Doctor Who (TV Series) Escape Switch (1966) User Reviews

A lighter episode before the dramatic events of the conclusion.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 25 October 2015]

Sara and Steven continue to search for the Doctor, the Monk adds to the complications posed by Chen and the Daleks. The Daleks surround the Monk, Steven and Sara, Chen issues an ultimatum, for the Doctor to return and hand over the tiranium in exchange for the safety of his companions. Outraged by the events of desecration the Egyptians attack the Daleks, the attack allows them to escape, but the Daleks have managed to obtain the tiranium core. The Daleks now have the upper hand, the only hope is the directional unit the Doctor managed to take from the Monk's TARDIS. The Daleks return to Kembel to put their master plan into action. The Doctor attaches The Monk's device to the TARDIS and it lurches out of control.

So far the serial has been great and frustrating, there's been a lot of toing and froing. The Monk has added a welcome distraction to the events of the Daleks.

The Monk is perfectly in character to how he was in the Meddling Monk, devious to the last and willing to drop anyone in it, so suit his own needs.

This episode is a good advert for the first Doctor, he shows he's a brave character, not just crotchety. He's also got a slightly dark side, he was quite prepared to land the Monk in mortal danger from the Daleks.

it's another good episode, it's been a long serial. 8/10

Finally On It's Feet Again!

[icewarrior-26727 · 8/10 · 13 January 2017]

Things really get going again here, the Daleks and Chen are on form again especially their interactions with the Meddling Monk as played by the illustrious Peter Butterworth, to be honest he's better here than he was in the previous two episodes when the attention was on him! The Monks smooth tongue is really shown off, I feel like he could get out of any situation!

The Daleks fight with the Egyptians is fairly entertaining, especially as we can see it properly as it's a surviving episode, I love how Chen cowers behind a large stone when the Egyptians attack the Daleks despite his bravado seconds before. Overall it's a fun little episode and it's starting to revive the story after the huge slump it had in the middle with episodes 7, 8 and 9.

S3: The Daleks' Master Plan: Interesting and frustrating

[bob the moo · 15 November 2013]

It is hardly worth making a comment on this serial but at the same time having my words be pointless is not a new experience for me so here I go. The first thing about this story that stuck me was the fact that I was basically 11 episodes into the third season before I even had more than one episode to watch – and this is the first serial to have more than one episode surviving. It is so hard to fathom that this could be the case and even for a casual viewer such as myself it is frustrating – particularly when only a few decades later and many people will have terabytes of storage space kicking around their house, or be able to carry entire seasons of this show on their ipod – so to think that it was only recently when tapes of this show were destroyed for the sake of space. I can only imagine how much it eats at fans and the very occasional discovery is always bitter sweet.

Anyway, this story comes with the additional frustration that we have a 12 week story arch involving the Daleks and only 3 episodes survive. In some ways this may not have been a bad thing because the last outing for the Daleks was the so-so The Chase. At this point they started to feel overused and maybe these 12 episodes would have been more of that? It is hard to say just off these three episodes – particularly as they are not directly connected but spread out over the story, but it appears to be interesting. Lots of characters in play, lots of movement – even the Monk makes a reappearance (along with my reservations about his portrayal by someone I only know for their Carry On work). The story appears to have a tough edge to it and offer good tension with the Doctor not joking around in the face of the Daleks. Beyond that it is hard to say too much, but it looked good and the range of sets added something to it as well.

The cast are mostly pretty good; as I said Hartnell plays it mostly very serious which I prefer from him. Outside of him Purves was a solid presence although I need to see more of him to start to like him as a replacement for Ian. Hill shows up as Katrina but then is gone the very next minute – a shame since I read she died which would have been interesting to gauge, although I guess the impact would have been limited by how short a time she was in the show. Also a shame to miss the exit of Vicki some episodes prior. Marsh is again in it so little it is hard to say, but an interesting character at least. The support is mostly pretty good with solid vilins taking the load off the Daleks as the whole story.

The Daleks Master Plan looks interesting in retrospect; so little of it remains that it is hard to really be sure but it certainly played better than The Chase and offers much. Frustrating generally for how much of this third season is simply gone, but just as frustrating is that specifically so little remains of what appears to be a good Dalek serial. The next serial in this season is also totally gone, but at least all parts of The Ark are available, so it'll be that next.

The Daleks' Master Plan: Part 10 - Brilliant epic adventure

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 19 August 2014]

Review for all 12 parts:

This is an epic 12 part story from writers Dennis Spooner and Dalek originator Terry Nation, beginning with the episode The Nightmare Begins.

This adventure continues the story introduced in the episode Mission To The Unknown and features the Doctor trying to thwart the Daleks evil plans to conquer the solar system. It also features Nicholas Courtney (later to play Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, a series regular), as Bret Vyon. He, along with the regular cast, Kevin Stoney as villainous Mavic Chen and most other cast, perform superbly. The Daleks too are at their peak in many ways and are great villains for this epic. In addition there are the other interesting alien characters and even the return of the Meddling Monk (Peter Butterworth) from the Doctor's home world! The story even has the shocking deaths of no less than 3 of the Doctor's 'companions'!

The word epic is absolutely right for this mammoth story and it is incredible how the quality and interest is kept over an unprecedented 12 episodes. The only slight drop in quality being the 7th episode The Feast of Steven which is a Christmas special of a far more light- hearted and whimsical kind. To compare that episode and criticise it as a blot on the story is very unfair, you have to take it on its own as a special episode more comparable to the kind of comedy spoof used for charity telethons in later years. On that basis it is successful. The other 11 episodes are brilliant, exciting and well made.

A classic.

My Ratings: Episode 7 - 7/10, all other episodes 10/10