#14 (5.35 - 5.40): The Wheel in Space.

The Doctor and Jamie investigate strange occurrences,
with help from new friend Zoe (Wendy Padbury)

6 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 140 minutes. Written by: David Whitaker. Directed by: Tristan de Vere Cole. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS' fluid link breaks down (this time without any sneaky sabotage by the Doctor), leaving the Doctor and Jamie stuck in the Silver Carrier, an Earth supply spacecraft. The Carrier is drifting in space, its crew mysteriously absent and its control room sealed off. After the Doctor is injured during a sudden course change, Jamie is left to protect both of them.

The Carrier stops near the Wheel, a space station whose primary function is as a relay point with Earth. After being rescued by the crew, the Doctor and Jamie befriend Dr. Gemma Corwyn (Anne Ridler), the second in command, as well as a young astrophysicist named Zoe (Wendy Padbury). They learn that their arrival is just one of several strange events, that include both unexplained drops in air pressure and an imminent meteor storm that threatens the wheel. Jarvis Bennett (Michael Turner), the Wheel's commander, ignores any suggestion that these incidents could be related - leaving the time travelers and their new allies to investigate on their own.

The events are all part of a plan by the Doctor's old enemy, the Cybermen. But by the time they figure this out, the plot is already well underway. With Jarvis ignoring all evidence, is it already too late to save the Wheel?


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Though the Doctor is less dominant than usual, Troughton does get two noteworthy scenes in the final episode. When the Cybermen corner him in the Wheel's power room, he does not flinch as he faces them, calmly observing that he expects they have orders to destroy him - then taking a moment to pump them for information about their plans before springing a trap. At the story's end, when Zoe announces her desire to join him and Jamie, he shows that he's still haunted by Victoria's exit. He wires his mind up to the TARDIS scanner to justify a rerun... but in-universe, to make sure that this time, his new companion will know what she's getting herself in for before she begins traveling.

Jamie: Shows his ingenuity while the Doctor is out of action. First, he manages to send an "SOS" to the Wheel, letting them know that someone is aboard the ship just as Jarvis prepares to destroy it. Later, when he learns that they still plan to destroy the ship, with the TARDIS aboard, he acts quickly to sabotage the Wheel's laser. Though he definitely doesn't bond with Zoe the way he did with Victoria, treating her mostly like an annoying know-it-all, he shows compassion when she expresses her own feelings of uselessness.

Zoe: Wendy Padbury's Zoe is introduced as being much the opposite of Victoria. Her predecessor was intuitive, emotional, and often fearful. Zoe has been trained to look at the world by applying logic to all she sees. She is extremely intelligent, but emotionally cold. The story lays this on a bit thick. At one point, she is upbraided for her calculations about meteorites striking the wheel being correct - even though her alerting the crew to this crisis gives them time to prepare for it. Still, Padbury has a charming screen presence that breaks through the script, which should allow her to come across more strongly in better stories.

Cybermen: The worst 1960s characterization of the Cybermen. First, there's their plan: (1) create a meteor shower that will end up threatening the wheel; (2) take over the Silver Carrier and steer it toward the Wheel; (3) have Cybermats infiltrate the Wheel and destroy the MacGuffin Rods that power the laser; (4) infiltrate the Wheel directly by hiding in a crate of Rods; (5) use the Wheel's laser to stop the meteorites; (6) take over the wheel; and (7) use the Wheel's capabilities to take over Earth. That's a lot of steps, with any number of things that can go wrong along the way. One almost does - Remove the Doctor and Jamie, and Jarvis would have blown up the rocket (with the Cybermen on board) in Episode Two! The Cybermen's motives have also shifted from ensuring their own survival to desiring "the mineral wealth of the Earth," which robs them of much of their original edge.


