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Patrick Troughton
The Power of the Daleks
Second Doctor Logo


Synopsis


Doctor Newly Regenerated
Doctor Newly Regenerated
 Before the astonished eyes of his companions Ben and Polly, The Doctor's whole body has apparently been transformed. Now they are confronted by a stranger who claims to be their old friend - but how can they know whether to trust him?

 The TARDIS's arrival on the swamp planet of Vulcan brings its own problems; The Doctor is mistaken for an official come to solve the Earth colony's in-fighting, and soon he and his companions are embroiled in political wranglings. However, a far more serious threat lurks within the colony. The scientist Lesterson has discovered a crashed space capsule, within it a group of inert metallic creatures which The Doctor identifies as Daleks. Refusing to heed The Doctor’s warnings, Lesterson supplies power to the Daleks and revives them.

 The awakened Daleks claim to be faithful servants of humanity - but could such a thing ever be possible? By covert means they seek an increasing level of energy, but for what? By the time The Doctor and his friends discover the Daleks’ true plan for the colony, it looks as if it might already be too late to stop them…

Source: BBC Audio


General Information

Season: Four
Production Code: EE
Story Number: 30
Episode Numbers:135 - 140
Number of Episodes: 6
Number of Incomplete/Missing Episodes:6
Percentage of Episodes Held:0%
Working Titles:"The Destiny of Doctor Who"
Production Dates: September - November 1966
Broadcast Started: 05 November 1966
Broadcast Finished: 10 December 1966
Colour Status: B&W
Studio: Ealing Television Film Studios and Riverside (Studio 1)
Location: None
Writers:David Whitaker and Dennis Spooner (Uncredited)
Director:Christopher Barry
Producer:Innes Lloyd
Story Editor:Gerry Davis
Editor:Jim Latham
Production Assistant:Michael Briant
Assistant Floor Manager:Marjorie Yorke
Designer:Derek Dodd
Costume Designer:Sandra Reid
Make-Up Designer:Gillian James
Cameraman:Peter Sargent
Lighting:Graham Sothcott
Incidental Music:Tristram Cary
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Brian Hodgson
Studio Sounds:Buster Cole
Title Sequence:Bernard Lodge
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Daleks Originally Created By: Terry Nation
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor) (Newly Regenerated)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Anneke Wills (Polly Wright) and Michael Craze (Ben Jackson) Additional Cast: Robert James (Lesterson), Nicholas Hawtrey (Quinn), Martin King (The Examiner), Bernard Archard (Bragen), Pamela Ann Davy (Janley), Peter Bathurst (Hensell), Edward Kelsey (Resno), Richard Kane (Valmar), Gerald Taylor (Dalek), Kevin Manser (Dalek), Robert Jewell (Dalek), John Scott Martin (Dalek), Peter Hawkins (Dalek Voice), Peter Forbes-Robertson (Guard), Robert Russell (Guard), Robert Luckham (Guard), Steven Scott (Kebble)Setting: Planet Vulcan Villain: Daleks

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
135Episode 105 November 196625'43"7.9Missing
136Episode 212 November 196624'29"7.8Missing
137Episode 319 November 196623'31"7.5Missing
138Episode 426 November 196624'23"7.8Missing
139Episode 503 December 196623'38"8.0Missing
140Episode 610 December 196623'46"7.8Missing

Total Duration 2 Hours 25 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.8
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (1998)80.21%  (Position = 18 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2003)384 Points (Position = 43 out of 159)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)83.57% Higher (Position = 21 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)85.02% Higher (Position = 19 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 3 out of 21


Archives


 All six episodes lost. The trailer (found in 2003) for episode 1, various clips from episodes 4, 5 and 6 (from several sources including Blue Peter) and 8mm off-television recordings from episodes 1 and 2 exist. Telesnaps (off-air camera photographs) from this story also exist.



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Notes


Even though episodes stopped having individual titles as of the 1966 First Doctor story "The Savages" the individual rehearsal scripts for episodes 3 and 4 bore titles as well, respectively "Servants of Masters" and "The Destiny of Doctor Who".

This is Patrick Troughton's debut story. Patrick Troughton taped his first on-screen appearance as the new Doctor on October 8th, during recording of the final episode of the previous story "The Tenth Planet".

Although the first episode of this story began with an image of the First Doctor, William Hartnell was not required for the recording, a slide caption taken two weeks earlier, during the recording of "The Tenth Planet", was used instead. (This is very similar to the shot of William Hartnell fading into a slide of Patrick Troughton in the previous story but from a different angle.) Another caption was used for the scene in which the new Doctor sees a glimpse of his former incarnation in a mirror.

