Season 2: “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”: This is the first case of Dalek aggresion toward other worlds. This series is important because it really shows the domination complex that drives the Daleks. Get detailed information about this series of episodes here.
“World’s End”
“The Daleks”
“Day of Reckoning”
“The End of Tomorrow”
“The Waking Ally”
“Flashpoint”
Commentary:
1. General comments while watching:
- Of course the special effects are cheesy at best.
- On the up side, Susan isn’t quite so spastic.
- I am having a real problem with William Hartnell in the first part of this series. Sometimes he is brilliant like the later Doctors, but at times he seems downright stupid! At least he is arrogant and speaks too much
- Mmmmmmmm! Chills! Seeing the Daleks coming up suddenly always sends a chill up my spine! LOVE IT!
- HAHA! “You will all die. The males, the females, the decendents!” —Sound familiar!?
2. The Daleks:
A. Time Paradox> There is very confusing element of this series. Here is a conversation between Ian and the Doctor:
Ian: “Doctor, I don’t understand this at all. We saw the Daleks destroyed on Scaro, we were there!?”
Doctor: “My dear boy, what happened on Scaro was a million years ahead of us in the future. What we are seeing now is about the middle history of the Daleks.”
Ian: “I see. Well they certainly look different don’t they?”
Doctor: “What is so different about the Daleks? Oh I see! You mean the disks on their backs?”
Ian: “Yes. Perhaps that accounts for their increased mobility? Do you remember on Scaro they could only move on metal?”
Doctor: “Yes, yes, quite so, but remember this is an invasion force. Therefore they have to adapt themselves to the planet!”
I’m glad they included this conversation, because it explains how Daleks in the past could be more advanced than the Daleks in the future. A fact that needed explaining. This conversation is also crucial in understanding the difficulty in overcoming the Daleks. The Daleks adapt and change to suit the current situation and location. This is something we will see again and again throughout the years, and is the key reason for the difficulty in their defeat. .
B. I was really interested in the human slaves. They are very much like the Cybermen in that once the mind control breaks down, they go insane and kill themselves. Doctor Who has always been very forward in it’s speculation of human/machine hybrids, often showing the darker side of this long standing scientific study. While modern medicine seeks to improve the quality of life through artificial limbs and organs, Science fiction has been exploring the more disturbing possibility of machines taking control of human bodies and using them for their own purposes
C. Dalek Military Strategy: Pretty ingenious, of course, though a little on the cowardly side. They bombarded the earth with a series of metorites that brought on a new plague. Of course, no one would have suspected an invasion, it would just seem like natural circumstances. Then, once earth got weak enough, they just came in a started picking people off and turning them into slaves.
E. Purpose: Mining for something. Haven’t got there yet!
3. Philosophy
-In “World’s End” Ian raises an interesting philosophical question that comes up over and over again throughout the Doctor Who years. In the second part of this episode he states that he doesn’t want to know what has happened to the earth or where all the people are. This seems very un-human of him, and makes me think. If you could know the future and it was terrible, would you want to know so you could try to change it, or leave it alone and hope for the best?
-Susan: “Oh the Daleks, everything they touch turns into a horrible sort of nightmare…” –She sums it up nicely. If you have not watched these earlier episodes, it may be difficult to understand the terror and horror the Doctor and his former companians feel when they see these creatures coming.
-”Things aren’t made better by running away.” Susan wants to get in the Tardis and run to some place safe (big suprise), but the guy she’s with says this to her. This gives a little insight into this gals upbringing. She and the Doctor have always been running. She longs for a place where she belongs and can call home.
