Episode 9: The Expedition

Synopsis:

Ian informs the Doctor, Barbara and Susan that the vital Fluid Link is still in the Dalek city...

The Daleks have tested the Thal anti-radiation drug on a number of their work units. They discover that it is lethal to them. Some Daleks die, whilst others go insane. They realise that they need radiation to live. Instead of eliminating it, they must make the environment even more radioactive if they wish to leave the confines of their city.

At the camp, the travellers realise that they need the help of the Thals to get their piece of equipment back - but the Thals are pacifists. Ian decides to test the strength of their beliefs. Following the death of Temmosus, Alydon is expected to assume the leadership of is people. Ian attempts to provoke an aggressive response from him - first of all by pretending to take their history records to the Daleks, and then by threatening to give them Dyoni for experimentation. This last threat leads to Alydon striking the teacher. There is something that they will fight for after all.

In the city, the Daleks have worked out that a nuclear weapon will take too long to prepare. They fear that the Thals will attack them before then. A much quicker way of irradiating the environment would be to release gases from their reactors, and they start arranging this.

That night Barbara notices a strange light behind the city, and Ganatus informs her that it comes from a heavily polluted lake full of mutated monsters.

In the morning Alydon informs his people of his decision. He will accompany the travellers to the city. If anyone wants to join him they are welcome, but those who are opposed to his plan are free to elect a new leader. He is pleased to see that his people all agree with him. The Doctor is also pleased, and he helps formulate a plan of attack. 

The main body of Thals will distract the Daleks through activity at the entrance to the city, whilst a small party will travel through the area of the lake of mutations and find a way into the city from the mountains at its rear. The Doctor and Alydon will remain with the main group, whilst Ganatus will lead the other expedition accompanied by his brother Antodus, Ian, Barbara, and fellow Thals Kristas and Elyon. They arrange a time to meet up with the main party in a few day's time.

That evening the expedition makes its first stop in the swamp next to the lake. They notice pipelines leading from the water into the mountains, and presume that these feed the city. Elyon suggests that they build a raft and cross the lake, rather than go round it. However, Ian has just seen a huge tentacled creature lurking in the waters, and Ganatus had previously visited the area and encountered some of its terrors. They will go round, even if this takes longer. Elyon goes off to refill their water bags. Something in the lake seizes hold of him and the others hear him scream...

Next episode: The Ordeal...

Data:

Written by: Terry Nation

Recorded: Friday 20th December, 1963 - Lime Grove Studio D

First broadcast: 5.15pm, Saturday 18th January, 1964.

Ratings: 9.9 million / AI 63

Director: Christopher Barry

Designer: Raymond P Cusick

Additional cast: Murphy Grumbar (Dalek).

Critique:

When first released on VHS this story was split over two tapes. The first half got its name from the first episode - The Dead Planet - and the second half got its name from this episode. It's not just an arbitrary split in terms of the number of episodes, however. The story does neatly split into two sections and The Expedition marks the start of this second half. The expedition of the title does stretch through the final three instalments.

This results in the Daleks taking more of a back seat, as do the Doctor and Susan. It should be remembered that it was Ian who was the heroic lead in the series at this time, so the action concentrated on wherever he went. It is significant that it is Ian, rather than the Doctor, who is most prominent in the sequence for which this episode is best remembered - the one in which the TARDIS crew have to attempt to get the Thals to join them in an attack on the Dalek city. 

The Thals are pacifists, and Ian basically gets them to overturn their philosophy of generations in only a few minutes. He at least has some qualms about this, but the Doctor and Barbara simply think that pacifism is wrong and Ian must get them to turn their back on it - selfishly putting their own needs ahead of those of their hosts.

Having lived through a blitz and the constant threat of invasion, it is certain that Terry Nation was unlikely to harbour pacifist tendencies - so the TARDIS crew are mirroring his beliefs. Most viewers at the time would probably have agreed, though this sequence does not sit quite so well with modern audiences.

This story was originally commissioned as a six-parter, and in later interviews (such as the televised one with Alan Whicker which appears on The Power of the Daleks Special Edition Blu-ray) Nation recalls it as being only six episodes. However, as part of the preparations to potentially end the series after 13 episodes, it was decided to extend it to seven instalments. To fill this additional running time, the expedition section was bulked out - which we'll talk about more when we get to The Ordeal.

Trivia:

• First appearance in the programme of Peter Murphy Grumbar, who would go on to operate Daleks throughout the Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee eras. Michael Summerton had asked to be released from Dalek duties and Grumbar was his replacement. He would later play a Mechonoid and a Gell Guard, as well as Arcturus in The Curse of Peladon.
• A rotating prism lens with a circular mask was fitted to a camera to give the POV shot of the Daleks affected by the Thal drugs.
• This is the first time that life-size photographic blow-ups of Daleks were used in the studio to swell their numbers. Noticeable now on cleaned-up DVD, but you wouldn't have noticed easily on the small 405 line TV sets of the period.
• The lake was 3 inches deep, with a black PVC base. Something else noticeable thanks to DVD technology is the rubber ring on which the tentacled creature sits, which allowed it to rise up when inflated.
• The food which the Thals produce for their evening meal is actually a two pound slab of cheddar cheese.
• The only post production on the entire story took place on this episode, when Barry cut 10 seconds to get it down to the correct running time.
• Cast and crew had a week's Christmas holiday following the recording of this episode. Rehearsals for the next episode resumed on Monday 30th December.
• On December 23rd, two Daleks were sent out to Shepherds Bush Market and surrounding streets for publicity purposes. You'll see future director Douglas Camfield overseeing things (in hat on left). Other images taken showed Daleks attempting to get on a double-decker bus.