Welcome to The First Eight – The Roarbots’ classic Doctor Who watchthrough. We’re going through the 50+ year history of the Doctor Who franchise in chronological order. This is not a “rewatch”; I’m watching these shows for the first time.

This is not an effort to write an authoritative history or connect all the dots among the characters, planets, and eras of the franchise. I’m simply here to correct one of my most flagrant Geeky Blind Spots. And I hope you’ll join me on the journey. There’s only 26 seasons and 8 Doctors to catch up on. Easy peasy.

Want to watch along or catch up on classic Who on your own terms? Check out BritBox, which has nearly every existing episode available for instant streaming.

Welcome to 22nd century Earth, which is a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland ruled by the Daleks. But before I go any further, I need to address the elephant in the room. As a relative Doctor Who newbie, I’m not sure how the show addresses conflicting timelines.

I have to assume there’s no such thing as “canon” that encompasses all 50+ years of the show’s history. It’s somewhat easy to avoid overlapping timelines when the Doctor visits different planets, but when he returns to Earth so frequently? How do they explain the conflicting events?

When the Doctor (in any of his incarnations) returns to Earth after the point shown in this serial, is it assumed the Daleks were actually ruling over a mostly abandoned Earth for a while? Or is that conveniently forgotten?

I’m sure there are Who fans out there who can enlighten me.

Interestingly, this serial was used as the basis for a 1966 feature film starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor: Daleks’ Invasion Earth 2150 AD. It was the second film to star Cushing, and the first was actually an adaptation of the first sesaon’s “The Daleks.” They look awful, which means I must see them.

“The Dalek Invasion of Earth” (First Doctor, Second Season, Story 10) is composed of the following episodes:

• “World’s End” (November 21, 1964)
• “The Daleks” (November 28, 1964)
• “Day of Reckoning” (December 5, 1964)
• “The End of Tomorrow” (December 12, 1964)
• “The Waking Ally” (December 19, 1964)
• “Flashpoint” (December 26, 1964)

Coming off the quirky and fun (and short) “Planet of Giants,” it only makes sense that we go straight into a much longer, more serious story.

And here we are. Sigh.

Despite its length (its a six-part serial) and the return of the Daleks (this story marks the first time an enemy reappeared), “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” is surprisingly compelling and engaging.

But I have SERIOUS issues with the ending.

We begin with the TARDIS rematerializing… somewhere. The crew can’t see anything on the viewscreen, but Susan checks some instruments and finds no radiation and “normal” oxygen and pressure levels.

“Grandfather, it’s an Earth reading!”
“Well, I don’t want to boast, but it might be London!”

Sure Jan. Have we learned nothing about the Doctor’s ability to accurately pilot the TARDIS? Dude has no humility or awareness.

Anyway, he was kind of right. There were in London – just not the London they wanted it to be.

That can’t be right…

Finding an abandoned, creepy London, the gang immediately sets off to explore their immediate surroundings. The TARDIS is beneath a bridge, so Susan climbs up for a better view. However, she falls and tears down the bridge. Which then collapses on top of the TARDIS and blocks the door.

Figures.

It’s at this point that the Doctor just drops all pretense and embraces his role as a terrible old man. His response to Susan?

What you need is a jolly good smacked bottom!

I wish I were making that up. I mean, I know this is 1964, but come on. Moving on.

Susan spends much of the rest of this serial with a bum ankle, which everyone wants to keep wrapping with a wet bandage for some reason. Was this some sort of home remedy during the 60s? Wet towel over a sprained ankle?

Anyway, it wouldn’t be Doctor Who if the group didn’t get split up, so they don’t waste any time. Susan and Barbara get taken by the human survivors/resistance cell. The Doctor and Ian encounter the Robo-Men (no, not Cybermen), whom we assume are going to be the enemies here.

But the first episode ends with a Dalek emerging from a toxic river. It’s actually a very cool reveal and a great cliffhanger. (The Robo-Men are humans the Daleks control and use as their enforcers.)

Robo-Men aren’t the fastest ship in the fleet.

One of the best Doctor Who cliffhangers?

There’s a bit of explanation about how the Daleks are able to adapt to the planets they invade, which is why they’re not prisoners to metal floors (as they were the last time we saw them). And we’re also told that “The Daleks” from the first season took place “a million years in the future.”

“The Dalek Invasion of Earth” was the first serial to film extensively on location.

But why are the Daleks here? They’re trying to mine out Earth’s core. So they’ve dug a ginormous tunnel into the depths of the planet. Of course.

They dare to tamper with the forces of creation? Yes! They dare! And we must dare to stop them!

Over the course of these six episodes, our gang works with the resistance humans to take down the Daleks and reclaim the planet.

• Barbara and a dude in a wheelchair have a hideously extended running sequence through the abandoned streets of a crumbling London.
• Ian ends up INSIDE a bomb and must rewire it FROM THE INSIDE in order to escape.
• Barbara confuses the Daleks by reciting U.S. history and telling them about Native Americans, General Lee, and the Boston Tea Party. It’s enough to almost make them self-destruct.
• The Doctor and Barbara mimic the Daleks’ voices to turn the Robo-Men against the Daleks. It’s possibly the most unintentionally hilarious scene in the franchise so far.
• Susan falls in love. Kinda sorta.

So let’s take a closer look at that last one, because it’s kind of important. Susan and one of the resistance humans, David, develop a bit of a thing for each other over the course of the story. It’s mostly hints and subtext. Until it’s not.

There’ll come a time when you’re forced to stop traveling. And you’ll arrive somewhere.

In the last episode, they declare their love for each other, and David asks her to marry him. Sure, it’s kind of sudden since they’ve only known each other for a few days at most, but that’s the least of the problems here.

Susan is torn about the whole situation and knows that by accepting David’s proposal, she’d have to stay in this ruined 22nd century London. (Why doesn’t she just invite David to become part of the TARDIS crew? I don’t know. Don’t ask. It’s more dramatic this way.)

She knows she doesn’t belong there and, despite her feelings, she’s going to turn David down. (Because, come on, would YOU voluntarily stay behind in a post-apocalyptic future that guarantees a life of struggle and loneliness?)

But.

Oh man.

Are you ready for this?

The Doctor. The goddamn Doctor locks her out of the TARDIS and essentially abandons her on this desolate planet with a man she just met. We always knew he was an asshole, but this takes it to another level.

He uses a loudspeaker to talk to her from inside the ship and gives her his version of a pep talk. It’s played as if he’s being benevolent and helping her make the right – though difficult – decision. But I fail to see how this isn’t a TERRIBLE DECISION.

Susan was right to want to leave. She doesn’t belong here. The planet is a hellscape. She doesn’t know David. She’s a child who has repeatedly shown a complete dependence on the Doctor, Barbara, and Ian.

The Doctor robs her of her capacity to make a rational decision. He robs her of a chance to say goodbye to Ian and Barbara (and vice versa). He doesn’t even let her get any personal belongings she might have on board the TARDIS. He just locks her out and leaves.

He steals everything from her.

This isn’t him being a dick to Ian or Barbara, who were total strangers to him at the beginning of the first season. This is his granddaughter. And even though I was never a big fan of Susan’s character, I can no longer in good faith be a fan of The First Doctor. Quite frankly, I can’t even like him.

So it’ll be interesting to see how the next three seasons with him play out.