T/A - Mission to the Unknown

And, no, it's not called Dalek Cutaway! At least, it isn't in my world!

This intriguing little one-off episode came about because of the fact that Planet of Giants, which started off Season 2 of Doctor Who, had its last two episodes edited together into one to increase the pacing. The problem was that the Doctor Who production team still owed the BBC one more episode to air in its place, but, since the stars of the show had already produced their allotted contracted episodes, that one episode could not contain the regular cast.

So, the production team decided to make the episode a teaser, if you will, for the twelve-part leviathan The Daleks' Master Plan, airing later in Season 3. And what a neat little episode it is. There's a couple of space secret agents who are trying to get a message sent to Earth that the Daleks, and six superfluous allies, are massing forces to take over Earth's galaxy. There's a variety of different aliens on display, too (most of whom have changed by the time the Dalek twelve-parter was recorded). The fact that there's no mention of The Doctor or the TARDIS is interesting, too, as Galaxy Four ended very oddly, with Vicki looking at a random planet on the scanner and wondering aloud, "I wonder what's happening on that planet right now..."

It's all whetted my appetite for the Dalek marathon to come, which I hope will wipe the horrible taste of The Chase out of my mouth once and for all. But before that, new producer John Wiles is appearing on the scene to usher in a new era...