The Daleks' Master Plan (TV story)

The Daleks' Master Plan was the fourth story of Season 3 of Doctor Who. At twelve episodes running five hours, it remains the longest undisputed Doctor Who story to date (the 14-episode Season 23 was broadcast under the single title TV: The Trial of a Time Lord, but there is debate as to whether this is one story or four interconnected stories). Currently, only episodes 2, 5, and 10 are known to exist in the BBC archive.

As part seven was to air on Christmas Day, it was decided that it should be a comedic episode with little to do with the overall plot as many would not be watching. This episode saw the Doctor turn to the camera and wish the viewer "a merry Christmas".

This story was intertwined with Mission to the Unknown, which acted as a prologue by setting the scene and introducing characters necessary to the plot of The Daleks' Master Plan.

Katarina, only introduced in the previous serial, became the first companion to die while travelling with the Doctor. Later in the story, Sara Kingdom, who was introduced during this story and was played by Jean Marsh, became the second. This story saw the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who. It also saw the Monk make a return, the first individual antagonist to get a rematch with the Doctor.

Synopsis
In the year 4000, the Daleks conspire to conquer the Solar System. Their scheme involves treachery at the highest levels and a weapon capable of destroying the very fabric of time. Only the Doctor and his friends can prevent catastrophe — and there is no guarantee they will escape with their lives...

The Nightmare Begins (1)
The Doctor's TARDIS arrives on the planet Kembel in hope that the Doctor will be able to find medicine to cure and Steven blood poisioning. He leaves the TARDIS to seek out civilisation leaving Steven with the Trojan servant girl Katarina. Slightly before this, two Space Agents, Bret Vyon and the injured Kert Gantry, are also on the planet, trying to find out what happened to their agent, Marc Cory however they have been waylaid by an, as yet unidentified enemy. They are trying to contact Earth, however their attempts to contact them are fruitless.

On Earth at the Space Security Service headquarters two employees are too busy watching the broadcast of Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System who is explaining to the universe that he is going to go on holiday to get away from the hassle of being a space politician but preaches a message of peace and harmony celebrating 25 years since the last war in the universe.

Eventually giving up on reaching Earth Gantry tells Vyon to go on without him, as he will slow Vyon down. Seconds after Vyon leaves, a Dalek finds Gantry and kills him.

In the undergrowth Vyon trips and breaks the transmitter leaving him desperate, stranded and alone. It is at this point the TARDIS materalises directly in front of Vyon. Vyon waits in the bushes and sees the Doctor emerge from the TARDIS. Vyon sneaks after the Doctor and takes the key from him at gunpoint before knocking him out. On returning to the TARDIS, Vyon demands that Katarina to take him off the planet, but Katarina barely understands what's going on, much less how to work the ship. In his desperation to try and get the TARDIS working he switches on the scanner revealing to Steven, who has just come too, a very irate looking Doctor. Steven briefly gathers his strength and knocks Vyon out. The Doctor returns and places Vyon in a restraining chair, then goes back outside.

While this is going on the Daleks are preparing for the arrival of Spaceship 1-11 with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. Emerging from the TARDIS the Doctor hears the oncoming spaceship and begins to make his way towards its point of destination curious as to whether it will have medicine for Steven.

Back on the TARDIS Vyon convinces an untrusting Katarina that he is of no harm to them and his violence towards the Doctor was only borne out of desperation. He tells Katarina that he has medicine for Steven in his bag. She gives Steven the medicine who seems to rally.

By this time the Doctor has got to the landing pad as Spaceship 1-11 lands. Chen emerges from the Spaceship and is met by the Daleks. The Doctor is horrified to see his foes again and hurries off before Chen subjugates himself to the Daleks wishing them success and help with the plans for annihilation of the Universe. By the time the Doctor returns to the TARDIS he sees the door wide open and Daleks milling around preparing to board his machine.

Day of Armageddon (2)


Outside the TARDIS the doctor overhears the Daleks plans for his spaceship. The two Daleks refer to the imminent beginning of Operation Inferno. The Doctor slinks off into the jungle leaving the two Daleks guarding his ship.

Inside the Dalek City Chen meets the ruler of the Fifth Galaxy, a creature by the name of Zephon. Zephon and Chen, although having never met before, seem to be at political loggerheads. Zephon appears to be somewhat intimidated by the Daleks drafting in Chen to their alliance. During their confrontation Chen mentions how the temptation to rule over larger swathes of the universe than just the Solar System tempted him to join forces with the Daleks. The Daleks overhear this and note the humans grand aspirations. The Dalek Supreme explains that as soon as Chen has served his purpose he will be disposed of "like the rest of them."

