The Daleks – Part 1

You see, we cannot stand by and let these people die. If we do not help them, it would be the same as if we had killed them ourselves. Well, the way I have reasoned is this. The Daleks are strong and they hate us. And I am sure they will find a way to come out of their city and kill us. So it is not merely a question of whether we go off in a vain search for food and in all probability starve to death. We face death now. In the city is enough food for all of us and all of the Daleks, a hundred times over. My conclusion is this. There is no indignity in being afraid to die. But there is a terrible shame in being afraid to live. If none of you agree with my reasons, then let me go with these people, and I will help you elect a new chief.

-ALYDON

Hello, dear audience! Today, I will review ‘The Daleks’ which is the second story in the first season. As the name suggests, it introduces the most iconic villain in Doctor Who. ‘The Daleks’ is the first seven-parter. It has a convoluted and well-written plot that is worth a whole blog of discussion. That is what I intend to do today. Before we begin, you can find the link to the video of this story on the resources page of our website as always. Let’s begin!

We start from the cliffhanger of ‘the Firemaker’ as the radiation level rose to the danger zone. The crews go out and find themselves in the eeriest jungle. Then, after discovering a city afar, the doctor is determined to see it. So he plays a trick on the rest of the group to find an excuse to visit the city. Later, they are held prisoner there by the Daleks. After a successful escape, they have met the Thals. Just when they are about to leave, Ian realises the fluid link is still in the city. So they have to go back there with the Thals to defeat the Daleks and foil their plan to be the master of Skaro and regain the fluid link to leave the planet Skaro.

This seven-parter has the structure of one plus three plus three. It is a two-story-in-one type of serial. The aliens are revealed in episode one as an exposition. Then the crews are all trapped and attempt to escape. These three episodes can be viewed as the rising action or the first story. At last, they had to get the fluid link back. Another three episodes. Let us compare it to the most popular format in classic Doctor Who, four-parters. Four-parter is one-plus-three. One for the reveal and set up and three for the story.

Foreshadowing and Cliffhangers
Many clues are given as foreshadowing. Most point to the fact that there was a nuclear war on Skaro. As a side note, the historical context might be the Cold War between the USSR and the USA. Cold War again, eh. This is a main point and the plot develops around it. Some clues foreshadowed the death of Andotus. This is for a purpose that is not to be elaborated at the moment.

Cliffhangers at the end of episode 1, 4 and 6 are particularly interesting. Each one serves a unique purpose here. Cliffhangers are plot drivers and suspense creator. At the end of episode one, the use of cliffhanger makes us worry and be curious about the alien. As we have discussed before, at the end of episode one, the antagonist is revealed. So this cliffhanger is a natural result of it. However, my favourite cliffhanger happened at the end of episode four. This one contains true horror. The horror is tied in with the characterisation of the Daleks. As the Tardis crew escape, venturing out to the petrified jungle, they realise the fluid link is with the Daleks. I like William Russell’s acting, it says all the unsaid horror behind his word. All their dislike and fear of the Daleks. The music just elevates it and makes it sound even heavier. The last cliffhanger is a little bit different. It doesn’t drive the plot. My observation is that it is the fulfilment of the character-wise consistency. When someone hangs on a rope like that, we expect the protagonist to be able to save the person’s life. But it did not go as I expected the first time I watch it at least. Then, with the help of intensive foreshadowing, the resolution of this cliffhanger made a terrific tragedy.

The Atmosphere and Pace
For most parts, the atmosphere is successfully built. The environment is adjusted to suit each scene. The eerie jungle and the tense air in the Daleks complex. Unlike the previous story, it is not exploiting the tension between characters to make the atmosphere. The complexity in the atmosphere and plot is delivered by a group of conflicts, both internal and external. The conflicts are explicit in most case as oppose to the implicit ones in an unearthly child.

A lot has happened in the seven episodes, but I feel the last three are padded. Terry Nation could have compressed them into two episodes. That way, the story can pace better. Only when consecutive events happen at a moderate pace, the audience can follow with all their attention. Of course, I am not suggesting a uniform rate for every scene. The pace is dependent on the amount of information in that particular scene. It would be best if ‘the Daleks’ is a six-parters instead of seven. The attention span of the audience is very limited.

The appropriate use of different techniques created a fluent flow of the plot. Terry Nation conveyed the feeling perfectly. Next time, we will start talking about the Daleks and the Thals. Until then, so long…