Written by Terry Nation | Directed by Richard Martin | Produced by Verity Lambert | Original air date 11/28/64
*A note regarding the title of this episode: when I refer to "The Daleks" in the future, I'll be referring to the serial from the first season with the commonly accepted overall title of "The Daleks," not this episode. This will not the first of these types of disclaimers.*
Almost one year since the debut of the show, Doctor Who has embarked on the height of it's popularity in the 1960s. The cliffhanger for the last episode was the Dalek rising out of the Thames - and it may never be explained what the Dalek was doing in there, but I have to hand it to Terry Nation - that's a hell of a cliffhanger, especially considering how popular the Daleks were at the time.
I give Nation credit - he does very well in these first two episodes. He writes the Doctor well. When he first encounters the Daleks in this episode, the Doctor is not afraid - he openly taunts them. "We are the masters of Earth," the Dalek says to him. "Not for long," the Doctor replies, which... Hartnell doesn't get many scenes where you want to fist bump, but I have to imagine a kid in the 1960s would be absolutely thrilled. The Dalek, meanwhile, seems shaken, repeating that they're the masters of Earth to himself as though he has to convince himself that's so.
The Daleks don't recognize the Doctor, yet, crucially. They're not yet archenemies, though this story is likely where that changes. The Doctor mentions to Ian when they saw them last, the Daleks were a million years in the future, so it stands to reason these Daleks don't know them. The Daleks have yet to invent time travel, it seems. Of course, trying to lay out the timeline of the Daleks meeting the Doctor is an impossible nightmare, given later stories, so I won't be going out of my way to try to figure that out.
Nation really plays up the sadistic evil of the Daleks in this episode. The Dalek invasion plan isn't to come in guns blazing, possibly suffering losses - it's to bombard the Earth with meteorites and plague, then swoop in and take over while the people on the planet are weakened. It's mentioned that several nations (one of the Dalek even mentions specific races) were completely wiped out. Asia, Africa, and South America are all mentioned as having been destroyed, which troubles me, since, you know... those are all predominantly non-white. I don't know much about Terry Nation, but I wish he'd have thrown North America in there instead of South, wouldn't make me wonder at possible racism...
The scene where the Doctor and Ian break out of the Dalek jail cell while Craddock mocks them for trying is great. It seems contrived, but we find out the Daleks put the key inside the cell with them to test the Doctor anyway. But before he solves the puzzle, Craddock makes disparaging comments, seemingly having given up. The Doctor, impatient with him, tells him to stop being a pessimist and to get out of his way. Once the puzzle is solved, Craddock immediately changes his tune, and leaps up to assist the two. The Doctor shoves a magnet in his hands with a dismissive "hold that and shut up, will you?" Hartnell doesn't get many lines like this, but he absolutely shines when he does.
I like the touch that Barbara came up with the Robomen disguise plan to attack the saucer. I also love that we get to watch this 1960s schoolteacher bung bombs at a flying saucer.
Nation does well for himself, here, like I said. For all that Raymond Cusick is responsible for how awesome the Dalek design is, I'm coming around to Nation's skills as a writer. He has some obvious flaws - and he'll get lazy in the early 70s - but the man had a talent for coming up with some good sci-fi ideas.
"Doctor Who" puns so far: 2 | Tomorrow: "Day of Reckoning"
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