C10S04 Planet of the Daleks
Synopsis
The TARDIS arrives on Spiridon, an inhospitable planet where the vegitation is hungry and extremely dangerous. The Doctor has been badly hurt and has fallen into a coma, so it is up to his concerned assistant Jo to leave the safety of the TARDIS to find help. She soon discovers a jungle containing invisible creatures, and that the planet is hiding a terrible secret about the Doctor's oldest enemy, the Daleks...
Cover notes
In 1973, Doctor Who celebrated its tenth anniversary - and what better way to celebrate than to include one of the show's most successful monsters?
Since negotiating their return for Day of the Daleks the year before, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks had given writer Terry Nation the first refusal on writing all future Dalek stories. Planet of the Daleks was the first time he had worked for the series since The Daleks' Masterplan in 1965.
Unusually, the story follows on directly from the previous one, Frontier in Space, and the six-part adventure is full of treats for long-term Doctor Who viewers. We meet the Thals again, the first time since the very first Dalek story in 1963; old friends of the Doctor's get a mention; and then there are the Daleks themselves. Four more Daleks were built - and we also get to meet the bulkier Dalek Supreme, a modified version of Terry Nation's personal prop from the film Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD (1966).
For many years episode three of Planet of the Daleks only existed in the BBC Archives as a black-and-white 16mm telerecording, because the colour master videotape for that episode had been wiped. Viewers can now watch the episode in full colour thanks to a combination of computer colourisation and special software.
Planet of the Daleks is an enjoyable and (now completely) colourful Third Doctor story. Interestingly, the Doctor and Jo are separated for half of the adventure - something that becomes a bit more permanent after the story that follows, The Green Death...
Cast
| The Doctor | Jon Pertwee | listed as Dr. Who |
| Jo Grant | Katy Manning | |
| Taron | Bernard Horsfall | |
| Vaber | Prentis Hancock | ep. 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Codal | Tim Preece | |
| Rebec | Jane How | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Wester | Roy Skelton | ep. 2,3,5 |
| Dalek voice | Michael Wisher | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Dalek voice | Roy Skelton | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Dalek operator | John Scott Martin | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Dalek operator | Murphy Grumbar | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Dalek operator | Cy Town | ep. 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Marat | Hilary Minster | ep. 3 |
| Latep | Alan Tucker | ep. 3,4,5,6 |
Crew
| Written by | Terry Nation | |
| Title music by | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Incidental music by | Dudley Simpson | listed as Music eps. 3,4 |
| Special sound | Dick Mills | |
| Costumes | Hazel Pethig | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Make-up | Jean McMillan | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Visual effects | Clifford Culley | |
| Studio Lighting | Derek Slee | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Studio Sound | Tony Millier | listed ep. 1,6; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | John Hurst | |
| Producer | Barry Letts | |
| Director | David Maloney |
DVD Extras
| Katy Manning Prentis Hancock tim Preece Barry Letts Terrance Dicks |
commentary track | |
| Perfect scenario: The end of dreams | Continuing his search for inpiration, Zed resumes his studies of twntieth Century television's Doctor Who. What he finds will have a profound effect... | |
| Rumble in the jungle | The cast and crew look back at the making of the story. | |
| Multi-colourisation | A look at the colour restoration of episode three of Planet of the Daleks. | |
| Stripped for Action: The Daleks | The ongoing series looking at the Doctor's comic book adventures focuses on his deadliest foes - the Daleks. | |
| Blue Peter | Two items on the long-running children's programme featuring an appeal for any information on the theft of two Daleks from the BBC and their subsequent return. | |
| (easter egg) | ||
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | SSS |
| episode count : | 6 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1973-04-07 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |
| part of the Dalek War boxset | |