Synopsis:
Ben and Polly have just witnessed the ailing Doctor collapse to the floor of the TARDIS. His features have blurred and changed - and suddenly there is a smaller, dark-haired man lying where the Doctor had fallen...
Not only have his features altered, his clothing has as well - a shabbier version of what he had been wearing. He wakes suddenly, with a loud noise pounding in his head. This slowly fades as he recovers. Ben assumes that this is some interloper, and demands to know what happened to the Doctor. Polly, on the other hand, seems to grasp that this is the Doctor - somehow transformed.
Matters are not helped by the fact that the Doctor remains confused by his experience and refers to himself in the third person. His signet ring drops from his finger. When Ben challenges him, he gives the analogy of a butterfly trying to fit back into its chrysalis after spreading its wings.
He tells them that he has been "renewed", and this process was helped in some way by the TARDIS . He could not have survived without it.
The Doctor hunts for a diary in a large wooden chest which sits in a corner of the console room. This is a 500 Year edition. He also finds a musical recorder and finds that he enjoys playing it. He spots various objects from his travels, still referring to himself as though someone else. One item in particular sends a shiver down his spine - a piece of metal which he identifies with "extermination".
The TARDIS has arrived at its next destination and, whilst Polly accepts him, Ben remains sceptical. He insists that the Doctor would have checked the readings before going outside - only to find that he has done this without them even noticing.
They emerge from the TARDIS onto a misty alien landscape. The mist proves to be mercury vapour, as there are pools of the element surrounding them. The Doctor wanders off to test out his new physique, and encounters a uniformed man. Before he can speak, a shot rings out and the man falls dead. The Doctor removes his badge of identity, which states that he is an Examiner from Earth. He scuffles with the assassin but the man escapes - though he manages to secure one of his tunic buttons.
Polly succumbs to the fumes and collapses, and Ben calls for help. Soon all three have been overpowered - but a group of men in white overalls arrive. They have come from a nearby Earth colony, alerted to the arrival of the Examiner's spaceship. They take the Doctor to be he, after spotting that he has his ID.
They take them to the colony's central complex. On waking later in a guest suite, they learn that this is the planet Vulcan, which has a difficult relationship with Earth due to its remoteness. Governor Hensell and Security Chief Bragen are unsettled by their presence, as no Examiner was due to visit for several months. Deputy Governor Quinn, however, does not appear to be too put out by their arrival.
It becomes clear to the time-travellers that there is some tension between Bragen and Quinn.
The Doctor learns that the lead scientist, Lesterson, is working on a special project. Not knowing why the Examiner was summoned, the Doctor realises that this might be the reason and so he insists on seeing the laboratory.
Lesterson's special project, in which he is assisted by a young woman named Janley, proves to be a space capsule - found buried in the mercury swamps, possibly for hundreds of years. The Doctor spots a metal key to the capsule - identical to the piece of metal he found in the TARDIS chest...
The main door is opened, to reveal only a sealed inner compartment.
Knowing the significance of the capsule, the Doctor tries to have Lesterson's work put on hold, but Hensell refuses without good reason.
That night, Ben and Polly see the Doctor sneak out of their quarters and decide to follow him. He enters the capsule and opens the inner compartment using his piece of metal.
Within are a pair of sinisterly familiar metallic forms, inert and covered in cobwebs.
The Doctor invites his companions to come closer and meet the Daleks. Polly screams as a hideous tentacled creature scuttles across the floor at her feet...
Written by David Whitaker
Recorded: Saturday 22nd October 1966 - Riverside Studio 1
First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 5th November 1966
Ratings: 7.9 million / AI 43
Designer: Derek Dodd
Director: Christopher Barry
Guest cast: Bernard Archard (Bragen), Robert James (Lesterson), Pamela Ann Davy (Janley), Nicholas Hawtrey (Quinn), Peter Bathurst (Hensell), Martin King (Examiner)
Critique:
When recording finished on the evening of Saturday 8th October 1966, everyone headed off to a farewell party for William Hartnell. For Michael Craze and Anneke Wills it also meant the start of an extra week's holiday - because David Whitaker's scripts for what had been known as "The Destiny of Doctor Who" needed a considerable amount of reworking.
Patrick Troughton had been offered the role of the Doctor whilst on location in Ireland for Hammer's The Viking Queen (a movie which doesn't actually feature Vikings, and legend has it that one of the Roman soldier actors can be seen wearing a wristwatch).
