Day of the Daleks

There are times in Doctor Who's history when it could be considered "on a roll" - think Season 12, or mid-Troughton. At these times even the problematic stories somehow manage to be enjoyable, because even ill-conceived ideas or unavoidable constraints have the series' regular strengths to rely on. It's worth noting the difference between, say, "Revenge of the Cybermen", which is a poor story but only in the context of that year, and "The Invisible Enemy", which is just a poor story. "Revenge" is better, because it cribs impressive sets from "Ark in Space" and can still afford a half-decent supporting cast. The other story, over-ambitious enough as it is, can be seen as the beginning of a decline in general standards.

"Day of the Daleks" is immensely enjoyable despite itself. There are a number of bad decisions in there, which I shall run down in a moment. But the core values of the series at this time are so great, that the adventure still manages to become something of a classic. Katy Manning (here dressed as a lumberjack) has got dippy Jo just about down to a fine art, whilst not becoming overtly scatty as she would do in "The Time Monster" or "The Green Death". It's one of Nicholas Courtney's best performances, and the script and sets are top notch. Wouldn't the Colin or Sylvester era's of the show have killed for a set as lush and atmospheric as Styles House, complete with its gloomy curtains and eerily ticking clock, to set an adventure in? So just what is wrong with "Day of the Daleks"?

Well let's get the Daleks out the way first. A friend of mine once recently noted that my comments on "The Underwater Menace" had been quite... predictable. Well, some opinions are popular for a reason, and much as I hate to point it out, the Daleks aren't very effective here. It's ironic, given that this story grew from an outline entitled "The Daleks in London", that the production team seem to have overlooked the fact that it was gliding over Westminster Bridge that really brought the Daleks to the big time in the first place. Here we have an adversary that looks awesome when seen, en masse, invading our beloved territories. So "Day" only shells out for three of them, which are locked in a room for most of the story. We shall say no more.

Then there's the plot, which is conversely a strong and a weak point. Doctor Who was never bad when it did time travel stories (we don't include Big Finish in these definitions okay?) and there's as much fun as ever to be had in tying your mind in knots attempting to work out how the story can make sense. On the downside, it doesn't, and for why I shall point to the "Time Meddler" column where my explanation sits. A paradox is a lovely little word, but it's really shorthand for "this story doesn't make sense". It's only a small hop away from "contradiction". You may as well end the story with the Doctor declaring, "Well, there you are Jo. The adventure we've just had couldn't possibly have happened!"

Yet for all this "Day of the Daleks" somehow manages to be enjoyable, which only goes to show the strengths in having the time to establish a winning formula. It highlights how much the reduced season length in the late eighties was to blame for the lack of quality; when Mel leaves in "Dragonfire" it's technically after just four complete adventures. There was no room to develop a consistency. "Day of the Daleks" is delightful because the show was able to run with blossoming strengths at the time. Just don't mention the word "paradox".