The Power of the Daleks (4.5)

Ignoring Ben and Polly's confusion over his new face, the Doctor steps out into an alien landscape. When a man – the Earth Examiner – is shot dead in front of him, the Doctor takes his ID badge and is immediately accepted by the colony of Vulcan to be the genuine Examiner.

With his badge granting him 'access to all areas', the Doctor soon discovers that the colony are dealing with some major issues, and a group of well connected rebels are on the cusp of revolution. Most worryingly of all, Chief Scientist Lesterton has uncovered a strange capsule. Opening it, he and the Doctor discover a pod of survivalist Daleks intent on mass reproduction.

The Majesty

Patrick Troughton gets over a rather awkward first episode to quickly find his feet as the “new” Doctor. In this, he is helped greatly by the struggle against the villainous Daleks. Here they are seen at their most cunning, and adaptable. If the endless repetition of “I am your servant” grates a little, after a while, it is strangely chilling to see how every faction – the rebels, the governor, Reagan, Lesterton – want to use the Daleks for their own ends. Their struggle against each other gives them a vested interest in giving the Daleks more and more power until it is too late.

Lesterton is a brilliant character – a sympathetic villain with clear motives, and although some of the other characters – Hensell, Quinn, Reagan - are a little more 2-D, they are quickly sketched out with bold outlines to make it clear who is who and who wants what.

Also – I love the reconstruction. It's done by the BBC as a “film-noir” style animation, which big shadows, harsh lights and ominous camera moves. It's the same style used in “The Reign of Terror” but perhaps it fits better here. Here the whole six episodes are missing, so we use this animation to tell the whole story, and here the whole concept lends itself particularly well to this tension-racking, spine-tingling cinematographical style.

The Misery
The first episode is a little slow in retrospect, for those of us who are used to the idea of regeneration, but it no doubt made sense at the time to take things easy instead of launching straight into the adventure.

The Doctor's incessant playing of 'tunes' on his recorder are as annoying for us as they are for everone else around him.

Magical Moments

• When the old Doctor's iconic ring falls off the new Doctor's hand, Ben is sure he has found the proof that the Doctor is an imposter. “I'd like to see a butterfly fit into a chrysalis case after it's spread its wings” replies the Doctor.
• The Doctor does, however, manage to fit his head into the most incredible hat – a battered stovepipe. Once seen, it's never forgotten.
• The moment when the Earth Examiner gets shot is, of course, the moment the whole story kicks off. But it is also so surprising and so unexpected that it is a very arresting moment in itself.
• I rather like Lesterton's octagonal glasses. More people need octagonal glasses.
• The ending of episode one is a classic horror moment. “There were three Daleks in here. What's happened to the other one?” Everyone looks around in fear. Suddenly a scuttle and a scream as a brain on legs, like a facesucker from 'Alien', slithers across the floor. It's a shame that we don't ever disover more about where this Dalek-jelly goes or what it does.
• “One Dalek?” sneers Ben, derisively. “Yes,” hisses the Doctor. “All that is needed to wipe out this colony!”
• The Doctor demands the Dalek is broken up or melted down. “Up or down, I don't care which, but I want it destroyed!”
• The Doctor is yelling at the security chief as he is thrown into prison. Suddenly he interrupts his tirade with an overjoyed cry: “Oh look, fruit!”. An aide is approaching with a fruit bowl.
• Somehow or other, there is a hidden microphone inside a large orange. How it got inside, and how it works when surrounded by citric acid will forever remain a mystery.
• Lesterton is trying to work out what the Dalek's gun is. “I've no idea what this short stubby arm is for.” Ooooh the irony. He will discover soon enough!
• The scene where the Dalek kills for the first time is full of brooding tension and dark irony. The scientists blithely chat and take pictures as the Dalek raises its gun, slowly takes aim and fires.
• The Doctor is frightened out of his wits by the arrival of the Dalek into the Governor's office. Hartnell would rarely, if ever, have looked truly terrified, and it's strangely unsettling to see the Doctor so deeply disturbed.
• Lesterton: “It could end the colony's problems.” The Doctor: “Yes, it will end the colony's problems, because it will end the colony!”
• Lesterton: “Did you hear that? It can talk!” The Doctor: “It can do many things, Lesterton. But the thing it does most efficiently is exterminate human beings!”
• At the beginning of episode four, a Dalek glides politely into Reagan's office, carrying a lemonade. While the Doctor hides behind his chair, the Dalek silkily enquires “Shall I bring liquid for your visitors?” The perfect Dalek butler!
• Later in the same episode there is an amazing sequence where we see Daleks being created. They appear to be deep frying and electrocuting the ghastly little creatures before entombing them in the comparatively huge armoured shape we know so well. It's like a delightfully grotesque chip shop.
• This sequence comes to a climax with a reveal of the huge ranks of the Dalek army poised and ready to destroy the colony. It's a great cliffhanger.
• The Dalek follows orders and murders the governor. Then, in tones of something between innocence and curiousity, it asks “Why do human beings kill human beings?”. It could sound like a moralistic twist by the writers of the show, but actually comes across really powerfully. The real villains are not the Daleks – who just do what's always been in their nature. The real villains are the humans themselves.
• Lesterton has a rapturous monologue, channeling The War of the Worlds: “They know everything that's going on. Everything! They even know what you're thinking. They're the new species, you see, taking over from homo sapiens. Man's had his day. Finished now. All we can do is marvel at the creatures who are taking our place.”
• But it's only later that you realise just how broken Lesterton's mind has become. “I want to help you”, he cries. “Why?” responds the Dalek. There is a long pause. Then, imitating the same grating intonation of the Daleks, he replies “I am your servant”. It's a genuinely shocking moment.
• This 'magical moment' apparently is a new addition in the animated version, but a Dalek is just about to find and kill a mother and baby when it suddenly blows up. Extra peril – I love it!
• The Doctor wakes up after saving the colony: “What happened? What did I do?”
• The Doctor: “I think we'd better get out of here before they send us the bill.”

In Summary
One of the most important stories in the history of 'Doctor Who', this established that the format could not merely survive beyond William Hartnell, but could thrive. Patrick Troughton bursts onto the screen in all his eccentric oddity, and the show turns the first of it's major corners that continue to divide it up to the present day.

More than that, the story is a brilliant adventure in its own right – the Daleks are great villains and the colony is a brilliantly alien setting for a multilayered plot. Along with the previous "The Tenth Planet", it sets up the 'colony-under-siege' formula that will define so many stories of the Troughton era. And the animation brings the whole thing together for a very satisfying watch.

Overall: 4.4