Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks: Episode Four starts as several guerrilla's lead by Anat (Anna Barry) manage to rescue the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) & Jo (Katy Manning) from the Daleks. The Doctor & Jo travel back in time to Auderley House in 1972 in order to stop Sir Reginald Styles (Wilfred Carter) & the peace conference from being blown up & thus prevent World War III & the eventual invasion of Earth by the Daleks, however back in the future the Daleks discover what the Doctor is up to & travel back in time themselves to stop him & make sure Auderley House & the everyone inside is blown up...
Episode 4 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1972, the first time Jon Pertwee's third Doctor faced the Daleks & the first time they appeared on screen in colour this was directed by Paul Bernard I have enjoyed Day of the Daleks a fair bit. The script by Louis Marks is maybe a little bit more intelligent & multi layered than the average Doctor Who story dealing the peculiarities, paradoxes & possibilities of time travel which I think it does in a fairly thoughtful & entertaining way. I liked the line spoken by a Dalek who says they invaded Earth again which is a direct reference to the William Hartnell story The Daleks Invasion of Earth (1964) from season two the last time they tried & failed! Again with the idea of time travel & it's possibilities Day of the Daleks suggests that just because they were defeated by the Doctor taking over the Earth once doesn't mean they can't take over it in another different time-line, actually if you really think about it it's enough to give you a headache! Like the previous three episodes the Daleks themselves haven't really been the main focus of the story & you can sort of tell their inclusion was more of a ratings pulling gimmick than a necessity but having said that they certainly don't harm the story either. The character's have all been well fleshed out in Day of the Daleks & actually feel like real people & there's been some good dialogue as well. When all edited together the four episodes of Day of the Daleks lasts for about 90 odd minutes so it has a film like running time which is easy to sit through in one go although none of the cliffhanger endings to the episodes are that good, in fact they are all pretty forgettable.
One has to feel a little sorry for director Bernard here in Episode Four as he has to try & stage a large scale battle between Ogron's, the Daleks & UNIT using just three Daleks which is nigh on impossible. To be fair to him he does an OK job & the battle between the waring sides is actually well staged & good fun even if it is a bit obvious at times that there are only three Daleks. This episode also has a small cameo by real BBC TV presenter & occasional actor the late Alex MacIntosh. There hasn't been that many special effects so there's nothing that really stands out as being bad, OK the effects look a bit dated but still hold up reasonably well for a cheap early 70's low budget telly series which isn't always the case with Doctor Who. The Doctor & Jo were meant to meet themselves in the past in a scene which mirrors what happened at the start of Episode One & reference to the events seen in the last Dalek story The Evil of the Daleks (1967) from season four were both cut for timing reasons.
Day of the Daleks: Episode Four is another entertaining episode in a great fast paced story that I enjoyed from start to finish. Overall I will give Day of the Daleks an impressive seven stars out of ten across it's four episodes. As was usually the case the Daleks would return during the tenth & next season in both Frontier in Space (1973) & Planet of the Daleks (1973).
Episode 4 from season 9 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during January 1972, the first time Jon Pertwee's third Doctor faced the Daleks & the first time they appeared on screen in colour this was directed by Paul Bernard I have enjoyed Day of the Daleks a fair bit. The script by Louis Marks is maybe a little bit more intelligent & multi layered than the average Doctor Who story dealing the peculiarities, paradoxes & possibilities of time travel which I think it does in a fairly thoughtful & entertaining way. I liked the line spoken by a Dalek who says they invaded Earth again which is a direct reference to the William Hartnell story The Daleks Invasion of Earth (1964) from season two the last time they tried & failed! Again with the idea of time travel & it's possibilities Day of the Daleks suggests that just because they were defeated by the Doctor taking over the Earth once doesn't mean they can't take over it in another different time-line, actually if you really think about it it's enough to give you a headache! Like the previous three episodes the Daleks themselves haven't really been the main focus of the story & you can sort of tell their inclusion was more of a ratings pulling gimmick than a necessity but having said that they certainly don't harm the story either. The character's have all been well fleshed out in Day of the Daleks & actually feel like real people & there's been some good dialogue as well. When all edited together the four episodes of Day of the Daleks lasts for about 90 odd minutes so it has a film like running time which is easy to sit through in one go although none of the cliffhanger endings to the episodes are that good, in fact they are all pretty forgettable.
One has to feel a little sorry for director Bernard here in Episode Four as he has to try & stage a large scale battle between Ogron's, the Daleks & UNIT using just three Daleks which is nigh on impossible. To be fair to him he does an OK job & the battle between the waring sides is actually well staged & good fun even if it is a bit obvious at times that there are only three Daleks. This episode also has a small cameo by real BBC TV presenter & occasional actor the late Alex MacIntosh. There hasn't been that many special effects so there's nothing that really stands out as being bad, OK the effects look a bit dated but still hold up reasonably well for a cheap early 70's low budget telly series which isn't always the case with Doctor Who. The Doctor & Jo were meant to meet themselves in the past in a scene which mirrors what happened at the start of Episode One & reference to the events seen in the last Dalek story The Evil of the Daleks (1967) from season four were both cut for timing reasons.
Day of the Daleks: Episode Four is another entertaining episode in a great fast paced story that I enjoyed from start to finish. Overall I will give Day of the Daleks an impressive seven stars out of ten across it's four episodes. As was usually the case the Daleks would return during the tenth & next season in both Frontier in Space (1973) & Planet of the Daleks (1973).