We are faced with two wildly divergent timelines: one where Sue watched the Special Edition, and one where she didn’t…
Episode One
Me: I’m sorry, but I need you to close your eyes during this title sequence.
Sue: Why?
Me: Because the title of the story is a massive spoiler.
Sue: Wait, don’t tell me – is it The Return of the Master?
Me: No.
Sue: Is it The Return of the Cybermen?
Me: Look…
Sue: The Return of the Daleks?
Me: Just stop it!
Sue: It had better not be The Return of the Toymaker.
Me: Just close your eyes – you used to do this every week when we watched Battlestar Galactica.
Sue: OK. (short pause) Can I look now?
Me: Hang on… OK, you can open your eyes now.
Sue: This had better be worth it.
The story begins with Sir Reginald Styles, organiser of the Second World Peace Conference, narrowly surviving an assassination attempt by a guerrilla who vanishes like a ghost. UNIT are called in to investigate.
Sue: Do UNIT change their base of operations every single week? Do they ever appear in the same location twice?
Meanwhile, the Doctor is playing with his faulty dematerialisation circuit.
Sue: He still can’t get his skateboard working properly. My, Jo looks very pretty today. That’s a good look for Jo.
When he plays with the TARDIS controls, the Doctor and Jo are visited by projections of their future selves.
Sue: You know, I’m sure they’ve done this gag before…
Meanwhile, the guerrilla who failed to kill Styles at the top of the show is desperately trying to run away.
Sue: He looks like Tom Petty.
Suddenly, two hulking, ape-like Ogrons appear from nowhere to shoot him down.
Sue: Are they Klingons? Is this one called Doctor Who and the Klingons?
The Ogrons report to their Controller.
Sue: This bloke reminds me of David Cameron. A lot.
And then this happens…
Sue: He’s having a laugh! Did he think he was still in rehearsals? Why didn’t the director demand a re-take? Was he sacked? Has anyone ever tracked him down and interviewed him for a DVD extra? I think he should explain himself.
And then we are treated to a very brief glimpse of a Dalek.
Sue: Ooh! It’s a Dalek. OK, I understand now. I bet the kids were made up when they saw that.
The Doctor decides to take the place of Sir Reginald and he waits for the guerrillas to return. He passes the time eating cheese and drinking wine.
Sue: He really is a pompous twat, isn’t he?
Just as Jo is about to feed Benton some very strong cheese, Yates orders the Sergeant to check on the UNIT patrols.
Sue: How is Yates superior to Benton in rank? How is that even possible?
The episode concludes with three (count ‘em) Daleks announcing they are back and ready to kick ass.
Sue: It’s nice to see the Daleks again. It’s not really Doctor Who without them.
Me: Do you notice anything different about them?
Sue: They’re in colour?
Me: Well, yes, obviously. Anything else?
Sue: They sound different?
Me: I know! It’s a disaster!
Sue: But I like the new voices. I can understand them.
Episode Two
Sue: What the hell was that? Is there something wrong with your DVD?
Me: No, the director doesn’t know how to make Doctor Who.
We are referring to the opening recap, which includes part of the music sting from last week’s cliffhanger. It’s very jarring and Sue is now convinced that Paul Bernard couldn’t give a shit about getting anything right. He certainly hasn’t thought through the design of the doors in the futuristic city.
Sue: You wouldn’t catch me standing under a door like that. It could snap back and slap you in the face.
Meanwhile, at UNIT HQ, the Brigadier is on the phone to the Ministry. He is surrounded by a pool of typists and the noise is almost deafening.
Sue: It’s like Dickie Davies in World of Sport. The Brig is always on the phone, isn’t he? He’s always juggling balls in the air.
Me: Maybe that’s how he keeps his affair with Doris a secret.
The Doctor and Jo are captured by guerrillas, but when Jo complains about this, the Doctor dresses her down.
Sue: Does Pertwee ever mellow out, you know, like Hartnell did? Jo has saved his life several times now and yet he still talks to her like she’s shit on his shoe. And he wants Jo to treat the people who have tied her up with compassion and respect. It’s totally inconsistent.
As the time travel plot becomes clearer, Sue spots the obvious parallel.