Whilst roaming the jungle the Docotr stumbles across Stephen and Katarina. Katarina explains how Brett helped them out of the TARDIS as soon as the Daleks were seen in the distance; therefore saving their lives. While the companions speak Brett is elsewhere in the jungle where he observers the Daleks using their "Pyro-flames" in order to torch the jungle. Brett goes back to warn the others wherein an argument soon breaks out. The Doctor wants to go back to the TARDIS but Stephen argues that this is playing into the Daleks hands, Brett weighs in angrily only for the Doctor to react hostilely towards him. The decision is made to move towards the Dalek city so as to be safe from incineration.

Back in the Dalek City Chen and Zephon watch the jungle burn. Chen goes to the meeting, but Zephon refuses to go with him, saying that he will go when he feels like it. This is clearly in order to show off to Chen the power he holds amongst the Daleks.

Outside the Dalek City the Doctor and his companions reach the landing strip for the visiting dignitaries. Brett notices Chen's spaceship and is shocked that their leader would be embroiled with the Dalek's. The Doctor sees this as a positive thing and says that Brett can hijack the ship and warn Earth of the Dalek's on oncoming invasion personally. While they are talking Zephon approaches them, luckily without them being seen. Thinking quickly Brett grabs Zephon from behind and immobilises him. It is decided that the Doctor will wear Zephon's robe and attend the Dalek meeting so as to ascertain the Dalek master plan while Brett goes on to hijack the ship. The Doctor takes Brett to one side and says that if he hasn't returned by the time the ship is ready they should go on without him before leaving the Doctor gives Brett a small reel of tape that he found earlier in the jungle saying that it may be of use later.

The Daleks have noticed Zephon's absence and they, as well as the other dignitaries, are annoyed with the leader. The Daleks fan out to look for him and soon find the Doctor in disguise as Zephon and escort him towards the meting. Arriving at the meeting, the other leaders express irritation at the tardiness of "Zephon." The meeting begins, and the Dalek Supreme reports their ultimate weapon, the Time Destructor, is now complete. Chen reveals he has procured a sample of the extremely rare element taranium, necessary to operate the Time Destructor.

Whilst this meeting is taking place the Doctor's companions takeover Chen's ship with very little resistance and leave the fleet on the landing bay, however as they do Zephon regains consciousness and raises the alarm. The Dalek meeting breaks up in panic. In amongst the chaos the Doctor steals the taranium, only to be confronted by Zephon. With no other choice to evade capture Brett begins to prepare the ship for departure despite the pleas of Stephen and Katarina.

Devil's Planet (3)
The Doctor gets to Chen's Spar, the type of ship Brett has hijacked, just in time for take-off enabling the Doctor and his companions to regain together and with the Doctor in possession of the Dalek's taranium.

The Daleks do not want to destroy Chen's spar because they need the taranium for their weapon so decide to employer a Randomizer, a means of externally controlling a ship, and a pursuit team to try and regain their Taranium. Zephon tries to place Chen in the middle of a conspiracy saying that due to the fact the assailants are humanoid and must come from the Solar System it means they must be in cahoots with Chen. Chen turns this back on Zephon and says thatbot is circumspect that Zephon was absent at the time of the theft. The Daleks agree, concluding that Zephon is the one who's responsible. Zephon tells the Daleks that two of the other leaders will also leave if he does. Finally, Zephon announces that he is leaving the alliance. He does not get the chance — a Dalek kills him.

On course for Earth, the Doctor asks Brett for the tape he found while in the jungle. The group plays it back. It turns out to be from Agent Cory, whose brief statements confirm what they already know - Earth and the Solar System are doomed. Brett discusses what he should do with this information; speculating that if Chen is involved any number of political figures could also be. As they near the prison planet Desperus — where convicts are simply left, without any guards or means of escape — the Daleks use the randomiser to disable the controls of the spar and eventually force land it on Desperus with the Dalek ship in hot pursuit.

The spar crashes on the planet, causing minor damage to the ship. This disturbs three of the convicts who call Desperus home: the leader, Borg, his lackey, Garge and a weak and subservient member of the group Kirksen. The trio decide to hijack the ship and escape from the planet.

Realising that the impact should have totally destroyed the spar, the four conclude the Daleks want them alive and Brett and Stephen set about repairing the ship. Katarina and the Doctor notice the three convicts approaching the ship and begin to defend themselves by placing a live wire within the swamp which they have landed in. Sure enough the convicts attempt to board the ship and Borg and Garge are shocked unconscious. Just after this Brett and Stephen fix the ship and take off, just as the Dalek pursuit ship lands heavily allowing the Doctor and his companions a further head start. In his haste earlier the Doctor realises he hadn't closed the airlock door of the spar and sends Katarina to do so as she does Kirksen, who has stowed aboard, holds her at knifepoint.

The Traitors (4)


Kirksen threatens to kill Katarina unless the travellers take him to the nearest planet — Kembel. The group try and argue that this is a hostile planet populated by Daleks however Kirksen is insistent. The group seemingly concur with the convicts wishes, however just pretend to readjust the controls.

