The next instalment is where the story
really picks up as we get a full sense of the conflict that happens on Skaro.
After the rather ordinary cliffhanger the story picks up quickly when Susan
encounters her first Thal. We get our first look at the Thals and its at this
point that learn that the Thals aren’t mutants but are human looking. Alydon is
the name of the first Thal and the handing over of the cloak seems like a
gentlemanly act but it becomes a subtle plot device. It’s not long before the
TARDIS crew are getting better. It’s perhaps the best because we couldn’t really
have had more time given to them suffering from radiation sickness.
Susan wants to help the Thals
even when she’s locked up. I thought it was a nice selfless moment because even
though she’s trapped she wants to help others which is a nice character trait.
I thought a good scene took place
between two Daleks as there is a bit of team bonding going on. Nice bit of
complimenting each other on letting the TARDIS crew live. The Daleks don’t seem
to be particularly menacing as all they really do is talk and bring food in to
the prisoners. They shoot themselves in the foot (if they had one) when they
let slip that they know the TARDIS crew want to help the Thals.
The Thals are quite naïve, still believing
that they can work with the Daleks. At time they are quite annoying with only
Alydon being good on screen. John Lee is a good on screen presence and is the best
one out of the speaking Thals that we encounter. It’s quite good writing by
Terry Nation to make it seem like a totally one sided battle as the Daleks have
technology and weapons that can kill without them getting a scratch whereas the
Thals are the exact opposite.
The scene where they fake an
argument and break the camera in their cell was comedic. Hartnell’s attempt at acting up is quite
amusing. The whole sequence where they finally get to put the Dalek out of
action was a nice scene and after a lot of sitting down we got something to
enjoy. We don’t get a proper look at the creature inside the casing but William
Russell and William Hartnell both do a good job in conveying the horrible mess
that must be in there. It’s probably best not to have seen something because it
wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it would be in our imagination.
At the half way point they
stumble across the fact that the floor is metal and it’s the way that the
Daleks move about. It’s a good moment as it shows that there is a way of
defeating the Daleks or Dalek in this case and its not long before they become
unstuck. It’s the first time since ‘The
Cave of Skulls’ that they have had to work together to solve the problem. Ian
comes up with a plan to get their way out of the cell. Barbara is quite resourceful here by making
mud with the dirt on Susan’s shoe.
No one really stood out as far as
the regulars were concerned. William Hartnell’s hair doesn’t seem as mad as
previous episodes but again he doesn’t do a great deal. He becomes more involved
in the latter stages of the episode but he wasn’t the best one in the episode.
This was Carole Ann Ford’s episode as she stopped being told to be child like
and acted more mature. Jacqueline Hill suffered like the Doctor and only really
came into her own once the plan to escape started. William Russell got to be a
bit heroic when he had to help the Daleks’ sucker arm reach his neck but at
least he got to do something apart from sit down. Nice moment with Ian and the
Doctor working together. It makes a change from previous episodes and it shows
that things are changing between these two.
It’s another disappointing cliffhanger
I’m afraid. All that we have is the claw of whatever was inside and then it
fades to black. Rather lacklustre after the dramatic attempt to escape the
cell. As an episode it was quite a good one as we are introduced to some more
characters and the circumstances of both sides became a lot more interesting.
RATING
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