Mission to the Unknown

I watched the telesnap recon without knowing a bunch of uni students recreated it themselves, which is a shame because I miss moving images

Anyway! Absolutely no sign of the TARDIS team, and all the main human cast die horribly after failing to achieve anything. Interesting in terms of Doctor Who history, but it didn't quite do it for me. Maybe I'm just a Dalek hater

📝5/10 = PASSABLE!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

MISSION TO THE UNKNOWN, or HOW I STOPPED WORRYING ABOUT TERRY NATION AND LEARNED TO LOVE THE DALEK

This one-off episode is the only time in the classic series where neither the Doctor nor his TARDIS nor any of the companions appear. It should also be noted as the final episode to be produced by the series' original producer and mother, Verity Lambert. It is technically a prologue to the 12-parter The Daleks' Master Plan (1965-1966), which starts properly four episodes later, but it is usually considered a standalone story, which is why I review it as such. Not that there is much to say about 25 minutes of mostly build-up.

Note that this review is based on three reconstructed versions of the story: the Loose Cannon telesnap reconstruction, the Ian Levine animated reconstruction, and the brilliant UCLAN student film recreation from 2019.

Is this episode essential? No. Everything that we find out here will be explained during The Daleks' Master Plan anyway. This is more of a strange tease of things to come and is probably the most skippable episode in all of Classic Who (apart from Episode 7 of the aforementioned Master Plan, but let's not talk about that one here).

I've never really understood the point of this episode; could they not insert these events into the first third of Master Plan instead (that's what the novelisation does)? It's 25 minutes of exposition and build-up with no real fallout until four episodes later.

I can completely unironically say, however, that this episode is one of the more solid entries by writer Terry Nation, who doesn't need to overcomplicate things but makes this a rather morbid episode. It does re-establish the Daleks as something of a brute killing force, though, which is very welcome.

The second half of the episode follows the Daleks and a bunch of weird-looking and forgettable aliens discussing and planning their upcoming universal domination—and it's a long and talky sequence that never goes anywhere. I wish they'd kept this story focused on the three humans from the first half instead.

The original performances are quite hard to pin down because we can’t see them, and the surviving soundtrack isn’t the best possible quality. The actors of the 2019 version are pretty good, though (and look pretty similar to the original actors!).

What is interesting about the story is that it manages to convey the setting effectively through the lively sound design and solid production design (the little we can see), so the treacherous planet of Kembel (which will return in Master Plan) feels very alive and very treacherous.

There aren’t a lot of visual materials for this story, which means that the LC reconstruction is a bit more rough around the edges compared to some of their other work.

The 2019 reconstruction is a far better representation of what the episode could have looked like—it doesn’t matter much that all the characters are played by amateur student actors, because this episode doesn't include any of the regulars. UCLAN produced their story using 60s TV-making techniques and were even allowed to use the original shooting scripts and lend a Dalek prop (with Nick Briggs voicing the Daleks) for their production! Their intricate work pays off: this is arguably the best way to experience this lost episode, and it still surprises me just how authentic the finished product looks and feels. The only thing that gives away the real nature of the project is the scenes inside the Dalek ship, which are model shots and look less realistic than the rest of the production.

The Levine version is an animated reconstruction, very similar in style to some of the official BBC animated reconstructions of lost stories. It combines the original soundtrack with passable animation and is also a passable option for those preferring the original performances with a bit more movement.

The slow and painful transformation from man to Varga plant looks and feels pretty horrifying, so it's a shame we cannot see how it originally looked. The UCLAN version recreates it effectively, and the Levine animation does a brilliant midway thing between human and Varga.

The weird aliens sound like they are trying a bit too hard to sound alien, and that backfires horribly—they sound ridiculous, especially the dotted dude who has the most lines! The recreation doesn’t sound quite as goofy, though, but I still find it hard to take these six delegates seriously.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

This episode was never broadcast abroad because it was deemed “too violent” due to all the killing and dastardly Dalek action seen in the story.

“The greatest war force ever assembled !”

Je n’aime pas. 

