Doctor Who The Survivors (1963–1989) Online

This story is what really established Doctor Who in the public consciousness with the introduction of the fantastic and iconic metal cased monsters, the Daleks. Thank goodness they did this as it lead to 50 years and counting of TV magic!

The whole story is excellent and innovative. The acting and direction are good and the story and concepts throughout capture the imagination.

Whilst certain aspects of all the old Doctor Who episodes are dated these small issues are at an absolute minimum here. The only things such as Daleks using paper printouts and pen written letters are totally forgivable in what is still an impressive and impactful production. Things such as low ceilinged corridors, perfect for Daleks rather than designed for humans show thought and add believability that the impressive Dalek City was really built by Daleks for Daleks.

Overall the whole story is brilliant. Admittedly the Thals are not nearly as interesting as the Daleks and there are occasional flaws like the explanation of Thal/Dalek history in episode 4. Episode 6 is slightly less impressive than the rest but not so much as to drop below a very high standard. The more filler like episodes towards the end are in fact very exciting and still include a lot more character development than almost any modern day TV show.

A must see TV classic!

My Ratings: Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 - 10/10, Episode 4 - 9.5/10, Episode 6 - 9/10

Overall: 9.79/10

The Doctor, Ian and Susan delve further into The City in search of Barbara, little knowing that she and they are not alone. Susan discovers a room with a geiger counter and The Doctor realises the radiation is high. They leave the room and walk straight into The Daleks....who imprison them. The Daleks explain their history to The Doctor, they also tell him about the other people on the planet, the Thaals. Desperate for drugs that combat radiation Susan is sent back to the TARDIS. The Doctor, Ian and Barbara also need the drugs each is suffering radiation sickness. A scared Susan reaches the TARDIS and collects the drugs.

I love how Ian stands up to the Doctor, you can imagine nobody speaks up to him, he's met his match with Chesterton.

The Daleks are obviously the ultimate foe in the Show's history, and this is where it all started, they look so iconic even then, what a fabulous design. Even the negative light effect when they fire looks so good.

The cast once again are magnificent. They knew full well that what they were making was superb.

It's an excellent episode for multiple reasons, there is lots of character development going on between all four. The Daleks are villains but given a back story, and all four characters are placed in danger. It's just glorious. 10/10