The Power of the Daleks (1968)

D. Gordon Flemyn
Colour

When we arrange to meet up with a Dalek, what exactly are we getting? Is it an armoured case specifically designed to shelter the mutated remains of a race from the planet Skaro, or is it a killer robot which can be presumably programmed to do other things but kill? And whichever one it is, are we supposed to be scared of them, or are we supposed to find them quite funny too? Although not framed that way by plot or dialogue, ‘The Power of the Daleks’ is a film which struggles to answer both of those questions. It’s a film which has a back and fore with itself, at points thinking that Daleks are truly scary, at others smiling with indulgence at the exploits of these colourful pepper pot scamps. It’s a movie where a family being brutally cut down can sit side by side with Michael Bentine messing about with some test-tubes and nonsense words. It’s a Doctor Who adventure which really should be family entertainment, but would also quite like you to see its dark side – like a drunk elderly uncle at a Christmas party, threatening to show the six year olds his war wounds.

On TV, in the continuing adventures of the alien known as The Doctor, this was the first story of the Patrick Troughton era. A chance to show that even though the leading man had changed, his most hated enemies were still there and that they recognised him. Of course the films are the adventures of Doctor Who, son of Mr and Mrs Who, and grandfather to Susan Who and various other girls with the unlikely surname, Who. He hasn’t altered his face, he hasn’t altered his demeanour, he’s exactly the man he was and given they spent most of the last film hunting him down, it isn’t such a big deal here when the Daleks do recognise him. Except it takes them a little time for them to acknowledge who he is, or indeed who they are.

Here’s the plot. Doctor Who and his two granddaughters Susan (played by the maturing Roberta Tovey and Felicity (played by the impossibly cute Felicity Kendell) arrive on Earth Colony 7. (The planet had no more original name than that). There, to their horror, they find the Daleks. But these Daleks aren’t like the ones we’ve previously seen, no, they’re working as servants and regarded by the humans who greet them as subservient and friendly robots who exist to bring drinks and snacks. All is bliss on Earth Colony 7 and Doctor Who is looked at as mad for claiming that these robots are emotionless killers or “fiends in shiny metallic cloaking” as he at one point memorably calls them. (If I was trying to scare people, and I have done that in my time, I’m not sure that that’s the choice of words I’d go for). Meanwhile the Dalek leader (he’s bigger and shiner than the others) sees Doctor Who’s presence and accelerates their underlying plan.

What follows is one of the most schizophrenic films you’re ever likely to witness. On one hand we have various Daleks sliding out of darkness to kill guards and other people who get in their way. These scenes are shot with full shadowy terror (Flemyng excels himself), an almost black and white creepiness which really emphasises these Daleks as metallic seraphs of death. But elsewhere there’s Michael Bentine as Professor Yakabult, who demonstrates experiments with the aid of his assistant, Doris the Dalek. These scenes are inserted into the film as broadcasts on Earth Colony 7’s TV station, illustrating just how friendly these Daleks are. Bentine and the other characters in the film never interact, instead he goggles at the Dalek with wide eyes, he dances a waltz with it, the two of them sing “Earthling’s Eyes are Gleaming” in horrible tunelessness. It’s clearly designed for the kids, it’s clearly designed as light entertainment. The idea from a plot point of view is to show how inured everybody on Earth Colony 7 has become to the Daleks, how unthreatening they are, but my word it’s excruciating. One can only breathe a sigh of relief when the plot catches up with the horrible twosome and Doris exterminates him.

The plot gets faster and faster and more exciting and exciting, and this is actually – once it settles down and answers its own question – one of the best, scariest and most adrenalin filled entries in the series. The base under siege set-up (even though it’s under siege from the inside) and the running down corridors does make it resemble The Doctor’s exploits on TV, and yet there’s something about this which is its own film. Yes, there are Daleks and they are the true money spinners, but at the centre is the human man and the film is determined in its point that – without any alien help whatsoever – man will always win out against the monsters, no matter how ridiculous they first appear.