I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even born when it
was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity wiped it soon after it >received its first and only broadcast over 60 years ago.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title idea of what >happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit between the 5 that have now >been recovered. From the summaries in The Making of Doctor Who, The >Discontinuity Guide, and other sources I know certain people die.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3 were >rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together the story jumps
all over the place as if Terry Nation was making it up and changing
things as it was going along. Eventually he lost all interest in it and
left to to someone else to finish off based on his original idea.
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now completely
lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played by Peter Purves has
been poisoned or injured or something and the TARDIS lands on some
random planet with the Doctor going off to find the nearest city to find >help for Steven leaving Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who appear in >this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with which they
plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently this device erases
time lines but this has to be deduced from external sources.
Mavic Chen a humanoid alien portrayed in black face is supposed to be
the Guardian of the Solar System (ours,? is he supposed to be from
Venus?) and is worshipped by the bimbo women of the Earth space corps
like some kind of pop idol or god.
But Chen is actually in league with the Daleks in order to help them to >destroy Earth thinking that this will give him even more power than he >already has so that he can rule over the entire universe himself when
the Daleks master plan has been executed and he double crosses them.
In order for the plan to succeed the Daleks need Terrainium to power
their Time Destructor and Chen has been able to mine it on some planet
he controls which due of its rarity has taken him over 50 years to
collect a sufficient quantity to be usable.
As the Doctor is looking for medical aid for Steven he discovers the
Daleks up to no good and infiltrates their conference, with the leaders
of the outer galaxies who are conspiring with the Daleks, by
impersonating one of them by wearing his robe and hood.
Nicholas Courtney appears in this story, his first ever role in Doctor
Who, as a solder from the space corps looking for a missing Earth
soldier. He stumbles across the Doctor and gains the key to the TARDIS. >Inside the TARDIS with the Doctor going off to the city, leaving
Courtney to his fate, he finds Katerina behaving like she's autistic and >Stephen lying on a bad being tended to. While his back is turned Stephen >whacks him over the head and when he wakes up the Doctor has returned
and has shackled him to a magnetic chair, and then leaves again.
Courtney tells Katerina that he wants to help Stephen and wants her to
give him some tablets from his pouch which she eventually does, not >understanding what a tablet even is. Steven recovers, but all of this
takes place off screen. Stuff seems to be missing from the story even
though the first 3 episodes should all be intact, since the next thing
were know is that Stephen, Katerina, and Courtney have all left the
TARDIS, the Doctor has escaped from the Dalek organised conference after >being discovered, they all meet up at Chen's space ship which Courtney
has commandeered, and the Doctor announces that he is in possession of
the Terrainium after claiming to have found it in the possession of the >missing soldier.
The space ship flies off and the Daleks chase it instead of shooting it
down since they want to recover the Terrainium, which they think is
onboard, intact.
The ship lands on an alien prison planet. The prisoners chase the
Doctor, Steven, Keterina, and Courtney back to their ship, pursued by
the Daleks.
The ship manages to take off just in time before the Daleks can get
there but one of the prisoners has got on board and emerges when they
try to secure the outer hatch from the inside.
The next few episodes are missing and next we see is the Doctor and
Steven in some metallic chamber where mice are being experimented on. As
the experiment begins Sara Kingdom bursts in chasing the Doctor and
Steven who she believes are spies. She's already killed Nicolas Courtney
who she claims is a traitor despite him being her own brother. Katerina
is also dead by this time. At least we are now spared her stupidity.
The Daleks come after them after they have been transported halfway
across the galaxy by this teleportation experiment to an alien planet
which is inhabited by invisible 8 foot tall bigfoot giants. Or did that >happen in the previous episode. I have totally lost the plot.
Chen has by this time explained his plan to double cross the Daleks to
his associate back on Earth, but will probably have to narrow his scope
to only controlling the entire Galaxy rather than the entire universe.
The next few episodes are also missing.
Next we see Stephen and Sara in ancient Egypt. The Doctor is missing and >they are looking for him. Sara discovers the Meddling Monk from The Time >Meddler in a sarcophagus the Doctor has put him in, bound up like a
mummy. The Monk betrays them to the Daleks. The Doctor turns up in some
sort of cowboy hat with the Terrainium still in his possession and makes
a deal for their release, including that of the Monk, in exchange for
all the Terrainium. They are released and the local Egyptians who have
been enslaved rebel against the Daleks, as it seems the Doctor had been >counting on, so the companions escape with the Doctor. The Monk gets >separated from them on the way to the TARDIS.