THOUGHTS:

The Wheel in Space is not particularly well-regarded, and it's easy to see why. There isn't really enough story here for six episodes, even when the episodes are shorter than the norm. The Wheel crew is a pretty uninteresting lot, with none of the guest cast making much of an impression. Zoe's introduction is so heavy-handed that only Wendy Padbury's natural appeal prevents the character from getting off on the wrong foot. Oh, and the Cybermen have rarely been worse-characterized this side of, "We blew them up with love!" That's not even mentioning the limp climax.

For all of its faults, however, I still rather enjoy this story. The first episode, which save for the final few minutes amounts to a Doctor/Jamie two-hander as they investigate the empty rocket, is genuinely mysterious; it's a pity that it ranks among the missing, as it's would certainly benefit from the restoration of the visual element.

Once the action shifts to the Wheel, proceedings become both blander and slower-paced. It's telling that my first viewing of this story was before its audio release, leaving me watching only the existing Episode Three and Episode Six. Even so, I wasn't at all confused watching just those... likely because there's so little narrative drive. When I later listened to the whole thing (switching to the Lost in Time dvd to watch the two existing ones), it was largely a confirmation that I hadn't missed that much. Even so, I still didn't feel at all bored or restless - something that hasn't always been true about stories that are objectively better!

Some of that might be because the Wheel itself is a reasonably interesting setting. I also admit to liking the ensemble feel lent by the Doctor's reduced role. But the whole thing is carried by a sort of amiable feel that's hard to pin down. There's not much tension (the climax is literally Jamie and some guest characters closing a door while another guest character fires a laser). But for all its fault, I can't help but like this story. And even after all these words have been expended, I still can't put my finger on why. It isn't good... but it somehow works for me anyway.


Overall Rating: 6/10.

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#11 (5.17 - 5.22): The Enemy of the World.

The Doctor meets his exact double - who plans to take over the world!

6 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 140 minutes. Written by: David Whitaker. Directed by: Barry Letts. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS materializes in Australia in the near future, only for the Doctor to immediately be targeted by assassins. He and his companions are rescued by a mysterious woman named Astrid (Mary Peach), who introduces them to her associate, Giles Kent (Bill Kerr). Kent reveals that the Doctor is an exact double of Salamander (Patrick Troughton), whose renown as a world savior has brought him power - and who Kent insists now seeks to become dictator of the entire planet!

Kent wants the Doctor to impersonate Salamander, to infiltrate his research station to find evidence to discredit him. The Doctor, however, insists that he will not act without evidence. "You and this Salamander are obviously on opposite sides... But which side is good? Which side is bad? And why should I interfere?" To find the answers, he agrees to allow Jamie and Victoria to infiltrate a European conference - but in so doing, he risks leaving his friends in the grasp of a maniac!


THE DOCTOR:

Much has been said of Troughton's performance as Salamander, but this story is also a terrific showcase for his Doctor. Stumbling into a tense situation, he listens to Giles Kent and Astrid, but he isn't ready to take action without proof. He is wary of Kent's willingness to resort to violence, but remains sympathetic to him for the most part. A particular highlight is the scene in Episode Three in which the sadistic Benik (Milton Johns) has his guards destroy Kent's possessions. When the Doctor emerges and sees the damage, he sadly observes that "people spend all their time making nice things, and other people come along and break them."

Inevitably, the Doctor does end up impersonating Salamander - though in a clever bit of scripting, his impersonations never end up being quite the way Kent had planned. When he finally dons the disguise, it is primarily to free Victoria and Jamie, and then to expose the truth. He and Salamander only share the screen once in the story, at the very end. Here, we see shades of the imperious side so prominent in Hartnell's run. Troughton lets all the gleefulness and sympathy drop from his performance as he effectively passes sentence on his doppelganger: "We're going to put you outside... No friends, no safety, nothing." In this moment, this most unimposing of Doctors becomes a figure of startling power and presence.


