Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2847 in VHS
• Released on: 2001-02-26
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Formats: Black & White, HiFi Sound, PAL
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 172 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Daleks (sometimes called "The Dead Planet") is the second ever Doctor Who serial, presented with all seven unedited episodes on one tape. First broadcast between December 1963 and February 1964, the story ensured the programme's success by introducing the Doctor's most iconic enemies. Five hundred years after a nuclear war has devastated the planet Skaro, the Doctor (William Hartnell), Barbara, Ian and Susan materialise in a petrified forest where the pacifist, and decidedly camp, Thals face starvation. Our heroes visit a nearby city, the home of the last remaining Daleks, terrifyingly cold-blooded mutants encased in armed, pepper-pot-like shells, and become involved in a desperate battle for survival.

Given a nightmarish atmosphere by Tristram Cary's surreal electronic score, The Daleks proved the template for many a future Doctor Who adventure. Hartnell's Doctor is a surprisingly self-serving hero and the ambitious storytelling, which reflects the Cold War fears of the time, belies a tiny budget. The remastered picture sometimes looks digitised, but this story, remade for the cinema as Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) and starring Peter Cushing, is still both an effective, if at times unintentionally hilarious, entertainment and an essential piece of television history. A superior sequel, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" was screened in late 1964. --Gary S Dalkin

Synopsis
Featuring the first ever appearance of the Daleks this adventure finds the Doctor on Skaro. His team is captured, whilst exploring a seemingly deserted city. Their captors are a breed of metal creatures who are immune to the radiation that is now killing the team... Broadcast between December 1963 and February 1964.

From the Back Cover
The TARDIS lands on Skaro, a seemingly dead world with high levels of radiation. Seeing a deserted city, the Doctor deliberately sabotages his TARDIS in order to force Ian, Barbara and Susan to explore further. But the city is not as dead as it first appears. The TARDIS crew are captured by sinister metal creatures that silently glide through the corridors and walkways - Daleks!

Survivors of a dealy nuclear war with their enemies the Thals, the Daleks have mutated into creatures dependent on their travel machines to keep them alive. One by one, the time-traveller captives succumb to the effects of Skaro's radiation, leaving Susan their only hope in retrieving life-saving drugs from the TARDIS.

Outside the city, the peaceful Thal survivors are running out of food and supplies - but can they trust the Daleks to aid them? With the TARDIS stranded, the Doctor and his companions are caught up in a battle for survival between the two species.

And time is running out - the radiation-dependent Daleks plan to explode another neutron bomb, killing all life on Skaro...

This story, featuring the first ever appearance of the Daleks, was broadcast on BBC1 between 21 December 1963 - 1 February 1964.

Customer Reviews

Enter The Daleks....
The Daleks' first appearance catapulted Dr Who from kids educational adventure serial into true Sci Fi. Although the show would return to historic themes throughout Hartnell's reign as the Doctor, the Daleks stamped their presence and opened the way to futuristic drama and the recurring alien monsters that define Dr Who for most people. The Daleks are riveting of course, but the story itself unfolds at a leisurely pace, introducing us to the planet Skaro, it's inhabitants and history, exploring the group and individual dynamics of the Doctor and his companions, and weaving in a few little subplots along the way. As always, the black and white filming gives a claustrophobic and atmospheric feel to the story, and the acting is first rate. Don't be put off if you've seen the extremely camp film version, this is different territory completely. The Doctor is quirky, irritable, at turns childish and imperious; the companions are not just there as window dressing either - it is Ian who has the practical ideas and leads the rearguard Thal attack on the Dalek city, Barbara who is the voice of reason and conscience, and Susan who reminds us of the true wonder an adventurer would feel visiting an alien world. The Thals themselves are impressive, exuding an air of dignity interwoven with the better human emotions and responses. The Daleks are presented in more detail, and with more thought, than they would be in the latter days of Dr Who (when they became virtual parodies of themselves, screaming, "Exterminate!" and descending to melodramatic levels at every appearance), and we get to see more of their thought processes, and to some extent, personalities, as they plot and react as events unfold.

Buy the video and experience a slice of history - this is Dr Who at its best.

The story that assured the legend
Doctor Who had already had its first story, but I always felt that it was this story, penned by the brilliant Terry Nation, that really put Doctor Who on the Map

The direction and acting are spot on.

William Hartnell, already an established actor, making the most of his talents here with his portrayal of the Alien Doctor

Later Earth companians, got less and less shocked when they joined the Doctor

So its refreshing here that Ian and Babara display a sense of wonder and disbelief about the world and life they have stumbled on.

I never saw this when it was first transmitted as I grew up with the Colour Doctors, however, its easy to see why many a family sofa got hidden behind when the Daleks first appreared on our screens

Episode one particularly has a memorable cliff hanger, when all we are treated to is a view of the Dalek sucker

I don't think this is the best Dalek story, Genesis has that honour (also penned by Terry Nation), but nevertheless a terrific piece of work and should be in every fans collection, especially now its remastered and such a bargain price for a seven parter

Dated but important
Yes a classic story, yes the introduction of the most famous aliens on British TV, yes some decent performances from William Hartnell et al. However, as important as it is in terms od Doctor Who lore, it looks and feels terribly dated, and the cliffhangers surely can't ever have been scary? I read the 1973 Target novelisation as a kid so was probably spoiled by that; The Daleks look good but there is no real sense of menace there.
This story is now available from Amazon as part of the 'Travels in Time and Space' audiobook Collector's Tin.