What's Wrong With... Snakedance

There's not really a lot to say about this one, despite the difficulties Chris Bailey had in writing it (mainly due to issues he had with Mr Saward).

We have a reasonably well defined society, with a historical backdrop of past empires, interesting characters, and even the snake is a big improvement on the one from Kinda.

The Doctor does not come out of this story very well - having simply brushed off Tegan's earlier concerns about being truly free from the Mara at the conclusion of the Season 19 story.

Everything which happens here could be placed at his door. No-one gets killed, but a lot of people are psychologically harmed. He really ought to have taken Tegan's concerns more seriously.

The story begins with Tegan redirecting the TARDIS to Manussa under the Mara's influence. She doesn't know how to do this, and nor should the Mara itself - so you have to wonder how this was managed.

Once they've arrived on the planet, the Doctor and Nyssa - in a truly dreadful new outfit - very quickly lose Tegan, despite the great danger she poses.

She's wearing a device which is supposed to cut out all extraneous sound - but it's only got one earpiece.

There's a scene in a hall of mirrors where we see the Mara / Tegan / Lon laughing at its own reflection. But it was clearly stated before that Evil (the Mara) cannot face itself - hence its defeat on Deva Loka. 

The Six Faces of Delusion hat sequence is neat - but surely one of the previous Directors should have spotted the solution before now. The audience certainly spots what the sixth face is straight away.

The story is badly structured - probably going back to the issues between Bailey and Saward - as the Doctor spends an entire episode locked in a cell, as though the writer doesn't know what to do with him for a chunk of the story. 

Whilst the world-building of Manussa might work on paper, it doesn't translate to the practicalities of an all studio production. The big ceremony has only a couple of dozen people in attendance, despite it being a massive cultural event.

The Manussans would have been planning the event for months, yet it feels very much like people are making things up as they go along.

If you think Nyssa's outfit is bad, just wait until you see Lon's ceremonial gear. It's no wonder this clip is always dragged out for those "before they were famous" clip shows, designed to embarrass people.

Clunes' regular gear as Lon is pure New Romantic, so dates this story badly.

Normal service will resume...

A slight pause in posts this week as I'm struck down with one of those winter bugs. Lying in bed enjoying Season 25 on Blu-ray - a review of the Special Editions and extras soon. Hopefully all back to normal by the end of the week.

I did have a planned break coming up soon - away 15th to 25th November. I'll be attending the UNIT Reunion event at Riverside Studios during that holiday.

Episode 139: The Power of the Daleks (5)

Synopsis:

Lesterson looks on in horror as he witnesses a new race of Daleks rolling off a production line within their space capsule...

His already fragile mind finally snaps. Rushing out he meets Janley and tries to warn her - claiming that he intends to melt the Daleks down. He turns off their power supply, but discovers that they are now able to store energy. Lesterson runs off to find the Examiner. Janley is determined that he will not harm the Daleks as her rebel group plans to use them in their uprising.

Kebble and Valmar are going to be working in the capsule to provide the Daleks with their power supply, and Polly is brought there so that they can keep an eye on her.

In the prison block, the Doctor is attempting to find the right sonic frequency to operate the cell locks. After trying his recorder, he is now using water in a glass.

Lesterson bursts in and tells him about the Daleks duplicating their numbers. A guard drags him away to see Bragen.

At the Governor's office, the scientist is not believed - Janley helping convince Bragen that he is mentally unbalanced. Bragen refuses to call Governor Hensell back early from his tour of the outlying areas of the colony.

In the capsule, Polly tries to convince Valmar and Kebble that the Daleks will turn on them at the first opportunity - and they should not trust the ambitious Janley either.

Hensell returns from his tour, and is irritated by the work going on to set up the Dalek power circuit - and the sight of Bragen's armed guards everywhere.

The Doctor finally manages to open the cell locking mechanisms, freeing himself and Quinn.

Hensell confronts Bragen and learns that he no longer follows his orders, and all of his own people have been replaced. Bragen offers him the chance to help with his rebellion by appearing to sanction it. This will avoid bloodshed and lead to a smooth transition of power.

The Governor flatly refuses - and Bragen has a Dalek exterminate him.

The Doctor and Quinn sneak into the laboratory and learn that the rebels have been duped into setting up a static electricity circuit covering the entire colony - and it is almost complete.

Kebble attacks them but Quinn knocks him out and Polly is freed.

They flee the room as armed Daleks emerge from the capsule.

The Doctor, Quinn and Polly come upon Hensell's corpse and Bragen announces that his revolution has begun. The Daleks will obey only him.

However, back in their capsule, the Daleks are waiting for the humans to destroy themselves before exterminating the survivors. 

They begin to stream out of the vessel, chanting: "Daleks conquer and destroy!" over and over and over...

Data:

Written by David Whitaker

Recorded: Saturday 19th November 1966 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 3rd December 1966

Ratings: 8 million / AI 48

Designer: Derek Dodd

Director: Christopher Barry

Additional cast: Robert Russell, Robert Luckham (Guards)

Critique:

Michael Craze was on holiday during the production of this episode as Ben did not feature - though Anneke Wills returns from her break.

Both actors, along with Troughton, missed two days of rehearsal for this episode as they were working on the Frensham Ponds location filming for the next story. It wasn't much of a holiday for Craze, as he had a third day spent at Ealing on other scenes  for The Highlanders.

Four Dalek props were required in studio, along with 10 photographic blow-ups - noticeable in the surviving clip from the close of the episode.

For the scene where Bragen inserts the gun into the servant Dalek, just before it killed Hensell, the recording was allowed to run on and later edited.

The usual mix to negative was used for the Governor's extermination.

The circular camera mask was once again employed to give the Dalek POV shots - including the sequence where Lesterson chases one from Hensell's office.

Now the sole Dalek vocal performer, Peter Hawkins' voice was overlaid multiple times and echoed for the closing sequence, which had involved the four Dalek operators going round in circles to replicate greater numbers - an old trick first used for the Daleks entering their time machine in the opening episode of The Chase.

The Daleks have very much been kept to the background so far, but in this episode they begin to make their mark. We have some well known lines, which just happen to survive in clips (see below), and we also have an interesting philosophical scene in which a Dalek asks of Bragen why humans kill each other. This comes across as a genuine wish to know something of human nature, rather than the on-going servitude deception.

Execution of their own kind is not unknown to the Daleks, of course. We saw the Black Dalek order the destruction of a pursuit ship crew in their last outing.