Back on Kembel the pursuit fleet has fixed their ship and report back to the Dalek City for orders - they are told that the spar is headed for Earth where Chen can intercept it and that they are to return to Kembel. The Dalek Supremem gives orders for the pursuit fleet to be killed for their failure.

In order to stop the impasse between Kirksen and Katarina Brett tilts the Spar in such a way that the hostage and the hotsage faker are knocked into the airlock. Steven and the Doctor attempt a mediation however Katarina opens the airlock, blowing herself and Kirksen into space. Stunned, Steven suggests that she must have done it accidentally, but the Doctor thinks it was deliberate in order to allow the Doctor and his companions to return to Earth and warn of the oncoming invasion.

Back on Kembel the Daleks are upbraided by another representative from the largest galaxy of their alliance, Trantis. Trantis is worried about the trust that the Daleks have placed in Chen. The Daleks are insistent that there way is correct.

Back on the spar the Doctor and his companions are in a quandary as to where to land the vehicle - knowing that if they land it anywhere public they will be accosted. Brett says he will land it at an Experimental Station just outside the Central City in order to evade detection. There he will contact his friend Daxtar who will help them. On leaving the ship, unbeknownst to the travellers they are spied on by a woman.

In the Central City Chen is being briefed on the traitors that stole his spar. He is told by Lizan, one of his security team, that the identities of the traitors are Brett Vyon and Kurt Gantry. He orders their assassination on sight. When left alone Chen conspires with the head of his security service Karlton on his worries with regard to the Tranium. He also informs Karlton that he is worried that if he hampers the Daleks' plans Trantis will usurp his power in the alliance. Karlton informs him he needn't worry in that regard as he has assigned Sara Kingdom, the toughest Security Agent they have, on the case. When Sara reports to Chen she informs him she saw Brett with two unidentified men. Chen sends her back to kill them and take the Tranium back.

The Doctor is growing impatient waiting for Daxtar to arrive however when he does they unburden their story to him. Daxtar responds to this by saying that they should immediately return to the Central City and alert the forces and return the Tranium. The Doctor explains to Brett that he never mentioned Tranium to Daxtar and he must be a traitor to have that information. Furious at this betrayal Brett kills Daxtar. The Doctor berates Brett for his speed to kill, explaining the information they could have learnt would have been far more useful. The Doctor and his companions decide what to do. Brett suggests that he should infiltrate the security service and alert the authority's himself rather than risk further betrayals. As the travellers set of to do this Sara enters and holds the men at gun point. Brett manages to cause enough of a distraction to allow the Doctor and Steven to escape however he is shot by Sara who begins her pursuit.

Counter Plot (5)
In an effort to avoid capture the Doctor and Steven take refuge in a room wherein an experiment in molecular dissemination is taking place. The experiment reaches its climax as Sara enters the room and the three of them are transported to the distant planet Mira much to the annoyance of Karlton who has been sent to regain the Taranium. Karlton orders the scientists to keep an eye out for signs of life on Mira and goes to report to Chen. Karlton suggests to Chen that he should pretend that this was all part of Chen's plan and he purposely transported the taranium to Mira as it is closer to Kembel and the Daleks could easier get it.

On Mira, Sara is forced to join forces with the Doctor, only after being disarmed by Steven. She is reluctant to believe their story and refuses to see Chen as anything other than a diligent leader as they begin to tease at her conscience she reveals that Brett was her brother.

On another part of Mira the Dalek salvage team have landed on Mira and begin to seek out the Doctor; as they do they discover an invisible creature indigenous to Mira that they can detect with their sensors. The Doctor soon discovers these creatures also and identifies them Visians, invisible, savage creatures 8 feet in height. As he goes back to explain this to Stephen and Sara he soon discovers that they are surrounded by these captures.

Back on Earth, Chen reveals the true depth of his plan to Karlton. He plans to return to Kembel as soon as the Taranium is returned; in the meantime Karlton is to take a fleet to Venus and from their they will destroy Kembel with the help of a dissident army of followers that Chen will summon up from within. Karlton seems unhappy with this, saying it will only mean the will rule the Solar System however Chen insists that this will just be the start.

Back on Mira the Daleks have found the Doctor. They destroy a few Vysians to create an entrance and state that the Doctor is surrounded either by Daleks or Visians. Unsure of what to do the Doctor explains to his friends that "the Daleks have won."

Coronas of the Sun (6)
Fortunately for the Doctor and his companions, the invisible creatures attack the Daleks, allowing them to escape. The Daleks set about exterminating the Vysians which they, eventually, do. They send message back to Kembel that they may need more reinforcements however this is denied them.