The Doctor reveals that he has given the Daleks the Terrainium so they
must do something to stop them using it in their Time Destructor.
Luckily in yet another segment which we are never shown the Doctor also >reveals he has stolen the navigation circuit from the Monk's TARDIS and
made it look like a Police Box so as to mislead the Daleks. The Monk
manges to escape the Daleks just in time but ends up in a frozen
wasteland now his TARDIS can no longer navigate accurately.
The Doctor patches the navigation circuit into his own TARDIS and they
take off to try to stop the Daleks, but a malfunction occurs.
This entire story, or what's left of it, demonstrates that in the 1960s >British TV writing and production was at the same level the movie
industry in Hollywood was at 40 years earlier in the 1920s. I don't
think that even in this day it has managed to close the gap. It's still
more 40 years behind American television writing if you compare the >degeneracy of Russell T Davies with Star Trek: TNG which is still
infinity better written, but the production values have narrowly reached
the same level.
This story takes the structure of a badly written 1920s comic strip >featuring melodramatic villains and pantomime characters and plots.
Apart from the Daleks who are given all the best lines, Peter Purves and >Nicholas Courtney put on the best performances, followed by William
Hartnell who is left talking to himself half of time in order to move
the plot along. The reason Hartnell could hardly remember his lines is >probably because they were only written for him 20 minutes before he had
to film them.
The actors playing the Egyptians except for one of them playing a slave,
who is white as a ghost, all look like they had to put on brown face.
The sets are what you would expect from a Hollywood production from the >1920s and don't look too bad given the very poor quality of the video >cameras they originally used. Still, the pyramids all looked believable.
This is basically a serialised melodrama that the BBC at the time were >trying to stretch out as far as it could go in order to fill the same
time slot every week, week after week. I didn't find it boring because
there was plenty of stuff happening, except half of it was cut out
because even 12 episodes would not have been enough to fit it all in. If
the writers were more competent they could have done that, but, like I
said earlier, it felt like they were making it up week by week as it was >being shot.
We're told that Sara Kingdom has killed her own brother but I doubt that >there was any character exposition surrounding that in he episodes that
are now missing. It seemed like this reveal was something that was added
in at the last moment the following week for dramatic effect and they >couldn't go back and change the episodes which had already been
broadcast. Everything seems to have been rushed. I think this happened
after Verity Lambert had left the show.
By the time of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker the writing stops relying on >Edwardian melodrama probably due to more competent script editors such
as Terrance Dicks, Robert Holmes, and Douglas Adams being involved
allowed to made to do their job properly. I know that Adams was forced
to do massive rewrites to get City of Death ready for production the >following week. After JNT took over as showrunner Doctor Who started its >decent into pantomime.
6/10
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve. Or maybe
it won't.
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek story rather
than a Doctor Who story.
--
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even
born when it was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity
wiped it soon after it received its first and only broadcast
over 60 years ago.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title
idea of what happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit
between the 5 that have now been recovered. From the summaries
in The Making of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, and
other sources I know certain people die.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3
were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together
the story jumps all over the place as if Terry Nation was
making it up and changing things as it was going along.
Eventually he lost all interest in it and left to to someone
else to finish off based on his original idea.
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now
completely lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played
by Peter Purves has been poisoned or injured or something and
the TARDIS lands on some random planet with the Doctor going
off to find the nearest city to find help for Steven leaving
Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who
appear in this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with
which they plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently
this device erases time lines but this has to be deduced from
external sources.
[Snip]
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve.
Or maybe it won't.
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
The True Doctor wrote:
I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even
born when it was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity
wiped it soon after it received its first and only broadcast
over 60 years ago.
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan" serial
started... and I only became familiar with the story once the
two Target novelisations were released in the late 1980's.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title
idea of what happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit
between the 5 that have now been recovered. From the summaries
in The Making of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, and
other sources I know certain people die.
The two PDF's that make up the Target novelisation are available
online... free.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3
were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together
the story jumps all over the place as if Terry Nation was
making it up and changing things as it was going along.
Eventually he lost all interest in it and left to to someone
else to finish off based on his original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC management
asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes, which Verity
Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to Terry Nation and
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time had
been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had nothing to
do with Terry Nation losing interest.
