The Second Doctor’s run kicks off with a Dalek story, providing continuity with the previous seasons despite the change of lead actor. The fourth season of the show is notable for having no serials that fully survive in their original form, and
The Power of the Daleks is one of four that are entirely missing. Like most of the missing stories from the Troughton era, however, it has been reconstructed in animated form from the sound recordings and, as of this writing, has been widely available for some time. It has a good reputation, generally considered well above average for its era, and is often highly praised.
It’s the first of many Second Doctor base-under-siege stories, which tend to lack the detailed background we had in the more exploratory Hartnell tales. Nonetheless, the setting did break ground for the series at the time, and there’s arguably much that’s implied by it that we don’t get to see directly. So, with Hartnell’s run completed, let’s see what we can do with the stories of his successor…
