u/Bijed12472

Ok, so let's start with the conclusion this time: I don't *enjoy* this story. I also think it's a good story, with flaws.

What don't I enjoy about it? Everyone acting weirdly. Not the fact that they are in itself - I'm perfectly on board with that as a story concept. I think they just do it a bit too well! I ended up being unnerved by it rather than simply caught by it as a hook for making me wonder what is going on. Maybe, though, I'll enjoy it more on a re-watch down the line, hopefully being able to appreciate the performances without being caught off-guard by the strangeness of it all

The actual premise though, is good. The idea that something is wrong, but no-one knows what is strong and the performance weirdness (random door openings, melting clocks) reinforces it well. It's also welcome from a world-building perspective, both in terms of introducing the idea that the TARDIS is alive and reinforcing that, even though they've been on some adventures, these four travellers by no means have a harmonious relationship (and in fact proving to be the catalyst that goes a long way to shifting that, and it was genuinely nice to see them all getting on at the end).

I'm back-and-forth on the ultimate reveal of what was going wrong. The danger itself (going too far back in time) is suitable and beleivable, no problems with that. The cause being a broken spring? Hmm. What I very much do appreciate about it is there's not an overly technobabble-y explanation for what went wrong. It's a simple mechanical fault. But, after all the weirdness beforehand, the mundanity was a bit of a whiplash. The switch being labeled in permanent marker was funny though.

Thoughts:

• I'm not sure the characters' weirdness is really explained adequately? I get that it's all a result of the TARDIS trying to warn them, but that goal and the results in how the characters are affected seem a bit nebulously linked
• Whilst I can sort of buy the explanation for why the Fault Locator wouldn't flag the spring/switch thing (the switch being on for ages isn't necessarily not working as intended), it feels a push that the TARDIS. with it's sophisticated systems, wouldn't have a separate system to warn of this properly/specifically, like a specific warning light for"Look, you may be well aware and perfectly fine with this, but the Fast Return Switch has been on for an awfully long time"

So, just to briefly give context, I'm a fairly casual Dr Who fan (watched some classic DVDs growing up, watched the first few years of the revival) who's just started watching the classic era from the beginning with my partner. Strictly on iPlayer, meaning we start with: The Daleks!

I'd seen the film adaptation of this previously, but never this version, so it was nice to see the origins of the series most iconic villain. Quite a high proportion of other classic series stories I've seen have been Dalek ones and whilst those later episodes are often better for whatever reason, this is probably the most interesting portrayal of the Daleks themselves. Whilst it would obviously be a stretch to describe individual Daleks in this one as distinct characters, they did have a sense of individuality which I don't think I've really seen before (in the sense that they come across as a functional hierarchy of scientists/others that now inhabit the casings) and they do feel like the remnants of a fallen society rather than the merciless hordes of destruction of later years.

The story itself is pretty alright, but there are definite issues with it's execution. In particular, pacing. Across these 7 episodes, there's a lot more total runtime than the film and (with the caveat that it's been a while since I watched that), there was nothing that came up in this that made the serial feel notably more fleshed-out from making use of the extra time (I know that's backwards thinking given this came first, but you know what I mean). In particular, the trek though the swamp, and moreover the caves took far too long.

It being from the 60s, there's of course some set-work etc that looks somewhat cheap and dated, but I'm not intending to hold that sort of thing against classic episodes unless it's stand-out bad even for the era.

Overall, good enough and in fairness, I think I'd appreciate it more if I hadn't already seen the adaptation.

Random thoughts:

• When the Daleks are ambushing the Thal leader, Ian could have warned him *considerably* earlier than he does, right?
• I really like how they show only a glimpse of the mutant removed from the Dalek casing that Ian gets into, even though the Dr/Ian clearly see it in it's entirety. The bit you see suggests a severely deformed/mutated humanoid, whereas their later/modern appearances are so alien as to lose that connection to their origins