Saturday 4th January 1964 - The Escape

"It does not matter. We have the message now."

At last we get to see more of Susan. She encounters Alydon (yes, he was the threatening character who's been lurking about) and learns about the Thals. Susan is manipulated by the Daleks into writing a letter which sets a trap for the Thals. (What language does Susan use to write to the Thals?) I'm starting to lose any idea that Susan merely looks like a teenager and is much older than she seems - especially when she does something like snigger at the way that the Daleks pronounce her name ("Su-san"). Once Susan has produced the letter she - and the other prisoners - are no longer needed.

We see that the Daleks are quite capable of dissembling: appearing to be gracious and generous, while harbouring nasty genocidal ambitions. They pretend to offer the Thals freedom from starvation. Thinking about it, even the design of the visual appearance of the Daleks is one that - yes, it's certainly protective and a weaponised casing - is used to give the impression of a highly-advanced technological being while containing a grotesque mutation. Both Ian and the Doctor are repulsed by the sight of the Dalek inside the casing (and there's a quite dated response where Susan and Barbara are protected from seeing the true form of the creature). The Daleks fear what isn't them and the connections with Nazism are more than apparent (though interesting in the sense that the Thals, the object of their hatred, are quite aryan in their appearance). The Daleks' use of surveillance is prominent - and, when Susan reveals that the travellers know about it - unashamed. We also have the first mention of extermination by the Daleks, too.

Much of the time spent with the Thals involves their philosophical discussions about inevitability. They seem to have a passive, stoic acceptance of things which is only lifted when they receive the letter from Susan.  "So there is a future for us," says Temmosus, the leader of the Thals. While both Alydon and Temmosus are prepared to accept the Dalek's offer of food at fac value, the Thal, Ganatus, is cautious and considers that the Daleks, former philosophers, have transformed over time into warriors. The Thals name the metal creature discovered by Barbara in The Dead Planet as a magneton. Thal society seems to be patriarchal going by the comment Dyoni makes about giving the drugs to Susan ("It would have been better if you had given it to a man instead of a girl."). The Thals - much like the prehistoric Tribe of Gum - are on the brink of starvation and are desperate for a source of food.

Even though the Doctor, Ian and Barbara are restricted to one cell, they engage in debate, planning and action which is thoroughly engaging for the viewer. It wouldn't happen in modern Doctor Who and hundreds of thousands of pounds would be spent on sets and cgi. With Doctor Who, simpler and restricted is often best. The Doctor, Ian and Barbara begin to work together as a team in this episode: realising the Daleks run off electricity and the plan to sabotage a Dalek so they can escape. The sequence where they overcome the Dalek guard is especially good. Though I'm surprised that someone as large as Ian can get inside a Dalek casing.

The episode breaks quite neatly into three: the efforts of the Doctor and his companions to escape from their cell, the machinations of the Daleks and the discussions of the Thals.

Next week: The Ambush.