OTHER CHARACTERS:

Jamie/Victoria: The story's early episodes give them quite a bit to do. Jamie shows an ability to think quickly as he ingratiates himself with Salamander, while Victoria secures a job in the kitchen under the eye of the grumpiest chef in television history (a very funny Reg Lye). Their roles are much reduced in the back half of the serial, though Jamie's protectiveness of Victoria is demonstrated when Benik threatens them with the prospect of a particularly unpleasant interrogation. Somewhat amusingly, Victoria's skirt is a dead match for Jamie's kilt!

Giles Kent: Bill Kerr, best known as a comedian, seems to relish the chance to play a serious role. In a story that carries echoes of the James Bond film series, Kent is effectively "M." He delivers the background on the situation and on Salamander and provides the basic plan and opportunity for the infiltration. Kent is decidedly ruthless, actively encouraging his enemy's assassination. Then again, Salamander genuinely is the monster Kent portrays him to be, and his actions have almost certainly killed thousands, making Kent's cold-bloodedness understandable.

Astrid: Mary Peach's Astrid seems to have been modeled after The Avengers' Emma Peel: a quick thinker who is more than a match for any opponent in hand-to-hand combat. She seems less ruthless than Kent; when it's clear that a guard has developed a crush on her, she actually apologizes when knocking him unconscious.

Bruce: Colin Douglas is Donald Bruce, Salamander's head of security. He is a rigid man, clearly comfortable in exercising his own power. When he and his men enter Kent's home in Episode One, he shoots down Kent's outrage by reminding him that he has the right to enter any time he chooses. When the Doctor's Salamander impersonation has him leaving with his tail between his legs, Bruce feels compelled to save face by issuing a warning to Jamie, who has been silent the entire time - essentially trying to regain his lost authority through bluster. For all that, he never comes across an idiot, and is the first to figure out that there is an imposter working with Kent.

Benik: Salamander's deputy, Benik is the sort of man who finds his way to power specifically in order to abuse it. He openly admits that he was "a nasty little boy," but adds that he "had a very enjoyable childhood." Though obviously subtextual in a family show, there is a hint of sexual sadism in his treatment of both Victoria and Salamander's food-taster, Fariah (Carmen Munroe). Milton Johns' performance is anything but restrained, as he grins evilly while acerbically drawing out each syllable he utters; but if he's arch and a bit camp, he is also thoroughly entertaining - and even a bit frightening because, unlike the show's usual monsters, creatures like Benik are all too common in the real world.

Salamander: The biggest compliment I can give to Patrick Troughton is that his performance as the villain is so very different from his Doctor that I often forgot that I was watching the same actor. I'm very glad this story was recovered intact in 2013, because the visual elements of the performance are even more impressive than the vocal ones. Troughton doesn't just put on swarthy make-up and alter his voice - He changes his entire body language. The Doctor is soft-spoken and compassionate. Salamander is harsh. Even when he speaks softly, it's in a wheedling way, as he tries to shift every situation to his own advantage. More impressive still is that when the Doctor imitates Salamander, Troughton doesn't completely replicate the Salamander performance - There's something slightly softer, separating the scenes of Doctor-as-Salamander from the scenes with Salamander himself. It is a masterful performance, one that I doubt many of his successors could have matched.


THOUGHTS:

The Enemy of the World was the last complete story recovered, found in 2013 alongside all but one episode of The Web of Fear. When the recovery was announced, fans were enthusiastic... about The Web of Fear. After its release, however, Enemy received one of the most significant reappraisals of any story in the show's history.

I actually always liked this serial. Even in audio form, I found it an engaging departure from the surrounding monster tales. Even so, seeing the actual episodes makes clear how strong it really is. The subtleties of Troughton's performance (or performances) are revealed, as we see his body language shift depending on which character he is playing. The action scenes obviously benefit, particularly the extended chase in Episode One. Benik's sadism is made more manifest by seeing the nonverbal elements of Milton Johns' performance. And the whole thing is revealed to be a lot tighter and better-paced than appeared to be the case on audio. No wonder that it went from being considered "the so-so one" of Season Five to being regarded as possibly its strongest tale!

