Mission To The Unknown (2019) Review

"After Mission To The Unknown, we shall take Planet Of Giants!
And The Rescue! But first all... MARCO POLO!!

Mission To The Unknown is a remake of a missing Doctor Who episode by some very plucky students over at the university of Central Lancashire. It's also pretty damn good.

WRITTEN BY

Terry Nation, whose legacy carries on.

PLOT

Shipwrecked on the planet Kembel, Space Security Service member Marc Cory discovers a plot by the Daleks to ally themselves with the seven great forces in the universe...

ANALYSIS

Whilst replacing an actual Doctor would've been a nigh impossible task, Mission To The Unknown, a one-off prequel episode, was the perfect choice to adapt and re-imagine, featuring memorably surreal costumes, no recognisable lead actors and a plot centered around the beloved Daleks.

It's not 100% perfect, but manages to do justice to the script and the original episode fairly well, getting across the sense of tension and futility as time runs out for Cory. And hell, for something made by students, it's just awesome and a wonderful celebration of Doctor Who and its fandom.

CHARACTERS

Seeing as these people are not professional actors, I won't criticise them, but I would like to praise two people specifically - Marco Simioni as Marc Cory and Paul Stenton as Malpha.

Simioni played Cory with restraint, coming across exactly like the kind of practical individual that a security force would hire. He showed off some real talent and I hope he gets an illustrious career.

As for Stenton, he nailed 60s hammy acting, and I loved the growl in his voice. Malpha was a hoot.

NOTES

*The credits don't list who did the incidental music, but the sound credits go to Phil Bush, Josh Horsley, Nkosama Tshuma and Kayleigh Hall. I just want to say that the music sounded more like the original Star Trek series(both in timing and, well, sound) than the Hartnell era. It's not bad at all(probably punchier than whatever was there originally), but it was something different.

*For some reason, Jacob Marisson's(Jeff Garvey) delivery of "I remember now" really sounded like Matt Smith to me("I remember this." from The Day Of The Doctor, I think).

*Gotta love how Cory basically stuffs the Varga spine into Captain Lowery's face as he walks away, right after warning him to keep away from it.

*Garvey's infection into a Varga plant with two feet looks absolutely hilarious.

*The Daleks were a little bit jittery. I wonder if there was some stopmotion involved? Could be just the design of the casing. They were slightly creaky as well. However, I did like the touch of having them shuffle back and forth like the 60s versions.

*Why would the Daleks broadcast their secret plans over a loudspeaker? To inform the other Daleks?

BEST QUOTE

"I should've known. Space Security Force. Licensed to kill." There's a Moonraker joke in there somewhere.

CONTINUITY ADVISOR

1) Cory tells Lowery that the Varga plants originate from the Daleks' homeworld of Skaro(although we never actually saw any in The Daleks).

CONCLUSION

Fuck yeah!