The Daleks Master Plan - Escape Switch

Escape Switch is important for two reasons. The first being that its the last episode to exist on video and the second is that its the 100th episode of Doctor Who. Sadly there isn't any big fuss made of this and instead we get more sneaky movements for the Daleks trying to get the teranium core. The early part of this episode is focused on the Monk, Sara and Steven. It's not until the half way point before the Doctor has his initial scene with Chen and the Daleks. The handover scene is well done but is ruined slightly by the Egyptians attacking the Daleks.

There is a nice moment when Mavic Chen has to tell the Daleks that not evening runs to a schedule. Its something that the Daleks can get their head around. He has a wonderful moment when he push the Daleks eye stalk away in an act of defiance. I think that the relationship is pretty broken down. The return of the Monk makes sense now after he tries to suggest that the Daleks could use Steven and Sara as hostages then when he is taken as well tries to pretend he was saving their lives. There are some good comedic moments from the Monk and Peter Butterworth is a great piece of casting. When William Hartnell has his encounter with Chen and he hands over the core, its a great scene from him and shows that despite his ailing health he can still deliver good lines very well.

Its only now in this episode that the reason for setting this and the previous episode in ancient Egypt and its because of all the small crowded spaces. I think that the setting works better than it did on audio. It's better like this and actually doesn't look to bad. I think that if the previous episode had existed on video then the whole time spent in ancient Egypt would have worked better.

The Monks final scene is a good one as he seems to be abandoned on some horrible icy desert planet and we leave him presumably with the idea that we will see him again but that is the last we see of Peter Butterworth as the Monk. It's the final calm scene before the end of the episode. The final scene with the Doctor, Sara and Steven is very good and goes from humour at thinking of the Monks fate to wondering whether they can get Kembel and as they discuss things and Steven turns the switch then things go bright white so that's not a good sign.

I thought this was a good episode with some good moments and it felt like the story had been moved on. The Daleks were well used and Chen had some good stuff to do. As we approach the final two episodes of this epic, there is a great sense that we are building up towards something big.