The "Characters" section demonstrates what a rich cast inhabits this tale.  The only monsters here are of the human variety, with Salamander and Benik coming across as equally vile in different ways. The story is also brimming with characters who appear briefly but make strong impressions. Denesh and his deputy may only be in two episodes, but both characters make a strong impression, as does Fariah (not only a rare role for a woman of color in '60s Who - but a strong and well-characterized one). Other characters are introduced seeming like typical two-dimensional figures, only to be revealed as having more depth by the story's end. David Whitaker, Doctor Who's original script editor, offers an excellent set of scripts, and the regulars and guest cast respond with top-notch performances.

Flaws are relatively minor and typical for '60s Who. Some of the fight choreography is decidedly clunky, and there are a few bad edits - particularly one at the very end of Episdoe Three, that plays for all the world like some transitional shots went missing. The near-future setting helps the story feel a bit more "real"... but then the guards all wear typical silly costumes and carry firearms that look like sci-fi rayguns. If any of these are significant problems for you, though, then I'd advise avoiding all eras of Classic Who.

Overall Rating: 9/10. (Though when it was still missing, and I had only audios and reconstructions to go on, I would likely have awarded it a "7")

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#7 (4.37 - 4.43): The Evil of the Daleks.

The Doctor is made a pawn of his oldest enemy...

7 episodes. Approx. 163 minutes. Written by: David Whitaker. Directed by: Derek Martinus. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT

The Chameleons have been defeated and Ben and Polly have returned to their lives, but the Doctor's and Jamie's problems are far from over. The TARDIS has been stolen from Gatwick Airport, with just enough clues left behind to lead the pair to Edward Waterfield (John Bailey), a mysterious dealer in Victorian style antiques. The Doctor is startled to find that Waterfield's antiques are all completely new - yet at the same time, completely genuine.

The antique shop is a trap, and the Doctor and Jamie soon find themselves transported back in time to 1866. It is here that they are properly introduced to Waterfield, who is actually a 19th century scientist, is in the employ of Theodore Maxtible (Marius Goring), a man who dreams of turning lead into gold. Waterfield's daughter, Victoria (Deborah Watling), has been kidnapped by an evil force that has taken control of Maxtible's estate and has forced them to lay this trap for the Doctor.

The Daleks have returned. And this time, their agenda may just mean the end for the entire human race!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: "I am a professor of a far wider discipline, of which human nature is merely a part!" Many facets of the Doctor are seen in this story, with both his compassion and his manipulative side shown strongly. Though initially insistent on informing Jamie of the plan to use him in the Daleks' tests, he is ultimately very willing to manipulate his companion into participating. He manipulates the Daleks, too, recognizing that giving them what they want will fundamentally change them. This larger good is exemplified in the Daleks implanted with "the human factor," in whose childlike nature he delights. Still, he is ready for the Daleks' inevitable betrayal, as shown by his reflections midway through the story that the destruction of "an entire species" may well be what this encounter ends up coming to. Given such meaty material, Patrick Troughton rises to his best performance in the role to date - and given how good he already has been, that is quite a feat.

Jamie: The Doctor/Jamie team continues to delight in the first two episodes. Episode Two's survival allows us to glimpse some of the nonverbal, likely unscripted interplay between the two, as Jamie nearly knocks over objects in Waterfield's shop only to catch them as the Doctor shushes him. Jamie really comes into his own in the middle episodes, though, as he is left to carry the bulk of the action during the attempted rescue of Victoria. For the bulk of Episodes 3 - 5, Jamie is left to his own devices, and he shows himself as very capable. Ingenuity and instinct allow him to circumvent multiple traps, while an act of compassion toward the mute but deadly Kemel (Sonny Caldinez) turns an enemy into an ally.

