The Power of the Daleks
The Power of the Daleks is the completely missing third serial of the fourth season of British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 5 November to 10 December 1966.
In this serial, the new Doctor (Troughton) and his travelling companions Polly (Anneke Wills) and Ben (Michael Craze) land on the planet Vulcan.
There they find an Earth colony, where the lead scientist Lesterson (Robert James) discovers a 200-year-old alien capsule containing three inactive Daleks.
In 2016, a full-length animated reconstruction of The Power of the Daleks was released to coincide with the serial's fiftieth anniversary, with an updated "special edition" following in 2020.
After transforming, the new Doctor regains consciousness, sets the TARDIS in flight, and appears to deliberately misunderstand direct questions from Ben and Polly.
A security team, led by Bragen, escorts the Doctor, Ben and Polly to the colony, where they meet the governor, Hensell, and his deputy Quinn.
The group is discovered by Lesterson; the Doctor asks him where the third Dalek is and the scientist reports that he hid what he assumed was a machine, with the intention to reactivate it.
The Doctor, Ben and Polly are present during these events, during which Lesterson arrives with the reactivated Dalek, which feigns loyalty.
Inside the capsule, Lesterson discovers a secret production line mass-producing Daleks, and he loses his sanity.
The start of the first episode follows on directly from final scene of the preceding serial, The Tenth Planet, in which Doctor is seen transforming from his previous incarnation.
[2] As the Doctor recovers from his transition, he rummages in a chest of artefacts and discovers Saladin's dagger, referencing the earlier serial, The Crusade (1965).
[3] Wiles' successor Innes Lloyd, while having a more positive relationship with Hartnell, advised the actor to leave with approval of the BBC's head of drama series Shaun Sutton.
[4] Story editor Gerry Davis was inspired by the change in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
[8] The serial was written by David Whitaker, the series' original story editor, with uncredited rewrites by his successor, Dennis Spooner.
[10] Director Christopher Barry had previously worked with Troughton; he believes this led to him being tapped for the job, his fifth serial for the programme.
[6] Working titles for this story included The Destiny of Doctor Who,[3] and the third episode was subtitled Servants of Masters in the rehearsal script.
"[6][5] Story editor Gerry Davis attributed the "wild" hair and "worse for wear" clothes as a "legacy" from the Doctor's "metaphysical change.
"[13] Davis also described the Doctor as "vital and forceful," "a positive man of action" but also capable of behaving "like a skilled chess player," with "humour and wit" and "an overwhelmingly thunderous rage.
[6] The landscape of Vulcan seen through Lesterson's lab window was a photo of a stock steel factory in Sheffield and was inspired by Forbidden Planet.
[1][30] The BBC's Audience Research Report conducted for the third episode included several complaints that the new Doctor was too clownish; a minority of comments were positive or more forgiving.
[31] After the serial finished, he wrote, "I continue to sign for William Hartnell (our new man on Vulcan lacks the old caressing note), but all is nearly well when we have the Daleks.
[6] In The Discontinuity Guide (1995), Paul Cornell, Martin Day, and Keith Topping wrote of the story, "The first, and most important, reformatting of Doctor Who's central character is carried out with considerable style.
"[1][32] In Doctor Who: The Television Companion (1998), David J. Howe, Mark Stammers, and Stephen James Walker wrote that the story's "plotting and dialogue are excellent and the guest characters all very believable and compelling".
[1][33] In 2009, Mark Braxton of Radio Times gave the serial five out of five stars, stating "The Power of the Daleks presents us with an intelligent, logical set of scripts that don't over-reach.
[30] He noted that the Daleks were "far from one-dimensional" with the serial deploying a claustrophobic setting and memorable moments that eased the transition between Doctors.
[34] In a review of the animated release, IGN's Scott Collura rated the serial an 8.2 out of 10, writing, "The script, meanwhile, while slow and of its time, offers a tale that is relevant even today: Be careful not to selfishly overreach without paying attention to the needs of those around you.
"[36] He praised the use of the Daleks in the serial because they "are much, much scarier than just mindless, angry weapons," leading to "one of the most satisfying surprises in all of Doctor Who’s lengthy history" that they were in control the whole time.
[43] Although the video archive of The Power of the Daleks was lost, the BBC commissioned an animated version of the serial in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of its original transmission.
[54] Following this, two more short clips – along with a higher-quality version of one of the extant scenes – were discovered in a 1966 edition of the BBC science series Tomorrow's World; these clips came to light on 11 September 2005 when the relevant section was broadcast as part of an edition of the clip-based nostalgia series Sunday Past Times on BBC Two.
An updated version of the animation was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 27 July 2020;[58][59] it also adds newly discovered footage from the original episodes, the narrated cassette version of the serial, two new documentaries, and additional archive content, including an edition of Whicker's World ("I Don't Like My Monsters to Have Oedipus Complexes") and surviving footage of Robin Hood starring Troughton.
