Not one of my favourite Dalek stories still, but definitely better than the first adventure to feature them. There is a lot more action in this one and is a rare event in that an Invasion has taken place on Earth before The Doctor has arrived to stop it.

I like the fact several London locations were used for this, think it gives the story extra realism, if that's the right word to use. It's a shame Hartnell did his back in for one episode, I think he really was missed and it sort of makes the episode concerned sag a bit without him. Reading the novel where Terrance Dicks reinstated The Doctor through this period, it definitely makes for a better storyline.

Off course, it was the last regular story to feature Susan. Thought the build up to the last scenes in the previous episodes were well handled and at the time I reckon those last few scenes were as sad for the audience back then as it was for when Rose left many years later. As the first companion to leave, it must have had added impact. And off course, it's great Susan left with a bloke with such a great first name.

I just watched the Movie of this story last night. As with the previous movie, thought it rated better than the TV Series but Hartnell is still tops as The Doctor. And our Wilf was in it, looking so young!

Rewatching this at the moment, and it's glorious. So utterly totally grim and bleak. Really harsh and savage in places. Bitter and unrelenting. The crushing of humanity seems totally genuine and believable. Excellent location work, design, music, performances, script. I am not a Terry Nation fan, but he has never been better than here.

The story feels epic throughout. Yes, I know they're only painted backdrops showing the destruction of London, but that doesn't matter because the stiory is on such a scale with such energy and power to it. Offscreen screams. Extras beaten to the ground. The famous "running through Westminster and Trafalgar Square" sequence is totally exhilarating and unique.

All the regulars are well served. Babs gets to be heroic and drive a lorry through a line of Daleks. Ian gets menaced inside a labour camp.; the Doctor gets knocked out a couple of times, but manages to save the world. Susan usually gets forgotten, but is clearly maturing into an adult in this story. The final scenes are packed with emotion, and totally un-mawkish and cheesy (which emotional stuff often tends to be in C21st DW).

A wonderful piece of work. Love it.

The black and white can't help but add to the bleakness. It's great.

I don't even care if the Dalek ships look like flying pie crusts.

Great B&W serial....but a bit drawn out. I loved the condensed movie with Peter Cushing. That 'flying saucer' was impressive (for its day!). And to have Wilf Mott in it was a bonus (although we didn't know him then!)

Not to mention an extracanonical Philip Madoc!

It's a cracking serial - yes the effects are ropey, yes it's a little too long, but imagine yourself back 49 years ago... the war had only ended less than 20 years previously, London was still covered in bomb sites - forget the 2164 date, there's nothing in this story that's remotely futuristic, it could just as easily have been set in the present day, presenting a sort of what if the Germans had won the war kind of scenario. Here the Daleks become Nazis for the first time and the whole story is shockingly realistic, frighteningly close to home.

As other posters have said the B&W only reinforces the bleakness of it all, a mood that is set right from the very first scene with a desperate man taking the most desperate way out to stop his suffering, throwing himself into the river by a poster that horrifically states 'It is forbidden to dump bodies in the river'. What kind of a world are we in, where you need to be told not to dump bodies in a river? Sends shivers down my spine.

And the location work is excellent - quite a surprise when you realise that, barring a very short scene in the Reign Of Terror, this was the first proper location filming ever carried out for Doctor Who. The location scenes are full of urgency and tension - possibly this was because they had to complete the filming very quickly, early one Sunday morning!

And the Daleks are terrific too - moving smoothly and eerily. This is one of the best B&W stories for sure.

I watched this a couple of weeks back. I thought it was very good- probably my favourite Hartnell story I've seen so far.
In my DVD collection it will go.

Just switch to the new special effects on the DVD.

But I just told you, I don't care.

Forgot! The Women in The Woods are fantastic. There are two, deeply harrowing, scenes where people meet their robotised family-members. The black market is addressed. The feeling that people will do anything to stay alive is very close to the surface.

And it's got Mr Rumbold in it.

Susan's final scene is beautiful. So, so sad. The music is funeral and it's such a downbeat ending.

Love this story.

Not a fan of this serial. Far too much of a slog for me. When it comes to Hartnell I much prefer The Time Meddler or The War Machines.

Great to see a bit of appreciation for this story, it was the only one of all the threads I did last year that initially received no comments at all so glad that has now been rectified.

As I said at the top it's not my favourite of the Hartnell stories or indeed the Dalek stories, I think the following four Dalek stories were all better imo, but it does have the first major departure in Doctor Who and I agree with Chuff, those last 5-10 minutes are really sad and the music is wonderfully funereal as well. I think in 60's Who in particular, not many departures came close to matching Susan's for impact imo.

Yes, and a fantastic story indeed. It also has one of my favorite scenes in all of Doctor Who: The Doctor, by himself, stands against a lone Dalek approaches him near the end of the story.

That is one of the best hero shots I can think of.