Death to the Daleks - Part One
The Doctor and Sarah are headed for a vacation when the TARDIS crash lands on a planet that is later revealed to be Exxilon. The TARDIS has lost power. They head outside where it is dark and foggy. Sarah goes back inside to put on something warmer. She was dressed for the beach. The Doctor promises not to wander off but does so anyway.
Sarah goes outside to look for the Doctor but can't find him. She returns to the TARDIS only to discover that one of the locals is inside. She hits him and then takes off running. She keeps moving until she comes across what looks like an abandoned city.
The Doctor is taken captive by the Exxilons but later escapes. He meets some humans from the Marine Space Corps (MSC). There are five of them but one, their commander, is injured. They tell him about their search for a cure to the plague that is ravaging humanity. Their ship was forced down due to engine failure and had to land when they got close to planet.
Sarah explores the city. She doesn't see anyone until it is too late. The Exxilons capture her and make plans to sacrifice her.
A spaceship is spotted by the lookout. The Doctor and most of the others go to see if it is a human spaceship. It is not. The spaceship lands, the door opens, and a couple Dalek roll out. They try shooting the Doctor and the humans but the Daleks weapons, like the TARDIS and the Marines spaceship, does not function.
Thoughts
The members of the MSC team are
Jill Tarrant - civilian geologist
Lieutenant Peter Hamilton
Lieutenant Dan Galloway - weapons officer
Captain Richard Railton - second in command
Commander Stewart - leader
There was another member of the team. He was killed in the opening moments of the episode with an arrow.
There is one moment in a fight scene where the Doctor is clearly being played by a stunt double. It is very clear that the stunt double's wig is not in place.
So far so good. I was worried that this would be a dud from the opening moments. This episode isn't great but it seems decent enough. Sarah has run off and gotten herself into some trouble, which frequently happened on this show. The Doctor has met some humans. Only one of the Exxilons has uttered any words.
The humans have bows and arrows. Where did those come from? I don't see any trees. or anything else which could be used to make their weapons. Are we supposed to believe that they are flying in spaceships and usually fight with bows and arrows?
The director of this story is Michael E. Briant. He also also directed Robots of Death, one of my favorite Doctor Who stories.
I wonder who will save Sarah? The Doctor has problems of his own.
There are five people on the commentary track. Only one of them is an actor and he didn't have hardly any lines in this episode.
There are elements of this story that feel very familiar. It's a bit like a story from the following season, The Sontaran Experiment, in some ways.
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