The Power of the Daleks

Plot

Ben and Polly watch the First Doctor collapse to the floor of the TARDIS and then change into a younger man. Initially in a state of intense, pained confusion, at last regaining calm by maintaining his focus on a single lever on the TARDIS control console, the new Doctor seems to ignore or deliberately misunderstand direct questions and sometimes refers to his previous self as though he were someone else. Despite this, Polly believes the man is still the Doctor, while Ben suspects he is an impostor. The TARDIS lands on the planet Vulcan where, on arrival, the Doctor witnesses the murder of the examiner, a man sent from Earth to check on the human colony located on the planet. After checking the body, the Doctor discovers a badge.

A security team, led by Bragen, escorts the Doctor, Ben and Polly (pretending to be, as the security team assumes, the examiner and his party) back to the colony, where they meet Hansell, the governor, and Quinn, his deputy. It is not clear why the examiner was summoned, nor by whom, at this point. There are indications of rebellion, which are not taken seriously by the governor. Then there is the two-hundred-year-old space capsule has been discovered by Lesterson, the colony’s scientist. The Doctor makes a cursory examination of the capsule and announces he is retiring for the evening. The same night, Ben and Polly see the Doctor heading towards Lesterson’s laboratory and enter the capsule. They follow him inside after seeing him open an inner compartment to find two Daleks inside. He deduces that the third Dalek is missing. Polly sees a small mutant crawling quickly across the floor, disappearing under a small opening. She screams.

Finding the three strangers leaving the capsule, Lesterson wants to know why they are in his laboratory. The Doctor points out that his examiner's badge grants him access anywhere in the colony. Before leaving, the Doctor asks where the third Dalek is, afraid that Lesterson might be trying to reactivate it. Later, Lesterson opens a secret compartment where he has hidden the missing Dalek. He and his assistants, Resno and Janley, perform experiments in an attempt to reactivate the Dalek, which they think is a robot. They are successful, but Resno is shot. Janley assures Lesterson that Resno will be fine. Lesterson removes the gun stick from the Dalek.

Quinn is accused by Bragen of sabotaging the communication console and summoning the examiner. Hansell has him arrested and imprisoned and reassigns his duties to Bragen. The Doctor, Ben and Polly are present during these events, during which Lesterson arrives with the reactivated third Dalek, which says "I am your servant". It is subjected to intelligence tests, the results of which astound the scientists. When the Dalek claims it can improve on a machine able to detect meteorites to perfect accuracy, it is accepted without further hesitation. The Doctor remains suspicious and verbally hostile to the Dalek, whose behaviour towards the Doctor suggests recognition on its part to Ben and Polly, confirming at last that he really is the Doctor. Lesterson reactivates the other two Daleks and removes their guns. They repeat the phrase "I am your servant".

The Doctor notices that there are more than three Daleks in the colony, and warns that they are reproducing, but is not believed. Polly is kidnapped by the rebels, while the Doctor and Ben are questioned by Bragen, who knows the Doctor is not the Earth examiner since Bragen is the one who murdered him and likewise sabotaged the communications. The Doctor is put in a jail cell next to Quinn, who reveals it was he who summoned the examiner to investigate the rebels. Bragen, who is also secretly the leader of the rebels, makes his move to take over as governor, fomenting and then quickly quashing the rebellion with aid from the Daleks, and using a Dalek to kill Hensell.

Meanwhile, Lesterson goes inside the Dalek capsule and discovers that Daleks are being manufactured there. He sees an inert mutant being placed on a stand and then brought to life. It is then placed into a Dalek base, with the top fitted to the base. A long Dalek production line creates dozens of Daleks; midway through the rebellion, they attack humans on both sides, slaughtering unarmed civilians and overcoming all armed forces with minimal difficulty. The Doctor, Quinn, and then Ben and Polly escape imprisonment and help fight what appears to be a losing battle.

The Doctor finally destroys the Daleks by turning their own power source against them. Bragen is shot by one of the rebels just as he attempts to kill Quinn, who becomes the new governor. The Doctor, Ben and Polly return to the TARDIS, where a damaged Dalek stands motionless. As the TARDIS dematerialises, the Dalek's eyestalk moves upwards.

