The Daleks are back!! It’s their
second story of the season after ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ which obviously
saw the exit of Carole Ann Ford. It’s
the final story to feature William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. The Chase has a
special place in my heart because it was one of the first stories that I owned
on video when it was released with ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ back in the
early 90’s. The episode starts off with the regulars floating around the time
visualiser that the Doctor took in the previous story. It’s one of those things
that gets mentioned but never gets used again. When was the last time you heard
the fault locator mentioned?
There’s a nice exposition where
Vicki tries to explain (without knowing it at the time) what the time visualizer
is. It’s fun that after more than 70 episodes, Ian and Barbara still are none
the wiser when it comes to what the Doctor is talking about. I always like the
scenes that take place in the TARDIS as it feels like a second home. In the
opening scene we get to see US President Abraham Lincoln, an encounter between
Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare (which led to the idea of Hamlet being
thought up) and also short clip of the Beatles (yes the very same). Apparently
they were suppose to be involved a bit more than they were but their manager
put a stop to it. To even get the clip was a move that would have been more
fitting in the modern day era.
When the TARDIS crew land, they
appear to be in the middle of a dessert which has two suns. The planet is
called Aridious. There is a difference between the location filming and the
studio stuff but the studio scenes were all quite good. It’s made to look
bigger than it is due to Richard Martin’s direction and also Maureen O’Brien
and William Russell do their best out of breathe acting. Also the scenes with
the Doctor and Barbara help to create the illusion as the sand can be easily
moved around to make it look different.
After the reprise from the
previous episodes, its nearly the half way mark (15:07) before the Daleks
appear again. It’s clear from their first scene that they are effectively on a
revenge trip with reference to the previous Dalek adventure which if that
really was their intention then it’s a bit unfair on Vicki who wasn’t even with
them in that adventure. At the end of their scene where they go into their time
capsule its clear that they are just walking through the door into nothing
because that is all it seems to be. Slightly disappointing.
The action that takes place in
the tunnels are rather well done and are well lit. It’s just as well that I
like them as we will see more of them in the next episode.
The cliffhanger is rather good
but is quite similar to the ending of ‘World’s End’. In that episode the Dalek
comes out of the Thames and in this the Dalek rises out of the sand. I remember
the first time that I saw this episode how cool that seemed and even when its
clear that the ending is a rehash of another cliffhanger it still doesn’t lose
any appeal. It’s a good opening episode and another thing that it has in common
with other Doctor Who stories is that it the regulars don’t encounter anyone in
the first episode of the story. It’s good that they get to enjoy (or not in Ian
and Vicki’s case) the surroundings. 
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