Two clips from this episode survive thanks to their inclusion in other programmes. The first is a scene of a Dalek moving towards the camera, claiming that "We are not ready yet to teach these human beings the law of the Daleks!". The Dalek bumps over a camera cable - an incident which the animators elected to retain in the DVD / Blu-ray release. This clip derived from the same source as the production line sequence - the Australian Perspectives documentary episode C for Computer.

The closing sequence, featuring the Daleks chanting "Daleks conquer and destroy!" as they pour through a doorway, had been featured in two programmes - an edition of Blue Peter from 27 November 1967; and the Whicker's World instalment I Don't Like My Monsters To Have Oedipus Complexes, from 27th January 1968. 

The latter programme can be seen in its entirety on the Special Edition release of the animated The Power of the Daleks.

Trivia:

• This is the highest rated of the story's six episodes - both in terms of actual audience numbers and in the appreciation figure.
• Robert Russell, playing a guard here, is best known for his supporting role in Witchfinder General, in which he plays Vincent Price's henchman John Stearne. To Doctor Who fans, though, he is remembered as the Caber in Terror of the Zygons.
• On the evening before recording this instalment, the BBC Light Programme broadcast an edited soundtrack of the second Peter Cushing Dalek movie.

O is for... Olvir

A young space pirate who accompanied a colleague named Kari on a raid on what they thought to be a luxury liner. It transpired that this had been converted into a "plague ship", carrying sufferers of Lazar Disease to a space station known as Terminus. This is where they were supposed to be cured, but Olvir knew that no-one ever returned. His own sister had been afflicted. He and Kari realised that they had been set up by their treacherous commander - intended to become drug-addicted Vanir Warriors, who oversaw the Lazars. Olvir initially ran away in panic when he discovered the nature of the spaceship, but soon returned to help Kari and the Doctor. He had become enamoured with Nyssa of Traken, and braved the radiation-filled Forbidden Zone to rescue her.

Nyssa discovered a genuine cure for the disease, as well as a means to replace the Vanir drug with a safer substitute. She opted to stay on Terminus after the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough left. It is not known if Olvir remained with her, or if he and Kari left the station - perhaps to seek revenge on their old leader.

Played by: Dominic Guard. Appearances: Terminus (1983).

• Dominic is the brother of Christopher Guard, who played Bellboy in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
• His wife, Sharon Duce, played Control in Ghost Light.
• He began his career as a child actor, appearing as the title character in The Go-Between (1971). Other film roles include Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Gandhi (1982), and opposite Richard Burton in 1978's Absolution.
• He also provided the voice of Pippin Took in Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings (1978).
• He has turned his back on acting these days to become a psychotherapist and children's author.

O is for... Ollis

Mr Ollis was warden at the Minsbridge Wildlife Sanctuary, located a few miles from UNIT HQ. One morning he found a wooden box attached to a parachute which had landed in the sanctuary. This contained scientific equipment belonging to Professor Tyler. After contacting the scientist to tell him about the box, Ollis heard a strange noise emanating from it. Touching it, he was suddenly transported to a bleak environment - unaware that he had actually been sent to a world in the universe of anti-matter. This was the domain of the Time Lord Omega, who had sent an organism to Earth to ensnare the Doctor.

After UNIT HQ had also been transported, the Brigadier met up with Mr Ollis, who had used his country skills to avoid Omega's Gellguards.

The Brigadier placed him under his command and together they launched a mission to break into Omega's citadel. This coincided with the captives held there escaping. All took refuge in the TARDIS, where the means to defeat Omega presented itself in the shape of the Second Doctor's recorder.

Later, Ollis was sent back home along with the other Earth people, whilst two incarnations of the Doctor remained to destroy Omega. Ollis arrived back where he had been taken from. On getting home, he simply brushed aside his wife's questions - interested only in his dinner.

Played by: Laurie Webb. Appearances: The Three Doctors (1972/3).

• The novelisation of the story gives his first name as Arthur.
• In May 2024 Webb became the seventh Doctor Who cast member to reach their 100th birthday.

O is for... Ohila

Leader of the Sisterhood of Karn (see O is for... Ohica). Ohila succeeded Ohica in this role - the group having taken on board the Doctor's words about the importance of change.

During the Time War, a spaceship crashed onto the surface of Karn. On board was the humanoid pilot, who perished, and the Doctor in his Eighth incarnation. He was fatally injured. He had tried to save the pilot but had been rejected as she saw the Time Lords as no better than the Daleks in the conflict. 

He was offered the Elixir of Life. This had been refined over the centuries so that it now had a range of different properties. These would influence the regeneration and the nature of the new incarnation which emerged from the process.

Having kept his distance from the Time War, the Doctor accepted that it was time to change and participate in the War, and so elected to become a warrior.

Many years later, the Doctor went into hiding when he discovered that an agent of Davros was looking for him. He was ashamed of something he had done in Davros' past, and so took refuge on Karn whilst he prepared himself to confront his old foe - which he did not expect to survive. There he was protected by Ohila and the Sisterhood. The Doctor trusted her enough to give her his Confession Dial, to pass on to his designated 'heir' - Missy.

The Time Lords later imprisoned him within this Dial for millions of years, hoping that he would supply information about a prophesised Hybrid, destined to destroy Gallifrey.

On freeing himself, he overthrew President Rassilon and the High Council who had been responsible for his ordeal. Ohila was present in the Capitol at this time. 

She usually had some influence over him, but on this occasion he rebelled - removing Clara Oswald from the point of time of her death to save her life and shooting the commander of Gallifrey's armed forces before fleeing in a stolen TARDIS.

Played by: Clare Higgins. Appearances: The Night of the Doctor (2013), The Magician's Apprentice, Hell Bent (2015).

• Ohila also features in the prologue to The Magician's Apprentice.
• An early prominent cinema role for Higgins was as Julia in the original Hellraiser movie (1987) and its sequel. Offered a good role in the third, she asked instead to be killed off in the second film of the franchise.
• Her theatre work has seen her wining three Olivier Awards, as well as a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in 2003.

O is for... Ohica

Ohica was a member of the Sisterhood of Karn, who acted as deputy to their High Priestess Maren. Karn lay in the same region of space as Gallifrey, and there were ancient ties between the Sisterhood and the Time Lords. The relationship could be tense, as the despotic Time Lord Morbius had once devastated Karn when he led his followers there, promising them a share of the Elixir of Life. This liquid was produced by a flame which the Sisterhood worshipped. It prolonged their lives and enhanced their mental abilities.

Morbius had been captured here and executed.

The Doctor was able to convince Maren and Ohica that he had not come to the planet to steal their Elixir for the Time Lords (it was used to aid with regeneration difficulties), and that Morbius still lived - his brain secretly retained by a surgeon disciple named Solon, who had completed a hideous new body to house it. The sacred flame was dying and the Elixir running out. 

Ohica led a hunting party which chased the Morbius monster over a cliff, falling to his death.

Maren had been very old when she first took the Elixir, and the Doctor had managed to convince her that without change there could only be stagnation. She sacrificed herself to the flame, and Ohica assumed the leadership of the Sisterhood. The Doctor identified the reason for the dying flame - a blockage in a volcanic vent - and left Ohica with a supply of fireworks to unblock it should this happen again.

Played by: Gilly Brown. Appearances: The Brain of Morbius (1976).

Story 297e: Flux - Survivors of the Flux

In which the Doctor has been turned into a Weeping Angel, whilst Yaz, Dan and Professor Jericho are trapped in the year 1901...

The Doctor slowly returns to normal and finds herself in a large control room.

For her friends, three years have passed and they are searching the globe for clues to a future event when the Earth comes under threat. The Doctor left Yaz a message about this. In their travels they have discovered an ancient prophesy which seems to relate to the Flux, and begin hunting down further clues. In Mexico, they explore an ancient Aztec temple and locate a relic which points them next towards Constantinople.

They realise they must be on the right track as they almost fall victim to a number of assassination attempts.

The Doctor finds that the station she is now on is presided over by Awsok - the woman who she briefly met when the Mouri cast her adrift within her own timeline, and who seemed to know something of her past. She is alone here, apart from an Ood servant. It transpires that she is actually a regenerated Tecteun - the Gallifreyan who adopted her - then exploited her - when she first entered this universe as a child. She was the power behind the Division, and is its sole survivor. The station is travelling through a void between universes, and Awsok reveals that it was she who unleashed the Flux in the first place. It is composed of anti-matter, and it is intended to wipe out the universe whilst Awsok begins afresh in the neighbouring one.

Yaz, Dan and Jericho discover that the date of 5th December is significant in their quest.

In England, 1958, the Grand Serpent is attending a country house shooting party, posing as a man named Prentis. He meets another guest named Farquar, who works with the United Nations. When 'Prentis' mentions his studies into extra-terrestrial threats, Farquar's interest is piqued and he reveals that he has been tasked by the UN to establish a group which will specifically investigate such threats. He invited him to join them as his assistant.

The Doctor learns from Awsok that the Division outgrew Gallifrey and the Time Lords, and now has many species working for it - hence the Ood servant. She tells the Doctor that she attempted to control her actions but could never stop her meddling, and so is destroying the old universe to start afresh - hoping to have gotten rid of the Doctor at the same time.

Bel is tracking down Vinder when she encounters a huge monolith in space. She is interrupted by Karvanista, who has come to find out why a Lupari ship is not conforming to orders. She is unaware that Vinder has just arrived on the monolith and witnessed all of the refugees from Puzano being disintegrated and turned into energy for Azure and Swarm.

At UNIT's new headquarters, the Grand Serpent sees the TARDIS, retrieved from the village of Medderton. Farquar reveals a new device for identifying alien lifeforms - and is astonished to see it react to his new assistant. A large snake-like creature materialises inside Farquar, suffocating him, before returning to the Grand Serpent.

Yaz, Dan and Jericho travel east to the Himalayas where they believe a wise hermit on a remote mountain has a clue for them. His clue points towards Karvanista, and so they decide to travel to the Great Wall of China - a structure visible from space - and set a message for him.

Vinder is the only survivor on the monolith, but is captured by a Passenger form and within finds a vast landscape with different climatic regions. He meets Dan's friend Diane who has been held here since captured by Azure. She shows him some damaged areas which may prove a weakness, and so they begin to formulate an escape plan.

1987 sees the Grand Serpent using his snake-like pet to assassinate senior political figures and so gain control over UNIT.

In the present day, however, he meets his match in Kate Stewart who refuses to see her father's organisation destroyed from within. On getting home after her meeting with him, she narrowly avoids the explosion of her house. She calls on Osgood for help and goes into hiding.

In Awsok's absence, the Doctor manages to convince the Ood to help her to save the rest of its kind. It shows her a map of the universe which shows many galaxies already destroyed by the Flux, which is closing on the Earth. She then hears faint voices, emanating from an antique fob watch.

It contains her missing memories, and Awsok offers to let her have it if she joins her - otherwise she can return to the original universe and perish.

After witnessing another appearance by Joseph Williamson, onboard a ship at sea, Dan realises that they ought to go and visit his famous tunnels in Liverpool.

There they discover many doors, each leading to another world or another period of Earth's history, explaining his seemingly random appearances.

Karvanista boards the ship piloted by Bel, but they quickly join forces when they come under attack.

The Grand Serpent orders that Earth's defences be disabled then contacts his ally - Sontaran General Stenck. The Sontarans attack the Lupari fleet, and troopers appear in the Liverpool tunnels.

Azure and Swarm use the energy of their victims to teleport themselves onto the space station where they kill Awsok and then threaten the Doctor...

Survivors of the Flux is the penultimate instalment of Flux. It was written by Chris Chibnall, and was first broadcast on Sunday 28th November 2021.

After Once, Upon Time, it's the least liked episode of the story / mini-series. Why might this be?

Like that earlier instalment, it's very "bitty", with the action jumping around from location to location and from time zone to time zone. Yaz and company are off on some sort of Indiana Jones quest which has come out of nowhere. Seems the Doctor left a message for her, despite there never having been any opportunity to do so.

We also have an origins story for UNIT which does not fit with the one we've always accepted. That's not to say the old one was the right one - it was always assumed by fandom that Lethbridge-Stewart was instrumental in forming UNIT, after his experience with the Yeti in the London Underground, but the idea that he was already a member, in a junior rank, simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

We also learn that Awsok is really Tecteun, from The Timeless Children, (and we really didn't want to hear any more about that...). The character is set up in such a way that we assume she's going to play a hugely significant role - being the person responsible for the Flux - but then the Ravagers turn up and kill her, just like that.

