Day of Reckoning
As the Daleks conquer Earth, a band of resistance fighters, including the Doctor, his granddaughter Susan, and companions, struggle against the invaders, facing casualties and moral dilemmas as they seek to thwart the Daleks' mysterious plans and reclaim their world.
In a Dalek-occupied London, a resistance group launches a raid on a Dalek saucer, which leads to heavy losses and the capture of the Doctor. Tyler, a resistance leader, barely escapes, while the Doctor's companions, Barbara and Susan, find themselves separated. The Doctor is injured and drugged, and rescued by Susan and David just as another resistance member named Baker is killed by Daleks while trying to escape. Ian finds himself trapped on the Dalek saucer with a man named Larry, discovering it is headed to mine workings in Bedfordshire.
Underground, Dortmun, an elderly scientist, continues to develop a bomb to fight the Daleks. Tyler returns to warn the resistance to evacuate, but Dortmun refuses to abandon his work. Tyler leaves to search for survivors, while Dortmun reveals he is ready to test his new bomb.
Susan and David debate whether to flee Earth, as Susan yearns for a place without Daleks, but David insists on fighting for their home. Larry seeks to uncover the Dalek's goal. Their theory is they hope to extract the Earth's magnetic core.
Barbara and Jenny decide to escort Dortmun to the Civic Transport Museum, hoping to find other survivors and supplies. Along the way, they witness the Daleks' oppressive control over London, including patrols and executions. At the museum, they find it deserted and learn that other resistance members have fled to the south coast. Dortmun decides to test his bomb, but is killed by the Daleks when his attempt fails. Larry and Ian try to find a way to leave the saucer.
The Doctor, recovering from his ordeal, clashes with Susan and David and begins making the decisions again as the group debates their next move. As the episode closes, it's revealed the Daleks are going to destroy London with firebombs and will head to the mine workings in Central England after.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The episode opens in the chaotic immediate aftermath of a disastrous resistance raid on a Dalek saucer, plunging the protagonists into disarray. Resistance fighters, including Tyler and Baker, attempt to free prisoners and sabotage the Dalek vessel, but face overwhelming Dalek forces, leading to heavy casualties. Amidst the retreat, Baker carries an unconscious and drugged Doctor, struggling to escape the relentless Daleks. Outside the saucer, David and Susan are separated from Barbara and Ian, adding to the confusion and peril. Ian finds himself trapped aboard the Dalek saucer with a man named Larry, where he overhears vital information about its destination: mine workings in Bedfordshire. Back at the underground resistance headquarters, a grim Tyler reports the raid's abject failure and urges immediate evacuation, but the elderly scientist Dortmun stubbornly refuses to abandon his work on a new, unproven bomb. This initial, devastating defeat scatters the protagonists, forcing them into desperate, separate paths and immediate survival decisions, while the Daleks consolidate their absolute control over London, poised for their next destructive phase.
Outside the Dalek saucer, David and Jenny clash over priorities as the resistance retreats under Dalek fire. David insists Jenny evacuate the group while he pursues Tyler, but Jenny reveals …
As the resistance fighters flee under Dalek fire, Ian’s desperate warning to Barbara—'Get back!'—reveals a critical tactical shift: the Daleks have abandoned their policy of indiscriminate extermination, now prioritizing prisoner …
As the Daleks tighten their grip on London, the scattered resistance members face escalating dangers and moral dilemmas. Susan and David hide in a derelict warehouse, witnessing Dalek executions, prompting Susan to yearn for escape from Earth, a desire David steadfastly rejects in favor of fighting for his home planet. Meanwhile, Barbara, Jenny, and Dortmun navigate the oppressive, Dalek-patrolled streets of London, observing the invaders' absolute control. They reach the Civic Transport Museum, a designated rendezvous point, only to find it deserted, with signs indicating other survivors have fled south. Dortmun, determined to prove his bomb's effectiveness, makes a desperate, solo attempt to deploy it against the Daleks, but the device fails, and he is summarily killed. This act underscores the futility of isolated resistance efforts and the overwhelming power of the Dalek occupation, while the Doctor remains incapacitated, and Ian and Larry continue their hidden journey aboard the Dalek saucer, trying to decipher the Daleks' mining objectives.
Tyler returns to the underground HQ after the disastrous Dalek saucer raid, delivering the crushing news that the Doctor and Ian are dead and the resistance’s attack was a total …
In the wake of Tyler’s devastating report on the failed Dalek saucer raid—where the Doctor and Ian are presumed dead—the resistance’s fragile unity collapses. Tyler, bloodied and defeated, insists on …
Following Dortmun's tragic and futile demise, Barbara and Jenny are forced to flee the museum, now fully exposed to the relentless Dalek threat, their hopes for a safe haven shattered. Simultaneously, the Doctor, having finally recovered from his drugging, reasserts his formidable leadership over Susan and David. He decisively overrides Susan's yearning to flee Earth and David's uncertainty, proposing a new, unified strategy: traveling north to join a larger, more organized resistance group. This marks a critical shift from individual survival to a more collective, strategic approach to fighting the occupation. On the Dalek saucer, Ian and Larry finalize their escape plan, intending to utilize a disposal chute for a swift exit once the vessel lands at the mine workings. As the saucer dramatically touches down and the Daleks disembark to begin their mysterious operation, Ian and Larry prepare to put their perilous plan into action, positioning themselves to infiltrate the Daleks' primary site and uncover their true, devastating intentions. This act effectively sets the stage for the next, more focused phase of the conflict, with the Doctor's group now committed to a unified resistance and Ian and Larry poised at the heart of the Daleks' central operation.
In a Dalek-occupied warehouse, Susan and David’s ideological divide erupts into a raw confrontation as the distant sound of a man’s execution by Daleks underscores their argument. Susan, desperate to …
Baker arrives at the resistance hideout carrying the drugged Doctor, delivering a grim report of the resistance’s devastating losses—four or five survivors at most, the rest dead or captured. His …
In the museum hideout, Dortmun reveals the bomb is complete but warns of the unstable dalekenium metal, while Jenny returns with dire news of Dalek advances and the resistance’s forced …
In the museum hideout, Dortmun reveals his bomb is complete but admits uncertainty about the Daleks’ mining objectives. Jenny returns with dire news of Dalek reinforcements and the resistance’s retreat, …
Dortmun, an aging scientist obsessed with his untested bomb, insists Barbara deliver his notes to the Doctor while he secretly prepares to detonate the device alone. Despite Barbara’s protests, he …
The Doctor, still recovering from the drugs that left him physically vulnerable, attempts to reassert his authority over Susan and David in the warehouse. His insistence on returning to the …
The Doctor, still recovering from the effects of the drugs administered by the resistance, physically and mentally regains his footing with Susan’s assistance. Their exchange reveals his lingering disorientation and …
Trapped aboard the Dalek saucer, Larry shares his brother Phil’s theory that the Daleks are targeting Earth’s magnetic core for extraction—a revelation that immediately gains credibility when the Dalek Supreme …
Trapped aboard the Dalek saucer, Larry and Ian overhear the Dalek Supreme’s order to disembark, confirming the saucer’s landing and the Daleks’ imminent mining operation. Larry reveals his brother’s theory—that …