Sue: It’s The Terminator. Years before The Terminator. I’m very impressed.
Yes, yes, The Outer Limits did something vaguely similar a few years earlier (badly, I might add) but I can’t be arsed getting into that. Sue is impressed, let’s just leave it at that.
Sue: It’s impossible not to love Jo but she isn’t written very well. She’s written with contempt, actually. Annette (she means Anat) is a good, strong female character, which just proves that it can be done, so why is Jo written so badly?
As the Daleks and the Controller discuss their plans, Sue appreciates the change of pace.
Sue: At least it’s not the Master this week. Actually, has the Master ever teamed up with the Daleks?
Me: No.
Sue: Does he ever team up with the Daleks?
Me: No, of course not.
Sue: That’s a shame, that would have been funny.
Now, I realise that some of you believe that I make this sort of thing up , just so we hardcore Doctor Who fans can indulge in a sly wink, but Sue really did say that. Just like she mentioned The Clangers during Colony in Space last week. I mean, have you listened to the music in Colony in Space recently? How can I not include references like that? And now I’ve ruined the surprise for Sue by getting all defensive about it. Yes, love, The Clangers do turn up in Doctor Who. Sorry.
Sue: Magnetron would be a great name for a band.
But Sue likes the Ogrons even more.
Sue: They are really scary. They remind me of the Orcs in the Lord of the Rings films.
Me: Well, Peter Jackson is a Doctor Who fan.
Sue: I bet when they were making Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson stuck this story in his DVD player and he said – “I want the Orcs to look exactly like that!”. I can definitely see that happening. It’s uncanny, actually.
And then Sue becomes fixated with the Controller’s make-up.
Sue: He looks plastic. He’s not an Auton, is he? Or is that silver paint on his face? It’s very New Romantic. He’s well ahead of the curve.
When Jo is questioned by the Controller, he asks her to tell him the date where she comes from but, crucially, he doesn’t ask for the year.
Me: Damn it!
Sue: What’s wrong?
I pause the DVD and then I attempt to explain to Sue the fundamental basics of the UNIT dating controversy. She really can’t be arsed with it. She points out that BBC3 doesn’t come along for several decades, so either the Pertwee era is set in the 2000s or “it’s probably just 1972″. So that’s another controversy cleared up by Sue.
As the Daleks continue to plot and scheme, I can’t help but tut.
Sue: They sound fine to me. Obviously they sound much better nowadays when Briggsy (sic) does them, but I really don’t have a problem with them. As long as I can understand them, I’m happy.
And then the Doctor picks up a gun.
Sue: You don’t see that every day. Bloody hell! He just killed an Orc! And he doesn’t show any remorse! What’s he doing? That’s just wrong.
She is so convinced that the Doctor couldn’t possibly have shot an Ogron like that, she makes me rewind the DVD, just to be sure.
Sue: Oh dear. It’s just wrong.
The episode concludes with the Doctor finally running into his old enemies.
Sue: I’m surprised that he doesn’t start shooting at them.
Episode Three
We decide to plough on with the next episode immediately. And this is where I performed a miraculous – and almost certainly blasphemous - switcheroo. In a move that will annoy purists everywhere, I sent Sue to the kitchen to make me a cup of tea that I didn’t really want (I know this makes me sound like a sexist pig, but I didn’t have a choice). Anyway, when she was out of the room, I muted the volume on the amp (to avoid the nice woman telling me that I was about to watch Day of the Daleks disc two) and then I switched the discs. It was an agonising wait as the machine cycled though the completely unnecessary and increasingly irritating menu screens, but I managed to reach the episode selection screen just as Sue returned with a nice cup of tea that I didn’t really want. I realise, as I write this now, this sounds exceedingly mundane, but seriously, the tension was so unbearable, I felt like I was in a bloody Hitchcock movie.
Now let’s see how long it takes for Sue to deduce that we are now watching a Special Edition version of Day of the Daleks with 21st century special effects. If you can’t bear the suspense, and you want to know the result now, simply highlight the invisible text hidden in the brackets (19 minutes!).
