Planet of the Daleks

The tendency to watch every Doctor Who story more and more objectively usually leads to the 'technical commentary' approach.

"Front axial projection." one of us will murmur knowingly.

"Ooh, bad CSO."

"They obviously got someone to dress in yellow and wave that stick about."

"They probably got those stools from MFI in a job lot with the TARDIS wardrobe units."

But most of all, it's the location work that bites. We try and work out to which twisted logic we owe the distribution of precious out-of-studio filming. What halfwit tried to do a story entirely set in an alien jungle within the confines of a small studio? And why does "Frontier in Space" boast hours of lush location work for dull padded scenes of the Doctor getting captured, when the location-starved "Planet" so clearly needs it more? We come to resent scenes set on location that don't need to be. Does anyone else even think about these things?

Almost as if to rub it in, and for no other discernable reason, "Planet" suddenly swaps its plastic pot-plant jungle for mist shrouded, atmospheric location footage mid-way through Episode 5. For a moment we see how the whole story could have looked, and then it's back to the Homebase gardening centre. Incidentally, Episode 3 looks great. Why can't all Pertwee episodes be converted to black and white telerecordings? Preferably before the Restoration Team use VidFIRE to change them all back again. Tellingly, that jungle suddenly looks very much like Kembel in "The Daleks Masterplan". What this enforced treatment does, as well as giving everything an expensive filmic look, is to 'grade' everything together, so you can hardly tell which bits have been done in studio and which haven't.

And then there's the impression that Terry Nation has been on holiday since "The Daleks", even having Pertwee gabble on about Ian, Barbara and Susan as if the audience have as well. I don't mind the moralising, as it's actually quite sincere, but the old bugger could have used the characters in "Frontier in Space" instead of inventing new ones. Maybe if the Draconian Prince had been called Tarrant he might have done. However, this trusty waste-not approach has it's advantages. After five episodes of self tea-leafery (including another outing for the old 'escape inside a Dalek' routine) when something unexpected does happen, for example the bomb placed to flood the cavern in the last episode not working, it comes as a genuine shock! Has anyone else noticed that Codal clearly fancies the Doctor as well.

"You've done so much for me!" he simpers as they are forced to part. Down boy!

It's all good fun though, even if the rocks move and Jo Grant says the Daleks are trying to start "a sort of a war" and Jane Howe is an astronaut who "can't stand heights". No amount of wishing is going to change the fact they tried to knock up an alien planet out of the props box. But what pluck! The spirit of determined old Who is here in spades. And you can always turn the colour down.