The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 3: Day of Reckoning (check out Part One and Part Two)
The Doctor is out cold in the captivity of the daleks. Meanwhile, the dowdy survivors are imprisoned with the other companions. If you recall, one of the survivors is disguised as a robo-man and quickly saves the Doctor. I am admittedly not at all invested in this storyline. The survivors are just too uninteresting for my tastes.
They attack the daleks with the wheelchair dude’s special bombs. Really lacklustre action sequence this. A few people are nailed. In fact, most of them are killed or wounded according to the daleks.
Barbara is back at base crying and coughing. The wheelchair guy broods. The bombs were useless. All of the men were killed apart from Ian and The Doctor. The survivors are so boring, I think I’m on the daleks’ side in this one.
There’s another survivor that, I’m going to call him “Walking Survivor” (as opposed to wheelchair dude), he’s off to do something or other and Barbara wants to go with him. She’s always ALWAYS against splitting up the gang. Any gang. He wants to go alone.
The daleks launch a spaceship. I think it’s the one in which Ian and The Doctor are imprisoned. Ian gets free. A robo-man attacks him: “You … are to be robotised”. There’s another survivor there. Ian and he get the better of the robo-man who lurches into a piston and dies. They put him into a chute.
Susan is with another faceless survivor — David — running about outside. A dalek goes past. He’s looking for them, slowly. Honestly, I’d even take the Thrals over these human survivors. They are so po-faced and dull. We hear a man perish in the background which makes Susan cry a bit. Susan tries to persuade David to come with her and the Doctor in the TARDIS. David argues “things aren’t made better by running away … this is my planet! I can’t just run off to see what life is like on Venus!” Ok, David, stay and die then.
Susan: “I’ve never felt that there was any time or place that I belong to. I’ve never had any identity.”
Y’know, I’ve always felt that a bit myself. “One day you will”, says David. How the hell does he know? Nonsense I say. Empty words of comfort.
Some survivor arrives now dragging The Doctor along. Leaden dialogue about imminent dangers and such as like now. I wish I could get into this one more, but honestly I think it’s rubbish.
The chap who just brought the Doctor in is shot by a dalek. Good. Kill them all for god’s sake so I don’t have to see them anymore.
Stark tribal on the soundtrack now as Barbara and a female survivor take Wheelchair Dude across Waterloo bridge. The Houses of Parliament look nice. They RUN down the street with the wheelchair all the way to Trafalger Square. That’s pretty good time from Waterloo to Trafalger square in less than a minute! The daleks are there now but we cut to MORE RUNNING, MORE DRUMS. RUNNING. DRUMS. RUNNING. DRUMS. This is quite exciting and a little hypnotic.
We are treated to amusing shots of the daleks looking for them in various bits of London. This is actual London too, not Mary Poppins London like what you Americans think.
The Wheelchair Dude and Barbara are next to a milk float. He wants to share his experiments with another scientist. The female survivor wants to know how the Doctor is alive. “What’s so special about him?”, she asks. Wheelchair Dude tells her to bugger off somewhere. Good. She was annoying.
The Wheelchair Dude looks a bit shifty as Barbara goes off. He’s up to something. What’s he up to? Female survivor (Jenny) and Barbara come back. He’s left his notes. Oh, he’s confronting them.
“DALEKS!”, he beckons.
He stands up out of his chair and throws one of his bombs before falling face first on the floor. They seemed to be totally ineffectual.
The Doctor is up and running now. He’s with Susan. The numbness in his legs is wearing off. Susan tells him of some strategy or other about travelling North that David was on about. “I don’t care what that young man says!” snarls The Doctor, “I make the decisions here!” What an awesome guy. “I think we should make our way back to the TARDIS”. Susan reasons that the way is blocked and daleks are everywhere. “Do you question my authority child, hmmm?” The Doctor has a very Yoda-like way of saying “hmmm” after all his questions. More evidence of Lucas ripping this off.
“You seem to place more reliance on that young’s man word than mine, don’t you!” The Doctor scolds. Susan is upset. “He lives in this time!” Something’s just occurred to me: where the hell is Ian? David comes now and begs for The Doctor’s help. The Doctor agrees to travel North. Awww, he did that for Susan. He has some kind moments does The Doctor. Susan is happy.
Oh, there’s Ian, with the other survivor who has a Welsh accent I’ve just noticed. They are in the spaceship still. They’ve landed and the daleks are lowering the ramp. Ian and Welsh Survivor plan to escape down the chute.
There is a ticking bomb of some sort and the camera zooms on it. That’s the cliffhanger? Worst cliffhanger yet.
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Exceptionally boring first 15 minutes or so before the EPIC drums and running across London scene heats things up.
NEXT EPISODE: The End of Tomorrow
