Well I wondered myself Chuffnobbler and according to the good ol' interweb link below she is living outside the UK

http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd...he-daleks.html

So glad I am not alone in my love for Death of the Daleks!

Just found this on YouTube and it sorts of backs up my point. The first game with the doors that won't open until the right route is crossed is a bigger version of the City game in Death to The Daleks and quite ironically may have been the inspiration for the similar game in The Five Doctors.

Watching this clip made me chuckle as it features some 'Argons'. Made in 1980 at the same time as The Leisure Hive, a coincidence? And the second bit features a Grandfather Clock not too dissimilar to a certain Time Lord's at the end of The Keeper Of Traken!!!!!

It's a bit slow and dated but for a chuckle it's worth a watch!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okRea54TE_w

OMG I remember this !I liked it. It seemed so clever at the time.

Well, all those effects were cutting edge......back then......

I'd lvoe for The Adenture Game to get a DVD release. I have an episode on VHS, somewhere in the attic. Classic kids telly. Ingenious and fun! I remember being very upset when John Craven was zapped by the vortex and I was worried he wouldn't walk home in tiem to present Newsround the next evening ...

Thanks for the Joy Harrison titbit, LadyT! I hve yet to get to the DVD commentary.

agreed it's yet another typicaly poor and lazy effort from Terry Nation - I mean why would the Daleks have a supply of bullets and machine guns in their ship typical of Nations lazy plotting . the intelligence tests in the city are laughable and the cliff hanger to end parts 3 with the chequred floor has to be one of the worst cliff hangers in the classic series and pretty much sums up how poor it is.

I was quite surprised to see Moira Stewart on that clip, thought she was just a newsreader. Don't know what made me think Keith Chegwin presented it, must have got confused with Cheggars Plays Pop........

Loved watching it though, will have to watch some more YouTube clips and reminisce!


Yes, it's not the best story but am not convinced it's the worst cliffhanger but it is an unusual one and happens quite suddenly and very randomly.

Just watching episode 2. It's very cool seeing Daleks without their guns.

Oh dear - episode three has a terrible cliff hanger!

Eeeeeeeeeeek! A floor!

Yes, literally! I couldn't stop laughing.

Great little story though. Sarah Jane's great and the Earth crew are a very solid guest cast too.

It seems from reading through this thread that I'm in a minority in not liking this story and that's cool, as well as usual for me.

Watching this through yesterday, I did notice a very sneaky maneuver by the writer in this story. When The Doctor and Bellal enter the city they have to go through several tests to get to the centre, whereas the Daleks are only seen to over two(I think). Where it's sneaky is that the second test, the maze one, the Daleks are seen to enter that room at the end of Part 3 and after that odd cliffhanger is resolved at the beginning of Part 4, they are seen to have apparently resolved the test and move on. Very sneaky to avoid showing them doing that maze test by using the cliffhanger and a week's gap where people may not remember it so well!

And the later two tests which seem to be mental tests aren't seen at all with the Daleks. Clearly the implication is that these sort of tests are immune to them.

I did like all the scenes with the Root, it was quite effective by 70's standards but there still very little else to like about the story for me. Plus I don't think Sarah is as strong in this story as she had been in the first two and by this point was settling down into the more traditional companion role.

This is possibly one of the most underrated classic Dr. Who stories ever - and definitrly the most underrated Dalek story. The Daleks look bloody fantastic in this one and the production values seem higher than anything seen in the rest of the season. Pertwee is on fine form, despite nearing the end of his tenure, and the root thing coming out of the lake is still effective.

You've inspired me, Ms Bunt. I'll be watching this on DVD tonight!

Another average Dalek story, in light of another thread around at the minute I may have included this as a suggestion. But I think it's below average!
I rarely highlight special effects or production values, but the Root things are embarrassing I couldn't show this to a non Doctor Who fan as it were for fear of being laughed at. Although having said that I do laugh when it attacks the Dalek and I will concede that is quite good!
The tests in the city remind me of the Pyramids of Mars and vice versa.
Overall though all the Dalek stories in Pertwee's era are all flawed and slightly average. Probably my worst story of Pertwee's final season also.

Monster of Peladon is a great example of a rubbish six parter that would have made an okay four parter. Planet of the Spiders likewise (the only reason people rate it at all is the regeneration). I am reluctant to watch either of these, but Death to the Daleks is pretty good in comparison.

I agree that Monster of Peladon is a slog. But Planet of the Spiders fairly zips along for me.

Don't agree with that at all because of reasons stated in the Story Thread for that story.