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now
completely lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played
by Peter Purves has been poisoned or injured or something and
the TARDIS lands on some random planet with the Doctor going
off to find the nearest city to find help for Steven leaving
Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who
appear in this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
[Spoilers]
She dies.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with
which they plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently
this device erases time lines but this has to be deduced from
external sources.
aka Bonkers Dalek Plan #362
[Snip]
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve.
Or maybe it won't.
Try finding the mp3 files of the soundtrack so you can finish
the story.
I could also make them 'available' ...
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan"
serial started... and I only became familiar with the
story once the two Target novelisations were released
in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks
otherwise it would have been just one volume and he would
have done the whole story in under 30,000 words rather than
John Peel taking over 100,000.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out,
Mission the the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's
going on in the first episode. This might explain why stuff
was not explained fully. I might have to upgrade my score
after I watch the student remake which they made back in
around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1
and 3 were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes
together the story jumps all over the place as if Terry
Nation was making it up and changing things as it was
going along. Eventually he lost all interest in it and
left to to someone else to finish off based on his
original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC
management asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes,
which Verity Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to
Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had
already left the show before The Myth Makers.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time
had been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had
nothing to do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did
his Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very
highly regarded at the time, and apart from a short clip I
think is still missing.
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the
lead.
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
The True Doctor wrote:
I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even
born when it was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity
wiped it soon after it received its first and only broadcast
over 60 years ago.
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan" serial
started... and I only became familiar with the story once the
two Target novelisations were released in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks otherwise it
would have been just one volume and he would have done the whole story
in under 30,000 words rather than John Peel taking over 100,000.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out, Mission the
the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's going on in the first >episode. This might explain why stuff was not explained fully. I might
have to upgrade my score after I watch the student remake which they
made back in around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title
idea of what happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit
between the 5 that have now been recovered. From the summaries
in The Making of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, and
other sources I know certain people die.
The two PDF's that make up the Target novelisation are available
online... free.
I already have them in epub format.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3
were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together
the story jumps all over the place as if Terry Nation was
making it up and changing things as it was going along.
Eventually he lost all interest in it and left to to someone
else to finish off based on his original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC management
asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes, which Verity
Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had already
left the show before The Myth Makers.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time had
been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had nothing to
do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did his
Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very highly regarded
at the time, and apart from a short clip I think is still missing. My
score might have to be lowered since it's clear nobody was taking this
story seriously. I think they were trying to sideline Hartnell by this
time after Verity Lambert had left and then they completely replaced him.
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now
completely lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played
by Peter Purves has been poisoned or injured or something and
the TARDIS lands on some random planet with the Doctor going
off to find the nearest city to find help for Steven leaving
Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who
appear in this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
[Spoilers]
She dies.
I know.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with
which they plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently
this device erases time lines but this has to be deduced from
external sources.
aka Bonkers Dalek Plan #362
[Snip]
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve.
Or maybe it won't.
Try finding the mp3 files of the soundtrack so you can finish
the story.
Maybe I will watch it again together with the prequel and the audio
files, but on the other hand the comic Christmas episode may put me off >doing so.
I could also make them 'available' ...
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the lead.
----
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
The True Doctor wrote:
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan"
serial started... and I only became familiar with the
story once the two Target novelisations were released
in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks
otherwise it would have been just one volume and he would
have done the whole story in under 30,000 words rather than
John Peel taking over 100,000.
The book publishers wanted two books as it was a big story.
Or, they wanted more £££.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out,
Mission the the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's
going on in the first episode. This might explain why stuff
was not explained fully. I might have to upgrade my score
after I watch the student remake which they made back in
around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
Yes, there was a one-episode prequel story that was Doctor-less.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1
and 3 were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes
together the story jumps all over the place as if Terry
Nation was making it up and changing things as it was
going along. Eventually he lost all interest in it and
left to to someone else to finish off based on his
original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC
management asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes,
which Verity Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to
Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had
already left the show before The Myth Makers.
Correct, but Verity Lambert was still the show's producer when
the scripts were commissioned, and it was her that split the
scripts between two different writers.
John Wiles did not like the twelve episode story format when
he took over and wanted to resign as producer because of it.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time
had been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had
nothing to do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did
his Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very
highly regarded at the time, and apart from a short clip I
think is still missing.
Yes, it was episode seven, "The Feast of Steven"
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the
lead.
