Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

One of the most beloved Doctor Who adventures, now remastered to DVD! The third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) deduces that Sir Reginald Styles hails from 200 years in the future, and a device found with him is a time machine. The Doctor and Jo battle the Ogrons and Daleks and end up prisoners at the Dalek base. Will time travel help them escape? Many extras.

Sir Reginald Styles, organizer of a world peace conference, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a combat-uniformed guerrilla who vanishes like a ghost. Later the guerrilla is attacked by huge, ape-like creatures called Ogrons and found unconscious by UNIT troops in the grounds of the house. The Doctor deduces that he comes from about two hundred years in the future and that a device found with him is a time machine.

While Styles is away, the Doctor and Jo keep watch. The guerrillas attack again, but the Time Lord convinces them that he is not Styles. One of their party, Shura, is later injured by an Ogron.

Jo meanwhile accidentally activates one of the guerrillas' time machines and is transported to the 22nd Century. When the guerrillas return there, the Doctor goes with them. He learns that the Earth of this period is ruled by the Daleks with the help of the Ogrons and human collaborators, whose leader is known as the Controller. Jo and the Doctor are both taken prisoner at the Dalek base.
Plot
Sir Reginald Styles, organiser of a world peace conference, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a combat-uniformed guerrilla who vanishes like a ghost. Later the guerrilla is attacked by huge, ape-like creatures called Ogrons and found unconscious by UNIT troops in the grounds of the house. The Doctor deduces that he comes from about two hundred years in the future and that a device found with him is a time machine.
While Styles is away, the Doctor and Jo keep watch. The guerrillas attack again, but the Time Lord convinces them that he is not Styles. One of their party, Shura, is later injured by an Ogron.
Jo meanwhile accidentally activates one of the guerrillas' time machines and is transported to the 22nd Century. When the guerrillas return there, the Doctor goes with them. He learns that the Earth of this period is ruled by the Daleks with the help of the Ogrons and human collaborators, whose leader is known as the Controller. Jo and the Doctor are both taken prisoner at the Dalek base.
The guerrillas rescue them and explain that they are attempting to kill Styles because he caused an explosion at the peace conference, starting a series of wars that left humanity vulnerable to Dalek conquest - a history that they wish to change. The Doctor realises that the explosion was actually caused by Shura in a misguided attempt to fulfil his mission.
Returning to the 20th Century with Jo, he has Styles' house evacuated. Daleks and Ogrons arrive in pursuit, but are destroyed when Shura detonates his bomb.

Directed by Paul Bernard
Written by Louis Marks
Produced by Barry Letts
Title Music by Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, arranged by Delia Derbyshire
Film Editing by Dan Rae
Costume Design by Mary Husband

The story's on-screen title is Day of the Daleks, although it was incorrectly referred to in the Radio Times listings (and on the later BBC video release) as The Day of the Daleks.

In Episodes Two and Three, the initial 'sting' of the closing title music is retained at the end of the reprise from the previous episode.

A section of the closing title sequence appears in the background on the screen of the Daleks' mind analysis machine at the end of Episode Three. The first of the episode's closing credits is superimposed over this scene just before the foreground images are removed, leaving just the title sequence. The rest of the credits then follow.

BBC television news reporter Alex Macintosh appears as himself in Episode Four.

Episode Four was originally to have featured a confrontation between the Doctor and the Daleks in which the Daleks explain how they destroyed those of their number who were impregnated with the human factor in the events seen in The Evil of the Daleks and then turned their attention to conquering Earth by means of time travel. This scene was actually recorded but had to be cut at the editing stage for timing reasons.

This was the first of a number of stories in which the key colour used for the CSO effects was yellow rather than blue.

First Transmitted
1 - 01/01/1972 17:50
2 - 08/01/1972 17:50
3 - 15/01/1972 17:50
4 - 22/01/1972 17:50