Terry Nation wrote the continuation to Frontier in Space, which is dramatically different. I'm assuming he wrote this because it has the aliens that he invented, the Daleks. However, it's definitely an old school plot, and Terry Nation brought out all the things which reminded me of his other plots. The Time Lords respond to the Doctor's message by sending him to the planet Spiridon, where the Daleks are building an army with a plan to take over the universe.
I didn't like this continuation because everything happened on this planet. Terry Nation also brought back the freaking Thals, which if you recall I thought were the most boring race of aliens in Hartnell's history. Maybe that's a bit extreme, but I found them uninteresting. They aren't as peace loving in this, because it is hundreds of years into their future. They are more war-like, but it's okay because they want to destroy the Daleks. It's permissible to be violent when you are up against the most violent aliens in history.
Jo gets squirted by a plant, and her hand gets all fuzzy and she starts acting peculiarly. Do you remember this from before? Wait, this isn't the same planet from The Dalek's Masterplan is it? That confused me, as I demanded my expert viewer to clarify. No, it's a different planet, but with the same plants that will take over your body when you touch them. You're not getting an A for originality from me, Mr. Nation.
The Thals are on the planet presumably because they are seeking the Daleks, or they routinely send their soldiers to strange, uninhabitable planets as a sort of hazing process. As far as I know, they don't know that the Daleks are there. Isn't that lucky that they get to defeat their enemies once again!? They get all angsty when they realize the Daleks are there. Die, die, die evil machines!
The Spiridons are invisible. That's funny. Terry Nation is really into invisible aliens, too. One of them saves Jo's life. When the Doctor thinks that Jo is dead, he gets really angry and depressed. He talks about his feelings for a bit. Actually, this Doctor talks about his life, and his feelings a lot. He's kind of sentimental, even though he's mostly a jerk to everyone.
The Daleks have enslaved the Spiridons. They don't like it and they want to fight back. The Daleks never did understand the meaning of 'hiring people' versus 'enslaving people'. Maybe they don't have any money, and cannot afford to hire minions. They know how to make machines that turns metal into gold, so you'd think they would make a bunch of money and hire creatures that actually want to work.
The Daleks make the Spiridons wear fuzzy purple outfits, presumably to keep track of their minions. Can you imagine the difficulty in keeping track of your invisible slaves? This works well for the Thals and the Doctor because they can sneak about the Daleks wearing fuzzy purple outfits.
I thought the Daleks were creating a bacterium that they would use as a weapon of mass destruction, but nope. They're just making it to wipe out the seven Thals that are on the planet. This planet is inhospitable. The only things on this planet are bad plants, seven Thals, the Doctor and Jo, and the Spiridons who have been enslaved by the Daleks. That's it. Isn't that a bit of overkill? The Daleks are also creating an army of Daleks, with a way of making themselves invisible. Nothing like over doing things! But then, their plans have never been successful, so maybe they are trying to ensure their success. Too bad the Doctor is there.
What I thought strange was that the Master played a very large role in Frontier in Space and then he just drops off the face of the Earth in this. What happened to the Master? Where did he go? He was working for the Daleks; you would think they would want him close. He is afterall a Time Lord.
They made a hot air balloon. Wow.
Of course the Doctor finds a ways to wipe out most of the Daleks. These were so obviously toy Daleks. Did we run out of money?
Next Up: The Green Death
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