THE DALEKS

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'''The Daleks''' (also known as '''The Mutants''', among other titles, see below) is a serial in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast weekly from 21 December 1963 to 1 February 1964. The story also marks the first appearance of the popular Daleks.

Contents

Synopsis

Plot

Cast

Daleks

Continuity

Production

Alternative titles

In print

Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases

External links

Reviews

Target novelisation

Audio Adaptation

Synopsis

The First Doctor, Barbara, Ian and Susan land on the jungle planet Skaro. They meet the two races on the planet — the beautiful, humanoid Thals, and the malicious race known as Daleks. The Daleks are mutant creatures, unable to survive without being encased in their metallic fighting machines. When the TARDIS crew loses an important part of the TARDIS in the Dalek city, they must convince the pacifistic Thals to help them.

Plot

This story introduces a common trope in Doctor Who, namely that of the TARDIS malfunctioning. In this case, instead of bringing the TARDIS crew back to Earth, it lands in a petrified jungle, and The Doctor has to try to fix their position by taking a reading of the stars. The Doctor insists they explore a futuristic city they spot beyond the forest but Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright are unconvinced. To force his companions to do so he sabotages his own TARDIS by emptying the mercury fluid links, providing a macguffin to keep them on the planet, as the fluid links subsequently get traded around and lost.
Inside the city, Barbara becomes separated from her colleagues, and is, in a memorable first episode cliffhanger, threatened by an unseen creature with a metal arm. Before long, the entire crew is captured by these creatures, who turn out to be the Daleks. Susan is eventually sent to retrieve anti-radiation drugs from the TARDIS, where she encounters a second species, the Thals, who are at war with the Daleks. Susan attempts to broker a peace between the two groups, and while it appears to work, the Daleks eventually betray the Thals, opening fire on them at what was supposed to be a peaceful exchange of food.
In the ensuing chaos, the Doctor and his companions escape with the Thals, and learn their version of the history of their planet. They also learn that the Thals are avowed pacifists. In order to save them from the Daleks, they convince them of the importance of aggression, and manage to lead the Thals in a successful war against the Daleks.

Cast

★ The Doctor — William Hartnell

★ Ian Chesterton — William Russell

★ Barbara Wright — Jacqueline Hill

★ Susan Foreman — Carole Ann Ford

★ Dalek voices — Peter Hawkins, David Graham

★ Dalek Operators — Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Michael Summerton, Gerald Taylor, Peter Murphy

★ Temnosus — Alan Wheatley

★ Alydon — John Lee

★ Dyoni — Virginia Wetherell

★ Ganatus — Philip Bond

★ Antodus — Marcus Hammond

★ Elyon — Gerald Curtis

★ Kristas — Jonathon Crane

★ Thals — Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison, Lesley Hill, Steve Pokol, Jeanette Rossini, Eric Smith

Daleks

This is the first story when the Daleks make an appearance. Writer Terry Nation once claimed that he came up with the name after seeing a set of encyclopedias with one volume spanning the section of the alphabet from ''Dal - Lek''. However, he later admitted that this was simply a good story for the sake of the press, and that in fact he had just made up the name.
Although many parts of the Dalek mythos were established here, several key elements were changed over the years. The most notable change regarded the nature of the war with the Thals and the transformation into the Daleks. In this story, the Daleks mutated as a direct result of the war, and their previous species was called the Dals. In the later ''Genesis of the Daleks'', their mutation was a direct result of the machinations of Davros, their previous species was the Kaleds, and the mutation marked the end of the war with the Thals. The contradictions between these origins have provided an endless source of debate among fans.
This story was also the only instance in which the Daleks' dependence, for motive power, on static electricity from the floors of their city was a factor. In their next appearance, ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'', they had found a way round this restriction – they sported small satellite-type dishes to receive power transmissions, and subsequently the design incorporated power-panel slats round the mid-section (though an affinity for static was occasionally referenced in future serials, such as ''The Power of the Daleks'', and the plot of ''Death to the Daleks'' required an explanation that for basic movement they now utilised telekinesis).
This story is one of only two times the Daleks' ray-guns are used for a purpose other than to kill when they paralyse Ian's legs, albeit temporally. (The other, ''Planet of the Daleks'', involves paralysis of the legs of the Third Doctor, the only time any Dalek has ever shot the Doctor.) However, it is implied that this can be made permanent. The Daleks also use their guns to kill the Thals later in the story.
The famous Dalek catchphrase rant – "Exterminate!" – is not used in this first story, though the Daleks refer to "extermination".

Continuity

★ The mercury-filled fluid links in the TARDIS console feature again in subsequent stories including ''The Wheel in Space'', also written by Whittaker.

★ Anti-radiation drugs are shown to be required to survive on the surface of Skaro in this serial – a plot point repeated in ''Destiny of the Daleks'' when the Doctor next returns to the post-war planet.

★ The Thals featured again in ''Planet of the Daleks'' – still based on Skaro and fighting their age-old foes on a suicide mission to Spiradon – and the retcon serial ''Genesis of the Daleks''. In ''Destiny of the Daleks'', they appear to have abandoned Skaro – and the Daleks have returned to it, as they have once more in ''Remembrance of the Daleks'' when the planet is destroyed.

