010 The Daleks Part 6: The Ordeal

EPISODE: The Daleks Part 6: The Ordeal
OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 010
STORY NUMBER: 002
TRANSMITTED: 25 January 1964
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Richard Martin
SCRIPT EDITOR: David Whitaker
PRODUCER: Verity Lambert
FORMAT: DVD - The Beginning Boxset


The opening sets the peril of the journey quite nicely by having one of the Thals die. The Doctor plots to immobilise Dalek communication & surveillance while an early Dalek scene reminds us they want to construct a Neutron Bomb and imperil the Thals and Tardis crew. Lots of wandering through tunnels. The Doctor & Susan sneak into the city and are captured by Daleks. Oooh, a wide chasm in the floor, I wonder what will happen....The Daleks reveal their new plan to the Doctor: they will open their nuclear reactor and irradiate the atmosphere. Oh look one of the Thals has just fallen down the chasm they've spent 15 minutes trying to cross!

My memory of these last three episodes is that they were long, boring and had very little of the Daleks in it. Well there's more Daleks than I thought but still not a lot. The problem is I can't work up any enthusiasm or distinguish between these Thals. A bunch of identically dressed similar looking blondes. Apparently two of the party in the tunnel are brothers, one of whom has just fallen down the shaft.

Doctor Who & the Daleks has the distinction of being the first Doctor Who story to be novelised. It was initially released in November 1964 as Doctor Who in an exciting adventure with the Daleks and was written by David Whitaker. In 1965 it was joined by Doctor Who and the Zarbi and in 1966 by Doctor Who & the Crusade. There the Doctor Who book range remained until the rights to these three books were bought by the fledgling Target Books in 1973. Doctor Who and the Daleks was reprinted as the first Target book Doctor Who & The Daleks launching a successful book range that would last over twenty years and novelise all bar five of the Doctor Who stories.