Unlike later changes of lead actor in the show' history, in this instance The Doctor's clothes were transformed along with his body, although The Doctor would uncover his cape and hat after rummaging around the TARDIS. He is unable to wear the First Doctor's ring which Ben Jackson thinks proves he isn't The Doctor ('I'd like to see a butterfly fit into a chrysalis case after it's spread its wings').

The new Doctor's first words are 'Slower... Concentrate on one thing'. Afterwards he refers to his previous incarnation in the third person ('The Doctor was a great collector, wasn't he?') – furthering Ben’s suspicions as to who this ‘stranger’ really is.

The regeneration is explained thus: 'I've been renewed... It's part of the TARDIS. Without it I couldn't survive.' - A reference to either the zero room ("Castrovalva") or a property of the TARDIS itself ("Mawdryn Undead").

The process of the regeneration actually goes unnamed. The change of actors was retrospectively labelled ‘regeneration’ by Doctor Who fans, then subsequently by the production team in the Third Doctor’s last story "Planet of the Spiders".

Polly Wright and Ben were the first companions to witness and so serve as transitional aides during the regeneration from one Doctor to the next. Other companions who have served a similar transitional function in The Doctor's later regenerations include: Sarah Jane Smith, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka, Peri Brown, Melanie Bush, and Rose Tyler. Captain Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, and Rose Tyler also assisted The Doctor in a false regeneration in "The Stolen Earth/Journey's End".

This story features the return of the Daleks for which their creator Terry Nation received a credit at the end of the story for his creations. We also see the actual Dalek creatures within the travel machines for the first time in the show's history. These are tentacled blobs placed into the casings of the new Daleks created in their capsule. (Those seen in "The Daleks' Master Plan" were implied to have been regressed to a primordial form by the time destructor.)

Whereas they die without static, in the very first Dalek story "The Daleks", in this story they just become dormant.

Despite receiving no onscreen credit Dennis Spooner actually penned the final version of the scripts.

Unusually, this story was captured on 35mm film rather than videotape.

Anneke Wills and Michael Craze were absent from filming episodes four and five, respectively, as both were away on holiday during the recording of these episodes.

The year this story took place is 2020 AD, but this is only noted so in the scripts.

The planet Vulcan was theorised to be located within the Solar System, closer to the sun than Mercury. This theory suffered a renewed burst of popularity in the 1960s. David Whitaker first listed it as a planet of the Solar System in the 1964 spin-off The Dalek Book. In 1966 Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry gave the name of Mr. Spock's homeworld and race as Vulcan (but placed it in another star system, later claiming coincidence and denying knowledge of the real-world theorizing). Some fictional tie-ins, including Lance Parkin's "A History of the Universe" timeline, speculate that Vulcan is a rogue planet that entered the Solar System, so as to reconcile this story with others that do not mention the planet as existing.

Bernard Archard returned to Doctor Who, playing Marcus Scarman, in the 1975 Fourth Doctor story "Pyramids of Mars".

A novelisation of this story, written by John Peel, was published by Virgin Books in July 1993. Although still published under the Target Books banner, this was the first novelisation to be published under the new format introduced by Virgin Books for The New Adventures and The Missing Adventures series. The most notable difference is the increased page count.

In 2004, all known surviving clips were released on the "Lost in Time" DVD. Following this DVD's release, two further short clips - along with a higher-quality version of one of the extant scenes - were discovered in a 1966 episode of the BBC science series Tomorrow's World. The clips only came to light on 11th September 2005, when the relevant section was broadcast as part of an edition of the clip-based nostalgia show Sunday Past Times on BBC Two. These clips were subsequently included in the documentaries "The Dalek Tapes", on the "Genesis of the Daleks" DVD release, and "Now Get out of That", on the "Terror of the Vervoids" disc that was released as part of The Trial of a Time Lord box set.

In November 2016 an animated version of this story, with the original soundtrack, was released on DVD. This was followed, in February 2017, by a Limited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing black & white and colour versions of the animated episodes.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 Patrick Troughton's first credited appearance as the Second Doctor.

 The first time The Second Doctor confronts the Daleks.

 The first Doctor Who story to be written by Elwyn Jones.

 The first Dalek story completely written by someone other than Terry Nation.

 The first Doctor Who story to be captured on 35mm film rather than videotape.


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The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
Doctor Newly Regenerated
Doctor Newly Regenerated

Ben Jackson and Polly Wright have just watched The Doctor collapse to the floor of the TARDIS and before their very eyes change from one person to another. Polly at first is happy to accept that this stranger is The Doctor but, with Ben convinced that he is an impostor, they are both left uncertain as to the true identity of the younger man now before them.

