C11S03 Death to the Daleks
Synopsis
A power failure in the TARDIS draws it off course, and the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith end up stranded on the bleak planet of Exxilon. They soon meet members of an Earth expedition in a similar situation. The humans are searching for a rare mineral, but first they must find out what is draining their power and avoid what's inside another grounded spaceship - the Doctor's oldest enemies, the Daleks...
Cover notes
Jon Pertwee was famous for saying how much he despised the Daleks - he thought the iconic monsters looked primative and never hid the fact that he hated working with them. However, the metal-cased creatures, whose history takes us right back to the second-ever Doctor Who story, are always a safe bet when it comes to securing good rating. So, when the production team were planning Season 11, it was decided that the Daleks would return midway through that year's run of stories to fight the Doctor once again - whether the lead actor liked them or not!
Death to the Daleks, along with its provocative title, is not a typical Third Doctor story. Far from the relative cosiness of alien invasions around UNIT HQ and without help from the Brigadier and his men, the TARDIS arrives on a bleak world - atmospherically filmed in a desolate Dorset quarry. Incidentally, the location used for the planet Exxilon is not too far from the quarries used for the Dalek home world Skaro and also Androzani - Doctor Who would return to film near the 'Exxilon' quarry during Destiny of the Daleks (1979) and The caves of Androzani (1984) several years later.
It is not a typical Dalek story either. With the strange power from the Exxilon city rendering their weapons useless, we encounter helpless and vulnerable Daleks that are forced into an uneasy alliance with their oldest enemy.
Also, listen out for Michael Wisher's Dalek voices. The following year, he went on to play Dalek creator Davros in Genesis of the Daleks.
Cast
| The Doctor | Jon Pertwee | listed as Doctor Who |
| Sarah Jane Smith | Elisabeth Sladen | |
| Dan Galloway | Duncan Lamont | |
| Richard Railton | John Abineri | ep. 1,2 |
| Commander Stewart | Neil Seiler | ep. 1,2 |
| Peter Hamilton | Julian Fox | |
| Jill Tarrant | Joy Harrison | |
| High Priest | Mostyn Evans | ep. 1,2 |
| Dalek voices | Michael Wisher | |
| Dalek operator | John Scott-Martin | |
| Dalek operator | Cy Town | |
| Dalek operator | Murphy Grunbar | |
| Bellal | Arnold Yarrow | ep. 2,3,4 |
| Gotal | Roy Heymann | ep. 3 |
Crew
| Written by | Terry Nation | |
| Title music | Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop | |
| Title sequence | Bernard Lodge | |
| Music composed and conducted by | Carey Blyton | |
| Music played by | The London Saxophone Quartet | |
| Special sound | Dick Mills | |
| Fights arranged by | Terry Walsh | |
| Visual effects | Jim Ward | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Masks | John Friedlander | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Costume designer | L. Rowland Warne | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Make-up | Magdalen Gaffney | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Film Cameraman | Bill Matthews | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Film Sound | Bill Chesneau | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Film Editor | Bob Rymer | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Studio Lighting | Derek Slee | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Studio Sound | Richard Chubb | listed ep. 1,4; probably all |
| Script Editor | Terrance Dicks | |
| Designer | Colin Green | |
| Producer | Barry Letts | |
| Director | Michael Briant |
DVD Extras
| Julian Fox Cy Town Michael E. Briant Richard Leyland L. Rowland Warne Dick Mills |
commentary track | |
| Beneath the City of the Exxilons | Cast and crew look back on the making of this story. | |
| Studio Recording | One of the original studio recording tapes for this story still exists in the BBC Archive, affording a rare glimpse into the production of a Third Doctor story. | |
| Doctor Who Stories - Dalek Men [2003] | Dalek operators John Scott Martin and Nicholas Evans recall their time on the show, in these interviews originally shot for 2003's The Story of Doctor Who. | |
| On the set of Dr. Who and the Daleks | During the production of the colour feature film in 1965, ITV's Movie Magazine was allowed access to the Shepperton Studios set to film a behind-the-scenes story. Although the programme itself no longer exists, the unused film trims were archived and form the basis of this feature. Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn is joined by the director's son and now Hollywood actor Jason Flemyng, first assistant director Anthony Waye and Dalek operator Bryan Hands to tell the story... | |
| photo gallery | ||
| Radio Times listings |
Commentary
| serial code : | XXX |
| episode count : | 4 |
| initial broadcast date : | 1974-02-23 |
| DVD release date : | |
| DVD SE release date : | |
| BluRay release date : | |