‘THE CHASE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Chased by the Daleks with the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki and Hello Steven

For William Russell

(sighs) Yes, with a title for a ‘Doctor Who’ story called ‘The Chase’ – Even Bonnie Langford made a joke in the ‘Behind the Sofa’ item for this special ‘Doctor Who’ adventure. I found myself laughing a lot when seeing that specific ‘Behind the Sofa’ item 😀 – it’s only fair I should say… “The Chase is on!”

And it’s quite ironic that Bradley Walsh, the host of ‘The Chase’ ITV game show, ended up being a ‘Doctor Who’ companion. And he never said “The Chase is on!” once in his time in the new TV show. How could you not have him say that? 😀 (sighs) Anyway, now that’s out of the way, let’s continue.

‘The Chase’ – the ‘Doctor Who’ story – is the penultimate story featured in Season 2 of the classic TV series. It’s a six-part story by Terry Nation. At least, officially. You see, whilst Terry Nation wrote some of the scripts, it was Dennis Spooner, the series’ script editor, who fleshed out the scripts more.

I’ll explain more about that in greater detail later. ‘The Chase’ was the second story released in ‘The Space Musuem’/’The Chase’ DVD box set, which was released in 2010. It was released on a 2-disc DVD set, with the story on Disc 1 and the special features on Disc 2. Quite a nice 2-disc set actually. 🙂

‘The Chase’ is also the third adventure to feature the Daleks in ‘Doctor Who’ as well as being the third Dalek story to be featured in the William Hartnell era overall and the second Dalek story featured in Season 2 of the classic TV series. I found it way better than ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’.

In many respects, ‘The Chase’ is a fascinating, comedic and adventurous take on the evil pepper pots. It’s an enjoyable romp featuring the Doctor and his friends on the run from the Daleks that are chasing them throughout Space and Time. It’s an exciting and a wonderfully-written ride throughout.

It’s interesting how this story is presented as an adventure story, since ‘The Chase’ features a number of mini adventures for the Doctor and his friends when they’re being pursued by the Daleks. This is something that isn’t unfamiliar in ‘Doctor Who’, as Terry Nation applied this approach before.

In Season 1, Terry Nation delivered a six-part story featuring several mini-adventures throughout called ‘The Keys of Marinus’. ‘The Chase’ is quite similar in that regard when involving the Daleks, although Dennis Spooner provides his own embellishments to make the story far more entertaining.

You can taste when it’s Dennis Spooner writing the story instead of Terry Nation, as I’m sure Dennis Spooner would have included the New York, the Mary Celeste and Frankenstein’s House of Horrors adventures instead of Terry Nation. It’s also good to have a Dalek adventure that’s not very gloomy.

I know ‘Doctor Who’ fans prefer the darker and grittier adventures in the series and very often that works in the series’ favour. But sometimes, I do like it when ‘Doctor Who’ tries something different, especially in comedic realms. It’s one of the reasons why ‘The Chase’ is one of my favourite stories. 🙂

It’s a story that got me hooked from beginning to end. I was very keen to find out what was going to happen to the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki and how they were going to evade the Daleks. I wasn’t disappointed with the results, as ‘The Chase’ kept me excited thoroughly when seeing it on the DVD.

It’s been better when checking it out in the Season 2 Blu-ray box set. Even the ‘Behind the Sofa’ contributors for ‘The Chase’ – Maureen O’Brien, Peter Purves, Carole Ann Ford, Janet Fielding, Wendy Padbury, Sarah Sutton, Bonnie Langford and Sophie Aldred – seemed to enjoy this TV story. 🙂

Admittedly, the story has faults. It’s clear from the story’s director Richard Martin that ‘The Chase’ was put in a rush at the request of producer Verity Lambert, I found it a very enjoyable romp to check out. It’s a ‘Doctor Who’ story I enjoy revisiting and consider worthy in the William Hartnell era.

As of 2024, I’ve had my DVD cover of ‘The Chase’ signed by William Russell at the ‘London Comic Con Spring’ in March 2019 and by Peter Purves at the ‘Dimensions 2013’ convention in Newcastle in October 2013. ‘The Chase’ is a very significant ‘Doctor Who’ TV adventure for a couple of reasons. 🙂

Firstly, this story features the debut of Peter Purves in ‘Doctor Who’. In ‘The Chase’, he plays two characters. First, he plays Morton Dill, a visitor to New York in the 1960s, in the story’s third episode, and secondly, he plays Steven Taylor, in the story’s sixth episode, who becomes the new companion.

This story also features the departure of William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, who have been in the TV series since the beginning. Susan may have left in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, but Ian and Barbara’s departure is quite pivotal here (more on this later). 😐

Anyway, this story begins with the Doctor and his friends, Ian, Barbara and Vicki checking out the new Time-Space Visualiser, which was given to the Doctor as a gift by the Xerons of the planet Xeros in ‘The Space Museum’. As addressed in my review on that story, I query how it got inside the TARDIS.

I mean, the Time-Space Visualiser is huge!!! Let alone the small TV screen – British TV sets were small in them days compared to the huge TV screens we have today – how did the Doctor manage to get a thing as big as that inside the TARDIS? It would be a challenge to get through the TARDIS doors.

Why couldn’t be the thing be smaller to allow the Doctor to put it inside the Ship? I mean, common sense should be warranted, shouldn’t it? Also, I would like a CGI option where the TV screen is bigger to justify how big the Time-Space Visualiser is. At least that would make it more impressive. 😐

With all this said, the Time-Space Visualiser has returned to ‘Doctor Who’ in many forms over the years. It was in the Big Finish audio story ‘The One Doctor’ with Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. The Time-Space Visualiser has also appeared in one of my ‘Fifth Doctor’ stories called ‘Time Burp’. 🙂

In ‘The Chase’, the Doctor and his friends witness past events on the Time-Space Visualiser. This includes Abraham Lincoln, played by Robert Marsden, giving his Gettysburg Address in November 1863. There’s also Queen Elizabeth I meeting English playwright William Shakespeare in Tudor times.