They wanted a Dalek story to cash in on the popularity of the
Daleks.
In article <10qrhod$s184$1@dont-email.me>,
The True Doctor <agamemnon@hello.to.NO_SPAM> wrote:
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
The True Doctor wrote:
I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even
born when it was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity
wiped it soon after it received its first and only broadcast
over 60 years ago.
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan" serial
started... and I only became familiar with the story once the
two Target novelisations were released in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks otherwise it
would have been just one volume and he would have done the whole story
in under 30,000 words rather than John Peel taking over 100,000.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out, Mission the
the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's going on in the first
episode. This might explain why stuff was not explained fully. I might
have to upgrade my score after I watch the student remake which they
made back in around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title
idea of what happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit
between the 5 that have now been recovered. From the summaries
in The Making of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, and
other sources I know certain people die.
The two PDF's that make up the Target novelisation are available
online... free.
I already have them in epub format.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3
were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together
the story jumps all over the place as if Terry Nation was
making it up and changing things as it was going along.
Eventually he lost all interest in it and left to to someone
else to finish off based on his original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC management
asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes, which Verity
Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had already
left the show before The Myth Makers.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time had
been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had nothing to
do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did his
Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very highly regarded
at the time, and apart from a short clip I think is still missing. My
score might have to be lowered since it's clear nobody was taking this
story seriously. I think they were trying to sideline Hartnell by this
time after Verity Lambert had left and then they completely replaced him.
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now
completely lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played
by Peter Purves has been poisoned or injured or something and
the TARDIS lands on some random planet with the Doctor going
off to find the nearest city to find help for Steven leaving
Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who
appear in this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
[Spoilers]
She dies.
I know.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with
which they plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently
this device erases time lines but this has to be deduced from
external sources.
aka Bonkers Dalek Plan #362
[Snip]
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve.
Or maybe it won't.
Try finding the mp3 files of the soundtrack so you can finish
the story.
Maybe I will watch it again together with the prequel and the audio
files, but on the other hand the comic Christmas episode may put me off
doing so.
I could also make them 'available' ...
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the lead.
Still those episodes are out there.
In article <xn0po4wzm1d1vke000@post.eweka.nl>,
Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:
The True Doctor wrote:
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan"
serial started... and I only became familiar with the
story once the two Target novelisations were released
in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks
otherwise it would have been just one volume and he would
have done the whole story in under 30,000 words rather than
John Peel taking over 100,000.
The book publishers wanted two books as it was a big story.
Or, they wanted more £££.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out,
Mission the the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's
going on in the first episode. This might explain why stuff
was not explained fully. I might have to upgrade my score
after I watch the student remake which they made back in
around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
Yes, there was a one-episode prequel story that was Doctor-less.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1
and 3 were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes
together the story jumps all over the place as if Terry
Nation was making it up and changing things as it was
going along. Eventually he lost all interest in it and
left to to someone else to finish off based on his
original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC
management asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes,
which Verity Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to
Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had
already left the show before The Myth Makers.
Correct, but Verity Lambert was still the show's producer when
the scripts were commissioned, and it was her that split the
scripts between two different writers.
John Wiles did not like the twelve episode story format when
he took over and wanted to resign as producer because of it.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time
had been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had
nothing to do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did
his Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very
highly regarded at the time, and apart from a short clip I
think is still missing.
Yes, it was episode seven, "The Feast of Steven"
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the
lead.
They wanted a Dalek story to cash in on the popularity of the
Daleks.
and an epic one. Then came the Cybermen.
On 05/04/2026 02:34, The Doctor wrote:
In article <10qrhod$s184$1@dont-email.me>,For those 61 light years away.
The True Doctor <agamemnon@hello.to.NO_SPAM> wrote:
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
The True Doctor wrote:
I've not watched this story before because I wasn't even
born when it was made and the BBC in its infinite stupidity
wiped it soon after it received its first and only broadcast
over 60 years ago.
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan" serial
started... and I only became familiar with the story once the
two Target novelisations were released in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks otherwise it
would have been just one volume and he would have done the whole story
in under 30,000 words rather than John Peel taking over 100,000.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out, Mission the
the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's going on in the first
episode. This might explain why stuff was not explained fully. I might
have to upgrade my score after I watch the student remake which they
made back in around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
I've not even read the Target novelisation so I have title
idea of what happened in the 7 missing episodes which fit
between the 5 that have now been recovered. From the summaries
in The Making of Doctor Who, The Discontinuity Guide, and
other sources I know certain people die.
