Synopsis:
In the treasure vault of the Great Pyramid, Sara sees a bandaged figure struggling from a sarcophagus...
This proves to be the Monk, who explains that he was attacked by the Doctor, bound in wrappings, and shut in the tomb.
He attempts to trick Steven and Sara into opening the TARDIS for him, hoping to steal it and flee - but Steven explains that only the Doctor has a key.
Grudgingly, the Monk accompanies them outside as they go in search of the Doctor.
Instead, he encounters Mavic Chen and the Daleks. Thinking on his feet, he declares that he has delivered hostages to the Daleks, in the shape of Steven and Sara.
All three are taken to the Dalek time machine, where the Space Security agent makes no attempt to disguise her contempt for her former leader.
Chen is instructed to broadcast a message to the Doctor, notifying him of his friends' capture and offering an exchange - their lives for the Core.
The Doctor hears this - as do Tuthmos and Khepren, who believe this to be the voice of the gods.
On arriving at the Dalek time machine the Doctor agrees to a handover, but only on his terms. Chen must bring all three of his hostages to the west side of the Great Pyramid, accompanied by a single Dalek.
Guard captain Hyksos returns with reinforcements, and announces to Tuthmos and Khepren that a trap will be laid at the meeting point. The strangers and their war machines will be destroyed.
At the appointed time and place, Chen arrives with Steven, Sara and the Monk, but accompanied by a pair of Daleks. He explains to the Doctor that he has no command over them. The hostages are allowed to flee as the Doctor hands the Core over to Chen, at a point where he can make a rapid exit.
Before the Daleks can pursue him they come under attack by the Egyptian warriors. Hyksos and his men are slaughtered.
The Doctor is reunited with Steven and Sara in the tomb and enter the TARDIS. The Monk is surprised to see his ship looking like a Police Box, but finds the Daleks closing in - thinking it to be the Doctor's TARDIS. He departs, as Chen informs the Dalek patrols that their mission has been a success. They can return with the Core to Kembel.
In the TARDIS, the Doctor explains to his companions that they must do the same if they want to stop the Dalek master plan. He reveals the Monk's directional unit, and tells them that it will either take them where they want to go - or wreck the ship and prevent them going anywhere.
The Monk emerges from his TARDIS to discover that he is not where he was meant to be. He has arrived in the middle of a frozen wasteland, his ship taking on the form of a huge block of ice. Checking his controls, he realises what the Doctor has done. He will have to wander as aimlessly as his old enemy.
The Doctor instals the stolen unit and operates the controls. The TARDIS is rocked by an explosion...
Next episode: The Abandoned Planet
Written by: Dennis Spooner
Recorded: Friday 31st December 1965 - Television Centre Studio TC3
First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 15th January 1966
Ratings: 9.5 million / AI 50
Designer: Barry Newbery
Director: Douglas Camfield
Since 2005 significant dates in the series' history have been marked in some way on screen, be it the Crusader-50 vehicle for the 50th episode of the revived series, or the No.200 service London bus to mark the 200th story overall.
Back in October 1963, Eileen Way had wagered with William Hartnell that the series wouldn't last a year, whilst he was telling journalists it could last five times that long, which was how long he himself hoped to be in the role.
The series' 100th episode fell towards the end of The Daleks' Master Plan, half way through Season 3, and few seemed to be paying attention as the landmark was little acknowledged. Some photographs were taken of Hartnell having his wig fitted by Sonia Markham, by way of publicity.
It's surprising that Hartnell should have gone along with this, as it would have broken the illusion for younger fans. He very much thought of the series as a children's programme, even if it wasn't being produced by that BBC department.
It is nice to know that we still have this episode to enjoy today - it being the last of the three surviving instalments of this story.
Like Counter Plot, a 16mm film print of Escape Switch was found in the basement of a Mormon church in South London in July 1983.
In its earliest form, this episode would have seen the Doctor, Steven and Vicki return to the planet Varga to find it deserted except for Chen and his fellow Galactic Councillors who were locked up in a cell by the Daleks - action which was later moved to the eleventh instalment.
As mentioned last week, we see a Dalek being immobilised with stones during the fight sequence with the Egyptian warriors. In the rehearsal script this was expanded upon to have the locals continue to build around the Dalek to create a monument to their victory, one that would "stand as a guardian to the tomb".
Tuesday 5th October saw the filming at Ealing of the battle sequence between the Daleks and the Egyptian warriors. Work on these sets for the previous episode had begun the previous day, with Douglas Camfield unhappy with the way his extras performed, despite the best efforts of David Anderson who arranged the fight work, or Derek Ware who was actually appearing in the two Egyptian episodes, playing Tuthmos.
Cast and crew had enjoyed a week's holiday for Christmas, so reconvened for rehearsals for this episode on Monday 27th December. This allowed Hartnell to get over the cold which affected his voice on Golden Death.
It was during rehearsals that a lot of the comedic behaviour of the Monk was added, to lighten up the character again.
The cast then spent their New Year's Eve in studio recording the episode. That day John Wiles had to address a complaint from his boss, Gerald Savory, about the episode Volcano. Savory argued that Steven, as a contemporary Earthman, ought to have known what cricket was. Wiles had to explain that he actually came from the future, though this wasn't always obvious from the way the character was written and performed - and if you couldn't recall the events of The Planet of Decision.
The explosion of the TARDIS console was achieved using a camera flash-bulb.
The episode underran - coming in at 23' 37". Camfield explained this as due to one of the cast omitting a block of dialogue. However, when compared to the camera script this appears not to have been the case. It is not the shortest instalment of the story - the first and last episodes are shorter, with The Nightmare Begins running under 23 minutes.
This was the last time the Monk appeared on screen. Peter Butterworth would go on to specialise in comedy roles, particularly as a regular in the Carry On... film series. He would be there right at the end of that series, as well as featuring in stage and TV spin-offs. The character has subsequently been resurrected in comic strips (joining forces with the Ice Warriors), novels and audios.
The character gets a good send-off, with some lovely comedy moments - such as his whispered "calls" for the Doctor, or efforts to inveigle his way into the TARDIS.
A lovely cinematic touch often commented upon is Camfield's shot of the blazing Egyptian sun, dissolving into the glare of a spotlight on the dome of a Dalek.
- Just for a change these days, the ratings remain fairly stable from the previous week. A small rise in viewers, with a slight drop in the appreciation figure.
- With Spooner writing, the Monk's TARDIS is once again said to be a Mark 4 model. This is the first time that we discover that, though similar in design, not all TARDIS components are compatible between different models. We'll see this again when the Third Doctor attempts to use the Master's dematerialisation circuit.
- It was around this time that David Whitaker resubmitted one of his 1964 stories - "The New Armada". It would later be rejected by Donald Tosh's successor Gerry Davis.
- One of the publicity shots of Hartnell and Sonia Markham, taken to mark the 100th episode:
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