The odd thing about the previous entry is that you'd think having a fresh pair of eyes on the Daleks would result in a fresh take, given that Louis Marks had never written a Dalek story before. Terry Nation was off doing The Persuaders, so he couldn't do the script. Then Terry Nation comes back to show us how a Dalek story is really written - and the results are even less impressive. For one thing, we liked this story better when it was called The Daleks - so much of it is an homage (or whatever this lazy self-plagiarism is called) to the previous story that it's hard to judge it on its own merits. Then we get the invisible aliens, which seems at first like a good idea till you realize how much of a cost-cutting measure they are. The fact that the cliffhanger in episode one involves the reveal that (gasp!) there are Daleks on this planet is also a letdown given that the title tells that that it is, indeed, the Planet of the Daleks (or, as some have pointed out, the Planet With Some Daleks On It). We might even be willing to forgive how derivative this story was were it not for how badly the Daleks themselves are pulled off. The Dalek Supreme has the potential to be one of the loveliest Daleks we've ever seen - until it opens its (metaphorical) mouth. Then the lights don't sync up, when they work at all, and its voice is a good half-octave higher than its subordinates. And the less said about the model shot of the frozen Daleks, using Marx toy Daleks that are even less faithful to the actual design than Dapol toys were, the better. Being trapped on that planet forever is too good for any of them.
Tony Whitt has previously written TV, DVD, and comic reviews for CINESCAPE, NOW PLAYING, and iF MAGAZINE. His weekly COMICSCAPE columns from the early 2000s can still be found archived on Mania.com. He has also written a book of gay-themed short stories titled CRESCENT CITY CONNECTIONS, available on Amazon.com in both paperback and Kindle format. Whitt currently lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
