36: The Evil of The Daleks - The Final End Of The Daleks?

Written by: David Whittaker.

Companions: The Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon.

Monsters/Villains: The Daleks.

Brief Synopsis: The Doctor and Jamie are taken to Victorian England, where the Daleks are experimenting with the 'Human Factor' in a bid to turn themselves into super-beings.

Rating: 6/10.

I have to apologise for my recent lack of blogs. I have been super busy with various other projects, but I am back with a vengeance to tell you all about The Evil of The Daleks and more to follow soon!!

We continue right where we left off with this one. London, July 20th 1966, Ben and Polly have departed and the Doctor and Jamie are in search of the TARDIS. They see a truck driving off carrying the TARDIS. They track a man named Bob Hall to a warehouse. They enter to find Hall knocked out and the Doctor finds a matchbook for a coffee bar called the Tri-Colour. Mr. Kennedy, who has been watching them, reports to Edward Waterfield at his Antique shop and we learn that the matches were left on purpose as a lure. Waterfield is dressed in full Victorian costume and has a few odd slip ups with the names of things, like when he calls a taxi, a handsome.

The Doctor and Jamie find the Tri-Colour. A Mr. Perry is waiting for them and passes on a message to meet at Waterfield's shop at 10. In the shop Kennedy has seen Waterfield talking to something or someone and decides to investigate. He breaks into Waterfield's study where he finds a hidden door. Inside he flicks some switches, there is a low hum, and an alien form begins to take shape behind him. He spins round in horror as a Dalek glides towards him.

Once again only a single episode, episode two of this story exists. "Who are you?" Questions the Dalek. A terrified Kennedy runs and is exterminated just before the dalek vanishes. The Doctor and Jamie enter the antique shop half an hour early. The pair notice that all of the antiques are brand new, but are not forgeries and deduce that they are in fact genuine. Jamie thinks Waterfield may be a time traveller. 

Edward Waterfield.

Waterfield discovers Kennedy's body and is angry at the murder but the Dalek commands him to follow his orders and abruptly leaves. The Doctor and Jamie find Perry and the three discover Kennedy's body. Perry goes for help. The Doctor examines Kennedy and finds a torn picture of himself in Kennedy’s hand. They discover the hidden room and find a chest containing the other half of the picture, Jamie opens the trap and the pair are gassed and pass out. Waterfield re-enters and activates the time machine.

Mollie Dawson.

The Doctor awakes in an ornate room of a house and a maid, Mollie Dawson brings him some water. Jamie is still asleep. They are in a house belonging to a Mr. Maxtible. The Doctor is asking the date and location when Maxtible and Waterfield enter and inform the Doctor that he is in Canterbury and the date is 2nd June 1866. Maxtible tells the Doctor about their commanders, and that they hold Waterfield’s daughter, Victoria.

Theodore Maxtible. What a beard!!

Victoria Waterfield is being held in a cell. A Dalek enters and commands her to eat the food she is given and not to use it to feed the flying pests outside. It orders her to a weighing machine and the Dalek tells her that she has lost weight. There's something rather hilarious about this.

"Vic-tor-ia, you-need-to-eat-some-more-pies-if-you-are
going-to-grow-up-big-and-strong!! 

In his laboratory Maxtible tells the Doctor of his interest in time traveling and explains how they have used mirrors and Faraday's static electricity to create a time machine when a Dalek emerges. The Daleks have the TARDIS and they want the Doctor to help them with an experiment on a human subject, Jamie. The Dalek explains that too often they are defeated by humans and they want to transplant the 'Human Factor' into themselves to make them supreme beings. They have brought three inactive Daleks from Skaro that they demand the Doctor endows with the 'Human Factor.' They want to test Jamie because he is human and has traveled through time, making him unique. They don't want the Doctor because he is not human. The Dalek demands that Jamie not be aware he is being tested. The test: Jamie must attempt to rescue Victoria.

Jamie awakes and Mollie the maid brings him something to drink. Jamie demands that she call him Jamie and not sir and she appreciates his courtesy. Ruth Maxtible, Theodore's sister comes in and Jamie comments that the painting of Mrs Waterfield is beautiful, which is made particularly comical considering the fact that it is hideous. Jamie is briefly kidnapped by a man named Toby. Not exactly sure why to be perfectly honest.

