Inside this 12-part behemoth is a 6-part epic. The Daleks' Master Plan is a complicated story to review, because it goes in vastly different directions. For the first few episodes, we have the Doctor and co. travel around in space, visit different planets etc. on their desperate mission to warn Earth of the impending attack. Then there's the visit to Crazyville(i.e. Christmas) and then Dennis Spooner takes over and brings back the Meddler for another round until finally he produces one of the best final episodes... ever.
There's no consistency. So to give it proper credit, I'll review the story in four chunks.
Episodes 1-6 are pretty good. The space travel is a big change to the usual, the deaths of Katarina and Bret Vyon are properly tragic and I loved the part where Steven, the Doctor and Sara were beamed through space(waaay before Scotty, there was Steven jumping on a trampoline). It was a touch repetitive though(land on one jungle planet, escape from the Daleks, rinse and repeat).
Episode 7 was a madhouse, all full of Arabs(hey, that's what he said!). First the TARDIS crew end up in contemporary London(that the TARDIS considers to have poisonous atmosphere. Strange how she never brought it up in all the other times they visited contemporary London) and mess around with the local police station(there's a guy there who keeps talking about his moving greenhouse and it goes NOWHERE). Then, they go to a 1920s film set where all hell breaks loose. Just watch it to see what I mean. I did love the intertitles though.
Episodes 9-10 have the Daleks and the Meddler hunt down the Doctor in their respective time machines(strange how he suspects the Meddler first, even though the Daleks are the far more likely hunters). It all comes together in an awesome confrontation in Ancient Egypt.
For episodes 11-12, the heroes and villains(minus the Meddler) all return to Kembel where it all started. The Doctor, hoping to destroy the Dalek invasion force, foolishly activates the Time Destructor that over the course of the finale, turns the entirety of the planet into dust. Even in reconstruction, it looked incredible. As the story ends, the Doctor and Steven are left standing alone on a dead world, with nothing left, but the TARDIS.
William Hartnell was stunning as the Doctor, especially towards the end. His second encounter with the Meddler was just as much fun as the first(it was mean of him to send the Daleks to attack the poor guy though) and his desperation and terror in the final episode was completely believable.
Peter Purves was also great as Steven. He's still a little too intense for my liking. I know it's not a comedy turn, but he should try to chill out a bit and take things calmly. "Look, there's got to be something we can do!!" seems to be becoming a catchphrase.
No matter what TPTB thought, Katarina was an interesting companion and the story arc of her trying to reach the land of the dead was a good idea. Shame she was killed off so quickly.
Sara Kingdom, in my opinion, was a half-companion. She was only there to stop the Daleks and save the Earth even if she traveled more than Katarina did. The only issue I had with her was when Terry Nation had her say "oh, I forgot about the Daleks". But that's a criticism of the writing, not the character. Her death scene was unforgettable. Unforgettable, I tell you.
Nicholas Courtney has his first outing in Doctor Who as Bret Vyon, Sara's brother(wait, so she was married?) and has just as much of an authority here as later, when he plays the Brigadier. A fantastic actor in his prime is just a joy to watch. Can't wait for his return.
Peter Butterworth returns as the Meddler, this time for petty vengeance against the Doctor. I thought the idea of him showing up at the worst time possible was hilarious and I nearly died of laughter when he showed up in Egypt in his monk costume, with sunglasses on. He's such an incompetent villain that you can't help, but love the guy.
Kevin Stoney is also great as Mavic Chen, the traitor. I don't know if Terry Nation intended for the character to go insane, but Stoney played his slow mental breakdown perfectly. He starts out as a reasonable Saruman-ish collaborator of the Daleks and dies at their hands declaring that he's the Daleks' leader, immortal and supreme master of the universe. As the Daleks point guns at him, he's asking for reports and giving out orders. It's brilliant stuff.
What happened to his creepy lackey, though?
The Daleks' Master Plan episode 12 is in my eyes, on equal terms with The Tenth Planet episode 4.
Overall, an overlong and padded classic, but still a classic.
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