"Only could be? You don't think I'd take the side with those creatures against you, do you? You do! This baffles me... It destroys my faith in human nature."
Part of the problem with The Dalek Master Plan is the fact that it is missing 9 of its twelve episodes (10 of 13 if you count Mission to the Unknown). That means that the story has to be carried through the audio for those of us not fortunate enough to have watched it live. Marco Polo is a good example of a serial where the acting was conveyed well enough through the spoken word that it comes alive for the listener (and again, Tegana may be my favorite first Doctor villain).
Having to (only) listen to the Daleks for 10 episodes grates on the nerves. Today's episode is complete; Ang and I watched it on the Lost In Time set that the Beeb put out a few years ago. The fact that we got the visuals, they had the Monk, the fact that the script, while based on a Terry Nation idea, was written by Dennis Spooner, all combined to make this a much more enjoyable experience than most previous episodes.
The mummy at the end of the last episode turned out to be the Monk. The Doctor wanted to keep him out of trouble and left him in a sarcophagus swathed in bandages.
Peter Butterworth is, as usual, great in the part of the Monk. It's a bit sad that he didn't return to the role later, but at least his last turn in the part ended up preserved on video (unlike Tegana).
He's the first Doctor's lovable villain and the biggest competition that Tegana gets for the prize of top 1st Doctor enemy.
The Monk tries to trick his way into the TARDIS only to be volunteered to join the two companions in their search for the Doctor.
Unfortunately their search plan involves shouting "DOCTOR, DOCTOR" over and over again until the Daleks find them.
When the Daleks come to kill them, the Monk claims that he has brought them as prisoners to force the Doctor into giving up the core. He then turns around and tells the two humans that he only said that so that the Daleks would spare their lives. The wonderful thing is, he might have been telling the truth.
The Daleks use "voice audio" (remember "pyro flames") to communicate to the Doctor. If he doesn't meet them, then his friends get blasted.
The native Egyptians hear the voice booming over the "voice audio." One thinks that it is the gods, but there is at least one Egyptian with some sense who figures that it's the same people who made fire throwing machines. It's nice to have a character from ancient times NOT written as a superstitious idiot.
The Egyptians plan a full on military assault on the machines.
The Doctor makes arrangements for an exchange of the core for his young friends and the Monk.
The exchange goes down. Before the two Daleks can exterminate the humans, the Egyptian military goes into full attack mode. Which doesn't really dent the Daleks, but it does buy the travelers time to get away.
The Monk slips away in the confusion going back to his own TARDIS to find that the Doctor has made it look like a Police Box. The Daleks see him get into a Police Box and dematerialize. They almost give chase thinking that this is the Doctor's TARDIS. The Monk ends up unable to control his flight through time and space thanks to the Doctor's sabotage.
The Doctor and the others reunite at the real TARDIS. The Doctor had to give Chen the real core. The only hope that they have to beat the Daleks is to use the circuit that the Doctor stole from the Monk's TARDIS. There's a chance that the circuit will allow them to get back to Kembal and there's a chance that the thing will cause the column to explode.
He tries it and the console erupts in smoke and light.
Next up: The Abandoned Planet
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