This Dalek doesn’t like me much…
The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) finds himself backtracking on his own life when he arrives in Shoreditch in 1963. With Ace (Sophie Aldred), the Doctor finds the Daleks pursuing him for a Time Lord’s weaponry known as the Hand of Omega which could be the key in the Daleks attempt to take out their ancient enemy. With the Daleks hot in pursuit, the Doctor and Ace must hide the Hand of Omega from the Daleks…unless the Doctor has other plans.
Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks aired during the twenty-fifth season of the popular British series Doctor Who. It aired from October 5, 1988 to October 26, 1988 in four parts. Following Doctor Who: Dragonfire, Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks has been collected in The Sylvester McCoy Years as Story #152 (this number of course is up to question due to how Shada is counted and how The Trial of the Time Lord is counted).
The Dalek bad seed wants you dead!
This episode of Doctor Who is kind of a fun throwback episode. It feels much more tongue-in-cheek than other Daleks episodes and has lots of references to the Doctor’s first appearance in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child (Story #1) which also took place in Shoreditch just before this story. The characters often mistake the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) for the original Doctor (William Hartnell) and settings in the story match up with the original locations.
This episode also marks the first official joining of Ace as the Doctor’s companion. Ace and the Doctor hooked up in the previous outing Dragonfire and here, Ace is finding her place. I have to say I kind of enjoy the character which has some youth but also has some spark much like Leela (Louise Jameson) who travelled with the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker). In this series, Ace pulls no punches, and beats on the Daleks, plus has some nice softer scenes with Sgt. Mike Smith (Dursley McLinden) and the possessed girl (Jasmine Breaks).
Ace kicks Dalek…ass?
The episode also marks the last appearance by the Daleks in the original Doctor Who serial. The whole plot of the Doctor is a ruse and destroys the Daleks’ home planet of Skaro along with Davros. It also answers the age old question of how Daleks deal with steps (though they already have been shown to levitate).
Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks is a fun entry in the Doctor Who saga and is good for fans of the classic series. It is sad to say goodbye to the Daleks who don’t appear again until “Dalek” in season 1 of the relaunched Doctor Who, but the evil Daleks can never be put down. Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks is followed by Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol.
Preceded By:
Doctor Who: Dragonfire (Story #150)
Followed By:
