We are getting ready for the return of Doctor Who with Nguti Gatwa on May 11th, so why go back to the second story of the 60 year history?  Possibly for the same reason that next week will be visiting the second-to-last story to date.  Stick with us as we approach the new season.  But first, let’s talk Daleks…

The Daleks is arguably the most important story in Doctor Who’s long history.  That doesn’t mean it’s the best but it changed what might have been a one-season show into a 60-year phenomenon.  The moment that Dalek plunger appeared onscreen, history changed.  But why go back to it now?  Because the great Russell T. Davies decided that with his return to Doctor Who, he was going to modernize a classic to bring in a new audience.  Will it work?

I debated about picking this Blu-ray up because I’ve seen the story a dozen times and, look, it’s a great piece of television history and a monumental piece of the Doctor’s story, but it’s a very slow one.  Seven episodes at 25 minutes each – do the math!  It’s about 3 hours and in today’s TikTok, YouTube and Instagram world, no one has that sort of attention span; certainly not for 60’s TV which was a different animal altogether anyway.  Kids have an attention span that is shorter than the life of a tsetse fly.  But Russell and his crew managed to take a 3 hour epic and do some amazing things with it.  They colorized it, edited it, shortened it to 75 minutes and added exciting music and important sound effects.  Was this good?  No.  This was amazing!  

Within the opening bars of William Hartnell’s theme, there was color in the swirl that gave me a shock of excitement.  Then the episode began and the color was gone; I thought the new DVD player I bought for my computer was malfunctioning until The Daleks appeared on screen in yellow font.  Then the Tardis crew underwent a change and color flooded the screen.  Another thrill of excitement!  And then another shock, all before the first ten minutes were up: as the Doctor tries to leave Skaro, the cloister bell tolls.  Mind.  Blown!

The pacing of the episode is noticeably faster than what we remember.  Barbara is attacked by the plunger around the 11 minute mark and the Daleks surround the others by 13 minutes.  But there are odd choices in this production too.  There are flashbacks to the drugs the crew find outside the Tardis.  While it works well and has a great effect, we’re probably no more than 20 minutes into the episode and yet the production crew felt we needed the reminder.  What does that say about the audience of today?  I say it’s an odd choice, but the reality is that it’s probably a far more telling statement than we’d like to admit: where the audience of the 60s could remember events from a week earlier, we’re in need of memory aids just 20 minutes into the story.  That’s more than a little depressing.

The pacing doesn’t jive perfectly but it’s not enough to hurt the episode.  When Ian warns the Thals of the pending attack, we have to assume the Doctor and crew escaped with them because the next moment, the Daleks are watching them on their scanner at the Thal camp – we never actually see that happen.  Also, Ian says the Daleks took the fluid link when the searched him, but there again, we never see that happen.  And some of the exciting music is too fast and sudden making the action feel rushed. Watch how Susan plays the panicked prisoner to throw the Dalek’s off their scent – it’s so fast that you hold on to the ride for dear life.

There are a number of magnificent lines that are left in, most notably the Thal’s, “There is no indignity in being afraid to die, but there is a great shame in being afraid to live.”  Perhaps less impressive as a line of dialogue but a testament to the writer is when Ian asks the Doctor, “What did you call them?  Thals?”  It’s an acknowledgement that it’s an unfamiliar word to Ian.  This is their first adventure on an alien world, after all.  On the other hand, how have I never noticed before: the Thal’s are terrible negotiators.  They have no food so they ask the Daleks for help promising them that if they are given food, the Thal’s will farm for them.  But… um… didn’t you just say you can’t farm and you need food from the Daleks?  I’ll order you “the art of negotiation”; I think it’s on sale on Amazon.Skr…

Seeing the Dalek blaster from the 80’s appearing in the 60’s was another awesome moment.  Seeing the sky of Skaro and the model work for the city in color was outstanding and there are some CGI shots around that which enhance the heck out of the adventure.  Even watching a Dalek’s eye go red was a mesmerizing moment.  The 75 minutes packs a punch.  It even packs a punch that resonates into the future…

One of my biggest pet peeves with Chris Chibnall’s era of Doctor Who is that he created this idea that William Hartnell wasn’t the first Doctor.  Sure, you can write off a lot saying he was an amnesiac even though we saw him and Susan take the Tardis in the 50th anniversary special but it’s a lot harder to say everyone in the universe is also an amnesiac.  When the Doctor first says the word Tardis next to the Daleks, they say they don’t understand his words.  You know why?  Because this was their first meeting.  The hundreds of Doctor’s including Jo Martin’s have never met the Daleks before and we’re supposed to believe that, considering how omnipresent these pepper pots are?  I don’t buy it.  But this little victory may mean nothing for anyone other than me.  I just want to go on record stating that in my mind, William Hartnell is still the first Doctor.

As the Blu-ray ends on what should be the advent of The Edge of Destruction, the words “And then” appear on screen and we get an absolute punch-the-air awesome moment of clips from the Hartnell era, all in color while music from the modern era plays.  I confess, I stood up with my hands over my mouth and a tingle of excitement racing down my spine.  This was a wonderful purchase and I can absolutely see how RTD intends to renew interest in the classic series that lead to the 60 years we’re still celebrating today. 

I watched the 12 minute Making of featurette right after completing the episode and it adds a few more wonderful anecdotes that I will not spoil here.   This is an opportunity to go back and see the second story ever, for the first time.  I highly recommend sharing the experience with any fan of the modern series.  Let them see where it all began.  They won’t regret it!   ML