The Power of the Daleks - Episode 1

So for the first time ever. William Hartnell isn’t the Doctor, after a wonderful Cybermen story we are treated to a Dalek story. A Dalek story to introduce a new actor to the show. Back in 1966 this must have been a huge gamble to see whether viewers would want to see a new actor playing the part that William Hartnell had spent the best part of three years playing. The reluctance of Ben and Polly to accept this new face as the Doctor is exactly the same as what the viewers are experiencing. Polly is more willing to accept the change but Ben is very much in the opposite camp. It’s several minutes before the action moves out of the TARDIS but its interesting how Troughton’s Doctor doesn’t do any of the checks that Hartnell’s Doctor would have done. When the Doctor is outside he witnesses a murder and Ben and Polly become knocked out due to the fumes.

The story takes place on Vulcan where a colony exists and there seems to be a small amount of discontent. The Doctor is thought of as the examiner who was killed. The examiner’s appearance is not welcome so there is immediately a certain amount of conflict. With the word Daleks in the title, there is a certain amount of expectation to see when they would appear. It was never going to be at any point before the cliffhanger. In The Dalek Invasion of Earth, they didn’t appear until the very end so it’s a great way to introduce characters before the Daleks take over the story. As the episode runs out of time there is a distinct change in tone as the music by Tristam Cary makes the whole episode feel different.

Patrick Troughton’s first episode is a difficult one to judge. First episodes of any new Doctor are difficult because its not how the role will be played even by the end of the story. Troughton was fun and was trying to presumably try and help the audience with trying to get use to a new face. Troughton has some great moments but the best one was when he gently asked Ben and Polly if they wanted to meet the Daleks. It wasn’t done with a great sense of dread or fear but just casual. It’s a very promising start and I think that its great that they have decided to go for it in terms of creating a different version of the Doctor that William Hartnell had portrayed.

It’s an opening episode that it should have been. It managed to do two things very well. It introduced Troughton’s Doctor very well and Anneke Wills and Michael Craze walk that fine line of not driving the story forward yet not disappearing into insignificance. The Daleks were introduced at the right time and with five more episodes the Daleks will have their time to shine but in this opening 25 minutes we get to see the direction that Doctor Who will now be going in with a new actor steering the ship.