Victoria: In her introductory story, Victoria gets little to do. Episodes 2 - 4 feature her in only one to two scenes a piece, largely as a bit of pretty bait to lure Jamie into the Daleks' test. The later episodes allow her a bit more character material, and Victoria's contempt for Maxtible's actions at the end is a particularly strong scene. Deborah Watling does give an appealing performance, and she already shows good rapport with Frazer Hines which the following season would capitalize on.

Daleks: This story introduces a bit of Dalek lore that would be revisited by the new series: The Dalek Emperor. A massive but immobile construct, the Emperor towers over the other Daleks, issuing commands and dictates. Given the almost web-like design of the Dalek city and the way he has the Doctor brought to him, unveiling the TARDIS as a lure, the image evoked is very much that of a fat spider lurking at the center of a spiderweb. This story also introduces the idea that if compassion and other human qualities were introduced to the mix, then the Daleks would not have to be evil - a notion that would laer inform the Doctor's actions in Genesis of the Daleks,where it was clear that he preferred to influence the Daleks to have compassion as part of their makeup rather than to destroy them outright.


THOUGHTS

The Evil of the Daleks was the last viewers would see of Terry Nation's sci-fi fascists until Season Nine. At the time, with Nation attempting to shop a Dalek television series in the United States, it was scripted as a "final" story for them. As such, writer David whitaker, who had done so well by the monsters in The Power of the Daleks (Troughton's debut), returned to the writer's desk to deliver another multi-layered take, this time with a more epic feel.

Going from The Faceless Ones to this is seamless in continuity terms, the start of this story picking up directly from the end of that one. Episode One is largely transitional, moving us from the previous story into this one, complete with references to the Chameleons and the Commandant. However, it is almost jarring how much stronger the writing quality is. The dialogue is sharper, the characters feel more complete. As much as I enjoyed The Faceless Ones, it's instantly apparent that this drama is on a higher level all around.

In this first episode, we meet four guest characters who are each distinct. Waterfield, Kennedy, Perry, and Hall are working together to ensnare the Doctor, but each has his own view of the events and each has his own agenda. The honest and fussy Perry is kept in the dark, simply used to run errands. The thug-like Hall is used to arouse the Doctor's suspicions. Crafty Kennedy follows his orders but also keeps an eye out for something he can use to his own benefit. Waterfield appears to be in charge... until late in the episode, when we see him pleading with his unseen masters. Of these four characters, only Waterfield is significant. Still, even these minor roles have a texture and life.

It's no surprise that this carries over to the major characters we meet in later episodes. Waterfield and Maxtible are initially presented as allies. Even in Episode Two, however, when we first meet him, it's clear that Maxtible is far more callous than Waterfield. By the end of Episode Four, he's emerged as a villain in his own right, obsessed with the power he can gain through the Daleks. He exults to his horrified daughter, Ruth (Brigit Forsyth):

"To possess such a secret would mean power and influence beyond all imagination. And I am about to discover this secret. Nothing will stop me. Nothing! Nobody!"

Change just a few words around, and this could just as easily come out of the mouth of Davros...

The quality does dip a bit near the end. The overly-elaborate plan involving "the Dalek factor" is the stuff of "B" sci-fi serials of the 1930's. The final episode also sees the Doctor escape a Dalek trap on the grounds of not being from Earth - despite the same trap working just fine on the equally non-Earthborn Daleks. A bit of lazy handwaving around an inconvenient spot in the plot. These things have me ranking this just a bit below Whitaker's more tightly-plotted Power of the Daleks.

Still, with splendid production values (very evident in the surviving episode) and a pace that never flags across seven wonderfully entertaining installments, this has to rank as a triumph. A few lapses near the end don't stop this from being one of the best-made stories of the show's entire black & white era.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

The Evil of the Daleks Missing Episode Notes

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Next Story: The Tomb of the Cybermen 

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#1 (4.9 - 4.14): The Power of the Daleks

"Daleks, conquer and destroy!"

