CLASSIC Dr Who Essentials Discussion

[coolcat13]

this is the first time you get to see the Daleks .It really is one of the better Hartnell eps .several of the limitations on the Daleks will be contradicted in later episodes as well the whole theory of the Daleks bieng the original warring race with the Thalls. In later eps it turns out that the Kaleds were at war with the Thalls

[petra1989]

It was the Kaleds, All that Davros did was change the letters in the name. They were first called the Mark IV travel machine.

 

The Daleks were supposed to be an one person tank, but Davros twisted them into his own agenda.

[Antilles]

Mrk IV? Wasnt it a Mrk III? Oh no, Im gonna have to go watch again :) As for the first Dalek story, they didnt obviously think about the future of the show as far as Dalek history, but after 'Genesis' Ive always thought this story was very very far in the future after that period, even after 'Destiny' the only thing that wouldnt make sense in that theory is that the Daleks didnt know who the Doctor was in this story, but thats the trouble with time travel I guess, all messed up.

 

The end of the first episode when Barbara is being led through the corridors and then we see a 'sink plunger' heading toward her and were left guessing for a week must have been amazing back then...or laughable depending on your age and sense of imagination. The Dalek design I didnt really like that much until they had the shoulder plates added, but theyre still cool. Ive mentioned this before in the early 'Rose' thread but for the older fans who would know and have seen the set photos for 'The Daleks' will hopefully remember a pic of a Dalek with a Number 3 written on it (for directing purposes) and that they were also referred to as dustbins or pepper-pots and then RTD adds a living dustbin with a number 3 on it to attack Mickey.....coincidence? I dunno but it sounds like an RTD thing.

 

EDIT PS Coolcat, if you could edit the post titles to the one I made then every week it could remain in the same, format and people, especially the new fans will not get more confused than they already are...for example

 

CLASSIC Dr Who Essentials Discussion

Story 002 The DALEKS aka The Mutants

 

Thanks, sorry to be pain!

[Fenriswolf]

I changed it for you RS.

[thegoonden]

I rather prefer to think "the daleks" occurs between Genesis and Destiny. That it depitcs their moment of emergence from the tomb the Doc built for them. Huge continuity problems, but no matter how you look at it, there will be, cos they were not expecting us to be analysing it 42 years later :)

 

Davros during "the Daleks" would be just a corpse in the old bunker.

Yhen again, maybe "the Daleks" is far future after they had been beaten back to Skaro.

 

Anyway....the early Dalek episodes suffer from a touch of "godzilla science", so best to just take them as some actors trying to tell you the story of the daleks as best they understand it, rather than as a documentary showing real events :)

 

[atgxtg]

Actually, a lot of the continutity problems may not exist. Suppsedly, the Daleks in this serial are an offshoot that stayed behind on Skaro while the rest went off in space to conquest the universe.

 

So it is possible that the stuff that is later contradicted could in fact be true. There may have been a second war on Skaro, and the Daleks being powered in the city by "Static electrictiy" could all fit in with later events.

 

One thing I find very interesting about the Dalkes in this serial is that they aren"t quite the signle minded racist that they become in latter stories. It"s all still there, but these Dalkes are able to be a bit more pragmatic, even diplomatic, compared to the latter versions. It makes them more tragic, sympathetic creatures.

[Antilles]

Thanks Fenris, looks really good in sticky mode, then next weeks could be stickied and the old one released etc and still be discussed if members wish to.

 

One thing I hated about this story was Hartnells portrayal of a sick man in the cell, he really puts on a good show and always makes me feel anxious when I watch him.

 

Also its a tad long but thats the period I guess, lots of long stories back then, must have been hell to wait week after week. :) Terry Nation done a really good job though, I particularly enjoyed the way he approached the creators with the Dalek story, if I remember right he said he found a strange cylinder which apparently fell from the sky into his garden which he dug up and found ancient records of a race of beings called Daleks. Awesome! Im glad they belived him lol

 

PS What would be good for next weeks viewing/discussion. Obviously were not going to go through all the episodes, just essentials. My mind is thinking 'The Time Meddler, as it covers several topics, those being the historical invasion of England by the Vikings, a new companion namely Steven Taylor and the introduction of the first other Time Lord (though not named as a race yet) and his time machine. We could also try 'The Chase' or skip forward to the difficult to watch 'Tenth Planet' when the first regeneration takes place. Any ideas are welcome.

[coolcat13]

I am thinking we flash ahead to the Chase or the Dalek Invasion of Earth

[coolcat13]

Also I most surely will put the titles in this format .no problem there

 

[Fenriswolf]

Yeah, that's my plan to sticky em up and let the old ones go.

[dingding100]

I never did like the early Hartnell Doctor. I find him hard to watch, probably because I'm so used to Doctor 4 thru 9. I actually find myself watching more of the companions then the Doctor. In this one, the Doctor seems helpless sometimes, but always tries to wrangle control of the situation from someone else.

 

As a side note, a co-worker of mine is an exact double of Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter.

[Marooned]

That was exactly what they were doing though. The Doctor was more of a plot device than a character in the old shows. Heck, he nearly commits murder in the first episode. How very different from the Doctor we know today ehh?

[taq22]

I think it would be great if 'The Mutants' story was also part of a massive Dalek Master Plan, like in War of the Daleks the John Peel book. It would certainly add a lot of creedence to the new series if they did that.

[Fenriswolf]

That was exactly what they were doing though. The Doctor was more of a plot device than a character in the old shows. Heck' date=' he nearly commits murder in the first episode. How very different from the Doctor we know today ehh?[/quote']

 

Yes, but there's shades of Hartnell in CE's Doctor especially when he confronts the Dalek in 'Dalek' and says.

 

"I watched it happen, I made it happen!"