Demon Records, out now

 

The Daleks round off Patrick Troughton’s first season as the Doctor in this seven-part tale of trying to identify the human factor… or do they have something else in mind?

It’s such a shame that only one episode (Episode Two) and a few trims currently exist of this 1967 story in the BBC’s archives, as it’s such a great serial. Thankfully we have the telesnaps and off-air recording, and Demon Records have taken the latter to create a four-disc vinyl release. In the absence of visuals, Fraser Hines (he plays Jamie in this story) provides linking narrative to help us understand what’s going on, though it’s in his regular accent rather than in character as Scot Jamie.

This is a good time to be a collector of Dalek vinyl, with the recent releases of The Daleks’ Masterplan and Destiny of the Daleks showing the ongoing interest in the Doctor’s most prolific enemy. This tale, written by David Whitaker, was planned to mark the Daleks’ final appearance on the show, creator Terry Nation planning to hit the big time with them in the States, though this never came to pass.

This is the first story to feature Deborah Watling’s Victoria Waterfield, and it still makes me smile when a main cast member doesn’t appear (apart from filmed inserts) as they were off that week on holiday (Deborah in Part 3 and Patrick in Part 4). Of course, as we’re only relying on audio, the model Daleks don’t look so obvious as toys, and the Emperor Dalek is more impressive to the ear then the final prop proved to be.

If truth be told it feels like it’s one or two episodes too long, but maybe that’s listening to it with 21st Century ears. If you’re into the tech specs, you get 4 X 180G heavyweight discs with Skaro swirl effect and disc 1 includes an Emperor Dalek laser etched reverse. Fancy.

Verdict: Of course we want the original episode prints, but Demon ensure that this prestige audio package, with beautiful packaging and chunky psychedelic discs is a decent runner-up. And like I’ve said before, there’s also something very nostalgic and appropriate in loading up a 60s story onto a turntable, taking in the added snap, crackle and pops of the needle as it travels across the platter to Skaro. 9/10

Click here to order from Amazon.co.uk