Big Gay Longcat reviews Doctor Who: Death of the Daleks Part Two

The Daleks have had their weapons' energy drained just like the TARDIS lights (although I notice the lights on the Dalek domes still go on and off as usual). The Doctor comes forward and smugly says

Doctor: "Well, well, well. Daleks without the power to kill. How does it feel?"

Dalek: "KEEP AWAY! KEEP AWAY!"

The Daleks are scared of the Doctor, lol. While this will one day become commonplace (and so detract a lot of credibility from the Daleks as a galactic menace), it is still a novelty here.

Captain Railton suggests "joining forces" and, though the Doctor warns him not to trust the Daleks, even he has to admit that they could be useful:

"They're brilliant technicians. It was their inventive genius that made them one of the greatest powers in the universe. Remember that."

The other mannys don't like it, but they have to go along with it.

The Daleks confer among themselves and we hear (part of) their secrets that they are keeping from the Doctor and the mannys. Obviously the Daleks will want to betray the mannys as soon as "they are no further use," but also they want the Parrinium for a secret reason (though we don't get to know what that is yet), and there are more Daleks than the four the mannys have seen, and these are being kept hidden for now.

The Doctor, the mannys and the Daleks travel side by side through a location that looks a lot like the location where the Doctor and the Daleks met in Frontier in Space, with lots of high vantage points from which they can be secretly observed by Exxilon aliens. The komedy incidental musical theme, introduced when the Daleks first appeared, recurs here and robs the scene of any dramatic potential.

The aliens attack. Railton is shot and goes

The Daleks shout "EXTERMINATE!" repeatedly, but uselessly, because they can't exterminate anything without their pewpewpew guns. The aliens surround and batter one of the Daleks until it explodes, creating an iconic image for this story.

The aliens capture the Doctor, the mannys and two Daleks, and take them to the other plot where Sarah has been since she got captured, and where the incidental music is more fitted to creating a suspenseful atmosphere. They are all locked in a big cell together, which presents an amusing sight of Daleks being imprisoned in the same place as mannys and trundling about in circles - their equivalent of pacing up and down, I suppose.

Back on their spaceship, the hidden Daleks have managed to make guns that they can use in spite of the energy drain - the Dalek equivalent of the Doctor's oil lamp W-wordaround.

"HURRAY FOR OLD-FASHIONED GUNPOWDER," they don't say. They even use a tiny TARDIS to test their new old guns on, lol.

With these they are able to easily kill the aliens they encounter.

"PRIMITIVE WEAPONS MODERATELY EFFICIENT."

is the Dalek assessment.

The Doctor and Sarah are about to be sacrificed when the Daleks come in and save them by shooting aliens and causing confusion, allowing the Doctor and Sarah to run away. Sarah, who has not seen Daleks before, thinks they are robots (so not a fan after all, then) and asks the Doctor how come they haven't been drained of their energy.

Doctor: "Because they're only half robot, Sarah. Inside each of those shells is a living, bubbling lump of hate."

Sarah: "You mean they've got legs?"

Doctor: "No, they move by psychokinetic power."

Sarah: "I see."

Doctor: "Do you?"

Sarah: "No."

Lol. This is as good an explanation as we are likely to get as to why Dalek technology is only affected by the energy drain when the plot needs it to be.

With the tables turned and the aliens now the prisoners, Galloway, who is now in charge of the mannys, is under the mistaiken impression that they are still in equal partnership with the Daleks. The Daleks soon put him in his place when he tries to tell them what to do:

Dalek: "YOUR ADVICE IS NOT REQUIRED."

Galloway: "Now, wait a minute... we agreed we're working together."

Dalek: "WE ARE IN COMMAND! YOU WILL OBEY OUR ORDERS!"

This being a Terry Nation story, the Doctor and Sarah aren't safe for a moment, they have run from one peril straight to another. In the tunnel they are in they hear the raring of a monster. As if that isn't enough peril, they are also being followed by two Daleks and (separately) an alien. The Doctor leaves Sarah behind on her own, in order to increase the tension and double the potential for jeopardy.

This allows for a double cliffhanger, as first Sarah is confronted by the alien who was stalking them, and then the Doctor sees a giant metal one-eyed snake. Hmm, I wonder what could have inspired a monster like that?