The Doctor and his companions are forming a plan to steal the Dalek's ship whilst evading the Daleks and the Vysians. Seeing that the Dalek ship is only guarded by one Dalek the Doctor decides that now is the moment. He reveals himself and says he wishes to surrender himself and the Taranium to the Daleks in exchange for safe passage home. Whilst the Doctor keeps the Dalek talking Steven sneaks up behind him and splatters mud on the Dalek's eyestalk. Using this brief period of blindness the Doctor and his companions hijack the ship; closing the door just in time before the rest of the Dalek's arrive.

By this time Chen has arrived back on Kembel. The Daleks are furious that he has not fulfilled his duty of returning the Taranium to them however he says that this whole episode reflects worse on the Daleks and their abilities than it does on him.

On the Dalek ship the Doctor is going about making an exact replica of the Taranium in order to trick the Daleks and Chen. As he is doing this the ship begins to pilot itself back to Kembel. Stephen finds the device controlling this and rips it out of the controls. Sara teases Steven on his technological prowess, mocking his primitive understanding of science.

On hearing that their autopilot unit has been destroyed the Daleks employ a magnetised beam which will pull the ship back to Kembel. The Daleks intend to murder the traitors as soon as they have the Taranium but Chen states they should be put on trial on Earth so as to appease curious minds on that planet.

As the magnetised beam starts to effect the ship the Doctor seems relatively calm as he has finished his copy of the Taranium; the only thing left is to give it it's distinctive glow. Steven suggests using the gravity force from the ship's power centre, however is mocked by Sara again. The Doctor warns that this is an outdated practice. Whilst the Doctor and Sara are distracted Steven, refusing to believe that his science is that flawed, attaches wires from the ship's gravity force to the Taranium. This knocks him off his feet and renders him unconscious. Despite the Doctor and Sara's anger with him it has given the Taranium the effect that was required however a side effect is that Steven is in a vegative state and furthermore has a force field round him because of gravity force and reliance power. By this time the ship is about to land on Kembel, where Chen and the Daleks are waiting for it. The Doctor decides to use Stephen's force field to their advantage. He gives him the fake Taranium and says that when they emerge from the ship that Sara is to stand behind Steven and the Doctor is to do all the talking.

As they emerge from the ship the Doctor states that he will only give back the Taranium at the doors of his TARDIS. The Daleks are reluctant to do this however Chen persuades them that it seems the only way that the Doctor will return the mineral. The Daleks lead the traitors to the TARDIS. The Doctor says that Sara and he will go in and Steven will hand o we the mineral to them. This is carried out. As Steven tries to leave and goes back into the TARDIS the Daleks try and exterminate him however the force field renders their efforts futile. Chen is delighted that he has the main core to the weapon back again.

In the TARDIS Steven is being filled in on what happened as the force field has now worn off. Steven states that he may have discovered a way of making themselves invulnerable to all enemies and wants to experiment with it more but the Docotr refuses stating it is too dangerous. As they argue Sara points out the TARDIS has landed. The Doctor tries to discover where they are but the visualised is broken; however the gauges reveal that the air outside is poisonous.

The Feast of Steven (7)


Worried about the polluted atmosphere the Doctor, whose lungs are used to pollution, says he will go outside to fix the scanner while Sara and Stevem remaining inside.

Little does the Doctor know but the group has actually landed in a polluted area of 1960s England outside a police station. Where the TARDIS is being watched by a group of policemen suspicious of its sudden appearance. Wen the Doctor emerges he comes face to game with these policemen and immediately returns to his TARDIS locking the door behind him.

The Doctor explains to Sara and Steven that they are actually on Earth and informs them that he intends on keeping the policemen talking which will allow them to fix the scanner. No sooner is the Doctor out of the TATDIS then he is arrested and taken into the police station. There he encounters a number of policemen and a man who is there to make a complaint about a vanishing greenhouse. The Doctor observes that he has met this man before in a market place in Jaffa, much to the bemusement of the man.

Outside the TARDIS Steven sneaks out of the box and behind a police car whilst one of the police guards are distracted. In the police car he sees a police uniform and steals it in order to pass himself off as one of their own. As soon as he enters the police station they greet him as "the new recruit from G division" a disguise that Steven is happy to continue with.

Meanwhile in an interrogation room the Doctor is being very open about his real identity. When asked where he's from he says that he is from the Universe and when asked why he was in a police box he says that it is where he lives and that it is no mere police box but a "means of experimenting with time." The policemen judge that he is mentally unsound and go to take him elsewhere. Here he is intercepted by Steven who claims that he is a well known figure in G division and that he will look after him. As they emerge from the police station they see Sara in the process of being arrested. She was spotted trying to fix the scanner and ordered to move on by a policeman; she went to go but then returned. The Doctor and Steven rush into the TATDIS and Sara extricates herself from her policeman and joins them.

