Welcome to your summer vacation through space and time, all from the comfort of your couch and TV. We’re spending our COVID-19 summer winding our way through Doctor Who history, focusing on one episode from each Doctor’s tenure through to the Capaldi era. (Want to know what we’re watching? Here’s the schedule!)
It’s time to travel with Patrick Troughton, the Second Doctor, in his first full adventure, “The Power of the Daleks.” This aired in six weekly installments from November 5 to December 10, 1966. Of course, it’s been a long hot minute since it aired but here’s your warning: Spoilers!
1. Drawn to This Episode
Outside of this being Patrick Troughton’s first full Doctor Who adventure, there was something else that drew me to this episode, literally. “The Power of the Daleks” is one of the “lost” episodes of the series recreated in animation.
Back in the 1960s (and even into the 1970s) tapes were often wiped and reused – – TV was expensive technology. The master tapes for “The Power of the Daleks” were erased in the 1960s, with the negatives and 16mm copies for foreign distribution a decade later. The audio tracks still remain (along with about five minutes of footage and production stills). With those tools, animators recreated the episode in 2016.
This may be a novel way to bring back scripted programming in this COVID-19 world. Animation and voice work can be done safely, easily, and remotely! The One Day at a Time reboot animated one of their episodes, and the season finale of The Blacklist was also partially animated as well. Why not a Doctor Who animated holiday special? Or the series finale of Supernatural?
The Second Doctor is one of the few that has not made it to one of Titan’s collected comic stories. While the drawing is very blocky and bold with heavy contouring, it does give a vision of what a Second Doctor comic series could look like.
But as grateful as I am to modern technology for bringing this back from the dead, the animation is too slick, too polished. There is a quirky retro charm to classic Doctor Who, from its dated special effects to moments where camera work can’t hide goofs (visible zippers in costumes, for one). It’s part of the fun of watching early TV, and taking that fun away makes for an antiseptic experience. The 21st century touch on a mid-20th century story oddly enough, holds it back as it brings the story to a wider world.
2. Regeneration
As this episode picks up right after the first ever regeneration (another series tentpole), we also see some of the aftereffects of that on the Doctor throughout Part 1. It’s not the whimsical regeneration that we know and love today – – this is a little more fraught with question and concern, particularly when you see the effects of the change on The Doctor’s hearing and vision. This is a painful process, for sure, something I do wish the show today would remind us of now and then by showing those side effects.
While the Doctor himself does have a moment or two of difficulty adjusting to his new body, it’s the companions Ben and Polly who are most unsure. How could this be the same Doctor they traveled with before? And what will happen to them? This was the first regeneration for the series, and it’s in these moments companion as audience surrogate comes through loud and clear, Ben and Polly asking the same questions many a TV viewer asked themselves in 1966.
3. Meddling in the Affairs of Others
The Doctor, Ben, and Polly end up on the planet Vulcan (no Spock in sight, though) and find a badge of a dead examiner from Earth. The Doctor uses this as his “in” to find out more about the colony and their research, in the face of protest from Ben and Polly. Partially due to the ethics around impersonating someone else, but also due to the fact that they don’t know if they can trust this being who just changed from one person to another right in front of their eyes!
The trust issues must be left for another day. As the Doctor sneaks back into the colony’s lab (with Ben and Polly not too far behind), there’s a few Daleks in storage. The Doctor knows that’s not good, but the scientists want to keep them around in the name of science. I admit it’s fun seeing them explore the nuts and bolts of the Dalek for the first time, just as I am sure viewers did back in 1966.
Continued belowBut the Doctor knows what we knew back then and still know today: these are dangerous, dangerous things.
4. In the Name of the Economy!!
How fascinating it is when a piece of dialogue from the mid-1960s rings through to 2020.
Early on in Part 3, the scientists present their research into the Dalek to the Vulcan governor, exclaiming joy over what this would mean for the work in the mines and the Vulcan economy – – and even on Earth! Never mind that the Doctor spent the majority of the previous installment warning the scientists of the danger of the Daleks.
Safety sacrificed in the name of the economy. Where have we heard that recently? Oh yes, regarding those states and territories that opened prematurely, now spiking in COVID-19 cases, but whose leaders will not re-close or who go on the record with no regrets to their policy decisions to open earlier than suggested by public health officials and experts. (Stares at Florida in New York City indignation.)
Making this all rather eerie is that this episode is said to take place (based on a trailer for the episode, though not stated outright in it) . . . in 2020.
By Part Five, the scientists see the error of their ways after seeing the Daleks replicate, understanding their intentions to take over the colony and eradicate the humans. Let’s hope many in power in our country – – at least on the state and local level – – come to the same conclusion. To quote the final words of Nevil Shute’s On the Beach, “There is still time, brother.”
5. Six.
While modern Doctor Who viewers are used to singular hour episodes of the series with self-contained stories (and the occasional two-parter), we must remember that the series’ early days featured four part stories spread out over a matter of weeks. “The Power of the Daleks” is the only serial that runs for more than four episodes (six total).
Was six episodes too long? Possibly. There’s a whole plot thread about a rebellion faction on Vulcan that was interesting if not really explored, as both them and the establishment government wanted the Dalek technology for their own means. And I could do with a lot less of that recorder playing – – we will find out later on that the Doctor does this to help concentrate, fight stress, or hide something. Right now, since this Doctor is so new, we don’t know that, and it’s just annoying.
That said, this was a complex and entertaining story, and the four episode structure would have not served it well. There’s a lot going on here, and it needs the time to explore how all these pieces – – regeneration, rebels versus establishment, the Dalek discovery – – fit together. It would lay foundation for even longer stories, such as 1986’s “The Trial of a Time Lord,” an entire season of Colin Baker’s tenure.
EDIT: I had a very nice reader get in touch with me via email (hello Simon and thank you!) as well as a few folks on Twitter to point out that I was mistaken in my interpretation of this being the only serial to run for more than six episodes, as there were many during the first four Doctors that also had the six episode length (for example, “The Keys of Marinus” and “The Web of Fear.”) In checking my research again, I realized that this was the only story introducing a new Doctor during the classic run of the show to run for longer than four episodes. What did our teachers in school teach us about reading critically?? 🙂 My apologies for this error, and my thanks again to Simon and everyone else for enlightening me!
TARDIS Trivia (our Afterthoughts section)
- I found it very interesting the choice of “Vulcan” they land on for the name of the planet, given that this aired three short months after Star Trek debuted on American TV. But that would have not been much of an issue for Brits; Star Trek did not air on the BBC until 1969.
- During the regeneration, the Doctor’s clothes also regenerate. In later years, regenerations will see the new Doctor in the predecessor’s clothes, allowing for that Doctor to find their signature look. Continued below
- The title structure used here – – ” . . . of the Daleks” has been used for every Dalek-centric story ever since.
- This is the first Dalek story not to be written or co-written by creator of the Daleks themselves, Terry Nation.
Next week, we celebrate ten years of Doctor Who with the Third Doctor story “The Three Doctors.” Feel free to share your thoughts on this episode in the comments or on social media with our #12Weeks12Doctors hashtag.
If you want more classic Doctor Who, you can check out the streaming subscription service Britbox (available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. at the time of this writing). If you’re in the U.S., Latin America, Puerto Rico, and Europe, you can also get your classic Who fix via the free streaming service Pluto TV, which has its own Doctor Who channel!