Continuity

The Doctor finds a dagger in the TARDIS that he claims to have picked up during the events of The Crusade.

In Episode Two, The Doctor refers to Marco Polo as a friend, having met him in the eponymous First Doctor story.

In Episode One, The Doctor looks into a mirror and sees the First Doctor.

Production

Working titles for this story included The Destiny of Doctor Who and Servants of Masters. Anneke Wills was on holiday and therefore absent from episode four. Similarly, Michael Craze was absent for episode five.

The Doctor's regeneration was meant to be a "horrifying" metaphysical change. The producers compared it to the hallucinogenic drug LSD, which had the side-effect of "hell and dank horror".

Episode 6 was recorded using the 625-line system before the official switchover, although it was telerecorded onto 35mm film, instead of videotape.

Cast notes

Bernard Archard returned in Pyramids of Mars. Peter Bathurst returned in The Claws of Axos. Robert James returned in The Masque of Mandragora. Edward Kelsey had previously appeared in The Romans and would return in The Creature from the Pit.

Missing episodes

The master tapes of all six episodes were erased in the late 1960s, while the BBC Enterprise copies on 16mm for foreign sales were destroyed in 1974. The additional 35mm film negative of episode 6 was junked some time prior to 1970. Some clips survive from various other programmes, mainly focusing upon the Daleks. In addition some footage filmed off-air by an Australian fan onto 8mm cine film exists, showing brief moments of the new Doctor's first moves in the TARDIS.

The Australian copies of Power were returned and junked in June 1975. Only two other countries purchased the story due to the restriction on Dalek sales by Terry Nation: the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation in 1968, which then sent its copy to RTS in Singapore in 1972. RTS's successor Mediacorp say they do not possess any copies, and what happened to this set is currently unknown.

In August 2016, two minutes of animated footage from the serial appeared on YouTube. The professional nature of the animation, combined with the fact that the BBC had it removed within 48 hours, led to speculation that it had been leaked footage from a planned official release. The Daily Mirror then ran a story stating that a full animated reconstruction of the serial had been commissioned by the BBC. In September the BBC confirmed that it was producing a full animated version of The Power of the Daleks for release in November to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the serial's original broadcast. Two additional teasers were released the following month. The episodes were released on DVD along with bonus material such as surviving clips, while all six episodes were being released weekly on the BBC Store.

In print

A novelisation of this serial, written by John Peel, was published by Virgin Books in July 1993. Although still published under the Target Books banner, this was the first novelisation to be published under the new format introduced by Virgin for the Virgin New Adventures/Virgin Missing Adventures series. The most notable difference is the increased page count.

The script of this serial, edited by John McElroy, was published by Titan Books in March 1993.

Home media

The audio soundtrack survives. The BBC has given it three commercial releases: first, on cassette release with narration by Tom Baker; second, on CD with narration by Anneke Wills; third, on MP3-CD for the 'Doctor Who: Reconstructed' range, again narrated by Anneke Wills. This release also includes a bonus slideshow for PC/Apple Mac users, merging the soundtrack with tele-snaps. The Anneke Wills-narrated soundtrack was also released in a collector's tin called Doctor Who: Daleks, along with the soundtrack to The Evil of the Daleks and a bonus disc featuring My Life as a Dalek, a story presented by Mark Gatiss discussing the history of the Daleks.

In 2004, all known surviving clips were released on the Lost in Time DVD. Following the DVD's release, two further short clips—along with a higher-quality version of one of the extant scenes—were discovered in a 1966 episode of the BBC science series Tomorrow's World. The clips only came to light on 11 September 2005, when the relevant section was broadcast as part of an edition of the clip-based nostalgia show Sunday Past Times on BBC Two. These clips were subsequently included in the documentaries "The Dalek Tapes", on the Genesis of the Daleks DVD release, and "Now Get out of That", on the Terror of the Vervoids disc in The Trial of a Time Lord box set.

In 2016, the BBC produced an animated reconstruction of The Power of the Daleks to be released via the BBC Store on 5 November, exactly 50 years after its original broadcast, prior to the DVD release on 21 November. A limited edition Steelbook containing a DVD and Blu-ray copy was released on 6 February 2017. The episodes can also be viewed on the BBC's website.