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor brings the situation back to more serious matters and explains that he will destroy the Taranium as soon as they reach a suitable place where they can do so. The TARDIS lands again and they look on the newly fixed scanner to see where they are. To their horror they see a man tying a woman up to a saw mill. The travellers rush out and stop the assailant; Steven punching the assailant in the face. It is only after this has happened that they realise that they have materialised on a film set. The travellers run off being pursued by the angry director as well as the star of his film. As they run through the studios they encounter Charlie Chaplin. Little does Steven know but the director is seeking him out because he was impressed with his display of physicality and wants him to replace his injured star, which upsets his female lead as she is worried that she will be replaced by Sara.

The travellers are soon split up. Sara stumbles across a Lawrence of Arabia style film set and hides in one of the props. The Doctor finds himself on the same set and is mistaken for a professor of Arabic culture, a part he is happy to play. Meanwhile Steven is being pursued by assistants trying to get him into a costume. They soon meet up again and make their way back to the TARDIS, not before the Doctor engages in conversation with a comedian and aspiring singer who is worried he'll never make it in showbiz because of his stupid name Bing Crosby. Eventually the travellers make their way back to the TARDIS and dematerialise leaving the stunned film crew desperate to know how the trick was executed.

After that they have a toast to Christmas and the Doctor wishes a merry Christmas to everyone "at home".

Volcano (8)
Meanwhile, back on Kembel, the fake taranium core is fitted to the Time Destructor,. It is tested on another representative, Trantis, who has proven useless to the Daleks. However, there is no effect and the fake core quickly exhausts itself, leaving Trantis unharmed. The Daleks accuse Chen of lying about the taranium. Chen realises the Doctor switched the cores. They send a request for a time machine to pursue the Doctor. Trantis is killed by a Dalek.

The TARDIS briefly materialises in the Oval back on Earth during a cricket match, then on the volcanic planet Tigus. The three travellers have been followed by the the Monk, who damages the TARDIS's door lock, then mockingly informs the Doctor and companions they are stranded on the planet for the rest of their lives. Not to be deterred, the Doctor counteracts this by using his ring to get them back inside the TARDIS. The Monk is surprised by this, but follows the Doctor to his next destination. The TARDIS then arrives in Trafalgar Square immediately after midnight, 1 January 1966.

Meanwhile, the Daleks' time machine has arrived on Kembel. The task force leave in it and the rest of the Daleks join the Supreme in a victory chant.

Golden Death (9)
The TARDIS arrives in ancient Egypt at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Mavic Chen and the Daleks soon arrive in their time machine and begin their search for the taranium. Realising the Monk and someone else have arrived, Steven and Sara go to find out who it is while the Doctor repairs the lock; but they are arrested as looters by the guards of the Pharoah's treasures. The Monk tries to find the Doctor, but is found by Chen and the Daleks who offer him an ultimatum — help them find the taranium or the Daleks will kill him. Unsurprisingly, the Monk accepts. The Doctor follows the Monk for a time, discovering his TARDIS and changing its shape into a police box. He follows the Monk back to the Doctor's TARDIS,. After confronting him and hearing the Monk's story and plea to give in to the Daleks, he decides to deal with him. Steven and Sara escape and, looking for the Doctor, decide the TARDIS must have been moved inside the pyramid. They find it, but the Doctor is nowhere to be found. Sara spots a bandage-wrapped hand reaching out from a large box.

Escape Switch (10)
It is the Monk, wrapped up by the Doctor. Steven and Sara take him to go and find the Doctor. He claims the Doctor did it out of malice. They don't get far before being caught by the Daleks and Chen, who demands the taranium. In desperation, the Monk suggests using Steven and Sara as hostages. Chen accepts this and tells the Daleks that the Doctor will not allow the two to be killed.

Chen announces over a loudspeaker with a range of seven Earth miles that unless he hands over the taranium, Sara and Steven will be killed. The Doctor is dismayed, but has no choice but to comply. Some Egyptians hear this. One thinks it is the voice of a God, but the other says Gods would speak in words they understand. When the Doctor hands over the core, the Daleks try to kill them and the Monk but they all escape, helped by an attack by the Egyptian guards. While the guards disable some of the Daleks, most of them escape and return to their time machine with Chen.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor admits that he did not have time to build another fake and had to hand over the real taranium. However, he's stolen the Monk's directional unit — evidenced when the Monk lands on an ice planet and realises that without any control over the direction of his TARDIS he now has little chance of ever catching the Doctor. He promises to come after the Doctor when he gets off the planet.

The Doctor fits the control and takes off, though he says the TARDIS may be destroyed. The console room is engulfed in a flash of white light.

The Abandoned Planet (11)
The directional control has burnt itself out almost instantly (due to the Monk's TARDIS being a later model than the Doctor's), but it's enough to get them back to Kembel. The three leave the TARDIS, but Sara and Steven lose the Doctor in the jungle and proceed to the city alone, led by the Doctor's Power Impulse Compass. They find the Dalek city deserted and the alliance leaders imprisoned. The leaders agree to turn on the Daleks. In exchange they are released from the prison cell. They take off in their ships — apart from Chen, whose spar explodes just after take-off.

