Doctor Who (TV Series) The End of Tomorrow (1964) User Reviews

Beware the Slither

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 14 June 2017]

A heroic David manages to disable to bomb, be and Susan leave an injured Doctor to journey through London's sewers. Barbara and Jenny find a van and head for Bedfordshire, mowing down several Daleks en route. Ian and Larry, having been transported to the Dalek mines in Bedfordshire witness first hand the impact of the Dalek mining, slave labour and mass roboman conversion. On the site Ian, Ashton and ally Wells almost fall into the class of mutant creature, the slither.

Once again I'm struck by the sheer quality of the imagery, the visuals are incredible, in particular Barbara and Jenny's journey. Susan's alligator incident is particularly well realised.

Good attention to detail, the thought of alligators and reptiles escaping from zoos and thriving in the sewers is an interesting idea. Even in times of disaster such as these it's nice timings there are still people on the make.

Great to see Are you being Served? actor Nicholas Smith on the show. This is where we first hear David tempt Susan with the idea of leaving the TARDIS and settling down!

I'm so impressed by the quality of each episode, and while there's​not the same calibre of the first three episodes it's still an excellent episode 8/10

The End of Tomorrow

[guswhovian · 7/10 · 8 July 2020]

Ian travels to the Dalek's mine in Bedfordshire, Susan and David travel through the sewers of London, and Barbara and Jenny escape from London.

Good old Terry Nation and his episode titles that have no bearing whatsoever on the plot. "The End of Tomorrow" is a striking title though. William Hartnell is absent from the episode, which definitely makes the episode less enjoyable.

Each of the leads have separate storylines. Barbara's takes up the least timel but it's fun to see her driving a tanker through a group of Daleks.

Ian has found a friend in Larry Madison, played by Graham Rigby. Rigby is very good as Larry, a character who you know won't survive until the story's conclusion. It's also nice to see a pre-Are You Being Served? Nicholas Smith appears briefly.

Susan and David spend most of the time wandering through badly lit sewer sets. It's padding, pure and simple, and serves no other purpose in the plot other than to reunite them with Carl Tyler. There's a nice action sequence with Susan almost getting eaten by an alligator.

Overall, the episode's fun, but everything's rather inconsequential to the plot.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth Part 4: Imperfect but still a brilliant classic

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 9/10 · 6 July 2014]

Review of all 6 episodes:

This story running from World's End for 6 episodes marks the return of the Daleks and was an extremely important story in establishing Doctor Who's popularity. This time the Daleks are more frightening because not only have they got additional powers of movement in different terrains and new levels of evil ambition but they are also the invaders of Earth. To show them on Earth and in fantastic, iconic scenes around famous London landmarks with London and apparently the world turned largely to ruins, provides real fear and drama. The human race has been reduced to hiding or serving the Daleks. This is all powerful stuff even now, let alone in the early sixties so near in memory to similar threats of the Nazis.

The story also marks the first departure of one of the Doctor's companions, his grand-daughter Susan. Her character has a decent last story and while she had lost her appeal somewhat, her leaving scenes provide moving and lovely magic from William Hartnell with a superbly written and acted speech of incredible dignity and pathos.

There are various imperfections such as strange elements to the scientific explanations and plans of the Daleks and far less effective Dalek voices than the first or later stories. However there is is so much else to recommend this story that these issues pale to insignificance. Plot issues and less well executed elements mainly occur in the 4th and 5th episodes, the rest of the episodes are 10/10 quality, exciting, menacing, absorbing and with striking ideas and imagery. The story is written by Terry Nation but David Whitaker as script editor deserves some credit for this and all previous stories. This marks the last story before the departure of Whitaker from that role, he would only return as a guest writer.

A must see story in the history of Doctor Who.

My Ratings: Episodes 1-3 and 6 - 10/10, Episode 4 - 8.5/10, Episode 5 - 9/10