Trivia / Doctor Who S2 E2 "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"

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• Author's Saving Throw: At the end of "The Daleks", the Daleks are all killed off, which caused Terry Nation a slight problem when they became an instant huge success. In this story, the Doctor speculates that he's gone back to a time before they all died. Later stories simply ignore it, with some Expanded Universe stories and much commentary on the show taking advantage of the "Daleks" Daleks' weaker powers and different personality to suggest that they were simply a splinter faction of the main Dalek civilisation, or surviving descendants of early experiments by Davros.
• Creator's Favourite Episode: Director Richard Martin considered this to be the best of the first three Dalek serials.
• Enforced Method Acting: Carole Ann Ford cried real tears when she acted Susan's departure.
• On-Set Injury: William Hartnell injured his back when a prop ramp malfunctioned. Following discussions between Hartnell's solicitors and The BBC's, the BBC denied liability and paid for an X-ray. Hartnell was given a week off to recover, and the fourth episode underwent minor rewrites
• Posthumous Credit: A truly sad example; Jean Conroy, who played one of the two Women in the Wood in "The Waking Ally", died in a road traffic accident between filming and broadcast aged just 30. It did not come to light that she had died before her scenes were aired until many years later.
• Prop Recycling: The four original Dalek casings made for "The Daleks" were used again in this serial alongside two new ones. It was the start of a trend through the classic series of reusing old Daleks. Two of the said casings were borrowed back from a Barnardo's children's charity home in Stepney, where they had been donated after the serial.
• Recycled Set: Multiple Dalek sets from Dr. Who and the Daleks were reused. Due to dates, the serial actually aired before the film came out, making this the sets' first appearance.
• Wag the Director: Wells' role was much smaller — he ran away to Ian and Larry when the Slyther attacked and wasn’t seen again. According to Nicholas Smith on the serial’s documentary, he convinced director Martin to give him a bigger role in the miner’s rebellion.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The original script featured a teenaged rebel named Saida, an English girl of Indian descent who would turn out to be Dortmun's daughter after his death. Saida stowed away aboard the TARDIS at the story's conclusion, becoming a new companion. The character would eventually become Jenny, who was also considered for a companion and to have a larger role.
  • Several initial threats in the episode had radical redesigns. Mutated humans fought David and Susan in the sewers, the Robomen had a disc on their foreheads, and the duo who betray Jenny and Barbara were supposed to be three old women in the woods.
  • The Daleks’ original plan to kill the miners instead of a firebomb was to simply trap them in the exploding mines which were going to be filled with lava.
  • William Hartnell omitted two lines from his farewell speech: "Work hard both of you. Be gentle with her David and show her that life on Earth with love and understanding can be a great adventure." The second line was meant to end the speech: "And remember love is the most precious jewel of all."
• Working Title: The Daleks, The Invaders, The Return of the Daleks and The Daleks in Europe. Working titles for the fourth and sixth episodes were "The Abyss" and "Earth Rebels" respectively.
• Written-In Infirmity: William Hartnell injured his back while filming the scene where the Doctor is carried up a ramp. The actors playing the Robomen and the Dalek prisoners had been instructed to break step while traversing the ramp but had failed to do so. This weakened the integrity of the structure, causing it to collapse. Although Hartnell was well enough to continue with the day's shooting, he was still experiencing pain days later. After correspondence from Hartnell's lawyer, the BBC agreed to pay for an x-ray, which fortunately indicated no permanent trauma to the spine. As a result, the Doctor is out of Episode Four. This caused a rewrite — originally, it was he who noticed the Dalek firebomb and defused it; in the recorded version, it was David who made the discovery. The Doctor instead collapsed at the very start of the scene, and the dialogue written for him was shared between David and Susan.

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