6 episodes. Written by: David Whitaker. Directed by: Christopher Barry. Produced by: Innes Lloyd.


THE PLOT

The Doctor has changed. As the TARDIS leaves Antarctica, Ben and Polly discover that the white-haired old eccentric has gone, leaving a dark-haired stranger (Patrick Troughton) in his place. Polly is convinced that he is still the Doctor, with a changed appearance.  Ben is not so sure... and this Doctor's enigmatic behavior does little to ease his worries.

Not that there's much time for worry. The TARDIS lands on the colony world of Vulcan, a site devoted to the mining of mercury. The Doctor encounters an Earth Examiner - who is immediately murdered in front of him. Thinking fast, the Doctor assumes the identity of the Examiner and ascertains that all is not well with this colony. Hensell (Peter Bathurst), the governor, is too eager to make all seem well, to the point that he refuses to acknowledge any issues. Quinn (Nicholas Hawtry), the lieutenant governor, has concerns about rebels, but finds resistance from the security chief, Bragen (Bernard Archard) - a man with an agenda all his own.

Tensions within the colony have created a powder-keg. And the chief scientist, Lesterson (Robert James), has just made a discovery that will set it alight: A 200-year-old capsule, found in a pool of mercury, made of a metal that has not corroded in all that time. Three metal casings are within. Lesterson has discovered the Daleks - and with the colony's power supply, he is about to bring them to life!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: David Whitaker's script shrewdly plays on an audience's inherent mistrust of a recast lead, making the companions react along with the audience. The Doctor initially doesn't even refer to himself as such. In Episode One, he refers to the old Doctor as "the Doctor," and in Episode Two refers to Hartnell's Doctor as "the proper Doctor." It is only after the second episode - when a Dalek reacts to the Doctor with recognition - that the story stops questioning his identity.

From that point on, the focus is on the Doctor's efforts to stop the Daleks, with the colony's various factions standing in his way.  By the end, Patrick Troughton's character has gone from stranger to trusted heroic figure, with the Second Doctor firmly cemented as the series' new lead. Quite a feat, and the series was fortunate that a writer as capable as Whitaker was available for this critical transition.

Ben: He spends the first two episodes distrusting the new Doctor. "He doesn't even act like him!" he protests, as the Second Doctor behaves in a mercurial fashion in the early TARDIS scenes. Ben grills him as to why he looks different, why his cloak and ring will no longer fit. He grumbles, as the Doctor pretends to be the Examiner, that it's "hard to accept" that he's the Doctor. Only when the Dalek recognizes him does he finally accept his identity, and even then he seems less inclined to trust his judgment than he has in the past.

Ben and Polly have always been among my favorite "overlooked" companions, and this serial is a fine example as to what I enjoy about them. They are anything but reluctant adventurers, throwing themselves in with enthusiasm. Ben, as played by Michael Craze, has a refreshing skepticism - not only of the Doctor, but of the various figures they meet. He instantly dislikes the officious Bragen, suspects Quinn because of the evidence against him, and tends to believe the worst of people. As they try to determine which person in the Colony summoned the Examiner in the first place, it is Ben who dismisses the governor as a possibility. "Governors are all alike," he says, noting that if the governor called for help, it would be like admitting he wasn't up to the job.

Polly: She immediately accepts the new Doctor for who he is (amusingly insisting, "He is the Doctor, I know he is... I think"). In contrast to Ben, she inherently believes the best in people. She insists Quinn could not possibly be guilty, saying that she can just tell that Quinn is "all right." It's a shame the animation in the official release is so limited, as one of Anneke Wills' strengths is her wonderfully expressive face.  Ben and Polly have tended to be overlooked and/or dismissed as companions, due in part I suspect to how few of their stories survived the purge.  I believe that view is changing, likely in no small part because of the animations making their stories more widely available to the public.