Searching the jungle, they find the entrance to a second, underground city which the Daleks are now using. As they prepare to enter, Chen appears, having faked his death, and takes them prisoner. He leads them into the underground city.

The Destruction of Time (12)
They go through the underground city. Chen leads them into the control room in grandiose fashion. Thinking that he was still imprisoned in the first city, the Dalek leader announces their alliance is over. Chen refuses to accept this. He proclaims himself the leader of the alliance. He tries to kill the Dalek leader, but his blast has no effect. The Dalek orders Chen taken outside and killed. Chen flees, boasting he is immortal. He's quickly proven wrong when a Dalek patrol corners him and guns him down.

Taking advantage of the distraction, the Doctor enters the control room and activates the Time Destructor. The Daleks return, but are powerless to do anything with the Doctor threatening to increase the Destructor's power. He jams a door, delaying the Daleks' pursuit. He orders Sara and Steven back to the TARDIS, but Sara refuses to go. The two flee through the jungle with the Time Destructor, but begin to rapidly age and deteriorate. The Daleks pursue them, but seem immune to the effects. The Doctor and Sara reach the TARDIS but have been aged massively by the Destructor. They collapse and Sara disintegrates. Steven rushes outside and tries to deactivate the Destructor, but cannot do anything. As he begins to rapidly age, he tries to help the Doctor, but is ordered back into the TARDIS. Fortunately, when trying to deactivate the Destructor he reverses it, thus causing the two to revert to approximately their previous ages. The pursuing Daleks try to destroy the Destructor with their weapons but cause it to run uncontrollably fast, destroying the Daleks and reducing the planet to a lifeless, barely habitable wasteland.

The Doctor and Steven emerge from the TARDIS some time later, the Destructor having burnt itself out. "What a terrible waste..." mutters the Doctor, remembering all the people and creatures, including friends, who have lost their lives.

Cast

 * The Doctor — William Hartnell
 * Steven Taylor — Peter Purves
 * Sara Kingdom - Jean Marsh
 * Katarina — Adrienne Hill
 * Kert Gantry - Brian Cant
 * Bret Vyon - Nicholas Courtney
 * Lizan - Pamela Greer
 * Roald - Philip Anthony
 * Mavic Chen - Kevin Stoney
 * Interviewer - Michael Guest
 * Daleks - Kevin Manser, Robert Jewell, Gerald Taylor, John Scott Martin
 * Dalek Voices - Peter Hawkins, David Graham
 * Zephon - Julian Sherrier
 * Trantis - Roy Evans
 * Kirksen - Douglas Sheldon
 * Bors - Dallas Cavell
 * Garge - Geoffrey Cheshire
 * Karlton - Maurice Browning
 * Daxtar - Roger Avon
 * Borkar - James Hall
 * Froyn - Bill Meilen
 * Rhynmal - John Herrington
 * Station Sergeant - Clifford Earl
 * First Policeman - Norman Mitchell
 * Second Policeman - Malcolm Rogers
 * Detective Inspector - Keneth Thornett
 * Man in Mackintosh - Reg Pritchard
 * Blossom Lefavre - Sheila Dunn
 * Darcy Tranton - Leonard Grahame
 * Steinberger P. Green - Royston Tickner
 * Ingmar Knopf - Mark Ross
 * Assistant director - Conrad Monk
 * Arab Sheik - David James
 * Vamp - Paula Topham
 * Clown - Robert G. Jewell
 * Professor Webster - Albert Barrington
 * Prop Man - Buddy Windrush
 * Cameraman - Steve Machin
 * The Meddling Monk - Peter Butterworth
 * Trevor - Roger Brierley
 * Scott - Bruce Wightman
 * Khepren - Jeffrey Isaac
 * Tuthmos - Derek Ware
 * Hyksos - Walter Randall

Uncredited cast

 * Egyptian soldiers - David Anderson (uncredited)

Crew

 * Director - Douglas Camfield
 * Writer - Terry Nation (episodes 1-5,7), Dennis Spooner (episodes 6,8-12)
 * Producer - John Wiles
 * Assistant Floor Manager - Catherine Childs, Caroline Walmsley
 * Associate Producer - Mervyn Pinfield
 * Costumes - Daphne Dare, Tony Pearce
 * Designer - Raymond Cusick, Barry Newbery
 * Fight Arranger - Derek Ware, David Anderson
 * Film Cameraman - Peter Hamilton
 * Film Editor - Keith Raven
 * Incidental Music - Tristram Cary
 * Make-Up - Sonia Markham
 * Production Assistant - Viktors Ritelis, Michael E. Briant
 * Script Editor - Donald Tosh
 * Special Photographic Transparencies - George Pollock
 * Special Sounds - Brian Hodgson
 * Theme Arrangement - Delia Derbyshire
 * Title Music - Ron Grainer

