002 - The Daleks

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This is Doctor Who really begins.

The Daleks are iconic and their introductory story is still a pretty good piece of sci-fi. Quite a contrast to the snooozer that the previous story was. Thank goodness this story followed, otherwise Doctor Who could have ended right there.

SeaDevil

Great story but for me it kind of drags and is a bit over long. This is one story that would benefit greatly by colorization imo.

After watching An Unearthly Child and being struck at how familiar it was, I must say The Daleks feels very unfamiliar and is fascinating territory to explore. Companions who do not wish to be drug about all Time and Space and a self centered, egotistical Doctor. The hostility between Ian and the Doctor is palpable in some scenes, and Barbara keeps looking like she wants to wake up from a horrible dream. This is made all the more brilliant by Susan's happy go lucky nature and reinforces the fact this is a life she enjoys and has grown accustomed to.

The Dalek introduction itself was extremely well done. I especially love how Ian, the Doctor, and Susan enter a room only to come out and have the corridor filled with Daleks. That was infinitely more terrifying then the modern rendition of hearing them a half mile off screaming "Exterminate!"

The Daleks is a good tale, if a bit on the long winded side. It strikes me that initially the show was serving as an education tool in critical thinking and problem solving, since this story definitely has the characters explaining everything.

G.C. Rust
Nebraska, USA

I love watching this episode with the text commentary. Each episode has the rating listed for its original broadcast. And each episode just gets higher and higher. Each week,1000 of school kids must have told their friends at school about these cool Daleks and this show. And more of them watched every week. A legend was born by word of mouth! No internet needed!
This epic story is best taken 1 or 2 episodes at a time, as it was designed.


Ronpur

"The only interest we have in the Thals is their total extermination." A succinct statement of the Dalek philosophy towards not only their lifelong enemies but all life in the universe.

This is the tale that truly cemented the future of Doctor Who.

Raymond Cusick's design has remained unique since they first appeared one Saturday night in December 1963 on BBC1.

It also used the serial format to great advantage. From the cliffhanger of the first episode of Barbara being menaced by 'something' millions of viewers were kept in suspense for an entire week. Of course now viewers can just sit back and play them one after the other and not appreciate what the experience was like in the beginning.

**Little known trivia -
The original designer for the serial later became an Oscar winning director, his name;
Ridley Scott!

Prior to writing the first Dalek serial, Nation was chief scriptwriter for comedian Tony Hancock. The two fell out and Nation either resigned or was fired. When Hancock left the BBC, he worked on several series proposals, one of which was called From Plip to Plop, a comedic history of the world which would have ended with a nuclear apocalypse, the survivors being reduced to living in dustbin-like robot casings and eating radiation to stay alive. According to biographer Cliff Goodwin, when Hancock saw the Daleks, he allegedly shouted at the screen, "That bloody Nation—he's stolen my robots!"

Fantastic story! My favourite so far! Not surprising that the Daleks have become the show's most iconic villains considering how wonderful this first Dalek story is!

The Daleks are much more cunning here and a bit more devious than how we know them today, and I really enjoyed that. Their level of evilness hasn't changed a bit though; the scene where the leader of the Thals is pleading with them for peace and they just outright kill him is a perfect demonstration of how evil these cold-hearted, murdering monsters are. And I loved it!

Fantastic story! Only criticisms I would give is that it could do with being an episode or two shorter, and also Carole Ann Ford's attempts at acting out 'falling over' are hilarious, not convincing at all. But I'm just nitpicking; this is a great story. Really enjoyed it! A full 5 out of 5 from me!