Death to the Daleks - Episode 3

The episode of this rather tiresome story starts with the Doctor being attacked by some weird creature that looks like a giant worm. Sarah Jane is stuck with Bellal who is played by Arnold Yarrell and the costume he wears is quite good. He becomes a sort of companion to the Doctor when he decides he doesn’t want Sarah Jane following him into the city.

I haven’t mentioned this but the voices are perhaps the only good thing about the Daleks. Ok the look of them is good but is made even better with the addition of fire. After a while of thinking that this episode was going to be a boring collection of scenes in a corridor so changes when it seems like it’s going to be a chase but that doesn’t last long with the Dalek is defeated by a gap in the wall being thinner that it is.

Just when I have given up on this story (and I’m still not convinced that I won’t), it takes a turn towards something interesting. This is because the story moves properly to the Exillon city which is the cause of the power loss and the moment that the Doctor and Sarah Jane see it (via CSO), it’s a impressive model and the CSO works quite well. There is a lovely moment shortly after which shows the Doctor and Sarah Jane being closer than I had noticed before and it shows how well they have gelled since Elisabeth Sladen joined the show.

When the story moves into the city and they have to follow puzzles I found this to be thoroughly enjoyable. Ok so it’s not the most exciting television that there has ever been but I have been waiting for something entertaining to happen and welcome anything that maintains my interest. They through in a bit of drama with the Daleks just behind Bellal and the Doctor. The bit where they have to follow the maze on the wall is fine for the Doctor but not quite sure how the Daleks can really get away with it considering they only have a sink plunger.

The Dalek that falls into the ‘lake’ after being attacked by the tentacle thing is rather well done. It’s always good when a Dalek is set on fire as it’s a great visual.

The cliffhanger is ridiculous. There is no other way of putting it. If you want people to tune in the following week then you need to give them an incentive to tune it. Why would anyone want to tune in to see how the Doctor and Bellal overcome a pattern on the floor? I know that there were issues concerning the running time but I could think of 1000 ways of ending this episode better. Anyway for the first time since I started watching this episode, I am seeing some positives in this adventure. I only have one episode left and the final Dalek story of the Pertwee era is almost over. Its sad to say that I cant wait.