Doctor Who (TV Series) Day of the Daleks: Episode Three (1972) User Reviews

It's a cracking third episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 28 February 2021]

The Doctor, now in The twenty second century, is now under the care of The Controller, but he soon learns who's really running the planet.

I enjoyed this very much, it's well paced, it's energetic, and it boasts a sense of mystery and intrigue. There's never a dull moment.

When The Doctor supposedly lands in the future, I actually believe it, the surveillance devices and Ogron marches look great.

I really like the trio of Guerilla guards, they're well written, effective characters. The Dalek Human guards are a bit Monty Python.

My favourite character here is The Controller, Aubrey Woods is fantastic, cold and menacing, he really does take advantage of the ever gullible Jo Grant.

Another great cliffhanger, once again, the updated special effects look amazing.

It's very good, 8/10.

Very enjoyable Doctor Who story.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 11 March 2008]

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks: Episode Three starts as the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) enters the tunnel under the bridge where he sees a Dalek & meets up with the two guerrilla's from the future, Anat (Anna Barry) & Monia (Vincent Palmer) who take the Doctor back to the future with them. The Doctor realises that 22nd Century Earth is now ruled by the Daleks, their human henchmen & the monstrous Ogron's used to keep people under control. The Doctor is captured & soon learns that Jo (Katy Manning) is also there, the Daleks put the Doctor under a mind analysis who then realise exactly who he is & prepare to exterminate him...

Episode 3 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1972, directed by Paul Bernard I am really enjoying Day of the Daleks so far but then I'm a sucker for the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker 70's stuff. The script by Louis Marks has all but left the 'present' behind & Episode Three is set almost entirely in the 22nd Century where the Doctor discovers whole factories of human beings forced to work & a future where Earth is run by the evil Daleks. There's a really good scene in this one as the Doctor & the Controller have a discussion & the Doctor rips his arguments to shreds in a nice exchange of dialogue. Some may be disappointed that the Daleks themselves have very little to do & have remained pretty much in the background while other's may find it a blessing in disguise, the fact that the production team only had three Daleks probably didn't help! Again at only twenty five minutes in length it's short, it's easy to watch, it moves along at a good pace without any unnecessary exposition or sub plots & it's a really entertaining, fun Doctor Who story.

There's a great a scene in Episode Three where the Doctor & Jo jump on a tricycle, or motorised trike if you like, & speed off across some waste land away from pursuing Ogron's in a really fun scene. The acting has been pretty good here, Katy Manning is still annoying & a poor actress to my eyes & in Day of the Daleks she has to be wearing one of the worst costumes ever for a companion that is almost as bad as Sarah Jane's Andy Pandy outfit from The Hand of Fear (1976) although Jon Pertwee is superb as usual & there's a good performance from Aubrey Woods as the Controller. The cliffhanger ending to this episode has the Doctor strapped down on a table having his mind analysed by the Daleks & on a computer screen above him the main Doctor Who title graphics appear!

Day of the Daleks: Episode Three is a another entertaining episode in an entertaining story, I liked it & just about any self respecting Doctor Who fan should too.

Amazing Special Edition puts right production deficiencies which were its only real problem

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 10/10 · 28 September 2014]

Review of all 4 episodes:

Special Edition 10/10, Original version 9/10, Overall 9.5/10

The story and script of this 4 parter are terrific. Time travel, its possibilities and its complications are more up front and centre here than in any previous story. This is done superbly well and it predates The Terminator by over 10 years with its ideas of going back in time to change history and inadvertently creating some of the history you wish to change. Great ideas, well executed and with thoughtful and interesting dialogue as well as good action. Pertwee and UNIT are on form again with some great support particularly from the leader of the human collaborators working for the Daleks.

The story has the Daleks using alien 'minions' the Ogrons and human collaborators to conquer and control a future Earth and to pursue the human resistance. Both the resistance and the Ogrons/Daleks have equipment allowing them to travel in time into contemporary Earth at a time when UNIT and The Doctor are working to protect a vital world peace conference. Both sets of time travellers try to ensure their history goes the way they want and it is up to The Doctor to intervene.

The aspects which let this story down badly in its original form are almost entirely down to money and available resources. The Special Edition puts these right wonderfully. Effects for the time travelling, weaponry, tremendous 'exploding body' deaths etc. are massive improvements throughout every episode which helps a lot but more importantly the climactic battle is turned from a lame let down to a great triumph. Originally they could only use 3 Daleks and this is painfully evident making their attack look pathetic. The addition of seemingly large amounts of attacking Daleks makes the battle believable, impressive and exciting. This in combination with the effects save the story from being let down visually. However, as important as all that is, of perhaps even greater impact is the enormous improvement made to the Dalek voices. Originally the Dalek voices in this story were the worst ever in my opinion. The unimpressive voice sound and weak voice acting negatively impacts scenes they appear in and makes the Daleks involvement pointless and a hindrance to the credibility and enjoyment of the story. The Special Edition replaces these with the marvellous Nicholas Briggs performance of Dalek voices. This lifts the overall feel of the story by not just bringing the dialogue to life but making every Dalek scene electrifying. After their long absence this is the glorious return denied to them by the original productions problems.

I feel satisfied that these technical changes only serve to present what they originally intended and Pertwee's dislike for this story was based on these lame executions of great possibilities. The storyline, dialogue, characters and themes in this adventure were always absolutely brilliant as were Pertwee and his usual UNIT team. It was only technical shortcomings that held it back from 10/10 classic status. Now the story is presented in a truly classic form which the story, script and performances deserve.