1. "The Doctor and his friends penetrate
deep into Dalek HQ in an attempt to
carry out their desperate attack plan.
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2. "Suddenly they are recognised."
(Radio Times)
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3. This episode was first shown on
5 May, 1973 and was seen by
9.7 million viewers.
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4. Terry Nation entitled this episode:
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5. THE DAY BEFORE ETERNITY
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6. The "creatures" are a single black
cyclorama cut-out with back-lit holes
to represent the eyes.
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7. The lights were all individually
switched, to facilitate this sequence.
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8. The prop cost £35 to make.
(That's around £320
at early 21 st-century prices.)
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9. Pre-production included a long series
of costume fittings for the actors cast
as Thals.
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10. The first fitting - for Prentis Hancock
(Vaber) - was on 9 December, 1972.
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11. They continued on an almost daily basis
until after Christmas.
The final sessions were on 6 January,
halfway through pre-filming.
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12. The number of fittings per Thal varied:
Alan Tucker (Latep) needed just one,
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13. whereas Hilary Minster, who as Marat
has the smallest role, was subjected to
five such sessions.
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14. The three large rocks in the background
were individually sculpted
in polystyrene.
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15. One of the pieces stood 1.4 metres high,
the others went up to 2 metres
at their highest point.
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16. The two series regulars wear new outfits
in this serial, so they too were
required for pre-production fittings.
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17. Jon Pertwee's was on 15 December
and Katy Manning's on 28 December.
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18. Not all the cast were needed, however.
With the Dalek actors,
there was no costume to fit.
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19. Roy Skelton as Wester also had
no fitting: All he had to do was throw
the furs over himself and keep his feet
out of sight.
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20. There's a flash of the extra's face
under the fur as he lunges forward.
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21. Can you spot the camera
lurking in the foliage?
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22. As well as their spacesuits,
the Thal actors also had to be fitted
with blond wigs.
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23. Jane How found her costume unflattering
and her wig unwieldy.
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24. She christened herself "Miss Michelin",
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25. after the contemporary "Michelin Man"
marketing character who was made
entirely of tyres.
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26. After the end of production, Barry Letts
wrote to his head of department,
Ronald Marsh:
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27. "David Maloney did wonders in
encompassing a large number of exterior
scenes in the studio."
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28. "Wester's furs should be markedly
different from the other Spiridons',"
advises the script.
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29. "We shall need to identify him visually
by them later."
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30. All the Spiridon furs were supplied by
the freelance monster maker
Allister Bowtell (1940-2006).
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31. His main vocation was as a sculptor,
with work including the 2003 bronze,
'Two Pupils', in London's Sloane Square.
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32. His other contributions to Doctor Who
included the redesigned Cybermen
for 'Revenge of the Cybermen' (1975)
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33. And the prosthetic head worn by actor
Simon Jones in the role of
a giant telepathic Grand Master
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34. in Terrance Dicks's 1974 Doctor Who
stage play, Seven eys to Doomsday.
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35. The sky is a plain cyclorama,
with variable lighting to suggest
different times of day (or night).
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36. Like many other elements of this serial,
the invisible Spiridons have roots in
Terry Nation's Dalek writings
of the 1960s.
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37. The Dalek World (1965) features
a strip story in which the Daleks are
attacked by a race of birdmen.
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38. They are 'The Invisible Invaders'
of the strip's title, who vanish when
sprayed with "infralux rays".
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39. The Daleks wipe them out and only then
realise that they have made
a strategic error:
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40. "The secret of invisibility died with
them,"says the Dalek Emperor."A pity.
It would have been a strong weapon
against Earth."
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41. Invisible creatures also featured in
the Daleks' television adventures: The
Visians in 'The Daleks' Master Plan'.
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42. It doesn't come across well on screen,
but the Daleks shoot the pursuing
Spiridon as well as the escaping Vaber.
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43. Daleks draw their motive power from
the feet of the human operators
inside the props.
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44. They wore black plimsolls, in order to
keep their feet inconspicuous under
the rubber "skirt" at the bottom.
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45. Part of the underside was solid:
The actors had to work through a square
aperture about half the width
of the prop.
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46. This limited the Daleks' speed, because
the operators could only propel them
with little fairy steps.
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47. The production period for 'Planet
of the Daleks' ran for exactly 50 days,
from 2 January to 20 February, 1973.
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48. In accordance with the BBC's usual
practice, the material to be shot
on film was done first,
with minimal rehearsal.
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49. Rehearsals and studio recording
followed, taking up the lion's share
of the production time.
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50. Barry Letts tried to structure
Doctor Who's production year so that
the serial to be made in mid-winter
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51. would be mainly studio-bound, requiring
little or no outside location filming.
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52. At a very early stage, before there was
a script, the plan was to shoot
all the exteriors for the serial
in a film studio.
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53. On 10 April, 1972, a stage was booked at
Ealing for the full six-day film
1-5 and 8 January, 1973.
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54. In the event, there were only three days
at Ealing (5 and 8-9 January),
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55. and the film allocation was cut back
from six days to five.