We're reintroduced to Diane, who has simply been parked for the last four instalments, and won't play much of a role ongoing anyway. The Grand Serpent suddenly emerges as a major villain, despite only having been seen in one, seemingly isolated, sequence in the third episode. It's as if Chibnall is simply making this up as he goes along - something Chibnall always seems to do. If the Grand Serpent was going to play such a significant role, why wasn't he properly seeded through the series. The first episode set up all the various players, and now we're expected to care about new ones. This story is stupidly overloaded.

That the Flux is simply anti-matter is really more anti-climax.

A few guest artists added to the cast list this week. Playing Farquar is Robert Bathurst, who first came to prominence in the series Joking Apart, which was written by Steven Moffat. He then featured in the comedy drama Cold Feet, which lasted nine seasons. He's best known for comedic roles, often playing the "upper class twit" character or authority figures.

As the mountain-top hermit - Kumar - we have Kammy Darweish. He featured in the James Bond movie Skyfall. Nicholas Blane (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) plays Millington, one of the Grand Serpent's high profile victims.

Jonathan Watson plays another Sontaran officer and Silas Carson once again voices an Ood. He has voiced these creatures ever since their very first appearance in 2006. The Ood themselves have traditionally been played by Paul Kasey, but he has moved onto movement coaching, so here it is played by Simon Carew.

Jemma Redgrave makes a welcome return as Kate Stewart, and we have a cameo voice appearance from Nicholas Courtney as "Corporal Lethbridge-Stewart".

Osgood is name-checked, but does not actually appear.

Overall, it's a bit of a dog's breakfast. There is one saving grace - Kevin McNally's Professor Jericho, who is now adding the sort of humour we enjoyed from the much missed Bradley Walsh. How much you enjoy the Kumar scene depends on your sense of humour. I thought it quite funny, but a lot of people hate it.

Things you might like to know:

• According to this episode, UNIT is formed sometime between 1958, when Farquar and "Prentis" first meet, and 1966, when WOTAN attacks London with its War Machines.
• The "UNIT dating controversy" was very much put to bed by The Sarah Jane Adventures - the stories are set at the same time they were broadcast - so Lethbridge-Stewart cannot possibly be a UNIT corporal and a colonel in a Highland regiment in the same year. He's good, but not that good.
• The audio clip of Nicholas Courtney derives from Terror of the Autons.
• In Farquar's HQ we see a sketch of the Special Weapons dalek, and he mentions the "Shoreditch Incident" - referencing Remembrance of the Daleks. There's also a visual reference to Torchwood's Children of Earth.

Episode 138: The Power of the Daleks (4)

Synopsis:

The trio of Daleks exultantly chant "We will get out power" - and Lesterson begins to harbour doubts about them...

He turns off the power supply and reminds them that they are servants and answer to him. He agrees to ration the amount of power they receive, whilst they provide the blueprints for the meteorite detection system which they promised.

Valmar instals a new communications system in the Governor's Office at the behest of Bragen, who has adopted a new uniform to reflect his elevation to Deputy Governor. Hensell has embarked on a tour of the outlying settlements.

The Doctor and Ben arrive and inform him of the disappearance of Polly and the threatening note they received. He dismisses their concerns but allows them to investigate by themselves. A Dalek arrives with a tray of drinks. The Doctor wonders aloud how much longer they will operate without metal floors to travel on.

They leave the office and see Janley pinning a note to a noticeboard, talking to a man named Kebble.

The Doctor explains to Ben about the Daleks' need for static electricity. Seeing them approach, Kebble quickly moves away from examining the board - prompting the Doctor to pay it closer attention.

They then see three Daleks moving down the corridor. They do not include the one they just saw in the Governor's Office, however. 

There are now four of them. 

They make for the laboratory to confront Lesterson. There, Janley has informed the scientist of Resno's death, blackmailing him into helping her and her fellow rebels. They wish to make use of the Daleks.

The Doctor arrives with Ben and demands to know if Lesterson has been manufacturing more Daleks.

On hearing that the creatures can achieve anything if given the right materials, Lesterson begins to worry about what he witnessed earlier. His sanity beginning to fracture, he has the Doctor thrown out before collapsing.

Valmar arrives, to help the Daleks lay a power cable for the new meteorite detection system. As far as Janley is concerned, the Daleks will help the rebels if they are helped in return.

The Doctor and Ben return to the noticeboard and examine it more closely. The Doctor spots a hidden message in the note Janley had added - details of a meeting that evening in one of the rocket rooms.

They arrive in advance of the gathering and witness Janley and Valmar exhibiting one of the Daleks to a group of colonists. The person in charge remains hidden in the shadows. Everyone sees the destructive power of the Dalek's weaponry, and it appears to obey Janley's orders. Valmar has fitted a control device to it.

A noise alerts the rebels to the uninvited witnesses, and Ben allows himself to be captured so that the Doctor can remain at large.

He discovers that the mysterious leader of the rebels is Bragen, and the Doctor knows that he is simply exploiting the movement for his own ends. He in turn knows the Doctor to be an imposter, and that no-one will believe his claims against the man who is now Deputy Governor. He intends to produce the real Examiner's body to prove his case - thus confirming the Doctor's suspicion that it was Bragen who had killed him in the first place.

Bragen has him placed under arrest and he is taken to the prison block where he is locked in a cell adjoining Quinn's.

As he investigates the nature of the cell locking mechanism, he tells Quinn of his discovery of the real Examiner and his death, and of Bragen's involvement with the rebels.

Lesterson has suffered a mild mental breakdown following his confrontation with the Doctor and the slow realisation that his warnings might have been justified. He witnesses two Daleks appearing to conspire in the darkness of his lab, and decides to investigate.

He sneaks onto their space capsule and discovers that more sections have been opened up. He moves deeper into the vessel and soon comes upon a large industrial space in which embryonic creatures are deposited inside new Dalek casings, which roll off a production line at a terrifying rate...

Data:

Written by David Whitaker

Recorded: Saturday 12th November 1966 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 26th November 1966

Ratings: 7.8 million / AI 47

Designer: Derek Dodd

Director: Christopher Barry

Additional cast: Steven Scott (Kebble), Peter Forbes-Robertson (Guard), John Scott Martin (Dalek)

Critique:

The rehearsal script for this episode was titled "The Destiny of Doctor Who" - a name which was also given to the story overall whilst David Whitaker worked on it.

The early scene between Valmar and Bragen was absent, reappearing later in the episode and reworked to include the Doctor and Ben.

At the noticeboard Janley was seen to drop an envelope, and the Doctor later spotted a number of these in her bag in Lesterson's laboratory.