Individuals

 * Chen notes that the people of the planet Tisar and the Embodiment of Gris have both tried to depose Zephon recently.
 * The indigenous population of Mira are the Visians (who are invisible and, according to the Doctor, eight feet tall and extremely vicious).
 * Searching for Marc Cory, missing for six months, Kert Gantry and Bret Vyon instead find the Daleks' alliance, holding its seventh meeting. Members include Guardian of the Solar System Mavic Chen, Trantis, Zephon 'Master of the Fifth Galaxy', Celation, Beaus, Gearon and Malpha.
 * The Doctor meets Charlie Chaplin coming out of the wardrobe.
 * The clown the Doctor meets on the film set is Bing Crosby.

Technology

 * Earth is developing long distance teleportation technology.
 * In the TARDIS, the Doctor places Bret Vyon on a "magnetic chair" that blocks him in a force field that works on an electromagnetic principle.
 * Bret Vyon produces tablets of an anti-toxin able to cure Steve's poisoning.
 * The Doctor steals the Monk's directional unit for his TARDIS to enable a return to Kembel.
 * The Doctor fiddles with the Monk's TARDIS' chameleon circuit, changing his TARDIS from a block of stone to a motor cycle, a stage coach, a Western wagon, a tank and a police box.
 * The Daleks use a voice audio to broadcast Chen's message with a range of 7 earth miles. The Egyptians cannot understand the message.
 * Steven uses an impulse compass whilst in the Kembel jungle.

Timeline

 * Chen states that there has been continuous peace in the solar system since 3975.
 * The Doctor states that the invasion seen in TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth took place in 2157.

Time travel

 * The Daleks still have time travel abilities.

Weapons

 * The core of the Time Destructor contains one emm of taranium (a mineral only found on Uranus).
 * The manipulator arm of the Daleks can be used as a flamethrower.

Story notes

 * This story had the working titles of: The Daleks (Part IV) (meaning, the fourth Doctor Who story to feature the Daleks) and Battle Of Wits.
 * Only "Day of Armageddon" (Episode 2), "Counter Plot" (Episode 5) and "Escape Switch" (Episode 10) survive on 16mm film telerecordings. "Day of Armageddon" was recovered in 2004 when a former Head of Engineering at Yorkshire Television returned it to the BBC. This is the only recovered episode to feature footage of Katarina.
 * As a special Christmas-themed episode, "The Feast of Steven" (Episode 7) was considered unsellable to other countries with different religious views; the story was instead offered for sale as an eleven-part adventure. Because of this, videotape masters were wiped and no film telerecording of "The Feast of Steven" was made for international distribution; it became the first episode of Doctor Who to be seemingly lost forever. "The Feast of Steven" was also the first episode to let one of the main characters 'break the fourth wall' with the Doctor addressing the camera: "Oh and incidentally, a happy Christmas to all of you at home."
 * Because "The Feast of Steven" was never sold abroad, it is possible – though this cannot be confirmed – that two versions of the closing scene of "Coronas of the Sun" were recorded; one bearing the closing caption "Next Episode: THE FEAST OF STEVEN" for UK transmission, and the other reading "Next Episode: VOLCANO" for overseas sale.
 * This story features the first appearance of Nicholas Courtney, a favourite of the story's director Douglas Camfield, here playing Bret Vyon. He would appear as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in another Camfield story, The Web of Fear and later become a regular companion of the Third Doctor.
 * In 'The Feast of Steven', an episode strong with post-modernist references, the Doctor approaches someone in a police station and states that he has met him belfr "in a market in Jaffa." The actor portraying this character was Reg Pritchard who had previously played Ben Daheer in TV: The Crusade (TV story)
 * Nicholas Courtney and Jean Marsh later appeared in the Seventh Doctor story Battlefield.
 * The Daleks' Master Plan and Mission to the Unknown were the only 1960s Doctor Who stories offered for overseas sale but never purchased.
 * Unless one counts The Trial of a Time Lord, which can be considered four different stories, this is the longest single story in the series' history.
 * Douglas Adams' third Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel, Life, the Universe and Everything, contains a scene which bears a striking resemblance to the sequence in "Volcano" in which the TARDIS materialises on a cricket pitch. In Adams' novel, a Chesterfield sofa bearing Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect materialises in the middle of the pitch at, and two rather nonplussed cricket commentators discuss whether such an event has ever happened before — just as, in "Volcano", two nonplussed cricket commentators discuss the equally unprecedented appearance of the TARDIS on the pitch at.

