Fifty Glorious (mostly) Episodes.

Part the Fifth.

Pity poor William Russell. In 1957 he’s starring in his own glossy ITC film series, on one of the main American networks, in colour no less! Seven years down the line he’s second lead in a black and white multi-camera videotaped BBC drama with a budget Lew Grade would have used up on cigars alone, having to pretend to be threatened by what can only be described as a man with a sack over his head. That’s showbusiness.

To be fair, obviously having realised that their efforts of the previous week were less than spectacular some thought does seem to have gone into making the Slyther look a bit more menacing this time around with a few extra bits and bobs stuck on here and there, although like the old simile of applying lipstick to a pig, it’s a bit of a waste of time all-told. Richard Martin does seem to at last be getting a hang of things in other areas, however – his new tactic of shooting the Daleks from low angles and looking up at them pays dividends, making them seem generally larger and more impressive. You do wonder though why he’s only thinking of this sort of thing when we’re nearly done with the whole business.

On a more nerdy technical level, the fact that this episode is the only one of the serial to exist on 35mm film makes it far clearer and less grainy than the others, and the added restorative sheen of VidFIRE makes it almost look as if it could have been made yesterday – the soundtrack benefits from presumably having the sep-mag track in existence too, as gone is the snakelike sibilance on the esses that affects the previous episodes.

It’s not just technical business that makes this a step-up in quality from the last couple of episodes, however. The writing and performances are generally much better, and the fact that the lead character has actually bothered to take part this week adds something to proceedings. The Doctor’s “leave this creature to his own devices and salvation” line in particular stands out and demonstrates just why he’s not quite like other heroes on television (aside from being a crotchety old man, of course), even though the fight that preceded said comment was yet another example of the frankly rather pathetic battles that dog this production.

He gets another great line later on when he mercifully interrupts Susan and David’s fish-based shenanigans – “I can see something cooking” indicating for the first time that the Doctor is actually quite aware of the growing attraction between his granddaughter and the Scottish resistance fighter, and in many ways is probably about as subtle as nineteen-sixties Doctor Who ever gets. Shame about David’s rather odd “they dare to tamper with the forces of creation?” line a few moments later, mind, although Susan’s rounding off the scene with a complaint about the food getting cold works perfectly. Don’t ask me why, though.

This is also the episode with the two mad women in the woods, who genuinely do seem to have become quite disturbed on all those long, lonely nights under the occupation of the Daleks. They wouldn’t seem out of place in the League of Gentlemen, and it’s quite surreal that it’s from the old crone we get what must be our first proper hint in the dialogue of the story that this is the twenty-second century, when she speaks of the “moving pavements” she saw when visiting London. Her reaction to news of the city’s destruction – “destroyed? Well I never” – does however leave you feeling as if she’s reacting to being told young Neville from down the road is moving to Chesterfield rather than that the capital city has been annihilated and millions killed. After the younger woman has brought the Dalek back there’s a weird moment when she dives into the sugar bag, stuffing it into her mouth with her fingers in a Home Simpson style, which also works surprisingly well and seems quite realistic for someone who’s presumably close to starving pretty much all of the time.

Add to this the nice moment at the end of Larry and Phil’s fatal fight where Phil recognises his brother right at the death – literally – and you have to wonder yet again why everything’s suddenly started moving along so well. It’s as if the production team suddenly turned to each other and went – “You know, how about if we actually try to make this quite good for an episode, just to see if we can?”

Mind you, there is one more ridiculous moment to come before the end – “Unprovoked attack on the London saucer area” – why do the Daleks care about provocation? Who are they, Tony Blair? Is this justification for everything they’ve done all of a sudden? Is The Dalek Invasion of Earth now a parable for modern times, with Earth as Iraq and the Daleks as the allied forces?

Find out next time as we reach the exciting conclusion.