Sue: The Brig should be a lot harder with the Doctor, sometimes. He lets the Doctor walk all over him. He needs to toughen up a bit. Hang on a minute, that wasn’t like that before, was it? Eh? What? Neil?
As Sue’s confusion grows, I continue to pretend that there’s nothing strange about a CGI effect turning up in the middle of a television programme that was made in 1971. Somehow, she shrugs it off.
The next thing that throws her is the new Dalek voices, now provided by “Briggsy”.
Sue: Have they changed the Dalek voices again? They sound different. Did they change the settings between episodes? Or are there two different timelines with different Daleks in them? I’m really confused now.
When the Daleks hear the Doctor’s name, they almost wet themselves.
Sue: I love the way the Daleks freak out when they hear the Doctor’s name. They do that in the new series as well.
Then we are treated to a glorious CGI landscape.
Sue: That looks very nice. There are some really nice visual touches in this.
I am not making this up. I only wish I were.
Sue: You know, these Daleks sound great. I don’t know why people have such a hard time with the Daleks in this story.
When the Controller starts talking to a female technician, Sue has an issue with her choice of eye-line.
Sue: Is that woman blind? Did she just hand him something written in braille? It might be a dictatorship but at least they have an equal opportunities policy in the admin depart. Oh, perhaps not – she’s looking straight at him now. Well, that was very odd…
Meanwhile, the rebel guerrillas are bickering with each other and chain-smoking.
Sue: It looks like they are smoking Hamlets.
Me: The mild cigar from Benson and Hedges.
To any American readers who didn’t quite get that reference, well there’s this thing called Google, right, and what you do is…
Sue: It’s Rob Shearman!
She’s talking about the Senior Guard – a character who really deserves a much better credit than that – and when he interrogates the Doctor, Sue can’t understand why the Time Lord doesn’t just “stick his finger in his chest”.
The Doctor decides to take the Controller to task about the world they now find themselves in.
Sue: It’s very difficult to argue effectively when you’re lying down, but Pertwee is doing a pretty good job of it. And when the bad guy said his family has ruled this sector for three generations, is that definitive proof that he’s related to David Cameron?
The Doctor becomes more and more angry as the debate continues to escalate.
Sue: That’s the best the Doctor’s been in ages. That’s the way the Doctor should act.
The Doctor and Jo manage to escape from an Ogron guard by smashing a bottle of wine over his head. The Doctor decides to make a joke about the wine’s vintage.
Sue: And that’s the way the Doctor shouldn’t act. Leave the James Bond stuff to James Bond, thanks.
Jo and the Doctor find a conveniently parked trike for them to escape on.
Sue: Is there anything this Doctor won’t drive? I really don’t think James Bond would have lowered himself to this level. He’d probably have just walked.
And then Sue notices something odd about the Ogron’s weaponry.
Sue: They have green rays coming out of their guns now. They didn’t have that before. It looks like Star Wars now.
Pause.
Sue: Hang on a minute!
Yes, it took her all of 19 minutes to figure it out. I really am not making this up.
Sue: I thought it looked too good…
Me: I can’t believe you didn’t work it out sooner.
Sue: People will assume that I’m really thick now. I knew something was up but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Thanks for that.
A cushion is thrown.
As the Doctor is subjected to the Dalek’s mind analysis machine, his past incarnations flash before his eyes.
Me: Does it give you a thrill, seeing the old Doctors like that?
Sue: No, not even remotely. Sorry.
Episode Four
It’s the next day and Sue has a very specific demand.
Sue: Can we watch the special edition version of the last episode? Please?
Me: Some of our readers will hit the roof.
Sue: Pretty please?
Me: OK, but only if you promise that I can show you the original version of the climax once we’ve finished this.
Sue: Two climaxes in one night – you really know how to spoil a girl.
As the episode begins, Sue wants to know a bit more about the special edition.
Sue: So what else does this version change? Is it just the effects?
Me: Well, they cut the “no complications” line for a start.
Sue: You can’t blame them. I would have done the same thing, it was ridiculous. And at least you can still watch the original version if you feel the need. It’s not as if they’ve done a George Lucas on you.
Sue continues to praise Aubrey Woods’ performance as the Controller.