Ratings

 * "The Nightmare Begins" - 9.1 million viewers
 * "Day Of Armageddon" - 9.8 million viewers
 * "Devil's Planet" - 10.3 million viewers
 * "The Traitors" - 9.5 million viewers
 * "Counter Plot" - 9.9 million viewers
 * "Coronas Of The Sun" - 9.1 million viewers
 * "The Feast Of Steven" - 7.9 million viewers
 * "Volcano" - 9.6 million viewers
 * "Golden Death" - 9.2 million viewers
 * "Escape Switch" - 9.5 million viewers
 * "The Abandoned Planet" - 9.8 million viewers
 * "Destruction Of Time" - 8.6 million viewers

Myths

 * Sara Kingdom was going to be a replacement companion for Katarina. (Not quite true. When it was realised that the character of Katarina would not work as a regular, Nation was asked to write her out as soon as he could. It doesn't appear likely that Marsh, who at the time was much in demand for film and TV appearances, would have signed on for an ongoing role.)
 * The incident at the end of the seventh episode when the Doctor looks directly into camera and proposes a toast to everyone at home was an unscripted ad lib on William Hartnell's part and outraged the production team. (This action was scripted and rehearsed. It was in fact a tradition in the sixties for scenes of this kind to be included in special Christmas editions and specials of popular series. Besides which, if the production team had really disliked it they could simply have edited it out. As indicated above, the episode was considered "disposable" by the BBC as well.)
 * The Time Meddler's TARDIS was stuck with the appearance of a police box (it clearly takes on the form of a block of ice on the ice planet)
 * The Time Meddler was stuck on the ice planet (there is no reason to believe this - the directional unit was taken, not the means to travel)

Filming locations

 * Ealing Television Film Studios (Stage 2, 3, 3B)
 * BBC Television Studious TC3 and TC4
 * Hammersmith Park, Shepherd's Bush, London

Production errors

 * Marc Cory's tape message, heard in Devil's Planet, is different from the one he left in Mission to the Unknown.
 * In Coronas of the Sun, when the Doctor orders Steven, from inside the TARDIS, to give up the taranium, his voice is briefly "Dalekised."
 * At the very beginning of Volcano, the grammes operator accidentally plays the TARDIS background "hum" rather than the Daleks' control room sounds; the one is quickly cross-faded to the other.

Continuity

 * AUDIO: Home Truths, The Drowned World, The Guardian of the Solar System,  The Anachronauts and PROSE: The Little Drummer Boy take place between "The Feast of Steven" and "Volcano".
 * PROSE: Legacy features Mavic Chen prior to the events in this story.
 * The Monk says that he was able to bypass the dimensional control that the Doctor sabotaged in TV: The Time Meddler.
 * Cassandra prophesied Katarina's death in TV: The Myth Makers.
 * The Doctor is apparently aged more than a hundred years by the Time Destructor, which could be grounds for his first regeneration. (TV: The Tenth Planet) The Doctor would be artificially aged on two later occasions, though the ageing was subsequently reversed in both cases. (TV: The Leisure Hive, TV: The Sound of Drums)
 * The short story PROSE: Katarina in the Underworld tells what became of Katarina's soul after her death. It is one of the few officially licenced Doctor Who stories to deal with the concept of the afterlife.
 * The comic strip COMIC: The Only Good Dalek features the Eleventh Doctor referencing his friendships with Bret and Sara on a research station conducting experiments on captured Daleks; this prompts the station's commander to comment that the Doctor's credentials are impressive but that he must have started fighting Daleks at a young age, suggesting that the story takes place within a decade or so of the Daleks' defeat here given the Eleventh Doctor's apparent youth.
 * Many years later, Steven and Sara would be reunited with each other as well as with the Doctor, by then in his fifth incarnation, in an alternative Death Zone on Gallifrey. (AUDIO: The Five Companions)
 * After the Doctor stole the directional unit from his TARDIS, the Monk was stranded on the ice planet, the name of which he never learned, for a considerable length of time. However, he was eventually able to repair his TARDIS sufficiently to allow him to leave the planet, though he had not been able to replace the directional unit by the time that he encountered the Doctor's eighth incarnation in the Abbey of Kells in Ireland in 1006. (AUDIO: The Book of Kells)
 * The Doctor suggests to Earth to recall the 2157 invasion in order to realise the danger from the Daleks. (TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth)
 * Sara first encountered the Daleks on M5 many years earlier. (AUDIO: The Destroyers, The Guardian of the Solar System)

Home video and audio releases

 * DVD Release - All surviving episodes have been released on DVD as part of the Lost in Time collection in 2004.
 * Editing of the surviving episodes for DVD release was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
 * Audio release - The soundtrack to all episodes (plus Mission to the Unknown) was released, with linking narration by Peter Purves, on 22 October 2001. It was re-released in 2011 as part of the box set Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes - Collection Two.
 * Video Release - Counter Plot and Escape Switch were released as part of Daleks: The Early Years video in 1992. These were at the time the only episodes of the story known to exist.