Toby. I wonder if he knows what's going on?

Maxtible brings in Kemel, a giant strong, mute Turk and orders him to stop Jamie at all costs. Another member of the household Arthur Terrall, Ruth Maxtible's fiancee is acting very strangely. We learn that he was behind Jamie's somewhat random abduction. Mollie says Terrall is kind, but he fought in the Crimea and is sometimes inconstant. The Doctor comes in and give us a little history lesson about the war where the English, the French and Turks fought the Russians and recalls watching the Charge of the Light Brigade, commenting, "magnificent folly."

Arthur Terrall.

Then something rather uncharacteristic happens, Jamie and the Doctor have an argument. Jamie thinks everyone's lying to him and the Doctor uses reverse phycology to manipulate Jamie into trying to rescue Victoria and Waterfield drops the hint of her location in the south wing of the house.

That night, Mollie helps Jamie by getting him a map of the house, and shows him the way to the south wing. The Daleks are recording Jamie's reactions, and will transport them to thought patterns, so the Doctor can then select the major feelings to make up the Human Factor. Toby, the man Terrall hired to seize Jamie sees a Dalek. He runs but the Dalek exterminates him. Hearing the scream, Jamie sends Mollie back to her room and continues alone. As he makes his way through the haunted house with only a candle to light his way some wax drips on to his hands. As he recoils spikes fall from the ceiling only just missing him. Then Kemel appears menacing over him.

Kemel The Turk.

Jamie and Kemel fight, but Jamie escapes and hides in a nearby room. Kemel breaks in and launches himself at Jamie. Jamie dodges and Kemel flies straight out of a window. He hangs from the guttering, but Jamie finds some useful rope (which will come in handy later as well) and throws it to Kemel, helping him to safety. Jamie goes on, with a truce understood with Kemel. They enter the room where Victoria was being held and Jamie picks up a handkerchief. Kemel pushes Jamie to the ground. Just as Jamie looks around he sees an axe burst out of the wall and realises that Kemel has saved him. The Doctor and the Daleks are watching Jamie's progress. The Doctor notes Jamie's courage and mercy.

Waterfield finds the dead Toby. Maxtible orders Waterfield under protest to despose of the body. Waterfield admits that his only purpose is to see his daughter out of the hands of the Daleks, and that afterwards he will confess his part in this. Waterfield and Maxtible dispose of Toby's body and as Waterfield leaves, Maxtible raises his pistol intending to shoot him in the back, but is stopped by Terrall.

Kemel is mute but introduces himself to Jamie by writing his name in some dust. He tries to bow to Jamie but again he doesn't require the formal manner. The pair agree to find Victoria together. Jamie accidentally presses a button and a pendulum slices down above them as they duck. "Instinct," notes the Doctor. Jamie and Kemel enter a banqueting hall where they witness two Daleks inspecting Victoria. Kemel picks up a mace, and intimates that he will attack the Daleks and draw them off while Jamie rescues Victoria, but Jamie won't let him pursue the suicide mission. "Self-preservation," records the Doctor.

Maxtible approches a Dalek saying he has done all he has been asked and now he wants them to tell him their secret. Maxtible wants to learn the secret of alchemy; how to turn metal into gold. He wants power and influence and infinite wealth; that is why he is helping the Daleks.

Only one Dalek is left guarding Victoria. Kemel throws the mace into the corner to divert the Dalek and they use their trusty rope to catapult the Dalek into the huge stone fireplace. They then use the handy rope to climb up to the gallery where Victoria is being held but the rail that the rope is tied around begins to break. Jamie grabs Kemel's hand and once again helps him to safety. Just then a Dalek enters the banqueting hall and the doors on the gallery open to reveal another Dalek waiting for them.

Here's a pro tip: if you're travelling in the TARDIS or facing Daleks,
bring a rope! You'll need it... 

Victoria is behind the Dalek and once more Jamie and Kemel use their multifunctional rope this time as a lasso sending the Dalek crashing off the gallery. They enter the room and barricade the door from inside. Jamie wonders who helped the Daleks to control Victoria. Meanwhile Maxtible is hypnotising Mollie. He commands her to think that what she has seen is nothing but a dream. We learn that Maxtible persuaded Victoria to go to the Daleks using the same technique. Waterfield finds the Doctor working on the Human Factor. He makes a positronic brain containing: courage, pity, chivalry, friendship, and compassion which he will implant into the three dormant Daleks.