Meanwhile the TARDIS arrives on the Earth colony planet Vulcan. On leaving the TARDIS the newly regenerated Doctor takes a stroll through the mercury swamps. But he soon discovers that he is not alone when he witnesses the murder of an Earth Examiner, who has been sent to the human colony based on the planet. On investigating the body The Doctor discovers a pass badge allowing him unrestricted access to the colony and so when the Deputy Governor Quinn and Head of Security Bragen appear, The Doctor assumes the dead man's identity.

The Doctor, along with his two companions, is escorted back to the colony where they discover that the colony has been built on the site of a 200-year crashed space capsule. But despite all the efforts of Chief Scientist Lesterson, the colonists have apparently been unable to gain access.

The Newly Regenerated Doctor
The Newly Regenerated Doctor

The Doctor’s curiosity about the space capsule gets the better of him and so, when he and his companions have been left alone, they sneak back to Lesterson's laboratory and manage to get inside the crashed spaceship. Inside The Doctor is shocked to discover two apparently dead Daleks and evidence that a third has already been removed… Realising the danger the colony is in The Doctor tries in vain to warn Bragen about the missing Dalek and that he suspects that Chief Scientist Lesterson may be trying to reactivate it. But his warnings are ignored.

The Doctor’s suspicions are proved to be correct when, with the help of Resno and Janley, he manages to reactivate the third Dalek - that he has had hidden away. However, the Dalek shoots Resno dead forcing Lesterson to remove the gun stick from the Dalek.

Is This Really The Doctor?
Is This Really The Doctor?

When Lesterson shows the reactivated Dalek to the leaders of the colony he is relieved when the Dalek claims to be the colony’s servant. However, a more significant event occurs – Ben witnesses the fact that the Dalek recognises The Doctor and so from that point on Ben believes he really is The Doctor.

After reactivating and removing the gun sticks from the other two Daleks they too claim to be the colony’s servants. However, the time travellers soon discover that there seem to be more than three Daleks in the colony confirming their suspicions that the Daleks have a far more malevolent agenda. The Doctor again tries to warn the colony’s leaders that the Daleks are dangerous and that they are breeding. But believing that the Daleks are just machines, and so can not breed, they do not believe him.

Unbeknown to the humans the Dalek’s space capsule contains a Dalek manufacturing unit and, using power supplied from the colony, it is producing a whole army of Daleks so as to take over the colony. When the truth is finally revealed about the Daleks a battle begins but it soon becomes clear that the Daleks have far greater fire power and have far greater numbers than the colonists realised.

Ben and Polly are Dumbfounded
Ben and Polly are Dumbfounded

Clearly outnumbered The Doctor has to find a way of destroying the Daleks and to shut down the Dalek production line. He manages to do this, with the help of Lesterson, by turning the Dalek’s power source against them.

Now free of the Dalek threat it is revealed that Bragen, in an attempt to seize command of the colony, killed the Earth Examiner. When Bragen makes a further attempt to regain power Valmar kills him.

Leaving Quinn and Valmar to rebuild the colony Ben, Polly and The Doctor head back to the TARDIS. But as the TARDIS dematerialises the eyestalk of a nearby crushed Dalek slowly rises…

 
The Doctor Looks in the Mirror…
The Doctor Looks in the Mirror…
The Swamps of Vulcan
The Swamps of Vulcan
Discovering The Daleks
Discovering The Daleks
Lesterson with a Dalek
Lesterson with a Dalek
 
A Dalek
A Dalek
Dalek Production Line
Dalek Production Line
The Daleks Make Their Plans
The Daleks Make Their Plans
The Daleks are Destroyed
The Daleks are Destroyed




Quote of the Story


 'Renewed? Have I? That's it, I've been renewed. It's part of the TARDIS. Without it I couldn't survive.'

