Mission To The Unknown

Background Mission to the Unknown (also known as Dalek Cutaway) was broadcast on 9th October 1965 and is unique among Doctor Who stories in that it consisted of only one episode and did not feature either the Doctor (William Hartnell) nor any of his companions. The episode came about because a story in the preceding season (Planet of Giants) had been cut from four episodes to three, and the producer, Verity Lambert, was given one extra episode the following year. Mission to the Unknown also marks the end of Verity Lambert's two-year reign as producer of the show.

The Story The episode is a teaser for the 12-part epic, "The Daleks Master Plan" which followed five weeks later. It is a warning of things to come. The setting is the planet Kembel, the most hostile planet in the universe. Space Security Agent Marc Cory has crash-landed on the planet in a small rocket ship with two other astronauts. Almost at once his crew is reduced to one by the alien horrors which infest the planet. Cory discovers (as he had suspected) that the Daleks are on Kembel, planning the destruction of the galaxy. Finding that their ship cannot be repaired, he and his companion attempt to launch a distress beacon containing a recorded message, but they are killed before they can do so. The Daleks Master Plan has begun....

The Video The original recording of Mission to the Unknown was junked by the BBC sometime in the 1970s (along with many other episodes). As the episode was never sold abroad (it was regarded as too violent) is seems likely that it is lost forever. An audio recording of the episode has survived and Derek Handley and the Loose Cannon team have taken this and reconstructed the episode using photographs from the story and other sources. The result is a masterpiece of ingenuity. A video of the reconstruction (including an interview with actor Edward de Souza (Marc Cory) is available from Loose Cannon productions. More information is available on the Loose Cannon Website