1. "The Doctor encounters
the army of the Daleks,
already beginning to come to life.
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2. "Can he defeat the Daleks in time
to save the galaxy from invasion?"
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3. This episode was first shown
on 12 May, 1973
and was seen by 8.5 million viewers.
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4. Daleks are bulky, awkward things
to shoot around in the studio.
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5. The script specifies that Taron fails
to cover himself up properly,
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6. but it's actually Codal's boots
that we see.
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7. That's Codal on the right here.
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8. This episode's original title was:
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9. It's a camp life being a Dalek.
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10. In the 1970s, the operators
sometimes amused themselves
during camera rehearsals
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11. by dressing their props up
inappropriately, for example in
a feather boa or as Queen Victoria.
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12. In this serial, they felt so aggrieved
by the requirement that they should
wear make-up
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13. Roy Skelton and Michael Wisher
contributed suitably "effeminate"
Dalek voices to complete the effect.
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14. In the play, the Doctor's friend Jenny
poses as a Dalek,
which is then exterminated.
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15. Only afterwards does the audience learn
that, like Rebec, Jenny got out of
the Dalek casing just in time.
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16. In the script, the Doctor tells Rebec
to give the bomb to Codal.
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17. In rehearsal, it was decided that Codal
needed to keep his hands free
for a later scene.
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18. This lift set has been modified since
we saw it last in Part 3, recorded in
the previous studio session.
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19. The doors used to be on the right.
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20. If you should ever feel the urge to
imitate the Daleks' design sense,
the two colours you'll need are jade
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21. and fjord blue.
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22. The ice cave is shot through a sheet
of glass, with the rocky surround
painted onto it.
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23. The model shots were first attempted on
8 February, but had to be redone
the next day
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24. because effects assistant Charlie Morgan
got his hands in shot!
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25. The Dalek props were not available
for use at rehearsals.
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26. This was because prop usage was costed
against the production by the day.
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27. So the Dalek operators had nothing
to operate when rehearsing their moves!
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28. They would skeeter along on chairs,
holding up a clutching hand in imitation
of the Dalek eye-stick.
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29. They only got the actual Daleks to work
with at camera rehearsals
on the studio day itself.
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30. The script calls this
"a small space module".
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31. In other words, it's a landing
shuttlecraft, not the main Dalek ship.
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32. The script calls for "quite the most
impressive Dalek we have seen".
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33. It is the cinema Dalek which the
production borrowed from Terry Nation.
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34. Nation's Daleks had large fenders
at the base, and their flashing lights
were bigger than on the BBC models.
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35. They also gave it a paint job: It was
silver when it left Terry Nation's house
near Sittingbourne in Kent.
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36. Studio recording took place in three
two-day sessions
and three different studios.
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37. The final session was scheduled back
in Studio 4, but was moved to Studio 1,
the largest available at the BBC.
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38. The studio dates were 22-3 January,
5-6 February, and 19-20 February,
all Mondays and Tuesdays.
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39. The studio day began at 9.30 when
the cameras were rigged.
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40. For the first session, camera rehearsals
began at 11.30, and continued until
6.30, with recording in the evening.
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41. The root causes were the number of
effects to be recorded and the limited
amount of pre-filmed material.
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42. A post-mortem on the overrun decided to
create more time by starting the
remaining sessions half an hour earlier.
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43. The squirty fungoids were
an especial problem in the studio.
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44. They ejaculated wallpaper paste all over
the actors' costumes, and Wardrobe had
the hardest time cleaning it off.
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45. Building the barrier was the reason
Codal couldn't take charge of the bomb
earlier on.
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46. Here the two actors effect an effortless
bomb transfer from Rebec to Codal.
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47. The remaining 11 minutes were spent
transferring film sequences
onto videotape.
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48. The very last job, a matter of urgency,
wasn't even for this serial.
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49. The Dalek Supreme is operated by
future singer-songwriter Tony Starr.