Ruth Maxtible.

Maxtible orders Terrall to slip into the barricaded room via a secret passage and grab Victoria. Jamie finds the secret door, and Kemel and he split up to find Victoria. Jamie steps out into the room with Terrall, who goes at him with a sword. Jamie grabs a sword and they fight but the Highland warrior and the Crimean Soldier are evenly matched. Terrall is taller, but Jamie is younger and stronger and gets the better of him. Ruth and Mollie enter and Terrall collapses. The Doctor enters and finds a control unit in Terrall's pocket, he deactivates it and orders Ruth to take him as far away as possible.

Jamie is not a happy Scottie!

Kemel comes out of the secret tunnel and finds Victoria on the ground in front of the gothic time cabinet when a Dalek enters and orders Kemel to pick up Victoria and to move into the cabinet. Jamie is angry at the Doctor for making light of the situation and challenges his regard for life. I really like that throughout this story Jamie isn't just going along with everything, even in dire circumstances he still questions the Doctor's sometimes apparently inhuman actions. Just at the hight of Jamie's mistrust, three Daleks emerge, and the Doctor says they are friends. They're from the experiment. The Daleks practically force the Doctor into a chair and begin to push him around the room. After a short while the Doctor realises that they're playing a game, and taking him for a ride.

The Doctor, Jamie and their Dalek Friends!!

They're playing trains and they all start to speak, saying: "trains," "Dizzy Doctor," and "Friends." The Doctor then gives them names and marks their letter on each, Alpha, Beta, & Omega. The Daleks say they must go, as they are being called home to Skaro.

Maxtible discovers a box attached to the floor, he opens it and sees a timing device. Waterfield works out that Maxtible is to blame for everything and the two fight. A Dalek demands that Maxtible brings the Doctor, and reveals that the box is a bomb that will destroy the house. Maxtible escapes into the cabinet. The Doctor says they must follow the Daleks to Skaro. They pull out the parts of the time machine and the Doctor tries to set the controls allowing Waterfield, Jamie and the Doctor to escape just as the Dalek bomb destroys the empty house.

Victoria Waterfield: It's all about her!!

Victoria awakes to discover that she has been imprisoned again this time with Kemel and Maxtible. Meanwhile the Doctor, Jamie and Waterfield have been transported to the desert of Skaro and traverse the treacherous route into the city. The human factor Dalek Omega meets a black Dalek and explains the Doctor gave it it's name. The Doctor and co come out of a vent and are surrounded by Daleks who take them to the control room for an audience with the Emperor Dalek. The Doctor imposes that the the day of the daleks is coming to the end and the three daleks with the human factor will question and there will be a rebellion.

The Emperor reveals that they only wanted the Doctor to decipher the 'Human Factor' so they could grasp the Dalek factor and show the Daleks what their power is: to obey, to fight, to destroy, to exterminate. The Emperor also unveils the TARDIS and demands that the Doctor will take the Dalek factor and spread it through the entire history of Earth.

Maxtible, Kemel and Victoria are joined in the cell by the Doctor, Jamie and Waterfield. The Doctor says there is nothing that could make him do what the Daleks are demanding of him. He just wants the rest of the group to be safe and even suggests that he might try and take them to his own planet.

The Doctor's not sure what to do,
so he plays his recorder.

Meanwhile a black Dalek commands that work be discontinued when a Dalek questions, why? A Dalek shows Maxtible a machine that turns iron into gold tricking Maxtible to walk through an archway which instills him with the Dalek Factor. Later Maxtible comes into the cell and hypnotises the Doctor into walking through the archway. The Doctor passes through the archway and pretends to follow Maxtible's commands, even reprimanding Jamie. Maxtible leaves the Doctor, who returns to the archway where he makes a few changes, alternating a part for one from his pocket.

A black Dalek takes Maxtible and the Doctor to see the Emperor. The Doctor suggests that all daleks need to pass through the archway to deal with the problem of the three experimental Humanised Daleks. The Emperor agrees and thanks to the Doctor's tinkering as each Dalek passes through the archway it is endowed with the human factor.

The Doctor explains to Jamie that the archway didn't affect him as he is not human. All of the Daleks begin to question their orders, causing a black Dalek to fire at the disobeying Dalek. Two humanised daleks fire on the black Dalek, exterminating it.

