Doctor Who, season 4 continues …

The Power of the Daleks really kicks in with the final four episodes, and we get an adventure of rebels vs the colonists with both sides trying to use the Daleks whilst the Daleks bide their time, ready to take over when the dust settles.

It’s let down a little bit by the ending (shades of the mass death of the Cybermen in the previous story there), but there’s plenty there to keep up the interest.

As the adventure kicks in, there’s less mention of the regeneration or the previous incarnation of the Doctor.  Michael Craze is absent from episode 5, leaving you asking what he’s doing in the meantime.  Apparently, Anneke Wills was missing from episode 4 but it’s far less noticeable.  Ben is such an active and volatile character that you notice him when he’s missing.  Polly is rarely given anything to do, so you don’t really notice when she’s not there.

The episode ends with the Doctor giving Ben a quick explanation of how he defeated the Daleks.  I watched the first few minutes of The Highlanders, and the first thing you notice is that there’s no carry over between the stories.  We’re so used to one Hartnell story linking directly to the next one but, here, all thoughts of the Daleks and the colonists on Vulcan, and all of the death and destruction, isn’t so much as mentioned.  I don’t know if it’ll be mentioned later, but it’s like a line is drawn under everything that happened prior to The Highlanders.

Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to Jamie’s first adventure.

Next time … The Highlanders