The Doctor and Bellal continue to penetrate the City's defences while Sarah and Jill try to stop the Daleks leaving with the parrinium.The Doctor and Bellal continue to penetrate the City's defences while Sarah and Jill try to stop the Daleks leaving with the parrinium.The Doctor and Bellal continue to penetrate the City's defences while Sarah and Jill try to stop the Daleks leaving with the parrinium.
- Dalek Voices
- (voice)
- Dalek Operator
- (as John Scott-Martin)
- Dalek Operator
- (as Murphy Grunbar)
- Zombie
- (uncredited)
- Exxilon Corpse
- (uncredited)
- Zombie
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Terry Nation
- Sydney Newman(uncredited)
- Donald B. Wilson(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe ending to this story was revised. Originally, the Daleks escaped with the cure, but the humans worked with the Exxilons to set them back on the path to advancement and were given more of the cure in return.
- GoofsThe doctor is disturbed by the Daleks and 'bacteria' before he can replace the boards he has modified. Yet when the doctor and Gallal are retreating through the maze they meet a malfunctioning door and the Doctor determines his meddling is working.
- Quotes
[first lines]
[the Doctor and Bellal walk down a recently revealed corridor]
The Doctor: [blocking Bellal with his hand] Stop, don't move!
Bellal: What is it?
The Doctor: Another test, I think.
[the Doctor squats down to get a closer look at the red-and-white mosaic on the floor]
The Doctor: The people who built this city, they didn't go in for ornamental floors, did they?
Bellal: I don't understand.
The Doctor: No, neither do I.
[the Doctor takes out his sonic screwdriver and sweeps it across the pattern. It beeps part-way, buzzes, then beeps again]
The Doctor: Tell me, have you ever tried Venusian hopscotch? No, it's a silly question. You wouldn't have done. Anyway, now's your chance to learn. I want you to do exactly what I do, all right?
This adventure has the Daleks in a bit of a different kind of story to usual. The TARDIS is stranded on a planet with all its power drained. The Doctor and Sarah Jane venture out onto the planet and come under attack from natives of the planet called Exxilons. They also find a small group of humans who are similarly stranded and powerless. The end of the first episode has a great cliffhanger as another ship arrives and as The Doctor and the humans gather to meet the ship's occupants, thinking it will be a rescue party they are faced with Daleks. A pity the title gives away their presence but the cliffhanger scene is done brilliantly.
Instead of being the usual invaders or destroyers, in this story the Daleks are also stranded on the planet with their ship and all their weapons drained of power. They have to agree a truce with the humans and work together to try to find a way to overcome their power loss and escape from the planet. Of course the Daleks evil intent is ever present and they quickly try to gain the upper hand. Really great that writer Terry Nation has brought something fresh to a Dalek story.
This adventure has credible, well acted human characters, great performances from Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen in the lead roles (with Sarah Jane again proving to be a gutsy companion instead of a damsel in distress like some companions) and interesting use of the Daleks. The Exxilons are good background characters with nice, effective costume/make up and a friendly Exxilon provides an endearing alien character with a little depth. There is plenty of action and thrills. The 'roots' of the city are an interesting idea and very well realised as robotic tentacles.
The production values are generally good and the music is mostly really nicely done. The plot is strong and the dialogue is mostly excellent. All the acting is excellent and effects are as good as anyone could expect for this era.
The final part is a little less brilliant in my opinion compared to the preceding episodes as the quest through the city does not really excite me, struggling to find imaginative puzzles/obstacles for them to face but it is still fun and has great elements with Sarah Jane's efforts to rescue the medical supplies and the climactic scenes of the city decaying. Also, after the great cliffhanger to episode 1 the 'cliffhanger' to episode 3 is pretty lame I suppose but the rest of that episode is absolutely great and thoroughly absorbing. Any flaws in this serial are minor and all in all this is an excellent Dalek story and an excellent sci-fi adventure.
My ratings: Parts 1 & 2 - 9.5/10, Part 3 - 10/10, Part 4 - 8.5/10. Overall - 9.38/10.
- A_Kind_Of_CineMagic
- Nov 15, 2014
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