The Power of the Daleks: Episode 6

The final episode is where the Daleks finally get their master plan underway. It may not be quite a master plan but it’s a pretty close second. Due to the Daleks, I had almost forgotten about the rebels and the colonists. The previous five episodes have been slowly building up to what the Daleks are doing that its felt like the colonists have been a distraction to the whole thing. It gets dealt with in a satisfactory manner but I would be lying if I said that I cared about them. I know I keep going on about him but I think that Lesterson is a great character in this story and in a scene that he with the Doctor he talks like he has genuinely lost his mind.

In this episode we finally get a bit of what the Daleks do so well. By that I mean exterminating people without bias or thought. They aren’t doing what they normally do which is invade a place because they are trying to just survive and so that is why it’s one of the best Dalek stories because they are being used in a good and effective way.

Valmar is an annoying character. It’s the first and only time that I’ve noticed him and he has still managed to annoy me. After the Daleks have been defeated, all he’s worried about the power. Like Ben says, its not like they should have had bunting or a huge party but something a bit more than what Valmar did. This sums up what I think of the colonists. The ending of the story came at just the right time and it felt like the story wasn’t being padded which is surprising considering it’s a six part adventure.

The thing that has been consistent in this entire story is that it ends on a brilliant cliffhanger. This episode is now exception. The Dalek lifting its eyestalk was a brilliant way to end the episode. It’s a nice little reminder that the Daleks are never really defeated and that they would be back soon. It’s also a nice sign about the show that the show will survive. Six episodes since we last saw William Hartnell and despite a few wobbles in certain areas, the show looks like it’s been given a new lease of life by doing the extremely risky thing of changing the lead actor.

I’ve been listening to the Anneke Wills narrated version of this story and I haven’t commented on just how good Wills is whilst reading the links. Being a fan of hers during her Companion Chronicle readings, she reads it wonderfully and when the situation calls for its changes her style and helps build the tension. This episode has been quite an action packed one and it is the thing that makes it even more frustrating that the episode is lost.

As a six part adventure it  does its job very well. It introduces Patrick Troughton and he’s passed the ultimate test and defeated the Daleks in a manner that William Hartnell would do. It would have been better as a four part adventure but it is what it is and there have been some instances where it has quite worked and I include the use of Ben and Polly but apart from that it’s a fine story and Patrick Troughton IS the Doctor.