★ The Daleks naturally identify the Doctor as an adversary in this serial, but he does not yet become their arch foe – they do not recognise him in the subsequent ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'', but are specifically targeting him as a supreme threat from the next Dalek story after that, ''The Chase'', onwards. In ''Day of the Daleks'', for example, they scan his brain to determine that he is their old enemy in a new form, and in all later serials every Dalek is well aware of his abilities and that he is their species' greatest enemy.

Production

★ The seven episodes of the serial had individual titles: "The Dead Planet", "The Survivors", "The Escape", "The Ambush", "The Expedition", "The Ordeal" and "The Rescue".

★ According to text commentary on the 2006 DVD release, the first episode, "The Dead Planet", was recorded twice. The first version was affected by a technical fault that captured backstage voices. The remount was done two weeks before it was broadcast, and Susan's outfit was changed in the second version. The only surviving footage of the first version is the recap at the start of the second episode, "The Survivors" showing Barbara menaced by a Dalek; the corresponding scene at the end of "The Dead Planet" was recreated when the episode was remounted.

★ The second episode, "The Survivors", was taped on November 22, 1963. Minutes before taping started, the cast and crew learned of the assassination of John F. Kennedy but it was decided to continue with the shooting. The next day, the first episode of ''Doctor Who'' was broadcast.

★ The designer originally assigned to this serial was Ridley Scott, later a famed film director. However, a problem with Scott's schedule meant that he was replaced by Raymond Cusick, who was thus given the task of realising the Dalek creatures.

★ This serial was loosely adapted as a film, ''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' starring Peter Cushing. The film had no relation to the novelization of ''The Daleks'', which was titled ''Doctor Who and the Daleks'' on its 1973 release. (See below for more details.)

Alternative titles

During production the overall story went through a number of working titles such as ''The Survivors'' and ''Beyond the Sun'', before settling down as ''The Mutants''. This title was used in most BBC paperwork using titles for over a decade.
However in 1972 a later ''Doctor Who'' story called ''The Mutants'' was produced (with the same director). Some feel that referring to two stories by the same title is confusing. Others have argued that such occurrences of repeated names are by no means uncommon and that disambiguation is not hard.
Two titles emerged as alternatives. ''The Dead Planet'' emerged after the 1973 ''Radio Times'' 10th anniversary ''Doctor Who'' special referred to all the early stories by the title of their first episodes. ''The Dead Planet'' was used in many licensed guides and magazines up until 1980, when it was displaced by ''The Daleks'', a title deriving from the story's book and film adaptations and with no basis in contemporary usage (indeed "The Daleks" is the onscreen title of the second episode of the ''second'' Dalek story). This title has largely stuck, and was used for the script book published by Titan Books in 1989 as well as the VHS and DVD releases in 1989, 2001 and 2006 and the 1992 reprinting of the novelisation. However some still use ''The Mutants'', often disambiguating it by the use of the production code (B), as opposed to (NNN) for the 1972 story.
One compromise has been to not refer to the story by a title but to instead write "the first Dalek story" or "Serial B". See also Doctor Who story title controversy''.

In print

''This section is about the novelization of ''The Daleks''. For the Peter Cushing film, see Dr. Who and the Daleks.''
This was the first ''Doctor Who'' serial to be adapted as a novel. Written by David Whitaker, the book was first published in November 1964 by Frederick Muller as ''Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks''. A paperback release by Armada Books followed in 1965.
Later in 1973 Target Books published it with the title given on the cover as ''Doctor Who and the Daleks'', although the full title was still given on the inside frontpage. From 1977 onwards reprints dropped the full title. In 1992 the novelisation was retitled again to ''Doctor Who - The Daleks''. It was the very first novelisation published under the Target imprint (the books would continue for the next 20 years).
From 1983 onwards the Target novelisations bore numbers, with the first 73 releases retroactively numbered in alphabetical order. However it would not be until 1992 that an actual reprint stated it was "No. 16" in the Target Books Doctor Who Library.
Whittaker's book differs from most later novelisations in that it is written in the first person and from the point of view of a companion (Ian Chesterton in this case). It also ignores the events of the preceding serial ''An Unearthly Child'', except for a modified retelling of the first episode (to explain how Ian and Barbara joined the Doctor).
For some reason, Susan Foreman is renamed Susan English for the novelisation, which has led to some reference books erroneously listing the character by this name. Indeed, in the PC game ''Destiny of the Doctors'', the player has to ask the First Doctor the surname of Susan for one of the tasks. Both English and Foreman are available options (although only the latter is considered correct in the game).
The novelisation was also translated into Dutch, Turkish, Japanese, Portuguese, French and German.
In 2005 the novel was issued by BBC Audio as part of the ''Doctor Who: Travels in Time and Space'' audio book collectors tin, read by William Russell.

Broadcast, VHS and DVD releases

★ Arguably the most famous of the 1960s ''Doctor Who'' serials, ''The Daleks'' was one of many sets of ''Doctor Who'' episodes slated for destruction by the BBC in the 1970s. However, in 1978, Ian Levine came across them at the BBC just hours before all remaining copies of the story were to be destroyed and managed to rescue them.

★ It was released twice on VHS, first in 1990, then again in 2000 with remastered quality and new cover artwork.

★ It was remastered again for inclusion in ''Doctor Who: The Beginning'' DVD boxed set released in 2006, together with ''An Unearthly Child'' and ''The Edge of Destruction''.

External links

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Reviews

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Target novelisation

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★ On Target — ''Doctor Who in an exciting adventure with the Daleks''

Audio Adaptation

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