Mission to the Unknown [TV/1965.10.9]

 

★★★☆☆

  Mission to the Unknown is sitll such an oddity of Dr. Who, and it's all the more impressive for it. There is no Doctor, no TARDIS, no heroes and happy endings. It's a 25-minute slice of macho 60s sci-fi, blazing guns, killer plants and all... and it's attention-grabbing even in its current lost form (my preferred method of enjoying lost 60s serials is Loose Canon reconstructions). What can I say? I love me some Varga plants, tense conversations about doom and the end of the world, and silly aliens in a silly little conference room talking about how they'll hatch a plan so despicable and destructive against the universe. There's a good argument to be had that this is basically an Episode 0 of The Daleks' Master Plan, but I think Mission works good as a standalone one-parter too. It's self-contained, it's fittingly bleak and gripping, and Edward de Souza makes a really good stand-in protagonist as Marc Cory. Derek Martinus brings Kembel alive with a combination of convincing sets, memorable ambient tracks and incredibly human performances from the actors. What I mean by the latter is that you can totally believe one is stranded without any clue of how to get out of this situation, and that the other is an SSS agent doing his part in preventing defeat.

  If you haven't watched Mission to the Unknown before, and normally have trouble with Loose Cannon recons or Ian Levine animations, I would suggest the University of Central Lancashire refilmed version. It's such a polished piece of work, clearly made with love, and all the handiwork is in full display for you to admire. I still think I prefer the original Loose Canon recon; this way, I can see even snippets of the original actors doing their bit. This episode/serial is an anomaly amongst the entire TV tenure of Dr. Who, and that's one of the main reasons it works so well. It's perhaps the first glimpse of the universe trotting along its path without the interference of the Doctor; without them, the world is a pretty grim place, and the Daleks are utterly unstoppable. As a prelude to the giant Dalek epic that would test our heroes to the limit, this couldn't have been any better.