THE DALEKS

The first Dalek serial to be written with no real Terry Nation input. David Whitaker shows what I've often believed, which is that the Daleks themselves had more potential than was demonstrated by Nation's often-routine potboilers. Whitaker makes the Daleks effective by putting them into a position of weakness for the first time since their first story. There are initially only three Daleks, and they are powerless.

The Daleks size up the colony as quickly as the Doctor does, and they play on the various agendas. To Lesterson, they are a discovery that will revolutionize the colony. To Hensell, they are a potential workforce that will increase production - and make his bosses back on Earth grateful. To Bragen and the rebels, they are a weapon, to be used to subdue an enemy. The Daleks play each role as it is demanded of them, all the while insisting that they are the humans' servants. It is only as they gain power - both literally and in terms of control over the colony - that they take on a more sinister bent, waiting for the right moment in Episode Six to teach these humans "the law of the Daleks."

This ability to manipulate human nature sets Whitaker's Daleks above Terry Nation's Daleks, and makes them far more sinsiter. A Dalek whose only response to a human is to either enslave or exterminate is, ultimately, a rather one-note creation. A Dalek who can play on human ambition, can probe a man's weak spots and turn those to its advantage: That's a formidable foe. "We understand the human mind," a Dalek proudly announces. The scary thing is, based on the evidence of this story... They do!

I quite enjoy Peter Hawkins' Dalek voices. He has a deeper pitch, both more calculating and more menacing than the later Dalek voices. It's also a pitch that's well-suited to some of the surprisingly thoughtful lines given to the Daleks here.  I love the genuine confusion in the Dalek's voice when it wonders, "Why do human beings kill human beings?" The Daleks don't utter their catch-phrase until late in Episode Five, when they finally have manipulated their way back into a position of strength.


THOUGHTS

What is there to say about The Power of the Daleks that hasn't been said over and over again on fan forums during the past few years? It's a splendidly-constructed story, with an initially gradual pace that tightens as it goes, until the tension can't help but explode. It sees the Daleks at their most formidable, while offering a near-perfect transition from Hartnell's Doctor to Troughton's, easing viewers into accepting a new Doctor at a time when the thought that there could be a new Doctor was rather revolutionary.

When I first watched the Loose Cannon recon of The Power of the Daleks, it was in the midst of getting back into Doctor Who after a very long time away.  Power was only the second recon I watched, and I was absolutely enthralled. The story was extremely suspenseful, and the Troughton Doctor was magical - a bit of a clown, but never too much of one; keenly observant yet vaguely absent-minded; and just a slight bit sinister. The story had a wealth of tiny clips bringing it to life in its first two episodes. And by the time the clips disappeared, I was too engrossed in the narrative to care. It was clearly a cut above the videos of The Brain of Morbius and Revenge of the Cybermen that I had watched prior to that point, and I declared Troughton my favorite Doctor on the spot (he's since slipped a couple of slots, but he's still well up there).

When I went online to look up this story - which was surely the very best the series had to offer - I was stunned to discover that, by and large, Power was barely mentioned. When it was mentioned, it seemed to be dismissed as an OK-at-best serial that was far outstripped by the 7-part Evil of the Daleks, which was when fandom decreed that David Whitaker had really gotten it right.

That's why it's been such a blessing to see this story's renaissance within fandom over the past few years. As the missing serials have become more and more available, mainly thanks to the excellent BBC audio range and now thanks to animation, "Received Fan Wisdom" has receded to an extent, and I entered into fandom in time to witness a lot of stories' reputations start shifting. While Evil remains well-regarded (as it should be), I have been pleased to see Power's reputation erupt, to the point where this masterpiece of story structure is finally getting the exact level of praise it merits.

Back to the story itself, I'll sum up my views by saying that it retains the title of "Best" in several areas. It remains, in my view, the best introductory story for any Doctor; the best Dalek story; and the best Troughton story. One of the series' greats, and I'm glad that it's finally being recognized as such.


Rating: 10/10.

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