Ep. 86 Mission to the Unknown

"This is Marc Cory, Special Security Service, reporting from the planet Kembel. The Daleks are planning the complete destruction of our galaxy. Together with the powers of the outer galaxies, a war force is being assembled..."

   Back at the beginning of the second season it was decided that the final two parts of The Planet of Giants serial would be edited into one episode.  From what I'm led to understand this created a gap that had to be filled by the creation of a single episode story.
    I've also been told that the regular cast wasn't available.
    And thus Mission to the Unknown was conceived.  The series was already planning on doing a massive twelve part Dalek serial and it was decided that this would be a teaser episode for that huge story. 
    The action takes place on the planet Kembel in the far future.  One character refers to the Daleks as having invaded Earth 1,000 years ago. 
    Marc Cory, or Space James Bond, is this intergalactic special agent who is looking into reports of Dalek activity in the area.  He decides that the planet Kembel is an ideal place for the Daleks to operate unobserved in our neck of the woods and takes a couple guys in a rocket to investigate.
   Of course Space James Bond can't be counted on to take the basic precautions such as telling his superiors that he's going to nip off to the most dangerous planet in human space because he has a hunch that the Daleks have set up a secret base there.  Or getting a reliable rocket ship that can land on a planet without breaking up.  No, Space James Bond laughs at those wussy concepts and throws caution to the wind.
   Once they crash land on Kembel they soon have their proof that the Daleks are about the place.  One of the men gets stung by a Varga plant.  Varga plants, Space James Bond explains, are genetically engineered by the Daleks to act as guards for their facilities.  Their stings turn people into homicidal maniacs before turning them into more Varga plants.
   This is probably the best idea from this episode.  The idea of the Daleks bioengineering an aggressive plant creature to guard their facilities is a good idea.  It's a weapon that can't be turned on them; the Dalek's casings make them immune to the Varga thorns.
   The Daleks are putting together an alliance of evil to beat down Earth.  The Daleks have added six galactic powers to their evil cause.  This is something that we haven't seen the Daleks do before.  Diplomacy.  Not a bad idea and I'm hopeful that the it adds to the plot.
   Space James Bond and his pilot pal end up getting killed.  SJB managed to make a warning message before the Daleks got them.  A message that will be discovered during the Dalek Master Plan.
   For an episode that was 100% padding it wasn't that bad.  Regular fans of the series were probably confused when they tuned in next week and saw the Doctor outside the walls of ancient Troy.

Next up: Temple of Secrets