Interestingly Robert Holmes openly acknowledges this in Pyramids by having Sarah say something like "Didn't we do something like this in the City Of The Exxilons?" It was smart of him to get that in before the fans started tutting. Holmes was actually the de facto script editor on Death To The Daleks whilst Terrance Dicks was whipping Monster of Peladon into vaguely useable shape, so that's probably why he remembered how similar the sequence was (or simply where he nicked the idea from...)

Personally I like Death To The Daleks. It's not clever, it's not the best made story, the effects are ropey at times and Pertwee seems a little distracted - but as he'd just made the decision to leave the show, and never liked Daleks anyway, that's probably to be expected.

There are lots of good bits though -
the Exxilons are terrific, great masks, well realised and lots of them too. The sand people in Star Wars always reminded me a bit of Exxilons.
The Daleks also look superb - a very snappy paint job. Pity they are on fairly obvious rails in the quarry location, but it does mean that they really zip about. And I like Michael Wisher's voices for them. Nasty and harsh of course, but a bit expressive too.
And the location work is terrific, a really good use of a sandpit. The planet, for once, seems large.

The story is a bit Terry nation by numbers. Space plague - check. Primitive planet with hostile roots - check. Someone called Tarrant - check... but it's engaging enough and the pace keeps the viewer interested.

OK, shame about the irritatingly out of place music, about the Dalek that beats itself up, about Jill Tarrant - surely one of the wettest female characters of the Pertwee era (and she's got some fairly stiff competition, not least from Queen Thalira in the very next story), and a shame about the poor modelwork of the city, which never looks like a genuine city, nor does it give any impression of scale. Doctor Who could do good modelwork - just look at the Dalek city on Skaro, which was way better than this, ten years previously.

So, a mixed bag - but my third favourite that season, after The Time Warrior and Planet of the Spiders.

Just watched this story again for what seems like the hundredth time and I just love it so couldn't resist resurrecting this thread. I think the first two episodes are probably my favourites. T
The location filming looks really impressive in the quarry. The planet seems large & real and there is sometimg cinematic about the colours. Matt silver Daleks and the blue uniforms of the Earth mission crew against the sandy background. And when the Dalek is attacked by the root coming up from the water. Really nice to look at. I love that Michael Briant uses POV shots. Unusual and makes the scene more alive. Love the fading when Hamilton shows the Doctor the maps of the city to Sarah and the eerie score for the city. Wished they had used that more instead of the half jokey music for the Daleks in the city.

So the script.Well as I said first two episodes were the best. Love the mystery of the power drain. Well played by both leads. I love their relationship. The 3rd doctor is highly protective of Sarah and she is learning to trust him. Love the little goodbye before the Doctor goes to the city as he touches her cheek. As for the earth mission teammHamilton never knows he should be in charge as Galloway assumes he knows best when overlooked as a glory hunter ' sorry commander I didn't quite hear you ' as the command.er dies. Of course he has to redeem himself so as not to be a text book baddie. But you sort of do wonder would Hamilton actually have done a better job ? He is probably far too moral to team up- with the sneaky Daleks forced to work with humans. The actor who plays Galloway gives him grit and cunning- very on par with the enemy!
Bellal is a great character and I love all the little movements he does and there is a certain vunerability abutt him especially with a tall doctor

Of course there are some daft things like the Dalek who has a nervous breakdown ,the model Tardis for shooting practice. The sacrifice of Sarah. Episode 4 in some ways feels the weakest with the relatively easy destruction of the city and the tests are a bit unimaginative. But I do like the screams of the city at the end.
Overall I still enjoy this story every time I watch it although the title doesn't really tally with the actual story

Had this on VHS in the mid 90's, never a big fan. It had some interesting bits, but the Dalek music with the claronets was terrible, kept expecting them to start falling over or doing sketches. That plus the REALLY dull puzzles to enter the city and the generic earth crew put me off it as a good serial. I also had planet of the Daleks, which is much worse.

I quite agree. It's one of the most underrated classic Who stories for me.

Nice to see this thread again! I nearly dug out this DVD to watch last night! I settled on The Mutants, in the end, which is far less fun.

Death to the Daleks has grown on me considerably over the years. The script isn't much cop, but the design, location, filming, lighting, music, sound effects, make-up and just about everything else are really superb. Far better than other Dalek runarounds.

I think one of the main reasons I like it so much is that it was the last time, in the 1963-1989 series, that we saw the Daleks acting without the influence of Davros.
Here they are ruthless, merciless and cruel. Exactly what Daleks should be.
And they have a terrific paint job too!

The Mutants can be fun. Although not intentionally...