"Doctor Who"
Remembrance of the Daleks: Part 3 (1988)

Director:

Andrew Morgan

Writer:

Ben Aaronovitch (writer)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (1963)

Original Air Date:

19 October 1988 (Season 25, Episode 3)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Dalek | Man With No Name | Extraterrestrial | Famous Opening Theme | Space Hero

Cast

Sylvester McCoy	...	The Doctor
Sophie Aldred	...	Ace
Simon Williams	...	Gilmore
Dursley McLinden	...	Mike
George Sewell	...	Ratcliffe
Pamela Salem	...	Rachel
Karen Gledhill	...	Allison
Harry Fowler	...	Harry
Jasmine Breaks	...	The Girl
John Scott Martin	...	Dalek Operator
Tony Starr	...	Dalek Operator
Cy Town	...	Dalek Operator
Hugh Spight	...	Dalek Operator
Terry Molloy	...	Emperor Dalek (as Roy Tromelly)
Brian Miller	...	Daleks (voice)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Macbeth Street, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Average Dalek story.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks: Part Three starts as the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) arrives just in time to save Ace (Sophie Aldred) from three Daleks, the Doctor tells Gilmore (Simon Willaims) to concentrate his mens efforts at Coal Hill School. Meanwhile with help from Ratcliffe (George Sewell) the renegade Dalek faction have found the Hand of Omega, a powerful weapon made by the Time Lords on Gallifrey able to manipulate stellar solar systems & will reveal the secret of time travel that the Doctor was hiding on Earth during his first incarnation. The Hand would give the Daleks unlimited power with which to rule the Universe...

Episode 3 from season 25 this Doctor Who adventure originally aired here in the UK during October 1988, directed by Andrew Morgan this isn't a particularly good story & could easily be described as average. The script by Ben Aaronovtich was originally called Nemesis of the Daleks & features the Daleks in a story which would be their last in the 'classic' series & this is a rather undistinguished way for the Daleks to bow out. Remembrance of the Daleks was also the first proper story for the Doctor's companion Ace whom first featured in the previous story Dragonfire (1987) when Bonnie Langford left the show, I have to say right away that I think Ace is the single worst companion in the history of Doctor Who & I don't say that lightly with strong competition coming from the likes of Adric, Tegan, Jo Grant & Turlough. Her whole character is awful, she's meant to be some kind of smart streetwise kid yet comes across as nothing like that. Also whoever thought letting her refer to the Doctor as 'Professor' wants shooting. The self references continue with the Doctor leaving the Daleks a calling card with a '?' on it! The story here is progressing nicely enough without ever being truly riveting, it's OK stuff but distinctly underwhelming & there hasn't been a decent cliffhanger ending to any of the three episodes.

Here we get to have a look at the Emperor Dalek, all I can say is I hope he doesn't try to trundle through many doorways as he's a bit 'wide'. The special effects have been OK, the Dalek Emperor's ship landing in the school playground at the end of this episode is quite well realised, because a lot of new Daleks had to be made from scratch & the extensive pyrotechnics the special effects budget for Remembrance of the Daleks apparently went over budget by £12,000, not that you'll particularly notice them as that statement is more a sad reflection on the size of Doctor Who's budget in general around this time. Remembrance of the Daleks was also the very first Doctor Who story to be aired in stereo & in fact was one of the very first programs in Britain to be aired in stereo.

Remembrance of the Daleks: Part Three is an OK episode, it's not much better or worse than the previous two, it's alright but nothing to write home about & isn't what I would call a series classic.