Who Review #153 - Remembrance of the Daleks

This was broadcast around the time of the 25th anniversary and that is reflected in the story: there is a playful reference to UNIT when the Doctor calls the Group Captain "Brigadier"; the action features Cole Hill School (where Ace picks up a book - Susan's? - on the French Revolution) and the junkyard at Totter's Lane, all references to An Unearthly Child; the silly bit on TV, where the BBC presenter says it is 5:15 and time for a new sci-fi show called Doc....

The first episode suffers from plunging straight into the action. Normally, there is a little build up before characters meet and the enemy is revealed. Here it is done very briefly and quickly. Still, the story begins to settle down after the hurried start - there is a little bit of mystery with regard to a small girl - as we discover the Dalek factions are at war and both after the Hand of Omega, which the Doctor has left on Earth.

The story is a bit contrived though. Everything is taking place in the old haunt; the Dalek factions know about the Hand of Omega and the Doctor could take something so important from Gallifrey...huh??? Other silly bits are the pantomime fascists, seeing a Dalek spaceship land on a school playground in 1963, and the Time Controller is a plasma globe! Oh and another problem: Davros is back, again.

It's a lightweight bit of fun, with some good scenes here and there, but nothing special. It is easy to see how the show had changed if you compare this story with Genesis of the Daleks.....
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