Some rather hilarious shots of Dalek toys used for filming the final sequence.

The Doctor leads the humanised Daleks to the Emperor and persuades them to destroy it. The Emperor calls out his black Daleks to counteract the humanised ones. Waterfield takes a Dalek blast meant for the Doctor, admitting the Doctor's is "a good life to save." The Doctor promises to look after Victoria and Waterfield dies at peace.

The two Dalek factions battle it out while Victoria, Kemel and Jamie make their escape. Maxtible attacks Kemel, the dalek factor has given him inhuman strength. Kemel fights off Maxtible allowing the others to escape but Maxtible throws him into a chasm. The Emperor is destroyed by the humanised daleks, while Maxtible runs into the Emperors room as it burns down, screaming, "The Daleks will live forever!" He was not wrong...

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria escape to the TARDIS. Jamie asks what Victoria will do and the Doctor says she is coming with us, and once again the TARDIS crew is three. He looks back just once as the Dalek city burns, pronouncing, "This is the final end [of the Daleks]."

And originally The Evil of The Daleks was planned to be the end of those unsavoury pepper-pots; their last appearance in Doctor Who. Terry Nation was trying to sell the Daleks to American television and this story was intended to give them a big send off from the series. Of course, despite the Doctor's pronouncement, this was not to be his last encounter with these most famous of his adversaries. And at the last moment before filming the final scene producer Innes Lloyd inserted a light globe inside the Emperor Dalek. This glowed as the Emperor was destroyed, suggesting that something within remained alive.


The Evil of the Daleks contains some wonderful stuff. The first appearance of the Emperor Dalek, time travel with mirrors, some hilarious moments of Daleks playing and the introduction of a new companion in Victoria. This story suffers from too much padding. At the heart of the piece is a good rollocking adventure especially when you think it's written by David Whittaker who gave us the proper barmy Edge of Destruction. There are some brilliant ideas, it's just a shame it's so ruddy long. 


And thus ends Season 4. It's been a pretty mad one. We saw the introduction of the Cybermen. We saw Hartnell transform into Troughton. We gained a companion, lost two and then gained another. We met the Cybermen twice, the Daleks twice, mad old Zaroff and the fish people of Atlantis, the giant crab-like Macra, and the formless Chameleons. We were able to watch only 10 existing episodes of the total 43. That's 33 missing episodes. My favourite story from season 4 was Troughton's introduction The Power Of The Daleks. I honestly couldn't pick a least favourite. I really liked them all, which clearly shows how good a season this has been. Out of a possible 90 I scored this season 62.5/90. Giving it a high average score of 69/100 and winning it the top spot so far, beating season 1 by just three points.

I'm very excited about the next episode. It's Troughton's first episode that exists in it's entirety and we see the return of some classic monsters. Join me next time for The Tomb of The Cybermen.

35: The Faceless Ones - Not The Best Departure For Ben & Polly & Eee By-By-By Gum Is It Long!!

Written By: David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke.

Companions: The Doctor, Ben Jackson, Polly, Jamie McCrimmon.

Monsters/Villains: Chameleons.

Brief Synopsis: The TARDIS lands on a runway at Gatwick Airport. Many youngsters are going missing, and it's all something to do with Chameleon Tours.

Rating: 7/10.

On the back of The Macra Terror, this is more like it! The TARDIS tumultuously materialises on a runway at Gatwick airport. The location shooting in The Faceless Ones gives it a real grandness. It's a shame Ben and Polly don't get much to do in their last story, but nonetheless it boasts an entertaining plot. 

Jamie is terrified as he sees an aeroplane (or airplane for my American readers) for the first time and quakes at the flying beasty. The police show up and the TARDIS foursome scatter. The TARDIS is removed. Polly ends up in a hanger belonging to Chameleon Tours (CT), where she witnesses a man dressed as a pilot, shoot and kill a man using a ray gun. The pilot, Spencer catches sight of Polly as she flees the scene; he levels his weapon at her but thinks better of it when he sees two motorcycle policeman. Polly manages to find Jamie and the Doctor hiding amidst a planes landing gear.

Donal Pickering as Captain Blade.