What’s funny is this is the first time that ‘Doctor Who’ would depict Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare in its universe. Both would return in the new TV series in ‘The Shakespeare Code’. Queen Elizabeth herself would appear in ‘The Day of the Doctor’ with David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.

William Shakespeare was also in the Big Finish audio story ‘The Kingmaker’ with Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Caroline Morris – Not one of my favourite interpretations of the playwright, I might add. Vivienne Bennett plays Queen Elizabeth I and Hugh Walters plays William Shakespeare. 🙂

This is Hugh Walters’ first association with ‘Doctor Who’, as he would later play Runcible in ‘The Deadly Assassin’ and Vogel in ‘Revelation of the Daleks’. He also played Roderick Allingham in the Big Finish audio story ‘The Fearmonger’. He’s also been in one of the Christmas Specials of the original ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV series. 🙂

As well as an episode of ‘The Brittas Empire’. 😀 Hugh Walters’ interpretation of William Shakespeare in this ‘Doctor Who’ story is quite a contrast to Dean Lennox Kelly’s portrayal of the English playwright in ‘The Shakespeare Code’. And to Michael Fenton-Stevens in ‘The Kingmaker’. 😀

For that matter, Vivienne Bennett’s portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I is quite a contrast to Angela Pleasence and Joanna Page in the new TV series. There’s also Roger Hammond who plays Francis Bacon in that scene with Queen Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare on the Time-Space Visualiser. 🙂

Roger Hammond would go on to play Dr. Runciman in ‘Mawdryn Undead’ as well as Harold Withers in the Big Finish audio story ‘The Eternal Summer’ with Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton. It’s amazing how some of these actors who had small roles in ‘The Chase’ later did bigger roles in ‘Doctor Who’. 🙂

The third set of people that the Doctor and his friends see on the Time-Space Visualiser are the Beatles, where they perform ‘Ticket to Ride’ and it’s a basically a clip of them singing the song from ‘Top of the Pops’. Still a better depiction of the Beatles in ‘Doctor Who’ than in ‘The Devil’s Chord’. 😐

Something I’ve noticed about the Beatles scene in ‘The Chase’ is it’s available to see on the original DVD release and on Blu-ray (I’m basing my updated review on the story on the Season 2 Blu-ray box set), but when you see the first episode on BBC iPlayer, the Beatles clips is clearly absent altogether.

This is very peculiar. Apparently, licensing restrictions have forced the Beatles clip scene to be edited out for all DVD releases outside of Regions 2 and 4 (UK and Australia) and on BBC iPlayer. I don’t know why that is. I’m glad I’ve been able to see the scene on my DVD and Blu-ray copies of the story.

It’s very funny to see Ian dancing away to the Beatles’ music when he hears them. I know he claimed to be an expert on John Smith and the Common Men, but still, it’s so unusual. It’s also funny when Vicki considers the Beatles’ music as ‘classical music’. I suppose that’s the case in the 25th century. 🙂

I mean, it borders on ‘Star Trek Beyond’ thinking now, doesn’t it? One thing I really appreciate about the Time-Space Visualiser scenes in the story’s first episode is how it introduces viewers, particularly young ones, to historical characters like Abraham Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, etc.

It’s something that the William Hartnell/First Doctor era does well when educating history to children, and Dennis Spooner takes full of advantage of that as the TV series’ script editor. It’s something that’s reflected quite well in the Jodie Whittaker/Chris Chibnall era in that certain regard.

Eventually, the TARDIS arrives on the planet Aridius. Originally, Aridius used to be a planet full of oceans. There dwells fish-like people that used to live in the oceans. Now, the planet is pretty desolate with two suns in the sky and nothing but sand everywhere. And you know this is coming. 😐

Anakin Skywalker: I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s continue. 😀 Ian follows Vicki when she’s eager to explore the desolate planet whilst Barbara and the Doctor remain behind at the TARDIS and enjoy some sunbathing. It was very funny when the Doctor sang away while sunbathing and Barbara soon asked,

Barbara: What’s that awful noise?
Doctor: I beg your pardon? Awful noise? That’s no way to talk about my singing!
Barbara: No, Doctor, not that awful noise, the other one. Listen to it!

Still, Barbara, you shouldn’t have said the Doctor’s singing is awful. You must have hurt his feelings by now. 😀 Actually, she’s referring to ‘awful noise’ made by the Time-Space Visualiser, as it’s still switched on. Clearly, Vicki didn’t do a very good job switching off the dratted machine when told to.

When Barbara investigates what’s going on with the Time-Space Visualiser, it comes to her and the Doctor’s horror that the Daleks are out hunting for them. The Daleks want to exterminate the Doctor and his friends for their defeat in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. Now this is a very interesting point. 🙂

In ‘The Daleks’ and ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, the Daleks didn’t consider the Doctor worthy to be a big threat. There might be Big Finish audios contradicting that as I speak, but in terms of the TV series alone, this is the first time the Daleks are acknowledging the Doctor is their greatest enemy. 😐

It’s something I wanted to see in the original classic TV series where the Daleks are recognising the Doctor as a great threat, matching to how the Daleks react to the Doctor in the new TV series. I’m so pleased it gets established here in ‘The Chase’ and that it’s with William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

Once the Doctor and Barbara realise that their lives are in danger, they go out and search for Ian and Vicki, who have ended up lost and are soon underground where Mire Beasts are attacking. The Doctor and Barbara end up lost in a sandstorm. The next day, they see a Dalek rise from the sand. 😮

That must have been very impressive for the director Richard Martin and his production team to do in terms of having the Dalek rise up from the sand. It echoes the scene of the Dalek rising up from the waters of the Thames in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, But, which of the two moments is better?

Harry Hill: There’s only one way to find out! FIGHT!!!