The noticeboard code is broken in the finished episode by the Doctor reading the capital letters. In the draft, it was the final letters of each line which gave away the details of the meeting.

Whitaker's absence from Doctor Who is very obvious with his Daleks' reliance on metal floors and static electricity. These go back to their very first story only, and the Daleks had been seen to be perfectly mobile on any terrain ever since, even if they needed a little help from collection discs on their backs in their second story - Whitaker's final work on the show as Story Editor.

Terry Nation was unhappy with Whitaker's handling of his creations. We know from the documentary about Whitaker on The Collection - Season 2 box set that the two men had some serious fallings-out, including a physical punch-up.

In an interview with DWM, Nation later stated: "I didn't like David's episodes, where he had them being very sweet and very polite; that seemed totally alien to me..." "This is not to say that they were not good episodes; this is just my personal opinion. I didn't like them and I responded very badly to them".

However, Whitaker himself claimed, referring to the changes made after he went abroad: "It was a different kettle of fish when it was broadcast, and I wasn't desperately happy about the whole thing".

The model filming, including the Dalek production line, took place at Ealing between Monday 26th and Wednesday 28th September. A number of Herts Plastic Moulders' push-along Dalek toys were purchased from Woolworths and slightly adapted to make them closer to the full-size props.

The conveyer belt model was some 12 feet long.

Robert James (playing Lesterson) was present for reaction shots as he watched the Dalek activity from behind a window.

Derek Dodd and his team created the tentacled Dalek embryos from green latex, covered with shaving foam. One of the Daleks was fitted with a replacement utility arm which ended in a plastic sieve instead of the usual sink plunger.

One of the Dalek props was a lightweight one created from moulds of one of the cinema Daleks. It was this one, minus gun and utility arm, that was used for the scenes of the casing being lowered onto the base after the mutant had been placed inside.

As the Dalek numbers grew, so an additional operator was required in studio. This was John Scott Martin, who had first operated a Dalek in The Chase.

A small television monitor was added to the Governor's Office set, which allowed Peter Bathurst to be seen talking to Bragen from another part of the colony. The actor simply stood against a painted backdrop for this, and it was his only scene of the episode. 

Anneke Wills was on holiday this week, and Ben was now abducted to allow Michael Craze to have the following week off.

(Despite being on holiday, Wills had filmed some scenes for The Highlanders the day before this studio session).

In editing, there was one small cut to the scene in which the Doctor and Ben go to see Bragen about Polly's disappearance. In this Bragen claimed that discipline in the colony was becoming lax, and fresh leadership was needed, to which the Doctor responded: "It depends on what kind of leadership, doesn't it?".

In 1995 a clip of the Dalek production line turned up in an Australian TV documentary series called Perspectives. The edition, originally screened on 29th May 1974, was titled C for Computer.

In an interview with DWM, Anneke Wills vividly recalled  the scene: "I still have nightmares about The Power of the Daleks, because there was this one scene where you were confronted by an endless row of Daleks, just coming at you! Something about the fact that there was a, sort of, inevitability... This kind of robotic movement. And there were no eyes, and no face - even the Cybermen had mouths and eyes, but the Daleks had nothing but eyes and plungers. They still give me nightmares...". 

Some other clips from this episode turned up in September 2005 when they featured in nostalgia series Sunday Times Past. They had been sourced from an episode of Tomorrow's World, broadcast on 28th December 1966.

Trivia:

• The ratings and appreciation figure rise slightly, with the episode now in the Top 50 programmes for the week - though only just (50th place).
• At the BBC Programme Review meeting on 30th November, Controller of TV Programmes Huw Weldon - a big Dalek fan - had it confirmed that photographic blow-ups were employed in the background to bulk up their numbers. Christopher Barry had first used this technique in their very first story. Often derided these days, though only by people who are ignorant of the fact that Doctor Who used to be watched on small 405-line screen televisions (average screen size in the mid-1960's was 17").
• Unless the Daleks have knocked through to some spacious but unused section of the colony, their space capsule clearly shares its bigger-on-the-inside dimensions with the TARDIS and their own time machines, as seen in The Chase and the second half of The Daleks' Master Plan. The odd thing is that no-one remarks on this - least of all scientist Lesterson.
• The Doctor claims to have solved the rebels' code by spotting that they employ an anagram. This is a mistake. What the Doctor should have said is that they use an acrostic.
• Peter Forbes-Robertson, who features as a guard in this episode, would return to the programme in the Pertwee era, playing one of the Time Lords in the opening scene of Colony in Space, and later the Chief Sea Devil. 
• The Radio Times covering 26th November to 2nd December published the following letters. A thumbs up for Troughton, a thumbs down, and a thank-you to William Hartnell.

• Mike Tucker constructed a model of the Dalek production line for an extra on the DVD / Blu-ray release. It was on display at Gunnersbury Park Museum in 2023/24:

The Art of... The Power of the Daleks

As one of the last of the original run of novelisations, John Peel's Doctor Who - The Power of the Daleks never underwent any reprints, and so we only have the above artwork by Alister Pearson. 

The book was published in July 1993.

Pearson created a special landscape format version of this work for a 2016 convention, taking the same basic image but adding a whole line of identical Daleks stretching off to the left.

Peel used lines of dialogue for his chapter headings, and added an afterward explaining how he had used Whitaker's original scripts for his adaptation. Amongst his changes is a mention of UNIT.

Based in the USA and active in fandom there, Peel had become friends with Terry Nation - hence the decision to allow him to write the book, along with that for the subsequent Whitaker / Dalek story.

The Troughton portrait derives from a publicity shot taken during the making of The Underwater Menace. That distinctive rock arch on the Vulcan surface makes its first background appearance.

The story was one of a handful to have its script published by Titan Books. It preceded the novelisation by only a few months. The artist once again is Alister Pearson. Interestingly, no attention-grabbing Daleks on the cover - no doubt to avoid paying Mr Nation. The Troughton image is based on a photo taken on the TARDIS set during the making of the opening episode, whilst those of Ben and Polly hail from The War Machines publicity. 

There have been a number of audio releases for the story, and the first of these was in cassette form. Unsurprisingly, this also hails from 1993, being a tie-in for the 30th Anniversary. A photomontage cover actually features images from the proper story for a change. The linking narration was by Tom Baker, in character as the Doctor. You can listen to this as an extra on the Special Edition DVD.

The soundtrack was then released on CD in August 2004, this time with the narration provided by Anneke Wills. The same Troughton photo as used by Pearson for the novel is employed - and you can see why he shaped the Doctor's face so oddly there. The Polly image comes from The Moonbase. 