En soi c’est peut-être pas si mal, mais c’est une histoire de Doctor Who qui n’en est pas vraiment une, et surtout c’est pas du tout mon truc.

L’ambiance de l’épisode reste quand même assez remarquable ceci dit. Terry Nation sait toujours faire vivre des jungles angoissantes, avec plein d’aliens bizarres. Puis l’alliance des grands méchants est aussi un concept qui claque. 

Mais en vrai ici ça m’ennuie. 

Some people really responded to this one but I found it pretty clunky, and hard to connect with, to be honest.  It's a bit of a curiosity more than anything.  I can appreciate how grim the whole episode feels but I also can't say I was very invested in my watch experience compared to the average Doctor Who story.  I think part of it is that the Daleks aren't really enough connective tissue to feel like a Doctor Who story.  It reminds me a bit of the Dalek Empire Big Finish audios which I have also been struggling with.

“I suppose you’ve heard of the Daleks?”

Watched the remake by the University of Central Lancashire on YouTube. A really faithful and fun remake that really does capture the 60s vibes just brilliantly.

The story itself, it’s fine? It’s just build up to something bigger, and doesn’t really have much else to do. Other than that it doesn’t really have much of a story to tell, the Daleks themselves are fine and interesting, and get enough to do, but still feels incomplete without the rest of the story to follow.

Maybe I’ll change my mind when I see The Daleks Masterplan that this is leading too?

Mission to the Unknown: 8.7 - A story that really made me excited for Daleks Master Plan. The reconstruction done by University of Central Lancashire was really well done and felt very authentic to the times. The plot of the episode was also cool and the Daleks teaming with a bunch of other aliens makes me think the Daleks are going to betray them all. I thought that Cory was also a cool character and his death surprised me as I thought he would be a major player in DMP.

Watched Levine's animation for this one, what a fascinating episode! No doctor, no companions, just a bunch of temporary cast who all get morbidly killed, either by extermination or transformation into these disgusting creatures. No one will ever find out what happened to them or where they died and they failed to get any warning out to those on earth.

This is one of the most unique Doctor Who stories ever. The new series delivers Doctor-lite episode, but this story shows this show’s infinitely flexible nature, you can have no regular elements from the wider show and it’s still Doctor Who

Those university students really did a great job with that Mission To The Unknown remake. Some of the acting is a bit ropey, but the directing is perfection and the set design/mise-en-scene is so authentic to 60s Doctor Who.

I watched the recreation and it still takes my breath away by how much it feels like the actual story from recons and stuff On a side note the varga plants need to come back in a huge varga Stan

A bit of an odd one to review, considering it is a prologue to a bigger tale.

This story focuses on Mark Cory, a secret agent for the SSS. They’ve landed on a small planet in our solar system, where they discover Varga plants. The thorns of this plant turn anyone who touches them into a mindless killer, before finally turning into a Varga plant themselves.

The problem is, these plants are native to only 1 planet: Skaro. Which means the Daleks are back in our solar system. We soon see them discussing plans with other allies to take over and destroy all planets. Including, of course, Earth.

After losing his allies, Mark Cory is the only one left to warn the universe of the Daleks’ return. Sadly, before he can send a message into outer space, he is discovered and shot dead. The recording of the final message is left behind on the ground, and we end the episode.

There’re some really fun ideas in here, like Dalek allies, the Varga plants and the whole premise of a prologue episode. While not self-contained, it is a fun side story.

There’s also some joy to be found in the way this episode can be watched. There’s of course the Loose Cannon adaptation. And it got animated as well, but we get a rare third TV option.

In 2019, this story was remade by students of the university of Lancashire. While not exactly 1 to 1 (different actors after all), it hits almost exactly like a 60s story would and was apparently made on a 60s budget as well. This recreation is probably the most modern, definitive way to experience the story. I have to give them props for their work.

Since the character are all one-offs, there’s not that much development or interaction to be found here. But that’s not the intention of the story anyway. It’s a setup episode, while still doing some fun stuff on its own.

And it is that fun stuff that makes this worth watching. It has some unique circumstances as a recreation. It has some fun with ideas like Varga plants, and it is setup for something big! Definitely worth checking out.