5J1 - Destiny of the Daleks 1

The Douglas Adams era as script editor officially begins with one of the more controversial scenes ever seen in Doctor Who, or simply one of the most frivolous, depending on your point of view. I'm in the camp of the latter approach when it comes to not only this scene, but pretty much anything to do with Season 17 of Doctor Who.

If anything, Adams's addenda to Terry Nation's first Doctor Who scripts in four years at least provide something different from the bog standard Nation approach to Doctor Who: Doctor and companion land on planet, explore, get separated, and the opening episode ends with a "shock" appearance of the Daleks. Little touches like Oolon Colluphid's Origins of the Universe are just something to laugh about along the way. Hitchhiker's Guide and Doctor Who crossover fanfic writers need to not worry and just sit back and enjoy the ride.

The realization of the Movellan spaceship, both in the model sequences and as a full size model built on location, is actually quite impressive, but, in general, like all Nation Dalek episodes, nothing much happens in Episode One, and we're just waiting around for the expected "surprises" to unfold.