The Daleks have invaded!
TV Club joins the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan as they re-encounter a foe they thought they had destroyed and events will occur which will change the TARDIS crew forever.
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The Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150 > The Dalek Invasion of Earth 2160
Thatās all imma say
This is definitely one of the stories that just really fails to keep my attention, but I do quite like Susanās exit
I love this story, itās one of those examples where the Hartnell era is going for a story with a huge scope and itās absolutely working, a testament to the production of the age. I think itās nice that thereās a prominent wheelchair-bound character too, you donāt really get that often in Doctor Who? And heās a good guy too! Iām sure Iām probably forgetting someone in the revival but the best example after this that I can think of is Shirley? Judson and Lumic are both wrongāuns. This was 1964!
Less than keen on the David-Susan romance though. My LGBT headcanons aside, as much as itās played well and leads to an emotional ending I donāt like how David is a bit of a nonce? Susan gives her age as 15 in Marco Polo! Sheās a teenager. Absolutely a case of the writers forgetting how young sheās meant to be, and there was a certain vindication when the blu-ray came out and the people on Behind the Sofa were concerned about the same thing. Like yes! David is pretty creepy!
Also a favourite of mine. This, along with āThe Time Meddlerā, is a season defining story. Much as āThe Daleksā is where it all starts, āDalek Invasionā is, for me, much more successful. The portrayal of post invasion London is so evocative (made, as it was, in a period where many still vividly remembered the devastation during WWII). Yes, itās a little long, but itās a genuinely great story and the first truly great Dalek story.
Thing is, Iād say itās Marco Polo that gets it wrong. Susan is written in that story like a āfabā 60s teenager and too many of the writers seem to forget sheās supposed to be an alien. We donāt really know how old she is and in DIoE Iāve always thought Carole Ann is pitching her performance closer to her own age anyway - certainly more an 18 year old than a 15 year old.
One of the few writers to get Susan right, I feel, is Peter R Newman in The Sensorites.
You make a fair point, but thatās still the best figure the show gives and sheās definitely meant to be young. It feels a very awkward choice, if David was younger looking you could probably smooth it over but as it stands itās a bit uncomfortable.
I love this story. I love how bleak it is, how ambitious it is. I love that all our characters get stuff to do, and itās genuinely compelling the whole time. I mean Barbara in her bus is truly truly iconic.
As for Susan? Her leaving genuinely makes me cry. Sure, itās a bit weird with David and they possibly could have made the age thing a bit clearer, but I honestly buy into it. One of the things this story does is give you a sense of the passing of time, so I can believe they spent time together, getting to know each other. Certainly itās one of my more favoured ācompanion leaves and gets marriedā stories. And I find Susanās conflict between a life she wants to live and her loyalty and love for the Doctor to be absolutely heartwrenching
It really is, isnāt it? Superb and atmospheric stuff.
A really valid point as itās so often the case, with larger TARDIS crews, that one or more get sidelined or largely left out.
Truly. A magnificent scene, and an excellent example of why Barbara has always been one of the greatest companions. Itās funny how often classic Who is lambasted for 2D companions that are simply presented as eye candy. In actual fact, many companions were written (and presented) as so much more. Barbara was (is, and ever more shall be) truly outstanding.
Barbaraās expression reveals her absolute joy in giving payback for that iconic cliffhanger scene from āThe Daleksā episode 1.
Looks like the AI is terrified of that shot - is it controlled by the ghost of Mary Whitehouse? Flag rejected but I love playing the āwhat did the AI object tooā?
Aha! That explains it! I wondered if Iād had a moment, blacked out and written something awful! 
Turns out, Handles is a member of the NVLA. 
One of my all time favourite stories,
10/10 for me
Watched Episode 1 - brilliant.
Excellent build-up of atmosphere. It feels more like a movie than a TV episode. They even included a stunt, with Ian almost plunging to his death.
This more than compensates for, or lets one forget, the one or two scenes that werenāt as good. For example, the scene where Barbara is asked if she can cook (what gets her accepted), or where Susan is dismissed as useless in the same scene.
However, overall, itās still brilliant, making it easy to overlook flaws.
Well we donāt know how long a Gallifreyan year is or even how quickly Gallifreyans reach maturity.
Just handwave stuff like that instead of feeling uncomfortable about it, Carole Ann Ford is very clearly not a 15 (Earth)year old on our screens. 
I donāt see that as Susan being dismissed as useless but much more of Susan standing her ground.
āAnd what do you do? I eat!ā.
And Barbara saying that she can cook is as much a way of getting accepted by the resistance by providing a useful skill.
I love that scene 
I can see why someone may baulk at Barbara being asked if she can cook because sheās a woman but bearing in mind how proactive Jenny is in the same scenes, I think it is written more as a practical - what can this new person provide to our resistance efforts? - rather than anything sexist, necessarily.
Itās very Terry Nation when you look at how he would structure society and its recovery in Survivors.
I think things like this are always going to be influenced by the times they were made in, there are definitely two ways to read Barbara being asked that. Susanās āI eatā is a classic though, all is automatically forgiven for that, and as posted up-thread Barbara just ramming a Dalek is iconic!
She gets so much to do in this story, and perhaps getting to show all of that after the way the role sheās initially given is ācookā could be read as a form of commentary.
