Planet of the Daleks

Planet of the Daleks is occasionally dismissed by reviewers for being somewhat of a retread of the first Daleks story. They're not wrong, but I still enjoyed Planet of the Daleks far more than Frontier in Space. Written by Terry Nation, the creator of the Daleks, Planet of the Daleks has interesting locations, characters, and plot developments. And our main characters are only captured and imprisoned briefly. This could have easily been a standalone story, the connections to Frontier in Space are minimal. My one complaint: the Spiridons sound too much like the Ice Warriors. 

Rating: That's nice%

Frontier in Space

Frontier in Space is easily my least favorite Third Doctor story so far. It's barely even a story. I've read some reviews that praise this serial for embracing space opera elements, but I think that's horseshit. Frontier in Space is basically a series of holding cells. The Doctor and Jo are imprisoned several times in at least five separate locations across the six episodes. And while I recognize that getting captured is one of the show's most well-worn tropes, this serial just takes it too far. Also, this story is meant to connect to the following story, Planet of the Daleks, but it's set up in an incredibly lazy way. Other than a brief mention that the Master is acting on another party's behalf, the Daleks are only seen in the last ten minutes of the sixth episode. Frontier in Space doesn't even really have a proper ending. The Master shoots the Doctor, the Doctor and Jo escape in the TARDIS and we never find out what happens to the Master, the Doctor's friends or the looming war between Earth and Draconia.

Rating: You're wasting your time%