Sue: He is very good. He is giving a very subtle and believable performance. The Master would have been “ha-ha-ha”-ing and chewing the scenery by now.
When Jo jumps up suddenly, Sue demonstrates that she has the eyes of a hawk.
Sue: Jo is wearing red knickers this week.
Me: Damn, I missed that.
Sue: Of course you did.
Meanwhile, the Brig is getting into a flap about the security required for the imminent peace conference at Auderly House.
Sue: The Brig is having a nightmare this week.
Me: He’s appearing in his own personal sitcom. An unwanted vicar will drop in on him any moment now.
The guerrillas want the Doctor to travel back in time and kill Sir Reginald, but the Doctor won’t agree to cold-blooded murder.
Sue: But you killed an Orc! You didn’t have a problem with that!
The Doctor describes Styles as “vain to the point of arrogance, a trifle obstinate, perhaps, but basically a good man”.
Sue: Pot. Kettle. Black.
And then the Doctor exclaims that this future, which the guerrillas are actively trying to avoid, was created by their own (frankly stupid) actions.
Sue: Oooh. That’s very clever. I didn’t see that coming. And Pertwee is really going for it this week. This is very good. And it has nothing to do with the new special effects.
The Controller discovers Jo and the Doctor as they attempt to escape back to their own time. But he decides to let them go.
Sue: I knew he’d come good in the end. He can’t be related to David Cameron after all. Oh no, Rob Shearman knows!
The senior guard grasses up the Controller to the Daleks and they immediately exterminate him. The senior guard happily takes up the vacancy that has just opened up:
Sue: Rob’s been promoted and he’s chuffed to bits!
Meanwhile, back at Auderly House, the media are out in force.
Sue: I like it when the programme uses the media like this. They should do this every week. It feels really modern.
The Doctor tries to evacuate the building but Styles won’t listen to reason. The Brig finally loses his patience and he basically tells Styles to shut the **** up. Sue lets out a heartfelt “Yay!”.
Sue: So the Doctor is going to make sure that the Dalek timeline doesn’t happen, yes?
Me: Yes.
Sue: But I thought the Time Lords exiled the Doctor to Earth so he wouldn’t interfere with stuff like this? It’s not really working out for them, is it?
And then we enjoy the spectacle of UNIT battling Daleks and Ogrons. It really doesn’t get any better than this.
Sue: This is very exciting. Sure, the new effects help but the plot has a real urgency to it. It’s a great way to start a new season.
The episode concludes with the Daleks being blown up and the timeline reverts back to normal (we think).
The Final Score
Sue: I enjoyed that one a lot. It had a great plot, a great script, some really nice performances and an excellent twist. The direction varied between excellent and appalling, but it had pace and there were some outstanding moments. And it was four episodes – the ideal length for any Doctor Who story. What’s not to like?
9/10
Me: We have to watch the original now.
Sue: Do we have to? I can imagine what it looked like without seeing it.
But a deal is a deal:
Sue: There aren’t enough Daleks. There. What else do you want me to say? It looks crap. Oh dear, that Dalek can’t get through the door. Look, just switch it off. I’ve seen enough.
Me: Do you want to change your score?
Sue: Not really. I’m much more interested in the script and the characters. And it was a bloody good story.
Addendum
You can skip this bit if you like, it isn’t really canonical.
Firstly, thanks to everyone who took the time to complete our recent survey. We were inundated with responses. I was expecting to give away a couple of t-shirts, I wasn’t expecting to give away nine in the first 24 hours! I will be in touch with the winners later this weekend (good luck with that if you happen to be in the 8% that don’t like any of the designs). Oh, and that reminds me: a huge, heartfelt thanks to the handful of you who kindly donated some hard cash to the site yesterday. I can put this towards the cost of the t-shirts, so the Perrymans should still be able to afford Christmas this year after all. Cheers!
The survey provided me with some very interesting data. For example, 88% of you are male (who saw that coming?) and 49% of you are aged between 36 and 45. The Moff is the clear winner to write the introduction to the book that 44% of you will buy regardless of its content (although Sue Vertue, Jane Baker and Dudley Simpson were interesting suggestions), and while most of the feedback was overwhelming positive, I would like to discuss one issue that appears to have riled up a good proportion of you (34.6% at the time of writing). Yes, we need to talk about Gary.