The Doctor



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Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Audio
Tape
The Missing Stories - The Power of the DaleksAugust 1993ZBBC 1433Photo-montageNarrated by Tom Baker Edited Version Double Cassette
Video
VHS
The Missing YearsNovember 1998BBCV 6766Photo-montageA 56 minute documentary presented by Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon) and Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield) Includes a reconstruction of the regeneration scene using existing footage from "The Tenth Planet" and "The Power of the Daleks" Released as part of The Ice Warriors Collection (BBCV 6387)
Audio
CD
Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume One - The Early Years 1963-1969June 2000WMSF 6023-2Music and sound effects
Audio
CD
Doctor Who: DaleksNovember 2003Narrated by Anneke Wills (Polly Wright) Released as part of the "Doctor Who: Daleks" collector's tin along with "The Evil of the Daleks" and a bonus disc featuring "My Life as a Dalek" - a story Mark Gatiss discussing the history of the Daleks
Audio
CD
The Power of the DaleksAugust 2004Narrated by Anneke Wills (Polly Wright) Double CD Release
Video
DVD
Doctor Who: Lost in TimeNovember 2004BBCDVD 1353Photo-montageIncludes trailer (found in 2003) for episode 1, surviving clips from episodes 4, 5 and 6 and the 8mm off-air home movie footage from episodes 1 and 2
Audio
MP3
The Power of the DaleksJune 2005Photo-montageReconstructed MP3 Release Narrated by Anneke Wills (Polly Wright)
Video
DVD
The Dalek Tapes (part of "Genesis of the Daleks" DVD release)March 2006BBCDVD 1813Photo-montageIncludes the additional clips discovered in the 1966 episode of Tomorrow's World
Video
DVD
The Dalek Tapes (part of "The Trial of a Time Lord: Terror of the Vervoids" DVD release)September 2008BBCDVD 2422Photo-montageIncludes the additional clips discovered in the 1966 episode of Tomorrow's World
Audio
CD
The Power of the DaleksAugust 2011Photo-montagePart of the "Doctor Who: The Lost TV Episodes: Collection Three 1966-1967" Box Set Narrated by Anneke Wills (Polly Wright)
Video
DVD
The Power of the DaleksNovember 2016BBCDVD 4163Photo-montageAnimated Version with Original Soundtrack
Video
Blu-Ray
The Power of the DaleksFebruary 2017BBCBD 0390Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing black & white and colour versions of the animated episodes.
Video
DVD
The Power of the DaleksJuly 2020BBCDVD 4431Photo-montageSpecial Edition DVD containing updated black & white and colour versions of the animated episodes.
Video
Blu-Ray
The Power of the DaleksJuly 2020BBCBD 0501Photo-montageSpecial Edition Blu-Ray containing updated black & white and colour versions of the animated episodes.


In Print

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)PublisherAuthorCover ArtRemarks
Novel
Novel
The Power of the DaleksJuly 1993Virgin (Target) No. 154John PeelAlister PearsonISBN: 0-426-20390-9
Script
Script
The Power of the DaleksMarch 1993Titan BooksDavid WhitakerAlister PearsonEdited by John McElroy.
ISBN: 1-85286-327-7
CD
CD
The Power of the DaleksNovember 2022Target No. 154John PeelAlister PearsonAudio version of the Target Novel read by Nicholas Briggs
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time)Issue 30
Doctor Who Monthly - ArchiveIssue 68 (Released: September 1982)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArchiveIssue 180 (Released: November 1991)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 297 (Released: November 2000)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 298 (Released: December 2000)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 420 (Released: April 2010)
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 505 (Released: December 2016)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 506 (Released: Winter 2016/17)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 541 (Released: September 2019)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 569 (Released: November 2021)

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Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
Patrick Troughton
The Second Doctor

   

Anneke Wills
Polly Wright
 
Michael Craze
Ben Jackson
   




On Release

The Missing Stories Tape Cover
The Missing Stories Tape Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Missing Years VHS Video Cover
Missing Years VHS Video Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Audio - Volume 1: The Early Years
Audio - Volume 1: The Early Years

BBC
AUDIO
Doctor Who: Daleks Tin
Doctor Who: Daleks Tin

BBC
AUDIO
   
Soundtrack CD Cover
Soundtrack CD Cover

BBC
AUDIO
Lost In Time DVD Cover
Lost In Time DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
MP3 Reconstructed Cover
MP3 Reconstructed Cover

BBC
AUDIO
"Genesis of the Daleks" DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
"The Trial of a Time Lord" DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
The Lost TV Episodes: Collection Three CD Cover
The Lost TV Episodes: Collection Three CD Cover

BBC
AUDIO
DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Steelbook Cover
Blu-Ray Steelbook Cover

BBC
VIDEO
   
DVD Special Edition Cover
DVD Special Edition Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Blu-Ray Special Edition Cover
Blu-Ray Special Edition Cover

BBC
VIDEO



In Print

Virgin Book Cover
Virgin Book Cover

Virgin
NOVEL
Titan Script Book Cover
Titan Script Book Cover

Titan
SCRIPT
Target Audio CD Cover
Target Audio CD Cover

BBC
CD
   


Magazines

Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 30
Doctor Who CMS Magazine (An Adventure in Space and Time): Issue 30

CMS
Doctor Who Monthly - Archive: Issue 68
Doctor Who Monthly - Archive: Issue 68

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 180
Doctor Who Magazine - Archive: Issue 180

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 297
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 297

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 298
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 298

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 420
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 420

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 505
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 505

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 506
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 506

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 541
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 541

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 569
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 569

Marvel Comics


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