Spencers superior Captain Blade examines the dead man discovering that he was a Detective Inspector Gascoigne. Polly takes the Doctor and Jamie to the hanger and they examine the body. The Doctor deduces that the man was electrocuted by a gun not yet developed on this planet. Blade comments that no one will believe the Doctor, but they need Polly as she could identify Spencer. They grab her and disable her as she leaves but the Doctor and Jamie don't notice. The Doctor and Jamie go back for Polly, but she's nowhere to be seen, so they head off to seek out the authorities to tell them what has happened. They pass through the airport and proceed to immigration. To be met by Jenkins. "It's Andred!" Is my inicial reaction as I recognise Christopher Tranchell who will go on to play the rather more memorable role of Head of the Chancellery Guard, aside Tom Baker in The Invasion of Time. They try to report their news but Jenkins is more interested in their passports or lack thereof and contacts the airport Commandant.

"Excuse me, aren't I going to see you some time later?"
Christopher Tranchell as Jenkins.

Ben also wonders into the Chameleon Tours hanger, where he meets Captain Blade. He tries to find a way out and lies, saying he started working at the airport that day, which just manages to let him escape. Meanwhile the Doctor has taken the Commandant to the CT hanger, but the body has been moved. The Doctor finds an un-franked spanish stamp and Jamie spots a scorch mark on the wall. They are about to look for the body in a packing crate, when Captain Blade enters. He allows them to open the crate but all they find are plastic cups. Captain Blade decides that there is room for Polly on the next flight. As the Doctor, Jamie and the Commandant are passing immigration Polly is getting on the flight. She doesn't recognise the Doctor or Jamie or even her own name. Along with Spencer, Blade prepares a needle, opens a sort of fridge and injects a alien arm. The two help the being out of the hanger and escort it into the x-ray room in the medical bay in the terminal. They help it on to a couch and we see that it is clearly not of this earth.

Meadows, an air traffic controller is lying on an adjacent couch. Nurse Pinto arrives and they equip a black arm band onto Meadows and a white arm band on to the alien. Polly is claiming to be a Micha Lopey from Zurich. The Commandant is growing weary of the Doctor's excuses and we get a Troughton staple as he tells Jamie: "When I say run, run. Run!" Classic stuff. Ben manages to find the Doctor and Jamie. Back in the medical bay the alien gradually takes on Meadows' physical appearance. Nurse Pinto checks the new Meadows. Blade adjusts switches on the new meadows arm band and seems to test and adjust his eye-sight and speech, then his smell and taste and finally he questions Meadows knowledge of his own identity.

Ben spots Polly working at the Chameleon Tours Kiosk. The Doctor tries to jog her memory and she slips up by mentioning that she doesn't remember seeing someone shot; something the Doctor hadn't mentioned. Blade calls Polly in to his office and informs her that she has failed her mission, and will be leaving on the next flight, back to base.

The wonderful Bernard Kay as Detective Inspector Crossland.

In the flight control centre the new Meadows goes back to work and Detective Inspector Crossland of Scotland Yard arrives. He has come to investigate a group of missing persons who all flew with Chameleon Tours and is meant to be meeting his friend D.I. Gascoigne.

Hiding in a passport photo booth.

The Doctor, Ben and Jamie are still on the loose and hide in a passport photo machine, where they make a plan. Ben will examine the hanger, Jamie will keep an eye on Polly at the Chameleon Tours kiosk, and the Doctor will go to see the Commandant.

Pauline Collins as Samantha Briggs.

We then meet the companion that never was: Samantha Briggs. She has travelled from Liverpool to investigate the disappearance of her brother Brian. At the CT kiosk, she speaks to Polly and produces a postcard from Brian in Rome, where he supposedly never arrived and there has been no sign of him. Blade is absent so Samantha agrees to wait and sits down next to Jamie. 

Blade returns and instructs Polly to get rid of Samantha and to close the kiosk and get on the next flight. Polly tells Samantha, her brother got on the flight to Rome, but what he did when he got there, they dont know. In the hanger, Ben finds some new packing cases, opens one, and finds Polly inside. He tries to call the Commandant, but the phone is dead.

Ben finds Polly in a packing crate. Best present ever!

Jamie introduces Samantha to the Doctor, who investigates the unmanned kiosk and finds post cards and various unfranked international stamps. The Doctor plays with a model aeroplane and the camera on the screen changes. He sees, the kiosk, the medical room and then the hanger, where Ben is attacked by Spencer with a pen shaped device.