Gary has watched 4 out of 296 episodes with us. That’s 1.35% of the experiment so far. I just thought that was worth pointing out, especially to those of you who weren’t very nice about him (to put it mildly). I also believe you are missing an important moment where Sue and Nicol both defended the programme when Gary criticised it. We wouldn’t have seen that kind of display from Sue otherwise, so maybe having Gary along occasionally isn’t the end of the world after all, eh? However, I promise that I will never allow the site to include more than 2% Gary, OK?
The experiment continues…
If you don’t already own this story, why not buy it on DVD? If you use the link below, we get a small cut, which will help pay for the site’s running costs. Many thanks for your support (UK residents only).
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Another fantastic edition. I hope you know that should you and Sue ever divorce, many of us would be lined up to marry her.
Also, I was not in the survey, but I would buy the Book.
Cor
When I said in the survey, the worst bit was waiting for the next installment I really didnt expect you to have it up (as it were) in a day or two.
Marvellous!
Oh and I read out the bit :
Sue: He really is a pompous twat, isn’t he?
my two friends almost spat their drink out. I think you may now have some nooooo members
“No complications”. Teehee. The Einstein of Ogrons.
Glen, at that moment of expulsion, did your friends decorate the carpet with wine? (and/or cheese)
I do like to imagine a civilised Pertwee style soiree-stroke-cellar-raid going on.
I love how Sue manages to sneak in a dig at Cameron every week. Well deserved of course.
We’re not hitting the roof yet, the Special Edition really is that awesome and the special features documentaries totally justify it. More than George Mucus ever did, anyway.
Are we now in some alternate Doctor Who timeline? One in which Day of the Daleks gets a higher rating than The Daemons? This is just crazy talk.
The most disappointing thing about Day is that we never got to see the other side of the scene of the Doctor and Jo meeting themselves after the Doctor messes with the console. Was that scene meant to be filmed?
I also took part in the survey but I want to say it here (again). Neil, this blog needs to be published as a book! And get Gary to do the foreword.
I believe that final scene is in the Target novelisation.
It was certainly meant to be filmed, and may even have been filmed, but was left out owing to lack of time.
It was meant to be filmed, but wasn’t filmed.
A really fun read! I particularly relished the idea of the Brigadier being trapped in his own personal sitcom. Now there’s a plot they should have done!
Doubtless you’ve informed Sue that the Doctor no longer cold-bloodedly slaughters the Ogron; he’s shot at first. It’s Han Solo all over again.
If you’re avoiding titles with spoilers in, can I make a plea for you to do so with story 4J? The title does rather give the game away a couple of episodes early. Actually, as the Daleks don’t usually appear until the final shot of the first episode normally, you could do that for quite a few. And don’t show Sue the box to Earthshock, either!
As Sue becomes more and more drawn into our world, we’ll doubtless need Gary as a Rory-figure for contrast, to remind us of the strange world of normal people…
The Brig trapped within his own sitcom? They did that already, it’s called The Time Monster.
I like it!
For Day Of The Daleks, Neil experimented with altering the show and seeing how long it took Sue to notice. I propose he puts a laughter track on Time Monster and edits in Garth Merenghi-style interview excerpts. It’s only a matter of time before someone does this!
(And I believe that on one of the US stations, a laughter and sound effects track was indeed added.)
Canned laughter on the US transmission? Now you’re comparing The Time Monster to M*A*S*H. Stop it at once.
Monster… M*A*S*H… You can see why I got mixed up.
Okay, but please allow us the Adric out-credits with Terry & June soundtrack. I had to take a mop to the ceiling…
WHO-EVER-IS-OPER-ATING-THE-SUR-VEY-IS-AN-A-NE-MY-OF-THE-GA-RY
ALL-E-NE-MIES-OF-THE-GA-RY-ARE-TO-BE-DE-PLOYED!
EX-TRA-PO-LATE-THEM! EX-TRA-PO-LATE-THEM!
Please can you restrict story reviews to one a week.
It’s like the 1976 repeats of Top Of The Pops: too much of a good thing….