He initially declined, believing that a programme three years old was already past its best. In a 1983 interview with DWM he claimed that the BBC kept calling him back, offering more money each time, until he accepted.
He reasoned that even if he only made the first story, it would be a job for six weeks.
An intensely private man, he had a complicated personal life with two families to support - so money was important to him. Doctor Who would help pay for his children's education.
Regarding himself as a character actor rather than a leading man, he would refuse to participate in any form of publicity work. Only a Blue Peter design-a-monster competition would tempt him to break his own rule about this in the three years he would play the role, and then he did it in character and in costume.
Doctor Who was a job of work only, and he kept work and home life strictly separate.
He was also extremely worried about becoming too much associated with one particular role (as the first ever TV Robin Hood, this had been in the days before such typecasting had become commonplace) and so initial plans would have seen him heavily costumed or made-up.
Interviews with himself and Gerry Davis always mention the notion of a "windjammer" sea captain - a Victorian sailor. Another Victorian gent, styled on Prime Minister William Gladstone, was also mentioned. Troughton also considered something unacceptable these days but perfectly normal in 1966 - black-face. Specifically, he was thinking of Conrad Veidt when he portrayed the villainous magician Jaffar in the 1940 film The Thief of Bagdad.
His reasoning for this was that he could simply take the make-up off at the end of the day and no-one would recognise him.
Sydney Newman was heavily involved in the discussions with Innes Lloyd and Davis about the casting and the character of the new Doctor. It had been his decision that the programme should continue with a replacement for Hartnell.
When presented with Troughton in the "windjammer" costume, Newman was scathing. From the outset he had seen the new Doctor as a more comic incarnation, after the stern and patriarchal Hartnell version. One particular image he had in mind was Charlie Chaplin - "the Little Tramp".
On seeing the costume options being considered, he demanded to know where his "Cosmic Hobo" idea had gone. This phrase is used as shorthand for the Second Doctor to this day.
Troughton should dress in a degraded version of the Hartnell outfit - checked trousers, but bigger checks. Black frock-coat, but baggy and ill-fitting. Some of the Edwardian trappings would be dispensed with altogether. Other things would be added - a colourful handkerchief for the coat pocket and a bow-tie, affixed with a safety pin. The hairstyle was to have been a curly wig, whilst he would also wear a tall "Paris Beau" hat - often mistakenly referred to as a stovepipe hat.
Troughton actually asked for the costume to be toned down, and the recorder was entirely his idea.
If the discussions over appearance were prolonged, then the actual characterisation was even more complex. In meetings, Troughton was bombarded with ideas from different sources. Upset by Newman's strong dislike to the "windjammer" look, Troughton met with Lloyd in the BBC bar and basically worked out the characterisation between them. Davis would then help refine this with the actor.
It would tally closely with Newman's desire for a tramp-like figure, but added to the mix would be a rebellious streak. He would go to any lengths to defeat the enemy, but then disappear in the TARDIS to avoid the collateral damage. This Doctor would demolish the whole house just to fix a leaky tap.
He would also play his cards very close to his chest, giving little away - even to his companions - as to what his plans were. Enemies would be tricked into thinking him a harmless fool.
Davis was also inspired by the 1939 Western Destry Rides Again, in which James Stewart's character never gave straight answers to questions - preferring to talk in terms of metaphor and parable.
Joining the costume would be some new props - a recorder and a 500 Year Diary. The Doctor would play the instrument to help him think - even when it annoyed Ben and Polly. The Diary was intended to illustrate to the audience that this was no mere old man, as they had thought of the Hartnell incarnation. He was far, far older than that - someone who measured their life in centuries rather than years.
David Whitaker had been commissioned to write the next Dalek story in July 1966, which it was decided would also act as the new Doctor's debut. Terry Nation was too busy concentrating on more lucrative projects, such as the glossy colour adventure serials of ITC. As he had collaborated with Whitaker in the past on various Dalek projects, he was happy to let him take over.
He wrote the basic Daleks / Rebels / Vulcan Colony adventure which we know from the synopsis of The Power of the Daleks, but he contributed next to nothing to the development of the new Doctor.
Whitaker had only written loosely for a generic Doctor, and Newman was unhappy with the lack of characterisation in the scripts - asking for significant changes to be made.
However, by this stage Whitaker had moved to Australia to work, and was unavailable to contribute further.
