"Hold this and shut up."
This Dalek has some pretty serious self esteem issues.
To start with, his mission appears to be patrol the big polluted river filled with the corpses of the humans we infected with space plague and the suicided cyborgs that we cobbled together after we got here. Roll along side it? No. You'd better get right in there. There's got to be all sorts of stuff down there like shopping carts and used condoms.
Then when something does happen and he gets to lay down the law to some stupid earthmen they get all mouthy and say that the Daleks didn't conquer Earth. So instead of just blasting them full of holes with the old egg whisk he starts arguing with them, claiming that "we are the masters of Earth" over and over again like some insane mantra.
Over the course of this episode we discover that about ten years ago the Daleks crashed plague bombs into the planet. Everyone thought that they were meteorites. By the time they figured out the truth, the Daleks were flying their spiffy little saucers all over the place. Some cities were spared, others destroyed.
There are few Daleks on Earth so they kidnap people, give them an intelligence test designed to be passed by a genius. Those who fail are sent to work in their mines in Bedfordshire. Those who pass are made into zombie like robo-men.
That sounds a little crazy, but it makes perfect sense from the Dalek point of view. All other species suck; only their best and brightest are worthy of being our mindless lap dogs. The rest are muscle waiting to die.
So how did the Daleks survive their apparent destruction? The destruction of the Daleks on Skaro is far in the future and hasn't happened yet says the Doctor. I call bullshit on that one. The Daleks on Skaro couldn't leave their city; they needed to glide over metal to produce life sustaining static electricity. Ian and the Doctor say the same thing when pointing out the little satellite dish sticking out of their backs. They presume that the dishes allow them to receive transmitted power. There's some dialog about this being an invasion force equipped with technology not available to the common Dalek. This doesn't really jibe with what was actually shown in the previous Dalek story.
As you can tell there was an awful lot of exposition in this one. The last episode set up the location and whetted our appetite for what was to come. This episode lays down the history of the future.
I think this one was solid. They covered a lot of ground, but having the details get told by two sources (the Dalek resistance tells Susan and Barbara while fellow prisoner Jack Craddock fills Ian and the Doctor in) keeps things from plodding.
The resistance is fleshed out with Jenny, a no nonsense woman who reminds me a little of Josella Payton from Day of the Triffids. Her brother was turned into a robo-man a year ago, she tells Barbara without a hint of emotion.
To keep things exciting Nation has the Resistance develop anti-Dalek bombs and decide to go on a frontal assault on the Dalek saucer. When someone points out the fact that the plan is f#*&ing bug nuts someone makes an alteration to the plan. When someone tells them that it's still f#*&ing bug nuts, Barbara makes the practical suggestion that will give the plan a chance of success.
The Doctor was great in this. His interaction with the Dalek by the river was OK. He really hit his stride in the Dalek saucer. Craddock was an excellent foil for the Doctor's caustic wit.
We leave off with the resistance mounting their assault on the saucer and the Doctor about to be made into a robo-man.
Next up: Day of Reckoning
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