OVERALL EPISODE NUMBER: 366
STORY NUMBER: 072
TRANSMITTED: Saturday 23 February 1974
WRITER: Terry Nation
DIRECTOR: Michael Briant
SCRIPT EDITOR: Terrance Dicks
PRODUCER: Barry Letts
RATINGS: 8.1 million viewers
FORMAT: DVD: Doctor Who - Death To The Daleks
EPISODE FORMAT: 625 video
"It's as if the Tardis was dying!"
On the cold & dark planet a man is shot with an arrow and collapses into a pond. The Doctor & Sarah are heading to Florana when the Tardis finds it's power drained and materialises. Even an emergency torch quickly dies. The Doctor manually cranks the door handle allowing them to venture outside into a barren wasteland. While Sarah changes into warmer clothes the Doctor explores and is attacked. Sarah is stalked by the alien beings, then finds one waiting for her in the Tardis from which she flees. The Doctor escapes from his captors. Sarah finds herself near a starkly white city with a flashing beacon on top. As dawn breaks the Doctor encounters a group of humans who have crashed on the planet Exxilon. The survivors are Dan Galloway, Captain Richard Railton, Peter Hamilton & Jill Tarrant along with the injured Commander Stewart. Their colleague Jack has been missing since the last night. They are from the Marine Space Core and explain about the Exxilon's forbidden city that Sarah has found. They treat is as a shrine and sacrifice anyone who goes near it. Approaching the city Sarah is captured. The humans report their ship was drained of power as it neared Exxilon. They came here to mine Parrinium a mineral needed to cure a space plague threatening millions. A ship comes into land nearby that the humans think is their relief ship. They go to find it, leaving their injured commander alone & at the mercy of the Exxilons while in an underground chamber Sarah is prepared for sacrifice. The ship lands revealing not humans but Daleks who order the humans Extermination and begin to open fire.....
Another Terry Nation script, another Tardis immobilising. He also gets to use his new favourite device, a plague:
DOCTOR: Tell me, what's the purpose of your expedition?For other Nation plagues see see the virus in Planet of the Daleks, 1975's Survivors and the virus used in Blake's 7's Project Avalan.
JILL: Well, to collect parrinium.
DOCTOR: Parrinium?
JILL: It's a chemical. It can be found in minute quantities on Earth, but it's so rare there that it's virtually priceless. A chemical detecting satellite did a fly past on this planet and registered that it was as common here as salt.
DOCTOR: Well, forgive me, but what do you want it for?
GALLOWAY: Och, man. Where have you been hiding?
DOCTOR: Well, here and there, one place and another. Well, I am a little out of touch, I'll admit.
JILL: Well, the outer worlds are being ravaged by a disease. The colonists are dying in their thousands. Another ten million men, women and children will die unless we help them, and help them quickly. Every hour we're stuck here on this planet, the death toll's mounting.
DOCTOR: And parrinium will halt this disease?
RAILTON: Well, it can cure and give immunity, but they need it in quantity and they need it fast.
JILL: If it's not delivered within a month, it'll be too late.
DOCTOR: I see.
RAILTON: We managed to get a message off before we had total power failure, to Earth. We asked them for a relief ship.
DOCTOR: Do you happen to know if that message was received?
GALLOWAY: Oh, if it had been I think we'd have had help by now.
A decent enough opening episode but I think even from what little you can see of the cliffhanger at the end you've seen enough to see that *something* is wrong with the Dalek guns because there's usually some sort of negative effect quite quickly. I'd have had the Dalek order Exterminate, a crash zoom on the first movement of the weapon out and straight into the titles instead of all the waggling of the guns in and out. Still it's good to see the Daleks back in Silver looking quite nifty in their spruced up colour scheme.
