Death to the Daleks
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| 72 - Death to the Daleks | |
| Doctor | Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) |
|---|---|
| Writer | Terry Nation |
| Director | Michael E. Briant |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks Robert Holmes (uncredited) |
| Producer | Barry Letts |
| Executive producer(s) | none |
| Production code | XXX |
| Series | Season 11 |
| Length | 4 episodes, 25 mins each |
| Transmission date | February 23–March 16, 1974 |
| Preceded by | Invasion of the Dinosaurs |
| Followed by | The Monster of Peladon |
Death to the Daleks is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from February 23 to March 16, 1974.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Third Doctor and Sarah are drawn to the planet Exxilon, where they must outwit the native savage Exxilons and a crew of stranded and desperate Daleks in order to survive…
[edit] Plot
The TARDIS arrives on Exxilon, a planet where an unknown force is draining electrical energy, including the reserves of the TARDIS. The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith venture out onto the planet. The only structure in sight is a pristine city which exudes energy and light, while the rest of the rocky and barren world looks barely capable of supporting life. They meet a human expedition of Marine Space Corps, who tell him the galaxy is being swept by a plague of sorts. Their ship has been disabled too and their numbers depleted by attacks from the savage and incomprehensible Exxilons. On one such attack Sarah is captured and taken the tribal cave to be sacrificed.
Meanwhile, another spaceship arrives on Exxilon. The door opens, and Daleks glide out, firing their weapons – which do not work. The Dalek weapons have been affected by the power-drain too and their ship too is trapped. It seems the Daleks are the source of the galactic plague, but despite this the Daleks, the Doctor and the group of humans form an uneasy alliance in their efforts to escape Exxilon. Shortly afterward the Exxilons attack again using bows and arrows, killing more humans and taking the remainder and the Daleks prisoner. The prisoners are taken to the Exxilon caves where Doctor interrupts his assistant's execution. Subsequently, he is given the death penalty, but he evades this with customary style and he and Sarah flee. Meanwhile, more of the Daleks that have remained hidden on their ship now decide to attack. Their use of mechanical guns to attack the cave avoids the energy drain. By brute force they take control of the remaining human prisoners and Exxilons.
Having fled the caves the Doctor and Sarah encounter an enlightened native, Bellal, who is one of the more intelligent subterranean Exxilons. Bellal explains the City brought about the downfall of its own creators, the Exxilon civilisation, by consuming all their energy and resources. The Doctor figures out that the beacon over the city is the culprit of the power drain, and resolves to deactivate it. Bellal also explains that the strange robotic snake arms that exist in the caves and have attacked the Doctor and the Daleks separately is part of a defence system developed by the City, which has a degree of sentience. Separately, the Daleks too work out the beacon at the top of the City is the cause of their problems and resolve to destroy it. The Daleks determine to investigate the City further, and some scouts are sent ahead – only to end up following the Doctor, Sarah and Bellal, who have entered the City first. The Doctor defeats a series of puzzles to pass deeper and deeper into the City structure, with Dalek intelligence matching his own close behind. Eventually the Doctor succeeds in damaging the brain at the heart of the City and the structure begins to die, taking with it the two Daleks who had ventured inside. The Doctor and Bellal make their escape amid the chaos.
Meanwhile, the Daleks have forced the humans to scale the exterior of the Beacon in an attempt to blow it up. It seems the Daleks are on Exxilon to gather parranium, the only cure to the space plague, and have spent time hoarding supplies on their own vessel. One of the MSC, the rebellious and ruthless Galloway, succeeds in hiding aboard the Dalek spaceship with some of the bombs. With the City destroyed, power returns to the Dalek ship and the creatures depart in their craft – only for Galloway to heroically detonate the bombs, killing himself and his foes. The other humans have managed to keep some of the parranium aside and plan to take it back to help the plague ravaged colonies. As the Exxilon city finally collapses, the Doctor sadly muses that the universe has now only 699 wonders.
[edit] Cast
- Doctor Who — Jon Pertwee
- Sarah Jane Smith — Elisabeth Sladen
- Dan Galloway — Duncan Lamont
- Richard Railton — John Abineri
- Jill Tarrant — Joy Harrison
- Peter Hamilton — Julian Fox
- Commander Stewart — Neil Seiler
- Bellal — Arnold Yarrow
- Gotal — Roy Heymann
- Exxilon High Priest — Mostyn Evans
- Dalek Voices — Michael Wisher
- Dalek Operators — John Scott Martin, Murphy Grunbar, Cy Town
[edit] Trivia
- Working titles for this story included The Exxilons.[citation needed]
- Death to the Daleks is also the name of a spin off audio drama by Big Finish Productions in the Dalek Empire series.
- Episode one of this story was originally missing from the BBC archives, until a 525-line NTSC recording was recovered from an overseas television station. A low quality PAL recording was subsequently recovered, albeit with the opening scene missing. This was followed in 1991 by the recovery of a better quality 625-line PAL recording from a shipment of episodes returned from Dubai.
- The serial was released on video in an omnibus format in July 1987, the first Doctor Who video to be released on just VHS, instead of both VHS and Betamax. As the PAL version of episode one was not yet known to exist, this used the NTSC version of the episode. An episodic release (with the PAL version of episode one) was released on 13 February 1995, although episode two was slightly edited due to the master tape being damaged.
- This is the only story where the Daleks do not fire their energy weapons, due to the Exxilon power drain.
- The Daleks test their improvised machineguns on a model TARDIS as a target.
- This is one of two Third Doctor serials (the other being The Claws of Axos) to still have a 90-minute PAL studio recording tape.
- The incidental music for this serial was composed by Carey Blyton and performed by the London Saxophone Quartet.
- A novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Target Books in July 1978. A German translation was published in 1990 by Goldmann.
- In the 1996 computer game Destiny of the Doctors, the universe has 7,000 wonders, as opposed to 700 according to this serial. Like all spin-off media, its canonicity in relation to the television series is unclear.
[edit] External links
- Death to the Daleks episode guide on the BBC website
- Death to the Daleks at Doctor Who: A Brief History Of Time (Travel)
- Death to the Daleks at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
[edit] Reviews
- Death to the Daleks reviews at Outpost Gallifrey
- Death to the Daleks reviews at The Doctor Who Ratings Guide
