Having lost the entire Dalek army hidden away in the Fifth Galaxy, the Emperor Dalek travels to the heart of Mechanoid space to propose an alliance with the longtime enemy of the Daleks. On Mechanus, the Mechanoid leader is skeptical of the proposal for cooperation, especially when the Emperor tries to avoid revealing that the powerful entity that has decimated Dalek forces was unleashed through the Dalek attack on Islos. Even as the Emperor and the Dalek Strategist confer with their Mechanoid counterparts, the tenuous truce between their armies breaks down quickly…while the transdimensional entity follows the Daleks to Mechanus.
written by James Goss
directed by Peter Caddock and Jon Doyle
music by Steve FoxonCast: Anjli Mohindra (Mechanoid Queen), Ayesha Antoine (Mechanoid 2150), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks / The Machanoids)
Notes: This is the first on-screen appearance of the Mechanoids since the sixth episode of the 1965 Doctor Who story The Chase. The episode’s title, also shown on-screen, either settles or further complicates a long-running confusion over whether the Daleks’ enemies’ name is spelled “Mechanoid” or “Mechonoid”. The Mechanoids made only one prior TV appearance, but were frequent foils for the Daleks in the Century 21 Dalek comics of the 1960s, which continue to be a significant influence on this series’ visual style. Anjli Mohindra starred as Rani in The Sarah Jane Adventures’ second through fifth seasons, later reprising the role for Big Finish.
LogBook entry by Earl Green