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Doctor Who, the Power of the Daleks (Dr Who Radio Collection)

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Imagine the following for a moment would you?

It is November 5th, 1966 and you have just tuned into the BBC's successful series Doctor Who. William Hartnell, who has played the role of the mysterious time traveling alien known as the Doctor since November 1963, has just vanished in a glow of light and Patrick Troughton appears as the second actor to play the Doctor. Over the next few weeks this new Doctor and his companions (Ben and Polly played by Michael Craze and Anneke Wills) find themselves on the Earth colony Vulcan facing off against the Doctor's oldest enemy the Daleks in the midst of political intrigue. Sounds like a great story to watch right? Well because of BBC policy in the 1970's Power of the Daleks no longer exists in its visual form. Thanks to fans with tape recorders however, Power of the Daleks survives is audio form and is presented here with linking narration by Anneke Wills. The result is a new Doctor, old enemies, and classic Who.

Power of the Daleks is easily one of the strongest Doctor Who stories of the 1960's. On the distant Earth colony Vulcan where a scientist named Lesterson (played expertly by Robert James) finds a space craft. Upon opening it he discovers three Daleks inside and, against the Doctor's advice, brings back to life with hopes for them becoming servants for the colony. The Daleks promise to be servants, but soon begin using materials and power to begin creating an army. Meanwhile the political intrigue heats up and the Daleks go from benevolent to malevolent as first they fight for the rebels and then against everyone. Only the Doctor can hope to defeat the Daleks before the complete destruction of the colony. The story is at its heart a political thriller with two factions vying for control of the colony with the Doctor and the Daleks landing in the middle and making matters worse.

Due to the story being in audio it's hard to judge this story on its visuals, though surviving clips make it look impressive. Therefore the story can only be judged from an audio standpoint. From that stand point (with just voices, sound effects, and narration) this story is first rate. The story is a well-performed and well produced piece of science fiction drama with terrific performances from the cast. The Dalek voices have the same unsettling quality as they always have had and to hear an apparent army screaming "Annihilate! Exterminate! Destroy!" and "Daleks conquer and destroy!" makes for a truly incredible sound. Anneke Willis narration is not intrusive by any means. Instead it gives visuals to a story that otherwise would have none (keep in mind this was produced for TV originally not for audio). Power of the Daleks is a TV story that works very well in an audio format.

Despite having no visual images, Power of the Daleks is classic Who. From its political thriller heart to classic moments with the new Doctor facing his oldest enemy, this story is one of the strongest stories of the Troughton era even if it is his first story. This is a must for Doctor Who fans.

This is a great classic and it is sad that only the audio and a few clips survive. But boy it is great to read and listen to. I was first exposed to this story by reading it on the dr. who guide website, and then by listening to it on soundtrack. It was great.

Following on from "The Tenth Planet", the Doctor has just regenerated for the first time and is getting use to his new body while Ben and Polly consider if he really is the Doctor. It takes some time, but eventually the Doctor gets the hang of his new body and his companions start to trust him once again. But now the Doctor must convince the Earth colonists on Vulcan (and it's not the Star Trek Vulcan)that the newly arrived Daleks, who claim they have come to serve humanity, are evil and deadly who wish to exterminate all human beings, but no one wants to listen to his warnings. Meanwhile, the colony is being split in two and a revolution is breaking out. In all the confusion, the Daleks see this as the perfect time to strike!

It's a great story with a good plot. Listening to and even reading this story gives you chills, and it's action-packed. Patrick Troughton makes a great Doctor. He was no doubt my favorite Doctor along with Tom Baker and Christopher Eccelston. It's a pitty that this story didn't survive, but if you don't mind listening to it, I highly recommend this one!

Story #60 and the third story from the fouth season finds The Doctor, Ben and Polly feeling the effects of Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet with The Doctor now having been "renewed". The TARDIS lands on the planet of Vulcan, near a human colony, just in time for this "renewed" Doctor to witness a murder and be knocked out. This story marks the first appearence of Patrick Troughton as The Doctor. Unfortunately, only very brief clips exist in the BBC's video vault Doctor Who - Lost in Time Collection of Rare Episodes - The William Hartnell Years and the Patrick Troughton Years and Doctor Who: Genesis of the Daleks (Story 78). This release features the full story made from off air fan recording with linking narration done by then companion Polly (Anneke Wills).

"The Power of the Daleks" was a turning point in the history of the original DOCTOR WHO series. First, it marked the debut of Patrick Troughton as "The Doctor," who took over from the show's original star, William Hartnell, at the end of the previous story,"The Tenth Planet," which introduced the Cybermen. Troughton, who ironically was mentioned by Hartnell as the "one man in England who could take over" the part, was a popular character actor whose best known Post-Who role was that of "Father Tassone" the speared preist who witnessed the birth of Damien Thorn in THE OMEN (1986). The Daleks, are the baddies in Troughton's first story (and also ironically, the final story of the show's fourth series, "The Evil of the Daleks") which takes place on the planet Vulcan (No, not the one from STAR TREK, which made it's debut on American television a month earlier.). Sadly, like the fourth episode of the previous serial, all four episodes of this story is missing from the BBC archives, and only the off-air audio remains. The CD release is very excellent with the sound from the off-air recordings enhanced by Sound restoration expert Mark Ayres, with added narration by Anneke Wills, who played companion Polly Wright (Introduced in the Hartnell adventure "The War Machines), who, along with Ben Jackson (played by the late Michael Craze, are skeptical of the identity of "The Doctor" after witnessing his first regeneration in the previous serial. For DOCTOR WHO fans, this CD collection is a must-have!

The Daleks are awaken from a dead spaceship. Or escape pod. Or a time machine which is bigger in the inside than it looks. The Daleks need power. You know, the thing that makes them go. And allows their guns to fire. But of course the Doctor shows up, with Ben and Polly. Also known as BenandPolly. So he tries to stop them. But they have a plan. A very simple plan. They tell the people who live on Vulcan that they, the Daleks, are there to serve the humans. Of course, people love being served by robotic slaves they found in the swamp. We all do. So, of course, nobody believes the Doctor's warnings about doom, and death, and really bad things.
Narrated by Anneke Wills, who was Polly, the whole story lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes on 2 CDs. Great story, lost to the ages, but brought back by the use of the audio track! Get it, listen to it, enjoy it.