Mission to the Unknown

It's the planet Kembel. Space Security Agent Marc Cory has landed on what he considers the most hostile planet in the galaxy on a mission vital to the survival of the solar system: to determine if the Dalek threat has returned. It has been one thousand years since their last conquest of Earth, but recent sightings of strange craft in the area have caused alarm, and Cory has been sent to investigate. The fears are justified - the Daleks are indeed on Kembel as are representatives of other hostile forces, and their goal is to unite and conquer the solar system. Before Cory can communicate with his own forces, he is discovered by the Daleks and killed, and the Dalek master plan is set to proceed.

A couple of firsts here: first single standalone episode in the entire history of the show, and the only standalone in the classic series, And the first episode not to feature the Doctor or any of his companions. I'm not sure if it was disappointing for audiences back in the day to watch the whole thing and not see the Doctor appear to save Marc Cory or if they got that this was a teaser for something much bigger and better to come. But you can bet that Terry Nation, with dollar signs in his eyes, was thrilled to have the Daleks in their own show for one episode - it would be the sort of thing to make him think that he could sell them to American networks in their own series and make heaps of cash.

The standalone episode was good for the Daleks, really. Let's face facts: The Chase was not exactly the best thing they were ever in, and to see them reduced to stuttering buffoons was not going to make anyone fear them. This time, though, the Dalek menace is back and for the first time it actually wins. They have surrounded themselves with thugs from across the galaxy in this evil alliance but anyone who knows the Daleks would have to be skeptical about how long that might last. But for now here they are together and they're a fantastic bunch of aliens. It's no Mos Eisley cantina I grant you, but they are some of the most interesting aliens on the show so far, each with their own backstory screaming to be fleshed out. And that big tall thing in the back is really interesting to look at.

That is, of course, if you look at stills or Ian Levine's specially commissioned animated version as I did.

Mission to the Unknown is, like so many others of this period, lost. And in this case being only one episode long it's not like we can say "At least we have episode 3," as we did with Galaxy Four. Without the episode to watch my first introduction to it was as a chapter in John Peel's so-so novelization of the big feature The Dalek Master Plan Part 1: Mission to the Unknown and then eventually I got a hold of the audio on the BBC Radio Collection where it was also lumped in with the 12 episode mammoth tale as a prelude. I imagine if it were found today it would probably get its own DVD release with the three surviving episodes of DMP or maybe as a standalone and soak the punters for a few bucks for 25 minutes of  classic footage. Sometimes I am not a big fan of Mr Levine's fandom politics (or any fandom politics for that matter) but I thank him profusely for this service he did by having this work done so it can be enjoyed visually at last. With all the animated inserts in the other DVDs where episodes are missing and restored through an animated episode, this doesn't seem as absurd an idea as it might have in the past.

The next episode would not go right into what was brewing on Kembel; we would be taken to the plains of Asia Minor and see some big wooden horse or something and time would pass on Kembel and the plan would be in full swing. Well with Big Finish that gap can be widened a bit with some extra tales from their line...

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