Crossland questions Jenkins the immigration officer, who tells him about the Doctor and Jamie, and their story about the body in the hanger. Anne, a stewardess from CT gives out postcards to the young passengers for the flight to Zurich. She explains that they can write to their parents and then CT will post the cards for them when they arrive in Switzerland. Then Crossland shows up and wants to speak to Jamie.

Victor Winding as Spencer.

In the hanger the Doctor finds and pockets Spencer's pen device and opens a packing crate and to discover the real Meadows. The Doctor hears a voice saying, "somebody please help me, I'm suffocating." It sounds as if it is coming from inside the office, the Doctor goes to investigate. Once inside, we discover that it is actually a loud speaker. A panel closes over the speaker and the door, trapping the Doctor inside. A small vent opens in the wall, icy vapour emerges and the Doctor instantly begins to freeze.

The Doctor cleverly blocks the vent and covers the camera watching him forcing Spencer into the room. Pretending to freeze, the Doctor uses Spencers device against him knocking him out. The Doctor comes across Jamie and Samantha who are talking to Crossland and identifies the dead man in the hanger as Gascoigne. Samantha guilts Jamie into coming with her to examine the hanger.

George Selway as Meadows.

Captain Blade is leaving for Zurich, whilst Spencer will remain and must kill the Doctor. In the air traffic control room the Doctor tells Crossland and the Commandant about seeing Meadows, and notices that the same man in the room. The Doctor reveals that he believes Chameleon Tours to be a front for the mass kidnapping of young people and demonstrates Spencers pen-weapon which turns a cup into ice. Seeing this "Meadows" runs off. Jamie and Samantha burst into the control room and show the assembled congregation some postcards pre-written by passengers found in the CT hanger. With all this evidence the commandant agrees to give the Doctor free roam of the airport for twelve hours to solve the mystery. Meadows and Spencer plot to take care of the Doctor. Meadows covertly attaches a small device to the back of the Doctors coat.

In the CT hanger the Doctor can't find any evidence of the ice vent or the hatch over the door. He hunts for and finds the secret entrance in the hanger office, but the door closes behind him. He sees the first aid room on a monitor and decides to head there, but Spencer activates the device and the Doctor falls to the ground clutching his back, immobile.

Meanwhile Crossland asks Spencer at the Kiosk to speak to Blade. He boards the departing CT plane and is invited to the cockpit to question Blade. In the cockpit Blade draws the laser gun and admits to having used it to kill Gascoigne. Blade comments that Crossland is a fine example of a human, and may be suitable for the controller himself. Whilst in the air, Blade reveals the secret of Chameleon Tours: he turns a dial in the cockpit and as Crossland watches on the monitor all the passengers aboard vanish.

Back in the hanger, Samantha runs in and Jamie attacks Spencer from behind, but he has another freezer pen and knocks out both Jamie and Samantha, laying them next to the Doctor. He is about to shoot them with the laser but has a better idea, he takes out a portable laser beam projector and in a classic badly-thought-out-villain move, leaves the trio to their fate. The Doctor awakes but finds himself paralysed. The laser beam moves closer to the three captives. Samantha and Jamie awake but they cannot move either.

The beam is moving closer toward them and Samantha discovers that she can move an arm. The Doctor instructs her to hand her compact mirror to Jamie, who uses it to reflect the beam back to the projector, destroying it. Conveniently just as the trouble is averted the three regain physical control of themselves. They decide to split up; Samantha goes to the kiosk to keep an eye out for Spencer, and the Doctor and Jamie make for the first aid post.

Jamie is pretending to be injured as the Doctor helps him into the first aid room. The Chameleon, Nurse Pinto has been working on another raw state Chameleon conversion, this time it's Jenkins, the immigration officer. The "Nurse" refuses the Doctor entrance to the other room in the medical centre.

Colin Gordon as the Commandant.

In the control room, the commandants aide, Jean rock receives a call from Athens, and we  learn that CT never deliver any passengers. The commandant also informs the Doctor, that Crossland who had gone to investigate CT has also now vanished. The Commandant plans to have the next CT plane followed by the R.A.F. At the kiosk Samantha has bought a ticket on the next CT flight to Rome, £28. We would think that's cheap but Jamie has never seen so much money in his life. In a sadly uncharacteristic moment Jamie kisses Samantha and during the distraction he removes the ticket from her bag and keeps it.

