Directed by Paul Bernard
Main Cast-
The Doctor - Jon Pertwee
Jo - Katy Manning
The Brigadier - Nicholas Courtney
Yates - Richard Franklin
Benton - John Levene
Main Guest Cast-
Sir Reginald Styles - Wilfred Carter
Anat - Anna Barry
Boaz - Scott Fredericks
Shura - Jimmy Winston
Monia - Valentine Palmer
Controller - Aubrey Woods
Synopsis-
Sir Reginald Styles, a diplomat who's working on trying to organize a world peace conference is attacked by someone who disappears before his attack on Styles proves successful. The Doctor and Jo are sent to investigate by the Brigadier.
The Doctor and Jo stay the night at Styles' residence and are attacked by rebels from the future, led by the woman Anat. The rebels' mission is to kill Styles, in hopes of preventing a devastating war that allows the Daleks to take over the Earth in the 22nd century.
Jo is accidentally transported to the 22nd century via a time device designed by the Daleks. Once there, she is befriended by the Controller. The Controller, unbeknownst to Jo, is the human in charge of running the Earth for the Daleks.
Anat and Boaz return to the 22nd century, along with The Doctor. The Doctor is soon captured and reunited with Jo. The Daleks discover via a mind probe that this is The Doctor, their sworn enemy. Still, the Daleks are convinced by The Controller that The Doctor can be useful.
The Doctor and Jo are able to escape, and discover that it is Shura, a rebel who remained behind in the 20th century who destroys the peace conference. The rebel leader, Monia, sends The Doctor and Jo back to the 20th century to stop Shura. The Daleks soon follow, and are led into Styles' house which has been evacuated. Shura uses the bomb made of dalekanium that he planned to use to destroy the peace conference to destroy the house, along with the Daleks inside.
Review-
One does have to wonder why there was such a need for peace conferences due to the deteriorating international situation in the Doctor Who universe of the 1970's. The peace conference in peril was used in The Mind of Evil, and this motif appears again in Day of the Daleks.
Day of the Daleks, however, is by far the superior story. The whole "temporal paradox" that's caused by the rebels' time travel is quite interesting. The rebels', hoping to change their history end up causing it. It's quite fascinating, really and I was quite reminded of the Terminator films a bit while watching Day of the Daleks.
The Controller is also a fascinating character. He's helped and colluded with the Daleks, but in his own mind he's helped provide the humans with better lives than they might have otherwise had. The Controller eventually redeems himself by the end of the story, and the Daleks naturally exterminate him for his trouble. But it is the Controller who allows The Doctor and Jo to return, and eventually defeat the Daleks.
It should be worth noting that the DVD version of Day of the Daleks includes two versions. The original is included, but also a special edition that features new CGI effects and re-recorded Dalek voices by Nicholas Briggs.
One of my friends hosts a Doctor Who viewing once a month, and he screened the special edition of Day of the Daleks earlier this year as part of his Doctor Who Night. Therefore, with the special edition fresh in my mind, I decided to watch the original version for this review. The question, of course, is which version of Day of the Daleks is better?
I think I'd give the newer, special edition has a slight edge over the original. One of the things that I do like about the newer edition is that it doesn't try to change the story, it simply adds newer effects and Briggs' distinctive voice to the Daleks. I also like the fact that the BBC included the original on the DVD as well (yes, George Lucas, you could learn something from the BBC!) because it allows one to choose whichever version one would like.
Whether the original, or the new special edition, Day of the Daleks is a real winner, and it's hard to believe that it took nearly five years after the Evil of the Daleks for our favorite adversaries to make their return. But considering how good Day of the Daleks is, the wait was worth it!