Joking aside, I think it would have been better to have shot the Dalek rising up from the sand in a close-up shot. After all, we saw the Dalek coming up out of the waters of the Thames in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’ close enough compared to viewing a Dalek rising up from the sand in the distance.

The Doctor and Barbara end up meeting the fish-like Aridians whilst searching for Ian and Vicki. This includes Ian Thompson as Malsan and Hywel Bennett as Rynian. Like Richard Martin, I can’t say I’m that really impressed with the Aridians in terms of their make-up and costume design as fish people.

The Aridians must have been put together in a rush in terms of the actors wearing their make-up and costumes, as it’s clearly shown in the TV story. I mean, you can see the joint in the helmets the actors wore. Mind you, we don’t get to see the Aridians much beyond the second episode they’re in.

It was quite chilling when the Daleks exterminated one of the Aridians and they considered it ‘unimportant’ once they killed him. That scene was played out differently in my mind when I heard it in ‘The Daleks Conquest’ 2-disc audio CD. That was before ‘The Chase’ was released on DVD in 2010.

Also, like the Moroks and the Xerons in ‘The Space Museum’, I’ve noticed that all the Aridians happen to be males. I mean, I know they’re aliens and there’s probably say a singular-gender specific thing going on, but since it’s a 1960s TV production, I wonder if any female Aridians lived on Aridius.

Eventually, once the Doctor and his friends manage to escape the Daleks from Aridius, they soon go to various points in Space and Time whilst being chased by the Daleks. This includes visiting New York in the 1960s, the Mary Celeste sailing ship in 1872 and Frankenstein’s House of Horrors in 1996.

In the 1960s New York scene (1966 to be exact), we meet Peter Purves as Morton Dill, who meets the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki when the TARDIS ends up on the top of the Empire State Building. It was good to see Peter Purves make his debut in ‘Doctor Who’ by playing an American southerner.

Interestingly, Peter Purves originally auditioned to play a Menoptera in ‘The Web Planet’. Richard Martin found Peter Purves a very good actor and decided not to cast him in ‘The Web Planet’ and ended up casting him in ‘The Chase’ instead. I’m glad Peter Purves got that chance in ‘Doctor Who’.

It’s also nice, according to the ‘Behind the Sofa’ item, that Maureen O’Brien encouraged William Russell and Jacqueline Hill to chat with William Hartnell and producer Verity Lambert about the possibility of casting Peter Purves as the next TV companion following Ian and Barbara’s departure. 🙂

Apparently, Peter Purves got on well with William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill and Maureen O’Brien when appearing as Morton Dill in the third episode of ‘The Chase’. It’s clearly evident and I’m happy Peter Purves managed to win William Hartnell’s favour in that certain regard.

It was funny to see how Morton Dill reacted to the TARDIS appearing and disappearing as well as to the Dalek time machine appearing and disappearing on the top of the Empire State Building. Him laughing at and making fun of the Dalek when it appeared to him was very hilarious to watch indeed.

It’s a relief that the Dalek didn’t exterminate him on the spot after Morton told it that the Doctor and his friends had just left in the TARDIS. I mean, the Dalek didn’t consider Morton a threat and just left like that. It was Morton’s lucky day then. I do wonder if he and Steven Taylor are related at all. 😀

Incidentally, this must be the first time that the Daleks have visited New York on the planet Earth ever. I mean, I know one Dalek came out of the time machine, but still. This predates the Daleks visiting New York in the 1930s in ‘Daleks in Manhattan’/’Evolution of the Daleks’ with David Tennant.

I found the Dalek a treat in this ‘Doctor Who’ story. At least the Daleks are better in this ‘Doctor Who’ story compared to how they were in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. They sound like Daleks in terms of the voices. The ring modulator must have been switched on for them this time around. 😀

Peter Hawkins and David Graham of course return to voice the Daleks in ‘The Chase’ and they sound like the Daleks voices in the first ‘Daleks’ story as opposed to ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. It’s nice the ‘Behind the Sofa’ contributors noticed that when watching the Daleks in this particular TV story.

Like I said, ‘The Chase’ presents the Daleks in a…well, comedic sense. One moment that emphasises this is in the second episode. Two Daleks are searching for the Doctor and his friends. One Dalek gives instructions to the other. The Dalek given the instructions keeps going “Yes”, “Yes” in response.

And it doesn’t do as it’s told. The command Daleks gets annoyed about this and goes, “Well, see to it!” It’s a very funny moment. I quite enjoy it when the Daleks do unexpected things, even if it’s for comedic effect. It might not work for other ‘Doctor Who’ fans, but it worked for me when I saw it. 🙂

I found it very unusual when there was a comic relief Dalek that hesitated and stuttered quite a bit. Thankfully, we don’t see that Dalek very often in the story – I’m not sure which one it was to be honest – but quite frankly, why would there be a Dalek that hesitated and stuttered to begin with? 😐

It’s very funny when the Daleks turned out to be responsible for the desertion of the Mary Celeste sailing ship in the story’s third episode. It’s those moments in the story when you realise that fiction clashes with reality and the idea is given that aliens are responsible for certain historical moments. 😀

Incidentally, in terms of the crew of the Mary Celeste, the first mate Albert C Richardson is played by Dennis Chinnery. After ‘The Chase’, Dennis Chinnery went on to play Gharman in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ (another Dalek TV story) with Tom Baker and Sylvest in ‘The Twin Dilemma’ with Colin Baker.

There’s Captain Benjamin Briggs, the real-life captain of the Mary Celeste, played by David Blake Kelly. After this ‘Doctor Who’ story, David Blake Kelly played Jacob Kewper in ‘The Smugglers’. I’m sure the Mary Celeste scenes were penned by Dennis Spooner and not by Terry Nation in the tale. 🙂

In the story’s fourth episode, we have a very unusual trip for the TARDIS and the Daleks during ‘The Chase’, as they visit Frankenstein’s House of Horrors in 1996. Initially, we’re led to believe this is either real, fantasy or something inside the psyche before it turns out to be a theme park attraction.