The Doctor makes a plan with Jean to get Nurse Pinto out fo the medical centre, so he can  have a look around. Jean pretends to faint and the Commandant calls for Nurse Pinto. Instantaneously, the Doctor enters the medical bay and heads for the x-ray room. Inside he  examines the transfer equipment and finds some hidden switches which open a door behind him revealing the real nurse pinto. He flips the switch again, closing the door, having seen nothing. Chameleon Jenkins arrives. The Doctor pockets a black and a white arm band. Jenkins is about to shoot when a passenger enters. The Doctor fobs the patient off on Jenkins and quickly leaves.

At the kiosk, passengers are boarding the CT flight to Rome. Samantha can't find her ticket. Spencer watches her on a monitor. Jamie is already aboard posing as S. Briggs. Samantha is nearly turned away when Spencer calls through, saying that someone has found her ticket. She goes through to see Spencer and he draws a laser gun on her.

A plane.

Aboard the flight, Jamie who is terrified, runs to the back of the cabin to be sick. Chameleon stewardess Anne seals the passenger cabin and vanishes the passengers. Blade notices the R.A.F fighter plane following them and shoots a beam of light at the pilots head forcing the plane to lose control. In Air Traffic Control they see on the radar that the Chameleon plane is impossibly still. The Doctor correctly deduces that the plane is not falling but rising upwards into space. In the air the plane transforms from a passenger carrier in to a rocket that bares a very close resemblance to a passenger carrier and it rendezvous with a vast conical shaped satellite, two doors open and the plane enters.

A rocket. Hmmm?

At this point I can't help but think that no one seems to be the slightest bit worried where Ben and Polly have gone. We haven't seen them or mentioned them since episode two! And, the Commandant still doesn't believe what is happening. He is the ultimate in stubborn.

A raw state Chameleon.

Blade and Anne who is carrying a metal container exit the plane. Jamie comes out from hiding, he goes to follow them, but ducks when two Chameleons come aboard and begin to remove the hand luggage of the vanished passengers. He manages to slip out of the plane. Jamie hides in a stock room where Anne is transferring the contents of her metal container into a draw. When she leaves he examines one of the many draws and finds six miniaturised people. Anne re-enters the room with a laser gun. Two raw state Chameleons enter and take Jamie away.

Back on earth they have found the remains of the RAF plane, and learned that the pilot was electrocuted. Meadows returns to his post and the Doctor questions him about the arm bands. Frightened, Meadows makes for the door but Jean throws a chair in front of him and two technicians restrain him. The Doctor threatens to turn the switches on his arm band and Meadows reveals that the planes are taking the passengers to a satellite 150 miles up in to space. The young people are being abducted as the Chameleons suffered a catastrophe on their planet, a gigantic explosion, and they are loosing their identities. Their people are dying out so their scientists produced a process to take on the physical characteristics of another being. They plan to abduct 50 thousand people from earth. The passengers are miniaturised in flight and the originals, are stored somewhere on the airport. Meadows refuses to reveal that location saying that Nurse Pinto is the only one who knows where their originals are kept.

Along with two policemen they go to the medical centre, where Pinto is strapping Samantha to a bed. Pinto is forced to pull up her sleeve and they confiscate her ice pen. The Doctor frees Samantha and Meadows tells them where to find Pintos original. Chameleon Pinto produces a hidden ray gun which she uses to kill the policeman. She aims at Meadows, but he presses a button on her arm band and the Chameleon Pinto dissolves into a blob of goo. The real Pinto starts to awake and they remove her arm band. Sam worries where Jamie is, but I keep thinking what about Ben and Polly?!

On the satellite Jamie is tied to a chair, when Crossland comes in. He sets about freeing Jamie and reveals that the food on the plane is part of the miniaturisation process and that it didn't work on Jamie because he was sick. Crossland tries to found out everything that Jamie knows until he reveals that he is in fact the Chameleon Director.