The rock arch takes centre stage, and we also see Bragen and Lesterson along with a few Daleks (from The Chase by the looks of them). Compared to some of these covers it's not too garish or cluttered.

This was rereleased in MP3-CD format - the soundtrack coupled with the telesnaps for use on a PC - in June 2005. A few of the telesnaps are simply plastered over the original soundtrack cover, though Ben and Polly are moved to where they can just about be seen, and we lose the Vulcan colony pair.

The existing fragments of the story were issued on the second disc of the Lost in Time set in November 2004.

The story may have only generated a single edition in book form, but it has been released in animated form on DVD in a number of ways. The first release was in 2016. There was a monochrome only version, and a B&W / colour options version. Region 2 above...

The Region 1 release with both versions...

And the steelbook...

A Special Edition followed in 2020. This was packed with extras, but also took the opportunity to make some improvements to the animation - mainly in the opening TARDIS scenes and Lesterson's discovery of the Dalek production line. This offered a monochrome version only.

Peel's novelisation was released as an audiobook in 2022, with narration provided by Dalek voiceman Nicholas Briggs. Alister Pearson provides new cover art, though based on his original work. We still have the Doctor and Dalek, but the TARDIS is brought forward to be more prominent on the right, we now have the space capsule to the left, and we've ditched the orange background colour scheme.

Finally, we have the photomontage cover from the moviedb site.

Inspirations: The Bells of Saint John

Three story arcs in play, two of which (spoilers) will merge at the end of this series. The third will take another year to materialise.

The first is Clara. We've seen Jenna Coleman, as she was then, twice so far - with similar names but in quite different time zones and on different planets. The last was a Victorian governess, who moonlighted as a barmaid (or a barmaid who moonlighted as a governess), and this new Clara is a childminder - so there might be a connection there. A barmaid could be said to work in Hospitality, and the first "Clara" we met was an entertainments officer on a spaceship, so Hospitality again.

The second arc is that of the Great Intelligence, last seen in a prequel to the Edward Travers arc of The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear.

That third arc, which won't play out until Series 8, is the woman who gives Clara the phone number for the TARDIS (for the title of this episode refers to the ship's telephone, a Police Box also having a St John's Ambulance badge to indicate that it contains a first aid kit).

I'm sure a lot of people thought that this mysterious woman might be River Song, whilst every female villain is always going be the Rani. (It's been said that the villain of Series 15 is a woman, so might the Rani finally be coming back? A bit redundant after Missy, but you never know).

As with the Troughton stories and The Snowmen, the Intelligence makes use of something 'local' to act as its weapons - Yeti in Tibet and snowmen in a Victorian London winter.

In the first quarter of the 21st Century it's all about digital technology, and everyone is transferring from the old wired connections to Wi-Fi. The latest weapons are therefore mobile Wi-Fi hotspots - dubbed "Spoonheads" due to the concave shape of the back of the head.

Moffat stated that he deliberately wanted to use something everyone used in day to day life as a threat - something he's done often enough before and since.

Quite what the Intelligence wanted with the Earth we never knew. In its first outing it looked as though it was going to physically consume the planet, so perhaps feeding on natural energies of some kind.

It never looked as if it wanted human beings for any purpose, other than to have a single individual to act as its agent - Padmasambhava, Sgt. Arnold, Dr Simeon and now Miss Kizlet.

Here the Intelligence appears to be harvesting - what? Souls? Mental energy? Is it psychically eating people, or just enslaving them? It isn't entirely clear what its goal is.

London landmarks have played a part in Doctor Who's Earth invasions ever since Daleks were photographed on Westminster Bridge. After that we've had St Pauls (Cybermen), the Tower of London (UNIT), the London Eye (Nestenes), Big Ben (Slitheen), Gherkin (Sycorax), Thames Barrier (Racnoss), and Canary Wharf (Torchwood). 

Now the Shard is used.

This story is also the latest to feature a duplicate of the Doctor, companion or both - a feature of the series ever since the Daleks made an android Doctor in The Chase. It almost started even earlier, as the abandoned third story of Season One, "The Hidden Planet" by Malcolm Hulke, was to have featured a double of Barbara. Here, both the Doctor and Clara are copied by Spoonheads.

The story opens with the Doctor continuing his self-imposed exile, initiated by the loss of Amy and Rory. Hiding out in the same city and time zone as the Paternoster Gang probably wasn't a clever idea if you want to avoid adventurous entanglements, so the Doctor has relocated to a monastery in medieval Cumbria. No longer dwelling on the loss of Amy, he's now becoming obsessed with the Impossible Girl.

Once his interest is piqued and he returns to the fray, he abandons old habits (literally) and dons a new outfit. 

We see him admire a bow-tie in a box - one once worn by Patrick Troughton.

There's a topical reference to the London Riots of 2011, and mention of a mix-up at Earl's Court - a reference to the fact that there's a Police Box outside the Underground Station.

Next time: the Doctor faces the music, whilst Clara takes a leaf out of her mother's book...

What's Wrong With... Arc of Infinity

It's one of JNT's "shopping list" stories, which never turn out well. Plot should drive everything, not be driven by the need to include specific locations or characters.

The story opens with an unseen Time Lord communicating with a masked being who appears in negative. The Time Lord's voice is treated slightly - but as soon as you know that Michael Gough is in the cast then the game's up. The reveal that he's the traitor on Gallifrey becomes an anti-climax.

A technician named Talor detects his activities, so Hedin kills him. This draws attention and leads to suspicions, so you have to wonder why Hedin didn't just incapacitate Talor and make it look like a minor accident. He only needs him quieted for a short time, as he expects Omega to return any day now.

It's very lucky for him that he only has a pig-headed Castellan and a vainglorious Chancellery Guard  Captain to contend with.

Yes, the masked figure is Omega, last seen being annihilated in a matter / anti-matter collision big enough to turn a black hole into a supernova - as if one's the opposite of the other.

It's left unexplained how he survived.

Also unexplained is why, if you're going to bring back a popular old foe, you don't retain such an iconic original costume and plump for something over-designed instead.

To stop Omega from transferring into the matter universe, the Time Lords decide to execute the Doctor. It is obvious that he had to have had help from someone on the High Council to make transfer - it's explicitly stated that only someone on the High Council has the authority - but this is ignored by everyone until halfway through the story, once Omega's been revealed, and the second half needs something new to maintain interest.