Davis instead approached Dennis Spooner, who had been collaborating with Nation on The Baron. He had helped set up a new series called "McGill", but by the time it went into production - as Man In A Suitcase - he had stepped back and was concentrating on developing his own series, The Champions.
Spooner therefore had capacity to join Davis to rework Whitaker's story, taking into account Troughton's casting and the ideas for the character that they had worked out.
According to the former Doctor Who story editor, Whitaker had written too much material and he had to cut large parts of it, mentioning specifically a lengthy food machine scene which added nothing to the plot.
Whitaker's draft makes more of the costume change - the cloak acts as a shell concealing what the new Doctor is wearing underneath - which proves to be an outfit the likes of which he has never been seen to wear before. The cloak disintegrates as the new costume is revealed.
His only explanation for what had happened to him is to compare it with the TARDIS dimensions. If his companions can accept that without question, then why not this?
The TARDIS scene ends on a slightly sinister note as the new Doctor announces that he needs to make some changes, and Ben and Polly don't know if he's referring to the nick-nacks in the console room - or to themselves.
Every other month, the letters pages of Doctor Who Magazine would see heated debate over the nature of the first changeover of Doctors. The one thing it wasn't was a Regeneration. This term was not used until the handover from Jon Pertwee to Tom Baker. In the closing moments of Planet of the Spiders, Cho-Je says he will give the process "a little push and the cells will regenerate".
Davis prepared a document outlining the nature of the new Doctor, which went into only sketchy detail about the process of change. He was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) for the transformation.
The new Doctor would have the sardonic humour of Sherlock Holmes, and the calculating mind of a chess player. He would also have a degree of rage within him, and a suspicion of new people and places die to some horrific past experience. (There was mention of him having fled a terrible galactic war - the event which had originally led him to flee his homeworld).
The transformation was a natural process which took place every 500 years or so, and Davis specifically likened it to having a bad LSD trip.
The fact that Troughton was a younger actor, and wore a dishevelled variation on Hartnell's costume, many assumed that this had been a rejuvenation - a younger version of the same character. Indeed, this was how Innes Lloyd always saw it.
Our only on-screen evidence is the Doctor's claim that he has been "renewed" - but only after the word has been offered to him. He also states that the TARDIS was key to the process.
It was the "rejuvenation / regeneration" debate which played out in DWM for years.
Craze and Wills were very much left in the dark about the planned changes, having to rely on the press for information. They knew Hartnell was leaving, but had then seen only rumours as to who was to replace him. This included Brian Blessed (then a household name thanks to Z-Cars) and musical entertainer Tommy Steele. Wills claimed that they only knew who the new Doctor was going to be when Troughton arrived for the final episode of The Tenth Planet.
The young regulars were very pleased to hear that he was to be their new lead actor.
The director chosen to helm the new Doctor's debut had prior experience of handling Daleks - Christopher Barry. He had directed their very first story, in conjunction with Richard Martin. Barry had sought to distance himself from the series, and had been intentionally avoiding it since The Savages.
However, the chance to work with Troughton, on such an important story, tempted him back.
Barry had worked with Troughton before on two earlier drama serials, and the pair had become good friends.
To save money, the director opted to reuse music from earlier stories he had worked on - especially Tristram Cary's cues from the first Dalek adventure.
Robert James, cast as Lesterson, had worked on Smugglers Bay with both Troughton and Christopher Barry. Bernard Archard was well-known to viewers for his role as Colonel Pinto in Spy-Catcher.
Peter Hawkins took over providing Dalek voices on his own, David Graham having moved on to other projects.
Four Daleks would appear in the story - two originals from 1963, with a third adapted from a prop used in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The final Dalek was a "stunt" model first seen in The Chase, which had been made from moulds created for Aaru's Dr Who and the Daleks.
All were repainted silver with a darker shade of blue for the skirt spheres than that used previously. For the first time since The Daleks, there would be no Black Supreme leader model. Another small change was the removal of perspex rings from the guns.
Only two of the props, empty, were required for this first episode.
Rehearsals began on Tuesday 18th October at St Helen's Church Hall, St Helen's Gardens, Ladbroke Grove. Wills celebrated her 25th birthday on the Thursday.
Troughton and his young co-stars hit it off and spent a lot of time socialising in the Fulham area where Wills lived with husband Michael Gough. Craze had stayed with them for 6 weeks until getting his own place.
After recording each week, the trio would visit a wine bar called Finch's in the area.
