Originally broadcast in 1974, the story sees a power failure in the TARDIS draw it off course, leaving the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith stranded on the bleak planet of Exxilon. There they soon meet members of an Earth expedition in a similar situation. The humans are searching for a rare mineral, but first they must find out what is draining their power and avoid what’s inside another grounded spaceship – the Doctor’s oldest enemies, the Daleks.
Here are 10 things we learnt from the DVD…
» The original working title of the adventure was Dalek Story.
» Aside from a few gasps of ‘Doctor!’ and one of ‘Blood!’, the first episode features a sequence of over eight minutes with no dialogue whatsoever.
» Actor Jason Flemyng is the son of Dalek movie director, Gordon Flemyng.
» Writer Terry Nation used to hold annual 39th birthday parties – the fifth held during production of this story.
» The Exxilons inspired Incan civilisation. No, really, they did.
» In an early draft, Sarah was held captive in the final episodes, but script editor Terrance Dicks demanded this be changed to give her a more active role.
» Arnold Yarrow (Bellal) had been a script editor on Sixties and Seventies cop dramas, Softly Softly and Barlow at Large.
» The posh name for the streaky lines that flare across film footage when gunfire and other noises interfere with the feedback is microphony.
» BBC’s Head of Serials, Aubrey Singer, considered Episode 3 ‘a very good episode’.
What are your memories of Death to the Daleks? Let us know below…