Despite being missing from the BBC’s vaults since the purges of the early 1970’s, ‘The Power of the Daleks’ remains top of many a Doctor Who fan’s wishlist.
Thanks to BBC Worldwide, the story has been granted new animated visuals to accompany the lovingly recovered soundtrack and is available to purchase in the UK from BBC Store, with a DVD release and a limited edition Blu-ray steelbook on their way in November and February.
As CultBox is (of course!) far too youthful to have seen the original airing, and we were in short trousers when the novelisation appeared, we have decided to treat the story as new episodes – which to our eyes they pretty much are…
After our first glimpse following his transformation at the end of the previous story, with the Cybermen in the snow, we carried straight on with the new Doctor getting his bearings.
Played by character actor Patrick Troughton, who some may remember for his stint some years ago as Robin Hood, this new Doctor is a dishevelled, erratic fellow, with some odd facial expressions and even odder antics. From his stovepipe hat to measuring rocks, rooting through that diary and playing that blasted recorder, with which he seems set to torment poor Ben (Michael Craze), he rarely seems to sit still.
Talking of his assistants, Ben is terribly wary – despite seeing the renewal before his own eyes – while Polly (Anneke Wills) seems much more accepting. As she pointed out, after all the wonders they have seen, why not this?
Another odd thing about Troughton’s Doctor is he keeps referring to ‘The Doctor’ in the third person, as if William Hartnell’s Doctor was another man entirely (and we loved the moment when his old face appeared in the mirror).
Into the story proper, a tale penned by former script editor David Whitaker, and the TARDIS landed on an unfriendly, hot planet called Vulcan – home to an Earth colony. The time travellers have not lost their knack for getting into trouble as the Doctor soon came across a murdered man, an examiner from Earth, and assumed his identity while Ben and Polly inhaled some noxious gas and fall unconscious.
Luckily, representatives from the colony came to their rescue, and within its walls we found a hotbed of political rivalry, with talk of protest meetings and the Governor (Peter Bathurst) calling the shots, while keeping his deputy Quinn (Nicholas Hawtrey) well out of the action. It is clear there is more than meets the eye going on here, as well of course, as there being a murderer in their midst.
The Daleks themselves held off their appearance for an age, with scientist Lesterton determined to get in to their recovered craft and know its secrets, and when the Doctor and friends did so they seemed inert, covered in cobwebs. Far from their universal ambitions last time we encountered them, it seems this set are down on their luck and demonstrating none of their power.
However, the cliffhanger was a great, creepy moment as Polly screamed and we spied a mutant creature scuttling across the floor, so it looks like they will not be keeping quiet for long!
Aired on Saturday 5 November 1966 on the BBC.
Buy ‘The Power of the Daleks’ on DVD on Amazon here.
Buy ‘The Power of the Daleks’ limited edition Blu-ray on Amazon here.
What did you think of this week’s episode? Let us know below…