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50. He was a Dalek on and off until 1988,
but this was his first time
inside the casing.
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51. Inexperience may explain why his lights
are out of synch.
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52. The Dalek operators didn't do the voices
themselves, but they still had to learn
the lines
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53. so that they could flash the lights
at the right time.
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54. A change in the system had been mooted
at this time and three experimental
Dalek props made.
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55. The aim was to create more efficient
Daleks which could be operated
and voiced by a single performer.
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56. Nothing came of it: Even in the
21 st century, Dalek movement and Dalek
voices are supplied by different actors.
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57. On the way back to London they were
stolen, just like Terry Nation's Dalek
a few months earlier.
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58. He asked, "What will happen to the
people who stole the Daleks?"
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59. "They will be ex-ter-min-ated,"
replied the Dalek.
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60. The two missing Daleks were later found
in London, one by a couple
of bemused nurses,
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61. and the other by a driver who removed
a tarpaulin,
expecting to find his car...
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62. Before recording, Jon Pertwee and
Katy Manning gave themselves a warm-up
by doing a Maori haka.
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63. The guest actors were mystified,
but went along with it as
a harmless eccentricity.
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64. After each studio session, the sets were
immediately taken down.
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65. Those which were to be reused were
transported to the Kew firm,
Bullen's Storage.
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66. The sets for this serial occupied
12 storage bays there.
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67. Sixteen blocks of dry ice were used to
create the vapour in this scene.
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68. The set was constructed around
a standard tubular scaffolding rig.
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69. In the first design,
the balustrade was solid.
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70. This bit was probably why the designer
had second thoughts and made it open.
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71. Post-production editing began in
February and the final sound dub took
place on 1 April.
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72. There was a playback of the finished
episodes on 4 April.
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73. "The Doctor moves warily,"
says the script, "as if he had fallen
into a pit of snakes."
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74. Terry Nation envisaged a much higher
catwalk, about 12 feet up
from the Daleks.
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75. This makes it hard for the Doctor to
get out, until he has the daring idea
of climbing up onto the Daleks.
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76. The BBC's promotional material for this
serial listed five "selling points":
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77. The return of the Daleks,
the alien jungle, the Spiridons,
the "spectacular climax"
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78. and the fact that Terry Nation wrote it.
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79. It was relatively unusual for
a scriptwriter to be considered
a "selling point".
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80. This "Dalek cutaway"
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81. ensures that Katy Manning doesn't
actually have to do any rope-climbing.
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82. At their review meeting on 16 May,
the BBC's senior management deemed this
an excellent final episode.
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83. One slight dissenter was Alasdair Milne,
who felt the final sequences
were rather low-key.
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84. Recording broke here
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85. Dudley Simpson was commissioned on
7 December, 1972 to compose
the incidental music for this serial.
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86. His score for the entire six episodes
was just under 43 minutes in length.
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87. The finished tracks combined live
musicians with electronic sound.
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88. Dudley Simpson conducted an orchestra
of five musicians
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89. playing reed instruments, keyboards,
percussion and horns.
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90. The electronic components took longer
to achieve.
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91. The model Daleks were mounted on card at
the base, which was then pushed forward
from behind.
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92. The model set is made of polystyrene.
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93. The ice for the model shots is made of
water thickened up with
the silica resin Cabosil.
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94. Huw Wheldon, the BBC's Managing Director
of Television and chief Dalek fan, was
impressed by the "tidal wave" effect.
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95. At £650, it was the single most
expensive effect in the serial.
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96. Clifford Culley colour-matched
the Cabosil mix to the naturally green
water at the quarry location.
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97. This scene's tightly framed shots fail
to convey what the script asks for:
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98. A control room that is deserted save for
the Dalek Supreme and his two aides.
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99. As well as altering the Dalek Supreme's
lights and colour scheme, the effects
team gave it an entirely new eye.
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100. It's an ordinary domestic torch,
modified to work off the car battery
under the operator's seat inside.
