Daleks: The Secret Invasion

"By dawn there'll not be a single person left."

Writer: Terry Nation
Format: Short Story
Released: October 1979
Printed in: Terry Nation's Dalek Special

Featuring: Daleks

Synopsis

The Daleks have invaded Earth without anybody knowing but four children uncover the plans when a train station is suddenly deserted. They encounter the natives of Skaro and aid the government in tackling the Dalek demands...

Verdict

Daleks: The Secret Invasion was a decent little story that I rather enjoyed. I am in the middle of a university research project for my Sixties module in my History degree and this is the last assignment I have before completing my dissertation. It has taken me three years and twelve modules but I have finally been able to talk about Doctor Who in the academic sense. I was given free reign to pick a question once I decided that my topic from the 1960s would be Doctor Who (was I going to choose anything else?) and I have decided on 'How important was Dalekmania to the success of Doctor Who in the 1960s?' It's a very exciting project and having a great amount of knowledge on the subject already has proved hugely beneficial but I have very much enjoyed going through the books and looking back on old magazines to gain some sources and enhance my research. The story that this book was printed in, Terry Nation's Dalek Special, was something I didn't know existed prior to looking for source potential and I quickly snapped up a copy on eBay and I have to say it arrived in pristine condition and all for only a mere £4. As well as providing me with some excellent quotes I can use in my research project, I get the bonus of a story! And from Terry Nation himself. My research has shown me just how extraordinary Dalekmania was and the riches Nation gained were considerable but I'm glad that by the late '70s he was able to write another story and this time in prose. I like the idea of a Doctor-less story with the Daleks and there are many of those but nowadays they are rather rare to get your hands on so this was a joy to read. It was quite fun and well-paced which was positive and I liked how the Daleks were using four children to communicate with the British authorities. The concept of the Dalek metal-plate having their message encoded was interesting and new which was good but one thing that I was surprised about throughout this story was how the Daleks were common knowledge. This was obviously set quite some time before the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth and unless everybody in this story was on top of the Empire State Building during the events of The Chase, I'd love to know how they know all about the Daleks. What that did bring though was fear of the threat posed and I liked how this was shown through the government accepting that they'd have to lose two children's lives in order to destroy the Daleks. However, David and his cousins had the genius idea of using the bombs that the Daleks intended to dismantle London with to destroy their own ship. It was a slightly recycled idea but I quite liked it. I thought the four children worked well together and I particularly liked their relationship with Trent. Overall, a pretty good little story!

Rating: 7/10