5. The Daleks, Part I: The Dead Planet

At the risk of over-focusing on the radiation meter – it appeared in both the previous episode and this one! – the extreme delay in registering radiation levels seems like a serious design flaw. Also, it seems like the TARDIS crew would have eventually noticed the flashing light during a return trip to the TARDIS.

The dialogue is kind of interesting. The characters describe things verbally more than would be necessary in an actual conversation. (“Look at this soil here. Look at it. It's all turn to sand and ashes.”) I assume this necessitated by black and white footage and the inability of the audience to make details out.

While exploring the city, separating seems like a bad idea.

I think the cliffhanger is good? In a vacuum, a Dalek plunger point-of-view camera shot seems like it should be less than terrifying, but as a vehicle to introduce the Daleks for the first time, maybe it made the Brits of 1963 want to come back and watch?

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