Which One : The Daleks attempt a time travelling – ‘Terminator’-style assassination plot.
Cast : The Doctor : Jon Pertwee
Jo : Katy Manning
Briagdier : Nicholas Courtney
Captain Mike Yates : Richard Franklin
Sergeant Benton : John Levene
Sir Reginald Styles : Wilfred Carter
Miss Paget : Jean McFarlane
Anat : Anna Barry
Boaz : Scott Fredericks
Shura : Jimmy Winston
Guerilla : Tim Condren
Controller : Aubrey Woods
Manager : Peter Hill
Snr Guard : Andrew Carr
Guard : George Raistrick
TV Reporter : Alex MacIntosh
UNIT Radio Operator : Gypsie Kemp
Technician : Deborah Brayshaw
Written By : Louis Marks
Produced By : Barry Letts
First UK Broadcast : 1 – 22 January 1972.
Length : 4 x 25 minute episodes.
Plot : The Dalek’s time-travel from the future, to the past; to kill a UK government minister. Who will inadvertantly shape Earth’s future ‘united-resistance’; to Dalek invasion.
Whats good : Interesting time travel quandries. Ogrons.
Whats bad : Only three Daleks.
Review With Spoilers : Day Of The Daleks, is the opener of season 9. The first Pertwee Dalek adventure and the first Dalek adventure, since Troughton’s – Evil Of The Daleks.
The Daleks want to ensure – that the death of a peace delegate, called Sir Reginald Styles; in Earth’s past. Remains untampered with. As the resulting Third World War, will weaken Earth’s future resolve – against a Dalek invasion attempt.
The killing is inadvertantly purportrated by some time-travelling human rebels – to the future Dalek occupation. Who incorrectly believe that Styles caused the events, which preceded the Dalek invasion – and travel back in time, to kill him.
If the rebels are the equivilent of the ‘Terminator’ in Terminator. The Daleks are ‘Skynet’, then the Doctor is left playing the ‘Kyle Reese’ role to Styles’ -‘Sarah Connor’. As the Doctor tries to keep the minister alive, from the rebel attacks.
It’s Who’s first real tentative foray into some actual action/reaction time-travel scenarios. Not quite as ‘science-fact’ – as Christopher H. Bidmead’s scripts – of the JNT era, though but still impressive sounding – nonetheless.
We have the “Blinovitch Limitation” effect – to explain this time-travel conundrum. This term is invented for the show, which states that a time-traveller cannot return to (and undo) – an event they have previously engineered. As an explosion of some universal magnitude, would be created.
Or a “Temporal Paradox” – which is caused by a time traveller attempting to undo; a historical event – and inadvertantly becoming the cause – or ‘source’ of the event.
Even though, they are merely used as plot devices; to further the Day Of The Daleks story. It gives Who a real, almost validated science feel – to it that all us laymans – can understand – and follow.
“You’re trapped in a Temporal Paradox! Styles didn’t cause that explosion and start the wars. You did it yourselves!” The Doctor
The Dalek’s are aided, by the subjugated race of brown and squat – Neandathal look-a-likes; The Ogrons.
The Ogrons have always proved, to be popular monsters – in Who. Despite, only two secondary villain appearances in Day Of The Daleks and Frontier In Space.
This production only had the use of three Daleks, in this story. Two grey models and a gold leader model. This isn’t a problem through, in the early parts of the episode but near the end, where a big battle takes place – it’s painfully obvious. That the Dalek attack-force is only three strong.
The three Daleks appear – in a scene, which calls for a large Dalek/Ogron attack force; to storm a mansion house. However, this was put right, in the 2011 DVD Special edition release, which CGI’ed more Daleks in.)to the scene.
Thankfully – though, it’s a minor defect – to a classic Dalek episode. Which explores some tangible outcomes to time-meddling, something not normally seen in Who.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)
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