Day 93: Devil's Planet

This episode sees the Doctor and co. attempt to escape from the clutches of the Daleks, and in the course of this, they find themselves crashed on the prison planet Desperus. It's described as a place where they dump convicts to go off and make their own society, free of any influence, no guards, no borders, nothing. Which is an interesting, but depressing concept. Prisons are intended not just as a place to put misbehaving members of society, but also as a place for rehabilitation, so that people can learn the error of their ways, and become functional members of a better society. And we have now been told that it is easier to just pick all the baddies up and put them away where we don't have to think about them. But isn't it right to actually care for these criminals, to give them hope of a better tomorrow? Or should we just leave them to their own devices, even if that means that they disrupt other people on this planet who perhaps want to make a new life for themselves? The case here is interesting, and one that is not dealt with too strongly, instead just being used as a simple plot related excuse. But even in excuses, gems of interesting concepts can be found.