Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42258 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-02
• Released on: 2004-08-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Audiobook
• Binding: Audio CD

Synopsis
The first Doctor becomes the second in this exclusive recording of Doctor Who s original regeneration story, starring Patrick Troughton, with linking narration by Anneke Wills I ve been renewed...without it I couldn t survive. Before the astonished eyes of his companions Ben and Polly, the Doctor s whole body has apparently been transformed. Now they are confronted by a stranger who claims to be their old friend but how can they know whether to trust him? The TARDIS s arrival on the swamp planet of Vulcan brings its own problems; the Doctor is mistaken for an official come to solve the Earth colony s in-fighting, and soon he and his companions are embroiled in political wranglings. However, a far more serious threat lurks within the colony. The scientist Lesterson has discovered a crashed space capsule, within it a group of inert metallic creatures which the Doctor identifies as Daleks. Refusing to heed the Doctor s warnings, Lesterson supplies power to the Daleks and revives them. The awakened Daleks claim to be faithful servants of humanity but could such a thing ever be possible? By covert means they seek an increasing level of energy, but for what?

By the time the Doctor and his friends discover the Daleks true plan for the colony, it looks as if it might already be too late to stop them...Anneke Wills, who plays Polly in the story, narrates this debut story for the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, first broadcast in 1966 and long since missing from the television archives.

Customer Reviews

Patrick Troughton makes his debut
Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor begins with the return of an old foe in David Whitaker's "The Power of the Daleks". Falling within the same season of the television series, "Power" picks up where "The Tenth Planet" left off - with the newly regenerated Doctor picking himself up off the ground. Companions Ben and Polly are shocked and confused - and this is the mood that carries us into the first episode, as this impish little man bounces around tootling on his recorder.
However, the real plot soon begins with (of course) a death, and the Doctor and his companions are soon mixed up in the complex politics of Vulcan. In the process, we meet a number of well-layered characters, all with their own agendas. The motives of Bernard Archard's security chief Bragen, Robert James' blinkered scientist Lesterton and Pamela Ann Davey's duplicitous Janley (to name a few) gradually unfold as the story proceeds, and a number of the characters end up questioning their alliances and beliefs things go from bad to worse. The Daleks, meanwhile, plot and scheme, making the most of their technology and the gullible Lesterton's willingness to aid them.
The newly regenerated Doctor muddles through, but eventually plays a pivotal role in the Daleks' defeat despite his apparent buffoonery. By the end of episode six the audience, as represented on-screen by Ben and Polly, are left in no doubt that their strange new companion is the Doctor - albeit a man radically changed from his previous incarnation.
I wasn't sure what rating to give the story at first. It isn't perfect and, were such things permitted, I would probably give it 4½ stars. But I'm feeling generous tonight, so I'll give it a 5 on the grounds of good characterisation and production.

An excellent debut
The Power of the Daleks is one of the most important stories in the history of Doctor Who. It features the FIRST regeneration sequence of the renegade Time-Lord. (Control yourself dedicated Whovians I know the Tenth Planet contains the sequence but I don’t count thirty seconds at the end of a serial – I call that a cliff-hanger)

In 1966 the BBC hit show ‘Dr Who’ was in crisis; its lead actor William Hartnell was leaving and unless a suitable solution could be found it would mean the end of the show. The producer at that time, Innes Lloyd, encouraged his team to find a creative solution and the concept of the Doctor being able to undergo a renewal was born.

Second problem, find an actor the audience could accept in place of their beloved Bill Hartnell. In a masterstroke they cast probably the finest actor to ever play the role, Patrick Troughton. So with a radically different persona, all his comic charm and talent the new Doctor sets about persuading the audience to accept him. Whether or not he succeeded, I will never know, I was raised during Davison’s tenure as the Fifth Doctor and never had to accept him in quite the same way. What I do know is, Trougthon’s Space-Hobo 2nd Doctor is my favourite. His performance as the doctor was so exquisite that even with only his voice I can still ‘see’ his face and mannerisms. I would love to watch these serials on DVD but unfortunately they do not exist, in there absence I will take what I can get of this wonderful performer.

Using the Doctor’s most popular enemies ensured a good start for the 2nd Doctor’s debut. The Power of the Daleks was written by David Whitaker (not their creator Terry Nation) and is an excellent story. Since the plot is summarised above there is little point repeating it; but what I will say is, some six part serials suffer from a lack of content (the Faceless Ones for example) but this is not the case for The Power of the Daleks. The introduction of the Doctor, the internal politics of the Colony, and the scheming of the Daleks, there is plenty to keep you interested.

The re-mastering of the archive originals is clear and crisp, Anneke Wills (who played Polly in this serial) provides the excellent linking narration on this Audiobook and she performs it beautifully. You can feel her affection for the material and it’s easy to picture the action from her words.

I would recommend this to anyone who was a fan of the show or even liked the new stuff with Chris Eccleston. The story is excellent (as are the performances of the players) but don’t expect Shakespeare - this is Dr Who. But it is an excellent example of Dr Who, so if you like ‘this sort of thing’ buy it and listen to Patrick Troughton confound the schemes of his most famous enemies.