I imagine this is probably what prompts ‘Doctor Who’ fans to not regard ‘The Chase’ so highly compared to me, especially when the Frankenstein’s House of Horrors stuff is played for comedic effect at times. Also, there are moments that don’t quite make a lot of sense when you think about it.

Firstly, the House of Horrors monsters featured in the place must be either robots or battery-operated. Yet, they’re played by actors who make them almost life-like and are convincing for the Doctor and his friends when they’re interacting with them. Also, something about the actual theme park. 😐

Apparently, the place is meant to be closed, since it was cancelled by Peking in 1996. Well, if that’s the case, shouldn’t the place be shut down or closed entirely? Meaning, shouldn’t the power be off altogether? Why are the monsters walking about and why are there sound and effects to cause jump scares?

It’s not properly explained and at the time of this review, it’s been a while since I’ve read and heard the Target novelization/audiobook of the story, and I don’t think it’s explained properly in that either. It’s an entertaining segment in the story, but in terms of it making sense, don’t expect much.

The monsters in the Frankenstein’s House of Horrors segment are John Maxim as Frankenstein, Malcolm Rogers as Count Dracula and Roslyn de Winter as the Grey Lady. Roslyn de Winter played Vrestin the Menoptera in ‘The Web Planet’. Not sure what her character said when screamed in this.

In the story’s fourth episode, the Daleks create a robot copy of the Doctor to trap him and his friends as well as to ‘infiltrate and kill’. The actor playing the robot Doctor is Edmund Warwick. He previously stood in for William Hartnell when he had injured himself in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’.

Unfortunately, the robot Doctor isn’t very convincing, since Edmund Warwick looks nothing like William Hartnell despite wearing the white wig. It is William Hartnell as the robot Doctor in the close-up shots, but in the distance, you can see it looks nothing like William Hartnell, which is a pity.

William Hartnell’s lines were pre-recorded for Edmund Warwick to say when he played the robot Doctor, either with the Daleks or with Ian and Barbara. Sadly, the lines are out-of-synch when he speaks and it doesn’t work out well when it should. CGI technology wasn’t available in those days. 😐

There were times where I pointed out to my Mum and Dad in the moments where it wasn’t William Hartnell as the robot Doctor and in some cases when it’s the real Doctor. When Ian carries an unconscious Vicki and follows the real Doctor, it’s clear that it’s Edmund Warwick playing him then.

It was quite exciting to see the fight scene between the real Doctor and the robot Doctor when they met each other in the story’s fifth episode. When the real Doctor knocks the robot Doctor out, I found it funny when he said, “Hmm, I must get a Doctor.” I’d like to think William Hartnell ad-libbed then. 😀

I liked it when the robot Doctor gave himself away by calling Vicki ‘Susan’ instead. Of course, the Daleks wouldn’t have known that Susan left the TARDIS by this point. Therefore, when Barbara realises the robot Doctor called Vicki ‘Susan’ instead, she warns Ian who’s tackling the real Doctor. 🙂

The pursuit of the Doctor and his friends in the TARDIS by the Daleks in their time machine leads them to the planet Mechanus in the story’s last two episodes. It’s where the robotic Mechanoids happen to be there. The Mechanoids were a potential contender against the Daleks in this TV tale. 🙂

As I’ve said in my updated review for ‘The Space Museum’, I heard about what ‘The Chase’ was like from my Dad, since he saw this ‘Doctor Who’ story when it was shown on TV in 1965. He recalled the Daleks battling the Mechanoids and it was rumoured they were going to be like the next new Daleks.

It was interesting to hear the Mechanoids in terms of what they sounded like from listening to soundbites of this story in ‘The Dalek Conquests’ CD release, narrated by Nicholas Briggs, which I heard in 2007. I was getting to know about the Daleks in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV show via that. 🙂

The Mechanoids are my Dad’s fondest memory of ‘The Chase’. They’re huge spherical robots patrolling the planet Mechanus, which was meant for human colonisation. They were left forgotten because of the ‘wars’, according to Steven Taylor. And you might wonder what ‘wars’ he’s on about.

Well, I’ve checked and it’s confirmed in the Target novelization/audiobook by John Peel that the Draconian Empire and the Third Dalek War was involved, echoing ‘Frontier In Space’. I like how that’s clarified in the novelization, and I’ve found the Mechanoids very exciting to watch in this story.

Yes, I know they’ve been criticised in the Mechanoids DVD Easter Egg discussion called ‘Enter +++ Enter +++ Zero +++ Stop +++’, but I still enjoyed them when I saw them in ‘The Chase’. It’s a shame they were only in one ‘Doctor Who’ story on TV, since they were meant to compete with the Daleks.

Yeah, possibly the way the Mechanoids moved or spoke in the story doesn’t help. It’s intriguing to say the least. They have this strange way of speaking in terms of a robotic language. It’s unusual and quite hard to comprehend when you want to know what the Mechanoids are saying in this TV story.

Mechanoid: ENGLISH +++ ENTER +++ ENTER +++ ZERO +++ STOP
Ian: Enter, Enter, Zero, Stop? What does he mean?
Barbara: It means, Enter, Enter, Zero, Stop.

Thanks, Barbara, that’s a great help. 😀 Thankfully, the Mechanoids have returned to ‘Doctor Who’ in various forms over the years, including the Big Finish audio dramas. They’re in the audio story called ‘The Juggernauts’, which features Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford as well as the Daleks and Davros.

They’ve also been in ‘The House of Kingdom’ in the ‘Dalek Universe’ audio series with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. They’ve also been in the ‘Daleks!’ webcast series for ‘Time Lord Victorious’. And they’ve been in my ‘Doctor Who’ stories like ‘Return to Christmas’ and ‘And There Were Seven’.