During his first full studio day, a BBC photographer took many images of Troughton posing on the TARDIS set with his new props. Wills arranged for T-shirts to be printed with the slogan "Come back Bill Hartnell - All is forgiven", which she and Craze wore for the scene where they first emerge from the TARDIS. A great practical joker himself, Troughton did not like being on the receiving end however, and was a little upset. A whiskey together in the dressing room soon resolved the matter.
The opening credits rolled over a shot of the prone Doctor, treated electronically to show the last vestiges of the transformation as seen the week before.
Only a small TARDIS set was used, which included two photo blow-up walls. A photograph taken of Hartnell during the making of the previous episode was superimposed on a shot of a hand mirror, mixing between it and Troughton's face.
The mercury swamp comprised silver-painted rocks with dry ice and gas jets to simulate geysers. Derek Dodd was new to the programme, and he used many large painted backdrops for the landscape of Vulcan. These could be lit differently to indicate time of day or night.
His space capsule, made principally from corrugated PVC, and utilising metal plate-covers for decoration, had a nose-cone which could be opened to allow alternative camera angles on the interior.
This was used for the second of the two planned recording breaks, to set up the final sequence of the Dalek discovery. The first had been just before the initial laboratory scene, to allow Wills and Craze to change into their blue colonial uniforms.
An overrun left the episode some 25' 43" in duration. Unfortunately Cary's music credit was omitted.
This wouldn't be corrected until Part Three, as the first two episodes had their credits recorded in one session.
As well as reference to earlier Dalek stories - the metal key presumably having been collected on his first visit to their city on Skaro, the Doctor also finds a dagger which belonged to Saladin - despite the Doctor never having met him in The Crusade, and he mentions a visit to China, referring to Marco Polo.
Oddly, the Doctor simply shrugs off the fact that his ring no longer fits. In The Web Planet he had made a big deal about it, being resistant to lending it to the Menoptra after earlier using it to help open the TARDIS doors. It helped undo the Monk's sabotage on the planet Tigus as well - again having properties associated with the ship's doors.
None of these stories were worked on by Gerry Davis, so he may have been quite unaware of its significance - but Spooner was involved in both stories in which it featured.
Trivia:
- The ratings see an increase in audience numbers, but that appreciation figure is very disappointing for a Dalek story - and the introduction of a new actor in the lead role.
- Opposition from ITV was mainly Professional Wrestling, though in the Midlands Batman was placed against Doctor Who.
- BBC documentation - and an on-screen trailer - gave the date for this story as 2020 AD. This seems to have been randomly plucked out of the air as it is never specified by Whitaker, Spooner or Davis.
- It had been long theorised that gravitational irregularities in planetary orbits pointed to the existence of an undiscovered planet between Mercury and the Sun. This had been named Vulcan, due to that god's association with fire. The location of the Doctor Who Vulcan is never mentioned, and it may be that Whitaker was thinking of the theoretical one when he named this colony world - thus placing it within the Solar System.
- Vulcan is best known these days as the home planet of the Enterprise's Chief Science Officer, Mr Spock. Star Trek did not debut until September 1966 in the USA, and would not reach the UK until 1969, when it was used to help plug the gap between Doctor Who's sixth and seventh seasons.
- Bernard Archard would later appear as Marcus Scarman in Pyramids of Mars.
- Robert James also returned to the series, as the High Priest of the Cult of Demnos in The Masque of Mandragora.
- And Peter Bathurst would go on to play the obnoxious civil servant Chinn in The Claws of Axos.
- Nicholas Hawtrey, on the other hand, had featured in the The Curse of the Daleks stage play the year before.
- Whitaker had written The Curse of the Daleks, and used elements of it in The Power of the Daleks - namely the finding of dormant Daleks and a human traitor bringing them back to life in order to exploit them.
- Junior Points of View repeated the Doctor's transformation scene on 4th November, to whet the appetite for the next evening's episode.
- Only a few brief 8mm home movie clips exist for this episode, of the Doctor and companions in the TARDIS and a quick glimpse of the Doctor in the colony.
- Radio Times placed Doctor Who on the cover for the week of broadcast, but elected to concentrate on the return of the Daleks over the introduction of a new Doctor. Even Ben and Polly are highlighted with a photo, with no image of Troughton and only a brief mention of the actor:
- Some newspapers, like the Daily Mail on 5th November, did highlight Troughton's arrival, albeit only another very brief mention in this case:
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