In the medical bay the Doctor found all of the personelle files of the airport staff that have been taken over. The Commandant wants to arrest the people but the Doctor wants to get on the next flight, which is set to be the last in CT Tours season. The Doctor will pretend to be the Chameleon Meadows shifted into his form. The Commandant will search for the originals. The real Pinto joins the Doctor and pretends to be a Chameleon too. They pass Blade's inspection and board the flight bound for the satellite. Blade tells the Chameleon passengers to report to the accommodation centre for instructions.

In a conversion suit the Director is adjusting the arm band on a new duplicate Jamie, when Blade enters announcing that he knows that the Doctor and Pinto are impostors and that he wants to kill them. The Chameleon Jamie (who has lost his Scottish accent) reveals that the Doctor is not of this Earth or this century, that he has travelled through time and space, and his knowledge is even greater than theirs. The Director wants to turn the Doctor into a Chameleon. 

The Doctor and Pinto meet Blade and try to run but are surrounded by Chameleons. The Doctor wants to plead for the lives of the humans and points out that some of the Chameleons originals are on the satellite and some are at Gatwick. Blade contacts Gatwick air control and speaks to the Commandant, who falsely confirms that they have found the originals. Sam and Jean have a eureka moment when they discover that CT have lots of buses. Jean and Sam are looking at license plates, when the escaped Meadows launches himself at Samantha. The pair manage to restrain Meadows, and Samantha spots Jenkins and all the other originals sitting, motionless in cars.

Blade tells the Director that the Doctor was bluffing that they had found the originals. The Commandant tries to contact the Chameleons informing them that they have found the originals but they ignore him. The Commandant's team lay out the bodies, and remove Jenkins arm band, dissolving his Chameleon counterpart to prove their discovery.

So that's where the originals were.

Blade wants to insure his safety and the safety of his original and draws his gun on the Director and orders 'Jamie' to contact Gatwick; Spencer backs him up. 

Chameleon Blade, Jamie and the Director/Crossland.

The Doctor asks them to free Pinto and says he will guarantee their continued existence if they return all the miniaturised young people. The Director lies saying that the equipment required to reverse the procedure is on their home planet. Blade outs him saying the planes carry the miniaturisation equipment and asks what kind of continued existence the Doctor is promising. The Doctor says it will be in their former state, but Blade and Spencer accept, as this option is better than death. The Director and 'Jamie' try to run but Blade fires killing them. The Doctor relays the good news to the Commandant

Spencer takes the Doctor to the real Jamie, and Crossland but we still don't see Ben or Polly, but hear that they are apparently okay as well. The humans are boarded onto the planes and returned home. Back at Gatwick, The Commandant ensures the TARDIS is returned to the Doctor. 

Jamie says goodbye to Samantha and they share a goodbye kiss. Samantha Briggs was intended to be a new companion but Pauline Collins turned down the role. It was probably a good decision as she ended up with a very impressive career; she even returned to Doctor Who as Queen Victoria in the David Tennant story Tooth and Claw. She is probably best known for the titular role in the movie Shirley Valentine.

Pauline Collins as Queen Victoria in Tooth and Claw.

The Doctor, and finally Ben and Polly are chauffeured to a hanger, where they are joined by Jamie. 

Polly and Ben want to stay in London for a bit, where there are no monsters or Cybermen. Where it's normal. Jamie wants to go to a civilised place like 1750. Polly and Ben are back, it's 20th July 1966 when they left. The Doctor can see they want to go. Ben touchingly says, "We won't leave, Doctor, if you really need us." Polly says, "It is our world." To which the Doctor adds "You're lucky. I never got back to mine." And with those few words it's another tiny little step towards discovering the answer to the ultimate question, Who is the Doctor? But it'll be the end of Troughton's tenure before we really learn anything more substancial. 

Goodbye Ben and Polly, I'm genuinely sad to see you go...

The Doctor wishes them both well and in a rather sexist way says, "Ben can catch his ship and become an Admiral and Polly can look after Ben." Ben and Polly walk out of the hanger and the Doctor's life forever. And with that the Doctor says to Jamie, "We've got things to do. We've lost the TARDIS."

And then there were two.

I really enjoyed The Faceless Ones regardless of all the missing episodes but Eee by - by - by gum it was long! A good thing that has come out of my pilgrimage thus far is that, although I still feel with the new series the episodes are sometimes not long enough to establish character or plot, after watching the likes of The Faceless Ones I have a new found respect for their brevity.

Join me next time for The Evil of The Daleks. In Which the Daleks, do something evil...