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56. (The rule of thumb was that
each production had one day's filming
per episode, but with some flexibility
between serials.
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57. So scrimping on 'Planet of the Daleks'
made it possible to have a seven-day
shoot for the next adventure,
'The Green Death'.)
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58. Avoiding winter location work was partly
for reasons of efficiency:
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59. The late dawn and early dusk
of a typical British winter's day gave
relatively few hours of usable light
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60. and shooting was always at risk of
disruption by inclement weather.
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61. Comfort, too, was a factor: Working
outdoors in the depths of winter
is no fun!
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62. That's why the Thal spacesuits are
so baggy: There's plenty of room for
thermal underwear.
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63. The 'Planet of the Daleks' team wound up
spending two days on location,
for the ice pool scenes coming up.
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64. They were the first things shot for this
serial, on 2 and 3 January,
and it was perishingly cold.
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65. Some members of the unit coped with
the conditions by smoking cigarettes
with a somewhat more fragrant aroma
than usual.
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66. The location is Beachfields Quarry,
Redhill, property of the chemical film
Laporte Industries.
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67. Generous deposits of fuller's earth make
the water naturally green.
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68. The ice slurry is a thick solution of
the wallpaper paste Polycell.
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69. To make the water bubble, the effects
team supplied 30 blocks of dry ice.
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70. It wasn't enough: They ran out of
dry ice on the first day and had to
send for 20 more blocks.
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71. In case you're wondering, no dry ice was
squandered to make the mist in these
close-ups.
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72. It's the output of four "Dyna Fog"
smoke guns (plus a little carbon dioxide
from the actors' own breath).
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73. After the first day's work on location,
the film unit trooped off to
the Sky Lane Motor Hotel at Horley.
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74. Eighteen rooms were booked:
Eight for the actors, nine for the crew,
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75. and one to be the dressing and make-up
area the following morning.
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76. The cast, already made up and in
costume, arrived back in the quarry at
9.15 the next morning,
just over an hour after sunrise.
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77. Filming wrapped that day at 3.20,
with little more than half an hour to go
before sunset.
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78. So the total day's work on location
amounted to roughly six hours,
including three breaks.
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79. In contrast, the filming days at Ealing
ran from 8 a.m. To 5.30 p.m.,
nearly half as long again.
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80. And that's why winter location work
just wasn't efficient!
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81. Latep is played by former child actor
Alan Tucker.
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82. In his mid-teens, he had spent a year
with the Royal Shakespeare Company
(1964-5),
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83. notably playing the young King Edward V
in Peter Hall's
Wars of the Roses trilogy.
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84. His television credits include various
technical bit-parts in UFO (1970),
a henchman in Ace of Wands (1970)
And a slave in I Claudius (1970).
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85. Prepare to see the second Dalek
hit the rock as it enters.
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86. Rather lightweight for a rock, isn't it?
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87. Katy Manning wasn't quite expecting
a close encounter with Jon Pertwee's
right hand as he moves off!
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88. A shot of the Doctor standing beside
the ice pool was later used on the cover
of the 1975 Doctor Who Annual.
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89. The two Daleks used on location were
not BBC property.
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90. They were supplied by Westbury Design
and Optical, Clifford Culley's
effects firm.
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91. If you look carefully, you'll notice
that they are painted in a lighter shade
of grey than the studio Daleks.
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92. Here's another, darker Dalek for
purposes of comparison.
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93. After filming, the Westbury props were
repainted to match the BBC's
own versions.
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94. The use of the fur was unscripted
business worked out in rehearsal.
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95. It was only partly for reasons of
uniformity that the location Daleks had
to be repainted.
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96. They also sustained some damage in
the making of this sequence.
What's more,
their batteries disintegrated.
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97. This was shot with a handheld camera.
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98. Jo's hair seems to have lost its perm.
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99. To be precise, she hasn't had it permed
This was filmed nearly three weeks
before the studio scenes.
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100. Without knowing it, Katy Manning
is about to give a masterclass in
Doctor Who reaction shot acting.
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101. Jane How privately contrasted her own
subtle performance in this sequence
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102. with what she thought was a piece of
prime overacting from Katy.
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103. She later conceded that Katy had pitched
her performance at the right level,
while she herself had undersold
the moment.
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104. The Daleks were originally designed as
studio-bound props,
moving on a flat surface.
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105. As usual, they were difficult to
work with on location.
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106. As usual, they could only move across
duckboard tracks that had been specially
laid down for them.
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107. As usual, this restricted the director's
choice of camera angles: He had to shoot
them low to hide the boards.
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108. Rather than put up with such problems
every time the Daleks came back,
Clifford Culley gave it some thought.
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109. His ideas would bear fruit later in
1973, when the Daleks returned
with an entirely new mode
of location locomotion.
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110. You'll have to wait for
'Death to the Daleks'
to find out what it was!
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111. After finishing work on location,
the unit moved to Stage 3B at Ealing
to film interiors.