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101. The last Dalek collides with the control
desk in his haste to escape.
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102. Terry Nation had already used the idea
of flying home
in a captured Dalek craft.
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103. It was how the Doctor's friends lan
and Barbara finally got back to Earth
at the end of 'The Chase'.
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104. Terrance Dicks especially liked Codal,
"the self-doubting intellectual who
screws himself up to acts of courage".
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105. He asked Terry Nation to develop
the character as much as possible.
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106. The Doctor's speech was written in at
the request of Terrance Dicks,
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107. partly to give Jon Pertwee another
of his cherished "moments of charm",
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108. and partly to round off the theme
he'd suggested,
about the dangers of militarism.
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109. The names of the war dead here were
unscripted, added during rehearsal.
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110. 'Planet of the Daleks'
was a generally well-received serial.
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111. The first episode won kisses from
Stanley Reynolds, the television
reviewer of The Times.
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112. He declared that the series was
"that bit more classy" when
"the boss space horrors" were around.
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113. The whole serial achieved one of
Doctor Who's highest average audiences
of the early 1970s.
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114. The ratings for Part 1 hadn't been
bettered since 1965:
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115. It drew the highest audience since
'Galaxy 4', and the first ranking in
the weekly top ten since 'The Chase'.
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116. While the serial was being made,
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks had
the future in their sights.
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117. They were in the process of setting up
the Doctor's adventures in
the forthcoming 1973-4 series.
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118. Clifford Culley happened to mention to
Letts that his effects team would have
no difficulty
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119. using models to put prehistoric monsters
into a modern city setting.
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120. This was just what Letts needed to
invigorate 'Bridgehead from Space',
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121. a Malcolm Hulke storyline
under development, which became
'Invasion of the Dinosaurs'.
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122. The Daleks would also be back next year,
in another Terry Nation script,
'Death to the Daleks'.
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123. But viewers in 1973 didn't have to wait
that long.
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124. to guess the owner of a "mystery voice".
It was grating
and it threatened extermination...
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125. "Mr Dalek", as Saville called him,
then spent the rest of the programme
butting in.
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126. One item featured a rendition of
the traditional Cockney song,
'Any Old Iron'.
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127. Throughout, Mr Saville treated Mr Dalek
as a real being, showing unease as
the eye followed him around the studio.
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128. And what did Mr Dalek conclude from
his experience of Clunk-Click?
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129. His final verdict was that entertainment
was un-pro-duc-tive!
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130. Perhaps it was for the best that Saville
ended the programme
by telling his guest,
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131. "Well, Mr Dalek, you'd better be getting
back now to the planet of the Daleks."
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132. Both this TARDIS scene and some of
the jungle shots immediately beforehand
were pre-recorded on 23 January.
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133. For the inserts, the Dalek Supreme was
operated by John Scott Martin,
not Tony Starr.
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134. If you want to play spot the cut-in,
watch for changes in Jo's hair.
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135. After recording wrapped, Jon Pertwee
and Katy Manning had nearly
three weeks off
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136. before they were required on location in
Wales to start filming the next serial,
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137. which was due to be Katy's last.
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138. A continuity announcer told eager 1973
viewers the title of that new adventure:
'The Green Death'.
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139. Uncredited production contributors
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140. Arthur Beavis, Martin Gutteridge,
Charlie Stoneham
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141. John Cook
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142. Jo, look.
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143. That's Skaro.
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144. Yes.
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145. Any regrets?
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146. No, not really.
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147. But, Jo, that's only one little world.
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148. There's so many
hundreds of others to see.
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149. There's only one little world
I want to see right now.
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150. That one.
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151. That one? But, Jo, that's Earth.
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152. That's right, Doctor, home.
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153. Home it is, Miss Grant.
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154. A new Doctor Who serial,
'The Green Death',
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155. begins next Saturday at the same time.
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156. The Doctor Who theme is now available
on a BBC record from most record shops.
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