I dont think I could stand a week. Twice a week is ok by me, as I dont want to run out too fast, but a whole week would be torture.
I can’t win, can I?
Keep doin’ what you’re doin’!
Yes, please. I’d be very happy with more than one a day, but if it takes a week I understand!
- yours, the “silent majority”.
Seriously, I’ve really appreciated the faster pace, but the fact you’re both getting through this at all is something people should value.
Briggsy? She knows him? Does this mean that when you run out of tv episodes she might be willing to listen through Big Finish? Please oh please say yes! I heart Big Finish. They got me through the Tennant gap year easily.
I am surprised, I liked this episode myself but so many dont that I wasnt expecting much above a 7 maybe.
Pertwee is my First Doctor, and I love his James Bonderisms and flair and wardrobe, but I had never really noticed how mean they are to Jo. When I first met her she was on her second trip to Peladon and then he died, so I never caught it later catching up via DVDs and VHS.
I do love the mansion though. Anytime they get out of the studio and we get to see a bit of actual England (or Spain or Amsterdam).
No, she doesn’t know him. She just thinks that’s his name.
You never met her at all then – that was Sarah Jane. The exasperating production treatment of Jo is partly a reflection of the times, partly the preconceptions of individuals. It’s so revealing in Barry Letts’ memoirs when he explains the “chitinous” pronunciation gaffe: “chitinous, as in ‘some chit of a girl’”!
Pronunciation gaffe:
Ecclestone pronouncing “charnel house” with a CH.
Ah, clearly the universe rebalancing itself.
“Tom Petty” looks like the not-so-small one out of the Small Faces to me (the one who was sacked for not being Small)… or was that another one of the guerillas (not the gorillas or the cigarillos that both also appear)?
C’mon, everyone looked like that at the time. Absent the sheepskin and they were pretty much interchangeable…
Three years earlier and everyone had ridiculous sideburns, from Patrick “Steed” Macnee to Patrick “Seeds of Death” Troughton. And the War Lords. (Though the Brig saved his for the early/mid-70s, when UNIT hairlines got below collar-length) Oh fashion, what crimes are committed in your name.
Get your ‘air cut, you ‘orrible lot!
Actually, the flared hair thing continued for years. Hairy Sullivan? Mind you the Navy was always a bit more relaxed about tonsorial stuff.
Hey, it’s almost 2012 and I’ve STILL got ridiculous sideburns!
I just got rid of my ridiculous sideburns. Mutton chops they were! For a show, may I add…
My suggestion for a t-shirt quote: “Jo is wearing red knickers this week”!
Your survey didn’t include my age! (But just barely) I’m really interested to see this new SFX version of DotD. And don’t worry Sue. A friend of mine watched the 2005 relaunch and said, “Wow this is really good for 1963!”
My two Laugh Out Loud moments were: “the tension was so unbearable, I felt like I was in a bloody Hitchcock movie” and “Does it give you a thrill, seeing the old Doctors like that?” “No, not even remotely. Sorry.”
Superb, as always.
“No complications” for the t-shirt, perhaps?
I love Sue’s wildly divergent timelines here (though I wouldn’t show most of the SE versions, tempting though the Vardans are).
“He really is a pompous twat, isn’t he?”
Made me laugh, too, though at least he’s better here than in The Dæmons or Terror of the Autons – and for the first time in ages, I find Pertwee gripping in those scenes in the final episode when he’s working it all out (he seemed to grab Sue, too. No wonder she gave it high marks). On the other hand, I can’t help agreeing with her that Jo’s “written with contempt” here. When I was a boy and reading the novels, I never liked Jo much, precisely because she was written so feebly in stories like this. The one bit of the Pertwee stories that won me over far more on screen, much later, was Katy. Still, she gets much more to do – including putting Pertwee down at long last – in the next story, so I hope Sue can cheer for her then.
But Rob Shearman? Nah. It’s Ken Livingstone. He’s got the voice and everything.
I love the way you turned down the sound when you changed the discs over… I would have completely forgotten to do that…
Neil: Does it give you a thrill, seeing the old Doctors like that?
Sue: No, not even remotely. Sorry.