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112. They shot the cooling tower escape
first, on the Thursday and Friday,
4 and 5 January.
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113. The earlier scenes in the corridors
and ice tunnels followed at the start of
the next week, 8 and 9 January.
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114. Originally, Terry Nation had planned
them to use both of the captured Daleks,
with Codal as well as Rebec inside.
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115. He developed this part of the plot by
combining two sequences from
the first Dalek serial,
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116. in which the time travellers and Thals
split into two groups and penetrate
the Dalek city by two different routes:
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117. The Doctor goes in through the front
door and sends his senior companions
round the back.
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118. Earlier on, when trying to escape,
they immobilised a Dalek and scooped out
the occupant,
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119. allowing the Doctor's friend lan to hide
inside and take them out through
the city, as "prisoners and escort".
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120. Nation's innovation this time round was
to make the Dalek impersonator one of
the more vulnerable members
of the party.
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121. Rebec has never driven a Dalek before,
of course.
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122. Perhaps that's why she hits
the camera here!
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123. The total estimated design budget
amounted to £12,624,
and 3,036 man hours.
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124. While the director and cast were busy
at Ealing, others were hard at work in
the Television Rehearsal Rooms in Acton.
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125. On 8 and 9 January, the rehearsal room
floor was systematically marked up with
coloured tape.
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126. The tape represented the exact floor
dimensions of the sets, enabling the
actors to plot their moves accurately.
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127. The first day of rehearsals was
10 January, immediately after filming.
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128. This customarily entailed a complete
read-through of the entire script.
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129. On this occasion, however, one key
cast member was missing.
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130. Jon Pertwee was in Birmingham,
for a promotional appearance on
the lunchtime magazine show
Pebble Mill at One.
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131. Rehearsals continued until 19 February,
and included Saturday work the weekends
before studio recording.
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132. Terry Nation originally imagined
the bacteria in a set of jars rather
than a single large container.
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133. The script calls for Wester to smash
the jars to smithereens.
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134. Nation had used such an image before
in 'The Keys of Marinus' (1964),
with pulsating brain creatures
inside the jars.
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135. To get a good enough turn
of Dalek speed,
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136. they gave an empty "goon"
casing a hefty shove!
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137. The "roll back and mix" technique
- a form of electronic double exposure
- makes Wester's face appear.
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138. It's a hard life being a Dalek.
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139. Once inside the props, the operators
were trapped: They needed assistance
to get out.
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140. The actors would take newspapers
and food in with them, to pass the time
between takes.
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141. The effects crew were assigned the task
of opening up the Daleks when
the operators needed to be let out,
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142. but sometimes they would wander off
to attend to other duties.
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143. With cries for help muffled by the Dalek
casings, there was only one way to
communicate with the outside world.
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144. So when a Dalek's lights flash wildly
- nature's calling!
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145. This week's fabulous furry Spiridons
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146. Gary Dean, Kelly Varney
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147. The film crew were:
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148. Elmer Cossey (Cameraman)
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149. Lan Sansam (Sound)
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150. Stan Swetman (Grips)
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151. Frank Brown (Sound Assistant)
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152. John Harper (Assistant)
with you, Doctor?
- No, I'm sorry, Jo.
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153. It must be a two-pronged attack,
it'll double our chances of success.
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154. Have you got the bomb?
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155. Whichever group gets there first
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156. must detonate that bomb in one of
the tunnels near the cooling unit,
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157. block off the Daleks completely.
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158. Now, whatever you do,
don't damage the refrigeration unit.
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159. It's absolutely vital that
that continues to function.
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160. We understand.
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161. - Here you are, Doctor.
- More gentle persuasion?
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162. - You could put it like that.
- Right. Put it on.
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163. - Well, Jo, do I pass?
- You'll do, in a pinch.
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164. - Good luck, Doctor.
- And to you.
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165. Good luck.
- All right, Rebec?
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166. All right.
- Okay?
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167. Right, off we go.
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168. All units were ordered
to return to base.
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169. You are late.
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170. Report to central control immediately.
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171. - (WHISPERING) They're in!
- We'd better get going.
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172. - Right.
- Come on.
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173. What are they doing?
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174. Presumably,
they're preparing the bacteria.
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175. But...
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176. There's a Spiridon in there.
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177. That's Wester!
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178. Fault rectified.
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179. Equipment now fully operational.
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180. We are both already immune.
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181. We will start to administer
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182. protective treatment
to all units at once.
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183. You must not open container!
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184. Bacteria is released. Do not open door!
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185. Repeat. Do not open door!
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186. If they open that hermetically
sealed door even a fraction of an inch,
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187. the bacteria will escape and destroy
everything, including themselves.
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188. We cannot leave here. No one can enter.
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189. We can never leave here.
Never, never, never!
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190. (WHISPERING) Let's try and get to
the lower levels.
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191. All right, Rebec.
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192. Wait!
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193. Spiridon slave workers are to report
to level four immediately.
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194. Move!
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195. Wait, you are not Spiridons!
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196. Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!
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