Doctor Who S01E05-E11: Daleks!

2021-Dec-23

Holy crap! I didn’t realized the Daleks went all the way back to episode 4! Also there are some Dutch-looking people who are of course the good guys.

S01E05: The Dead Planet

They find a dead city which, oops, high background radiation. Cool doors open up and some neat architecture.

You know what, for the time and (I assume) paltry budget of the first season, this is pretty badass.

This Doctor is a jerk. Faking a broken part to force everyone to do what he wants.

S01E06: The Survivors

Daleks! It’s cool that they waited until the second episode to bring them out. They’re pretty clearly assholes right at the outset here. No moral ambiguity with the Daleks.

The Doctor is pretty frail. Honestly, the rest of the crew seems more important than he is.

S01E07: The Escape

I think we really meet the Norwegians here. I don’t recall exactly.

I’m pretty sure this is the one where the Norwegians try to meet up with the Daleks and forge a peace treaty, not knowing the Daleks are complete assholes.

S01E08: The Ambush

They start taking out the Daleks. There appears to be some sort of creature inside, which can be taken out, and the dude teacher crawls in.

This is actually pretty cool, I liked this one.

S01E09: The Expedition

I think the guy teacher tries to convince the peaceniks to fight the Daleks, by presenting them with the possibility of him screwing up their stuff.

The Norwegians traipse around through some cool looking sets to look like an alien landscape.

I think this is when the Daleks realize they need high background radiation in order to survive, because the Norwegians (the Thaals I guess) anti-radiation drug kills them. They plan to dump ionizing radiation onto the planet’s surface.

A Thaal dude goes to get water and gets sucked up by a vortex or something.

S01E10: The Ordeal

Half the episode was watching people jump over a chasm in a cave. The pacing on this, holy crap.

I think this is the one where the Doctor screws up their electrical grid.

S01E11: The Rescue

Everybody runs around in the cave some more, and eventually they pop out in the Dalek city. The Doctor and his Grand-daughter are imprisoned and he volunteers to teach them about his ship and how to travel through time if they let him go.

The Norwegians and teachers rain holy hell and kill all the Daleks. Everybody goes home.

Honestly, man, for being written 60 years ago, I’m surprised by how compelling the Daleks were written when viewed by me today.