She’s faking… She’s got to be, she’s a Ming-Mong now…
I’d quip ‘two climaxes in one night, she’s got to be faking’, but Neil would throw more than cushions at me.
“She’s faking… She’s got to be, she’s a Ming-Mong now…”
I can’t say it surprises me too much – after all, Sue hasn’t had to wait over 5 years to see Hartnell again and 2 years to see Troughton! I suspect that she will also be fairly blase come the opening story of Season 10…
Sue: Diamonds Are Forever *cough* (but you know that).
The disparity in ratings between Sue’s scores and the averaged poll ratings in DWM/received fan wisdom are one of the most interesting features of this experiment. I think the ratings owe a lot not only to the quality of the story being viewed, but also a lot to the accumulated effects of previous episodes. The Daemons is going to seem a lot less great if you’ve just seen (for the first time) 4 stories in a row before it all with the same villain and mostly with roughly similar plots. Similarly Day of the Daleks gets a boost from a long drought of dalek episodes.
I’m in two minds about this Special Edition. I always like it when they add improved visual effects (they should do the same to Blakes Seven next) and the new final battle is a big improvement, but it’s a bit heavy-handed to chop out things like the “No complications” bit just because the DVD producer doesn’t like it. It’s hilarious! If you start taking out all the dodgy line-readings you’ll end up with some very short episodes…
Sue’s dead right about Day Of The Daleks though – it’s a great story, way ahead of its time with all the back-and-forth time travel going on The Daleks are probably the weakest element really, it wouldn’t have made that much difference to the plot if the future Earth was ruled by the Ogrons. Pertwee is a lot more likeable here than he was in the last season as well – all that boozing makes him seem a lot more human.
Blake’s Seven without Atari hairdryers?
I say, no no no.
I remember reading (in DWM?) a few month back that this was intended to be a single disc release with the special edition scenes breached into the standard edit.
This meant that the revised material had to follow the exact time codings (literally to the frame) as the standard edition. The person interviewed did seem to express a little frustration with 2 Entertain’s late in the day decision to make this a double as having to worry about breaching with old footage would have allowed a lot more scope for the edits and improvements to the special edition.
I really should learn to read my comments before hitting ADD.
That last part obviously should read:
“…as NOT having to worry about breaching with old footage would have allowed a lot more scope for the edits and improvements to the special edition.”
She’s going to hate Colin Baker, isn’t she?
And surely the plural of “Perryman” is “Perrymen”?
Perryman/men – would that be in the Hartnell/Troughton pronunciation?
You need to make some V-neck t-shirts available.
“He really is a pompous twat, isn’t he?” – Best. T-shirt. Ever.
*** Although, “Doctor Who and the Klingons?” would also be a strong contender.
Yes, like many others this story is well ahead of its time – for the first time we see a story with an intelligent incorporation of the time-travel paradox element to the premise. It’s about time. And – for my money, at least – Aubrey Woods is one of the forgotten best actors to have appeared in the series; he really gives a subtle, powerful performance here. Absolutely superb – it’s a wonder he’s never been asked back.
“It had better not be The Return of the Toymaker.” – just think: in 1986 it very nearly was. Oh dear…
Additional: Yates, Benton and the ranking debate? As an ex-soldier myself there are many things I could say about this – for and against both sides of the argument – but I won’t…
Nice to see Sue judged it on script and characters and not on effects or anything, she’s really becoming a “specialist”.
I can never take the guard seriously, it’s his silly hat.
Favourite Pertwee moment is the wine scene “a touch sardonic, rather like myself…”.
Marked far too high again. We need more Gary.
I disagree – okay, maybe an 8. Excellent, clean use of time paradox. Ever seen this one, RTD, Moffatt and crewily-wooily? Now we’re coming up to the Christmassy-wistmassy specially-wessially…?
Day of the Daleks launches a season which is really pivotal in the development of Doctor Who. Sue’s comments where ‘Return of the Master’ gives way to ‘Return of the Cybermen’ gives way to ‘Return of the Daleks’ are a summary of the ways several viewers must have looked at Doctor Who in the 1963-1971 period, but in reverse. After two seasons which were concerned about being ‘new’, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks start bringing in elements from the Troughton and Hartnell eras – they were approaching writers who hadn’t been involved in Doctor Who for several years – as well as continuing their policy of reworking their own ‘greatest hits’. ‘Pot kettle black’ – the guerillas didn’t make a mistake, did they?
