Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, and Nicholas Courtney
Director: Paul Bernard
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
On the eve of an international summit that hopes to stave off a war between China and the United States, time travelers arrive to assassinate the British delegate, claiming he is the cause of the inevitable war, and that it is his fault the evil Daleks enslave humanity in the future. With the TARDIS out of commission, the Doctor uses their primitive time travel technology to go forward in time to stop the Daleks from meddling in the present.
"The Day of the Daleks" is a film that was created by editing together four episodes of the long-running British television series. They combine seamlessly and present an interesting tale of cause and effect in time travel. It's a little more cerebral than most of the original "Doctor Who" storylines, but the pay-off is worth it.
The Daleks--and other time travelers in play in this episode--are almost as sinister as they got during the original run of the series; this is one of those story-lines that makes it clear why the Doctor has the fearsome reputation they like to play on in the revival of the show. Even better, it features Katy Manning as Jo Grant, one of my favorite of the Doctor's Companions.
You can't go wrong with Doctor Three and Jo! You know, legend has it Pertwee didn't want to have his Doctor meet the Daleks - he thought it silly to fight a monster you could escape "by simply going up a flight of stairs." It took a few more Doctors for the effects team to finally work around this one - and now the little buggers are positively mad with mobility! Nonetheless, the Third Doctor's Dalek episodes are some of the best of the series, and some of the last to present the Daleks as a unified force, and without having to shoehorn Davros (who I love, but still...) in to the story. Great review - always good to see some Who love!
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