Death to the Daleks is a story that is quite possibly one of the worst Dalek stories ever. This was the third Dalek story in two years and whereas Day of the Daleks was an ok offering, it was just good to have the Daleks take on the third Doctor. Then Planet of the Daleks is a nice story that isn’t original but still has a lot going for it. Now we get to Death to the Daleks which despite the explosive title doesn’t reach levels of excitement. The story is set on Exxilon which has managed to drain the TARDIS of all its energy which as we all know is quite an achievement. The fact that the Daleks cant exterminate left right and centre like they use to was quite an interesting idea however its quickly discarded and they go back to their usual ways.
The story itself is nothing special. The Doctor meets up with some space marines looking for a cure to the space plague whilst Sarah is about to be sacrificed by the natives. The music is totally misplaced in this story. Whereas it should have been a dark tone with some lighter hints to not make it totally depressing. What we get quite a jolly tune which totally ruins the story. Also the model of the city is poorly realised with the dodgy CSO, the melting of the city also looks rather poor.
The Exxilons are quite a good creation, the costume is well realised and they seem like someone/thing that can be trusted. I also found the human characters to be particular enjoyable. Normally humans on an alien world tend to bore me however because there was so little to enjoy they were actually the highlight of the story. Dan Galloway was the best of the supporting characters because he starts off the story as a rather horrible person but by the end he has blossomed into a nice person and then sacrifices himself.
Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen have a rough time in this story. The relationship between the Doctor and Sarah Jane doesn’t seem to be working as well as the 3rd Doctor/Jo relationship or even the 4th Doctor/Sarah Jane relationship. In particular all the Sarah Jane has to do is to scream and to be caught before being sacrificed. Pertwee’s time isnt much better though he does have the better scenes. It does at time when I think about it feel like Pertwee is a lone man. He doesn’t have Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney or Roger Delgado. The hey days of the Pertwee era seemed like a distant memory.
Death to the Daleks is a poor poor story which continues the nose dive in terms of quality to Pertwee’s final season. Take the Daleks out and it would have been a much better story but unfortunately Terry Nation appears to at this point to have run out of ideas and the reputation of the Daleks is at risk, something would big would be needed to reinvent the Daleks. Thankfully such a thing is just round the corner.
The story itself is nothing special. The Doctor meets up with some space marines looking for a cure to the space plague whilst Sarah is about to be sacrificed by the natives. The music is totally misplaced in this story. Whereas it should have been a dark tone with some lighter hints to not make it totally depressing. What we get quite a jolly tune which totally ruins the story. Also the model of the city is poorly realised with the dodgy CSO, the melting of the city also looks rather poor.
The Exxilons are quite a good creation, the costume is well realised and they seem like someone/thing that can be trusted. I also found the human characters to be particular enjoyable. Normally humans on an alien world tend to bore me however because there was so little to enjoy they were actually the highlight of the story. Dan Galloway was the best of the supporting characters because he starts off the story as a rather horrible person but by the end he has blossomed into a nice person and then sacrifices himself.
Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen have a rough time in this story. The relationship between the Doctor and Sarah Jane doesn’t seem to be working as well as the 3rd Doctor/Jo relationship or even the 4th Doctor/Sarah Jane relationship. In particular all the Sarah Jane has to do is to scream and to be caught before being sacrificed. Pertwee’s time isnt much better though he does have the better scenes. It does at time when I think about it feel like Pertwee is a lone man. He doesn’t have Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney or Roger Delgado. The hey days of the Pertwee era seemed like a distant memory.
Death to the Daleks is a poor poor story which continues the nose dive in terms of quality to Pertwee’s final season. Take the Daleks out and it would have been a much better story but unfortunately Terry Nation appears to at this point to have run out of ideas and the reputation of the Daleks is at risk, something would big would be needed to reinvent the Daleks. Thankfully such a thing is just round the corner.
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