Shame they never gave the pert one a cybertwirl. Would have been fun to see him put them down as “walking calculators” or such.
Can’t wait for Curse of Eurodon. Alpha Sarkozy, Izlyr Merkel and Silvio Pelasconi!
And the foppish, Tory Doctor’s new chum Cleggador, the Case of Pyjamas.
And the unfilmed final scene where the Doctor leaves a note for the real Earth delegate, which reads: “Join the Federation if you want, but I’d steer clear of the currency if I were you”…
I think Day is one of those stories where fans often get too hung up about the production deficiencies, though I will admit that the Special Edition is a considerable improvement. What matters however, as Sue so rightly points out, is that the script and characterisation here are excellent, and it makes such a nice change to see the old series engaging seriously with the paradoxes inherent in time travel. The Daleks were of course shoehorned into the story at the last minute, but their presence certainly does not jar with the plot, and it must have been very exciting for long-term fans in 1972 to see them again after so long. Aubrey Woods is indeed excellent as the Controller, bringing genuine pathos to the role, and I really can’t understand why Barry Letts is so critical of his performance on the DVD commentary – I haven’t heard the commentary for Planet of the Spiders yet, but if Letts is going to criticise Woods he ought to give both barrels to Jenny Laird…
I’m also glad Sue enjoyed Pertwee’s performance so much more this time. Apart from the one unkind comment to Jo while they are tied up in the cellar, the Doctor is far more likeable here and I think this is the point where he and Jo start to become a really close team, something that will be further ramped up in the next story. Overall, there isn’t much I would criticise about Day – it’s just a shame the Brig doesn’t get up close and personal with the Daleks, as he would never meet them again…
I can hardly wait for Sue’s reaction to Alpha Centauri in the next story!
I’m in two minds about the special editions, but it’s nice that someone has gone to the effort. And Sue is right, it’s nice to have the luxury of choice, with both versions on the discs.
I’m glad Sue liked this serial, I personally think that it’s one of the very best serials from before the Tom Baker era.
Most notable is the fact that this is possibly the first serial to use the messy consequences of time travel as an important part of the plot (I may be wrong, I’m not sure; but it’s at least one of the first serials to do so).
P.S. I’m liking your increased frequency of posting.
At this rate, soon enough you’ll be watching Tom Baker – and I’m looking forward to read Sue’s comments on how the 4th doctor enters the show in “Robot”
I would say The Space Museum was the first story to exploit the paradoxes of time travel to any great degree, but the show didn’t really do so again until Day.
“I pause the DVD and then I attempt to explain to Sue the fundamental basics of the UNIT dating controversy…”
Good God man! Are you sane?
First, I only saw the original version, not the souped-up Briggsy version (honestly, if only they just used a better voice-actor for the Daleks, it would have been sooo much better; it was really, really bad!). But the script was excellent! Some timey-wimey stuff before it was even defined. I loved the last episode, it was just amazing, eh?
This Doctor really is a “pompous twat,” isn’t he? He certainly loves a good glass of wine though. I really do miss Troughton.
Also, there’s very little humor in this story; I kind of miss that; and no music to speak of… everyone seems to be so serious. Nobody smiles. Maybe that was the way it was back then.
Is this the first time we actually see the Doctor using a different type of time travel besides TARDISes and SIDRATs? An early version of a vortex manipulator? Though a bit bigger, and bulkier. I liked that, especially since his TARDIS seems to be grounded by those pesky Time Lords.
They could have used a few more Daleks to make it a bit more scarier… I did like the way they were floating around that mansion, but it it true, one was too big to get in the door? LOL!
And was this the first time they ever showed the earlier Doctors? Since there were only 2, it was easy, but I liked the way they did it.
The Ogrons didn’t do much for me… oh no, I just looked them up on wikipedia and they show up in other episodes! Oh well…
It was an interesting story that cleverly written and thought out… ahead of its time. 8/10