6. Planet of the Daleks (1973)
Sam: I got my Daleks and Spiders and planets and meds mixed up. Planet of the Daleks, yes. That’s the one where there’s a great mystery in episode one about what’s possibly hidden on the planet – somewhat blown away by the show’s title in the Radio Times.
Anyway, isn’t this a story we’ve somewhat seen before? The first-ever Dalek story where the Doctor battles away with the pepperpots and some Thals in a vast city of liftshafts and holding cells. Terry Nation did something of a recycle…
Greg: He did, bless him! What a sensational old hack. This is Doctor Who by numbers, but it’s good, honest Boys’ Own action-adventure stuff. All the kind of thing sadly lacking from the rather stodgy and worthy remake, but hey-ho.
I remember this one when it aired on telly. It was so exciting. It was new Doctor Who. Do you remember that repeat season? Why do you like this one?
Sam: Gosh yes, 1993! On BBC One! Prime time, and one episode was in black and white. Can you imagine the BBC airing a fuzzy monochrome episode at 7:30pm on a Friday night now? In fact, can you imagine them airing any old Doctor Who, or anything in a 4:3 ratio come to that, on BBC One today?
Greg: Gracious me, no. Pertwee wouldn’t even get a look-in on BBC Three in the accursed times in which we live.
Sam: Sad to think, but yes – it was such a special time. I was so excited as an 11-year-old; my favourite Doctor and companion – the stunningly cute Jo Grant as played by Katy Manning – dodging Daleks on a fantastical rainforest planet.
Greg: Many would say it’s not exactly a classic…
Sam: No, but it’s archetypal Doctor Who. It’s like a hug, or a good cup of tea, or the smell of freshly-buttered toast; it deserves its place in our top six for nostalgia alone. Did I tell you my Dad erased my off-air VHS copy?
Greg: Oh no! The philistine!
Sam: Along with all the lovely little pre-episode documentaries I’d ever-so-carefully recorded, plus the BBC 2 documentary of Thirty Years in the TARDIS. I’ve never, ever, got over that. 28 years later and I still wince.
Greg: What sacrilege! Terror of the Vervoids went the same way in our house, but that’s much more forgivable.
Lots of terrific character actors in Planet of the Daleks though: Bernard Horsfall, Tim Preece… and invisible monsters in hairy costumes.
Sam: And a bonkers-looking Dalek with a flashlight for an eye.
Greg: And a daft plot. Of course it should be in the top six! The Target novelisation is the perfect advertisement for that range, too. Such a good runaround.
Sam: Oh and one other thing, Mr Pertwee’s costume. He’s impeccably dressed: top to toe in purple velvet and the only double-breasted jacket seen in the show. He looks amazing.
Greg: Pertwee was a natty dresser…
Sam: And don’t forget, there’s a lovely monologue about being terrified during wartime, which I’m sure Terry drew from his memories of World War II. It’s lightly moralistic but not simperingly worthy like the achingly on-point new series, which I hear hits you over the head with its morals like a bag of spanners.
Greg: …I believe Jacob Rees-Mogg models himself on Pertwee in Planet of the Daleks…
Sam: Very louche. Funny you should say that. Would you say the Third Doctor is left or right-leaning? Does he care about petty party politics?
Greg: How contentious! I couldn’t possibly comment. The Third Dr. Who might get cancelled on Twitter.
Sam: I mean, he’s a bon vivant and relishes his material comforts, though he has said in other stories he has no interest in money.
Greg: I have a feeling we’ll get to the bottom of it soon…
Sam: Anyway, in at the number five slot, 20 years before Jurassic Park… it’s The One With The Dinosaurs!
