Day 92: Day of Armageddon

Another thing that's wonderful is the way the villainous Mavic Chen,
about whom we will deal with later, holds his pens.

Once again, we find ourselves in the middle of an episode that has been mostly wiped from the BBC archives. And as such, we must cherish what little survives, as is the case with this episode, one of three to survive from this 12 part serial. Take for instance, the subtleties of the performance from Nicholas Courtney, the actor who would play the Brigadier in the future. Here, he plays a character who is subtly different from the Brig, Bret Vyon. Like the Brig, he's a military man, and he will fight if he needs to, but they're both different characters. Bret Vyon is a man who is secretly afraid, and whilst he manages to hide it in his voice, his eyes show the discomfort that he is facing. He looks on in horror as the Daleks begin to burn down the jungle, and he acts as a contrast to the regulars, who are far more used to this sort of thing, and are able to remain reasonably calm in these situations. It's a decision that allows for our main cast to become safer for us, and to remind us of who the real heroes are in this situation. We've already seen that the Daleks could theoretically have their own programme in Mission to the Unknown, but they don't, they're still in Doctor Who's territory and the main cast are the heroes here, not some deranged pepperpots. This is not the Dalek show with Bret Vyon, this is Doctor Who, with the Doctor, Steven and Katarina, who is jumping straight into the deep end with her first trip in the TARDIS. Hopefully, things will turn out better for her.