The Daleks [TV/1963.12.21 ~ 1964.2.1]

(artwork by Christopher Knauth)

★★★★☆

  The beautiful overlook of the Dalek city, the claustrophobic caves with dripping sounds just around the corner and rushing water beneath crevasses, the haunting tunes of Tristam Cary pervading the barren city, dead forest and the underground caverns... this is as evocative as television Doctor Who comes. It's incredibly impressive that something as accomplished as this serial came out on the first year Who was born -- how on Earth did they manage it? The sets are incredible, the script (which very much prioritises fleshing out the world of Skaro rather than dishing out exciting action sequences) allows the Doctor and co. to truly explore this alien world for the viewers. The Daleks is a wonderful slice of Who -- how on Earth could I have thought it to be middling back in the day?

  As an introduction to Doctor Who's most iconic foes, The Daleks succeeds in making them totally alien creatures. What I mean by this is that they feel so unlike us, unlike what we count as humans. They're cold, calculative, but unlike mindless robots they feel, they emote throes of pain and irritation, and they use logic (in their sense of the word) to determine the best approach in solving a problem. Most of all, as Ian points out in a chilling moment, the Daleks are intent on wiping out the Thals purely because they are different; it's pure hatred of the unlike that drives these pepperpots into mass extermination, and it's such a heavy yet powerful statement to make on a Saturday night television show. I wonder what the kids thought of that during their first watch in 1963? Ah, who am I kidding... they were probably too busy cowering from behind the sofa to take real notice of the meaty dialogue. 

  The Daleks is a pretty slow piece, but I suspect it was always meant to be. The slow nature of it doesn't make the serial boring, quite the opposite; thanks to elaborate sets and quite a hefty bit of worldbuilding, it becomes an engrossing look at a completely alien world, one with deadly river sinkholes and nasty creatures, endless caves and a cold and clinical futuristic city filled with radiation. William Hartnell, Carole Ann Ford, Jacqueline Hill and William Russell are given the task to be the explorers, react to the environment and defeat the deadly Daleks, and they show just how excellent they are at their roles. When I say the entire environment of this serial is utterly believable, I mean that the four leads reacted so earnestly and genuinely to the beautifully created sets, to the point where there is no doubt that this is an alien planet. Almost sixty years on, The Daleks is still a very strong television serial, and I'm glad I've come around to it.