The Power of the Daleks [TV/1966.11.5 ~ 12.10]

★★★★★

  No other post-regeneration adventure uses the element of uncertainty and danger to its adventage like The Power of the Daleks does. I remember the first time I finished the serial — I was sitting on my sofa, thinking to myself that David Whitaker must have been a genius. Writing the first-ever example of the Doctor changing appearance must have been hard, but you'd never think Whitaker was having a hard time from how effortless the end result looks like. What's ingenious about The Power of the Daleks is that it compounds the unease and distrust Polly and Ben (and, of course, the viewers of 1966) initially have for this stranger who seems to be the Doctor's new self with the creepiness and crawling terror of the Daleks' manipulations of an already paranoid and dysfunctional colony. Robert James' Lesterson is key to creating the entire mood, injecting the serial with one of the best scientists-gone-mad-with-the-truth types the show has given us.

  Have the Daleks ever truly been "creepy"? It's a question some people ask nowadays with the ridiculous contract clause from the Terry Nation estate necessitating a Dalek appearance every new series (causing more than a little amount of fatigue), and my answer is still a resounding yes. The Daleks are more than capable of being the creatures of myth that made kids duck behind the sofa, and The Power of the Daleks shows the magnum opus of this creepy factor. These pepperpots are manipulative, adept at playing mind games, and more than capable of biding their time for the maximum effect of their plan. See how they subtly influence the temperaments and actions of the humans by distorting/concealing the truth and presenting the right face at the right time. They're horrifying, not because they look scary or anything, but because they know exactly how to act in the right circumstances to pull the tide in their favor. Even in the realm of influencing people, the Daleks prove to be more than a match for the Doctor.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Christopher Barry's beautiful direction, David Whitaker's lightning-sharp script and Patrick Troughton's unmatched performance as a newly-regenerated Doctor, exuding mystery and defying all attempts to understand or rationalise him — how much better does it get than this? The Power of the Daleks is a classic for the ages, one of the best Dalek stories ever put to any medium, and one of my personal favorite post-regeneration stories.