So here it is, unseen since 1965. Thanks to the sterling work of Film is Fabulous!, we can enjoy new old episodes of Doctor Who for the first time in 13 years. Isn’t it strange how, although we’ve waited six decades, those three weeks’ wait to see these recovered episodes seemed to pass so very slowly?
But they certainly live up to our expectations. The Nightmare Begins blends war film, Saturday morning sci-fi, and conspiracy thriller to deliver a gritty, atmospheric opener to the programme’s greatest epic.
The episode is a reminder that Doctor Who in those days was very much an ongoing series, with each story following on directly from the previous one. As we open, the TARDIS crew already have a crisis to deal with as Steven Taylor lies injured, forcing the Doctor to go and seek help. And poor Katarina doesn’t even know what tablets are…
Terry Nation’s scripts for The Daleks’ Master Plan were to be the last he would write for Doctor Who in the 1960s, as his focus shifted to getting his own Dalek series up and running. Watching The Nightmare Begins, it’s easy to imagine the jungle of Kembel as a testing ground, as rugged Space Agents with chunky-sounding sci-fi names face overwhelming odds (‘You know we can’t fight them; our weapons are useless against those things!’).
The forces against them are certainly formidable, as Guardian of the Solar System Mavic Chen is in league with the Daleks. What a difference a great director makes: that reveal panning up from Chen’s feet, those tightly framed shots of the Daleks, that moody close-up of Hartnell (‘Daleks!’). Douglas Camfield surely was the best the programme ever had.
This recovery finally puts some small but intriguing mysteries to bed. We finally get to see the ingenious ‘magnetic chair’ that holds Bret Vyon, and it’s amazing; no wonder the Doctor’s so proud of it. We now know what the control room operators look like (a nicely played scene, that one, with a drop of healthy scepticism about political leaders on display). And for fashion fans, there’s confirmation that Steven changes into his much-admired corduroy coat off-screen between episodes.
It’s wonderful to actually get to see the performances. William Hartnell is excellent as the Doctor, his mind constantly whirring as he calculates his next move. Adrienne Hill has a difficult task playing out-of-time Katarina but does her best with what the script offers, and how wonderful that we now have the great majority of her screen time. Then there’s Nicholas Courtney, that great warhorse of Doctor Who, making his debut. It’s a no-nonsense sort of role, but with a nice line in gallows humour (I laughed out loud at his joke about none of the Varga plants looking like Marc Cory).
There’s a limited amount for Steven to do in this episode, but it’s a great joy to have three icons of 1970s BBC children’s programmes in Peter Purves, Nicholas Courtney, and Brian Cant appearing in the same 25 minutes.
A bold, dark, and thrilling episode, The Nightmare Begins delivers on all the hopes we’ve had for it. With five episodes now returned, The Daleks’ Master Plan has proved to be the great survivor of the extermination of 1960s Doctor Who. Here’s hoping we get to see some more of it…
The Nightmare Begins is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer and YouTube!
