Ep. 9 The Expedition

As a countdown to the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who I and my wife will be watching an episode a day until we are caught up to whatever the Beeb has planned. This is a record of my initial reaction to each day's episode published with minimal editing and crappy synopsis.

"What argument can you use to make a man sacrifice themselves for you?"

   The episode begins with a moral dilemma for our time travelers.  The TARDIS crew need the Thals to overcome their pacifism in order to deal with the Daleks.  They are all pretty much agreed that the Daleks will figure out a way to leave their city and attack both the time travelers and the Thals.  Being stranded on Skaro is their death sentence.
   Ian won't let things stand at that simple interpretation though.  He recognizes that there is an element of selfishness in wanting to reclaim the fluid link.  The Doctor made it clear in the last episode that, at best, he has a certain level of scientific curiosity concerning the Thals.  His dialog in this debate makes it clear that he wants to use them as a ready made army.
   Barbara sides with the Doctor.  At least as far as getting the Thals to fight.  She's definitely on the Doctor's side of the argument, but she seems to honestly believe that the Thals need to fight for their own survival.
  Ian ends the debate with a nice bit of oratory asking them to imagine showing the fluid link to the surviving Thals and telling them that this is what their brothers and friends laid down their life for.  No, if the Thals are going to fight it has to be because they want to, not because the travelers manipulated them into it.
   Ian then sets out to discover just how pacifistic the Thals are.  First he threatens to take their history records and try to trade them for the fluid link.
   That doesn't work.  Alydon, the newly minted Thal leader, says that no one their will try to stop him.  Although he does also say that he doesn't think that Ian will do it.
   With that not working Ian goes for broke.  He says that maybe the Daleks had held them prisoner in order to experiment on them; maybe they'll exchange a test subject for the link.  He takes Dyoni by the wrist and starts to march her towards the city.
    Alydon puts Ian on his ass.
   There's a nice scene that evening between Alydon and Dyoni.  He asks her if she despises him for attacking Ian even though he knew that Ian was trying to provoke him.  She tells Alydon that she probably would've hated him if he hadn't.
   Angela really enjoyed that exchange.
   Meanwhile, back in the Dalek city.  The Daleks discover why you should do drug trials before going for wholesale distribution.  The Daleks in section three start to go on fatal acid trips.  Coincidentally those are the first Daleks to be given the Thal anti-radiation drugs.  They theorize that the Daleks have become accustomed to radiation and require it to survive.  A test of that hypothesis proves them right.
   In typical Dalek fashion they decide that if the environment can't sustain the Daleks then they'll just have to change the environment.  They start making plans to detonate another neutron bomb.
   Alydon has decided to join forces with the time travelers.  The rest of his tribe agrees and they are soon planning strategy.
   Ian, Barbara and a Thal who's been mooning over Barbara will lead an expedition over a mountain and into swamps behind the city.  The swamps are filled with genetic monstrosities acting like gators in a moat.  Meanwhile the rest will act as a diversion on the edges of the city.
   The swamp is fairly well realized given the budgetary limitations.  Barbara makes a sensible off camera outfit change from her school-marm skirt to a practical pair of Thal pants.  The one swamp critter that they encounter is properly menacing.  Fortunately the script didn't require it to do much other than rise from the water.
   There is a small bit of intimacy between Barbara and her Thal beau.  When they camp down for the night he lays his head down to rest on her legs.  Just a little above the ankle.  It's not in-your-face, but it is noticeable.
    The whirlpool cliffhanger looks to be one of the better special effects of the series to date and one of the best cliffhangers.  Not to put to fine a point on it, but most of the cliffhangers have been lacking in action up to date.
   On the whole a very nice rebound from the previous episode.  The dialog was excellent and the Dalek threat has been made more urgent without pulling something out of Terry Nation's bottom.

Next up: The Ordeal