Mission to the Unknown

A unique anomaly in the canon of Doctor Who, Mission to the Unknown (aka Dalek Cutaway) stands alone in more ways than one. First broadcast on 9 October 1965, this taut, 25-minute episode has the distinction of being the only one in the series’ history to feature none of its regular cast—not even the Doctor himself, despite William Hartnell still receiving contractual credit. Instead, we are plunged into an atmospheric prelude to The Daleks’ Master Plan, setting the stage for the epic twelve-part saga that followed.

The episode’s existence is itself the result of production happenstance. When the second-season serial Planet of Giants was shortened from four episodes to three, a “spare” instalment was left adrift in the second production block. Rather than waste it, then-producer Verity Lambert and outgoing story editor Dennis Spooner devised a clever solution: a self-contained tale that would serve as a narrative bridge, teeing up the return of the Daleks in grander form.

Scripted by Terry Nation—creator of the Daleks and a staple of the show’s early years—Mission to the Unknown operates less as traditional Doctor Who, and more as a suspenseful slice of sci-fi espionage. Nation, juggling other commitments (notably The Saint), wrote the story as a technical challenge: a tight, focused narrative with a small cast and limited sets. The growing popularity of the Daleks—bolstered by their upcoming American debut in the feature film Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)—prompted Terry Nation to explore the potential for a Dalek-centred spin-off. While developing Mission to the Unknown, he recognised that such a story would require a compelling protagonist to anchor it. Drawing inspiration from the recent success of Goldfinger (1964), he crafted Marc Cory as a “space-age Bond”: a sharp, resourceful agent of the Space Security Service, an elite organisation tasked with hunting Daleks. An unmade pilot titled The Destroyers was written, but the series concept was never sold.

On the jungle-covered planet Kembel, Marc Cory (Edward de Souza) and Gordon Lowery (Jeremy Young) of the UN Deep Space Force are stranded, desperately attempting to repair their damaged spacecraft in order to reach a scheduled rendezvous. Their efforts are interrupted when their third crewmate, Jeff Garvey (Barry Jackson), stumbles out of the undergrowth in a violent, delirious state. Without warning, he aims his weapon at Lowery, forcing Cory to shoot him dead. Shocked but composed, Cory brings Lowery back inside the ship for a debriefing, revealing that he is, in fact, a Space Security agent investigating reports of a Dalek presence. The discovery of a nearby Varga plant—native only to Skaro—confirms their worst fears: the Daleks are indeed here.

Outside, Garvey's corpse begins to grotesquely transform into a Varga plant, confirming the danger is spreading. Meanwhile, at the Dalek base, the Dalek Supreme is informed that envoys from seven galaxies are enroute for a secret conference. Determined to prevent any interference, the Supreme dispatches a Dalek patrol to eliminate Cory and Lowery.

As Lowery works to assemble a distress beacon, Cory keeps watch, warding off the slow-creeping Varga plants that inch ever closer. When they spot a spacecraft passing overhead, Cory deduces that something monumental is being planned—possibly an intergalactic invasion. Just as Lowery prepares to record a warning message, Cory sees movement in the jungle. The two men flee moments before the Dalek patrol arrives and obliterates their ship.

At the Dalek command centre, the alien delegates have assembled. The Dalek Supreme assures Malpha (Robert Cartland) and the others that the human interlopers are being eliminated. Back in the jungle, Cory is horrified to find that Lowery has been infected by a Varga plant. With no other option, he kills his colleague and hurriedly records a warning message about the Daleks’ plans. Before he can send it, he is surrounded by Daleks and exterminated.

Inside the Dalek base, the conference proceeds. With no one left to raise the alarm, the delegates formally approve a terrifying alliance: a united effort to conquer the Solar System—led by the Daleks.

The episode benefits from strong visual design. Newcomer Richard Hunt’s oppressive jungle sets contrast effectively with series veteran Raymond Cusick’s Dalek base, where the conference room’s stark geometry, inspired by the Nuremberg rallies, adds a disturbingly fascistic undertone. The Daleks themselves—utilising props from The Chase—are back to their most sinister, culminating in a chilling extermination that wipes out all hope. That the protagonists fail utterly was a bold move for 1960s family television.

Derek Martinus, directing his first serial after completing the BBC’s internal course, approached the material with seriousness and a desire to elevate the standard. Though unseasoned, his work here shows promise. The pacing is brisk, the tone grim, and the tension well sustained—qualities that would define some of his later, more prominent work on the series.

Though credited as producer, Verity Lambert had largely stepped aside by the time this episode was filmed—her last credited Doctor Who episode before John Wiles took over. Production-wise, it was shot alongside Galaxy 4 which was held back to open Season 3. Its modest £2,440 budget belies its ambition.

Sadly, Mission to the Unknown did not see international sales, likely due to its unusually violent content and lack of recognisable characters. The BBC wiped the master tape in 1973, and the sole known film print, once reviewed and rejected by Australia, has vanished.

Yet the episode found a new lease of life in 2019, thanks to an impressive student-led recreation at the University of Central Lancashire. Spearheaded by Andrew Ireland—who had previously written a thesis on recreating classic Doctor Who, the project meticulously matched the original using available scripts and audio. Directed with care and precision, the recreated episode premiered exactly 54 years after its original transmission and earned a Special Jury Prize at the 2020 Learning on Screen Awards.

In retrospect, Mission to the Unknown is more than a production curiosity. It’s a daring experiment, a precursor to the ‘Doctor Light’ stories the series would later embrace. Devoid of the TARDIS, the Doctor, or any familiar faces, it nonetheless delivers compelling science fiction and builds tension with ruthless efficiency. Even stripped of its mythic status as a “lost” episode, it remains a stark and bold outlier—a Dalek story where evil wins, hope fails, and the universe teeters on the brink.

A mission, indeed, worth remembering.

^{Laurence Marcus 2025}