A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 51. Flashpoint (The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Episode Six)

So this is the wrap up of this serial, the serial that cemented Dalek-mania (and, I fear, condemned NuWho to drowning in Nazi Pepperpots).  As Nation gives most everyone in the crew something to contribute, It’s obvious to me that Barbara once again saves the day.  Yes, Ian sabotages the shaft that will send the bomb down to shatter the outer core and permit the Daleks to turn them into a planet-sized spaceship, but Barbara comes up with the idea that puts paid to the Nazi Pepperpots, delays them with history-based double speak and, along with the Doctor, carries out her plan.  Barbara remains the most interesting of the companions this rewatch to me.

There is some more location filming as Barbara’s plan to turn the Robomen on the Daleks results in a slew of prisoners pouring out of the mine and beating the crap out of our villains.  It once again gives us an immediacy to this serial that the ones before were lacking.

But you don’t want to hear about that, do you?

You want to hear about Susan’s goodbye.

Susan’s goodbye scene takes up a full third of this final half hour.  It’s to Nation’s credit that he gave her a lot of stuff to do besides the crying and wailing that turned me off on the character fairly early on.  He spent quite a bit of time building up the rapport she has with David, and gives us lots of hints that the Doctor not only knows about it, but approves of that connection.  But for her farewell, Nation has her....cry and wail.  After a round of ‘Everything’s in good hands, now the real work begins, etc.,’ David proposes to Susan.  Susan gnashes her teeth in being torn between staying and going and the Doctor...makes the decision for her by locking her out of the Tardis and leaving her behind.

Oh, there is that speech the Doctor gives about Susan being a young woman and needing to find a path of her own, and it’s spectacular--just like with Matt Smith, Hartnell shines whenever he is pontificating--but it doesn’t change the fact that Susan has no say in her fate.  She is just left with David, weakly protesting that she lost her shoe--she didn’t lose it, she handed it to the Doctor to fix, who took it with him in the Tardis.  This rewatch left a little grain of bad taste in my mouth, and the sad thing is it’s not going to be the worst send-off a companion gets (I’m looking at you, Dodo!).

Even with the bitterness on how Nation handled Susan’s goodbye, I still think that this is Nation’s strongest serial to date.  It doesn’t have as much filler as either ‘The Daleks’ or ‘The Keys of Marinus,’ and it benefits from the novelty of location shooting in recognizable locations.

If you’re curious about my thoughts on the character of Susan and her character arc, and you have a dollar a month to spend, consider becoming a Patreon and watch for the first Exit Interview, a series of essays exclusive for Patron approaching the characters of this august series from a writer’s point of view.