If the Doctor is the most dangerous person in the universe, and time is pressing, why imprison him in his vast TARDIS and not in a cell which is much easier to guard? Even if he can't pilot the TARDIS away, he could give the guards the runaround long enough for Omega to make his move and thus threaten the entire matter-universe.

The Doctor also gets escorted through public areas of the Capitol - which sadly these days resembles an airport departure lounge. 1980's stories date terribly.

Also, does the Doctor really need to die? Would it not be more efficient to use the Doctor to ensnare Omega and destroy him instead. What's to stop Omega simply trying again and again until eventually succeeding?

In a contemporary interview with Johnny Byrne he thought that the inclusion of Amsterdam made sense and was well-integrated into the plot. I'm afraid he must be the only one. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for this story to be set in that city, other than because JNT wanted the holiday / publicity. (At one point you actually see him ,in a sheepskin coat, herding passers-by away from the filming).

There are locations all over the planet which lie below sea level - ones which are remote and highly unlikely to have the geeky hikers stumble across them.

Picking a major city is just asking for trouble - though at least in Amsterdam something like the Ergon might not actually draw attention - certainly not for those who might frequent certain coffee shops and cafes.

When the script actually draws attention to how bad a costume is then you know you're in trouble.

How on earth did Robin know about that underground crypt in the first place, and that they wouldn't be caught? The house is hardly abandoned if there's a gardener coming in.

My own personal bugbear with this story is Coincidence. All drama depends on it, if you want to wrap up the plot within a reasonable running time or page count, but the level of coincidence in this story is off the scale.

Had the Doctor somehow managed to cross paths with Tegan in London, that's one thing - she lives there, and he visits regularly. But for him to just happen to come across her again in a city we've never seen either visit before is far-fetched. Then we have the fact that a relative of hers just happens to be one of the people who accidentally stumbles into Omega's lair - and she's intending at that very moment to come and visit him.

The Doctor isn't reunited with Tegan when she's working, and so can't rejoin him and Nyssa. No, she just happens to be free right now.

There's also the issue with the Youth Hostel. The idea that the staff just happen to twig that it's Tegan they're looking for, out of goodness knows how many Australians who visit Amsterdam, is also pushing it too far.

The story at least mentions Leela and K-9, but would either really be absent if the Doctor was going to be executed? Assuming they are off on some sort of mission, they'd be using a TARDIS surely, so could get back immediately. Why is Andred no longer commander of the Chancellery Guard? Are the Time Lords racists now, that they victimise someone for marrying an alien? Why did the Doctor miss the wedding? Surely they would have ensured that he could attend, having brought them all together?

Last, but certainly not least, watch the Behind the Sofa for the story when they get to the scene in which Omega looks down at the boy beside the pipe organ and smiles. Everyone watching throws their hands up. This scene was praised back in 1983, with parallels drawn with the Frankenstein Monster and the little girl by the lake in the Universal classic, but watching it today I'm afraid Davison comes across looking like a child molester...

Episode 137: The Power of the Daleks (3)

Synopsis:

The inquiry into the activities of Deputy Governor Quinn has been interrupted as Lesterson and Janley unveil their active Dalek. It claims to be a servant to the humans - repeating this over and over again to drown out the Doctor's warnings...

Hensell is caught up in Lesterson's enthusiasm, seeing only the benefits to the colony which he is promising.

Ben and Polly see that the Dalek seems to recognise the Doctor, who challenges it to deactivate itself. It hesitates before doing so. The Doctor and his companions leave the room, and the Dalek reactivates itself. Lesterson asks it to explain why it refused to obey the order immediately, but it counters that it cannot help the colony if it isn't operational. Hensell is suspicious as to how intelligent it is if it can reason thus, but the scientist reassures him and returns with it to his laboratory.

Quinn's tribunal resumes, and he reveals that it was he who summoned an Examiner in the first place, to tackle the rebel problem - so why would he try to kill him?

Bragen accuses him of carrying out acts against the colony then blaming them on the rebels, in order to undermine Hensell and take over himself.

Quinn is ordered to be locked up, and Bragen is promoted in his place.

In the guest quarters, the Doctor has a dilemma. Destroy the Daleks and they will be locked up as no-one believes his warnings; leave them alone and they will exterminate everyone. He hits on an idea and begins dismantling the metal bed frame.

Polly sees Quinn in the corridor as he is being escorted to the cell block, and he advises her to try to find out where the rebels hold their gatherings.

Lesterson is conducting intelligence tests on the Dalek when the Doctor arrives - claiming it is best to co-operate rather than challenge each other all the time. He offers to help.

Whilst the scientist is distracted, the Doctor uses a piece of metal to sabotage the Daleks' power supply to wreck it. The attempt fails and Lesterson throws him out.

Janley and Bragen meet and it transpires that she is a member of the rebel group - and he is fully aware of this fact. They are both interested in exploiting the Dalek - and its weaponry. With Quinn out of the way, Bragen turns his attention towards the Examiner. 

They will deal with him through his friends...

Polly is then lured to the Communications Room, where she is abducted by a rebel named Valmar.

Ben quickly becomes concerned by her absence though the Doctor advises patience.

The Dalek claims that it can improve the efficiency of the colony's meteorite detection system if given the right materials and a power source. Lesterson goes to get permission from Hensell, and the Dalek enters the capsule. Seeing that the lab should be empty, the Doctor and Ben enter and spot a power cable running into the capsule. They are then confronted by a further two Daleks - both armed. They flee the room.

They go to Bragen to inform him of Polly's disappearance, but he questions the Doctor's motives in being here - accusing him of stirring trouble and being in league with Quinn. He does not believe him to be the Examiner at all, having killed the real one. The Doctor counters by asking him how he knows the real Examiner to be dead.

A short time later, a note is delivered anonymously to their quarters warning that Polly will be safe so long as they don't interfere.

Lesterson returns to his lab to see the three active Daleks - now all disarmed, claiming not to need weapons. Told they will get what they require for the meteorite detection system, they become highly animated, repeatedly chanting "We will get our power!"...

Data: 

Written by David Whitaker

Recorded: Saturday 5th November 1966 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 19th November 1966

Ratings: 7.5 million / AI 44

Designer: Derek Dodd

Director: Christopher Barry

Additional cast: Richard Kane (Valmar), Gerald Taylor, Kevin Manser, Robert Jewell (Daleks), Peter Hawkins (Dalek voices)

Critique:

David Whitaker had not written for the series since the second season, when individual episodes had their own title. This one, he called "Servant of Masters".

