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.