In some respects, I wish the Mechanoids had been utilised more as an advisory for the Daleks in ‘Doctor Who’. Not just in their TV debut in ‘The Chase’, but also beyond that in the TV series. In fact, the Mechanoids would have worked better had they appeared a bit earlier in the adventure itself. 😐

Peter Purves returns in the sixth episode of ‘The Chase’, playing his proper ‘Doctor Who’ character called Steven Taylor. When the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki meet him, he’s a prisoner of the Mechanoids. Steven is this space pilot who had crash-landed on Mechanus before he got captured. 🙂

Upon meeting the Doctor and his friends, Steven is very pleased to meet them. It’s also amusing to see Steven bearded in his first ‘Doctor Who’ appearance, as he’s clean-shaven later on in the TV series. In the story, Steven happens to have a mascot called HiFi, and he also happens to be a toy panda.

Steven: That’s my mascot, HiFi.
Barbara: Oh! Hi, Fi, I’m Barbara.

I liked it when Steven helped the Doctor and his friends to escape the Mechanoid city, especially when the Daleks came and attacked. Steven goes missing once the city catches fire during the Dalek-Mechanoid battle. The last that we see of Steven is when he’s walking through the Fungoid jungle. 😐

Speaking of the Fungoid jungle, I found it rather dodgy in execution. I mean, I appreciate the jungle being alive and all, but I’m not sure about the Fungoids’ design. I’m not even sure if there were actors inside those things. There probably were. They do look like they come from ‘The Web Planet’.

It was funny when Ian tried to save Barbara from falling from the top of the Mechanoid city building once she sent Vicki down to the ground and he was pulling her up by her trousers. Even Bonnie Langford and Sophie Aldred found that funny when watching the story in the ‘Behind the Sofa’ item.

I mean, I appreciate the intimacy that Ian and Barbara often have when being close friends in ‘Doctor Who’, but this is another level altogether. I’m surprised that was included in the final edit of ‘The Chase’. That probably would have been something for Mary Whitehouse to complain about. 😀

I enjoyed the climatic battle scene between the Daleks and Mechanoids in the story’s sixth episode. The Mechanoids even have flame throwers when fighting the Daleks whilst the evil pepper pots have their energy weapons. All that smoke as well as sound and visual effects made it really exciting.

It must have been a tricky scene for the director Richard Martin and his team to put together, but it’s well worth-watching. On rewatching the Dalek-Mechanoid battle, there were some noticeable comic-like effects like you see in the 1960s ‘Batman’ TV series, but they’re quite hit and miss at times.

And of course, this is where we say goodbye to Ian and Barbara, as they decide to leave the Doctor and the TARDIS and return home to 1960s Earth via the Daleks’ time machine. The Doctor is clearly angry and upset when they request him to help them get back home and he initially refuses to do so.

As I understand it, William Hartnell was very upset about William Russell and Jacqueline Hill leaving the TV series, since they were with him from the TV show’s beginning. And it’s very sad that Ian and Barbara leave the Doctor in this story, since we have been following their journey in the TV series. 😦

I liked it when it’s Maureen O’Brien as Vicki who persuaded the Doctor to overcome his anger and agree to help Ian and Barbara. The Doctor claims there’s an enormous risk to Ian and Barbara using the Daleks’ time machine, but they’re so adamant about going home. Eventually, the Doctor agrees.

Soon, the Doctor sets the Daleks’ time machine for Earth in the 1960s, and he and Vicki exit whilst Ian and Barbara head back home. Ian and Barbara return safely to London on the planet Earth, albeit they end up in 1965 and are two years out. They’re not bothered though, as they’re over the moon.

It’s a contrast to when Rose returned home to Earth in ‘Aliens of London’/’World War Three’ and missed out a year. I made it worse for Billy when he returned home with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa in ‘Dawn of the Dwaxi’, as he returned to Earth in the year 1965 instead of 1966 like Ian and Barbara.

We have a sequence of photographs of Ian and Barbara enjoying their return home to Earth, done by director Douglas Camfield who directed the next story in Season 2 – ‘The Time Meddler’. It was very nice to see Ian and Barbara laughing away happily as they’re riding home on a bus in London. 🙂

In the TARDIS, via the Time-Space Visualiser, the Doctor and Vicki witness Ian and Barbara’s return home. Vicki is overjoyed that Ian and Barbara have returned home safely whilst the Doctor is very sad they’re gone. It clearly shows how much Ian and Barbara have meant to the Doctor in the series.

Doctor: I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them. Silly old fusspots.

As I said, it’s very sad Ian and Barbara have left the TV series here. They’ve returned a few times over the years in audios and comic stories, but this is a significant moment in ‘Doctor Who’s history, as they were officially the first ‘Doctor Who’ companions to have appeared in the classic TV series ever.

Susan might have been the Doctor’s granddaughter and was there at the start in ‘An Unearthly Child’, but it was through Ian and Barbara that we’ve been on this journey in meeting the Doctor in the classic TV series. And it’s thanks to William Russell and Jacqueline Hill’s performances in that regard.

Without them, ‘Doctor Who’ wouldn’t be as it is today. The two lovely stars set the standards for how ‘Doctor Who’ companions should be played, especially with believability, credibility and very often ‘down-to-earth-ness’. This story is a testament to how great Ian and Barbara are as characters.

So far in the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series, I like how the departures of Susan, Ian and Barbara as companions have been handled, particularly under Verity Lambert’s supervision as producer. It’s a shame that companions like Vicki, Dodo, Polly and Ben didn’t get the same treatment later in the series.

The original DVD special features were as follows. There was ‘Cusick in Cardiff’, a featurette featuring designer Raymond Cusick, the original designer of the Daleks, visiting the new TV series productions in Cardiff in February 2008. There was the dual mono sound audio mix option and an audio commentary with William Russell, Maureen O’Brien and director Richard Martin, moderated by Peter Purves. There was an info-text commentary option to enjoy, PDF materials including a ‘Radio Times Listings’ of the story, and a ‘coming soon’ trailer for the ‘Myths and Legends’ DVD box set, which includes ‘The Time Monster’, starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin and John Levene, ‘Underworld’, starring Tom Baker, Louise Jameson and K-9, and ‘The Horns of Nimon’, starring Tom Baker, Lalla Ward and K-9.

