April 16, 2010

Doctor Who #67-68: Dalek War



Data
Title: Doctor Who: Dalek War (“Frontier in Space” / “Planet of the Daleks”)
Year: 1973
Network: BBC
Episodes: 12, at 25 minutes; 2 stories of 6 episodes each, from the middle of season 10
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Directors: Paul Bernard / David Maloney
Writers: Malcolm Hulke / Terry Nation
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning
Music: Ron Grainer (theme); Dudley Simpson



My reaction
Synopsis: there's an evil plot to set two planets at war; then, Daleks learn to become invisible
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix) over the past few days
Concept: Bad. The concept for "Frontier in Space" isn't terribly original, but it's still pretty good. "Planet of the Daleks," though, has no plot or ideas or anything along those lines.
Story: Bad. Again, "Frontier" isn't bad - a little clunky in places, but okay - while "Planet" is horrible, horrible horribleness.
Characters: Bad. No one worth mentioning other than the regulars.
Dialog: Bad. [At one point a neutron flow is mentioned, but even though several things have their polarities reversed, the neutron flow is not one of them.]
Pacing: Bad. Both stories are pretty slow. "Frontier" could have been four episodes long, "Planet" could have been one or two.
Cinematography: Bad.
Special effects/design: Terrible.
Acting: Indifferent.
Music: Indifferent.
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent). 6/10 for "Frontier," 3/10 for "Planet." All pretty bad for 70's Who, but at it's worst it's corny and heckle-able.
Objective Rating: 1.2/4 (Bad).

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