The Tardis makes it to Earth, but a future earth – the year 2164AD. They land in a deserted, damaged London, and find evidence of strange happenings (there is a sign prohibiting the dumping of bodies in the Thames). It turns out that the Daleks have invaded, and have killed or enslaved the survivors to work on a giant mine in Bedfordshire, to remove the Earth’s molten core and make it a giant spaceship that can travel anywhere.
An interesting episode. It has some great stuff in the first few episodes concerning this post-apocalypse London, humans converted into mental slaves called ‘Robomen’ by the daleks, and a generally dark tone. The setup is a little wasted as the to-ing and fro-ing gets a little soap-opera, but overall this has a great premise and scenes, and it’s clear why the Daleks continued to be such a part of popular culture generally, as well as such significant baddies in Dr Who lore.
Rating: Good 6.5/10