There was ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ making-of featurette with director Richard Martin, the ‘Last Stop White City’ featurette focusing on Ian and Barbara in ‘Doctor Who’, the ‘Daleks Conquer and Destroy’ documentary, the ‘Daleks Beyond the Screen’ documentary, and the ‘Shawcraft – The Original Monster Makers’ featurette. There was the ‘Follow That Dalek’ 8mm cine film with an info-text commentary option to enjoy, the ‘Give-A-Show’ slides compilation (which is an updated version from ‘The Web Planet’ DVD) and a photo gallery of the story. There was also the ‘Enter +++ Enter +++ Zero +++ Stop +++’ Mechanoids DVD Easter Egg discussion to enjoy.

On Disc 8 of the ‘Doctor Who – The Collection – Season 2’ Blu-ray, the dual mono sound audio mix option, the DVD audio commentary, ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ making-of featurette, the ‘Last Stop White City’ featurette, the ‘Daleks Conquer and Destroy’ documentary, the ‘Daleks Beyond the Screen’ documentary, the updated ‘Give-A-Show’ slides compilation and the ‘Enter +++ Enter +++ Zero +++ Stop +++’ Mechanoids DVD Easter Egg discussion can be found on there. The info-text commentary option and the photo gallery have been updated for 2022 on the Blu-ray. Sadly, the ‘Cusick in Cardiff’ featurette, the ‘Shawcraft – The Original Monster Makers’ featurette and the ‘Follow That Dalek’ 8mm cine film aren’t included on ‘The Chase’ Blu-ray disc.

The new special features on Blu-ray include the ‘Behind the Sofa’ feature on ‘The Chase’ with Maureen O’Brien (Vicki), Peter Purves (Steven) and Carole Ann Ford (Susan) as well as Janet Fielding (Tegan), Wendy Padbury (Zoe) and Sarah Sutton (Nyssa) as well as Bonnie Langford (Mel) and Sophie Aldred (Ace). There’s the ‘Mary Celeste’ featurette (taken from the ‘Carnival of Monsters’ 2-disc Special Edition DVD), a sketch from ‘The Wayne & Shuster Show’ from September 1965 featuring a Dalek, and a ‘coming soon’ trailer for ‘The Time Meddler’, starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor, Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and Peter Purves as Steven (taken from the ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’, ‘The Sea Devils’ and ‘Warriors of the Deep’ DVDs).

On the PDF front, as well as the ‘Radio Times Listings’ of ‘The Chase’, there are production documents, six camera scripts, design drawings, studio floorplans for the first and sixth episodes of the story, and Cadet Sweets ‘Doctor Who and the Daleks’ and Sweet Cigarette Cards (taken from ‘The Keys of Marinus’ DVD). You need a special Blu-ray computer drive for that.

For me, ‘The Chase’ is truly a phenomenal and enjoyable Dalek adventure from the William Hartnell/First Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’. It’s one of my favourite stories from the classic TV series and it’s a story that I will cherish for many years to come. I’m pleased that I’ve viewed it many times.

I enjoyed the story featuring the Daleks chasing our heroes as well as featuring the only TV debut of the Mechanoids. It’s also a good story in seeing the departure of William Russell as Ian and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara. And who knows? Maybe Peter Purves will return as Steven Taylor in ‘Doctor Who’. 😀

Yes, the comedy moments featured in ‘The Chase’ are rather far-fetched, especially when featured in the Frankenstein’s House of Horrors scene. But the presence of the Daleks throughout and seeing Ian and Barbara leaving on a high note in the classic TV series is rather good in my humble opinion. 🙂

‘The Space Museum’/’The Chase’ DVD collection is one I’ve enjoyed very much when checking it out in 2010. I don’t consider ‘The Space Museum’ to be as good as ‘The Chase’, but I’ve enjoyed the two stories in their own unique ways and it’s been fascinating to check out various perspectives on them.

Once Ian and Barbara have left the TARDIS, the Doctor and Vicki continue travelling in the TARDIS, off to have more adventure in Space and Time. But what will happen next for the Doctor and Vicki, especially as Season 2 is drawing to an end. Will they gain a new friend as well as face a new enemy?

‘The Chase’ rating – 9/10

---

‘DOCTOR WHO – THE CHASE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

More Daleks and Mechanoids

It’s taken me a while to get around to reading and hearing this ‘Doctor Who’ story in book and audio form. 🙂

Back in March 2018, I purchased the two ‘Doctor Who’ novelizations of ‘The Romans’ and ‘The Chase’ at the ‘Carlisle Comic Con’. I was hoping to have a good time reading these ‘Doctor Who’ novelizations and find out how much more there is to them, being my favourite First Doctor era TV stories. 🙂

With ‘The Romans’ novelization, it wasn’t such a good reading time as I hoped it would be when I read it (and you can check out to understand why in my review of it via the link above). With ‘The Chase’ novelization however, it was a brilliant experience and very engaging as I read and heard the adventure.

Beforehand, at some point in 2011 – or was it 2012? – I purchased the audiobook of ‘The Chase’ Target novelization at a Waterstones in Bath whilst on a little holiday. The audiobook was a 5-disc CD set. I was looking forward to checking out the audiobook CD set whenever I got the chance to hear it. 🙂

It took me a while to get around to it, but thankfully in March 2020, I read and heard the Target novelization/audiobook of ‘The Chase’, read by Maureen O’Brien with the Dalek voices provided by Nicholas Briggs. ‘The Chase’ is definitely one of my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ stories from the TV series.

