One can’t go without mentioning how brilliant the designs are. “The Survivors” peaked the audience’s curiosity further by introducing them to the Daleks.
It’s no wonder so many people wrote into the BBC asking questions because this was, and still is, television history. It has a really tense, and suspenseful atmosphere and leaves you in complete stress as you ponder on what the hell is cornering Barbara. The cliff-hanger to “The Dead Planet” is phenomenal. This of course quickly goes wrong as they begin to get sick, resulted by radiation poisoning, and are then captured by the sinister survivors of the city. In order to get his own way he stages a scene to make it look like a crucial component, the fluid link, was in need of repair so that they had to search the city. However, The First Doctor has other ideas. Upon discovering a city on the edge of the petrified forest The First Doctor immediately wants to investigate but is prevented by his companions who think it wiser to return to the TARDIS. This episode did good at further expanding The First Doctor’s arrogant nature in which he was willing to put the lives of other’s at risk all for the sake of scientific discovery. They thought that they were going home, having just escaped a barbaric tribe, and now were standing on an eerie landscape on another world in another galaxy. Like with the first serial, we have a narrative completely carried by the main cast and they all do a wonderful job at expanding their characters.ĭespite only recently boarding the TARDIS, Ian and Barbara slowly settle into their new lives whilst still feeling hesitate. The designs of the sets are fantastically designed (considering the limitations of the 1960s) and really helped to bring Skaro to life and create this dead world were evil lied in the soil. “The Dead Planet” acts a lot like “An Unearthly Child” through its air of mystery and slow pace to allow you to delve into this new world. Nation did well at delivering this in an intriguing way by having the audience gobsmacked by the alien design and culture whilst getting a narrative that feels real, and personal, and above all, intelligent. We had a journey travelling through time, seeing the animalistic nature of prehistoric man, and now it was time to see the other aspects of the TARDIS and really begin to see the possibilities of this brave-new science-fiction show.
#Doctor who season 1 episode 2 dalek serial#
It was a perfect move to have the second serial expand on the scientific side of the programme. It created a world that felt totally alien whilst at the same time feeling familiar within the hearts of those that endured the War, reminding them of the terrors it held and the possibilities they feared would happen. Along with that we had the Daleks themselves that were heavily inspired by the Nazis and their extreme views on purity and mass extermination.
This was shown through the imagery of an alien world ravaged by nuclear weaponry, stemming from the ongoing fears during WWII that a nuclear world could possibly become a reality. “The Daleks” was a complete change in style and tone from “An Unearthly Child” and featured a lot of heavy adult themes revolving around Nation’s experiences with World War II. True enough the serial was a massive hit and Newman’s tone quickly changed, with him admitting he was proud of Lambert’s decision, reconfirming he made the right choice in hiring her as the very first female producer. Sydney Newman, BBC’s Head of Drama and initiator of Doctor Who, originally disliked the idea of the Daleks but producer Verity Lambert was adamant to follow her instincts and push for Terry Nation‘s script to be developed. Without a doubt this entire serial was a bold move, not just from a story stand-point but also from a production stand-point. “An Unearthly Child” may have set-up Doctor Who but “The Daleks” well and truly set the bar for the show’s quality and direction.
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