The Chase (Doctor Who)
The Daleks pursue the TARDIS across time and space.
The Chase is the eighth serial of the second season of Doctor Who, written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Martin. It features the Daleks pursuing the First Doctor and his companions through time and space, and marks the final appearance of regular cast members William Russell and Jacqueline Hill. The serial introduced Peter Purves as Steven Taylor and included an android replica of the Doctor.
Quick Facts
- Number
- 016
- Serial name
- The Chase
- Doctor
- William Hartnell – First Doctor
- Companions
- William Russell – Ian Chesterton
- Jacqueline Hill – Barbara Wright
- Maureen O'Brien – Vicki
- Writer
- Terry Nation
- Script editor
- Dennis Spooner
- Producer
- Verity Lambert
- Composer
- Dudley Simpson
Facts from the source article.
Plot
On the planet Aridius, Ian Chesterton and Vicki explore the Sagarro Desert while the First Doctor and Barbara Wright remain in the TARDIS. They observe the Daleks planning to follow the TARDIS to Aridius to exterminate them and seize the ship. Realising the Daleks may already be there, the Doctor and Barbara venture out, seeing Daleks emerge after a dust storm. Native Aridians save them, and they reunite with Ian and Vicki, who were injured by Mire Beasts. The group flees to the TARDIS as the Beasts attack. The Daleks pursue through time and space. The TARDIS stops atop the Empire State Building in New York City in 1966; after they leave, a Dalek appears. They are mistaken for stowaways on the Mary Celeste until Daleks arrive, causing the crew to abandon ship. In a mysterious house, the group encounters Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, who attack the Daleks. The monsters are revealed as robots in a defunct theme park. Vicki stows away on the Dalek ship and witnesses the creation of an android replica of the Doctor, dispatched on Mechanus. She reunites with the others, and a fight ensues between Ian and the real Doctor when the robot duplicate appears. The robot mistakenly calls Vicki his granddaughter Susan, revealing it, and the real Doctor disables it. In a metal city, Mechonoids imprison them with astronaut Steven Taylor. During a Dalek attack, they escape. Ian and Barbara persuade the Doctor to help them operate the Dalek time machine to return to London in 1965. They set it to auto-destruct, and the Doctor and Vicki depart in the TARDIS.
Production
Following the success of The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Terry Nation was commissioned by story editor Dennis Spooner to write a third Dalek serial. Nation's original pitch was scrapped, and he was commissioned for a six-episode serial around mid-December 1964. He submitted a synopsis on 10 January 1965, aware it would be expensive. The story was initially titled Dr Who (Segment: Dalek Three) – The Pursuers, later becoming The Chase. Nation wrote scripts between episodes of The Saint. He suggested borrowing footage of the Gettysburg Address from the 1962 film How the West Was Won. Alternatives to Aridius included ancient Egypt and the planet Stygian. Spooner added the Time-Space Visualiser to maintain continuity with The Space Museum. He also changed the scene where Ian and Vicki enter tunnels; originally they were dragged by Mire Beasts. An external model sequence of the haunted house was cut when the reasoning changed. In a draft, the city was referred to as 'a real Frank Lloyd Wright edifice'.
Reception
The serial aired on BBC1 from 22 May to 26 June 1965. Viewership was positive but lower than earlier Dalek serials due to early summer. It gained about a million viewers over The Space Museum, with the first episode receiving ten million. The fourth and sixth episodes entered the top 10 most-viewed programmes. Appreciation Index scores ranged from 54 to 57. Original tapes of episodes were erased between 1967 and 1969. 16mm telerecordings were discovered at BBC Enterprises in 1978. The serial was sold to North America in 1985 and considered for a repeat in 1986 but not played. It was screened at the National Film Theatre in 1988. An additional copy of the first episode was recovered from a deceased collector in 2026. After the first episode, controller Huw Wheldon noted dissatisfaction at the Daleks' brief appearance; they appeared in the following five episodes. Philip Purser of the Sunday Telegraph called the show 'a ramshackle old serial' and said the Daleks were 'fast losing their ancient menace'. Kenneth Adam felt the inclusion of Dracula and Frankenstein's monster was an 'embarrass de richesses'. An audience report found the fourth episode 'very entertaining' but some viewers criticised its messy narrative and frightening scenes.
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