I know there are criticisms laid against this story for its corny and comedic moments and its rather outlandish approach to making the Daleks more comedic than threatening. But I love ‘The Chase’ for its inventive take on telling a story about the Daleks chasing the Doctor and his friends in Space and Time.

Does the Target novelization improve things regarding the Daleks being taken in a comedic fashion? Well, yes, it does. In many ways, the Target novelization reduces the Daleks being seen as comedic and have them more threatening whilst allowing some other elements during ‘The Chase’ to be comedic.

The Target novelization is by John Peel, based on the original TV scripts by Terry Nation. Once I knew John Peel was writing this Target novelization of ‘Doctor Who’, I knew I was going to have a good time. In 2017, I read and heard the two Target novelizations of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’ by John Peel. 🙂

John Peel was a friend to Terry Nation when he wrote the Target novelizations of ‘Doctor Who’ based on the scripts for ‘The Chase’ and ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. John Peel has also written two Dalek adventures for the BBC Books range, including ‘War of the Daleks’ and ‘Legacy of the Daleks’. 🙂

So, John Peel is no stranger when it comes to tackling Daleks in book form. And he writes for them exceedingly well in this Target novelization of ‘Doctor Who’. I was keen to find out how John Peel would translate ‘The Chase’ into book form and what he would do to make the story feel compelling.

The book is divided into 14 chapters with an author’s note attached to the start. It’s interesting that in the author’s note, John Peel states he based the novelization on the original TV scripts by Terry Nation than what’s seen in the TV story. For a while, I thought that it was the TV story I was reading.

I mean, it seemed to be like that with most of the dialogue said by the characters in the novelization echoing what was in the TV story. Trust me, I’ve seen ‘The Chase’ more than once to know what the lines said are. But when it comes to the story’s climax, there are some differences between the book and the TV version.

As I’ve established, Maureen O’Brien is the reader of the audiobook for ‘The Chase’ novelization. Maureen of course played Vicki in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series. It was lovely to hear Maureen read this story and she’s got a very clear and eloquent voice when it comes to reading this adventure.

It’s fair she doesn’t do exact recreations for some of the characters’ voices like the Doctor, compared to Peter Purves’ brilliant voice for him in the audios. But she does get the tone for the characters’ voices like the Doctor, Ian and Barbara when they interact with Vicki, as she’s worked with the actors.

Just to point out, I have met Maureen O’Brien in real life once at the ‘Dimensions 2015’ convention in Newcastle in October 2015. It was a very brief meeting, but it was nice to meet and speak to Maureen in that moment. It would be nice to meet Maureen again and have a proper chat with her.

It was superb to hear Nicholas Briggs voice the Daleks in ‘The Chase’ audiobook. Nick Briggs does wonders with the Daleks whether it’s on TV or on audio. I like how Nick makes the Daleks sound menacing in the audiobook compared to the TV version of ‘The Chase’ and they do sound almost new TV series-like.

I was disappointed that the Mechanoids weren’t voiced by Nick Briggs in the audiobook compared to when he voiced them in ‘The Juggernauts’ with Colin Baker. Here, they’re voiced by Maureen O’Brien. Then again, their incomprehensible dialogue as in the TV story of ‘The Chase’ isn’t included.

That in itself might be a good thing as well as a bad thing. On the plus side, it means we don’t have to cope with not understanding what the Mechanoids are saying when they speak in a computer language. The downside to that is the novelization and audiobook makes them less memorable and less interesting.

Anyway, let’s talk about what’s different in the Target novelization compared to the TV story. In Chapter 1 of the story, there’s more dedication given to the Daleks who are about to hunt down the Doctor and his friends in Space and Time. There’s even the appearance of the Black Dalek in greater detail. 🙂

In the Target novelization, the Daleks seem to be more aware of the Doctor being able to change his appearance. It’s intriguing that seems to be the case in the Target novelization, which was published in 1989 compared to the TV story being shown in 1965 where the notion of regeneration hadn’t been introduced.

John Peel includes Dalek characters from his other Dalek stories like the Dalek Prime, who appeared in ‘War of the Daleks’. He would later include the Dalek Prime in ‘The Mutation of Time’ (the second novelization of ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’) before it became the Dalek Emperor in John Peel’s novelization of ‘The Evil of the Daleks’. 🙂

Unlike the TV story, the Dalek use hoverbouts or flying disks to fly about the Aridian desert, also called the Sagaro Desert. I imagine that was included in the original TV scripts for ‘The Chase’ by Terry Nation. It would have been expensive to do, but it does echo the Dalek stories in the 1960s comics and annuals.

There’s a scene featured in the Target novelization where the Aridian Elders are confronted by the Daleks and are forced to co-operate with them. This is a new scene featured in the Target novelization and it wasn’t included in the TV story. It’s amazing to read and hear it here in the novelization. 🙂

There are certain comedic moments with the Daleks omitted in the novelization from the TV story. This includes one Dalek saying “Yes!” a lot to its commander when it’s being given orders and not doing them (One of my favourite moments. 😀 ). There’s also the stuttering Dalek not included in the novelization.

An intriguing aspect about the novelization is that it mentions the Daleks’ time machines being powered by taranium. This was something of a driving plot element in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. I like how the Target novelization echoes what’s to come in the following Dalek story compared to TV.

The character of Morton Dill is given more background in the Target novelization of this story compared to the TV version. It’s pointed out that Morton is clumsy and is always speaking without thinking. He’s also not the sort of person many people wish to know, and he gets the nickname ‘Dill the Pill’.

I felt sad for Morton when it turned out his encounter with the TARDIS team of the First Doctor and his friends as well as the Dalek from its time machine caused him to be locked up in the Newman Rehabilitation Clinic in 1967. And he becomes a permanent resident there. That’s really harsh that. 😦

It’s amusing that the Dalek that Morton Dill met decided not to kill him because it considered him a fate far worse for the human race to contend with. I don’t know whether that’s a lame reason for the Dalek not to have killed someone, but it does make them very intriguing than just cold-blooded killers.