Onto the cast and in descending order of rank: Neil Seiler, playing Commander Stewart, was the Radio Operator in The Sea Devils (director: Michael Briant)
Captain Richard Railton is played by John Abineri who we've heard in Fury from the Deep as van Lutyens ( production assistant Michael Bryant) and seen in The Ambassadors of Death as General Carrington. He's got one more appearance to come in The Power of Kroll as Ranquin. He has an Out of the Unknown to his name playing Colonel Chalmers in Thirteen to Centaurus which you can see on the Out of the Unknown DVD Set. He's been in both of Terry Nation's BBC sci fi series playing the recurring role of Hubert Goss in 17 episodes of Survivors and Ushton in the Blake's 7 episode hostage. He was in Gangsters, by future Sixth Doctor story write Philip Martin and featuring Lytton actor Maurice Colbourne, as the Consortium MD in Incident Six and The Moon Stallion, by former Doctor Who writer Brian Hayles and starring future companion Sarah Sutton, as Sir George Mortenhurze. People of my age would recall him for playing Herne the Hunter in Robin of Sherwood and would have seen him as Rimmer's Dad in the Red Dwarf episode Better Than Life. But Abineri has probably been seen by most people as the Ambassador's Butler in the original Ferrero Rocher advert!
Duncan Lamont plays Lt Dan Galloway on his only Doctor Who appearance. He was in the original 1953 The Quatermass Experiment playing the infected astronaut Victor Carroon and later appeared in the Quatermass and the Pit film as Sladden. When he died in 1978 in he was working at the time on the Blake's 7 episode Hostage and had already filmed location material. He was replaced by, and the footage reshot using, his co-star here John Abineri.
Lt Peter Hamilton is played Julian Fox
The Marine Space Corps member killed at the start of the program, presumably the missing Jack that Jill enquires of, is series regular stuntman Terry Walsh, who also performs his usual role of doubling for Jon Pertwee here. He was a Militiaman in The Smugglers, a Soldier in The Web of Fear, a UNIT Soldier in The Invasion, The Ambassadors of Death & Inferno, in the last of which he also played a Technician and an RSF Soldier, an Auton Policeman & Unit Soldier in Terror of the Autons, a UNIT Motorcyclist in The Mind of Evil, a Primitive, Colonist & IMC Guard Rogers in Colony in Space, Castle Guard Barclay & a Sea Devil in The Sea Devils, an Overlord Guard in The Mutants, the Window Cleaner in The Time Monster, a Guard in The Green Death and a Warehouse Looter in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. He returns as The Guard Captain & a Guard in The Monster of Peladon, the Man with Boat in Planet of the Spiders, a Bouncer in Robot, Zake in The Sontaran Experiment, a Thal Soldier, Muto and Kaled Scientist in Genesis of the Daleks, a Vogan in Revenge of the Cybermen, a Crew Member in Planet of Evil, the Executioner in The Masque of Mandragora, a Horda Pit Guard in The Face of Evil, Mensch in The Power of Kroll and Doran in The Creature from the Pit.
Walsh stunt doubled for the Doctor in Inferno, Terror of the Autons, Day of the Daleks, Curse of Peladon, The Sea Devils, Carnival of Monsters, Frontier in Space, The Green Death, The Time Warrior, Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders, The Sontaran Experiment, Revenge of the Cybermen, Planet of Evil, The Android Invasion, The Seeds of Doom, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Androids of Tara, The Creature from the Pit. He was also the double for The Master in The Sea Devils, the Minotaur in the Time Monster, Mike Yates in The Green Death & Planet of the Spiders, Harry Sulivan in The Sontaran Experiment, Sorenson in Planet of Evil, Chancellor Goth in The Deadly Assassin, Count Grendel in The Androids of Tara and a Stuntman on Power of Kroll. He was Fight Arranger for The Sea Devils, The Mutants, The Green Death, Death to the Daleks, Monster of Peladon, Planet of the Spiders, The Sontaran Experiment, The Android Invasion, The Seeds of Doom, The Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Androids of Tara & The Creature from the Pit. He also doubled for The Doctor in the Children In Need Spoof The Dimensions in Time and played the Duelling Guard and a Mercenary in The Ultimate Adventure where he also staged the fights.
He was also in the Adam Adamant Lives! episode - D for Destruction as Watts, which we like because it has Patrick Troughton and a load of control panels in it! In Space: 1999 he was Clan Guard in Journey to Where, the Rescue Eagle Pilot in The Mark of Archanon, a Technician in Space Warp and a Security Guard in The Seance Spectre. He was in Superman II as a KFC Man / French Officer and An American Werewolf in London as the Taxi Driver Who Crashes His Cab. He did stuntwork on The Italian Job, the Roger Moore James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, Superman, Superman III & Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Douglas Camfield & Robert Holmes' The Nightmare Man, the aforementioned An American Werewolf in London, Krull and Robin of Sherwood.
