'The Mutants' (7 Parts) Story Code 'B' by Terry Nation

The TARDIS arrives in a petrified forest on the planet Skaro. When the four travellers leave the ship and explore, they see a huge city in the distance; the Doctor wants to investigate, but Ian and Barbara overrule him, and they return to the TARDIS. The Doctor deliberately sabotages the TARDIS's fluid links, telling his companions that they may find a new supply in the city. Entering the complex, they are captured by Daleks, evil mutants, encased in armoured travel machines. The Daleks explain that the devastation is due to a nuclear war that they fought five hundred years ago against the planet's other inhabitants, the Thals. While the Daleks have mutated hideously, and are now forced to survive in their metal casings, the Thals have become a race of beautiful humanoid pacifists. The Daleks are now planning to destroy the Thals by detonating a neutron bomb. The Doctor and his companions manage to escape the city and befriend the Thals, but the leader, Alydon, refuses to fight the Daleks. Realising that the replacement fluid link has been left in the city, the Doctor and his companions realise that they must recover it, and so join forces with the Thals; by appearing to threaten Dyoni, a Thal woman, Ian convinces Alydon that the Thals are indeed capable of fighting for their survival, and they agree to launch two-pronged attack on the Dalek city. The Doctor, Susan and the main party of Thals distract the city scanners using mirrors, while Ian, Barbara and the Thal men, Elyon, Ganatus, Kristas and Antodus brave the many hazards of the planet that lie on the journey, including mutation infested swamps and dangerous mountain caves. The Daleks decide that their bomb will take too long to construct, and instead plan to release radiation from their nuclear reactors into the atmosphere. The Thals break into the city and a battle breaks out. During the fighting, the Daleks' power source of static electricity is cut off, destroying the creatures. The Doctor and his friends leave with the fluid link, while the Thals rebuild their world. Back in the TARDIS, there is a huge explosion, and the four travellers fall to the floor...

William Hartnell (Dr Who), William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright), Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman), Peter Hawkins, David Graham (Dalek Voices); Robert Jewell, Kevin Manser, Michael Summerton, Gerald Taylor, Peter Murphy (Daleks); Alan Wheatley (Temmosus), John Lee (Alydon), Virgina Wetherell (Dyoni), Philip Bond (Ganatus), Marcus Hammond (Antodus), Jonathon Crane (Kristas), Gerald Curtis (Elyon); Chris Browning, Katie Cashfield, Vez Delahunt, Kevin Glenny, Ruth Harrison, Lesley Hill, Steve Pokol, Jeanette Rossini, Eric Smith (Thals)

Produced by Verity Lambert
Directed by Christopher Barry (Parts 1-2,4-5) and Richard Martin (Parts 3,6-7)

TX:
'The Dead Planet' - 14th December, 1963 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Survivors' - 21st December, 1963 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Escape' - 28th December, 1963 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Ambush' - 4th January, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Expedition' - 11th January, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Ordeal' - 18th January, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm
'The Rescue' - 25th January, 1964 @ 5.15pm - 5.40pm

Notes:
*Featuring the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan

*First appearance of the Daleks

*This story was originally titled 'The Mutants', but is now often referred to as 'The Daleks' to avoid confusion with Story 3N

*Working titles: 'The Survivors' and 'Beyond the Sun' (the latter was also the title of an used storyline by Malcolm Hulke, which was also called 'The Hidden Planet')

*A cut-down seventy-five-minute colourised version of this story was shown on BBC4 on 23rd November 2023, as part of the BBC's celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of 'Doctor Who'