The two PDF's that make up the Target novelisation are available
online... free.
I already have them in epub format.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1 and 3
were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes together
the story jumps all over the place as if Terry Nation was
making it up and changing things as it was going along.
Eventually he lost all interest in it and left to to someone
else to finish off based on his original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC management
asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes, which Verity
Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had already
left the show before The Myth Makers.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time had
been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had nothing to
do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did his
Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very highly regarded
at the time, and apart from a short clip I think is still missing. My
score might have to be lowered since it's clear nobody was taking this
story seriously. I think they were trying to sideline Hartnell by this
time after Verity Lambert had left and then they completely replaced him. >>>
The story takes place after The Myth Makers, which is now
completely lost after the BBC erased it. Steven Taylor played
by Peter Purves has been poisoned or injured or something and
the TARDIS lands on some random planet with the Doctor going
off to find the nearest city to find help for Steven leaving
Katerina behind to look after him.
Katerina is written as an imbecile as are all of the women who
appear in this story, at least in the 5 remaining episodes.
[Spoilers]
She dies.
I know.
The Daleks are on the planet building a Time Destructor with
which they plan to take over the entire universe. Apparently
this device erases time lines but this has to be deduced from
external sources.
aka Bonkers Dalek Plan #362
[Snip]
Maybe if other episodes are discovered my score will improve.
Or maybe it won't.
Try finding the mp3 files of the soundtrack so you can finish
the story.
Maybe I will watch it again together with the prequel and the audio
files, but on the other hand the comic Christmas episode may put me off
doing so.
I could also make them 'available' ...
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the lead.
Still those episodes are out there.
----
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
On 05/04/2026 02:35, The Doctor wrote:
In article <xn0po4wzm1d1vke000@post.eweka.nl>,
Blueshirt <blueshirt@indigo.news> wrote:
The True Doctor wrote:
On 04/04/2026 13:20, Blueshirt wrote:
I was four months old when "The Dalek's Master Plan"
serial started... and I only became familiar with the
story once the two Target novelisations were released
in the late 1980's.
Unfortunately those were not written by Terrance Dicks
otherwise it would have been just one volume and he would
have done the whole story in under 30,000 words rather than
John Peel taking over 100,000.
The book publishers wanted two books as it was a big story.
Or, they wanted more £££.
Also this has reminded me that we've missed an episode out,
Mission the the Unknown, which sets everything up for what's
going on in the first episode. This might explain why stuff
was not explained fully. I might have to upgrade my score
after I watch the student remake which they made back in
around 2019 on YouTube if it's still there.
Yes, there was a one-episode prequel story that was Doctor-less.
The first three episodes all now exist after episodes 1
and 3 were rediscovered, but even with all the 3 episodes
together the story jumps all over the place as if Terry
Nation was making it up and changing things as it was
going along. Eventually he lost all interest in it and
left to to someone else to finish off based on his
original idea.
That's not correct. The serial was originally supposed to be
a six-episode Dalek story, as was the norm. But BBC
management asked for it to be extended to twelve episodes,
which Verity Lambert could only do by giving six episodes to
Terry Nation and
It was John Wiles who produced this story. Verity Lambert had
already left the show before The Myth Makers.
Correct, but Verity Lambert was still the show's producer when
the scripts were commissioned, and it was her that split the
scripts between two different writers.
John Wiles did not like the twelve episode story format when
he took over and wanted to resign as producer because of it.
six episodes to Dennis Spooner as Terry Nation by that time
had been commissioned to work on another TV show. It had
nothing to do with Terry Nation losing interest.
Oh dear, it seems this is the story where William Hartnell did
his Christmas Day address to the nation, which was not very
highly regarded at the time, and apart from a short clip I
think is still missing.
Yes, it was episode seven, "The Feast of Steven"
This story seems to have been written primarily as a Dalek
story rather than a Doctor Who story.
Correct. It was.
They obviously wanted to give Hartnell a rest from being the
lead.
They wanted a Dalek story to cash in on the popularity of the
Daleks.
and an epic one. Then came the Cybermen.
Where they locked William Hartnell up in a cupboard for 7/8 of the story.
What was the reason for that? It was all after Verity Lambert left. Did
the new producers not like him because he was old?
----
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
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