Civilian Geologist Jill Tarrant is played by Joy Harrison. She also appears in Space: 1999 she was a Main Mission Operative in Earthbound & Missing Link. Toby Hadoke tracked her down and interviewed her for Who's Round 123.
Mostyn Evans , the High Priest, was Dai Evans in The Green Death (director: Michael Briant)
On the Colony in Space DVD director Michael Briant cops to using the same people regularly for the very good reason that he knows them and knows he can work with them!
Two stuntmen appear as Exxilons in just this episode: Max Faulkner had previously appeared as a UNIT soldier in The Ambassadors of Death & Inferno. He returns as a miner in The Monster of Peladon, a Guard Captain in Planet of the Spiders, a Thal Guard in Genesis of the Daleks, an Astronaut in Planet of Evil, Corporal Adams in The Android Invasion, Doctor Carter's stuntman in The Hand of Fear, which he also was the Fight Arranger on, a Horda Pit Guard in Face of Evil, a Coolie & Policeman in Talons of Weng-Chiang, an Other in The Sun Makers, Nesbin in The Invasion of Time and a guard in Creature from the Pit. In The Prisoner he's the First Horseman in Living in Harmony and the Scots Napoleon in The Girl Who Was Death. He then appears in Space: 1999 as Ted Clifford in Ring Around the Moon, Survivors as Phil in Mad Dog, Blake's 7 as a Death Squad Trooper in Powerplay, God's Wonderful Railway as the Scarecrow in The Permanent Way, The Day of the Triffids episode 2 as Jo's Attacker and twice in Robin of Sherwood as Gisbourne's Helper in The Children of Israel and Oliver in The Power of Albion. In the Pierce Brosnan James Bond film GoldenEye he's a Guard at the Helicopter Show.
The other stuntman is Marc Boyle He'd been a UNIT Motorcyclist & a Policeman in The Ambassadors of Death, a Stuntmen playing UNIT Soldiers/Auton Daffodil Men/Technicians in Terror of the Autons, a Prisoner/Motor Cyclist/UNIT Soldier in Mind of Evil, a Castle Guard/Sailor/Sea Devil in The Sea Devils, Kronos in The Time Monster and one of Irongron’s Men in The Time Warrior, which he also helped Fight Arrange. He appears in Superman II as a C.R.S. Man, The Professionals as Donatti in Kickback and The Living Daylights as a Blayden Grounds MI6 Man. He did stuntwork on Space: 1999 Space Brain, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi, The Italian Job, the James Bond films You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, Octopussy, Never Say Never Again & Licence to Kill, Superman & Superman III, An American Werewolf in London and Alien³
Death to the Daleks 1 was the chronologically latest episode of Doctor Who broadcast to be missing from the BBC archives when Ian Levene visited in 1978. In 1981 a 524 line NTSC conversion of episode 1 was found in Canada and returned to the BBC completing this story. In 1985 ABC TV in Australia was found to be holding an edited copy of episode 1, missing a scene where a crewmember is killed by a spear courtesy of our friends the Australian sensors. Due to this omission BBC Video used the 525 line copy of the episode to produce the first compilation release of Death to the Daleks in 1987. In 1991 a set of videotapes was returned to BBC Enterprises by Dubai Radio & Colour Television and left unattended and outside exposed to the elements. BBC Employee & Doctor Who fan David Stead rescued the Death to the Daleks episode 1 video and passed it to Paul Vanezis, who discovered it kept sticking on playback, similar to Curse of Peladon 3, and had the tape salvaged by playing it back in segments which were recorded onto D3 tape, the then default transmission format. The original videotape of Death to the Daleks 1 now serves as a doorstop in the study of Richard Molesworth, the author of Wiped! Doctor Who's Missing Episodes which has been an invaluable aid during the first year of writing this block. If you have any interest in the first eleven years of Doctor Who and why it's not all there then this is well worth a read. But now we must say goodbye to it because after this episode, one minor edit aside, every broadcast episode of Doctor Who exists in it's original format.
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