Planet Of The Daleks: Doctor Who: Season 10



SYNOPSIS

DETAILS

CAST & CREW

REVIEWS





Goldby


Grob


Boland


Planet Of The Daleks SYNOPSIS:

Badly injured during his battle with the Master the Time Lords send the Tardis in pursuit of the Daleks' ship which lands on Spiridon. Jo goes for help and is met by the survivors of a Thal military expedition from Skaro. They rescue the Doctor from the Tardis while Jo is taken from the remainder of the Thal spacecraft by an invisible native called Wester.

Wester treats Jo from the deadly infection she received from a plant, while the Doctor and the thal Codal are captured by the Daleks. The other thals are going to carry out their mission finding out the Daleks presence on this planet. They are joined by another thal expeditionary force that brings news that the dalek force on the planet is nota dozen byt ten thousand daleks. They decide to rescue the Doctor, known in Thal legends as the daleks greatest enemy.

the group has a narrow escape getting the Doctor out of the base where he discovers the army of daleks currently in suspended animation thanks to a refrigeration unit. Reunited with Jo and Wester they find the Daleks plan is to utilize the invisiblity of the subjugated Spiridon race and synthesize a bacteria deadly to all before their invasion. A two pronged attack by the small group may be the chance to entomb the sleeping dalek army.

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Planet Of The Daleks DETAILS:

Episode Broadcast Run Time Viewership (In Millions)
Part One 7-Apr-73 24:51 11
Part Two 14-Apr-73 24:08 10.7
Part Three 21-Apr-73 22:34 10.1
Part Four 28-Apr-73 23:36 8.3
Part Five 5-May-72 22:31 9.7
Part Six 12-May-72 23:02 8.5


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Planet Of The Daleks CAST & CREW

Stars:
The Doctor:
Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor)

Companions:
Katy Manning (Jo Grant)

Guest Stars:
Prentis Hancock — Vaber
Bernard Horsfall — Taron
Tim Preece — Codal
Jane How — Rebec
Hilary Minster — Marat
Alan Tucker — Latep
Roy Skelton — Wester
Michael Wisher, Roy Skelton — Dalek Voices
John Scott Martin, Murphy Grumbar,Cy Town — Daleks

Production Staff for Serial SSS:
Writer - Terry Nation
Director - David Maloney
Script editor - Terrance Dicks
Producer - Barry Letts

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Planet Of The Daleks REVIEWS



Goldby

They're back again! No actually - he's back again!! Terry Nation again storms the BBC. Yes the original combo of Daleks and their writer / creator Nation are back on their first solo script since The Chase 8 years ago and what a hit that was! Yep and Planet of the Daleks here is a direct follow on from Frontier In Space and the 6 part conclusion to the 70's answer to Daleks Masterplan.

It starts immediately following the rather badly filmed conclusion to Frontier In Space, where the Master shoots the Doctor in front of Jo while surrounded by Ogrons, then everyone panics and runs off with no explanation. The Time Lords send the Doctor in pursuit of the Daleks and the fun really begins. Actually the first part where the Doctor's injured and has to fall into a coma is pretty good, leaves Jo to carry the can - she doesn't wear mini's any more…

Then this story becomes little more than a 'greatest hits' of previous Nation Dalek stories. There's the jungle planet (from the Chase and Masterplan), jungle planet populated by invisible aliens (from The Daleks Masterplan) some extremely noble, blond and characterless Thals (from the Daleks), a dalek army ready for conquest (Dalek Invasion Of Earth), the Doctor and others locked in a room and forced to escape up a lift shaft while the daleks cut through the door (The Daleks) The Dalek Supreme turns up at the end complete with a huge flashing torch as an eye (Dalek Invasion of Earth)…guess he must have thought no one would remember those early stories.

Oh it livens up around part 3, because it suddenly goes black and white for an episode. Plus for any new Who the daleks aren't reduced to one - there's a whole army of them frozen in the mountains of Spiridon for future use! Pertwee and Manning go through the motions, the jungle sets are harshly over lit so it looks just like a studio and the daleks sort of just plod along, although one finally manages to shoot the Doctor and the model shots are bad, real bad. The ice volcano was a novel idea though. Was wishing the dynamic duo would just return to Earth really, so there you go after the Chase my least favourite dalek story…4/10.



Grob

Oh God. Its another Pertwee 6 parter. And its written by national hack Terry Nation. And it has the daleks in it. And the Thals. And a big bomb. And......oh hell, we've seen it all before. Well we HAVE actually in a story called "The Daleks" and somehow old Nation would think we wouldn't notice?

But there is always something new to make us sit up and take note such as the Doctor's ability to change jackets while he's losing oxygen in the Tardis. Or Jo's ability to have a totally different hairstyle mid story. Or the Dalek supreme with an eye stalk made out of a hand held torch. Or those half a dozen dummy daleks that don't move?

How about the return of the Thals? Yeah, with the same bland personalities as before. And how does the Doctor recognise them anyway? Its not like they actually LOOK like the Thals in the first dalek story.

Even the setting is cheap; over lit studio jungles and ye olde quarry thrown in for good measure. God Planet of the Daleks is dull. And its crap. 2/10.



Boland

(Boland filling in) PLANET OF THE DALEKSIf you though Frontier in Space was dull, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Planet of the Daleks makes it look like a romp of a space opera. Terry Nation you aren’t writing for Carole Ann Ford and Hartnell now! I can’t stand his wooden ‘convey the basics’ writing. Everything that happens or appears on screen seems to be elucidated by the characters, even though it’s generally bloody obvious:

‘Oh look we are in a jungle.’ ‘This is the Dalek’s control room.’ ‘I am taking the bomb now.’ For fuck’s sake!Oh invisible monsters. AGAIN! Any new ideas Terry? ANY? Oh the Thals are back. They all talk like they have fruit up their arses. The only characters he knows how to write for are the Daleks. Everyone else gets Dalek-style lines. The Doctor and Jo. Where’s the relationship? The nuance? Okay they are separated for ages but still. Gee the Doctor believes Jo is dead. Then five minutes later he is over it. Then Jo seems to be falling from some Thal. Why? Just thrown in there for the hell of it. Does that count as character development Terry? No, just filler, like the fighting between the Thals as well.

Nice design though. Except for the Dalek’s base. Look closely, the walls are painted crinkly cardboard. Jungle is nice. Not sure about the eyes in the dark, and when the Dalek is pushed into a pool in a quarry... well that short and surely needless film sequence in no way matches the jungle or area they were in.So sorry but I can’t give this frustrating six parts of dreary dialogue and invisible creatures in purple coats a good mark. 2.9/10

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Screen Shots:

Planet Of The Daleks Titles



Planet Of The Daleks Dr and Jo



Planet Of The Daleks daleks advance



Planet Of The Daleks vaber and Taron



Planet Of The Daleks Spiridonians



Planet Of The Daleks the Doctor



Planet Of The Daleks dalek in the jungle



Planet Of The Daleks Jo Grant2



Planet Of The Daleks in the ice Corridor



Planet Of The Daleks Wester is dead



Planet Of The Daleks Dr and Taron



Planet Of The Daleks dalek iced



Planet Of The Daleks Jo and Latep



Planet Of The Daleks Dr nad Taron fight dalek



Planet Of The Daleks dalek army



Planet Of The Daleks Rodin with the Doctor



Planet Of The Daleks Dalek Supreme



Planet Of The Daleks Jo and the Thals



Planet Of The Daleks Daleks immobilized