There’s more given about the Mary Celeste and its crew where they’re all named. John Peel even did his research into the Mary Celeste, from studying a history textbook, I believe, in order to get the historical facts about the Mary Celeste right. He even had one of the Daleks kill one of the crew here.

This is different compared to the TV story where all of the crew members simply fled for their lives and jumped overboard. I like how Ian and Barbara discuss the matter further about whether the deaths of the crew were because of them and whether they could’ve prevented it. Pretty insightful.

I don’t think the Frankenstein House of Horrors funfair sequence is any different in the novelization compared to the TV story, with it spread across two chapters. Mind you, the strange Grey Lady, as played by Roslyn De Winter in the TV story, doesn’t appear in the novelization. At least I didn’t hear her scream.

And I like that John Peel builds up on the reveal that the house of horrors is actually a tourist attraction rather than being a place created by the Doctor and his friends in another reality or something. It was how it was done in the TV story and it’s done well without the TARDIS team realising it.

When the Doctor and his friends are caught by the Mechanoids and they meet Steven, he tells them about the history of Mechanus and how the humans decided to colonise the planet with the Mechanoids. He also makes mention of the Draconian Empire and the Third Dalek War in his exposition.

It’s amazing how John Peel is able to connect the future Dalek stories like ‘Frontier In Space’ involving the Draconian Empire to what happens with humanity at this point with the Mechanoids and Mechanus. It helps me with putting my Dalek timeline together. I’m sure John Peel’s got his own Dalek timeline. 😀

In the TV story, Steven had a stuffed panda mascot called HiFi. In the Target novelization however, HiFi doesn’t make an appearance. Not sure why that is, considering HiFi was the reason why Steven went back into the Mechanoid city when he helped the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki to escape the Daleks.

It does contradict things somewhat, as in the novelization for the next story – ‘The Time Meddler’ by Nigel Robinson – HiFi does make an appearance. Steven’s fate at the end of ‘The Chase’ is more heroic in the novelization compared to how it is in the TV story with him simply rescuing his panda HiFi.

Come to think of it, HiFi wasn’t really around much in the ‘Doctor Who’ TV series once Steven joined the TARDIS. I mean, did the production team of John Wiles and Donald Tosh not like HiFi and decided not to include him at all for their era of the show? It makes HiFi rather pointless when you think about it.

The battle between the Daleks and the Mechanoids is somewhat different in the novelization compared to the TV story. For one thing, the Dalek leader – the last surviving Dalek – self-destructs to end the battle between the Daleks and the Mechanoids. In the TV story, the two were evenly matched.

I also found the Dalek/Mechanoid battle underwhelming in the novelization compared to the TV version. This might have something to do with the fact that the Mechanoids don’t talk much and when they do, it’s in a more comprehensible language. Despite that, the writing of the battle is decent by John Peel.

Vicki’s fear of heights is different in the novelization compared to TV. In the TV version, Vicki is conscious and somewhat hysterical once she’s made to be pulled down on a cable from the height of the Mechanoid city to the jungle below. In the book, Vicki faints and goes unconscious whilst being pulled down.

The story’s conclusion is different in the novelization compared to the TV story. On TV, the Doctor is outraged about Ian and Barbara leaving and using the Daleks’ time machine. In the novelization, he’s calmer and subtly upset that Ian and Barbara are leaving, since he’s grown fond of them recently.

That version of the Doctor parting with Ian and Barbara in the novelization is better than the TV story’s version. It has the Doctor parting on good terms with Ian and Barbara rather than on bad ones in the TV series itself. It does emphasise how much Ian and Barbara mean to the Doctor as they leave. 🙂

It’s also pointed out that Ian and Barbara have been travelling with the Doctor for three years. Three years?! Wow! So, all the Big Finish audios and the BBC Book stories featuring Ian and Barbara with the First Doctor are justified to make their TARDIS travels long-lasting! And I thought it was all in a year. 😀

The Doctor also makes the conscious decision to send Ian and Barbara back in time to 1965 rather than 1963 in order to sync in with their timelines. Ian and Barbara’s return to London in 1965 is as joyous as in the TV version. The Doctor’s emotions at the story’s close are handled differently to TV.

‘The Chase’ Target novelization/audiobook is very good. I’m disappointed the Mechanoids aren’t voiced by Nicholas Briggs and they’re voiced by Maureen O’Brien, but on the whole, this is a very good Target novelization of a TV story that I love and John Peel does well with novelizing Terry Nation’s scripts.

It was great to read and hear more insight of the story and have extra scenes like Ian and Barbara’s reflection on the Mary Celeste as well as have the Doctor’s reaction to Ian and Barbara leaving be different in the book compared to the TV story. Maureen O’Brien reads the story very well in the audiobook and Nick Briggs’ Dalek voices are superb. 🙂

‘Doctor Who – The Chase’ rating – 9/10

---

The previous story For the First Doctor was ‘Daybreak’ (Audio) ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) For Ian was ‘Daybreak’ (Audio) ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) For Barbara was ‘Daybreak’ (Audio) ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) For Vicki was ‘Daybreak’ (Audio) For the Daleks was ‘The Space Museum’ (TV)	The next story For the First Doctor is ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) ‘The Time Meddler’ (TV) For Ian is ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) ‘The Time Travellers’ (Book) For Barbara is ‘Journey Out of Terror’ (TS) ‘The Time Travellers’ (Book) For Vicki is ‘The Time Meddler’ (TV) For Steven is ‘The Time Meddler’ (TV) For the Daleks is ‘Across the Darkened City’ (Audio)
Return to The First Doctor’s Timeline
Return to Ian’s Timeline
Return to Barbara’s Timeline
Return to Vicki’s Timeline
Return to Steven’s Timeline
Return to The Daleks’ Timeline
Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index
Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index
Return to The Monsters’ Timelines Index
Return to Doctor Who Timelines
Return to Doctor Who
Return to Sci-Fi