His draft differed in several ways from the finished episode. In particular there was a lengthy scene set in a medical bay. The Doctor assumed that he would pass his tests with flying colours - only to find that the machines were stating he was in a bad way. In the same way that the draft opening instalment had stated explicitly that the Doctor's renewal wasn't the first time he had undergone the process, so in this episode he told his companions that he was 750 years old, and had his last check-up 250 years ago.

We wouldn't be given an age for the Doctor on screen until Tomb of the Cybermen, and the idea that there had been earlier, unseen incarnations took until "The Timeless Child" concept to be aired.

In interviews Dennis Spooner mentioned the work he had to do on Whitaker's scripts - singling out a food machine scene which he felt broke the flow of the episode and added nothing to the plot. There is a very strong possibility that it was actually this medical scene that he was actually referring to, as it involved automated devices and the sequence would fit with his criticisms of it.

Another significant difference was that Quinn had temporarily escaped from his guards when he met Polly in a colony corridor.

Something which would no doubt be deleted today was a conversation between the Doctor and Ben regarding Polly's disappearance, when the young man states: "I'll belt her one when she turns up...".

We'll talk about Terry Nation's opinion of Whitaker's Dalek stories next time...

The third episode of The Power of the Daleks was recorded on the evening when Patrick Troughton made his public debut as the Doctor. The actor was so nervous that he refused to watch it.

Three Dalek props were required in studio, and the circular camera mask was employed once again to show their point of view shots. Joining Gerald Taylor, who had operated the Dalek in the second episode are regular operators Kevin Manser and Robert Jewell. The latter had recently worked on the second Peter Cushing Dalek movie, which was in the cinemas at this time.

Troughton performed Oh Can Ye Sew Cushions on the recorder.

The opening credits were shown over a shot of the first Dalek in Hensell's office, with the closing ones over the trio of Daleks chanting, which faded to black.

Three of the five cliff-hangers for this story involve chanting Daleks.

Anneke Wills would not be required for the next episode, but she, Troughton and Craze were needed later that week for filming at Ealing for the following story - The Highlanders.

Trivia:

• The ratings continue to slide whilst the appreciation figure remains stable. The series drops out of the Top 50 programmes for the week.
• This is the shortest of the story's six episodes, with a duration of 23' 31".
• Richard Kane, who passed away in February 2023, is probably best known for his role as Inspector Bottomley in the "Masonic Mysteries" instalment of Inspector Morse.
• There has always been some debate about how the Daleks managed to survive their first encounter with the Doctor, causing some to place The Daleks (aka "The Mutants" 1963/4) later in their timeline (a devolved group left behind) or - more likely - there were other Dalek communities elsewhere on Skaro. This story, however, reveals that Daleks simply become dormant when their power source is removed, and can survive for centuries. It may well be that the Daleks in their city merely went into a prolonged hibernation after the attack by Alydon's people - which just happens to be the scenario for Whitaker's Curse of the Daleks stage play.
• The Listener of 24th November gave the new Doctor a tentative welcome, with their TV critic "not yet fully adapted" to Troughton. JC Trewin did think that the new Doctor was just as capable of tackling the Daleks as his predecessor.
• The Dalek's chant of "I am your servant..." was the inspiration for the "I am your soldier..." of the Ironsides in Victory of the Daleks. This whole story was an influence on Mark Gatiss for the seemingly subservient Daleks in his 2010 story.

O is for... Ogrons

Brutal ape-like beings, they were natives of an obscure planet in a relatively unexplored region of space, on the edge of the Earth and Draconian Empires. Fiercely loyal, though low in intelligence, they made ideal servants for other races – gaining a reputation as mercenaries. When the Daleks changed Earth history in order to make their failed 22^nd Century invasion of Earth a success they employed the Ogrons as a security force. The human Controller wished to employ his own kind, due to the dim-witted nature of the Ogrons, but the Daleks overruled him.
When a guerilla group travelled back to the 20^th Century to prevent their timeline from taking place, Ogrons were sent back to stop them. Though armed with superior weaponry, they preferred brute force to kill or capture their enemies.
The Doctor discovered that they had one physical weakness – being susceptible to a blow on the top of the head.
The Doctor was able to put history back on course, and the timeline was deleted.

In 2540 the Daleks used the Ogrons as part of their scheme to pit the human and Draconian empires against one another, after being approached by the Master. He had created a device which preyed on the fear centres of the mind, causing its victims to see the thing they feared the most.
He used the Ogrons to attack spaceships belonging to both groups, ensuring that there were survivors from every raid. His device made each race see the other instead of the Ogrons. Tensions were always high between the two empires due a bloody space war which had been fought only 20 years before. Initially unaware of who was behind the scheme, the Doctor and Jo witnessed an Ogron raid when the TARDIS arrived on a space freighter – but the Earth authorities refused to believe them. The TARDIS was brought to the Ogron planet along with other spoils of the raid – alerting the Master to the Doctor’s presence. Ogrons were sent to Earth to free him from prison – the Earth people seeing them as Draconians.
Later, on a mission to free the Master from capture by the Draconians, one of their number was left behind and the Draconian Emperor realised the truth of the Doctor’s claims. The Earth authorities were also finally convinced and a mission was launched to the bleak, rocky Ogron planet.

There the Doctor discovered that the Ogrons worshipped a monster which preyed on them. In appearance it was a huge, shapeless orange mass.

Jo stole the Master’s hypnotic device, and the Doctor used it to appear as a Dalek to trick an Ogron guard into releasing his party from a cell, and later to appear as one of the monsters to cause a whole party of Ogrons to flee in terror.

Played by: Stephen Thorne, Michael Kilgarriff, Rick Lester. Appearances: Day of the Daleks (1972), Frontier in Space (1973).

• Both appearances by the Ogrons were directed by Paul Bernard. The script for  Day of the Daleks simply described "monsters" and it was he who decided that they should be ape-like. The description of them as "guard dogs" for the Daleks had led Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks to think of them as dog-like.
• Rick Lester played an Ogron in both stories.
• John Friedlander designed the half-masks, which were made by make-up trainees.
• Some of the non-speaking Ogron extras had heads too large for the masks, and they had to be split at the back.
• The company which made the Ogron-eating monster prop mistakenly called it an "Oberon-eating" monster in their literature.
• The prop was deemed so poor that its appearance was kept to an absolute minimum. It was originally to have been used in studio for the final scenes.