get scattered around and used interchangably. This is very confusing in terms of discovering what the Dalek Masterplan actually is. They have certainly gathered together delegates from the ‘Outer Galaxies’, and we presume the intention is to ally with them militarily in crushing and dividing the Milky Way galaxy. However, this is then broken down as ‘Mars, Jupiter, Earth and the Moon’... That’s a very parochial approach to the Milky Way galaxy... And, surely, if Mavic Chen is involved, then he would prefer they invade another part of the Milky Way, rather than his home planet, which he already rules?

Beyond this general confusion, the relationship between the Daleks and the delegates seems very dubious. They go to all the bother of getting them together and sharing their plans with them. But then they test out their Time Destructor on one of them; when it malfunctions, they exterminate him; and eventually they imprison everyone, on the basis that they can shoot them later. It’s not exactly sensible diplomacy. Why do they need them in the first place?

Also, at 12 episodes, the story does drag. Not as much as you might expect – it’s pretty jam packed. But it’s clear why this longer format was not repeated.

Magical Moments

• The Varga plant monsters are really creepy. If they sting you, you become like them. They're the vegetable version of zombies.
• The moment when Lowery gets stung is handled perfectly. The atmosphere of despair is tangible.
• The sequence where Gantry is being stalked by some unseen presence in the jungle is also brilliantly tense. The footage survives only because it was censored by some broadcaster for being too frightening, and you can see why they might have thought that.
• The Daleks have got flamethrowers... That’s awesome!
• The Doctor is going off on a long rant about how he is in charge. Bret Vyan steps in forcefully: “Sir, will you shut up!”
• Bret, again: “We’re taking over this spaceship! Get over there!””
• Bret, again: “Here we are, stuck on a pimple of a planet while you footer with a fusebox!”
• Bret, again, referring to the Doctor: “What’s the matter with Grandpa?” - He gets all the best lines!
• The Doctor’s grief, following the death of Katarina, is rather touching: “I hope she’s found her perfection.”
• One planet is populated by invisible monsters. We see only their footprints, but it’s an excellently done effect, and still works well today.
• The Daleks carefully examine a box of mice. “An alien device. There are small white creatures inside. They may be hostile.” And, yes, the Daleks do then exterminate these hostile mice.
• Mavic Chen must spend long afternoons at the local nail bar. Those clattery talons clearly take hours of maintenance!
• When challenged by a policeman as to where he is from, the Doctor responds with one of his most quotable lines: “I’m a citizen of the Universe, and a gentleman to boot!”
• One policeman, after witnessing the Doctor and team leave the TARIDIS: “There’s a whole army of them, living like gypsies in one of Her Majesty’s police boxes”
• There’s an extended sequence set in a silent-era movie stage. We even get on screen title cards: (e.g. “Meanwhile, back in the Wardrobe Department”). It’s debatable whether or not it serves the story, but you have to admire the creativity of the concept. Again, it shows that Doctor Who can take any format it wants to take – even 4th-wall-breaking, self-parodying, meta-narrative comedy.
• This rogue episode (The Feast of Steven) has another couple of such moments. The Doctor recognises an actor from “The Crusade” appearing in the police station, and says he last met him in the marketplace in Jaffa. And of course there is the infamous moment when the Doctor turns to camera and wishes “A Merry Christmas to all of you at home”
• The Daleks test out their Time Destructor on a key diplomatic ally on the grounds that he is overly enthusiastic. Excellent diplomacy skills there!
• “The Time Destructor is useless” screeches a Dalek. “No!” cries Mavic Chen, “It came from Uranus!” The teenage schoolboy inside me had a proper snigger at that one.
• “You haven’t heard the last of me!” screams the abandoned Monk. Cut to the TARDIS console. “If you ask me,” says Steven, “we haven’t heard the last of him!”
• In Egypt, the Doctor wears a very stylish hat that makes him look as though he’s just stepped off the set for “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
• In the style game, however, he has a serious rival in the Monk's sunglasses!
• Mavic Chen is delightfully deluded: the Daleks' total silence when he challenges their authority is really nicely done. There's nothing so sinister as a silent Dalek just staring at you.
• The final race against time – literally – with Sara ageing in front of our eyes, is one of the most iconic sequences in Hartnell’s era. It’s tragic that it’s missing.

In Summary

This story is epic. A lot of the Hartnell years can be quite experimental, but this is one of these few stories that establish the fundamental format of the series. There is a cosmic conflict between good and evil. The Doctor is thrown into the middle of this conflict. The bumbling, interfering actions of the Doctor and his companions prove crucial in stopping the evil and saving the good.

If that is the format that the series settles down into, then the best stories within that format are the ones that transcend it and become something more. One key aspect of this story is the despair. Even at the end, the Doctor only succeeds by running away and letting the planet destroy itself. He is unable to help Sara, who suffers a truly gruesome death in front of his eyes. Along with the Myth Makers and the Massacre, the Dalek Masterplan is the centre of a trilogy of stories in which the Doctor does not succeed. There is no saccharine happy ending. There is just the Doctors final verdict: “What a waste! What a terrible waste!”

Overall: 4.3